Walt Lemon Jr., Xavier Rathan-Mayes Won’t Be Re-Signed
Two players won’t be re-signed as they reach the end of their 10-day contracts, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.
The Pelicans have decided not to retain Walt Lemon Jr., Haynes tweets. The 25-year-old guard completed two 10-day deals with the team and would need to be signed for the rest of season to remain in New Orleans. Lemon appeared in five games during his 20 days with the Pelicans, averaging 3.4 points in 7.0 minutes per night.
The Grizzlies’ impending signing of Briante Weber means guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes won’t receive a second 10-day contract (Twitter link). The 23-year-old saw action in five games with Memphis, playing 23.6 minutes per night and averaging 5.8 points.
Also expiring overnight was a second 10-day contract for Antonius Cleveland, whom the Hawks are expected to sign to a multi-year deal.
Kevin Love Hopes To Return Next Week
Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who has missed 19 games with a broken bone in his left hand, is planning to return to action next week, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
Love was projected to miss six to eight weeks when he suffered the injury, and March 26 will mark exactly eight weeks. He told reporters last night that he is hoping to be ready for a March 23 game against Phoenix, but isn’t ready to set an exact return date. Cleveland will also play on March 21 against Toronto and on March 25 against Brooklyn.
The Cavaliers have gone 10-9 without Love, who earned an All-Star selection by averaging 17.9 points and 9.4 rebounds in 48 games. Cleveland underwent a roster upheaval in his absence, acquiring George Hill, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson in three deals at the trade deadline.
“I just want us to get as healthy as we can get,” teammate LeBron James said, “so I know and obviously our coaching staff knows and we all know what we can become.”
Brandon Jennings Makes Immediate Impact For Bucks
Brandon Jennings, who signed with Milwaukee on a 10-day contract over the weekend, was just two rebounds away from notching a triple-double in his first game back with the Bucks. The point guard started the season playing for Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association and he credits his international experience as part of the reason he was able to make an immediate impact.
[RELATED: Michael Beasley’s Journey Sets Him Up For The Future]
“I just was able to find myself again mentally [in China],” Jennings said (via Nick Friedell of ESPN.com). “I was really mentally messed up in the head because of my so-called career-ending injury. I always wanted to bounce back from that … but I just did a lot of manifests. I manifest a lot about positivity. So I tried to get a lot of negative thoughts and things out of my head and it really helped me. It really helped me off the court being a better father too.”
Jennings suffered an Achilles tear during the 2014/15 campaign while he was a member of the Pistons. He made stops in Orlando, New York, and Washington over the ensuing two seasons, but he never resembled his old self.
“It’s just all the hard work I was putting in in China,” Jennings said “People don’t understand, I was still hurt with my Achilles injury, so now I’m finally healthy. I was able to really just revamp my whole self, just focus on basketball and be able to just work out. So when I was in China, I just felt like I was at Oak Hill [Academy] again, just working on my game and trying to get to that level again.”
Jennings appeared much closer to his peak form during Monday’s win than he did the last time he was in the league. Coach Joe Prunty called the performance “a really positive night” and John Henson, who is the only member of the Bucks who played with Jennings during his first stint with the club, believes the team lucked into a rare opportunity with the point guard in the fold.
“I don’t think it’s a question whether he can play in the NBA,” Henson said. “Obviously, it’s about the right situation. Especially this summer, it was a rough summer for free agents. But he can clearly play, so I’m excited to have him. On a 10-day, for a guy like that to have that type of talent, it’s rare.”
Jennings is scheduled to play in three more contests before his 10-day deal expires.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/13/18
Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
9:50 pm:
- After assigning him earlier today (as noted below), the Jazz have recalled Exum from the Salt Lake City Stars, according to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News (Twitter link). Woodyard added that the former No. 5 overall pick could play for Utah at some point this week.
