Rockets Looking To Add Assistant GM?
The Rockets are believed to be looking to add another executive to their front office, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, who tweets that the position would be an assistant general manager-type role.
Houston has lost three key executives from its basketball operations department within the last two years. Executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas left in 2019 to become the lead decision-maker in Minnesota, assistant general manager Monte McNair left in 2020 for a similar role with the Kings, and GM Daryl Morey departed this fall for a top basketball ops role in Philadelphia.
The Rockets responded by promoting Rafael Stone to replace Morey as general manager, with Eli Witus taking on additional responsibilities in his assistant GM role. Having promoted from within to fill the hole created by Morey’s exit, the team hasn’t made any major new additions to its front office. As such, adding another executive in a position under Stone would make some sense.
At this point, there are no indications of whom the Rockets might be targeting if they look to make an external hire.
Grizzlies’ Postponements Represent Evolution In NBA’s Approach
The NBA’s decision to postpone the Grizzlies‘ next three games – despite the team only currently having one confirmed case of COVID-19 – represents an evolution in the league’s approach to the virus and to the 2020/21 schedule, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
For most of the season, when a player has tested positive for the coronavirus, the NBA has conducted a contact tracing investigation for a day or two, then required players to self-isolate for one week if they’re deemed to be a close contact to the person who tested positive. If the affected team still has at least eight players available after the initial investigation, that team has continued playing its games as scheduled.
As Wojnarowski explains, today’s decision to postpone three Grizzlies games essentially means “parking a team and taking them out of circulation” once the club has a player test positive.
There’s no indication at this point that Memphis’ one positive case will result in a larger outbreak, but the league – which tightened many of its COVID-19 protocols last week – appears committed to minimizing the risk of creating a chain reaction among its teams.
If the NBA continues to err on the side of caution and takes teams off the schedule for several days at a time once a player tests positive, it would mean certain teams spend longer periods on the sidelines. However, the hope would be that fewer total teams would be affected by contact tracing and possible positive tests.
Heat Notes: Harden, Butler, Haslem, Nunn, Attendance
The Heat reportedly removed themselves from the James Harden sweepstakes before the regular season began and weren’t believed to be a finalist when the Rockets ultimately moved the former MVP last week. However, a few Heat players were still willing to offer their thoughts on what it might have looked like if Harden had ended up in Miami, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays.
Acknowledging the concerns about Harden’s ball dominance on offense, Jimmy Butler said during an episode of GQ Sports’ Actually Me that really good players “always find out a way to win,” even if the fit doesn’t look perfect on the surface.
“He wants to win a championship,” Butler said of Harden. “And if we were to end up playing together, we’d make it work and we’d find a way to win.”
One of Butler’s teammates, Udonis Haslem, seemed less convinced that Harden would have been a great fit in Miami, joking during an appearance on Complex’s Load Management podcast about how the 31-year-old’s fondness for the nightlife would mesh with playing in South Beach.
“I mean, you can’t bring James Harden to Miami,” Haslem said. “As much as I wanted that to work out, in my mind, I was like, ‘Uh, no way.’ … I would have aged 15 years trying to be his OG down here. He’d have had to move me in the guesthouse, to keep a close eye on him.”
Here’s more on the Heat:
- After playing well in the regular season as a rookie, Kendrick Nunn saw his role reduced during the postseason and got off to a slow start in 2020/21. However, the Heat’s shortage of players has resulted in increased minutes this week, and Nunn has taken advantage, with two big games in wins over Detroit and Toronto. If he can build off his hot streak, the 25-year-old guard – who is in a contract year – could substantially improve his value as a trade chip and/or as a 2021 free agent, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- The Heat intend to allow “an extremely limited” number of fans to begin attending their home games as of January 28. Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald has the details on the plan, which will fill AmericanAirlines Arena to less than 10% of its capacity and will apply to six games through February 9. Presumably, the team will see how things go before committing to anything beyond that date.
