Cavs Cut Ties With Cameron Payne
The Cavaliers will not offer Cameron Payne a standard contract, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Payne’s second 10-day contract expired on Friday night and the Cavaliers had to either sign him for the remainder of the season or cut ties with the point guard.
Cleveland wanted to maintain roster flexibility heading into the trade deadline, according to Fedor.
“I feel really good about how I played here,” Payne told Fedor. “It’s understandable that they want the roster spot.”
The Cavaliers will likely sign another player to a 10-day contract. Payne played 10 games with the Cavs and averaged 8.2 PPG and 2.6 APG in 19.6 MPG. He played 31 games with the Bulls earlier this season but was waived in early January.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics Trades, Mudiay, Fultz, Noah
The Celtics are unlikely to make a big move prior to this year’s trade deadline, NBC Sports’ Tom Haberstroh reports in a story relayed by NBC Sports Boston’s Darren Hartwell. With Indiana losing Victor Oladipo for the season, the Celtics have less incentive to make a drastic change. They’re hoping Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown bounce back during the second half of the season, then will look to trade for Anthony Davis during the offseason.
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks point guard Emmanuel Mudiay will be sidelined at least two weeks with a left shoulder strain, the team’s PR department tweets. Mudiay suffered the injury against Houston on Wednesday and the original prognosis was confirmed by an MRI. Mudiay is averaging 14.7 PPG and 3.9 APG.
- Markelle Fultz traveled with the Sixers on their current road trip but the second-year guard has not been cleared for basketball activity, Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweets. It’s not anticipated that Fultz will be cleared during the trip and thus he’s limited to physical therapy as he works his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome.
- Joakim Noah takes responsibility for flopping with the Knicks after signing a four-year, $72MM contract, as he told Frank Isola of The Athletic. Noah is playing for the Grizzlies after getting released by New York. “I think these are all life lessons. It was a tough time for me mentally,” he said. “Failing like that on a stage I really wanted to do well on. I take responsibility. It took me a while to digest that.”
- Blake Murphy of The Athletic runs down a wide variety of trade scenarios for the Raptors, though they’re also unlikely to make a big move.
Hawks Seeking Trades For Future Assets
The Hawks are looking to make deals to acquire future assets with point guard Jeremy Lin and center Dewayne Dedmon the most likely to get traded, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports. Atlanta is one of the few clear-cut sellers heading toward next month’s trade deadline and GM Travis Schlenk wants to continue collecting draft picks and opening up cap space.
“We’re looking for future assets,” Schlenk told Kirchner. “We already have five picks in this draft and more than likely, two firsts and three seconds. Any of the deals we do will be future assets or a deal that maybe will increase our (cap) flexibility moving forward. We’re still on the same trajectory.”
Lin has an expiring $13.77MM contract but several contenders are looking for a quality point guard, Kirschner notes. Lin, who is averaging 10.9 PPG and 3.6 APG in 19.9 MPG, has been linked to the Kings, Sixers, Pelicans and Trail Blazers.
Dedmon, who has an expiring $7.2MM contract, has increased his value by adding the 3-point shot to his game. Dedmon is averaging 10.2 PPG and 7.5 RPG in 24.7 MPG.
Atlanta would also like to move swingman Kent Bazemore and center Miles Plumlee, Kirschner adds. Bazemore is making $18.1MM this season and holds a $19.27MM option for next season. Bazemore is leaning toward opting in and has been shopped for more than a year, according to Kirschner. Bazemore hasn’t played since December 29th due to an ankle injury, which isn’t helping the Hawks’ efforts to move him.
Plumlee has another year left on his contract paying him $12.5MM this season and next. He was playing sparingly before injuring his knee and hasn’t seen the court since New Year’s Eve. Atlanta has talked to Memphis about taking on Chandler Parsons‘ contract with Plumlee being part of the deal. Atlanta would want a future pick from the Grizzlies as an incentive.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/25/19
Here are Friday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- The Wizards assigned guard Gary Payton II to the Capital City Go Go, the team’s PR department tweets. He’ll play against Grand Rapids on Friday. Payton signed a 10-day contract with the Wizards on Monday. He appeared in 13 G League games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this season, posting a 19.2/8.2/6.6 line.
