New York Notes: Thomas, Marks, Knicks, Anunoby, LaVine
Nets guard Cam Thomas was fined $40K by the NBA for using “derogatory and disparaging language during a live television interview,” the league announced on Friday (via Twitter).
Thomas was being interviewed on TNT on Thursday night alongside new teammate Spencer Dinwiddie and was asked about comments Dinwiddie made during his press conference earlier in the week. Dinwiddie had joked that the Nets acquired him and Dorian Finney-Smith because they needed more good-looking players.
“We already had good-looking dudes, no homo,” Thomas said (Twitter video link via ClutchPoints).
Thomas took to Twitter late on Thursday night to issue an apology for his comment.
“I want to apologize for the insensitive word I used in the post-game interview,” Thomas wrote. “I was excited about the win and was being playful. I definitely didn’t intend to offend anyone, but realize that I probably did. My apologies again. Much love.”
Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:
- The status of Nets general manager Sean Marks is worth watching this offseason, given how disappointing the Kyrie Irving/Kevin Durant era in Brooklyn ultimately was, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Marks has already gotten the chance to hire three head coaches, Lewis notes, and the team seems further from title contention than it has been at any time in recent years.
- Speaking to reporters after this week’s blockbuster trades, Marks acknowledged that the Irving/Durant Nets “didn’t work” and said it was “sad” to trade away a superstar like Durant. Adam Zagoria of NJ.com has the story and the quotes from the Nets’ GM.
- Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News confirms the Knicks had discussions about OG Anunoby and Zach LaVine prior to the trade deadline, but says those talks didn’t gain traction.
- According to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, the Knicks and Bulls touched base on LaVine on Thursday, several weeks after initially discussing him. During those earlier talks, there was some support within the Knicks’ organization for pursuing LaVine using a package of Derrick Rose, Evan Fournier, a young rotation player, and “significant” draft capital. New York, concerned that it might be a lateral move, opted not to meet Chicago’s asking price, but it’s possible the two teams will revisit those conversations in the summer, Begley writes.
- Although the Knicks didn’t want to give up draft capital to move off Fournier’s contract, they mulled the possibility of downgrading their draft assets in a deal involving him (ie. trading Fournier and a first-round pick in a deal for a less valuable first-rounder), according to Fred Katz of The Athletic. The veteran wing ended up staying put, as New York didn’t find a deal it liked.
Spurs Re-Sign Gorgui Dieng
Veteran center Gorgui Dieng is once again back under contract with the Spurs, according to a press release from the team announcing that he has signed a rest-of-season deal.
Dieng, who began the season in San Antonio, was waived a little over a month ago to accommodate the team’s acquisition of Noah Vonleh. He subsequently signed a pair of 10-day contracts, and now that the Spurs got through the trade deadline with an open spot on their 15-man roster, he’s back as the club’s 15th man.
Dieng, 33, has played sparingly for the Spurs in 2022/23, averaging 3.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.6 APG in 17 contests (9.8 MPG). However, the organization highly values his veteran leadership and his presence in the locker room.
On his new minimum-salary contract, Dieng will earn $895,743 for the rest of the season while the team takes on a $622,582 cap hit.
With their roster now full, it’s unclear whether more moves could be coming for the Spurs. They acquired Khem Birch and Devonte’ Graham as salary-matching pieces at the trade deadline, and while those two veterans may not be in San Antonio’s long-term plans, they’re both owed guaranteed salary in 2023/24, so they’re not ideal buyout candidates.
Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, Pascal Siakam Named All-Stars
The NBA has officially named Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, and Raptors forward Pascal Siakam as injury replacements for next weekend’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City (Twitter link).
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links), who first reported that the trio was expected to make the All-Star Game, notes that Edwards and Fox will replace Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Pelicans forward Zion Williamson in the West, while Siakam will replace star forward Kevin Durant in the East.
Durant, of course, was traded from the Nets to the Suns this week, but was initially named an Eastern Conference All-Star, so his replacement comes from the East.
