NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/1/17
Here are Friday’s G League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:
- The Celtics have assigned a pair of rookies, Guerschon Yabusele and Abdel Nader, to the G League, the team announced today (via Twitter). Both players figure to suit up for the Maine Red Claws in the club’s Friday night game.
- Rookie center Ante Zizic, acquired by the Cavaliers in the Kyrie Irving blockbuster, has been re-assigned to the G League, according to a press release from the club. Zizic will play in his third game for the Canton Charge tonight after averaging a double-double (14.0 PPG, 11.5 RPG) in his first two.
- The Bulls have assigned point guard Kay Felder to the Windy City Bulls, the team announced in a press release. Felder joins teammates Nikola Mirotic and Zach LaVine, who are rehabbing injuries with Chicago’s G League affiliate.
- The Sixers announced today that they’ve sent rookie guard Furkan Korkmaz back to the G League, where he’ll travel with the Delaware 87ers and play for the club on Saturday against the Memphis Hustle.
- After playing for Orlando’s G League affiliate on Thursday, Khem Birch and Wesley Iwundu were recalled to the NBA, the Magic confirmed (via Twitter). Birch had a huge game in a losing effort for the Lakeland Magic last night, putting up 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Iman Shumpert Undergoes Knee Surgery, Expected To Miss Two Months
1:59pm: Shumpert underwent surgery today to repair a small meniscus tear in his left knee, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. According to Charania, Shumpert is expected to be out for two months.
8:44am: Cavaliers swingman Iman Shumpert will be sidelined for the foreseeable future, as he’s set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Friday, the team announced in a press release. The Cavs have not yet provided a recovery timetable for Shumpert, but league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that the veteran could miss the next six to eight weeks.
Shumpert, 27, has been nagged by left knee issues so far this season, putting up numbers across the board that are among his career-worsts. That includes just 4.8 PPG, , a .386 FG%, and a .280 3PT% in 13 games (six starts).
The subject of trade rumors frequently throughout 2017, Shumpert is earning a $10.34MM salary this season, with a player option worth $11MM+ for 2018/19. Even when he was healthy, the former first-round pick wasn’t generating a ton of interest on the trade market, so his knee injury will further reduce the odds of Cleveland finding a suitable deal before February’s trade deadline. If Shumpert were to miss the next eight weeks, that would put him on track to return less than two weeks before this season’s deadline, which wouldn’t give him much time to rebuild his value.
With Shumpert on the shelf, J.R. Smith, Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver, and Jae Crowder figure to continue carrying the load on the wing for the Cavs, with Cedi Osman perhaps seeing a few more opportunities too.
Injury Updates: J. Collins, Leuer, Jokic, Curry
The Hawks will be without rookie big man John Collins for at least a couple weeks, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports that Collins has a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. While an MRI revealed no tear, the young center is expected to be sidelined for sidelined for two or three weeks, per Charania.
While Collins’ ailment shouldn’t be a long-term issue, it’s bad news for a Hawks team that’s already missing starting center Dewayne Dedmon and veteran big man Mike Muscala. While Muscala may return soon, Dedmon is expected to be out for three to six weeks, so Atlanta will likely have to lean on bigs like Miles Plumlee and two-way player Tyler Cavanaugh for the first half of December.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy said today that forward/center Jon Leuer, who has been out with a sprained ankle, is expected to undergo a non-surgical process that will keep him on the shelf for another two to four weeks, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Van Gundy had indicated last week that Leuer’s recovery wasn’t progressing like the Pistons had hoped.
- Nikola Jokic injured his ankle on Thursday night, and while the Nuggets are running additional tests today, initial X-rays were negative, and the team is optimistic that the injury is just a sprain, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
- Stephen Curry‘s finger injury appears likely to hamper him for some time, but he and the Warriors don’t expect to sit him down for an extended stretch, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “I don’t think it’s something where if we give him a few days off, it’s going to disappear,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “I think it may linger for a little while, so he’s going to have to get used to it.”
