Sixers Willing To Consider Trading Andre Drummond
The Sixers are willing to move veteran center Andre Drummond before next week’s trade deadline, sources tell Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required).
Drummond, 32, holds a $5MM expiring contract. He provides a reliable backup for Joel Embiid when Embiid is able to play and a veteran presence in the starting lineup when he’s not. But the strong performance of second-year big man Adem Bona has lessened the need to keep Drummond on the roster.
Drummond has appeared in 35 games this season, making 16 starts and logging 20.0 minutes per night. One of the league’s best rebounders earlier in his career, he’s averaging 7.1 points and 9.0 boards per night while shooting 49.7% from the field.
A report last month noted that the Knicks have shown interest in Drummond in the past, but New York would have to make other moves to be able to fit his salary on the roster due to its hard cap.
Pompey explores the Sixers’ overall trade outlook heading into the deadline, concluding there are no pressing needs on the roster. He notes that the team is about $7MM above the tax threshold and roughly $1MM away from the first apron. They have a history of making deals to avoid the tax, but that philosophy could be different this year as they’ve shown signs of being one of the East’s best teams when their star players are healthy.
Pompey points to veteran guard Eric Gordon, who has a $3.63MM expiring contract, as another player who could be moved. Gordon, who’s 37 and in his 18th NBA season, has only appeared in six games and hasn’t played at all since December 23. He agreed to the deal in July after turning down a $3.47MM player option, but he only counts $2.3MM against the cap, which could help his trade value.
Pompey suggests the Nets or Jazz might be convinced to use their cap space to take on Gordon if a sweetener is included, but he also points out that Gordon has been serving as a mentor to rookie standout VJ Edgecombe, which is an argument for keeping him on the roster.
Pompey notes that Kelly Oubre Jr. ($8.3MM) and Quentin Grimes ($8.7M) have expiring contracts as well, and Grimes holds an implicit no-trade clause that allows him to veto any deal. There are teams around the league that are watching to see if the Sixers are willing to part with Oubre, according to Pompey.
Pompey also makes a case for keeping second-year guard Jared McCain, who has fallen out of the rotation and was sent to the G League last week. McCain was off to a promising start before an injury ended his rookie season after 23 games, and Pompey notes that he provides insurance in case Grimes leaves in free agency this summer.
Stein’s Latest: Morant, Ellis, Marshall, Antetokounmpo, Bulls
The Grizzlies are still very open to trade offers on Ja Morant, who is expected to miss at least three weeks with an elbow sprain, Marc Stein writes in his latest column for The Stein Line (Substack link).
However, those hoping to buy low on the often-injured star point guard may have to recalibrate, as Stein reports that there is internal pressure facing the team to bring back more than the favorable contracts that the Hawks got in return for Trae Young.
Stein also speculates that, should Morant stay on the team past the trade deadline, there could be some level of friction between Morant and the Grizzlies’ head of basketball operations, Zach Kleiman. As Stein explains, in addition to making it clear that Morant was available, Kleiman backed coach Tuomas Iisalo when the point guard and coach butted heads earlier in the season. The team also didn’t offer the two-time All-Star an extension last offseason when he became eligible.
Morant has played just 20 games this season and is averaging a career-low 28.5 minutes per night, though he has matched his career high as a facilitator, dishing out 8.1 assists per game.
We have more from Stein’s latest newsletter:
- Keon Ellis has emerged as perhaps the most likely player to be traded at the deadline, Stein writes. Ellis has struggled to keep a consistent spot in the Kings‘ rotation, but reports have nevertheless indicated that there are a handful of teams targeting the defensive-minded guard, which has led Sacramento to set an asking price of a first-round pick for him. According to Stein, some sources believe that the Kings trading Ellis is almost certain to happen.
- Stein confirms previous reports that the Mavericks highly value Naji Marshall as a part of their post-Luka Doncic core, but that doesn’t mean Marshall is untouchable. Stein writes that the starting point on any trade offer for the versatile wing must start with a first-round pick, as far as Dallas is concerned. He adds that Max Christie is another valued member of the core moving forward, and the team is focused on securing him a spot in the three-point contest, not finding a deal to move him.
- The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade landscape continues to be murky, especially following the announcement that he is likely to miss extended time due to a calf injury. According to Stein, multiple teams are still engaging with the Bucks in trade talks in the hopes of landing him at the trade deadline, injury notwithstanding.
- The Bulls are strongly expected to make a move involving one of their guards, Stein writes, with Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu the two most likely players to be on the move. He confirms Jake Fischer’s previous report that Nikola Vucevic could very well play out the season with the Bulls and depart in free agency this summer.
