And-Ones: BIG3, G League, Quarterman, J. Brown
Two more former NBA players have signed on with the BIG3, including one that just formally announced his retirement from the NBA this past summer. Veteran big man Jason Maxiell was one of those players joining the BIG3 player pool this week, according to the league (Twitter link). After playing more than 600 NBA regular season games and another 35 postseason contests, Maxiell signed a one-day contract in August and retired as a Piston. Now, he’ll have a chance to compete against – or team up with – former teammate Chauncey Billups in the BIG3.
Veteran forward Jamario Moon, who played in 286 total games for the Raptors, Heat, Cavaliers, Clippers, and Hornets from 2007 to 2012, also signed a BIG3 contract this week, according to an announcement from the league (Twitter link).
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Multiple 2018 NBA draft prospects who aren’t currently playing NCAA ball have been informed that they’re ineligible to play in the G League this season, a league source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. As Givony explains, players who were enrolled in college during an academic calendar year are ineligible to sign a G League contract in the same season unless they’ve been ruled permanently NCAA-ineligible. Mitchell Robinson, De’Anthony Melton, and Brian Bowen are among the potential 2018 first-rounders currently in limbo.
- Former Trail Blazers guard Tim Quarterman had been set to join the Jiangsu Dragons in China, but passport complications prevented him from finalizing his deal, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). According to Pick, the Chinese club signed ex-Lakers guard Jabari Brown instead.
- Former first-round pick Archie Goodwin is back in the Suns‘ system, having been traded to Phoenix’s G League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, earlier this week. Northern Arizona sent out a first-round pick and a second-round pick for the 2018 G League draft in the three-team deal.
- The NBA’s next wave of international stars appears to have arrived, Michael Lee writes in an interesting feature for Yahoo Sports.
Fantasy Hoops: Heat, Parker, Fultz, Rockets
We’re at the halfway mark in the 2017/18 regular season and Hoops Rumors wants to help you dominate in both season-long and daily fantasy leagues. Here are some notes and analysis from around the NBA:
Check your waiver wire for Tyler Johnson (available in over 80% of ESPN leagues). The Heat combo guard is dealing with a pinched nerve, but with Dion Waiters expected to miss the remainder of the season, Johnson becomes a must add. Over his last 11 games played, the 25-year-old is averaging 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest.- Heat swingman Josh Richardson becomes even more valuable if Waiters does, in fact, miss the rest of the season. Over his last six games, Richardson is averaging 14.2 points, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game while knocking down 1.7 shots per night from behind the arc.
- Bucks forward Jabari Parker is making progress and is expected to return before the All-Star break. Although he’s owned in over 30% of ESPN leagues, his talent warrants a higher ownership percentage.
- Is it time to pick Markelle Fultz back up? I’m bearish on his game, but the No. 1 overall pick apparently looked good in five-on-five drills earlier in the week. For those who don’t need immediate production and have a roster spot to spare, the Sixers guard worth an add.
- Eric Gordon has benefited since James Harden exited the Rockets‘ lineup with a hamstring injury. The shooting guard is averaging 23.2 points per game (16th in the NBA over that stretch) on nearly 19 shot attempts per contest (13th in the league) since the game in which Harden suffered his injury. Gordon isn’t the only player to benefit from The Beard’s absence. Both Gerald Green and Clint Capela are seeing their fantasy stock rise, as we noted in last week’s edition of Fantasy Hoops. However, now might be the time to trade any of the three, as these next couple weeks will likely be the high point for each of their season-long values.
- Gordon is a good daily play tonight against the Suns. Phoenix has allowed the second-most points and sixth-highest field goal percentage to opposing shooting guards this season.
- Devin Booker is also a good play tonight, as no team has allowed the opposing shooting guards to make a higher percentage of their shots than the Rockets have this season.
Lakers Waive Vander Blue
The Lakers have waived two-way player Vander Blue, the team announced today in a press release. Assuming he goes unclaimed, Blue will become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday.
Blue, who was in camp with the Lakers in the fall, was cut at the end of the preseason, but rejoined the team on a two-way contract. Over the course of the 2017/18 campaign, the 6’4″ guard has appeared in 15 games for the South Bay Lakers, averaging 19.0 PPG and 5.3 APG. However, he has struggled with his shot, posting a .390 FG% and .333 3PT% in the G League. Blue also played in five NBA games for L.A.
With Blue no longer occupying one of the Lakers’ two-way slots, the team has an opening and will have until Monday to fill it. January 15 represents the last day this season that NBA clubs can sign players to two-way deals.
