NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/9/19
Here are Saturday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Bulls assigned shooting guard Antonio Blakeney to their Windy City affiliate, according to a tweet from the team. Blakeney has appeared in 41 games in his second NBA season and is averaging 7.6 points per night while shooting 45.7 from 3-point range.
Five Key Stories: 2/2/19 – 2/9/19
If you missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA, we’ve got you covered with our Week in Review. Below are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:
In a week dominated by the trade deadline, the most significant story is a deal that wasn’t made. The Lakers made numerous attempts to get Anthony Davis from the Pelicans, but New Orleans decided to wait until summer to see if better offers emerge. The Celtics reportedly promised an “explosive” offer, while the Knicks and several other teams are expected to get involved.
The week’s most surprising trade came in the early hours Wednesday with most of the nation sleeping. The Clippers sent Tobias Harris to the Sixers, shaking up their lineup and giving Philadelphia possibly the best starting five in the East. L.A. wasn’t sold on giving Harris a max offer this summer and wanted to open up more cap room to be aggressive in free agency.
The Grizzlies said goodbye to another veteran from their Grit ‘n Grind glory days when they traded Marc Gasol to the Raptors. The former Defensive Player of the Year is still a presence in the middle, averaging 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per night. However, he has a $25.6MM player option for next season and Memphis had luxury tax concerns.
The Wizards did an about-face on their promise to compete for a playoff spot by sending Otto Porter to the Bulls. Owner Ted Leonsis had vowed that the organization would do all it could to reach the postseason, but its deals at the deadline were focused on escaping the luxury tax. Porter is owed nearly $56MM over the next two seasons.
The Sixers decided to give up on 2017 No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz, trading him to Orlando for Jonathon Simmons and a pair of draft picks. After making aggressive trades this season to acquire Harris and Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia has decided to take a win-now approach and no longer wanted the distraction of Fultz’s physical problems and shooting woes.
Here are 10 more notable NBA headlines from the past week:
- The All-Star draft was televised for the first time, with LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo making their selections for the February 17 game in Charlotte. The proceedings ended with an unexpected trade, as James sent Russell Westbrook to Antetokounmpo in exchange for Ben Simmons.
- Participants were also announced for the All-Star weekend 3-Point, Skills and Dunk contests. The 3-point competition may have the most drama as hometown favorite Kemba Walker faces off against veteran Dirk Nowitzki and a pair of brothers in Stephen Curry and Seth Curry.
- Enes Kanter didn’t get either part of the play-me-or-trade-me request he made, but he did get to become a free agent when the Knicks waived him Thursday. After beginning the year as the starting center, Kanter saw his minutes steadily reduced.
- Wesley Matthews, who was also waived by the Knicks this week, has committed to joining the Pacers.
- Nets guard Caris LeVert made a much faster than expected return from a severe right foot injury he suffered in November. Originally feared to be out for the season, the 24-year-old returned to action last night.
- Already sidelined for the season because of heel surgery, Wizards guard John Wall fell in his home and suffered a rupture of his left Achilles tendon that is expected to sideline him for an additional 12 months.
- Kevin Durant lashed out at the media for what he considers to be excessive speculation about his free agent future. The Knicks and Clippers both cleared cap room this week and are expected to aggressively pursue the Warriors star.
- There was an angry exchange in the Lakers‘ locker room after last Saturday’s loss to the Warriors with coach Luke Walton singling out players for a selfish approach to the game and veterans Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee lashing back over their inconsistent roles. Beasley was traded to the Clippers before the week ended.
- The Knicks remain the NBA’s highest-valued franchise, topping $4 billion for the first time.
- Lamar Odom is the latest former NBA star to sign up for the BIG3 league this summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Thunder Waive Alex Abrines
7:34pm: Abrines agreed to give back almost all of the $1.8MM he was still owed, according to Charania (Twitter link), who adds that he and the team “parted ways amicably.”
4:20pm: Oklahoma City has placed Alex Abrines on waivers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Thunder will still be responsible for the remainder of his $5,455,236 salary, which will continue to count against the team’s cap.
The third-year guard has appeared in just 31 games this season, averaging 5.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 19 minutes per night. Abrines was a second-round draft choice in 2013, but didn’t come to the NBA until three years later.