Top Five NBA Restricted Free Agents For 2018
A handful of players eligible for rookie scale extensions during the 2017 offseason signed new deals, with the Timberwolves, Sixers, Nuggets, and Suns locking up Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Gary Harris, and T.J. Warren, respectively. However, that modest, four-player group made 2017 the least eventful year for rookie scale extensions since 2003, putting most of the players who had been extension-eligible on track to become restricted free agents in 2018.
Restricted free agency can be trickier to navigate than unrestricted free agency, which allows a team to sign a player outright. A team with a restricted free agent has the ability to match any offer sheet that player signs, but that doesn’t mean retaining him is a lock — the Hawks, for instance, were unwilling to match what they viewed as an excessive offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr. from the Knicks this past offseason.
While restricted free agency can be a boon for certain players, such as Hardaway and Otto Porter, who received larger deals than they might have as UFAs, it can diminish the market for other players. Guys like Nerlens Noel, Alex Len, JaMychal Green, and Nikola Mirotic were on the RFA market for months this offseason and eventually either signed their qualifying offers or accepted short-term deals. Prying a restricted free agent away from another club often requires an aggressive – and perhaps overpriced – offer sheet. Sometimes, there’s just no team out there willing to make that sort of offer for an RFA, which significantly reduces his leverage.
Today, we’re taking a look at a handful of players set to reach the restricted free agent market in 2018 who shouldn’t have to worry about being stuck in limbo for months and then settling for a below-market deal. We expect free agency for these five RFAs-to-be to play out more like it did for Porter or Hardaway than for Noel or Len.
Here are our current picks for the top five restricted free agents for 2018:
- Aaron Gordon, PF (Magic): Gordon has slowed down a little since his red-hot start to the season, but he’s still on his way to a career year, blowing away his previous career highs in several key categories, including PPG (18..6, RPG (8.4), FG% (.510), 3PG (2.3), and 3PT% (.438). Gordon’s athleticism, his expanding skill set, and his age (22) make him a tantalizing target for any team in need of a power forward. The current management group in Orlando didn’t draft Gordon, so it will be interesting to see if GM John Hammond and president of basketball ops Jeff Weltman are willing to go all-out to retain the former No. 4 overall pick next July.
- Clint Capela, C (Rockets): Capela probably isn’t the sort of player who will become a team’s primary offensive option, but he has rapidly turned into one of the more productive and efficient complementary frontcourt players in the NBA. He’s averaging a double-double (13.7 PPG, 11.3 RPG) in just 25.9 minutes per contest this season, and his .670 FG% leads the league. Capela doesn’t shoot from the outside at all, and his free-throw shooting remains a concern, but he has improved his FT% every year since entering the NBA, and has protected the rim admirably (1.7 BPG). The 23-year-old is about to get expensive.
- Jabari Parker, F (Bucks): If Parker had stayed healthy for all four of his professional seasons, he might already have a maximum salary extension in hand, like fellow top-two pick Andrew Wiggins. Instead, he’s still recovering from the second ACL tear of his young NBA career, and likely won’t get back on the court until February. As he showed last season, when he averaged 20.1 PPG in 51 games, Parker is capable of being one of the most effective young scorers in the league when he’s healthy. I’m bullish on him finishing the season strong and positioning himself for a lucrative new deal, but his injury history makes him a wild card.
- Zach LaVine, G (Bulls): LaVine’s situation is awfully similar to Parker’s. Like Parker, LaVine is coming off a career year (18.9 PPG) which was cut short just after the halfway point by a torn ACL. LaVine’s recovery is moving a little faster than Parker’s though, so we may see him make his Bulls debut this month. Chicago has high hopes for LaVine, one of the key pieces acquired in Jimmy Butler‘s blockbuster, and while the two sides didn’t work out an extension in October, there seems to be little doubt that the Bulls will lock up LaVine to a long-term contract in 2018. The size of that deal may hinge on how the 22-year-old performs upon his return.