Injury Notes: Mathurin, Green, Jerome, Cunningham
The Pacers will be adding a bit more firepower to their offense soon, as Bennedict Mathurin is nearing his return. He is officially being listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Hawks, according to the team (via Twitter).
It has been common this season for players bumped to a “questionable” designation after missing multiple games to suit up as soon as they’ve been upgraded, notes Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star.
Mathurin has missed the last 11 games for Indiana after exiting a January 2 matchup against the Spurs early with a right thumb sprain. He initially tried to play through the injury, but it was decided that some time away to heal would do him good. He also missed 11 of the team’s first 13 games with a big toe sprain.
Mathurin is second in scoring for the Pacers on the season, averaging a career-high 17.8 points per game, which puts him behind only Pascal Siakam (23.8 PPG) and narrowly ahead of Andrew Nembhard (17.7 PPG).
We have more injury notes from around the league:
- Suns guard Jalen Green underwent an MRI following his early departure from Friday’s game, but there was no new injury revealed by the test, according to head coach Jordan Ott (Twitter video link per AZ Central’s Duane Rankin). “That’s great news for us,” Ott said, adding that Green will be considered day-to-day moving forward. “Get a workout today, and we’ll see where he goes this week.” Green has struggled to stay on the floor for multiple games as he looks to fully put his hamstring issues behind him. Twice now, he has played one healthy game before exiting the next one after only a few minutes. “It was just so unlucky, you know, he was feeling so good in the end of that third quarter,” Ott said. “So that’s why you take an image, that’s why you see what it feels like the next day, and we know he’s an incredible healer and a guy that’s gonna do everything it takes to play the next one, so that’s encouraging news.”
- Ty Jerome is nearing his season debut for the Grizzlies, writes Damichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). “He’s already progressed to five-on-five live,” said coach Tuomas Iisalo (video link). “So we’re very close. I think the evaluation is somewhere within one or two weeks… he still needs to build a little bit of load before the actual games, but he’s doing great, he’s progressing really well.” Jerome signed a three-year deal with Memphis this summer after a breakout year with the Cavaliers that saw him land third in Sixth Man of the Year voting as he averaged 12.5 points and 3.4 assists in just 19.9 minutes per game.
- Cade Cunningham is nursing a wrist injury but is attempting to find the balance between rest and treatment and playing through it for the Pistons, writes Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Cunningham downplayed the impact, saying that he felt good coming into Sunday’s game against the Kings. “Felt great this morning, felt great last night, so it’s cool to be able to come out and just… get some reps up with it,” Cunningham said, per Sankofa (Twitter video link). The All-Star guard said that it’s been difficult, but he’s hoping that he’s through the worst of it now. “It’s been a battle as far as, like, mentally, as far as figuring out how I can help us, was not liking how I felt shooting and just constantly kind of, like, flinching when I was shooting ’cause I didn’t know how I would feel,” he said. Cunningham added he thought the injury happened against Cleveland on January 4, when he fell on it, and that it was exacerbated when he got hit in the same spot in the next day’s game against the Knicks. “For the most part we felt like it wasn’t going to get worse from me playing or anything, unless someone smacked it,” he noted. “For me it was just based on if I was willing to play with it hurting like that.”
Atlantic Notes: Oubre, Poeltl, Anunoby, Knicks
Kelly Oubre Jr. has proven himself too valuable for the Sixers to trade at the upcoming trade deadline, Keith Pompey writes for The Inquirer. Oubre is on an expiring contract, but as the team looks more and more like a potential playoff threat, Pompey believes that what the 6’8″ wing brings in terms of role versatility and two-way play on the wings is not something that can be easily replaced.
Oubre has played shooting guard, small forward, and power forward for the Sixers this season, depending on who was healthy and in the rotation around him. He defends opposing teams’ best players and is knocking down 38.0% of his three-point attempts.
“He plays both ends, right?” asked coach Nick Nurse. “I think that’s the main thing. He’s been pretty effective on both ends, and the other probably main thing is he’s in about his 10th year. He’s got a lot of stuff under his belt. A lot of minutes. A lot of games, too. That helps, too.”
Pompey writes that the only real benefit of moving Oubre would be cap and tax relief, but that’s a goal that should be pursued in the offseason, not in the midst of a season in which the team is hoping to make some noise in the playoffs.
