Isaac Okoro Out 2-3 Weeks Due To Elbow Injury
Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro has been diagnosed with a left elbow sprain after undergoing an MRI to assess the severity of the injury, the team announced today in a press release.
Okoro, who sustained the injury during the second quarter of Sunday’s game vs. Indiana and didn’t return, will undergo treatment and rehab on his elbow and is expected to miss about two or three weeks, according to the Cavs.
Bad health luck has put a damper on an impressive breakout season for a young Cavaliers team that currently has a 21-16 record, good for fifth in the Eastern Conference. The team has already lost Ricky Rubio (ACL) and Collin Sexton (meniscus) to season-ending injuries.
Okoro’s ailment isn’t nearly that serious, but it will still leave Cleveland with a hole in its rotation in the short term. The former fifth overall pick has started 23 of 27 games he has played this season, averaging 9.0 PPG and 3.6 RPG on .454/.321/.719 shooting in 28.4 minutes per contest. He’s also a major asset on the defensive end.
Lamar Stevens and Dylan Windler are among the candidates for increased roles as long as Okoro remains on the shelf. Cedi Osman can be added to that group too once he exits the health and safety protocols.
Klay Thompson Eyeing Potential Sunday Return
There’s optimism that Klay Thompson will be able to return from his 30-month absence this coming Sunday when the Warriors host the Cavaliers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Thompson, who missed the entire 2019/20 season due to a torn ACL and then spent the duration of the ’20/21 campaign recovering from a torn Achilles, has been practicing with the team for several weeks and appears on the verge of making his season debut.
The Warriors and Thompson have been eyeing a home game for Klay’s return. After Golden State hosts Miami on Monday, the club will embark on a two-game trip to Dallas on Wednesday and New Orleans on Thursday before returning to the Bay Area for Sunday’s contest. A decision on Thompson’s potential availability for Sunday is expected to come when the team returns from its brief road trip on Friday, says Wojnarowski.
With an NBA-best 28-7 record, the Warriors have been just fine without Thompson so far this season. However, if Golden State gets anything close to the All-Star version of the 31-year-old back, it would be a huge boon to the team’s title hopes. Before his injuries, Thompson was one of the league’s best outside shooters and was one of the Dubs’ best defenders.
Ja Morant, DeMar DeRozan Named Players Of The Week
Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).
Morant led the Grizzlies to three consecutive victories during the week of December 27 – January 2, including an impressive road win in Phoenix, plus home wins over the Lakers and Spurs. He had a 41-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win over the Lakers last Wednesday and averaged 34.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 4.7 APG for the week. Incredibly, he also shot 80.0% on three-pointers (12-for-15).
While DeRozan’s per-game numbers (27.8 PPG, 7.3 APG, 5.3 RPG) perhaps weren’t quite as impressive as Morant’s, the Bulls star had the more memorable week, capped by game-winning shots on Friday and Saturday. DeRozan’s Bulls had a 4-0 week, as he became the first player in NBA history to hit buzzer-beating game-winners on back-to-back nights.
It’s the second time this season DeRozan has been named the East’s Player of the Week. He beat out fellow nominees Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love, and Pascal Siakam to earn the award. The other nominees in the West were LeBron James, Eric Bledsoe, and Jordan Clarkson (Twitter link).
COVID-19 Updates: Porzingis, SGA, Garland, Valanciunas, More
Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and has been ruled out for Monday’s game vs. Denver, the team announced today (via Twitter).
The Mavericks got good news over the weekend, as Luka Doncic was cleared to play for the first time since December 10 and led the team to a win in Oklahoma City on Sunday. But now Porzingis is at risk of missing a few games due to the health and safety protocols, and he’s not the only Mav affected — the club still has four other players in the protocols too.
Here’s more COVID-related news from around the NBA:
- Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is no longer in the health and safety protocols, acting head coach Mike Wilks said today (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman). Gilgeous-Alexander only entered the protocols on Saturday, so he may have registered a false positive test.
- Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, who had been in the COVID-19 protocols since last Tuesday, was able to practice today, per head coach J.B. Bickerstaff (Twitter link via Kelsey Russo of The Athletic).
- Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas has cleared the protocols and will be available for Monday’s game against Utah, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
- Damion Lee and James Wiseman have exited the protocols for the Warriors, per the NBA’s injury report. Wiseman remains sidelined while he recovers from right knee surgery, but Lee is no longer on the injury report at all, and Golden State doesn’t have any players in the protocols.
- After briefly clearing the protocols, Hornets forward P.J. Washington reentered them on Sunday, according to the team (Twitter link). He’ll miss Monday’s game vs. Washington (Twitter link).
- Lonzo Ball and Alfonzo McKinnie of the Bulls have both exited the health and safety protocols and will be available to play on Monday vs. Orlando, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
- Nets rookie Kessler Edwards is no longer in the COVID-19 protocols, according to the NBA’s injury report. Brooklyn was hit hard by an outbreak in December but currently has no players affected.
- Lakers assistant David Fizdale, who briefly served as the club’s acting head coach during Frank Vogel‘s stint in the protocols, has now entered the protocols himself, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Quinndary Weatherspoon Signs Two-Way Deal With Warriors
JANUARY 3: The Warriors have officially signed Weatherspoon to a two-way contract, the club announced today in a press release.
JANUARY 2: Shooting guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, who just completed a 10-day hardship exception deal with the Warriors, will rejoin Golden State on a two-way contract, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Weatherspoon was selected with the No. 49 pick out of Mississippi State by the Spurs, and logged two seasons with the Spurs on two successive two-way contracts, splitting his time between San Antonio and the team’s Austin NBAGL affiliate.
The 25-year-old out of Mississippi State kicked off the 2021/22 season with the Warriors’ NBAGL affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. Weatherspoon has averaged 16.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.2 SPG and 0.7 BPG through nine games with Santa Cruz this year.
In his lone game with Golden State so far this season, Weatherspoon scored six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor. He also chipped in a rebound, a steal and a block.
Weatherspoon will supplant 6’3″ point guard Jeff Dowtin as the Warriors’ second two-way player while 5’11” point guard Chris Chiozza will continue to occupy the other two-way slot. Dowtin was released earlier today.
Cavs, Lakers, Knicks Officially Complete Rajon Rondo Trade
The Cavaliers, Lakers, and Knicks have officially completed the trade sending Rajon Rondo to Cleveland, the teams announced today in a series of press releases. The deal, which was first reported las Thursday and was expanded today to include New York, breaks down as follows:
Cavaliers acquire Rondo (from Lakers).- Knicks acquire Denzel Valentine (from Cavaliers), the draft rights to Wang Zhelin (from Lakers), the draft rights to Brad Newley (from Lakers), and $1.1MM in cash (from Lakers).
- Lakers acquire the draft rights to Louis Labeyrie (from Knicks).
It’s a straightforward swap from Cleveland’s perspective — the Cavaliers simply acquired Rondo in exchange for Valentine. Both players are on minimum-salary contracts, but Rondo’s deal is guaranteed (Valentine’s isn’t) and he fills a greater need for a Cavs team that just lost veteran point guard Ricky Rubio for the season due to a torn ACL.
The Knicks waived Wayne Selden in order to make room on the 15-man room roster for Valentine. Both players are on non-guaranteed contracts, so if New York also cuts Valentine, the amount of money the team ended up paying to Selden and Valentine would work out to just over $800K, which is less than the $1.1MM in cash acquired from L.A.
The Knicks could also hang onto Valentine if they so choose, but that’s reportedly considered unlikely. Waiving him would open up the club’s 15th roster spot.
The Lakers, meanwhile, essentially decided to move on from Rondo and pay the Knicks a little money in order to reduce their end-of-season luxury tax bill and open up a roster spot. The exact amount of money Los Angeles saves will depend on how quickly that roster opening is filled, but the savings will exceed the $1.1MM the club sent to the Knicks. Stanley Johnson, who has played well on a 10-day contract, is a good candidate to become the team’s new 15th man.
The Lakers and Cavaliers will both create small traded player exceptions in the deal. L.A.’s will be worth about $1.67MM, while Cleveland’s will be worth approximately $858K.
This is the NBA’s first trade since October 6.
