Bulls Continue To Evolve Amid Season Of Woes
The Bulls are experiencing a season of ups and downs and Zach LaVine, who signed a four-year deal last offseason, feels the team has grown from the struggles, as Sam Smith of NBA.com relays.
“I don’t try to think negatively, but when you are going through those down times it seems like the days are longer,” LaVine said. “I feel now like…I’m glad we are out of that and hopefully we can stick in the good times. You can see a light in the dark tunnel. You try to prepare yourself for the times you are going to be playing for something, and that’s definitely what we want to do [now] as a team.”
Better times may be coming next season. Otto Porter Jr., who the Bulls acquired at this year’s deadline, recently told Hoops Rumors that he believes Chicago is heading in the right direction.
“We have a lot of young guys, young pieces. The team is definitely headed in the right direction, trying to get back to winning basketball here,” Porter said.
The Bulls have gone 6-5 since the trade deadline and their chemistry appears much improved compared their early-season swoons.
“We have a little bit of a swag to us going out there,” LaVine tells Smith. “We are feeling good and hopefully we can continue to carry it out throughout the end of the season.”
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls 3/5/19
Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Spurs have recalled Lonnie Walker from the Austin Spurs, per the team’s website. The No. 18 overall pick from this year’s draft has seen action in seven NBA games this season.
- The Clippers are sending three players to their G League affiliate. Jerome Robinson, Sindarius Thornwell, and Johnathan Motley, who’s on a two-way deal, will go to to the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, per Los Angeles’ Twitter feed.
- Tony Bradley is headed to the Salt Lake City Stars, as the Jazz announced on their Twitter feed. The assignment will be Bradley’s 11th of the season.
- The Hornets have assigned Dwayne Bacon and Devonte’ Graham to the Greensboro Swarm, per the team’s Twitter feed.
- The Warriors have recalled Jacob Evans from the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to the team’s website. The No. 28 overall selection from the 2018 draft has played in 23 games for Golden State this season.
- The Grizzlies have assigned Jevon Carter to the Memphis Hustle, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
Hawks Notes: Young, Future, Pierce
No matter how well Trae Young performs in his career, he will always be compared to Luka Doncic after the Hawks dealt the Slovenian wing to the Mavs in exchange for Young and a future first-rounder. Young embraces the comparisons, as he tells Marc Stein of The New York Times in the scribe’s latest newsletter.
“I know it’s a part of my life now,” Young said. “I tell everybody that hopefully we’re both 15-plus years down the line and we’re still playing and it’s a competition that’s been going since draft night…I think it’s going to go on forever, so might as well just accept it and take it on as a challenge.”
The Hawks are excited about the 20-year-old point guard in part because of his wise perspective at such a young age, Stein writes. Of course, Atlanta is also thrilled with Young’s game on the court. The University of Oklahoma product got off to a slow start to the season, but said the game “is really starting to slow down” for him. Young has averaged 21.5 points and 8.3 assists while making 39.2% of his looks from downtown since the start of the 2019 calendar year.
Here’s more from Atlanta:
- The Hawks have the right pieces in place as they close out year-one of their rebuild, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution contends. In addition to their young core, which includes Young, John Collins, and Kevin Huerter, Atlanta will likely receive the Mavs’ 2019 first-rounder, which is top-5 protected. Dallas currently has the eighth-worst record, as our Reverse Standings show.
- Young said Kevin Durant reached out to him, lending the rookie advice on how to deal with criticism, as Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports passes along. “[Durant] said remain [yourself], keep going, things are gonna turn and go the right way for you,” Young said. “Just to keep my head straight. I’ve known KD a long time, and he’s given me a lot of advice growing up.”
- Young has the green light to shoot from anywhere on the court, though coach Lloyd Pierce emphasizes that the point guard isn’t the only player without restrictions, as Goodwill relays in the same piece. “The freedom is for everybody. There’s no restrictions on who’s taking the shots or who’s making the plays. It starts with Trae,” Pierce said. “There’s a time and place, what’s a good or bad shot, a quick shot. I probably yell at guys more for passing up shots than for taking shots. Brian Shaw said something years ago at a camp, ‘Don’t pass up good [expletive] for bulls–t.’ So I don’t care if it’s further back. If it’s an open shot and you’re in rhythm, take it.”