- The Spurs assigned rookies Lonnie Walker IV and Chimezie Metu to the Austin Spurs, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News tweets. They’ll play against Rio Grande on Friday. Walker, the 18th overall pick, hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since January 3rd. Metu, the team’s second-rounder, has only appeared in one Spurs game since December 13th.
Spencer Dinwiddie Needs Thumb Surgery
JANUARY 25th, 6:31pm: Dinwiddie will require surgery but it’s unknown when it will occur and how long he’ll be out, according to an Associated Press report.
JANUARY 24th, 4:46pm: Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie has suffered torn ligaments in his right thumb and is evaluating the need for surgery, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (Twitter link).
The team is listing Dinwiddie as questionable to play against New York on Friday, confirming that he’s being evaluated for a thumb injury on social media. It’s unclear when he suffered the injury, with the 25-year-old currently in the best season of his career.
Brooklyn is dealing with several key injuries as they look to keep their five-game win streak alive, including Caris LeVert (right foot), Jared Dudley (right hamstring strain), Allen Crabbe (sore right knee) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (left shoulder strain). Hollis-Jefferson joins Dinwiddie as questionable to play in Friday’s game.
Dinwiddie, a top candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award, has averaged 17.2 points, five assists and 28.6 minutes with the Nets this season. At 26-23, Brooklyn holds the No. 6 seed in the East nearly three weeks ahead of All-Star Weekend.
Community Shootaround: Mike Conley
With the Grizzlies’ season fading to oblivion, reports surfaced this week that the front office is willing to deal point guard Mike Conley as well as center Marc Gasol.
Conley is one of the highest-paid floor leaders in the league. He’s making $30.5MM this season, another $32.5MM next season with a $34.5MM player option for the 2020/21 campaign.
It’s rare to find an All-Star caliber floor leader on the market, so Conley is certain to draw some interest. The Jazz have already been mentioned as a potential suitor, pairing Conley with Donovan Mitchell in a high-powered backcourt. Ricky Rubio‘s expiring contract would almost be certainly part of the package in any swap involving those teams.
Frank Urbina of HoopsHype speculated on three other teams that also might chase Conley. Veteran D.J. Augustin has played well for the Magic but Conley would be a huge upgrade feeding the ball to big men Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon. In return, Urbina opines that Jonathan Isaac is the type of young player that could facilitate Memphis’ rebuilding process.
The Mavericks might be another potential landing spot for Conley. Dennis Smith Jr. rejoined Dallas this week after a conversation with coach Rick Carlisle but it’s no secret Smith doesn’t feel comfortable sharing the ball with Luka Doncic. Smith would give Memphis a much younger option at the point with Wesley Matthews‘ expiring contract possibly thrown into the deal.
The Pacers were dealt a crushing blow in their quest to reach the NBA Finals when Victor Oladipo suffered a season-ending quad injury. A deal for Conley could revive their hopes. Some expiring contracts and multiple draft picks could get the job done.
We’ll throw in another team — the Pistons. They’re starved for improved point guard play with Reggie Jackson having a poor season. A package that includes some young players and a first-rounder or two would likely be required.
That leads us to our question of the day: If the Grizzlies deal Mike Conley, which team do you feel would be the best fit for him and why?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Pacific Notes: Suns, Kings, Lakers, Warriors
A $230MM renovation deal for Talking Stick Resort Arena was approved by Phoenix City Council this week, with the city committing to $150MM of that figure, while the Suns will contribute $80MM. However, as Abe Kwok of The Arizona Republic details, a number of Phoenix residents aren’t thrilled about that decision, and have launched an effort to force a referendum that would allow the public to vote on the issue.
