Five Key Stories: 1/26/20 – 2/1/20
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. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:
The NBA was devastated this week by the death of one of its greatest stars. Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in Calabasas, California, that also took the life of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other people. Tributes to the 41-year-old star have been pouring in from players, league dignitaries and others who knew him, and the NBA elected to change the format of its All-Star Game as a way to honor Bryant.
Reserves were announced to fill out the rosters for the Feb. 16 All-Star Game in Chicago. The Wizards‘ Bradley Beal, the Suns‘ Devin Booker and the Bulls‘ Zach LaVine were among this year’s most notable snubs.
The NBA revised its salary cap and tax line projections for next season, making both a little lower than originally anticipated. Current revenue figures project the cap to be at $115MM, down from an expected $116MM, while the tax line will fall from $141MM to $139MM. The final numbers will be determined in July.
Knicks guard Elfrid Payton and two Grizzlies players were suspended after a scuffle late in Wednesday’s game. Payton’s suspension was for pushing Jae Crowder, while Jaren Jackson Jr. and Marko Guduric were each docked one game for leaving the bench.
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has been diagnosed with a moderate ankle sprain for the second time this season. He is expected to miss six games, and his availability for the All-Star Game is in question.
Here are 10 more noteworthy headlines from around the basketball world this week:
- Carmelo Anthony expressed a desire to finish his career with the Trail Blazers. He will be a free agent this summer after signing a one-year deal with the team.
- Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday has told management that he doesn’t want to be traded. Holiday would draw a lot of interest on the trade market, but he prefers to be part of the long-term picture in New Orleans.
- Derrick Rose expressed the same sentiment to the Pistons, telling the front office that his first choice is to remain in Detroit. The organization is reportedly seeking a lottery pick from teams that are interested in Rose.
- The Hawks are among several teams that called the Rockets about Clint Capela. It would reportedly take an “overwhelming” offer for Houston to trade its starting center.
- LaMelo Ball, who is in contention for the top pick in the 2020 draft, left his Australian team. He has been sidelined with a foot injury for several weeks.
- The Magic were denied a disabled player exception for Jonathan Isaac. The decision may mean Isaac is expected to recover from his injuries before June 15.
- Pacers guard Victor Oladipo returned to action after missing more than a year with a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee.
- Raptors guard Norman Powell is sidelined indefinitely with a fracture in his left hand.
- The Kings may try to fix their relationship with Dewayne Dedmon rather than trade him. Dedmon was fined in December for going public with a trade request.
- Several teams reportedly have interest in signing 32-year-old forward Trevor Booker, who hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2017/18 season.
Bulls Notes: Dunn, Young, LaVine, All-Star Weekend
The Bulls lost their defensive leader when Kris Dunn suffered a knee injury 13 seconds into Friday’s game, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Dunn returned to Chicago to undergo an MRI and get a thorough examination from team doctors. A more detailed report on his condition should be available soon.
The injury comes at an awkward time for Chicago with the trade deadline just five days away. Despite a 19-32 record, the Bulls are just three-and-a-half games out of the eighth spot in the East. Coach Jim Boylen acknowledged that several factors are in play as the organization decides whether to be buyers or sellers.
“The health of our team, our future development, our current ability to fight for the playoffs, we’ll take all that into account,’’ Boylen said.
A long-term absence for Dunn would weigh heavily on those decisions. He has become a contender for the NBA’s All-Defensive Team and serves as the on-court embodiment of Boylen’s defense-first philosophy.
“He brings other things that maybe you don’t see on the floor,’’ Boylen said. “He’s a great teammate, he relishes in his teammates’ success. He’s a vocal part of our meal room, our meetings, our video. He helps us learn and grow, so we’re going to miss him on a lot of levels.’’