- Jusuf Nurkic, C (Trail Blazers): After averaging a double-double during his first 20 games with the Blazers near the end of last season, Nurkic has struggled this season to get back to that level. Having recovered from a broken leg, the big man has become a focal point of Portland’s offense and is recording a solid 15.5 PPG, but his FG% has slipped to .460, and his per-minute rebounding numbers are the lowest of his career. Still, at age 23, Nurkic remains a very intriguing long-term prospect, capable of providing value on both ends of the floor, which is why he beats out potential RFAs like Julius Randle, Rodney Hood, Marcus Smart, and Elfrid Payton for this No. 5 spot.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hassan Whiteside To Miss Time With Knee Injury
Having missed the Heat’s game on Wednesday in New York, veteran center Hassan Whiteside appears set to be sidelined for at least another week or two of action. The Heat have issued a press release announcing that Whiteside, diagnosed with a left knee bone bruise, will undergo rehab on that knee over the next “one to two weeks.”
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra initially downplayed the seriousness of Whiteside’s injury, but the center contradicted his coach’s assessment earlier this week, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel detailed. While Whiteside didn’t speculate on whether it has affected his play this season, he said that the bone bruise – which he suffered in the Heat’s regular season opener – had been “really” bothering him since opening night.
“You know, I sat out, I missed them games, I came back, and it’s still bothering me,” Whiteside said. Asked if the pain in his knee is worse when he runs, jumps, or absorbs contact, Whiteside replied, “Everything, man, everything.”
The injury is a concern for the Heat, who are already missing Rodney McGruder and Okaro White, and are off to a 10-11 start this season — they’re 2-4 without Whiteside in their lineup. It’s possible Whiteside will be ready to get back on the court within the next couple weeks, but the 28-year-old says he won’t return until he’s fully healed, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets. It’s not clear how long that will take.
In the meantime, Kelly Olynyk and rookie Bam Adebayo should see increased roles, while little-used bigs Jordan Mickey and Udonis Haslem could earn a few minutes too.
Waiver Order Now Determined By 2017/18 Record
It’s the first day of December, which means the NBA’s waiver order is now determined by a team’s 2017/18 record, rather than its 2016/17 mark. Waiver claims are fairly rare in the NBA, but it’s still worth noting which teams will have the first crack at intriguing players who may be cut over the next few weeks or months.
[RELATED: Other December dates to watch]
Prior to today, the Nets were first in the NBA’s waiver order, followed by the Suns, Lakers, Sixers, and Magic. As of December 1, the teams at the top of the NBA’s waiver order now look like this, as our 2017/18 Reverse Standings show:
- Chicago Bulls
- Atlanta Hawks
- Dallas Mavericks
- Sacramento Kings
- Phoenix Suns
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Brooklyn Nets / Los Angeles Lakers (tie)
- Charlotte Hornets / Los Angeles Clippers / Oklahoma City Thunder (tie)
- Orlando Magic
- Miami Heat
Note: Head-to-head record for the current season is used to break ties, if possible. Otherwise, a coin flip determines priority for those tied teams.
Of course, if an appealing target hits waivers, some teams will be be better positioned than others even if their priority isn’t necessarily as high. For instance, even though the Hawks currently have the second-highest waiver priority, they don’t currently have the cap room, trade exception, or disabled player exception necessary to claim a player earning more than the minimum salary.
For the full details on which teams have the cap room or exception(s) necessary to claim a waived player making more than the minimum, check out our breakdown from last month. That piece also includes an explanation of the waiver process, as does our glossary entry on the subject. And be sure to use our Reverse Standings feature throughout the season to determine what the NBA’s ever-shifting waiver order looks like on a given day.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/30/17
Here are the G League moves from around the league today:
- The Bulls assigned a pair of rehabilitating veterans to their G League affiliate, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Nikola Mirotic worked out with the Windy City team while Zach LaVine had an individual workout.
- The Celtics have recalled forward Guerschon Yabusele from their G League affiliate, the team’s official site relays. Yabusele put up 27 points in his most recent game for the Maine Red Claws.