Sixers May Look To Add Backup Center
The Sixers are running out of healthy big men and if it appears that Boban Marjanovic won’t return soon, the team will likely explore options for adding a center to the roster, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Joel Embiid came out of the All-Star break with knee soreness and was expected to miss about a week. Those three games have now turned into six, with Embiid sitting out against the Magic tonight.
“He just doesn’t feel like he’s ready to go,” coach Brett Brown said of Embiid. “He really does feel restricted with some of his movements, there’s a little bit of soreness, I think, still.”
Brown added that he doesn’t have a timeline on Marjanovic. Jonah Bolden and Amir Johnson are both nursing ailments and didn’t practice on Tuesday, leaving. Justin Patton, who came to Philadelphia in the Jimmy Butler deal, as the only fully healthy center on the team.
The Sixers don’t currently have an open roster spot, but could create an opening by waiving a player like free-agent-to-be Furkan Korkmaz, who is currently injured and didn’t have much of a role when he was healthy.
And-Ones: J. Jack, W. Baldwin, Japan, CBA
Veteran point guard Jarrett Jack, who signed a G League contract last week, has been claimed off waivers by the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat‘s NBAGL affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. The Skyforce aren’t scheduled to play until Saturday, but Jack will be available for that game, according to the club.
Jack, 35, appeared in 62 games for the Knicks last season, starting 56 of them, but has yet to find an NBA home for this season. If he looks good for Sioux Falls down the stretch, it could earn him a look from a playoff club. There aren’t a ton of contenders in need of a point guard at the moment, but Jack could be a fit for a team like the Magic if they’re in position to make the postseason and want a steady veteran as an option off the bench.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former first-round pick Wade Baldwin played sparingly this season for the Trail Blazers, then was involved in a flurry of moves at last month’s trade deadline, briefly joining the Cavaliers, Rockets, and Pacers. Now, he’s playing for Toronto’s G League affiliate, the Raptors 905, and tells Blake Murphy of The Athletic that he’s hoping to prove he deserves another NBA shot. “I think in this league you have to show consistency, show what you can do at all times, so it’s another platform for me to show what I can do in order to get back where I belong,” Baldwin said. “I believe I’m an NBA player, rotation guy, talent, all that. It’s opportunity.”
- The NBA announced this week that the Raptors and Rockets will play a pair of preseason games in Japan this fall. The contests, which are scheduled to take place on October 8 and 10 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City, will represent the first time the NBA has returned to the country in 16 years — the league held 12 regular season games in Japan between 1990 and 2003.
- The NBA has tweaked the Collective Bargaining Agreement in recent years to make it easier to allow first-round picks to participate in Summer League action a couple weeks later, but Danny Leroux of The Athletic believes there’s one more flaw that needs to be addressed. As Leroux explains, a first-round pick can’t be used for salary-matching purposes in a trade until the player signs his contract, and a player can’t be dealt for one month after signing his contract. So a prospect included in a trade for, say, Anthony Davis this offseason may not get the chance to play Summer League ball.
Poll: Is Western Conference Playoff Field Already Set?
In our Community Shootaround discussion on Monday, we zeroed in on the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, noting that the final three postseason spots remain up for grabs in the East, where the sixth and 10th seeds are only separated by 2.5 games.
For a time, it appeared the last few playoff spots in the Western Conference were just as up in the air, but the gap between the top eight teams in the West and the lottery teams has increased as of late.
The seventh-seeded Clippers have won six of their last eight games and the eighth-seeded Spurs are on a three-game winning streak of their own. Their top challengers, the Kings and Lakers, have both been heading in the other direction recently. Sacramento has lost five of seven, while the Lakers’ struggles have been well publicized — they’ve won just five of their last 18 games.
As a result of those trends, the Kings are now three full games behind the Spurs for a postseason spot, while the 10th-seeded Lakers trail San Antonio by 5.5 games with only 18 contests left to play. Time is running out for those teams outside of the top eight to make a run, especially given how good the current playoff clubs have looked.
