Pistons Sign Tyler Cook To 10-Day Contract
MARCH 18: The Pistons have officially signed Cook to his 10-day contract, per NBA.com’s transactions log. He’s expected to be available for Friday’s game vs. Houston, tweets James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
MARCH 15: The Pistons are signing free agent forward Tyler Cook to a 10-day contract, reports Rod Beard of The Detroit News (via Twitter). Cook reached the open market on March 6 when his 10-day deal with Brooklyn expired.
Undrafted out of Iowa in 2019, Cook spent time as a rookie last season on a two-way contract and a pair of 10-day deals with Cleveland before joining Denver for the NBA restart as a substitute player. He only appeared in 13 total NBA games, but played more for the Canton Charge and OKC Blue in the G League, averaging 12.9 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 29 games (21.3 MPG).
Cook returned to the G League for the 2020/21 season and was one of the early standouts at the Walt Disney World bubble, averaging 20.8 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 4.4 APG in eight games (33.3 MPG) for the Iowa Wolves. That performance earned him a 10-day look from the Nets, but Brooklyn has opted not to re-sign him, clearing the way for his deal with Detroit.
Cook’s 10-day contract, which will pay him $99,020, won’t require the Pistons to make a corresponding roster move — they’ve had an open spot on their 15-man squad since buying out Blake Griffin.
It’s unclear when the Pistons intend to officially sign Cook and start the counter on his 10 days. According to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link), the 23-year-old still has to clear the COVID-19 protocols and is expected to be available for Friday’s game vs. Houston.
And-Ones: COVID-19, I. Thomas, Lakers, Bucks, S. Bradley
The NBA and NBPA announced on Wednesday that three of the 490 players tested for the coronavirus since March 10 returned confirmed positive tests. That’s relatively good news for the league, since there was some concern about players moving all over the country during the All-Star break before returning to their teams. It appears there hasn’t been a spike in COVID-19 cases following the break.
Meanwhile, as players and staffers around the league begin to receive vaccinations for the coronavirus, the NBA and the NBPA have agreed to relax certain protocols and restrictions related to the virus, as Baxter Holmes of ESPN details.
Fully vaccinated individuals no longer have to quarantine following exposure to COVID-19, while fully vaccinated teams won’t have to wear masks at their practice facilities, Holmes writes. Additionally, restrictions related to home visitors and in-restaurant dining are being loosened for those individuals and teams.
A player is considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after his final dose, while a team meets the criteria once 85% of its players and 85% of its staff members have been vaccinated, Holmes adds.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link) has heard that the Lakers and Bucks are among the teams to watch if Isaiah Thomas gets another NBA opportunity. While Thomas continues to pursue an NBA comeback, he may have to wait until after teams see who’s available at the trade deadline and on the buyout market.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic shares eight creative, hypothetical trades he’d like to see happen at the deadline, including a Hornets/Hawks swap that involves John Collins, Devonte’ Graham, and P.J. Washington, and a four-team trade that sends Gorgui Dieng to the Nets.
- The Mavericks shared an extremely sad piece of news this week, announcing on their website that former NBA center Shawn Bradley was struck by a car in January while riding his bicycle, resulting in a traumatic spinal cord injury that has left him paralyzed. Bradley has spent the last eight weeks hospitalized and undergoing rehab, but is said to be “in good spirits” and aims to use his platform to bring greater public awareness to the importance of bike safety.
NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Intriguing Non-Player Assets
With the March 25 trade deadline fast approaching, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players around the NBA who are candidates to be moved this month, breaking them down into several categories based on their age, contracts, on-court value, and other categories. Today, we’ll zero in on the non-player assets that could be important at the deadline.
In our first four round-ups of this year’s potential trade candidates, we’ve listed a total of 88 different players. Before we move onto the top tier of potential trade targets on Friday, we’re going in a bit of a new direction today, identifying the non-player assets that could be crucial when it comes to completing deadline deals.
These are draft picks, cap exceptions, and other assets that will help grease the wheels of potential deals when player-to-player swaps don’t produce equal value or don’t work based on NBA rules.