The 25-year-old has only appeared in two games over the past six weeks and is dealing with an undisclosed personal situation, according to Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Abrines and team officials came to a mutual decision that he needed time away from basketball to work on those issues, adds ESPN’s Royce Young.
“He’s still battling through some things and wasn’t able to be here tonight,” coach Billy Donovan said after Tuesday’s game. “Honestly, we go day-by-day with him and continue to be supportive with him. He’s around the team, we always talk and communicate.”
The Thunder were already one player short of the roster minimum of 14 after the deadline, so OKC will have to make at least two additions. They will have two weeks from today to replace Abrines.
John Wall Talks About Injury, Recovery
A disastrous injury to John Wall got even worse this week with the news that he developed an infection from heel surgery, then fell in his home and ruptured his left Achilles tendon, which is expected to sideline him for an additional 12 months.
Still, Wall was in good spirits as he joined his teammates for Friday’s win over the Cavaliers and as he talked to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post about his upcoming operation, which is set for Tuesday morning.
“You never want to hear it, but it is what it is, and [I’m] kind of glad that it happened now instead of when I’m four or five months ahead in recovery and I’m trying to get back to being on the court,” Wall said. “… It’s not like I’ve started my process of getting back, so it’s not too much to kind of dwell on.
“I guess God is telling me something: ‘Sit down and get yourself fully healthy.’ I’ve played through injuries my whole career. I know a lot of people who’ve played through injuries and don’t sit down; that’s one thing I don’t like to do. If something is nagging or not broken, I want to play. And I guess it kind of caught up to me. Something I can’t control, but my love for the game is still there, and I’ll come back and conquer this like it was just a little step in the road.”
“We added some great pieces; you see how well those guys played today,” Wall said in assessing the trades. “The franchise made some changes the last couple days, made some adjustments, and I think these guys that we added have a great mind-set even though it was only one game. Just take it one step at a time. For me, all I can do is sit back and watch film . . . [so] that I can come back and be able to play injury-free and just have fun without playing through nicks and bruises every night.”
Pistons Sign Wayne Ellington, Waive Henry Ellenson
6:09pm: The move is official, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
4:03pm: Wayne Ellington has cleared waivers and the Pistons will sign him to a contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
Ellington was sent to the Suns in the Tyler Johnson trade and the veteran was subsequently waived. It was reported on Friday that Detroit was nearing a deal with the 31-year-old after beating out “heavy competition” for his services.
While the Pistons don’t provide Ellington with a chance to compete for a title, they do provide him a path to court time on a potential playoff team. Detroit traded away Reggie Bullock, arguably the team’s best shooter, earlier in the week and Ellington, who’s a career 38.0% shooter from downtown, will have a chance to fill that void.
As we mentioned in our log of every team’s roster situation, the Pistons had a full roster and needed to make a corresponding move to add the shooting guard. The team will waive Henry Ellenson in order to make room for Ellington.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 2/2/19 – 2/9/19
Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Below are the original segments and features from the past seven days:
- Luke Adams examined every team’s roster in the aftermath of the trade deadline.
- We held a live chat on deadline day to answer readers’ questions about all that was happening.
- Fantasy basketball expert Chris Crouse identified which players will get better and worse as a result of this week’s trades.
- We conducted a poll on who will win the Eastern Conference.
- In this week’s Community Shootaround post, we asked if the Pelicans should have accepted the Lakers‘ latest trade offer for Anthony Davis.
- This week’s Mailbag took questions on Davis, Julius Randle and George Hill.
Fantasy Hoops: Post-Trade Deadline Stock Watch
We had a wild trade deadline this year with 14 day-of deals and several notable transactions leading up to Thursday. Let’s take a look at some winners and losers from a fantasy basketball perspective:
Rising Fantasy Basketball Stocks
Bobby Portis (Wizards): 30 points is not a bad way to introduce yourself to a new fan base. Yes, it was against the Cavaliers, but Portis looked comfortable in his new environment, tossing up 18 shots and finishing with a 31.8% usage rate in 27 minutes of action. The man who bet on himself appears determined to make the most of his audition for a new contract.