- Be sure to follow our Miami Heat team page for all the latest news and notes on the club.
NBA Postpones Grizzlies’ Next Three Games
The NBA has postponed the Grizzlies‘ next three games, the league announced in a press release. Memphis is being affected by the NBA’s contact tracing protocols and, as a result, has a number of players unavailable.
The affected games are as follows:
- Friday, January 22 at Portland vs. the Trail Blazers.
- Sunday, January 24 at Memphis vs. the Kings.
- Monday, January 25 at Memphis vs. the Kings.
The Grizzlies had been scheduled to play in Portland vs. the Blazers on Wednesday night, but that game had to be postponed as well.
As of Monday, Jonas Valanciunas was the only Grizzlies player who was ruled out due to the league’s health and safety protocols, with Jaren Jackson Jr., Justise Winslow, and Jontay Porter all sidelined due to injuries.
While the NBA’s contact tracing protocols have affected more players since Monday, it doesn’t sound as if those players have been asked to complete week-long quarantine periods yet, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski tweets that the COVID-19 exposure within the Grizzlies’ organization may be isolated, and that the league is “erring on the side of caution” by deciding to not have the team play its next few games as scheduled.
Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian adds (via Twitter) that the Grizzlies, for now at least, have just one active case of the coronavirus.
Following this series of postponements, the Grizzlies’ next game (vs. the Bulls) is set to be played on Wednesday, January 27 in Memphis. At that point, it will have been more than a week since the team was first affected by contact tracing. If there are no additional positive tests or other setbacks, that game shouldn’t be in jeopardy.
The NBA has now postponed 20 games in 2020/21, as seen in our tracker. The growing number of postponements will make it a challenge for certain teams to play a full 72-game season.
Traded Second-Round Picks For 2021 NBA Draft
We’re using the space below to keep tabs on each NBA team’s second-round pick for 2021, continually updating it as necessary throughout the year. Our list of traded first-round picks for 2021 can be found right here.
We’ve listed all 30 teams here, so even if a team hasn’t traded its second-round pick, that will be noted. We’ll also provide details on protections for each traded pick, including what happens to the pick in 2022 if it doesn’t change hands in 2021.
Here’s the full breakdown on the status of each 2021 second-round pick:
Atlantic
- Boston Celtics: Own pick
- Brooklyn Nets: Traded to Hornets (unprotected).
- New York Knicks: Traded to Sixers (unprotected).
- Philadelphia 76ers: Traded to Knicks (unprotected).
- Toronto Raptors: Traded to Pistons (unprotected).
Central
- Chicago Bulls: Own pick (or Pelicans’ pick).
- The Bulls have the right to swap second-round picks with the Pelicans.
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Traded to Pelicans (unprotected).
- Detroit Pistons: Traded to Knicks (unprotected).
- Indiana Pacers: Traded to Nets (45-60 protected).
- If this pick lands in its protected range, the Pacers would keep it and would instead owe the Nets their 2022 second-round pick (45-60 protected).
- Milwaukee Bucks: Traded to Pacers (unprotected).
Southeast
- Atlanta Hawks: Traded to Nets (unprotected).
- Charlotte Hornets: Traded to Pistons (unprotected).
- Miami Heat: Traded to Hawks (unprotected).
- Orlando Magic: Own pick.
- Washington Wizards: Traded to Pelicans (unprotected).
Northwest
- Denver Nuggets: Traded to Thunder (unprotected).
- Minnesota Timberwolves: Traded to Warriors or Thunder.
- If the top-20 protected first-round pick the Warriors owe the Thunder lands in its protected range, the Warriors would instead send the Timberwolves’ second-round pick (unprotected) to the Thunder.
- If the top-20 protected first-round pick the Warriors owe the Thunder lands in its protected range, the Warriors would instead send the Timberwolves’ second-round pick (unprotected) to the Thunder.
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Traded to Celtics (top-55 protected).