Let’s dive in…
Draft picks:
Many of the teams that hold extra first-round picks in upcoming drafts – including the Thunder, Rockets, Pelicans, and Knicks – probably aren’t in position to start packaging those picks to acquire impact players, so their effect on the deadline will be limited.
However, the teams whose first-rounders those clubs control will feel the impact of those past deals. The Bucks, Clippers, Lakers, and Mavericks are among the teams that are significantly restricted in their ability to offer up draft capital in deadline deals, since they’ve already surrendered multiple picks in other trades.
The Timberwolves’ 2021 first-round pick (top-three protected) controlled by the Warriors would be an asset to monitor closely if Golden State were a buyer. But that seems increasingly unlikely, given the Warriors’ modest 21-20 record and the fact that Klay Thompson won’t be back until next season. The team is probably better off hanging onto that pick for now.
The Nets are also worth watching — despite trading away their own second-round pick, they could have up to three other second-rounders, via Atlanta, Phoenix, and Indiana (the Pacers’ second-rounder is 45-60 protected, so if they miss the playoffs, they’ll have to send it to Brooklyn). The Nets are a veteran team that doesn’t need to draft a bunch of rookies this summer (they’ll have a first-round pick anyway), so all of those second-rounders could be up for grabs in trades.
Traded player exceptions:
The Celtics‘ massive traded player exception worth $28.5MM has received most of the attention in recent months, and for good reason — it’s technically big enough to fit all but 34 NBA players, though Boston would have to send out some money to avoid surpassing the hard cap in certain scenarios.
There are plenty of other trade exceptions available around the league though, include a Thunder TPE that’s nearly as big as Boston’s ($27.5MM).
The Rockets ($10.7MM), Nuggets ($9.5MM), Sixers ($8.2MM), Heat ($7.5MM), Jazz ($5MM) are among the other clubs with sizeable TPEs that could come in handy in the next week.
As a reminder, a trade exception allows a team to take back a player earning any amount up to the value of the TPE (plus $100K) without sending out any salary in return. A more in-depth explanation can be found in our glossary entry.
Disabled player exceptions:
Disabled player exceptions, which can be awarded to teams when a player suffers a season-ending injury, are somewhat similar to trade exceptions. They’re more versatile in some ways (they can also be used to sign a free agent or claim a player on waivers), but more restrictive in others (any player acquired, signed, or claimed must not be under contract beyond this season).
In 2020/21, five teams were awarded disabled player exceptions, but the Heat forfeited theirs by trading away their injured player (Meyers Leonard). That leaves the Warriors ($9.3MM), Magic ($6.1MM and $3.7MM), Nets ($5.7MM), and Wizards ($4.2MM) as the teams with at least one DPE available.
All four of those teams, unfortunately, are either already in luxury tax territory or are very close to it, so the odds of them taking on extra salary via their disabled player exceptions aren’t great.
Still, there are creative ways to use these exceptions without actually increasing team salary. For instance, let’s say the Wizards trade Ish Smith for a player earning $4MM on an expiring contract. The Wizards could fit the incoming salary into their DPE and create a new trade exception worth $6MM (Smith’s salary) that would be available to use for a year.
Disabled player exceptions will expire if they’re not used by April 19 — obviously, after the March 25 trade deadline, they can only be used on free agents or waivers claims.
Cap room:
Only one team has any cap room that could come in handy at the trade deadline — the Knicks still have more than $15MM in space available. That would allow New York to trade for a player like J.J. Redick ($13MM) without sending out any salary.
If the Knicks wanted to acquire a player whose salary exceeds the available cap room, such as Victor Oladipo ($21MM), they wouldn’t have to match his full salary as long as they send out enough to remain below the cap after the deal is complete. In the case of Oladipo, New York would have to include about $6MM in outgoing salary.
While it sounds like the Knicks would like to upgrade this year’s roster, the club could also accommodate a salary dump with its cap room, taking on another team’s unwanted contract and acquiring another asset for its trouble.