3:05 pm:
- The Jazz have assigned point guard Dante Exum to the G League, the team announced today in a press release. Exum, who has missed the entire 2017/18 season due to a shoulder injury, is aiming to return to the court later this week, so he’s participating in a practice with the Salt Lake City Stars as part of his rehab process.
- The Nets have recalled Isaiah Whitehead from the G League, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Whitehead, who has seen far more action in the NBAGL this season than in the NBA, racked up 27 points on Sunday in his most recent game with the Long Island Nets.
New York Notes: Okafor, Lee, LeVert
Jahlil Okafor hasn’t found much success on the court since being traded to the Nets, but coach Kenny Atkinson believes the big man is simply a “victim of circumstance,” as Brian Lewis of the New York Post relays.
“Sometimes it’s just circumstances,” Atkinson said. “I’d say his approach, his buy-in to what we’re doing, has been phenomenal. His buy-in to our performance team and getting his body, improving his body has been phenomenal. So, very pleased.”
Atkinson had shortened his rotation before giving the Duke product some run against the Sixers on Sunday. Okafor, who will be a free agent after the season, had four points in his five minutes of action and he may see more court time during the last month of the season.
“He has some days where he gets a little down, which is normal,” the coach added. “But he picks it right back up and has really busted his tail. So hopefully in these last games we can find opportunities for him to get there. I’d like to see more, so hopefully we get to that point.”
Here’s more from the Big Apple:
- Courtney Lee, who was the subject of trade rumors earlier this season, isn’t happy with the Knicks‘ effort on the court lately. “Effort is the key to everything,” Lee exclaimed (via Fred Kerber of the New York Post). “It takes no talent to run from the paint out to contest a 3-point shot, that’s just all effort. We have to get everybody’s effort. Everybody’s got to be locked in.” The shooting guard is under contract with New York through the 2019/20 season.
- Nets GM Sean Marks always believed former No. 20 overall pick Caris LeVert would develop into a reliable playmaker despite criticism from naysayers who argued that the team made a mistake by taking the Michigan product that high, as Bryan Fonseca of SB Nation relays. LeVert, whom the team gave up Thaddeus Young in order to acquire, is averaging 5.3 assists per contest this season.
Avery Bradley Undergoes Surgery, Out For Season
The Clippers will be without midseason acquisition Avery Bradley for the remainder of the season Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The guard has undergone surgery to repair muscles related to the sports hernia that has plagued him for much of the season.
Bradley had the procedure to repair adductor and rectus abdominis muscles on Tuesday and will take six to eight weeks to recover. That timetable could put the 27-year-old back on the court in late April, should the Clippers make the playoffs, but there’s no indication that he’ll be looking to suit up for the squad before the end of the campaign.
Bradley wasn’t all that effective in six games with the Clippers after heading over from the Pistons in the Blake Griffin trade and will now get the opportunity to address an issue that Pistons.com editor Keith Langlois writes has troubled him since his half-season stint in Detroit.
Bradley will hit the market this summer as an unrestricted free agent and was expected to draw significant interest prior to his down year in 2017/18.
Southeast Notes: Hernangomez, Mahinmi, Charlotte’s GM Search
Midseason Hornets acquisition Willy Hernangomez isn’t familiar enough with Charlotte’s way of business to see more action than the 5.3 minutes per game he’s been seeing since coming over from New York, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes.
Head coach Steve Clifford says that it’s not fair for either Hernangomez or the rest of his teammates to have him thrown him out on the court before he’s able to mesh with the rest of the players.
“[He] will play some, but it’s hard for the other guys [to function well] when he’s not up to speed,” Clifford said. “With younger players, you don’t just throw guys in there just to watch them. It’s not fair for them, and it’s not fair for other guys on the floor. The team has to be organized, and we’re not as organized with him.”
