Five Key Stories: 1/6/18 – 1/13/18
Hoops Rumors has you covered in the event you missed any of this past week’s headlines from around the NBA. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last 7 days.
Monday is the last day for teams to sign players to two-way contracts for the remainder of the 2017/18 season. Below is a list of players who signed or agreed to sign a two-way contract this week:
- The Bucks signed Xavier Munford.
- The Jazz agreed to sign Georges Niang.
- The Pacers signed Ben Moore.
- The Grizzlies signed Myke Henry.
- The Pelicans agreed to signed Mike James.
Sunday was the last day for teams to waive players on non-guaranteed contracts before those players’ contracts become guaranteed for the remainder of the 2017/18 season. The following players were waived before the deadline:
- The Lakers waived Andrew Bogut.
- The Pacers waived Damien Wilkins.
- The Bucks waived DeAndre Liggins and Joel Bolomboy.
- The Rockets waived Bobby Brown.
Perhaps the most talked-about trade candidate so far this season, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan has yet to garner any serious offers from opposing teams, with Adrian Wojnarowski calling the pursuit of Jordan “sluggish” and one anonymous GM being told that not many teams feel Jordan will put them over the top (i.e. able to beat the Warriors). Part of the issue also stems from teams’ unwillingness to part with draft picks as a result of Brooklyn’s infamous 2013 trade with Boston, with Woj being told that no club, including the Clippers, wants to end up “embarrassed like the Nets were.”
The Jazz and the Bulls are engaged in discussions about a potential trade involving Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic, who is in the first season of a two-year deal that features a $12.5MM team option for 2018/19, becomes trade-eligible on Monday, and while any deal involving him would require his approval, that’s not expected to be a major roadblock considering Mirotic’s relationship with teammate Bobby Portis. The asking price for Mirotic is a first-round pick with no long-term contracts attached.
Multiple NBA teams have identified Tristan Thompson as a player the Cavaliers would be willing to move before the trade deadline, with one report indicating that Thompson would be a prime candidate to head to Los Angeles in exchange for Jordan. However, the Cavs are said to be reticent to trade away the Nets’ 2018 first-round pick.
Here are 10 more headlines from around the NBA last week.
- The Kings fired former assistant coach Mike Bratz, who was the senior director of scouting and senior advisor to GM Vlade Divac.
- Several teams have contacted the Knicks about trading for backup center Willy Hernangomez, who has struggled to find playing time this season.
- The Grizzlies, positioned to be sellers at next month’s trade deadline, are asking for a first-round pick in exchange for Tyreke Evans.
- The Lakers agreed to sign Jamil Wilson to a two-way deal before reneging days later after news surfaced that Wilson was named in a civil suit.
- Bulls guard Zach LaVine will make his long-awaited debut for his new team tonight against Detroit.
- In addition to the Jazz, the Pistons and Blazers are also interested in trading for Mirotic, with all three teams having Chicago’s first-round pick asking price.
- After being waived by the Bucks, DeAndre Liggins signed a 10-day contract with the Pelicans.
- The Clippers and veteran guard Lou Williams have recently engaged in discussions about a possible extension.
- The Pistons are receiving trade interest on rookie Luke Kennard.
- The Pistons are converting the contract of guard Dwight Buycks from a two-way pact to a standard NBA deal.
Knicks Waive Ramon Sessions
1:04pm: The move is official, per a team release.
10:00am: The Knicks will request waivers on veteran point guard Ramon Sessions later today, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). Sessions, 31, will receive the remainder of the $2.3MM salary for the 2017/18 season, Pompey adds.
Entering the season with rookie Frank Ntilikina, the Knicks added veteran depth with the signings of Jarrett Jack and Sessions. Sessions started the first three games of the regular season but has since fallen out of the rotation. In 13 games for New York, Sessions has averaged 3.7 PPG and 2.1 APG in 12.8 minutes per night.
Waiving Sessions has been rumored in recent days as the Knicks have pondered calling up fellow point guard Trey Burke from the G League affiliate Westchester Knicks. In 26 games for Westchester, Burke, 25, has played exceptionally well, averaging 26.6 PPG and 5.3 APG in 37 minutes per game.
Grizzlies Sign Myke Henry To Two-Way Deal; Waive Vince Hunter
12:57pm: The Grizzlies have also waived Vince Hunter, per an official release from the team. The release also officially confirms the signing of Henry.
11:19am: The Grizzlies will sign forward Myke Henry from the G-League’s Oklahoma City Blue to a two-way contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.