While the door is rapidly closing on the Lakers and the teams behind them in the standings, there may still be some hope for the Kings. According to Tankathon.com, Sacramento has the sixth-easiest schedule in the NBA down the stretch. The Kings will also face the struggling Celtics twice in the next 10 days, and they hold the tiebreaker over the Spurs.
Still, the Jazz, Clippers, and Spurs – the three teams directly ahead of the Kings in the standings – also rank in the top half of the league in terms of easiest rest-of-season schedules. Plus, Sacramento won’t get much of a chance to make up ground by beating those three teams. The Kings only have one game left against Utah, one against San Antonio, and none against the Clippers — and those games against the Jazz and Spurs are on the road.
So, is it too optimistic for us to expect a Western Conference playoff race over the season’s final month? Can the Kings, Lakers, or another team force their way back into the mix, or will the conference’s current top eight teams make up the playoff field when the first round gets underway in April?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Is the Western Conference playoff field already set?
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No, a current lottery team will move into the top eight 54% (691)
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Yes, the current top eight teams will make it 46% (592)
Total votes: 1,283
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Dwight Howard Experiences Setback During Rehab
Dwight Howard suffered a “minor setback” while rehabilitating his back injury, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said today (Twitter link via Fred Katz of The Athletic). According to Brooks, the veteran center – who has been doing non-contact drills in Washington – tweaked his hamstring.
With the Wizards technically still in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, three games behind the eighth-seeded Magic, there’s some incentive to get Howard back in the lineup before the end of the season. However, a Washington playoff berth and a Howard return both appear increasingly unlikely. The 33-year-old hasn’t played since November 18 and wasn’t taking contact even before his setback.
Assuming Howard is unable to make it back this season, he’ll finish his first year in D.C. having appeared in just nine games, with averages of 12.8 PPG and 9.2 RPG.
The former first overall pick has a 2019/20 player option worth approximately $5.6MM, which looks like a good bet to be exercised. After his lost ’18/19 season, Howard likely wouldn’t be able to match that salary on the open market if he were to opt out.
With Howard still on the shelf, the Wizards will continue to rely on Bobby Portis as their starting center, with Thomas Bryant earning minutes off the bench.
Jaylen Brown: Celtics Must Fix “Toxic” Environment
While Jaylen Brown has been fairly productive off the bench for the Celtics in recent weeks, logging some of his better performances of the season, he said this week that he’s “not feeling good at all” about the team’s overall play, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. According to Brown, the environment around the team needs to change.
“Right now it’s not good. It’s toxic,” Brown said. “I can’t really point out one thing. I don’t have all the answers. I’m just going to try to be part of the change. I’m going to try to do my best. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
Brown is just the latest in a string of Celtics players to express frustration with the situation in Boston. Kyrie Irving has done so multiple times this season, Marcus Morris spoke last month about the club not having any “fun,” and Marcus Smart said last week that the team is “just not together.” Like those other players, Brown doesn’t know exactly what the solution is, but still believes the C’s are capable of turning things around.
“I still believe,” he said, per Washburn. “I think we’ve got time to get it together. I’m very optimistic and very positive and think that we will . . . We keep talking about it. I’m just going to try to do it with my play, come out and play hard and try to change the atmosphere and this environment.”
Let’s round up a few more Celtics-related items…
- Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston revisits several of the defining moments of the Celtics’ 2018/19 season, tracing the evolution of the club from Eastern Conference frontrunner to vulnerable, middle-of-the-pack playoff team.
- In an illuminating story for ESPN.com, Jackie MacMullan talks to Gordon Hayward and some people around him about the veteran forward’s long, challenging quest to regain his All-Star form. Hayward has been assisted by a mental health counselor during the process, as MacMullan details.
- According to data compiled by Eric Pincus at Basketball Insiders, the Celtics sent $2,055,910 to the Hawks in last month’s Jabari Bird salary dump. That amount was more than enough to cover the remaining portion of Bird’s $1,349,383 salary for 2019/20, so Atlanta easily came out ahead. So did Boston though — Bird’s cap hit would have cost the team about $2.27MM in projected tax penalties.
Clifford: Magic Don’t Expect Fultz To Play This Season
When the Magic acquired Markelle Fultz from the Sixers at the trade deadline last month, reports indicated that the team would be patient with the former No. 1 pick, who was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and ruled out indefinitely in December.
