ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler says Dexter Pittman should be suspended “four to five games” for his forearm shiver hit on Lance Stephenson Tuesday night.

With the Miami Heat blowing out the Indiana Pacers, 115-80, in the fourth quarter of Game 5 Tuesday in Miami, Pittman delivered a blatantly hard shot to Stephenson’s neck area as the Brooklyn native cut into the lane. The hit garnered one of three flagrant fouls in the game.

Speaking on the “Mike & Mike in the Morning” show Wednesday, Legler said Pittman should get “four to five games” and that he could have done severe damage had the hit clocked Stephenson in the “windpipe.”

“Pittman’s action was outrageous and his intentions, however, were even worse,” Alberto Ebanks, Stephenson’s agent, told SNY.tv. Wednesday. “I’m sure the league will impose an appropriate penalty.” (more…)

If you haven’t yet seen this Pepsi MAX commercial featuring NBA Rookie of the Year and St. Patrick High School alum Kyrie Irving, check it out.

Irving follows in the footsteps of Larry Johnson as “Grandmama” in a Converse sneaker ad and LeBron James as “The LeBrons” in a Nike commercial among Rookies of the Year with their own commercials.

Irving’s acting skills shouldn’t come as a shock. He starred in a version of Disney’s High School Musical while at St. Pat’s.

Drederick Irving, Kyrie’s dad and a former pro in Australia, even makes a cameo on the sidelines.

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The NBA has invited 60 players to the 2012 NBA Draft combine June 7-8 in Chicago.

All six Kentucky players who entered the draft were invited, including presumptive No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis.

Notable players not on the invite list include Wisconsin All-American point guard Jordan Taylor, Gonzaga’s Robert Sacre and Villanova’s Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek.

The Draft lottery is slated for May 30 and the NBA Draft is June 28 in Newark.

Here’s the list:  (more…)

Billy Donovan is sitting in a pretty unique position vis-a-vis uncommitted 2012 power forward Montrezl Harrell.

Donovan will coach the 6-foot-8 Hargrave Military Academy forward at the USA U18 National Team Training camp June 5-12 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“I’m ready to play for the USA Team,” Harrell, the former Virginia Tech signee, told SNY.tv by text. “I’m just happy to have been nominated for the team and get a chance to show what I have.” (more…)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Deron Williams sat down with the media Tuesday at the Nets free agent mini-camp to say that he doesn’t know where he will end up next year, but hopes to have an idea by July 1.

“I want to reiterate, I don’t know what I’m doing next year,” the 27-year-old point guard said. “Still, nobody does but me. Not even my mom, my brother, my uncle, my cousin—I haven’t talked to anybody about where I’m going next year.”

A three-time NBA All-Star, Williams is expected to opt out of his contract with the Nets by 12:01 a.m. July 1 and become an unrestricted free agent.

Williams has a player option worth $17.7 million for the upcoming season.

The Nets can offer Williams a five-year, $109 million max contract if he opts out, about a year and $28 million more than any other team. (more…)

Former Rider coach Tommy Dempsey has been hired as the new coach at Binghamton, a source confirmed to SNY.tv.

Dempsey, 38, is 119-105 (.531) at Rider since becoming coach before the 2005 postseason.

Dempsey declined comment but is expected to speak later this week.

Binghamton went 2-29 last season, 1-15 in America East. They lost 27 consecutive games and were ranked ranked 344 out of 344 Division I teams in the RPI.

Former Bearcats coach Mark Macon was fired April 30.

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Sylven Landesberg left Virginia after his sophomore season with hopes of getting drafted into the NBA.

Instead, the Queens native went undrafted and ended up playing in Israel, far from home and the bright lights of the NBA.

Still, the 6-foot-6 former Queens Holy Cross star says he doesn’t regret leaving school early.

“When I came out I thought I was ready to compete,” Landesberg told SNY.tv following a workout Monday at the Nets free agent mini-camp. “Just watching myself now two years later, I’ve grown a lot as a player. Looking back, I’ve grown a lot.  I feel like I got a lot better since those past two years.” (more…)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Adam Morrison carries the heavy emotional burden of belonging to a select club that no one wants to be a part of.

NBA bust.

The No. 3 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, Morrison was out of the NBA last season and playing for Turkish club Besiktas Milangaz, the same team Nets point guard Deron Williams briefly played for before returning to the NBA after the lockout.

Now Morrison is back trying to get one more shot to live up to his potential. He was the star attraction among 22 players at the first day of the Nets’ free agent mini-camp Monday.

“When they asked me, ‘Do you want to talk to the media?’ [I thought] Christ, you guys haven’t seen me in three, four years,” the 6-foot-8 Morrison, sporting hair well below his shoulders, said with a chuckle.

“I understand that I’m never going to shake being a bust or being a failure in some people’s eyes, but I’ve experienced a lot of highs in basketball,” added Morrison, who turns 28 in July. “So I guess you can call it a hardship but it’s really not. I get to play basketball for money and it’s pretty good.” (more…)

With all the college players transferring, here’s an early stab at a list of some of the players on the move and the landing spots they’re targeting or have already hit.

If you have additional information on transfers, please email me at zagoria@hotmail.com and I will update this going forward.

Logan Aronhalt, G, Albany (Transferred to Maryland)

Chip Armelin, G, Minnesota (Transferred to Southern Miss)

J.J. Avila, G, Navy (Transferred to Richmond)

Gilvydas Biruta, F, Rutgers (Transferred to Rhode Island: Story here)

Perris Blackwell, F, San Francisco (Transferred to Washington)

Michael Bradley, F/C, UConn (Transferred to Western Kentucky) (more…)

Virginia Tech transfer Dorian Finney-Smith is considering seven schools.

“Florida, Louisville, Texas, Marquette, Iowa State, Ohio State and Georgetown,” his mother, Desiree Finney, told SNY.tv Monday afternoon.

Finney-Smith will visit Iowa State June 7-9, but no other visits have been set.

After the current dead period ends Finney-Smith plans to begin taking them.

“What I’m going to to now is I’m going to get with the coaches and see how we’re going to do that,” she said. “We’re going to start some visits at the end of the month.”

An ACC all-freshman team member in 2012, Finney-Smith averaged 6.3 points and 7.0 rebounds as a freshman. He started 30 of 33 games.

The 6-foot-8 small forward from Portsmouth, Va., opted to transfer after coach Seth Greenberg was fired.

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Former Seton Hall guard Jeremy Hazell will play for the Atlanta Hawks in the Las Vegas Summer League, according to a Tweet by his agent, Seth Cohen.

“They’ve been high on Jeremy for a while and they want him to travel straight from mini-camp to the Vegas Summer League,” Cohen told SNY.tv. by phone.

The mini-camp runs July 9-12 and then he plays in the Summer League from July 13-22.

Hazell participated in training camp with the Phoenix Suns a year ago and then was invited to join their D-League affiliate for the postseason.

A 6-5, 180-pound guard, Hazell played briefly with Lucentum Alicante in Spain. An All-Big East Third Team selection, Hazell averaged 19.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.4 steals in 18 games his senior season in 2010-11. He finished his career ranked third all-time in scoring at Seton Hall with 2,146 points and set a Big East Conference record with 201 made three-pointers in conference games.

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