Henry, 25, has appeared in 25 games for the Blue this season, averaging 15.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 2.1 APG. The DePaul University product appeared in 39 games for the Blue last season. Following the 2016/17 season, Henry latched on with the Rayos de Hermosillo in Northern Mexico before returning to the G League.
Memphis will need to clear a roster spot for Henry as the team’s 15-man roster is full along with a pair of two-way players in Vince Hunter and Kobi Simmons.
Mavs Sign Kyle Collinsworth To 10-Day Deal
Just three days after waiving him from his two-way contract, the Mavericks have signed Kyle Collinsworth to a 10-day deal, according to an official press release from the team.
Collinsworth, 26, appeared in only four games for Dallas while on his two-way contract, averaging 1.0 points and 0.5 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per game. Nevertheless, the deal was somewhat expected, as head coach Rick Carlisle said that Collinsworth could potentially be back on a 10-day contract after he was waived earlier this week.
The signing of Collinsworth will give Dallas a full 17-man roster, with Johnathan Motley and Collinsworth’s replacement, Jalen Jones, holding the team’s two-way spots.
Dallas, who is currently below the cap floor, will incur a modest cap hit of $46,080 for Collinsworth’s deal.
Clippers Proposed Blockbuster Deal Involving Griffin, Towns
The Clippers proposed a deal to the Timberwolves that would have sent Blake Griffin to Minnesota in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns but talks did not advance past the initial phone call, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders writes.
The Timberwolves view Towns as a franchise cornerstone who is not available at this time, Scotto notes. Aside from Minnesota’s reluctance to part with Towns, several other factors stand in the way of a trade. Los Angeles signed Griffin to a massive five-year, $171MM extension this past offseason. Not only does that make Griffin ineligible to be traded until January 15, but Towns’ salary is a mere $6.2MM compared to Griffin’s $29.5MM.
To facilitate a trade, the Timberwolves would likely need to send at least two more players to L.A. to acquire Griffin. That would also complicate the Clippers’ roster as the organization would need to figure how to open a roster spot for the hypothetical third player acquired, according to Scotto.
Griffin, 28, has played well when healthy for the Clippers this season, averaging 22.6 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 5.2 APG in 25 games. In his third season, the 22-year-old Towns’ scoring is down from last season (20.2 PPG) but his 12.0 RPG in an NBA-best 44 games is in line with his career totals.
The Clippers’ performance this season has fluctuated but the team is currently one game behind the Pelicans for the eighth seed with a 20-21 record. A rebuild has been rumored for months which would likely include shipping the likes of DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams elsewhere. However, this is the first time we are hearing that the Clippers have discussed Griffin in trade talks.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/12/18
Here are the G League moves around around the Association today:
- The Pacers recalled center Ike Anigbogu from their G League affiliate in Fort Wayne, the team announced on its website. While the rookie has played sparingly with the big league club, he’s averaged 5.9 point, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in ten starts with the Mad Ants this season.
Northwest Notes: Wiggins, Randle, Hood
The Timberwolves have been getting more out of Andrew Wiggins lately and the swingman continues to get better. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes that head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke highly of his young wing at Wednesday night’s press conference.
A month ago, just as Jimmy Butler stepped up as a more assertive offensive weapon for the Timberwolves, Wiggins struggled with his jumpshot. These days the shooting guard found a way to score more efficiently while contributing in other ways as well.
“He’s such a gifted scorer. That part is obvious. But it’s all the other things he’s capable of doing. He can play great when he doesn’t shoot the ball well and everybody has nights when they don’t shoot the ball great,” the Timberwolves coach said. “There’s defense, rebounding the ball, getting out on the break, making plays for other people. […] His activity overall has been great. It just makes the game easier for everyone.”
There’s more out of the Northwest Division this evening:
- The Trail Blazers ought to take a flyer on Julius Randle, one Portland scribe suggests. Molly Blue of The Oregonian writes that the Blazers could benefit from a solid addition to their frontcourt that currently features a struggling Jusuf Nurkic and inexperienced Zach Collins.
- The Thunder seemed to have fallen back into slump after finding a sweet spot last month, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman writes. A glaring takeaway from Oklahoma City’s first half of 2017/18 is that they struggle against sub-.500 teams. Where the four top teams in each conference are a combined 134-32 against teams with losing records, the Thunder are just 12-9.
- For what it’s worth, Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic is now following the Salt Lake Tribune on Twitter, Dan Cahill of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Mirotic has been rumored to be a trade target of the Jazz, and hadn’t been following any other non-Chicago local newspapers.
- The NBA has fined Jazz forward Rodney Hood $35K for slapping a phone out of a fan’s hand, the league announced in a press release.
