Bucks Promote Mamadi Diakite, Sign Justin Jackson
APRIL 21, 12:11pm: Jackson has now officially signed with the Bucks too, as the team issued a second release announcing his two-way contract.
APRIL 21, 11:22am: The Bucks have made Diakite’s new deal official, announcing in a press release that he has signed a new multiyear contract.
APRIL 20, 10:06pm: The Bucks are converting Mamadi Diakite‘s two-way contract into a multiyear deal, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
An undrafted forward out of Virginia, Diakite was named to the All-NBAGL First Team while playing for the Lakeland Magic in the Orlando bubble. He’s appeared in 11 Bucks games since the All-Star break, averaging 2.5 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 8.6 MPG.
“I have more to prove, I have more to give to the team and I have more to show to the fans,” Diakite said. “Them doing this shows me that they trust me in many ways, but I still have work to do.”
The exact terms of Diakite’s deal aren’t known, but it’s unlikely to be fully guaranteed beyond this season.
The Bucks are filling the two-way slot with forward Justin Jackson, who played 33 games with the Thunder this year. Oklahoma City released him earlier this month.
Jackson, who turned 26 in March, averaged 7.2 PPG and 2.2 RPG on .406/.306/.857 shooting this season.
The former 15th overall pick began his career in Sacramento in 2017 and also played for Dallas before arriving in OKC in the 2020 offseason along with Trevor Ariza as part of a three-team trade that sent Delon Wright to the Pistons and James Johnson to the Mavs.
Milwaukee now has a full roster.
Cavs Sign Mfiondu Kabengele To Second 10-Day Contract
The Cavaliers have re-signed big man Mfiondu Kabengele, bringing him back on a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. His initial 10-day deal, signed on April 10, expired on Monday night.
A former first-round pick, Kabengele caught on with the Cavaliers after being waived by the Clippers. During his first 10 days with Cleveland, he saw limited action, recording a total of five points and five rebounds across three games (21 minutes). However, he showed enough to earn another 10 days with the team.
Kabengele’s second 10-day deal with the Cavs, like his first, will be worth $99,020. Because Cleveland waited an extra day to complete the signing, the contract will cover the club’s next six games instead of just five. Once it expires, the team will have to either let Kabengele walk or sign him to a rest-of-season deal.
The Cavaliers now once again have a full 15-man roster. They do have an open two-way contract slot and are expected to fill it at some point before the end of the regular season.
And-Ones: Wright-Foreman, B. Johnson, Canada, Banchero
A pair of former NBA players who were on two-way contracts during the 2019/20 season have signed new contracts overseas.
Point guard Justin Wright-Foreman, the 53rd overall pick in the 2019 draft, has joined Chorale Roanne Basket in France for the remainder of the season, the team said in a press release. Wright-Foreman spent all of ’19/20 on a two-way deal with the Jazz, but appeared in just four games and wasn’t retained in the fall. He played for the Erie BayHawks in the G League bubble this winter.
Meanwhile, small forward B.J. Johnson, who appeared in 10 games last season while on a two-way contract with Orlando, has inked a rest-of-season contract with the Brisbane Bullets, the Australian team announced. Like Wright-Foreman, Johnson hasn’t played in the NBA at all in 2020/21, but participated in the NBAGL bubble, averaging 18.4 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 14 games (31.1 MPG) for the Long Island Nets.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Blake Murphy and Eric Koreen of The Athletic take a look at which players might represent Team Canada in its Olympic qualifying tournament this summer. If they’re healthy and interested (and some have already expressed interest), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Andrew Wiggins, RJ Barrett, Luguentz Dort, Kelly Olynyk, Dillon Brooks, and Chris Boucher would be among the roster’s headliners. Twenty-four teams will participate in four qualifying tournaments, with the four winners advancing to the Tokyo Olympics and joining the eight countries that have already secured their spots.
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic examines how the NBA G League’s players union – the Basketball Players Union, formed in 2020 – is putting more power into the hands of its players.
- Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link) has updated his mock draft for 2022, moving Duke commit Paolo Banchero up to No. 1, as Chet Holmgren – who committed this week to Gonzaga – slides to No. 2.
Pacers Sign Oshae Brissett To Three-Year Deal
APRIL 21: The Pacers have officially re-signed Brissett, the team announced today in a press release.