- The Magic recalled rookie Wesley Iwundu from their G League affiliate in Lakeland, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. Iwundu has averaged 17.6 points in seven games with the minor league squad this season.
2018 Free Agent Stock Watch: Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are in a precarious position, now teetering on the ledge of an existential crisis following Blake Griffin‘s latest significant injury. Suddenly, the team that seemed so valiantly intent on forging ahead without Chris Paul (and then Milos Teodosic and then Patrick Beverley) has been dramatically deflated, dealt a seemingly insurmountable blow that could very well change the franchise’s short-term plans.
Needless to say, the next few months will be of particular interest to various representatives of the team’s pending free agents, several of whom could stand to benefit from increased playing time in Griffin’s absence and/or a significantly expanded role if the team decides to lean into a full-fledged rebuild and trade away veterans.
On paper, the Clippers could end up with substantial cap space, but that’s far from guaranteed considering how many players have options heading into the summer.
Montrezl Harrell, C, 24 (Up) – Signed to a three-year, $4MM deal in 2015
One of the biggest potential beneficiaries of the Clippers’ bad luck is Harrell, a 2015 second-round pick who showed glimpses of productivity throughout his first two seasons in the league with Houston. Harrell hasn’t done much to this point in the 2017/18 season but it seems inevitable that he’ll see his playing time and opportunities in general increase over the next two months.
Brice Johnson, PF, 24 (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $3MM deal in 2016
While the absence of Griffin could open up opportunities for Johnson to see more of a role at the big league level, the team would have to fully accept a rebuild in order for the sparsely-used North Carolina product to start seeing consistent action. I’m not sure if the Clips are there yet. Simply put, Johnson hasn’t show much in Los Angeles and the team forfeited the chance to lock him up on the cheap last month when it turned down his rookie option.
Wesley Johnson, SF, 30 (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $18MM deal in 2016
After eight underwhelming seasons in the NBA, it’s hard to imagine Johnson landing big money in a crowded free agent market next summer. However, the 30-year-old – who has career averages of 7.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game – has a player option worth over $6MM that he’ll presumably accept.
DeAndre Jordan, C, 29 (Down) – Signed to a four-year, $88MM deal in 2015
Jordan is the closest thing to a marquee name among Los Angeles’ pending free agents. The 29-year-old will be coming off of seven straight seasons as a rain-or-shine starter (10 in total), with off-the-charts rebounding numbers and an All-Star Game under his belt. That being said, Jordan – who holds a $24MM player option for next season – will need to be careful heading into the summer, considering the market for big men has changed since he signed his last contract. On top of that, any long-term deal would put a club at risk of having that contract turn into an albatross during its back half. Finally, it’s not inconceivable to suggest that the Jordan you could temporarily (kinda, maybe, possibly) justify maxing out was simply a product of CP3’s playmaking abilities. Jordan may very well end up turning down his player option, but there won’t likely be strong market pressure for L.A. or anybody else to offer a huge long-term deal.
Willie Reed, C, 28 (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $2MM deal in 2017
Now with his third team in three NBA season, Reed will need to show that he’s more than just a journeyman spot starter with legal baggage. While Reed has been used less with the Clippers than he was in Miami last season, his opportunities could increase substantially with Griffin sidelined. I suspect, given the big man’s per-36 numbers, he’ll be able to procure more than the minimum and stick with that team for longer than a single season.
Austin Rivers, G, 25 (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $35MM deal in 2016
The Clippers took a gamble on Rivers in 2016, offering the largely unproven combo guard a major contract without much of a track record to show for it. Fast forward two seasons and Rivers remains more or less equally underwhelming. Rivers does little across the board and isn’t a particularly effective shooter. It wouldn’t make much sense for Rivers’ camp to turn down his $13MM player option for next season.