Kyler’s Latest: Fournier, Jordan, Mirotic
The NBA’s G League Showcase is playing out in Mississauga, Ontario this week and the event has brought a plethora of league executives under the same roof. With next month’s trade deadline looming, it’s inevitable that the celebration of the NBA’s affiliate league also doubles as an unofficial chance for teams to discuss possible deals.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders has a number of updates from the Showcase, the highlights of which we’ll get into below. For a full breakdown of the trade chatter going down north of the border, check out the full feature here.
- The Magic aren’t committing to the notion of “blowing the team up” but that’s the impression that teams on the other end of the phone seem to be getting. The club is supposedly going to be active ahead of the deadline and they want to make changes that help them shed salary. Kyler notes that guard Evan Fournier seems to be the player most teams have an interest in.
- There remains a sense that DeAndre Jordan will be moved ahead of the deadline and the Bucks continue to be mentioned as the team most likely to make that happen. Kyler writes that a possible Jordan-to-Milwaukee deal could yield the Clippers John Henson, a young player and a draft pick. The Clips apparently like Malcolm Brogdon but his inclusion seems to be a non-starter.
- The Jazz and Pistons are in pursuit of Nikola Mirotic and the deciding factor could possibly come down to Mirotic’s ability to veto a deal. Mirotic supposedly likes the idea of the Jazz and playing for Quin Snyder. At the end of the day, however, a Mirotic-to-Utah deal would likely require a first-round pick heading from the Jazz back to the Bulls, something Utah seems currently reluctant to part with.
- Kyler notes that there’s belief that Joe Johnson will seek a buyout from the Jazz after the trade deadline if he isn’t dealt to a playoff-bound squad.
- There isn’t any sense in NBA circles that Pelicans big man DeMarcus Cousins or Thunder forward Paul George could be move ahead of the deadline, although some teams may make an “11th hour run” at George.
Southeast Notes: Richardson, Clifford, Cordinier
The Heat have watched Josh Richardson develop into a go-to perimeter player, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel says in a video published at the newspaper’s website. Richardson’s numbers are up across the board and his presence has helped the team weather the Dion Waiters injury.
Richardson has averaged 12.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for the Heat this season, up to 17.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per in 15 December contests.
Not only has the swingman been a revelation for the positionless Heat, he’s shown an ability to hang with large NBA small forwards despite weighing just 200 pounds and playing through college as a 6’6″ point guard.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Hawks draft-and-stash prospect Isaia Cordinier will undergo season-ending knee surgery, Orazio Cauchi of Sportando writes. The 2016 second-round pick has been struggling with tendinitis since at least the summer.
- The medical issue that Hornets coach Steve Clifford struggled with for over a month can be attributed to a combination of stress on the sidelines as an NBA coach and sleep deprivation, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN writes. The feature delves into the head coach’s decision and why he’s confident a similar setback won’t happen again.
- The Heat have a number of options with which to replace Dion Waiters‘ production, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes, including injured swingmen Justise Winslow and and Rodney McGruder. Players like Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington could also see larger roles.
Pacific Notes: Jackson, Jordan, Clippers
A difficult string of games in which the Suns were noticeably better without Josh Jackson than with him precipitated a change in his relationship with head coach Jay Triano. Now, Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic writes, the first-year forward has started to regain the coaching staff’s trust.
When Triano told Jackson that he was losing his confidence in him, he asked the player what he might suggest to repair the situation. Since then, the two have watched film of Suns games.
“[Jackson suggested they watch film of Suns games] just to see what [Triano] sees,” Jackson said. “Sometimes, two people look at the same play and see two totally different things. He has a basketball mind and he’s really smart, so just trying to see what he sees and trying to pick his brain a little bit.”
In the three games since, Jackson has averaged 14 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for the Suns, shooting an impressive .486 from the field and .556 from three.
There’s more from the Pacific Division this afternoon:
- The Clippers were treated to some good news on Thursday when it was revealed that Blake Griffin could return to action following a concussion and Milos Teodosic after another bout of plantar fascia issues (NBA.com report). Of course, in true Clippers fashion, DeAndre Jordan sprained his ankle hours later and had to leave the match (ESPN report).
- The NBA fined Warriors forward Draymond Green $25K for comments critical of officials on Saturday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The Dubs took down the Clippers that night.
- Clippers head coach Doc Rivers thinks that NBA players seem to get injured more often than they used to because they’re not playing basketball enough. Per Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register, Rivers posits that players do more things outside of the sport these days and that consistently reliable Jamal Crawford is one example of a guy that is constantly playing the game outside of his professional commitment.