The Lakers also have an open spot on their 15-man NBA roster, created when they waived Andrew Bogut last weekend.
Pacers Sign Ben Moore To Two-Way Contract
12:57pm: The Pacers have officially signed Moore to a two-way contract, the club announced today in a press release.
9:02am: The Pacers will fill their open two-way slot by signing former SMU forward Ben Moore, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Moore will slide into the two-way opening created last month when Indiana signed two-way player Alex Poythress to a standard NBA contract.
Moore, 22, initially joined the Pacers as an undrafted rookie last summer, participating in training camp with the club before being waived at the end of the preseason. Moore joined the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s G League team, as an affiliate player, and has appeared in 24 games for the club this season, averaging 11.0 PPG and 6.6 RPG.
On his new two-way deal, Moore figures to continue to spend most of his time with the Mad Ants, but the agreement will also make him eligible to see some action with the NBA team in Indiana. Moore will be a limited to a prorated portion of the standard 45-day NBA limit, which should work out to 23 days.
The Pacers were one of seven teams with an open slot for a two-way player. Those other six clubs will have until January 15 to fill their openings.
Marcin Gortat Wants To Finish Career With Magic
Although he has been a member of the Wizards since 2013, Marcin Gortat‘s NBA career began with another Southeast team, as he played for the Magic from 2007 to 2011. Speaking to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, Gortat expressed a desire to eventually finish his playing career where it started.
“I would love to join the team for maybe two or three months, or maybe half a season at least,” Gortat said of the Magic. “I’m going to be an old guy, so I don’t know if Orlando would be interested or not. But I would love to join the team back again just to wear the uniform, put the white and blue stripes again on me and be able to say I’m a Magic again and just come back home where I belong. That would definitely be a dream come true to do that for me. Whatever the team wants to do — play me, just be in the rotation or just be a bench player — I would definitely be there for the team.”
It’s not uncommon for a veteran player to express a desire to return to a former team at the end of his career — players often sign one-day contracts to retire with a specific club. Still, Gortat’s comments indicate he wants to actually play for Orlando again before he retires, and he went on to suggest the end of his career could arrive sooner rather than later.
“The way NBA politics goes right now, I’m afraid that next year might be my last year,” Gortat said. “This is how I feel right now. Obviously, we’re going to have a summer, then another year of basketball and then I’m going to think about it. But the way I feel right now, it’s like next year might be my last year of my career.
“I’m not saying 100 percent,” Gortat continued. “I would say probably. The way everything goes, the way the NBA goes right now and everything that’s going on, I just don’t feel like I’m going to stay in this league for much longer.”
Gortat’s contract with the Wizards runs through 2018/19, so if the veteran center wants to suit up for the Magic for a few months and doesn’t expect to play beyond his current deal, he’d have to count on a trade or a buyout to get him to Orlando. While that’s a possibility, Gortat may have to stick around beyond next season if he really wants to play for the Magic again.
Pistons Convert Dwight Buycks To NBA Contract
The Pistons are converting the contract of guard Dwight Buycks from a two-way pact to a standard NBA deal, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News. The team had an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required to create room for Buycks.
Buycks, 28, had been on a two-way deal with the Pistons all season but only saw his first NBA action recently, with Reggie Jackson sidelined. Buycks has served as Ish Smith‘s primary backup at the point over the last couple weeks. In his last six games, the veteran guard has posted 11.7 PPG, 3.2 APG, and a .509/.462/.833 shooting line in 19.5 MPG for Detroit.
Assuming the Pistons simply convert Buycks’ two-way deal, rather than signing him to an all-new contract, he’ll remain on track to reach unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2018. Ian Begley of ESPN.com wrote yesterday that Buycks’ play has impressed rival executives, adding that several execs view him as a player who will draw major interest this offseason from teams lacking significant cap flexibility.
With Buycks no longer on a two-way deal, the Pistons will open up one of their two-way slots. They’ll have until Monday to sign a new player to fill that opening.
Cavaliers Willing To Move Tristan Thompson
Multiple NBA teams have identified veteran center Tristan Thompson as a player the Cavaliers would be willing to move in the right deal, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.
While it’s not clear what the “right” deal would look like for Cleveland, Charania suggests that Thompson would be a prime candidate to head the other way if the Cavs were to make a move for a player like Clippers center DeAndre Jordan.
Thompson, who will turn 27 in March, has been a regular part of the Cavaliers’ rotation since being selected fourth overall in the 2011 draft. He has appeared in 487 regular season games and another 59 postseason contests over the course of his career, averaging 9.2 PPG and 8.5 RPG in the regular season, primarily as a starter.