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- After pursuing a larger role (and the inherently larger contract), Jonathon Simmons is getting his first taste of losing basketball. That’s made for a bit of an adjustment, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “I think he’s definitely tried to rally guys at certain times and make sure that we’re all understanding that it’s not acceptable to lose at the rate we’ve lost this year,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said. “But, at the same time, he hasn’t short-circuited, either. Sometimes guys short-circuit when they haven’t experienced losing like this. He’s been a team guy.“
- The Wizards will still owe Ian Mahinmi north of $31MM after this season, a troubling thought considering the way his usage has been trending over the course of the year. Mahimni’s playing time this season is down from last year and, as Candace Buckner of The Washington Post writes, he logged the first DNP-CD of the season over the weekend.
- The Hornets hope that their search for a general manager wraps up in early April, Katherine Peralta of The Charlotte Observer writes. “We’re going through an exhaustive process,” recently promoted team managing partner Curtis Polk said. “We started with quite a few names that we collected and put together a spreadsheet on these people and have been narrowing it down.“
Seven 2018 Free Agents Who Have Boosted Their Value This Season
Forecasting an NBA player’s payday when he’s still a year away from reaching free agency can be a fool’s errand. For instance, even if many NBA fans and experts were skeptical about Isaiah Thomas‘ chances at a 2018 maximum-salary deal when he made his “Brink’s trunk” comments back in 2017, it would’ve been hard to predict his value falling off as far as it has.
On the flip side, there are several players around the NBA who have increased their value significantly with their on-court performance in 2017/18 and figure to do better in free agency this year as a result. Today, we’ll shine a spotlight on some of these players, identifying seven 2018 free-agents-to-be who have improved their stock with their play this season.
Let’s dive in…
Julius Randle, PF, Lakers (RFA): Randle started the 2017/18 season on the Lakers‘ bench, and was overshadowed in the early going by Kyle Kuzma‘s hot shooting and Larry Nance‘s high-energy play. Since claiming a full-time spot in L.A.’s starting lineup on December 29 though, Randle has taken off, posting 18.4 PPG, 9.1 RPG, and 3.3 APG in 33 games. Now, he looks like one of the most desirable restricted free agents on the market, and a player who could throw a wrench into the Lakers’ long-term plans for their cap space.- Tyreke Evans, G, Grizzlies (UFA): Evans has played just four times since January 22, but that’s more a result of the tanking Grizzlies being ultra-cautious with him than the usual indictment of his ability to stay healthy. After signing a one-year, $3.29MM contract last summer, Evans played some of the best ball of his career in his 49 appearances, with 19.4 PPG, 5.1 APG, and 5.1 RPG, plus a .396 3PT%. A full mid-level deal looks like his floor this offseason.
- Fred VanVleet, PG, Raptors (RFA): After flying under the radar for most of the season, VanVleet had a couple signature moments in wins last week over Detroit and Houston and is starting to receive some national attention. VanVleet, who has turned into the de facto leader of the Raptors‘ talented second unit, has been part of most of Toronto’s best lineups — the club has a +14.5 net rating when he’s on the court, compared to a +4.8 mark when he sits. Suddenly, the former Wichita State standout looks like the restricted free agent most likely to sign an Arenas-provision offer sheet this July.
- Mario Hezonja, F, Magic (UFA): The fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft, Hezonja should be on his rookie contract for one more year. However, his underwhelming play in his first two NBA seasons prompted the Magic to turn down his 2018/19 team option last fall. Now he’ll enter unrestricted free agency at age 23, coming off the best season of his young career. Hezonja is still somewhat inconsistent on a night-to-night basis, but he has averaged 12.4 PPG on .466/.350/.817 shooting in his last 37 contests (25.3 MPG) — those are promising numbers for a player with his pedigree who is still entering his prime.
- Kyle Anderson, SF, Spurs (RFA): Like Jonathon Simmons a year ago, Anderson isn’t posting eye-popping numbers for the Spurs, but his years of experience in Gregg Popovich‘s system are starting to pay off. With Kawhi Leonard sidelined for most of the season, Anderson has started 53 games for San Antonio and has done a little of everything for the club, chipping in 8.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.5 SPG. A lack of an outside shot will limit Anderson’s value to some extent, but I’d still expect him to draw interest from multiple suitors looking to pry him from the Spurs this offseason.