“This seems like a situation where the voters of Phoenix very well may want to weigh in,” said Drew Chavez of Petition Partners, a Phoenix group that runs many initiative petitions in Arizona. “If we can give them a chance to do so, it would be a public service. We’re talking about millions of dollars that could be spent on public safety or repairing our streets instead of fixing up the arena for the Suns and their billionaire owner.”
The issue of public funding for the Suns’ arena funding has been a contentious one, with backers of the deal arguing that the building is used for more than just basketball, while opponents have made the case that Suns owner Robert Sarver should put up the money for the renovations himself. According to Kwok, the group seeking a referendum on the issue would have 30 days to secure approximately 13,700 petition signatures to qualify for a public vote.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee takes a look at the Kings‘ options for the trade deadline, citing league sources who say that the club’s discussions with the Knicks about Enes Kanter “quickly broke down.” Based on various reports on those talks, it sounds like Sacramento wanted to include at least one more expiring contract and New York was unwilling to take another deal without an extra asset.
- While the Lakers would love to acquire a second superstar that makes them a threat in 2018/19 and beyond, they’re more likely to make a smaller-scale move at the deadline, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic, who writes that the club is eyeing shooters on expiring contracts. Wayne Ellington, Terrence Ross, Garrett Temple, and Trevor Ariza are among the players Oram identifies as possible targets.
- The Lakers have let a number of players walk in free agency or traded them away since Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka assumed control of the front office in 2017. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report revisits those decisions, arguing that the team likely gave up too early on Thomas Bryant and D’Angelo Russell, and probably should’ve made more of an effort to re-sign Julius Randle and Brook Lopez last summer.
- How did Warriors teammates Kevin Durant and Draymond Green mend fences after a very public altercation earlier this season? Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic takes a deep dive into the situation and explores the relationship between the two All-Stars.
And-Ones: McCullough, Trades, 2020 Draft
Former first-round pick Chris McCullough has signed a G League contract and entered the NBAGL player pool, tweets Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days, noting that the former Syracuse power forward is eligible to be claimed off waivers.
The 29th overall pick in the 2015 draft, McCullough spent a season and a half in Brooklyn, followed by a season and a half in Washington. He appeared in just 59 total games for the two clubs, averaging 3.3 PPG and 1.9 RPG in 9.0 minutes per contest. Most recently, the 23-year-old joined the Pistons for training camp, then played in China for a month in the fall. He’ll be looking to earn another shot in the NBA once he lands with a G League team.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- In an entertaining piece for The Athletic, Sam Amick speaks to veteran front office executives John Hammond (Magic general manager), Travis Schlenk (Hawks general manager), and Mike Zarren (Celtics assistant GM) about the process of negotiating and completing trades in the NBA. The three men revisited some of the deals they’ve made over the years in their current or previous management roles.
- We’re still about five months away from the 2019 draft, but that didn’t stop ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider-only link) from looking ahead to 2020’s draft. Prep star Jaden McDaniels is Givony’s new pick for the No. 1 prospect in the 2020 class.
- Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports provides some information on this season’s two-way contracts, listing the 13 deals which run for two years and don’t expire until 2020 (Twitter links). The Sixers, Mavericks, and Grizzlies each have both of their two-way players locked up through the 2019/20 season, per Smith.
2018/19 NBA Disabled Player Exceptions
A disabled player exception can be granted when an NBA team has a player go down with an injury deemed to be season-ending. The exception gives the club some additional spending flexibility, functioning almost as a cross between a traded player exception and a mid-level exception.
We go into more detail on how exactly disabled player exceptions work in our glossary entry on the subject. But essentially, a DPE gives a team the opportunity to add an injury replacement by either signing a player to a one-year contract, trading for a player in the final year of his contract, or placing a waiver claim on a player in the final year of his contract.
Because the rules related to disable player exceptions are somewhat restrictive and the exceptions themselves often aren’t worth a lot, they often simply expire without being used (this year’s deadline is March 11). As ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently observed (via Twitter), only about 29% of the teams that have received DPEs over the years have ended up using them.
Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on which disabled player exceptions have been granted, just in case. Here’s a breakdown of the teams with DPEs available for the 2018/19 league year:
Teams that have been granted disabled player exceptions:
- Dallas Mavericks: $1,855,425 (J.J. Barea)
- Memphis Grizzlies: $689,121 (Dillon Brooks)
- Washington Wizards: $8,641,000 (John Wall)
- Note: Used to acquire Wesley Johnson.
The Mavericks and Grizzlies are probably unlikely to use their disabled player exceptions, as they’re both long shots to make the playoffs — especially Memphis. If they sign a free agent in the coming weeks, it probably won’t be for more than the minimum.
Teams ineligible for disabled player exceptions:
- Indiana Pacers (Victor Oladipo)
- Phoenix Suns (Darrell Arthur)
The Suns applied for a disabled player exception for Arthur in the fall, despite the fact that it was unclear what sort of season-ending injury he might have sustained since being acquired three months earlier. Phoenix likely wouldn’t have been granted a DPE anyway, but became ineligible a few days later when they waived Arthur outright.
Indiana had the misfortune of having its star player ruled out for the season after January 15, the deadline to request a disabled player exception. The Pacers have no mid-level, bi-annual, or trade exceptions available, so they’ll have to make do with the minimum salary exception the rest of the way.
We’ll likely add more teams to this list in the coming months as more players go down with season-ending injuries. For now, it’s worth mentioning three other clubs with long-term ailments: The Bulls (Denzel Valentine), Spurs (Dejounte Murray), and Warriors (Damian Jones). None of those teams applied for disabled player exceptions this season, Bobby Marks confirmed to Hoops Rumors.
While the players from that group may all miss the rest of the season, there’s an outside chance that Murray and Jones could return in the spring, which is one reason why those teams might not have sought a disabled player exception. Additionally, no one from that group is earning more than $2.28MM this season, so any DPE would have been extremely limited.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Teams Calling About Grizzlies’ Green, Temple
The Grizzlies are making Mike Conley and Marc Gasol available for trades, but there’s more interest in two other Memphis players, according to Sean Deveney of Sporting News.
Sources tell Deveney the Grizzlies are getting more calls about power forward JaMychal Green and veteran guard Garrett Temple, with the Trail Blazers and Hornets especially interested. Green ($7,666,667) and Temple ($8MM) both have expiring contracts.
“(The Grizzlies) want picks. They want to rebuild,” an unidentified executive said to Deveney. “They’ve given away a lot in the draft, and they need to find ways to get that back. A guy like Green can have a role on any team as a rebounder, and he’s been better offensively. A guy like Temple can come in and help anyone.”
Memphis owes this year’s first-round pick to the Celtics (top-eight protected) and its second-rounder to the Bulls. The team may get a second-round pick from Boston, but it’s protected from spots 31 through 55, which means it will only convey if the Celtics have a top-five record. The Grizzlies are also sending their 2020 second-rounder to Chicago or Houston and their 2021 second-round choice to Sacramento.
Trading Temple and Green, even if only for second-round picks, could help fill some of that void as the Grizzlies embark on a rebuilding plan, Deveney notes that the team still has hopes of dealing both players in return for a first-rounder.
Memphis has gained little traction in the market for Gasol or Conley because of age and contract status. Gasol, who has a $25.5MM player option for next season, will turn 34 next week and is no longer considered an elite defender. Deveney suggests the Grizzlies may have to take back a player with significant contract to move Gasol, such as Charlotte’s Nicolas Batum, who is owed $52MM over the next two seasons.
Conley is having a strong season after returning from last year’s heel surgery, but he’s also in his 30s and has two years and $67MM left on his contract. Deveney suggests that the Pacers might have been interested before Victor Oladipo‘s season-ending injury, but salary matching would force them to part with Darren Collison, Tyreke Evans and either Doug McDermott or Cory Joseph, leaving the team with little depth.