Jabari Parker (Wizards): Parker had 15 DNPs in the 25 games leading up to his trade, making owning him a frustrating task. He saw 23 minutes in his first game with Washington and didn’t commit a single turnover while adding seven points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. He’s a major defensive liability, but it’s easy to envision the Wizards looking past that as they evaluate whether or not he can be a part of the team’s long-term outlook.
Stanley Johnson (Pelicans): Johnson saw 20 minutes in his first contest for New Orleans, including all but a few possessions of the fourth quarter when Anthony Davis sat out. Davis won’t play in back-to-backs the rest of the way and he may be held out toward the end of games like he was on Friday night. That leaves opportunity for the rest of the roster and Johnson is among those in position to take full advantage.
Otto Porter (Bulls): In his Chicago debut, Porter started and saw 34 minutes. As long as coach Jim Boylen doesn’t get crazy with the rotations (not a given), Porter will see more opportunity with the Bulls compared to his days with the Wizards.
Lauri Markkanen (Bulls): With Portis no longer in his way, Markkanen will get all the opportunity he can handle. He has scored at least 30 points in three straight games and is averaging over 12 boards per game over that stretch. The big man is a top-30 player in both points and category leagues the rest of the way.
Jonas Valanciunas (Grizzlies): The center is still hurt, but if the Grizzlies eventually place him in the starting lineup, he’ll be a key fantasy contributor down the stretch. He only saw 18.8 minutes per game this season in Toronto but his per-36 minutes will catch your eye (24.5 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks).
Ivan Rabb (Grizzlies): Rabb is a must-own right now with Valanciunas sidelined and he should remain a viable contributor even when the center debuts with Memphis. He’s averaging 17 points, 10, rebounds, and three “stocks” over the last two games as a starter.
Tyler Johnson (Suns): Phoenix presents Johnson with a ton of opportunity and even though he had an awful debut (1-for-9 for two points, two assists, two steals, and two turnovers), he’s worth keeping an eye on.
Harrison Barnes (Kings): Barnes sees his stock rise ever so slightly, as he enters a situation with a faster pace. The Kings are top-10 in pace over the last 15 games while the Mavs rank 29th. The small forward saw 37 minutes in his first game with the club and while he wasn’t efficient nor a centerpiece of the offense, he’ll get enough action to justify a fantasy roster spot.
Declining Fantasy Basketball Stocks
Tobias Harris (Sixers): Harris scored just 14 points on 12 attempts in his Philly debut. He was a top-25 fantasy player on the Clippers due to his efficiency and volume. Expect his percentages to look good but his raw numbers to severely decline. Still, he’s in the 50-60 range in category leagues.
Nikola Mirotic (Bucks): Mirotic is still nursing a calf injury but when he finally makes his debut in Milwaukee, he should expect a lesser role than the one had with the Pelicans.
Thomas Bryant (Wizards): Bryant was declining prior to the trade deadline and the arrival of Portis steals touches from him. Dwight Howard returning at some point remains a possibility. In all, Bryant owners should probably be looking for other options on the waivers.
Marc Gasol & Serge Ibaka (Raptors): Gasol and Ibaka will both see a decline in fantasy value. Prior to the deadline, Ibaka’s value was expected to take a hit with Valanciunas eventually returning from an injury and Gasol will likely see more minutes per game than JV did with the Raptors. I expect Pascal Siakam‘s stock to remain relatively steady but all three bigs are less valuable than they were Thursday morning.
Jahlil Okafor (Pelicans): Okafor’s fantasy relevance was a great story while it lasted but with Davis still on the squad, the opportunities won’t be there as often. Okafor is an excellent candidate for daily fantasy consideration on nights Davis doesn’t play but don’t expect Okafor to be consistent enough to be more than a streaming option in season-long leagues unless the Pelicans fully shut down AD.
Fantasy questions? Take to the comment section below or tweet me at @CW_Crouse.
Missed an earlier edition of Fantasy Hoops? Check out the entire series here.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Sixers Notes: Harris, Brand, Fultz
The Sixers added another star at the trade deadline in Tobias Harris and the 26-year-old is thrilled to be in Philadelphia.
“It was awesome,” Harris said of playing alongside new teammates (via ESPN’s Tim Bontempts).“In all seriousness, you couldn’t ask for anything more. Me personally, I’m just sitting here like, ‘Wow.’ … It was fun.”