APRIL 20: The Pacers and forward Oshae Brissett have agreed to a three-year contract, a league source tells J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
Brissett initially inked a 10-day contract with Indiana on April 1, then was re-signed to a second 10-day pact on April 11. That second deal is set to expire tonight. Because teams can only sign a player to two 10-day contracts in a season, Brissett would have become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow if the Pacers hadn’t been willing to sign him to a standard deal.
Brissett spent the 2019/20 season on a two-way contract with the Raptors, appearing in 19 games with the team last season after going undrafted out of Syracuse.
He reunited with former Toronto assistant Nate Bjorkgren in Indiana earlier this month and has made a positive impression on the Pacers in a limited role, averaging 4.8 points per game on .688/.571/.750 shooting in six games (8.2 MPG). His best game came last night, when he put up 13 points and six rebounds in a loss to San Antonio.
Because the Pacers haven’t yet used any of their mid-level exception yet this season, they were able to use a portion of it to go beyond a two-year deal for Brissett. While we don’t know the exact terms of the contract yet, the rest of this season’s salary will be fully guaranteed — years two and three will almost certainly be worth the minimum and are unlikely to be guaranteed.
Once they officially re-sign Brissett, the Pacers will have a full roster of 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
Injury Notes: Lillard, Durant, Fox, Hornets
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, who has missed the team’s last three games due to right hamstring tendiopathy, intends to return on Wednesday night vs. Denver, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
The Trail Blazers will welcome Lillard’s return — after squeaking out a one-point win in San Antonio, the club lost its next two games without him. Portland remains in the No. 6 seed in the West, but now has just a 1.5-game cushion over the seventh-place Mavs.
Here are a few more injury-related notes and updates:
- A pair of sources confirmed to Brian Lewis of The New York Post that Kevin Durant‘s thigh injury is considered minor. Durant remains with the Nets on their current road trip rather than having returned to Brooklyn, and head coach Steve Nash said the star forward is “day-to-day.” The latest update from the team on James Harden wasn’t quite so positive, as we relayed last night.
- Kings head coach Luke Walton said after Tuesday’s game that point guard De’Aaron Fox tweaked his ankle on Sunday, per Sean Cunningham of ABC10 Sacramento (Twitter link). It doesn’t appear the injury will sideline Fox for now, but it explains why he was limited to 28 minutes in the club’s loss last night — those 28 minutes were the fewest he has played in a game since January 15.
- There’s still no set timetable for LaMelo Ball, Malik Monk, or Gordon Hayward to return to the Hornets, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Although Monk’s return isn’t imminent, he’s believed to be closer than Hayward, says Bonnell. As for Ball, while a Monday report suggested he could be back as soon as early next week, head coach James Borrego wouldn’t confirm that, but he did say it seems that Ball wouldn’t be at risk of worsening his wrist injury if he returns this season, which is good news for Charlotte.
Kai Sotto Signs Multiyear Deal with Adelaide 36ers
Kai Sotto, a 7’2″ center from the Philippines who was a member of the G League Ignite, has signed a multiyear contract with the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League, the Australian club announced in a press release.
Sotto will join the team for the 2021/22 season, having signed a two-year deal with an option for a third year. While he could decide to declare for the NBA draft as early as 2022, it’s unclear if his new contract includes an NBA out that would allow him to come stateside before it expires.
Sotto was one of several young prospects who joined the Ignite, the NBA G League’s new select team, for its inaugural season in 2020/21. However, he didn’t end up appearing in any NBAGL games, having left the Ignite in January to train with the Philippines National Team at the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in Qatar. That event ended up being canceled, but Sotto and the Ignite decided not to have him report back to the Walt Disney World bubble due to the compressed schedule and the quarantine protocols that would have delayed his return.
A four-star recruit in 2020, Sotto remains somewhat of an unknown commodity, as he opted to forgo college and has yet to play in any professional leagues. His time in Adelaide should give him an opportunity to showcase his skills for NBA evaluators.
Jaren Jackson Jr. Could Return On Wednesday
Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. could make his season debut on Wednesday. He’s been upgraded to questionable on the team’s injury report for its game against the Clippers, the team’s PR department tweets.
Jackson suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee during the summer and has spent the season rehabbing the injury after undergoing surgery in mid-August. He could provide a major boost to a team sitting in the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.
Last season, Jackson averaged 17.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 1.6 BPG in 57 starts. The team exercised its option on his contract for next season prior to this season. He’ll make $9.18MM in 2021/22 and then head into a free agency, either restricted or unrestricted, in the summer of ’22 unless he signs a rookie scale extension prior to opening night next season.