Milos Teodosic, PG, 31 (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $12MM deal in 2017
It’s hard to gauge Teodosic’s NBA value, considering he only played two games before falling to a foot injury. As things stand, the romantic notion that Teodosic would drop in from overseas to fill the playmaking hole left by Paul is on the back burner. If the plan was for Teodosic to prove himself in his rookie season, turn down his player option for 2018/19 and then sign a larger contract, it’ll come down to how he fares during the second half of the season, since nobody has yet seen enough to warrant a big investment. It seems likely that the Serbian 31-year-old will be back in the lineup before the end of December, so there’s plenty of time for him to prove himself at the NBA level.
Lou Williams, SG, 32 (Up) – Signed to a three-year, $21MM deal in 2015
Over course of the last half decade, Williams has fully embraced an identity as a wildly prolific scorer off the bench. Over the course of the last two seasons alone he’s thrived in systems that have had no reason but to let him loose on their second unit and the volume shooter has shown no signs of slowing down north of 30. It may be a bit much to expect Williams to yield anything in the realm of former Clipper J.J. Redick‘s offseason haul ($23MM for a one-year deal with Philly) but there should be plenty of suitors willing to give 2015’s Sixth Man of the Year a sizable raise over his current $7MM salary.
Player ages as of July 1, 2018. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Powell, Sixers
Rookie Jayson Tatum is looking even more effective in a free-flowing NBA offense than he did at Duke. Mike Schmidt of ESPN broke down the first-year forward’s impressive showing with the Celtics thus far, curious as to whether or not what he’s shown is sustainable.
While Tatum has always been known to pull off acrobatic plays on offense, his ability to make quicker decisions and shoot reliably from beyond the arc has helped him thrive in the Celtics offense. Further, his improved defense has only added to his NBA stock.
Credit Tatum for not trying to do much in his rookie campaign, perhaps that’s a benefit of landing in the rotation of a winning team fresh off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. There are still areas where he could improve, however, including at and around the rim, where he currently falls in the 33rd percentile.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- When Norman Powell returned from a hip injury, the Raptors tried reinserting him into their second unit. Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes that the third-year forward has thrived coming off the bench. “I think Norman likes that, he’s kind of the star of the show with that second group,” head Dwane Casey said. “He’s done a good job of adapting and going with both groups (but), with Delon Wright out, he’s a natural fit with that group and he’s done a good job.“
- While the Cavaliers may be the team to beat in the conference for now, the Celtics and Sixers are the future of the East, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston writes. Both teams have impressive lineups as it but boast future assets that can help down the road as well.
- The Sixers have put themselves in an enviable position financially but eventually the day will come that the team has to start clearing contracts in order to pay their young players who are current under rookie contracts. Derek Bodner of The Athletic took a deep dive into the team’s long-term salary cap projections.
Southwest Notes: Parker, Tucker, Powell
After seven months of inactivity, Tony Parker made his return to the Spurs lineup this week and the veteran’s presence was quickly felt. As ESPN’s Michael Wright reports, Parker’s return boosted the squad on an emotional level.
“Big lift, especially emotionally more than anything,” Spurs shooting guard Danny Green said. “Just to see him warming up with us. I think everybody’s just happy for him, just to see him go through that process — the injury first, then taking that process of six to seven months of being out and not being able to play — and what he’s meant to us and this organization.”
Parker followed up his debut in the Spurs’ Monday night victory over Dallas with a 10-point, five-assist showing on Wednesday.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Rockets can use P.J. Tucker in the starting lineup or off the bench. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes that the versatile veteran will fill the same role regardless of how he’s utilized. “I’m going to go out and do my job,” Tucker said. “It doesn’t make a big deal. You’re going to play the same amount of minutes. And the way we play, it doesn’t really matter.“
- With an increased commitment to contributing in ways other than just scoring, Dwight Powell has found a way to ramp up his production for the Mavericks. As Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes, the 26-year-old’s rebounds, steals and blocks are all up this season despite playing a similar amount of minutes.
- If the Mavericks are to ever become a coveted free agency destination, they’ll need to build themselves a young core, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News writes. With Dennis Smith Jr. and Harrison Barnes, they’re off to a good start.