- If this pick lands in its protected range, the Thunder would keep it and their obligation to the Celtics would be extinguished.
- Portland Trail Blazers: Traded to Grizzlies (unprotected).
- Utah Jazz: Traded to Pacers (unprotected).
Pacific
- Golden State Warriors: Traded to Raptors (unprotected).
- Los Angeles Clippers: Traded to Hornets (unprotected).
- Los Angeles Lakers: Traded to Pistons (unprotected).
- Phoenix Suns: Traded to Grizzlies or Nets.
- The Suns will send their second-round pick to the Grizzlies if it lands in the 31-35 range or to the Nets if it lands in the 36-60 range.
- The Suns will send their second-round pick to the Grizzlies if it lands in the 31-35 range or to the Nets if it lands in the 36-60 range.
- Sacramento Kings: Own pick.
Southwest
- Dallas Mavericks: Traded to Pelicans (unprotected).
- Houston Rockets: Traded to Bucks.
- The Rockets have the right to swap their 2021 second-round pick with the Bucks’ 2021 first-round pick.
- Memphis Grizzlies: Traded to Raptors (unprotected).
- New Orleans Pelicans: Own pick (or Bulls’ pick).
- The Bulls have the right to swap second-round picks with the Pelicans.
- San Antonio Spurs: Own pick.
Information from RealGM was used in the creation of this post.
Markelle Fultz Undergoes Surgery To Repair Torn ACL
Magic guard Markelle Fultz, who suffered a torn left ACL earlier this month, underwent successful surgery on Wednesday to repair that tear, the team announced in a press release.
The Magic confirmed in their announcement that Fultz will miss the remainder of the 2020/21 season, as expected. His return next season will depend on how he responds to treatment and rehabilitation, per the club. If the ’21/22 regular season tips off in October, it’s possible the former No. 1 pick won’t be ready, since it often takes upwards of a year for players to return from major ACL injuries.
Fultz, 22, averaged a career-best 14.3 PPG and 6.1 APG in his seven healthy games this season, though his shooting percentages in the early going (.396 FG%, .250 3PT%) were well below his modest career rates.
Although Fultz faces a long recovery timeline, he at least won’t have to worry about dealing with restricted free agency during the summer of 2021, since he signed a three-year contract extension in December. That new deal will pay him a guaranteed $16.5MM salary both next season and in 2022/23.
[RELATED: 2020/21 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]
The Magic will also play the rest of the 2020/21 season without young cornerstone forward Jonathan Isaac, who suffered a torn ACL of his own. The team was granted a disabled player exception following Isaac’s injury and has applied for one to replace Fultz as well. Now that the point guard has undergone surgery and his recovery outlook is clearer, that application will likely be approved soon.
NBA Postpones Friday’s Wizards/Bucks Game
The game between the Wizards and Bucks that was scheduled to be played on Friday in Milwaukee has been postponed, the NBA announced tonight (Twitter link).
It’s the sixth consecutive postponement for the Wizards, who haven’t played since January 11. The team was cleared to return to the court to practice on Wednesday, but remains significantly shorthanded.
Deni Avdija, Davis Bertans, Troy Brown, Rui Hachimura, Ish Smith, and Moritz Wagner are out due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, while Thomas Bryant (ACL) and Russell Westbrook (quad) are sidelined due to injuries, leaving just eight available players on the roster (Twitter link).
According to the NBA’s announcement, the game is being postponed due to the number of unavailable players for the Wizards, contact tracing affecting players on the roster, and the club’s lengthy layoff from practicing.
As Fred Katz of The Athletic wrote earlier tonight, Bradley Beal and the Wizards had been planning to lobby for a postponement of Friday’s game, since they felt that potentially playing with the league-mandated minimum of eight players after not practicing for the last week would result in a high risk of injury for the active players.
The next game on Washington’s schedule is Sunday in San Antonio. The hope is that the Wizards will have enough available players – and enough practice time between now and then – to be ready to play that game.