In terms of this season, Jackson’s return could impact the playing time of Xavier Tillman, Brandon Clarke and Justise Winslow.
Jackson will be on a minutes restriction, according to Mark Giannotto of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“We’re not going to just throw (Jackson) into the fire and play a heavy load,” coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We’re going to be smart about his minutes and his integration, obviously trying to find the right combinations for him to be successful, for our team to be successful.”
Central Notes: Vucevic, Bulls, Antetokounmpo, Horst
The Bulls collected a big road win at Boston on Monday but have generally struggled since trading for Nikola Vucevic. Billy Donovan believes the team’s rotation players were slow to adjust to new roles with the addition of the All-Star center, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic.
“The trade really messed up our team a little,” the Bulls’ head coach said. “I don’t say that in a negative way. What I mean by that is everybody kind of got out of their normal rotation, how they were playing, how they were being used. We lost a little bit of our competitiveness not because we didn’t want to compete and play hard. It was really more of guys had to figure out their roles and what to do in their role.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Bulls will likely open their doors to fans before the regular season ends, according to Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed optimism that “there will be fans in the United Center” in the very near future. Chicago has seven home games remaining.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo missed several games with a knee injury but that’s not why he sat out most of overtime during a loss to Phoenix on Monday, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I just cramped. Got to get more fluids in me. That’s pretty much it,” the Bucks’ franchise player said.
- Bucks GM Jon Horst feels he accomplished his mission by trading for forward P.J. Tucker and adding point guard Jeff Teague via the buyout market, he told Eric Nehm of The Athletic in a Q&A session. Horst feels they could be the final pieces to a championship puzzle. “I could not be happier the way that we came out of the trade deadline and the buyout market in terms of how we’ve hopefully finished off this roster,” he said.
Southeast Notes: Gafford, Collins, Hawks Injuries, Olynyk
Daniel Gafford thought there was a “50-50” chance he could be dealt by the Bulls before the Wizards traded for him, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic.
“I was in and out (of the lineup). I wasn’t really playing as much,” Gafford said. “So, there was a lot of stuff going on in my head, just really trying to stay as positive as I could.”
He’s thriving thus far since joining the Wizards, averaging 11.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 2.0 BPG in 17.1 MPG through his first eight games.
The Wizards were not only interested in adding an athletic body in Gafford. They also liked his affordable contract — he has a non-guaranteed $1.78MM salary next season, a guarantee Washington will almost certainly pick up given his production.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Hawks big man John Collins admits that trade rumors affected him mentally before the deadline, he told Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (video link). “It’s not an easy thing to deal with,” he said. Collins will be a highly-coveted restricted free agent this summer, since he was unable to reach an extension agreement with the club last fall. “Very disappointing to not have something done,” he said. “I wanted to stay here, I want to be here. Now the situation being as it is, just (have to) weigh all my options.”
- De’Andre Hunter, Tony Snell and Kris Dunn missed the Hawks’ game against Orlando on Tuesday and there’s no timetable for their return. Coach Nate McMillan provided updates on the trio on Monday and noted that Hunter (knee) was unable to participate in practice, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets. Snell did some light running and shooting, while Dunn did some live work. They’re both sidelined by ankle injuries.
- While Heat guard Victor Oladipo is sidelined by an knee injury, one of the players traded to Houston, Kelly Olynyk, has thrived in his new NBA home, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. “It’s different for me coming from Boston and then Miami, just a different role,” Olynyk said. “But it’s been a great opportunity for me to go out there and play and help these young guys and help this team in a different way than my role was in Miami.” He had 10 points and eight rebounds against his former team on Monday.
Kawhi Leonard Out Until At Least Next Week
Clippers All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard will be sidelined until at least next week due to right foot soreness, the team announced.
Leonard will be reevaluated sometime next week. He has missed four of the last five games.
The first absence on April 11 was due to rest, according to the club. He sat out the next three games due to the foot injury before returning on Sunday and posting 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in 23 minutes against Minnesota.
Leonard obviously must have continue to experience discomfort in the foot afterward, prompting the team to shut him down for at least the next three games. The Clippers play Portland on Tuesday, Memphis on Wednesday and Houston on Friday.
That last game against the Rockets kicks off a three-game road trip, so it’s quite possible Leonard will be out five or more games.
The Clippers currently hold the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference. Leonard is averaging 25.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 5.1 APG this season.