Rockets Sign Mason Jones To 10-Day Contract
12:29pm: The Rockets have officially signed Jones to a 10-day deal, the team announced in a press release.
9:48am: The Rockets are bringing back shooting guard Mason Jones on a 10-day contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Jones had been with Houston on a two-way deal, but was waived on Monday to make room for Anthony Lamb.
An undrafted rookie out of Arkansas, Jones held his own in a part-time role for Houston in the first half, averaging 5.5 PPG and 2.1 RPG on .437/.367/.651 shooting in 22 games (11.1 MPG).
He received more playing time than initially anticipated due to the number of Rockets players who were affected by the COVID-19 protocols or missed time due to injuries — his return is presumably related to ongoing health issues as well, since Eric Gordon suffered a strained groin on Thursday night. Jones will provide some added depth on the wing and could immediately reenter the rotation.
The signing of Jones doesn’t mean that a trade of P.J. Tucker or another roster move is imminent. Houston already has an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to make room for the 10-day signing.
Jones will earn $61,528, a prorated portion of the rookie minimum, on his 10-day contract, while the Rockets will take on an identical cap hit.
Atlantic Notes: Griffin, Knicks, Celtics, Raptors
Blake Griffin came into the NBA as the high-flying athletic forward from Oklahoma who became a fan-favorite for his never-before-seen dunks. On the Clippers, he had over 1,000 dunks spanning from 2010-18, but this season he has zero dunks, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Griffin was an All-Star in 2019, averaging 24.5 PPG and 7.5 RPG. Since then, he has dealt with injuries that have slowed his athleticism even more.
“He’s had a history of knee issues, where he used to be a player who lived above the rim. He’s adapted and become a guy that handles the ball very well. He passes very well, he’s making threes. He’s adapted and changed his game,” Nets head coach Steve Nash said, per Lewis.
Griffin has not shot the ball well this season (36.5% FG, 31.5% 3P), but playing with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden, he is likely to get many more open shot attempts than he got in Detroit.
“We’ve got Joe in the corner and Ky in the corner. … We’ll have a ton of different options,” Nash said. “But Blake has developed his jump shot, so short rolling, he can knock that shot down.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Rival teams around the NBA do not expect the Knicks to make a big splash at the trade deadline on March 25th, reports SNY’s Ian Begley. The Knicks, who currently sit as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, are more likely to make a smaller move to bolster their roster, with J.J. Redick believed to be among their potential targets. “I know they’re looking at all the possibilities,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said of the front office. “If something makes sense for us, we’ll do it. If not, I love the team that we have. I love the guys that we have on the team. We’ll just keep working with what we have and (team president) Leon (Rose) and Wes (senior executive William Wesley), they’re combing the league. (GM) Scott Perry, that’s their job.”
- Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston takes a look at some trades that would make sense for the Celtics at the trade deadline. He looks at players such as Bulls forward Thaddeus Young, Cavs forward Larry Nance Jr. and Magic guard Terrence Ross.
- Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri has a long history of winning trades, including the 2011 deal between the Nuggets and Knicks that sent Carmelo Anthony to New York and the one-year rental of Kawhi Leonard that landed the Raptors a championship. With the Raptors holding the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference, Dave Feschuck of the Toronto Star looks at what the future holds for the roster and for face of the franchise guard Kyle Lowry. “If I can look at a crystal ball, I will tell you,” Lowry said. “(But) I don’t know what the crystal ball says.”
And-Ones: Lin, G League, Playoffs, Eboua
Having investigated Jeremy Lin‘s allegation that an opposing player called him “coronavirus” during a game, the NBA G League has identified that player, as Shams Charania of The Athletic relays (via Twitter). With Lin’s support, the league is handling the matter internally, Charania says.
An NBAGL spokesperson confirmed that Lin has met with the offending player to discuss the incident, adding that the player “understands the impact that hearing his comment had on Lin.”
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Speaking of the G League, the brief 2020/21 season came to an end on Thursday when the Lakeland Magic defeated the Delaware Blue Coats for this year’s NBAGL championship (link via The Associated Press). All the players under NBA contract who had been assigned to the G League bubble should now be headed back to their NBA teams, if they haven’t already rejoined them. That includes Lakeland’s Karim Mane (to the Magic) and Delaware’s Paul Reed and Isaiah Joe (to the Sixers).