The NBA has now postponed 17 contests this season. The full list is here.
Atlantic Notes: Payton, Raptors, LeVert, Johnson
Elfrid Payton remains the starting point guard for the Knicks ahead of breakout rookie Immanuel Quickley and veteran off-guard Austin Rivers thanks to Payton’s solid defense, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was diplomatically effusive in his praise of both Payton and Quickley, the latter of whom Berman notes has become a fan favorite. “I love both guys — they’re different and bring different things to the team,’’ Thibodeau said Sunday. “Elfrid, when you look at his defense and size, a lot of these guards, particularly point guards in the NBA today, they’re a load to deal with. Elfrid has a good understanding how to defend them.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Nets-turned-Pacers wing Caris LeVert was notified by Brooklyn GM Sean Marks during their 2020 offseason that he might be traded in 2020/21, according to J Michael of the Indianapolis Star. “Sean was very honest with me from the first time the rumors came out. He told me don’t rule it out,” LeVert said. “I didn’t know it was going to happen. I just knew that it was a possibility and there was a lot of speculation.”
- With the Raptors having finally established a consistent rotation, the team is rebounding from an ugly beginning to its season, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. Toronto is on a three-game win streak following a 2-8 start. “I think that we’re continuing to find out things about our team that are improving the team,” head coach Nick Nurse said yesterday. “Guys are comfortable with the guys that we’re putting out there and I think those guys have chipped in pretty considerably.
- Hustling in practice has carved out a rotation role for Raptors reserve forward Stanley Johnson, per Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. “I think the important quality is that he’s maintained … a really strong work ethic day in and day out, which isn’t easy to do for somebody who’s been in the league for a while when you’re not hitting the court for really long stretches of time,” Nurse said. Johnson is averaging 14.7 MPG for Toronto in 11 contests.
Western Notes: Patterson, Lakers, KP, Lonzo
In his second year with the Clippers, reserve power forward Patrick Patterson is impressing his Los Angeles teammates and coaches with his preparation, according to Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register.
“Coming in every single day and getting (his) work in, condition-wise, shots, always putting in the extra time,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said of Patterson’s prep work, despite a limited on-court rule thus far. “Pat Pat has been doing a good job of playing five-on-five with the young guys, and just keeping his flow.”
There’s more out of the Western Conference:
- Complacency may be the toughest adversary the reigning champion Lakers confront during the 2020/21 season, says Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register. Though the defensive-oriented champs have lost two games they led entering the fourth quarter this season after not dropping a single such game during 2019/20, their offensive output has improved notably, Goon opines.
- Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis has been trending upward since his return to game action, according to Dwain Price of Mavs.com.
- Fourth-year Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball has struggled to fit in on the hardwood during his second season with New Orleans, writes Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer. After failing to agree to terms on an extension by the deadline this season, Ball will be a restricted free agent this summer. Though he’s a savvy player and good defender, Ball’s jump shooting (just 38.7% from the floor) has limited his efficacy this season.
Killian Hayes Out At Least Eight More Weeks
The right hip subluxation that has sidelined Pistons rookie lottery selection Killian Hayes since January 4 will keep him off the court for at least the next eight weeks, the club announced today in a press release. Detroit will re-evaluate the 19-year-old point guard and determine a return timeline after that period.
When he first incurred the injury, Hayes was originally projected to miss about four to six weeks should a specialist determine he would not require surgery.
The silver lining to this extended absence, however, is that Hayes will apparently not require a surgical procedure to address the injury, per David Aldridge of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Veteran point guards Derrick Rose and Delon Wright will continue to soak up most of Hayes’ minutes as the rookie continues to recover. Third-year point guard Frank Jackson may get additional run. Forwards Jerami Grant and Blake Griffin will be relied upon for supplemental ball-handling.
Across his first seven NBA games, Hayes especially struggled on offense. He sported an underwhelming slash line of .277/.250/.500.