However, in 2017/18, injuries have limited Thompson to 21 games, and the Cavs’ system and style of play have limited his importance to the team. In 21 games, the seventh-year big man is averaging just 5.3 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 19.0 MPG, all career lows.
Thompson’s $16.4MM cap hit makes him a logical outgoing piece if the Cavs look to acquire a big-money player, though the fact that he still has two more guaranteed years on his contract beyond this season likely won’t appeal to some potential trade partners.
In addition to Thompson, the Nets’ 2018 first-round pick is Cleveland’s other noteworthy trade asset. The Cavs have reportedly been hesitant to include that Brooklyn pick in any trade offers so far. Charania suggests that stars like Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins would be worth that Nets first-rounder, but neither George nor Cousins are currently on the trade block, despite their expiring contracts and their respective teams’ mediocre first-half results.
Pistons Discuss Stanley Johnson in Trade Talks
As the Pistons explore the trade market in search of potential upgrades, Stanley Johnson‘s name has come up in their discussions, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.com. According to Begley, teams that have spoken to the Pistons have come away with the impression that Johnson is available for the right return.
Johnson, the eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft, had a promising rookie season in Detroit, averaging 8.1 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 73 games. He has been inconsistent over the last season and a half though — the third-year small forward hasn’t matched or exceeded those first-year averages, and his FG% has slipped to a career-worst .348 in 2017/18.
Still, Johnson is just 21 years old, and his defensive potential on the wing could make him an intriguing target for rebuilding franchises. The former Arizona Wildcat is also on a very team-friendly contract for the time being. Johnson, who has a current-year cap hit of $3.1MM, will earn $3.94MM in 2018/19 before becoming eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of ’19.
We heard earlier this week that rookie guard Luke Kennard is receiving interest from potential Pistons trade partners as well, so Johnson isn’t the only youngster the team could consider moving. However, Begley writes that Detroit doesn’t appear to have much interest in dealing its 2017 lottery pick. Unless the Pistons push for a marquee player, I’d view Johnson as a much more likely trade candidate than Kennard.
According to Begley, guard Dwight Buycks has also impressed opposing executives. Buycks is on a two-way contract though, so while he’s trade-eligible, his present value is very limited. Begley notes that several execs view Buycks as a player who will draw major interest as a free agent this summer from teams lacking significant cap flexibility.
Popovich: Aldridge Requested Trade In Offseason
Before he signed a contract extension with the Spurs in October, LaMarcus Aldridge was the subject of frequent trade rumors. While it appeared San Antonio was willing to move Aldridge, head coach Gregg Popovich confirmed on Thursday that the big man himself was also in favor of a change of scenery. Asked about Aldridge’s bounce-back 2017/18 performance, Popovich said last night that the turning point was when the 32-year-old requested a trade in the offseason.
“It’s as simple as that,” Popovich said, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. “I said, ‘Whoa, nobody’s ever said that to me before.’ It’s my 20-whatever year, and nobody’s ever said that like, ‘I’m not enjoying this. I’m not confident. I’m not sure you want me here. I want to be traded.'”
According to Popovich, he and Aldridge had some “dinners and meetings” before the season to clear the air and to talk through any issues between the player and team. The Spurs’ head coach accepted responsibility for Aldridge’s unhappiness, admitting he tried to turn the veteran into a different player, which he called “total overcoaching” on his part. By the time Aldridge signed his new contract with the Spurs and the season got underway, everyone was on the same page.
“I was very candid with him,” Popovich said. “I told him, ‘I’d be happy to trade you. You get me a talent like Kevin Durant, and I’ll drive you to the airport. I’ll pack your bags. And I will drive you there, get you on the plane, and get you seated.’ He laughed, you know, that kind of thing. I said, ‘But short of that, I’m your best buddy because you’re here for another year, and you ain’t going nowhere. Because we’re not gonna get for you talent-wise what we would want. So, let’s figure this thing out.’ And we did. That’s what we came to.”
In 41 games this season, Aldridge has averaged 22.6 PPG and 8.6 RPG, his best marks since joining the Spurs in 2015.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/11/18
Here are the G League moves from Thursday:
- The Rockets have recalled forward Zhou Qi from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets, but he’s still recovering from an elbow injury.
- The Thunder assigned rookie Dakari Johnson to their G League affiliate, per a press release on the team’s site. Johnson will join the Oklahoma City Blue for the G League Showcase in Mississauga, Ontario.