- Wayne Ellington, SG, Heat (UFA): When the Heat finalized big contracts for James Johnson, Dion Waiters, and Kelly Olynyk last July, they structured them in a way that allowed them to keep Ellington’s $6.27MM salary on the roster. That decision looks smarter than ever now, as Ellington has provided valuable outside shooting for Miami this season, recording a career-high 11.1 PPG and 2.9 3PG. The 30-year-old isn’t a flashy player, but three-point marksmen have done very well in free agency in recent years. There aren’t many like Ellington, who has attempted 7.5 threes per game and connected on nearly 39% of them. He’ll be in line for a nice payday.
- Joe Harris, G/F, Nets (UFA): This isn’t the first year that Harris has been a productive rotation player, but the fact that he was able to improve upon his 2016/17 success – rather than just replicating it – makes him a much more intriguing free agent target. Harris, who has averaged 10.5 PPG on .474/.403/.807 shooting, will be in line for a big raise over this year’s $1.5MM salary, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him leave Brooklyn. Although the Nets could afford to keep him, they might not want to invest heavily in a role player like Harris at this point in their rebuild.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Sign Troy Williams To Two-Year Deal
MARCH 13: The Knicks have officially re-signed Williams, the team confirmed in a press release.
MARCH 12: The Knicks will keep Troy Williams on their roster after his second 10-day contract expires tonight, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. According to Charania, the Knicks and Williams have agreed to a two-year deal that will cover the rest of this season and will include partial guarantees for 2018/19.
While the exact salary terms weren’t reported, it figures to be a minimum salary contract — the Knicks used up their cap space and their room exception, so they can’t offer anything besides the minimum at this point. Michael Scotto of The Athletic also notes (via Twitter) that Williams’ new deal includes trigger dates, which means that – if they so choose – the Knicks should have a chance to waive him before various offseason deadlines without carrying much dead money on their ’18/19 cap.
Williams, 23, spent most of this season with the Rockets, but was waived after February’s trade deadline when Houston needed to open up a roster spot for Joe Johnson. Williams quickly caught on with the Knicks and has now spent 20 days with the team, averaging 8.1 PPG and 2.9 RPG in just 13.9 minutes per contest (eight games).
Teams can only sign a player to up to two 10-day contracts per season, so the Knicks would have had to part ways with Williams tomorrow if they didn’t work out a guaranteed deal with him. Because Williams is currently filling New York’s 15th roster spot, the club won’t be able to sign anyone else to a 10-day contract this season unless another player with a guaranteed salary is waived.
Kawhi Leonard To Remain Sidelined Through Thursday
MARCH 13, 2:16pm: Leonard is expected to remain on the shelf through Thursday’s game, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the Spurs and their star forward will continue evaluating his quad injury in hopes of a return.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne adds (via Twitter) that Leonard is feeling “much better” and remains optimistic that he’ll be able to play before the end of the regular season. Shelburne confirms that Kawhi won’t play on Thursday vs. New Orleans.
MARCH 10, 7:55pm: The Spurs could have Kawhi Leonard back in the lineup by Thursday, sources tell Lisa Salters of ESPN.
A lingering quad injury has sidelined Leonard for all but nine games this season. He recently said that he has been working toward a comeback and expects to return to the court “soon.” His workouts have included riding a stationary bike and participating in three-on-three drills at practice. However, those drills have been against staff members rather than players.
Leonard, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, is coming off a season in which he finished third in the MVP voting and scored a career-high 25.5 points per game. His presence will be a welcome boost to a Spurs team that is suddenly fighting for a playoff spot, just a game and a half ahead of the ninth-place Nuggets and Jazz coming into tonight’s action.