The Sixers sacrificed depth over the past few months in order to put together a lineup of Harris, Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick, and Joel Embiid. The lineup showed its potential in Friday night’s win over the Nuggets where it went on a 14-7 over the last four minutes to close out the game.
“It was funny … after the game, somebody texted me and sent me a video of me smiling after a play,” Harris said. “They wrote, ‘This is literally the first time I’ve ever seen you actually smile in a game.’ And I was like, ‘You ain’t lying.”
“It was cool to see that and just have fun out there. I really had a lot of fun tonight.”
Here’s more from Philadelphia:
- GM Elton Brand said he’s received “all assurances” from the Sixers’ ownership that the team can re-sign both Harris and Butler, Bontemps tweets.“We’re all on board to keep this core together long-term,” Brand said.
- By trading for Butler and Harris, the Sixers were no longer in position to be patient with Markelle Fultz, Bontemps explains in a separate piece. The team is built to win now and that, coupled with Fultz’s salary, which will come in at nearly $9.75MM next season, made it time to move on.
- Brand reiterated that the Sixers are focused on the present, Bontemps passes along in another piece. The GM said the team had been targeting Harris “if he became available” and the team had “coveted” him for a while. “We know he fits great into our system and he’ll do well,” Brand said of Harris. “[Simmons and Embiid] rapidly improved over the last season, so the window is now. The opportunity is now. So, once I saw that, we discussed taking a shot at it now, because who knows how long that window is going to be open?”
- Prior to Friday’s night win, Harris said he’s hopeful his time with Sixers can be a “long-term partnership,” per an Associated Press report (via NBC Sports). Boban Marjanovic, who was also acquired in the Harris deal, explained how the 76ers’ gumption inspired him and Harris.“We understand the team invested a lot in us,” the center said. “It was a big move. It was a win-now move. That means a lot. This is already a winning culture and we look to bring our games to it and help as best we can.”
Clippers Waive Michael Beasley
The Clippers have waived Michael Beasley, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Beasley came to the franchise in the trade deadline deal that sent Mike Muscala to the Lakers.
Beasley never suited up for the Clippers. He played in 26 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 7.0 points per game.
The former No. 2 overall pick has had NBA stops in Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, Phoenix, Houston, Milwaukee, and New York. He has played in a total of 609 NBA games.
Chandler Parsons To Rejoin Grizzlies After All-Star Break
The Grizzlies were unable to deal Chandler Parsons ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline and the veteran is now set to rejoin the team after the All-Star break, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Parsons, 30, took an indefinite leave from the team in early January after both sides could not come to an agreement on his playing time. He left the Grizzlies’ third game of the season due to right knee soreness and has not played since.
“I am extremely disappointed that I didn’t get to finish this season alongside my teammates and the Memphis coaching staff,” Parsons told ESPN. “Unfortunately that option wasn’t presented to me.
“The Grizzlies training staff medically cleared me to play 5-on-5 in mid-December and I have been practicing with the team ever since. I will continue to work out and train until my agent and the team reach a resolution. I am ready to play and committed to getting back on the court.”
In late December, Parsons cast blame on general manager Chris Wallace for keeping him sidelined. The team reportedly wanted to send Parsons to the G League but refused to tell him how long the stint would last. Under the collective bargaining agreement, veteran players have the power to refuse G League assignments.
“No communication. No nothing,” Parsons said at the time. “I don’t think it’s from a basketball standpoint. It’s definitely not from a health standpoint. I’ve been cleared by the medical staff of our organization, and clearly it’s not about fitting. I already earned a starting spot out of training camp and have shown I can fit with the team. I think the confusion for me is there’s no communication about what’s going on and when I’m going to play.”
Parson will not go to the G League before his return, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.
At his peak, Parsons averaged 16.6 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 74 games with the Rockets in 2013/14. Memphis signed Parsons to a four-year, $94.6MM max contract in July 2016. However, a series of injuries have limited Parsons to just 73 games (45 starts) since joining the Grizzlies.
After several deadline deals, most notably the trade of Marc Gasol to the Raptors, the Grizzlies are a different team from when Parsons initially took an indefinite leave. Now, it remains to be seen how he will fit in with the current roster.