News from June 17. Boston activated Kendrick Perkins and placed Brian Scalabrine on IL. The NBA released the official list of underclassmen and foreign players under 22 years old who had removed their name from the draft after previously declaring. The NBA draft is June 26. Underclassmen who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft: Joe Alexander (junior, West Virginia, forward) Ryan Anderson (sophomore, California, forward) Darrell Arthur (sophomore, Kansas, forward) D.J. Augustin (sophomore, Texas, guard) Jerryd Bayless (freshman, Arizona, guard) Michael Beasley (freshman, Kansas State, forward) Keith Brumbaugh (sophomore, Hillsborough Community College, forward) Mario Chalmers (junior, Kansas, guard) Chris Douglas-Roberts (junior, Memphis, guard) C.J. Giles (junior, Oregon State, forward) Eric Gordon (freshman, Indiana, guard) Jamont Gordon (junior, Mississippi State, guard) Donte Greene (freshman, Syracuse, forward) Kalen Grimes (junior, Missouri, forward) Richard Hendrix (junior, Alabama, forward-center) J.J. Hickson (freshman, North Carolina State, forward) George Hill (junior, IUPUI, guard) Reggie Huffman (junior, Alabama-Birmingham, forward) Shawn James (junior, Duquesne, center-forward) Davon Jefferson (freshman, UC, forward) DeAndre Jordan (freshman, Texas A&M, center) Kosta Koufos (freshman, Ohio State, center) Brook Lopez (sophomore, Stanford, forward-center) Robin Lopez (sophomore, Stanford, forward-center) Kevin Love (freshman, UCLA, center) O.J. Mayo (freshman, USC, guard) Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (junior, UCLA, forward) JaVale McGee (sophomore, Nevada, center-forward) Kojo Mensah (junior, Duquesne, guard) Trent Plaisted (junior, BYU, forward-center) Bruce Price (junior, Tennessee State, guard) Anthony Randolph (freshman, LSU, forward) JaJuan Robinson (freshamn, Lincoln (PA), guard) Derrick Rose (freshman, Memphis, guard) Brandon Rush (junior, Kansas, guard) Walter Sharpe (sophomore, Alabama-Birmingham, forward) Marreese Speighs (sophomore, Florida, center) Bill Walker (freshman, Kansas State, forward) Russell Westbrook (sophomore, UCLA, guard) International players under 22 years old who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft (foreign players who turn 22 during 2008 are automatically entered into the draft): Alexis Ajinca (20 years old, France, center) Nicolas Batum (20 years old, France, forward) Danilo Gallinari (19 years old, Italy, forward) Serge Ibaka (19 years old, Spain, forward) Ante Tomic (21 years old, Croatia, center) Underclassmen automatically entered into the draft due to having played for a professional team: Angel Alamo (Sacramento State) Sadell Ayala (Iowa Western) Takais Brown (Georgia) Sasa Cuic (Oregon State) James Davis (Lamar) Rockminn Dillard (Grand Rapids Community College) Viktor Dubovitskiy (Chipola Junior College) Tom Garlepp (UC Santa Barbara) Jaaron Greene (George Washington) Jerome Habel (San Diego State) Tearon Hill (Western Nebraska Community College) Nathan Jawai (Midland Community College) Bart Jilisen (Carl Albert Junior College) Jadranko Jusufagic (Gulf Coast Community College) Antonio Kellogg (San Francisco) Ryan Kersten (New Mexico) Robert Krabbendam (Virginia Tech) Jorge Lebron (Hofstra) Josh Love (Hill Junior College) Damian Martin (Loyola Marymount) Gal Mekel (Wichita State) Sammy Monroe (Newberry) Raed Mostafa (Western Kentucky) Curtis Muse (Mineral Area Community College) Geoff Payne (Southern Utah Junior College) Jermain Raffington (Southeastern Iowa Community College) Mike Taylor (Iowa State) James Tyler (Patterson School-NC) Aleksandar Ugrinoski (Austria) Jari Vanttaja (Baylor) Fabricio Vay (Spain) Damiano Verri (New Mexico Junior College) Stephen Weigh (Utah) Isaac Wells (Arkansas State) Devino Williams (Palm Beach Community College) Underclassmen and foreign players who declared and later withdrew their name from the draft: A.J. Abrams (junior, Texas, guard) Josh Akognon (junior, Cal State Fullerton, guard) Antonio Anderson (junior, Memphis, guard) Derek Bailey (post-graduate, Providence Christian Academy, guard) Rodrigue Beaubois (20 years old, France, guard) Jason Bennett (sophomore, Tallahassee Community College, center) Mikheil Berishvili (21 years old, Georgia, forward) Chase Budinger (sophomore Arizona, forward) Derrick Caracter (sophomore, Louisville, forward) DeMarre Carroll (junior, Missouri, forward) Charles Carter (junior, Oklahoma Baptist, forward) Josh Carter (junior, Texas A&M, guard) Omri Casspi (20 years old, Israel, forward) Earl Clark (sophomore, Louisville, forward) [never submitted paperwork] Victor Claver (20 years old, Spain, forward) Lee Cummard (junior, BYU, guard) Nando de Colo (21 years old, France, guard) Robert Dozier (junior, Memphis, forward) Wayne Ellington (sophomore, UNC, guard) Alonzo Gee (junior, Alabama, forward) Paul Graham (junior, Florida Atlantic, guard) Danny Green (junior, UNC, forward) Lester Hudson (junior, Tennessee-Martin, guard) Sergey Ilin (21 years old, Ukraine, center) Joe Ingles (21 years old, Australia, forward) Stefon Jackson (junior, UTEP, guard) Jonas Jerebko (21 years old, Italy, forward) Mladen Jeremic (20 years old, Serbia, forward) Maxym Korniyenko (21 years old, Ukraine, forward) Ty Lawson (sophomore, UNC, guard) Luc Louves (19 years old, France, forward) Leo Lyons (junior, Missouri, forward) Rudy Mbemba (21 years old, Sweden, guard) Jerel McNeal (junior, Marquette, guard) Henk Norel (21 years old, Spain, center) Jeremy Pargo (junior, Gonzaga, guard) Courtney Pigram (junior, East Tennessee State, guard) John Riek (post-graduate, Winchendon School, center) Maxim Sheleketo (21 years old, Latvia, forward) Giorgi Shermadini (19 years old, Georgia, center) Josh Shipp (junior, UCLA, guard-forward) Kiwan Smith (sophomore, Redlands Community College, forward) Ronald Steele (junior, Alabama, guard) Robert Vaden (junior, Alabama-Birmingham, guard-forward) Maksym Vilkhovetskyi (20 years old, Ukraine, guard) Lorenzo Wade (junior, San Diego State, forward) Gordon Watt (junior, Houston Baptist, forward) Raymond Wright (junior, Arkansas-Monticello, forward) Ronalds Zakis (21 years old, Latvia, forward) Bos 131, LAL 92 at Bos Paul Pierce (Bos) had 17 points including 4-13 FG and 10 assists. Kevin Garnett (Bos) had 26 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 steals. Rajon Rondo (Bos) had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 steals. Ray Allen (Bos) had 26 points including 7-9 3-pointers and 3 steals. Lamar Odom (LAL) had 14 points on 2-8 FG and 10-16 FT, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 22 points including 7-22 FG. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. It was the 2nd largest margin of victory in the Finals and largest in the championship clincher. Boston takes the series 4-2. Congrats to the 2008 NBA Champions. MVP of the Finals: Paul Pierce Playoff Standings 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) (Best of 7) 1 LAL (4) ____ 8 Den (0) |_ 1 LA Lakers (4) ___ _ 4 Utah (2) | 4 Uta (4) ____| |_ 1 LA Lakers (4) _ 5 Hou (2) _ 3 San Antonio (1) | | | 2 NO (4) _____ | | 7 Dal (1) |_ 2 New Orleans (3) _| | _ 3 San Antonio (4) | 3 SA (4) _____| | 6 Pho (1) |_ 1 LA Lakers (2) _ 1 Boston (4) | 1 Bos (4) ___ | 8 Atl (3) |_ 1 Boston (4) ___ | _ 4 Cleveland (3) | | 4 Cle (4) ___| | | 5 Was (2) |_ 1 Boston (4) ____| _ 2 Detroit (2) 2 Det (4) ___ | 7 Phi (2) |_ 2 Detroit (4) _____| _ 3 Orlando (1) 3 Orl (4) ____| 6 Tor (1) Thus ends the 2007-08 season. As always, these NBA daily news reports will occur only when news occurs during the summer (except when I'm on vacation - then it will be whenever I get a chance to log on and catch up). The draft is June 26. The free agency date is July 1 (teams can start negotiating with veteran free agents, but not signing) and the free agency signing date is July 9 (teams can begin signing veteran free agents and making trades). The 2008 Olympics basketball games are August 9-24. Training camp opens the first week of October. Have a great summer! patricia