Cash:
Teams are permitted to send or receive up to $5.6MM in trades during the 2020/21 season and most teams remain well below that limit, as our tracker shows. The Rockets are the lone team that’s tapped out and can’t send any more cash this season, while the Pistons – who acquired $4.6MM in an offseason deal – are the closest to their incoming limit.
Cash considerations can be either a deal sweetener or the entirety of a team’s return in a given trade, like today’s swap that sent Torrey Craig from Milwaukee to Phoenix for just cash.
Bucks Trade Torrey Craig To Suns
MARCH 18: The Bucks have officially sent Craig to Phoenix in exchange for cash considerations, according to the club (Twitter link).
MARCH 17: The Bucks will trade reserve small forward Torrey Craig to the Suns, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM tweets that the Suns are sending out cash considerations in the deal.
Milwaukee will not be getting a player in return from Phoenix in the agreement, Woj adds (via Twitter).
After spending his first three NBA seasons with the Nuggets, Craig signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract with the Bucks during the 2020 offseason.
Undrafted out of the University of South Carolina Upstate in 2014, Craig began his pro career in Australia, where he played for several NBL teams from 2014-2017. He signed a two-way deal with the Nuggets in 2017, and eventually earned his way onto Denver’s regular 15-man roster.
The defensive-oriented Craig, 30, played in just 18 games with the Bucks, averaging 11.2 MPG as an occasional perimeter defender off the bench. He did improve his three-point shooting this season, connecting on 36.4% of his 1.2 long-range attempts per night. He could help spell starting Suns wings Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges in a limited role.
Phoenix’s 26-12 record currently makes the team the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, and if Craig can have a good showing as a reserve for a potential powerhouse, he could attract some interest when he returns to free agency this summer.
The Bucks have been active today with trades, having also agreed to send backup point guard D.J. Augustin and reserve power forward D.J. Wilson to the Rockets in exchange for forwards P.J. Tucker and Rodions Kurucs. That move also involves a series of draft picks and swaps.
Thanks to these two deals, the small-market Bucks are now $3.5MM below the hard salary cap, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter). Milwaukee also now has two open roster spots, which could serve the team well in future trades or in the buyout market this season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Heat Notes: Dinwiddie, Ariza, Gay, Bjelica, Winslow
The Heat are among the teams with interest in Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who previously reported that Detroit is eyeing Dinwiddie as well.
Miami’s interest in Dinwiddie is curious — the Heat presumably want to make a push to get back to the NBA Finals, and the 27-year-old is considered likely to miss the rest of the season due to a partially torn ACL. It also may be tricky for Miami to make a deal with another Eastern Conference contender, lest they risk strengthening a potential playoff opponent.
On top of that, the Heat have the ability to open up some cap space this offseason, so Dinwiddie’s Bird rights wouldn’t be as valuable to them as they would be to teams without any projected room. So while it’s not impossible to imagine Brooklyn and Miami making a deal involving the veteran guard, it seems somewhat unlikely.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- In the wake of Miami’s acquisition of Trevor Ariza, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald breaks down what the deal means for the team, while Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald gets some feedback from an NBA scout on the 35-year-old’s fit. Ariza has typically played the small forward position, but Jackson’s source expects him to be a de facto power forward in Miami. “In today’s day and age, Ariza can be a four,” the scout said. “There’s so little distinction between threes and fours when you look at who’s on the floor. I don’t think that’s a problem at all.”
- Within the same story, Jackson suggests that it may no longer make sense for the Heat to pursue some veteran forwards who were previously believed to be targets, such as Rudy Gay and Nemanja Bjelica. And while LaMarcus Aldridge remains a possibility in a buyout scenario, Jackson is unsure the Spurs big man would get a ton of playing time in Miami if Kelly Olynyk continues to play well and Ariza establishes himself as a rotation player.