Knicks Waive Wayne Selden
The Knicks have placed veteran shooting guard Wayne Selden on waivers, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The team needed to open up a roster spot in order to complete its acquisition of Denzel Valentine and Selden was the most expendable player on the roster, since his minimum-salary contract isn’t fully guaranteed.
Selden, 27, has appeared in a total of 127 NBA games since making his debut in 2017, but only three of those appearances came this season. He had five points on 1-of-4 shooting in 19 total minutes for the Knicks in 2021/22.
Selden would’ve earned a $1,729,217 salary if he had remained under contract for the entire season. Because he’s being released now, he’ll instead make a prorated minimum of $785,104, which is also the amount that will apply to New York’s team salary. If Selden is claimed on waivers, he’d be back on track to earn his full salary and he’d be removed entirely from the Knicks’ cap, but that’s probably a long shot.
With a newly-opened roster spot, the Knicks are free to officially finalize their three-team trade with the Cavaliers and Lakers to acquire Valentine. Like Selden, Valentine doesn’t have a fully guaranteed salary, so the club will need to decide this week whether or not to keep him around beyond Friday’s salary guarantee deadline. New York is unlikely to hang onto Valentine for the season, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
Ryan Arcidiacono Signs 10-Day Deal With Knicks
JANUARY 3: The Knicks have officially signed Arcidiacono to his 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release.
JANUARY 2: Former Bulls point guard Ryan Arcidiacono is set to join the Knicks on a 10-day hardship exception deal and could stick around for the rest of the season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
After going undrafted out of Villanova in 2016, the 6’3″ guard played with San Antonio’s NBA G League club, the Austin Spurs, during the 2016/17 season. He inked a two-way deal with the Bulls in 2017, and saw that converted to a standard contract with Chicago ahead of the 2018/19 season.
Arcidiacono played four total seasons in Chicago before the Bulls ultimately let him walk in free agency during the summer of 2021. The 27-year-old holds career NBA averages of 4.8 PPG, 2.2 APG, 2.0 RPG, and 0.6 SPG. He had most recently been playing with the Boston Celtics’ NBAGL affiliate, the Maine Celtics.
The Knicks are missing five players due to the health and safety protocols, but their need for a point guard is a result of injury absences. Derrick Rose continues to recover from an ankle surgery he underwent in late December and Kemba Walker sits for at least one night of back-to-back contests.
Rockets Suspending Porter, Wood For Monday’s Game
The Rockets are suspending guard Kevin Porter Jr. and big man Christian Wood for Monday’s game in Philadelphia vs. the Sixers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Both players are being disciplined for their poor behavior on Saturday night vs. Denver. As we detailed over the weekend, Porter left the arena following a halftime altercation with assistant coach John Lucas, while Wood told coaches he wasn’t interested in playing in the second half after being held out of the lineup because he missed a mandatory COVID-19 test.
The ESPN report provides a few more details on Saturday’s incident. According to Wojnarowski and MacMahon, one young Houston player challenged Wood and told him that – as a veteran – he should be setting a standard for the team. ESPN’s duo also says the Rockets believe Porter has made progress on his anger-management issues, which resurfaced on Saturday.
It’s unclear if this will be the extent of the punishments for Porter and/or Wood. At this point, there’s no indication that either of their suspensions will extend beyond Monday’s contest. Houston’s next game is on Wednesday in Washington and both Porter and Wood are still traveling with the team.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, a one-game suspension will cost Porter a little over $12K and Wood approximately $94K. That works out to 1/145th of their respective salaries.
Bucks Sign Luke Kornet To 10-Day Hardship Deal
JANUARY 3: Kornet has officially signed his 10-day contract with the Bucks, the team announced in a press release. He’ll earn $102,831 over the next 10 days.
JANUARY 2: Luke Kornet will join the Bucks on a 10-day contract under the hardship provision, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The 26-year-old center just completed a 10-day deal with the Cavaliers. He appeared in two games, averaging 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per night. It was the first NBA action of the season for Kornet, who played a combined 31 games last year with the Bulls and Celtics.
Milwaukee currently has two players in the league’s health and safety protocols, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Semi Ojeleye. The Bucks will play five times over the next 10 days, starting with Monday’s game against the Pistons.