There’s more from Chicago:
- The irony of Dunn’s injury is that he was hurt in a collision with teammate Thaddeus Young, who is a prime candidate to be traded if the Bulls decide to break up the team, Cowley adds in the same story. Young was knocked backward while drawing a charge, and his head struck Dunn’s knee. Young has been part of trade rumors for several weeks, but is attempting to go about business as usual. “I try not to worry about those things,’’ he said after today’s practice. “I try to continue to come and hoop whether I’m playing for the Bulls or playing for any other organization. … If they have to make a business decision, I understand what it is. I’ve been in the game for a long time. I understand organizations have to make changes and business decisions. When you get into a situation and your back is against the wall, you have to learn how to pivot.’’
- Zach LaVine tells Sam Smith of NBA.com that he’s disappointed not to be named to the All-Star Game, but understands the reasons for the decision. “You just saw the trend where they went for players on winning teams,” LaVine said. “Everybody (who has excelled this season) feels like they are deserving. But there are only so many spots. A lot of guys can make their case.” Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago examines the remarkable numbers LaVine posted in January, which was the best month of his career.
- No Bulls are currently slated to participate in any All-Star Weekend event, even though the game is in Chicago for the first time since 1988, notes Jamal Collier of The Chicago Tribune. Wendell Carter Jr. was selected for the Rising Stars Challenge, but will miss the game because of a sprained right ankle.
Stephen Curry To Miss Another Month, May Return In March
Warriors star Stephen Curry will miss all 11 games in February and will be re-evaluated in four weeks, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Curry is making steady progress in his return from a broken hand, and the team is “hopeful” he can return in March. Curry has increased the intensity of his shooting routines without any issues, Slater adds.
Sources tell Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle that Curry will meet with team doctors on February 29. He is targeting a return to the court sometime in early to mid-March, with the March 1 game against the Wizards a possibility depending on how his hand responds to continued treatment.
The Warriors insist that the potential of taking the league’s worst record into the lottery won’t factor into any decisions on Curry. At 10-39, they hold the top spot in our current Reverse Standings, three games ahead of the Knicks, Cavaliers and Hawks.
“We’re going to try to win every game that we can,” head coach Steve Kerr said recently. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot of value in doing anything else other than that.”
Kevon Looney Probable To Return For Warriors Tonight
Warriors center Kevon Looney, who has missed 18 games with an abdominal strain, is set to return to the lineup tonight in a tilt against the Cavaliers, according to Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Slater reports that Looney will be coming off the bench in his return, and will be restricted to a 20-minute limit. The UCLA alum has averaged 2.6 PPG and 2.9 RPG in just 10.5 minutes over 10 games.
Looney has not appeared in a game for Golden State since a December 23 win against the Timberwolves. The 6’9″ big man signed a three-year, $15MM contract with the Warriors this past summer after having a career-best season in 2018/19. He averaged 6.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.5 APG and 0.7 BPG in just 18.5 minutes per contest for the Warriors en route to the team’s fifth consecutive Finals appearance (and Looney’s fourth).
The Warriors could use all the help they can get; they currently have the worst record in the NBA, a paltry 10-39.
Kings Sign Big Man Eric Mika To 10-Day Contract
The Kings have inked power forward/center Eric Mika to a 10-day contract, according to a team press release.
The 6’10” Mika has averaged 19.8 PPG, 14.5 RPG, 2.4 APG and 0.8 BPG across 13 games (in which he notched 11 double-doubles) for Sacramento’s G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings. He is shooting 56.7% from the field and 67.4% from the charity stripe.
The big man logged a career-best 24 rebounds against the Santa Cruz Warriors on November 9, 2019.
The 25-year-old out of BYU, who also played on Sacramento’s summer league squad, should help shore up the Kings’ depth at the power forward and center positions. Kings big men Marvin Bagley and Richaun Holmes remain out for at least several weeks with injuries.
Ex-Magic Guard Isaiah Briscoe To Play In Poland
Former Magic point guard Isaiah Briscoe signed a new deal with King Wilki Morskie Szczecin, a team in Poland’s top basketball league, the club announced on Instagram.
After going undrafted out of Kentucky in 2017, the 6’3″ point guard inked a deal with Estonian team BC Kalev/Cramo. Briscoe went on to be named MVP of the 2018 Estonia/Latvia All Star Game.