- While the NBA has done a pretty good job during the last year dealing with the effects of the coronavirus, John Hollinger of The Athletic questions what the league’s plan will be for the 2021 playoffs. The league has had to postpone over 30 games so far this season for reasons related to COVID-19, but having to deal with any postponements in the postseason would be a major problem.
- Cameroonian forward Paul Eboua, who was in camp with the Heat in December and played for the Long Island Nets in the G League bubble, is headed back overseas, having reached an agreement through 2022 with VL Pesaro, per La Gazzetta dello Sport (hat tip to Sportando).
Caris LeVert Set To Make Pacers Debut On Saturday
Pacers guard Caris LeVert is on track to appear in his first game for his new team on Saturday in Phoenix, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
LeVert’s impending Pacers debut represents a remarkable turn of events for the 26-year-old, who was traded from Brooklyn to Indiana in mid-January in the four-team trade that sent James Harden to the Nets. At the time of the deal, a small mass was discovered on LeVert’s left kidney as part of a routine physical. He underwent surgery 10 days later to treat renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer.
While there was plenty of optimism at the time of the procedure that LeVert would make a full recovery, there was some uncertainty about whether or not he’d be able to return to the court before the end of the 2020/21 season. Now, he’s set to play for Indiana much earlier than anticipated, only about a month-and-a-half after his surgery.
As J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star writes, Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren had told reporters on Thursday that LeVert wouldn’t be out much longer and that there was a chance he’d play on the team’s three-game road trip, which begins on Friday in Los Angeles. Having seen him play in practice, LeVert’s new teammates are excited about the effect he’ll have on the struggling club, which has lost 12 of its lost 17 games.
“He looked great. He looked confident,” Domantas Sabonis said, per Michael. “Really good in the pick-and-roll, being aggressive going downhill, giving us more options. He’s going to attract a lot of defense to him, creating open shots for everybody. That’s what we’ve been missing.”
The Pacers are also hoping to get injured forward T.J. Warren back at some point this season, but he’s expected to be sidelined for a while yet as he recovers from foot surgery.
Northwest Notes: Muscala, MPJ, Lillard, Blazers, Wolves
Veteran forward/center Mike Muscala has been a regular, reliable rotation player for the Thunder so far this season, averaging a career-high 9.7 points per game to go along with 3.8 RPG and a .368 3PT% in 34 games (18.6 MPG). However, he received a DNP-CD in the team’s first game of the second half, with youngsters Aleksej Pokusevski and Moses Brown inserted into the rotation following their time in the G League.
“It took Mike out of the rotation, but Mike’s a pro and he’ll stay ready,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Those conversations with Mike are easy, and he makes it easy because of how professional he is.”
It was just one game, but both Pokusevski (14 points, eight rebounds) and Brown (eight points, 12 rebounds) looked good, and there’s no reason to expect the rebuilding Thunder to dial back their young players’ minutes the rest of the way. A playoff team may have more use for a low-cost bench player like Muscala, so he’ll be worth keeping an eye on as the March 25 trade deadline nears.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. will be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2021 offseason, and ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider link) says he’d be shocked if Porter’s representatives don’t open negotiations with a “max or nothing” stance. That looming payday is one reason why Denver may be wary of taking on much long-term salary in trades, Lowe notes.
- Despite Damian Lillard‘s repeated insistence that he wants to spend the rest of his career in Portland – and the contract extensions he has signed to back up that stance – it sometimes seems as if everyone wants him to seek a title elsewhere, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com, who explores why that’s the case and what a title with the Trail Blazers would mean for Lillard and the franchise.
- In his list of players returning from injuries who could impact the playoff race, Matt Eppers of USA Today has Trail Blazers teammates CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic sharing the top spot. Neither play was active on Thursday, but they’re both believed to be close to returning.