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Jakob Poeltl being out indefinitely with a lower back strain has put the Raptors in a very difficult position, says TSN’s Josh Lewenberg (Twitter video link). According to Lewenberg, Toronto’s preference is to be patient with the veteran big man, who is under contract through the 2029/30 season, but the lack of progress he has made in his recovery is a major wild card when it comes to the Raptors’ trade deadline approach. Toronto has been linked to multiple high-level centers in this trade cycle, including Domantas Sabonis, and the question of how long it will take Poeltl to return to form hangs over all trade talks, as well as the Raptors’ long-term outlook.
- After Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out on Saturday against the Sixers, Knicks coach Mike Brown tried something new, putting OG Anunoby at the five as the primary defender on Joel Embiid. The new-look lineup sputtered at times, but delivered when it mattered, writes Newsday’s Steve Popper. “We can’t do anything like that if you don’t have a guy like OG,” Brown said. “OG allows us to play the basketball game in a lot of different ways. And so we were able to do it.” Anunoby had a critical trio of plays on the offensive end, slamming home a put-back dunk, then hitting a three, then passing to Landry Shamet for a critical three. However, it was the other end of the floor that impressed Brown the most. “OG changed the game defensively,” Brown said. “And his quick decisions with the basketball, it was beautiful to watch. But defensively, guarding their power forward, guarding Paul George and then guarding Joel Embiid. He was phenomenal defensively.”
- Miles McBride and Shamet have established themselves as premier shooters in the NBA, but it’s their defense that’s proving indispensable for the Knicks, writes Jared Schwartz for the New York Post. Brown has repeatedly referred to the pair of guards as the best point-of-attack defenders on the team, and that was put into practice in Saturday’s win against the Sixers, when McBride and Shamet closed the game over Mikal Bridges. “You don’t stop those types of guys (Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe), but to have a guy like Deuce coming off the bench, have a guy like Landry — both those guys are physical at the point of attack, whether those guys are trying to get over pick-and-rolls or trying to get over (dribble handoffs) or even pindowns,” Brown said. “And to have that type of relentless pursuit with athleticism and strength and toughness and the mindset is phenomenal. And obviously, we need those guys.”
Rockets Notes: Durant, Eason, Finney-Smith, Offense
The Rockets‘ trade for Kevin Durant accelerated their expectations after the incremental success the team experienced last season, but they’ve found it surprisingly difficult to replace the grit provided by Dillon Brooks, writes The Athletic’s William Guillory in a mid-season retrospective of the trade co-written with Doug Haller.
Guillory notes that after starting the season 16-6, Houston began struggling to replicate the physicality and intensity of last season’s squad, to the consternation of head coach Ime Udoka. Losing two players, plus the top-10 pick that became Khaman Maluach, to bring in Durant also hurt the team’s depth, a problem exacerbated by the ACL tear that has sidelined Fred VanVleet for the entire season to this point.
However, Durant has still been fantastic, according to Guillory, who says swapping the aforementioned strengths of last year’s team to bring in a bona fide number one scoring option was a trade-off the team took a calculated risk on. Because the Rockets’ offense has struggled when teams overload on Durant and force someone else to score, Guillory notes that there could be some trade deadline tinkering to bring in another depth piece, but he doesn’t expect a big move for a starting-level point guard.
In terms of which team has “won” the trade six months after the fact, Guillory believes that both Houston and Phoenix ultimately got what they wanted, but if he had to pick a side, the Suns have come out ahead — the Rockets have yet to prove themselves to be top-tier contenders, while the Suns have exceeded expectations and are currently just one game behind Houston in the standings.
We have more from the Rockets:
- According to Udoka, Tari Eason is nearing a return to playing unrestricted minutes as he continues to work his way back from a right ankle sprain suffered in early January, reports Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Eason played 28 minutes in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Sixers, contributing 13 points along with nine rebounds and four steals. It was the eighth time Eason had played 28 or more minutes this season, but he missed the following game on Friday against the Pistons due to right ankle management.
- In the same tweet, Shankar notes that Udoka expects Dorian Finney-Smith‘s road to a full workload to take longer as he looks to regain his rhythm following offseason ankle surgery. Udoka drew a parallel to how the team brought Steven Adams along last season, keeping his minutes per game below 15 until March, when he began logging longer stretches on the court. Finney-Smith is averaging a career-low 15.5 minutes in the 13 games he’s suited up for this season, and has struggled with his outside shot, knocking down just 28.6% of his threes despite 35 of his 44 field goal attempts this season coming from behind the arc.
