The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have waived guard Marcus Williams.

The 6-7 Williams was signed by San Antonio on 12/26. He appeared in one game with the Spurs, logging a total of two minutes vs. Chicago on 12/26.

The Spurs selected Williams with the 33rd pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. During the 2007 preseason he appeared in seven games with the Spurs, averaging 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds. He was waived by San Antonio on 10/27. He then joined the Austin Toros ? the Spurs' affiliate in the NBA Development League ? where he averaged 18.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 35.3 minutes in nine games.

The San Antonio Spurs today announced the signing of 27 year-old swingman DerMarr Johnson who has played with the D-League's Austin Toros and Benetton Treviso in Italy this season.

After a brief stint with the Italian powerhouse, Johnson joined the Toros, the Spurs' NBA Development League affiliate on Nov. 29. In 11 games with the D-League team he posted averages of 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 33.8 minutes of action. Johnson is the eighth Gatorade Call-Up this season and the third by the Spurs this week. He is preceded by guard Keith Langford (Dec. 28) and forward Marcus Williams (Dec. 26).

Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak and handed the Spurs just their second home loss of the season when the Raptors won in Texas 83-73 Friday night.

"They're a good basketball team. They're the defending world champs. And we beat them on this floor," Raptor Coach Sam Mitchell said.

The San Antonio Spurs today signed Keith Langford who had been playing with the team's NBA Development League affiliate Austin Toros.

In nine games with the D-League team this season the 6'4" guard was averaging 23.2 points while shooting .530 from the field. He also grabbed 6.3 rebounds and dished out 3.4 assists per game.

Langford, who played four years at Kansas, had one other stint in the D-League, with Fort Worth in 2005-06. In 46 regular season games he averaged 11.5 points, and in two postseason games he scored 25 points a game and grabbed six rebounds as the Flyers were defeated in the Finals by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds.

Langford is the second player in the past two days that the Spurs have signed from the Toros. On Dec. 26, the defending NBA champs acquired forward Marcus Williams, a former second-round selection by the Spurs in the 2007 NBA Draft. Williams also played nine games with the Toros and averaged 18.1 points per game.

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have waived guard Darius Washington.

Washington appeared in 18 games for the Spurs where he averaged 2.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 8.1 minutes. He was originally signed by San Antonio on 10/1.

Washington had also played for the Spurs' NBA Development League affiliate Austin Toros.

Spurs' guard Brent Barry will miss up to two weeks after injuring his left calf in a game.

The team said Thursday that Barry had an MRI which showed he tore a muscle in his left calf.

Barry hurt himself with about 3:20 left in the first quarter during the Spurs' 94-79 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.

Tony Parker scored 28 points, and the Spurs easily beat Chicago 94-79 Wednesday night in the Bulls' first game since firing Scott Skiles.

Michael Finley added 15 points for San Antonio, and Tim Duncan had 11 rebounds.

Joe Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Ben Gordon added 18 points for the Bulls, who have dropped four of their last five. Assistant Coach Pete Myers, who played in the league for eight years, served as interim coach for Chicago.

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have signed forward Marcus Williams who had been playing with their NBA Development League affiliate the Austin Toros. Williams is the sixth D-League free agent to be signed by an NBA team following Eddie Gill, Jelani McCoy, Luke Jackson, Jeremy Richardson, and Billy Thomas.

The 6-7, 205-pound Williams appeared in nine games with the Toros and averaged 18.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 35.4 minutes of action.  Williams, who earned seven starts, was third on the Toros in scoring and had his finest game of the season in a 127-117 defeat of the Stampede. In that game Williams torched Idaho with 29 points on 11 of 15 shooting from the field. He also grabbed six rebounds and hit all six free throw attempts.  

Williams was drafted by San Antonio in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft and spent training camp with the Spurs, averaging 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in seven games.  He was waived by San Antonio and signed with the Austin Toros on Oct. 27. He was subsequently released by the Toros due to injury but re-signed with the team three weeks later.  

An early entry candidate for the 2007 NBA Draft, Williams played two years at the University of Arizona and earned First Team All-Pac-10 honors after averaging 16.6 points and 6.7 rebounds as a sophomore.

Spurs' backup center Francisco Elson is ready to return from the ankle injury that kept him out of the past three games.

"The injury is over," Elson announced after the team's shootaround Wednesday morning. "I'm ready to go. I'm eager to get back on the floor and get a fresh start."

Elson will be in uniform for tonight's home game against the Bulls.

Their coach is gone, and the Bulls know he might not be the only casualty of their disappointing start.

Two days after Scott Skiles was fired, the Bulls hope to begin turning around their season when they visit the Spurs on Wednesday.

The Bulls have reached the playoffs the last three seasons and came into 2007-08 with high hopes after advancing to the second round last season. However, they currently own the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference, and the team is hoping a change at the coaching position will help.

"I felt like something was going to happen," forward Luol Deng said. "I didn't know whether it was players or coaches. But you could definitely feel there was something. It just didn't seem like we were on the same page."

Skiles went 165-172 after replacing Bill Cartwright in November 2003. The Bulls didn't immediately announce a replacement, and GM John Paxson said he does not expect to hire a coach until after the season.

Assistants Pete Myers or Jim Boylan will likely take over on an interim basis, and Myers will coach the team against the Spurs.