- Before playing his old team for the first time on Wednesday, Grizzlies forward Justise Winslow expressed gratitude to the Heat, with whom he spent the first four-and-a-half years of his NBA career. “More than anything, I want to see those faces, just to tell them, ‘Thank you,'” Winslow said, per Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com. “Because I wouldn’t be here without their guidance and without their support. It’s no hard feelings, just a lot of gratitude from me.”
Kentucky’s Isaiah Jackson Enters 2021 NBA Draft
Potential lottery pick Isaiah Jackson has announced that he’ll enter his name into the 2021 NBA draft pool, according to a press release from Kentucky. The freshman power forward is testing the waters and won’t sign with an agent for the time being.
“Playing in the NBA has always been a dream of mine growing up,” Jackson said in a statement. “It has always been something that, with the right opportunity, I would pursue. … No matter what I ultimately decide, this place will always hold a special place in my heart.”
In his first – and possibly only – season with the Wildcats, Jackson averaged 8.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and an impressive 2.6 BPG in 25 games (20.7 MPG). In his scouting report, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony refers to Jackson as one of the best athletes in the college game who is a defensive difference-maker and has some offensive upside.
Givony and fellow ESPN draft guru Mike Schmitz currently have Jackson ranked 12th on their big board of 2021 prospects.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the revamped NBA schedule, there’s still no set of deadlines in place for when early entrants must declare for the draft and when they’ll have to make final decisions on their draft eligibility. An update on those dates and deadlines should come sometime soon.
Raptors Notes: VanVleet, Siakam, Anunoby, Powell
The Raptors had four players – including starters Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam – cleared from the NBA’s health and safety protocols for Wednesday’s game, allowing their rotation to regain some semblance of normalcy, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. However, VanVleet and Siakam were predictably rusty in their returns, shooting a combined 5-of-24 from the floor in a loss to Detroit.
The loss was Toronto’s sixth straight, dropping the club’s record to 17-23 just one week away from the trade deadline. While the belief is that the Raptors are a better team than their record has shown, the front office will have to make some big decisions at the deadline, so there won’t be much time to assess the roster once it gets back to full strength, Grange notes.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- The one player who remained out on Wednesday due to the health and safety protocols was OG Anunoby. However, he traveled to Detroit and the hope is that he’ll be cleared to play vs. Utah on Friday, Grange tweets.
- Blake Murphy of The Athletic weighs the pros and cons of trading Norman Powell, who will be eligible for unrestricted free agency at season’s end and is making a strong case for a lucrative new deal, with 19.7 PPG on .500/.446/.875 shooting this season. Multiple teams have inquired on Powell, according to Murphy, who wrote his article before the swingman went off for 43 points on Wednesday, further complicating the equation.
- The NBA has rescheduled a pair of Raptors games, the league announced in a press release. The February 28 game vs. the Bulls that was postponed has been moved to April 8, while an April 9 game vs. Cleveland has been pushed back to April 10.
Southeast Notes: Stan Heath, Aldridge, Hunter, Magic
Just days after the Lakeland Magic, the NBAGL affiliate of the Magic, won the 2020/21 G League title in a 97-78 route of the Delaware Blue Coats, Lakeland head coach Stan Heath has been named the NBA G League Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year by his fellow coaches, per a G League press release.
Heath’s defensive approach worked wonders for the Magic, who finished their regular season with a 9-6 record that nabbed them the No. 6 seed heading into the G League playoffs. Lakeland’s stifling defense ranked atop the G League with a 101.0 defensive rating and 101.5 PPG allowed.
Heath won top honors during a uniquely unorthodox year for the G League, one that was reduced to a 15-game regular season within an Orlando “bubble” campus. Heath is the only head coach Lakeland has ever known, since its 2017 inception. He holds a 94-63 record across his four seasons at the helm for the club.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- The Heat may not be done adding 35-year-old NBA veterans to their roster this season, following the news of Miami’s trade for Trevor Ariza today. Sources tell Marc Stein of the New York Times (via Twitter) that the Heat will remain in pursuit of former All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, who is currently away from the Spurs as they try to coordinate a trade. Stein notes that Miami would likely look to add Aldridge in the event of a buyout, not a trade.