Briscoe then latched on with an NBA team at last, appearing in 39 games for the Magic during the 2018/19 season. He posted a slash line of 3.5 PPG/2.2 APG/1.9 RPG, while shooting 39.9% from the field, 32.4% from three-point range (on 0.9 attempts), and 57.7% from long range.
Last year, Briscoe played for the Ratiopharm Ulm of the Basketball Bundesliga league in Germany.
Former Hawk Daniel Hamilton Signs With Guaynabo Mets
Former NBA shooting guard Daniel Hamilton has inked a new deal with the Guaynabo Mets of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional league of Puerto Rico, according to Dario Skerletic of Sportando.
The 6’5″ Hamilton was the No. 56 draft pick in 2016 out of the University of Connecticut. He suited up for six games with the Thunder in the 2017/18 season and 19 games, including three starts, for the Hawks in 2018/19.
Across his 25 NBA games, Hamilton holds career averages of 2.8 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.2 APG. He is shooting 39.4% from the field and 35.7% on 1.1 three-point attempts a night. Hamilton has also logged time with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Erie BayHawks, and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the G-League.
Hamilton, the 2015 AAC Rookie of the Year, made the 2019/20 Cavaliers‘ training camp roster, but was waived before the start of the season.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 1/26/20-2/1/20
Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Here are our original segments and features from the past seven days:
- Luke Adams took a look at the NBA players currently on active 10-day contracts.
- Adams updated his 2020 free agent power rankings from November with a fresh appraisal of the top 20 available NBA players for this summer.
- With NBA trade season mere days away, Adams examined the players acquired using an exception, who cannot be aggregated in a separate trade for two months after the original deal.
- Adams listed all the players whose NBA draft rights are currently held by NBA teams during the 2019/20 season.
- The stock of Bucks forward Dragan Bender and Bulls point guard Shaquille Harrison, both summer 2020 free agents, is down thus far. Dana Gauruder detailed their performances this season, and those several other Central Division free agents, in this week’s installment of our Free Agent Stock Watch series.
- Pistons guard Derrick Rose and Bulls swingman Denzel Valentine are two players Luke Adams considers in this week’s Central Division edition of our Trade Candidate Watch series.
- In this week’s Hoops Rumors Glossary, Adams defines the Traded Player Exception.
- In our Community Shootarounds this week, we asked:
- In our Polls this week, we asked if Bradley Beal should be an All-Star.
Norman Powell Fractures Ring Finger, Out Indefinitely
Raptors shooting guard Norman Powell fractured the fourth metacarpal of his left hand and will be out indefinitely, according to TSN Sports’ Josh Lewenberg (Twitter link) and The Athletic’s Blake Murphy (Twitter link). Powell injured his non-shooting hand during the fourth quarter of the 35-14 Raptors’ 105-92 defeat of the 17-33 Pistons last night.
Raptors bench guards Patrick McCaw and Terence Davis appear to be next in line to supplement Powell’s minutes throughout his indefinite absence, Lewenberg notes in a separate tweet.
Powell has blossomed during his fifth season with the Raptors. The 6’3″ shooting guard out of UCLA had career averages of 7.1 PPG and 2.1 RPG coming into the year, but is essentially doubling those marks (15.3 PPG and 3.9 RPG) while shooting 49.8% from the field and 40.1% on 5.1 three-point attempts per game.
Kemba Walker To Miss At Least Two Games
Celtics point guard Kemba Walker will miss at least the next two games with a right knee injury before being reevaluated, head coach Brad Stevens told reporters, including Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (Twitter link).
Walker aggravated the knee issue during Thursday’s tilt against the Warriors but there does not appear to be a major concern that it’s a long-term injury.
The 29-year-old has been a major factor in the Celtics’ strong season, earning a starting spot in the All-Star Game. Through 42 games, the former longtime Hornet is averaging 22.0 PPG, 5.0 APG and shooting nearly 39% from beyond the arc. Boston sports a 32-15 record, good for third in the Eastern Conference and two games behind the Raptors for second place.