- Udoka doesn’t believe that a point guard trade is incoming, writes ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “We’ve always been confident and talked about our depth and relying on all these guys with Aaron [Holiday] and Jae’Sean [Tate] and guys that aren’t playing as much,” he said. “We want to see what [Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard] look like with a year of point guard play under their belt and getting Fred back eventually. For now, we want those guys to grow into that role.” Instead, the team has built an offense that dominates inside (with the seventh-highest percentage of points coming in the paint), crashes the glass, and is efficient from three, despite not being prolific. Adams’ Grade 3 ankle sprain could make it trickier for the team to maintain its edge on the offensive glass. In his absence, the team will turn to Clint Capela as the primary backup center, with Jabari Smith Jr. expected to play some minutes as a small-ball five.
Bulls Notes: Guards, Trade Deadline, Giddey, Rose
The Bulls defeated the Timberwolves on Thursday night in a game that could serve as something of an audition for several Chicago guards, notes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Cowley had previously reported that the Wolves, on the lookout for additional backcourt depth, have potential trade interest in Tre Jones, Coby White, and/or Ayo Dosunmu. On Thursday, Jones had a clutch layup to give the Bulls the lead with 31.1 seconds remaining while White put up 22 points with four rebounds and four assists.
Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune (subscription required) explored the same subject, considering which Bulls guard might appeal most to Minnesota and what the Wolves would offer for each player.
While White has struggled to remain healthy this season, Poe writes that his strong play of late, which includes a healthy stretch in which he hasn’t missed three games in a row since early December, could assuage concerns about his durability. However, White’s $12.9MM cap hit is the largest of the three.
Dosumnu’s $7.5MM salary would be much easier for the Wolves to match, while his defensive presence and knock-down off-ball shooting could make him a nice fit in lineups next to Anthony Edwards.
As for Jones, his appeal could stem in part from his long-term team control, as there are still two more years left on his contract after this season, Poe observes. She adds that he’s not Minnesota’s preferred target, but he’s played well this season and could provide the Wolves with the type of steady floor general they could use as Mike Conley has aged out of a starting spot.
We have more from the Bulls:
- Head coach Billy Donovan says he doesn’t believe that the upcoming stretch of games will be a significant factor in determining the team’s approach at the trade deadline. “With the number of guys we have that are going to be free agents at the end of the season, I just think there’s probably going to be conversations they have, but a lot of it is going to be does it make sense? You have to have (trade) partners to do that, right?” Donovan said. “I’m sure they’re all in communication and talking, and they’ve always been very gracious to come to me and say, ‘This is what we’re talking about, this is what’s going on.’ But I haven’t had any of that or anything that would indicate these next (six) games before the trade deadline are going to be really critical for the team.” The Bulls’ coach adds that when vice president of basketball ops Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley aren’t on the road scouting, he’s in touch with them every day, and he expects any deal that is made to be somewhat down to the wire. “It seems like all the movement happens the day before (or) the day of (the deadline), so to speak, where there’s so much activity,” he said.
- The Bulls have won four straight games, and Josh Giddey‘s return from his 25-day absence due to a hamstring strain has been a big part of the last two victories over Minnesota and Boston, Poe writes. In the matchup with the Wolves, Giddey came off the bench to score 21 points with five assists and six rebounds in 26 minutes. “I felt good,” Giddey said after the game. “It felt like normal basketball. When I got out there tonight, it was nothing new. … I didn’t feel rusty. It didn’t feel like I’d been out too long.” While his shot didn’t fall against the Celtics, he still managed 10 assists and eight rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. More importantly, Giddey’s return allows the team to get an extended look at the backcourt pairing of him and White. Poe notes that the team is consistently better when those two are on the court, while K.C. Johnson of CHSN adds (via Twitter) that it appears that Giddey will remain coming off the bench for the near future as he ramps up his workload.
- After the Bulls’ victory over the Celtics on Saturday, the team retired franchise legend Derrick Rose‘s jersey in an emotional ceremony attended by Rose’s former teammates, writes Jamal Collier for ESPN. Rose is just the fifth Bull to have his jersey retired, along with Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen. “We wanted to honor him, but we wanted to take the time to actually really plan something really, really special,” Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf said. “I guess we could have done it last year, but I feel like this is the right way to do it. Give him time to prepare and give us time to ramp up to the big day.” Rose says that even though he’s now retired, he’s still chasing rarefied air, this time in the business world. “The astute group of people that I’m chasing after, they’re not on the ‘gram,” he said. “They’re reading. I feel like that’s the sacrifice I have to make right now. In order to get to my goals, I have to make a gambit move.”