- Hawks interim head coach Nate McMillan apparently does not share the previously-expressed optimism of Atlanta GM Travis Schlenk that injured small forward De’Andre Hunter will return to the court Thursday. Hunter has been rehabilitating from a January surgery on his right meniscus. During an interview on the Midday Show with Andy & Randy for 92.7 FM The Game. McMillan pushed back against Schlenk’s claims. “He has been working out, he’s getting closer, but playing tomorrow? That’s something we haven’t really talked much about,” McMillan said. “I think the conversation before going on the road trip was hopefully he’ll be able to join us on this eight game road trip we have coming up.” Hunter, the No. 4 pick out of Virginia in 2019, had been enjoying a breakout season with the Hawks before his injury. Across his 18 healthy games (all starts), Hunter averaged 17.2 PPG on an efficient slash line of .514/.366/.877, to go along with 5.4 RPG and 2.2 APG.
- The 13-26 Magic may be best served exploring their trade options in the days leading up to the March 25 deadline. John Hollinger, Danny Leroux and Josh Robbins of The Athletic preview potential deals for the franchise, suggesting that veterans Aaron Gordon, Terrence Ross, Nikola Vucevic, and even 2021 free agent swingman Evan Fournier could all net some intriguing young talent.
COVID-19 Protocols Sideline Wiseman, Paschall At Least One Week
Warriors big men James Wiseman and Eric Paschall will be quarantining due to COVID-19 protocols for at least one week, Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.
The players were initially sidelined tonight for Golden State’s battle with the hapless Rockets, a 108-94 victory, after contact tracing revealed potential exposure to the novel coronavirus, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Slater adds that some of the Warriors’ development staff and assistant coaches have also entered the NBA’s coronavirus protocols.
Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area notes (via Twitter) that the earliest Wiseman and Paschall can return to the floor for the Warriors will be next Thursday against the Kings. In the absence of both big men, the Warriors will most likely lean more on veterans Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
Rookie center Wiseman has shown flashes of the promise that prompted the Warriors to select him with the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA draft out of Memphis. He is currently averaging 11.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG, in just 20.8 MPG, across 29 games for the Warriors (including 17 starts). Second-year power forward Paschall, a 2019/20 All-Rookie selection, has seen his output decrease during his second season while playing on a healthier roster.
Warriors star Stephen Curry also left Wednesday’s game with an injury diagnosed as a tailbone contusion. While head coach Steve Kerr said it initially looked “kind of scary,” he added that he doesn’t expect Curry to miss much time, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, VanVleet, Ainge, KD
As the Sixers head toward the NBA trade deadline, Derek Bodner and Rich Hoffman of The Athletic catalogue just which players Philadelphia’s revamped front office might be willing to move. Unsurprisingly, Bodner and Hoffman do not think the 28-12 Sixers will be willing to trade All-Stars Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons this season.
Conversely, Danny Green, Mike Scott, Terrance Ferguson, and Vincent Poirier are all earmarked as possible trade candidates for salary-matching purposes in hypothetical outgoing deals. Bodner and Hoffman think that the Sixers will be reluctant to move Shake Milton, Tobias Harris and Seth Curry, as those players probably have more value to Philadelphia than they would in a trade.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Yesterday, Celtics team president Danny Ainge claimed that trade chatter around the NBA has been relatively quiet, but that he anticipated talks to heat up next week, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. There have already been three trades agreed upon today.
- Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, who returned to the court for Toronto tonight, detailed his bout with COVID-19, as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star details. VanVleet dealt with a sore back and body, plus a high fever. “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” he said. “I’m just happy to be back with the team right now.”
- Nets head coach Steve Nash says that All-Star forward Kevin Durant remains a few weeks away from a return to game action, according to Malika Andrews of ESPN. Durant continues to recover from a right hamstring strain that has kept him sidelined since February 13. “We’re monitoring it and expect him to make a full recovery,” Nash said. “And hopefully it won’t be too long. But he’s probably got a couple weeks of ramp-up left.”