- After a dismal first half, the Timberwolves got off to a promising start in the second half, with young building blocks Jaden McDaniels and Jaylen Nowell playing key roles in head coach Chris Finch’s first win on Thursday, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
P.J. Tucker Away From Rockets, Expected To Be Traded
Rockets forward P.J. Tucker is away from the team and there’s a belief that he has likely played his last game with Houston, head coach Stephen Silas said after Thursday’s game in Sacramento, his club’s 14th straight loss.
“P.J.’s not with the team,” Silas said (video link via Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston). “He traveled here (to Sacramento), but is traveling back to Houston (instead of accompanying the team to Utah). We’re going to try to figure out something that works for him and works for us, in terms of him not being on the team anymore.
“I was under the assumption that he was going to be playing tonight, and he didn’t play. And that was disappointing. But it’s no secret that it’s been a rough year. He’s been professional… But at this point we’re going to do what’s best for the group and what’s best for P.J., and that’s probably not having him here.”
Prior to Silas’ post-game presser, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon had reported that Tucker, who is “increasingly frustrated” about not having been traded to a contending team, was a healthy scratch and that there was uncertainty about whether he’d return to the lineup at all. Silas essentially confirmed that report after the game, suggesting that both sides are on board with the divorce.
“He decided he was just not really with it, and we decided that’s a good idea — let’s move on,” Silas said, explaining why Tucker didn’t practice with the team on Wednesday and didn’t play vs. the Kings on Thursday (video link via Berman).
Unlike other players that have been pulled from their teams’ lineups in recent weeks, such as Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, and LaMarcus Aldridge, Tucker has a very manageable expiring salary, worth just under $8MM. As such, it shouldn’t be too tricky to find a taker for him, despite the fact that he’s having a down year.
While he’s still a solid defender, the 35-year-old isn’t contributing much on offense this season, averaging a career-low 4.4 PPG with a .314 3PT% in 32 games (30.0 MPG). Tucker believes joining a contender would allow him to display his value in ways he hasn’t been able to on the struggling and rebuilding Rockets, a person familiar with his thinking told Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
According to Woj and MacMahon, the Rockets have engaged in several trade discussions with teams about Tucker in recent weeks, including the Bucks, Lakers, Heat, and Nets. The Sixers, Jazz, Nuggets, and Timberwolves have also been cited as clubs with potential interest in the veteran forward, as Houston seeks a young, productive rotation player.
Sources tell ESPN that the Rockets thought they were in position to sign Tucker to an extension earlier in 2020/21, having offered $17MM ($10MM guaranteed) over two seasons. However, they balked when Tucker’s camp countered with a fully guaranteed two-year, $24MM deal.
The Tucker situation is the latest unfortunate development in what’s turning into a nightmare of a season for the Rockets, who already had to deal with a prolonged push from superstar James Harden to be traded.
Houston has slumped badly with Christian Wood out due to an ankle sprain, and the club’s injury situation has gone from bad to worse within the last couple days. As Feigen details, John Wall was hit on the side of his left knee in a scrimmage on Wednesday and was ruled out for Thursday’s game, while fellow guard Eric Gordon strained his groin vs. Sacramento and will undergo an MRI (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
California Notes: Poole, Kostas, Smailagić, Walton
As the Warriors strive to make a return to the playoffs, they owe it to themselves to give young reserve guard Jordan Poole more minutes, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area opines. Poole can provide some ball-handling for the second unit, a skill that is not a strength for his fellow backup guard Brad Wanamaker. With a 19-18 record, the Warriors are currently the No. 10 seed in the crowded Western Conference, which would qualify them for the play-in portion of the 2021 playoffs.
After Jordan Poole outperformed expectations playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League Orlando “bubble,” Monte Poole believes the time has come for him to get extended run spotting Stephen Curry in the second and fourth quarters during the All-Star point guard’s allocated rest breaks. Poole averaged 22.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 3.5 APG across 11 games (all starts) with Santa Cruz.
There’s more out of California:
- Lakers reserve forward Kostas Antetokounmpo, who signed his second two-way contract with Los Angeles during the offseason, has entered the league’s COVID-19 protocols, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets. Center Marc Gasol remains away from the team in coronavirus protocols as well.