NBA Announces Schedule Updates For Two Monday Games
Monday’s game between the Pacers and Hawks has been moved up to 12:30 pm CT due to inclement weather in Atlanta, the NBA announced on Sunday (via Twitter).
A second game on Monday will be played earlier as well, with the Sixers and Hornets now slated to tip off at 2:00 pm CT due to the weather conditions in Charlotte, per the league.
The NBA postponed two games on Sunday because of Winter Storm Fern.
As Brad Rowland notes (Twitter link), the Pacers-Hawks game was originally scheduled for 6:30 pm CT. The Sixers-Hornets contest was originally set for 6:00 pm, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
Jonathan Kuminga Diagnosed With Bone Bruise In Left Knee
3:45 pm: Curry will be active today, tweets Nick Friedell of The Athletic.
3:21 pm: Fifth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga underwent an MRI on Friday which revealed he has a bone bruise in his left knee, the Warriors announced in a press release (Twitter link). Kuminga hyperextended his left knee in the second quarter of Thursday’s loss at Dallas and did not return.
Kuminga has been ruled out for Sunday’s game at Minnesota. The team will monitor his progress and will determine a reevaluation date “in the coming days,” per the release.
The seventh overall pick of the 2021 draft, Kuminga demanded a trade out of Golden State on Jan. 15. The 23-year-old had been out of the rotation for over a month, but was recently reinserted into the lineup in the wake of Jimmy Butler‘s season-ending torn right ACL.
Kuminga played very well in his two appearances last week prior to the injury, recording 30 points (on 10-of-13 shooting), six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 30 total minutes. Overall, he’s averaging 12.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 2.5 APG on .454/.321/.742 shooting in 20 games (23.8 MPG).
In other Warriors injury news, Stephen Curry experienced right knee soreness on Saturday and is questionable for Sunday’s game, head coach Steve Kerr told reporters, including Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter video link). The star guard will warm up before determining whether he can play tonight.
De’Anthony Melton and Al Horford will suit up on Sunday, but neither will play in Monday’s rematch with the Wolves, Kerr added.
Devin Booker Out At Least One Week With Right Ankle Sprain
January 25: Booker, who was ruled out of Sunday’s game vs. Miami, will miss at least one week, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, the team announced today (Twitter link via Shane Young).
January 23: In the same game in which his teammate Jalen Green was ruled out after just four minutes due to hamstring tightness, Suns star Devin Booker appeared to suffer a right ankle injury, tweets Gerald Bourguet of Suns After Dark.
Booker’s injury occurred in the closing seconds of the third quarter of Friday’s contest at Atlanta (Twitter video link via ESPN). After having his defensive rebound dislodged by Mouhamed Gueye, Booker started jogging up the court, but then noticed that Grayson Allen — who had picked up the loose ball — dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds.
Since he was distracted and looking at Allen on the sideline, Booker was unaware of the presence of Onyeka Okongwu, who was also looking at Allen lose control of the ball, and inadvertently stepped on the Hawks big man’s left foot, causing his right ankle to roll.
Booker immediately collapsed to the court in pain and began grabbing at his ankle. He was eventually helped up with assistance and limped off the court, proceeding straight to the visitor’s locker room, per Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks (Twitter link). The 29-year-old guard did not return to the game.
A four-time All-Star, Booker had 31 points (on 12-of-21 shooting), four rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes, with the Suns up seven entering the final frame. They only managed 12 points in the final period without their best player and wound up losing 110-103.
If Booker misses additional time as a result of his ankle injury, Allen, Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin are among the Suns guards who could receive more minutes.
NBA Postpones Sunday’s Mavericks-Bucks Game Due To Weather
The Mavericks and Bucks won’t play on Sunday in Milwaukee, the NBA announced (Twitter link). The game will be rescheduled at a future date.
According to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, who first reported the news (via Twitter), the Mavericks were stuck on their team plane for multiple hours due to inclement weather in Dallas. The plane was still being de-iced as of 1:30 pm CT, Townsend adds (Twitter link).
Although it was floated as an outside possibility, the game will not be rescheduled for Monday, per Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com (Twitter link). Townsend hears the most likely date for the rescheduled game is February 19.
The Mavericks are now deplaning in Dallas after the game was postponed, tweets Marc Stein of The Stein Line, who confirms the game is likely to be rescheduled after the All-Star break.
The Mavs-Bucks contest is the second game the league has rescheduled on Sunday due to the major storm in North America. The first was the Nuggets-Grizzlies matchup in Memphis.