Head coach Steve Clifford confirmed as much during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio on Monday, indicating that the team doesn’t expect Fultz to play this season (audio link).
“I don’t think so,” Clifford said, when asked if we’d see Fultz again in 2018/19. “He’s still actually rehabbing his shoulder, and he’s not even able to really do much on the floor yet. It’s a pretty significant shoulder injury, and I would say he’s starting to do a little bit, but it would be very difficult for him to get back this year.”
After being limited to just 14 games in his rookie season in Philadelphia, Fultz appeared in 19 contests for the Sixers in 2018/19, averaging 8.2 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 3.1 APG. He continued to struggle with his shot, posting a line of .419/.286/.568 and displaying unusual form on free throws, leading to the new diagnosis of his shoulder issue.
Despite Fultz’s struggles in his first two seasons, the Magic remain high on 2017’s top pick, who is still just 20 years old. Orlando surrendered Jonathon Simmons and a pair of future draft picks for Fultz in February, even though the team recognized he was unlikely to contribute this season.
D.J. Augustin has been a fairly steady presence at the point for Orlando this season, posting 11.5 PPG and 4.9 APG on .473/.436/.858 shooting. However, the backup production from Isaiah Briscoe and Jerian Grant has been inconsistent. Nonetheless, with Fultz not expected to be ready to return until next season, the Magic will have to continue to rely on Briscoe and/or Grant or turn to the free agent market for help as they attempt to secure a playoff spot.
Postseason Eligibility And Two-Way Players
As we noted several times leading up to last Friday’s deadline, March 1 is the final day in an NBA season that a player can be waived and retain his playoff eligibility for a new club. Any player released after March 1 can still sign with another NBA team once he clears waivers, but he wouldn’t be able to participate in the postseason with his new team.
While the playoff-eligibility rules are fairly clear for players on standard NBA contracts, how exactly do they work for players on two-way contracts? Let’s take a closer look…
1. Players on two-way contracts aren’t eligible for the postseason.
We’ll start with the simplest rule — a player on a two-way contract can’t play for his team in the postseason, even if he hasn’t used up his full allotment of 45 NBA days. A two-way player can travel and practice with the team during the playoffs, but has to remain on the inactive list during games.
2. Two-way players waived after March 1 aren’t eligible to play in the postseason for a new team.
The same waiver rules that apply to players on standard NBA contracts apply to players on two-way deals when it comes to playoff eligibility. If a player on a two-way contract is waived between now and the end of the regular season, he won’t be eligible to join another team for the postseason.
Although these first two rules significantly restrict the ability of two-way players to participate in the playoffs, it’s still possible for a player who is on a two-way contract today to play in the postseason.
3. A player on a two-way contract who has his contract turned into a standard NBA deal by his current team any time up until the last day of the regular season can play in the postseason for that team.
Warriors swingman Damion Lee and Rockets wing Danuel House are two examples of players who have contributed to their respective teams’ success at various times this year and could be useful at the back end of a playoff roster.
If the Warriors and Rockets want to ensure they’ll have Lee and House available for the postseason, they could unilaterally convert those two-way deals into standard, one-year NBA contracts anytime between now and the end of the regular season. As long as the player gets moved to the 15-man roster on or before the last day of the regular season, he’s eligible to participate in the playoffs.
There are potential roadblocks in each case. The Warriors are poised to use their final open roster spot on Andrew Bogut, so they’d have to waive another player on a guaranteed contract if they want to promote Lee. The Rockets, meanwhile, have attempted to lock up House to a longer-term deal to avoid having him reach restricted free agency at season’s end, but the two sides haven’t found common ground. We examined that stalemate back in January.
Still, there’s a potential path for Lee, House, and any other player currently on a two-way contract for a contender to play in the postseason if a team wants to make it happen.
[RELATED: 2018/19 NBA Roster Counts]
While these eligibility rules for two-way players shouldn’t create problems for most of the league’s 30 teams, there are at least a handful of clubs that might have decisions to make before season’s end. In order to make a player on a two-way contract available for the postseason, a team will have to convert that player to a standard NBA deal by April 10.
For more information on how two-way contracts work, be sure to check out our full glossary entry.