- Warriors forward Alen Smailagić has been recalled from Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, the team announced in a press release. Smailagić averaged 7.5 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 10 games for Santa Cruz.
- While Kings head coach Luke Walton‘s job remains safe entering the second half of the 2020/21 season, Sacramento’s roster may undergo some changes with the March 25 deadline fast approaching, according to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.
Latest On LaMarcus Aldridge: Best Fits, Trade Issues, Heat
Now that former All-Star power forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge is set to part ways with the Spurs, there is widespread speculation across the league about how exactly he can be moved (the Spurs are focused on a trade rather than a buyout) and which teams provide the best fit for the aging big man.
Bobby Marks of ESPN discusses the difficulties of making an Aldridge trade work during an Instagram conversation (video link), noting, “San Antonio is not known to make trades during the regular season,”
Marks acknowledges that, due to Aldridge’s exorbitant $24MM expiring deal, a team would have to send out at least $19MM in contracts when making a trade. Because the Spurs are just $1MM below the tax line, they’ll look to avoid taking back more than $25MM back in contracts unless they send out additional players.
Marks lists five clubs that could potentially deal for Aldridge: the Celtics, who own a $28.5MM TPE, the Heat, the Sixers, the Suns, and a reunion with the Trail Blazers. Marks considers the Suns to be the best fit for Aldridge if he were to reach the buyout market, where the 35-year-old veteran could serve as a backup behind starting center Deandre Ayton.
David Aldridge, Sam Amick, and Joe Vardon of The Athletic discuss the best potential landing spots for Aldridge. Beyond the teams Marks touches on, Aldridge is considered an interesting fit with the Lakers to replace the largely-ineffective Marc Gasol in the rotation at center. The Athletic writers consider Aldridge still capable of contributing to a playoff contender at this late stage in his career.
Speaking of the Heat, Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald report that Miami numbers among the teams who have spoken with the Spurs about potentially trading for Aldridge, though the Heat are probably limited in players they would be willing to sacrifice to reach the $19MM threshold necessary for an Aldridge exchange.
J.J. Redick Undergoes Heel Treatment
Following non-surgical treatment today to address a sore, inflamed right heel, Pelicans guard J.J. Redick will miss at least one week of game action, according to an Associated Press report. New Orleans will re-assess the heel next week and adjust his recovery timeline accordingly.
Redick, currently on an expiring $13MM deal, has been floated as a possible sharpshooting addition to more playoff-ready rosters. With a 15-21 record, the Pelicans are currently the No. 11 seed in the West.
The 36-year-old Redick, who has been moved to a full-time bench role for the first time since the 2012/13 NBA season, is averaging 8.7 PPG on 40.7% field goal shooting and 36.4% shooting from long range this season.
The AP’s report goes on to note that the loss of Redick, a key reserve for the Pelicans this season, will yield more minutes for young guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kira Lewis Jr.
“Hopefully, they make good, smart plays, take good shots — not any added pressure on them,” New Orleans head coach Stan Van Gundy said of the players’ increased workload. “They’re just going to get opportunities.”
Aaron Gordon Cleared To Return
Magic forward Aaron Gordon, who has missed the last 15 games with a sprained left ankle, has been cleared to return to the floor for Orlando as they face off against the Heat, their fellow Floridians, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. The Magic have a 5-10 record in their 15 most recent contests without Gordon.
Chiang adds (Twitter link) that Orlando head coach Steve Clifford has stated that Gordon will start for the team, but will be playing on a minutes restriction as he eases his way back into game shape.
Through 19 games this season (all starts), the 25-year-old is averaging 13.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 0.8 BPG and 0.7 SPG in just 29.1 MPG. Gordon is in the third season of a four-year, $80MM contract he inked with the Magic in the summer of 2018.
Gordon’s return to game action will be a welcome one for an injury-depleted Magic club that is missing starters Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz for the season due to knee injuries. Rookie point guard Cole Anthony and veteran wings Terrence Ross, James Ennis III and Evan Fournier are all out tonight with various maladies, but are expected to return soon.
Teams around the NBA also figure to be keeping a close eye on Gordon during the next week or two to assess his health, since he could be a popular trade target at this month’s deadline.