Kings forward Corey Perry will be sidelined for six to eight weeks after undergoing knee surgery.
The 40-year-old Perry was injured Friday while skating at his new team’s training complex, the team announced Saturday. The Kings will report for training camp in less than a week, and their season opener is Oct. 7 against Colorado.
Perry agreed to a one-year, $2-million contract laden with incentives to join the Kings this summer for his 21st NHL season. The 2011 NHL MVP spent his first 14 seasons with the Kings’ archrivals, the Anaheim Ducks, before moving on to Dallas, Montreal, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Edmonton.
Perry has played in the Stanley Cup Final in five of the last six seasons — but his team lost each time, including back-to-back losses with the Oilers to the Florida Panthers. He won a Stanley Cup title with the Ducks back in 2007.
Perry recorded 448 goals and 487 assists during his first 20 seasons, and he begins the new season 121st on the NHL’s career scoring list. He had 19 goals and 11 assists in 81 regular-season games for Edmonton last season before adding 10 goals and four assists in the playoffs.
With a sudden burst, Donovan Dent accelerated toward the basket for a layup while absorbing contact that sent him tumbling to the baseline.
With an outstretched hand, Dent blocked a shot to trigger a fast break that he ended with his own long jumper.
With a flick of the wrist, Dent made almost every three-pointer he took.
Everything UCLA’s point guard did Tuesday during a roughly 80-minute summer workout open to reporters showed his ability to elevate his new team.
“It just changes things,” coach Mick Cronin said of having the veteran transfer from New Mexico, “and it makes life easier on his teammates.”
It could also quicken the pace of Bruins basketball.
UCLA point guard Donovan Dent says of his ability to make no-look passes to teammates: “Everyone’s starting to recognize that.”
(Jan Kim Lim / UCLA Athletics)
Dent said part of Cronin’s recruiting pitch after he entered the transfer portal was playing faster, helping the team convert turnovers into transition points.
“He felt like I could fit right into that system and he just needed someone he could trust with the ball in their hand,” Dent said, “and I feel like that was what I could bring to the table. So we talked about that, we talked about playing a lot of pick and rolls, and he’s been doing that a lot in practice. So I’m excited to see what we’re gonna get going during the season.”
One of the primary beneficiaries of playing alongside Dent on Tuesday was small forward Eric Dailey Jr., who routinely found himself receiving passes that he turned into points. Almost everyone on the roster has had the joy of being set up for easy baskets depending on how the team is divided on a given day.
“I don’t have to work a lot on offense,” Dailey said of playing with Dent. “I can just cut, I can spot up, in transition I can run and be his finisher.”
Dent said his strong showing was preceded by a frustrating session Monday that drew Cronin’s wrath, something that was again on display a day later when the coach told forward Tyler Bilodeau that he would be playing in Uruguay if he didn’t learn to set a satisfactory screen.
“I got hollered at pretty bad,” Dent said, “because I would make some silly plays, sloppy turnovers. So I wanted to respond the right way and I think I did that today. So seeing it firsthand, being a part of it, I think it does nothing but better the players.”
Reducing mistakes will be an emphasis for the 6-foot-2 senior who averaged 20.4 points, 6.4 assists and 3.1 turnovers last season on the way to becoming the Mountain West Conference player of the year and an honorable mention All-American. Dent said his new teammates are still learning that they need to be ready to receive a pass at all times.
“I may not be looking at you,” Dent said, “but it might still come to you, so everyone’s starting to recognize that.”
Cronin said Dent’s shooting — the reason he was not recruited by any Pac-12 Conference schools coming out of Corona Centennial High — continued to improve after he made a career-high 40.9% of his three-pointers last season at New Mexico.
A faster offense is just one anticipated change with the season opener against Eastern Washington on Nov. 3 a little more than two months away. Bilodeau has moved from center to power forward and Dailey from power forward to small forward in moves that could help maximize their skills.
“I think I can get to the glass a little easier not fending off bigger guys, just space the floor more, can post up smaller four men,” the 6-9 Bilodeau said, “so I think it’s going to be good.”
Dent is one of five veteran transfers, joining redshirt senior center Steven Jamerson II, junior center Xavier Booker, redshirt senior guard Jamar Brown and redshirt senior forward Anthony Peoples Jr. Cronin identified Jamerson, a transfer from the University of San Diego who previously played for coach Steve Lavin, as “a huge steal for us” based on what he’s shown in summer workouts.
An early positive evaluation by assistant coach Darren Savino was supported by Cronin’s conversations with Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, who regularly faced Jamerson in the West Coast Conference and called him the most underrated big man on the West Coast.
“He can screen, he can defend, he can rebound,” Cronin said. “And he’s got legitimate size — he’s every bit of 6-10.”
Jamerson showed good instincts around the basket Tuesday, something Booker is still learning as part of his transition from being more of a wing player during his two seasons at Michigan State. Playing alongside Dent will undoubtedly help in his bid to become more of a rim-running post player.
“We’re trying to figure out some stuff for lobs and all that,” Dent said, “but we’re getting it down a lot.”
The California League might be ending its long run in Modesto, but professional baseball appears poised to remain.
The independent Pioneer League is in talks to place a team at John Thurman Field, the current home of the Modesto Nuts.
In a closed session Tuesday, the Modesto City Council discussed the potential terms of a lease under negotiation between the city manager and Pioneer League President Michael Shapiro. The council took no action Tuesday, and neither Shapiro nor a city spokesperson immediately returned messages seeking comment.
Modesto’s California League history dates to 1946 — John Thurman Field opened in 1955 — but the Nuts are down to their final three homestands.
A Modesto team would give the league two new teams next year and 14 in all; leagues prefer an even number of teams for scheduling purposes.
The other new team would play in Long Beach, in what would be the city’s first entry in an independent league since 2009.
On Tuesday, the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved pursuing an agreement with an expansion Pioneer League team that would share historic Blair Field with the Long Beach State baseball program.
“A team in Long Beach is a chance to show what makes Long Beach great: our diversity, our passion and our community spirit,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement.
Paul Freedman, the co-founder of the Pioneer League’s Oakland Ballers, would be one of the owners of the Long Beach team. In a Times story last year about the Ballers and how they were filling the baseball void created in Oakland by the departure of the Athletics, Freedman already had his eye on Long Beach.
“I think Long Beach should have a Pioneer League team,” Freedman said then. “Long Beach has its own unique identity. If I’m from Long Beach, I don’t want to be told I have to be a Dodger or Angel fan.”