In his third season with the Timberwolves, Edwards is averaging a career-high 24.7 points per game on .464/.367/.767 shooting to go along with 6.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.7 steals per night in 58 games (36.2 MPG). Fox, a sixth-year guard, is putting up similar numbers for Sacramento, with 24.2 PPG, 6.3 APG, and 4.3 RPG on .504/.326/.789 in 49 games (33.7 MPG).
Both Edwards and Fox are first-time All-Stars.
Siakam, meanwhile, will be playing in his second All-Star Game after making the team in 2020. This season, he’s averaging new career highs in points (25.0) and assists (6.2) per game. He has also put up 8.0 rebounds per game with a .475/.326/.767 shooting line in 46 games and is leading the league in minutes per contest (37.5) for the second straight year.
In a full press release announcing the All-Star changes, the NBA announced that Sixers center Joel Embiid, Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant have all been promoted from All-Star reserves to starters, since Durant, Williamson, and Curry were all on track to start.
Wizards Sign Quenton Jackson On Two-Way Deal
FEBRUARY 10: Jackson’s two-way contract is now official, the Wizards confirmed in a press release.
FEBRUARY 9: Free agent point guard Quenton Jackson is joining the Wizards on a two-way deal, his agents Adie von Gontard and Gino Littles have informed Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Wizards have an open two-way slot, so no corresponding roster move is necessary. Jackson will join incumbent combo guard Jordan Goodwin as the club’s second two-way player going forward, though Goodwin is a strong candidate to be promoted to the 15-man roster sooner or later.
Jackson, who went undrafted out of Texas A&M this summer, has been playing for Washington’s NBAGL affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, in 2022/23.
Across 17 games with Capital City, Jackson has been averaging 14.6 PPG on .506/.348/.774 shooting splits. He also is chipping in 3.9 RPG, 3.1 APG and 1.5 SPG. He will no doubt get plenty of chances to boost those averages on this new two-way agreement, as this promotion will see him splitting his time between the Wizards and their G League club.
Mavericks Sign Chris Silva To Second 10-Day Contract
Following the expiration of his first 10-day contract on Thursday night, forward Chris Silva has signed a second 10-day deal with the Mavericks, the team announced today (via Twitter).
Silva didn’t see much action during his first 10 days in Dallas, appearing in just one of four games and playing only three minutes. Nonetheless, it seems the Mavs aren’t prepared to move on from him.
Before signing with Dallas, Silva had been playing for Atlanta’s G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. The 26-year-old averaged 13.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game in 18 Showcase Cup appearances (26.0 MPG) for the Skyhawks. Since the regular season began, he has recorded 14.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 0.9 BPG in 11 contests (22.4 MPG).
Silva’s new deal will run through February 19, covering the Mavs’ four remaining games before the All-Star break. After it expires, Dallas will have to decide whether to re-sign him for the rest of the season or let him walk.
Silva will earn $109,318 over the course of his 10-day deal, while the Mavs will carry a cap hit of $105,522.
Central Notes: Cavs, O’Neale, Crowder, Wiseman, Noel, Pacers
Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman has made 14 in-season trades since taking the reins in Cleveland’s front office in 2017, but he had an uncharacteristically quiet deadline this season. As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes, the Cavs are one of just two teams (along with Chicago) that hasn’t made a trade since the 2022/23 season got underway.
“We just didn’t feel like anything was going to really move the needle for us,” Altman said on Thursday. “Scoured the market and talked to every team I could. We could have made a move that was lateral, multiple moves that were lateral, that I didn’t think appreciably made us better. I really wanted to see what this group looked like together, fully healthy, and the potential of this group, which we’ve seen right in front of our eyes, continue to grow.”
Royce O’Neale, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cameron Johnson, Grant Williams, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Bojan Bogdanovic were among the top targets on the Cavaliers’ wish list, according to Fedor, but the team either didn’t have the assets to acquire those players or deemed the asking prices too high.
Sources tell Fedor that the Cavs made a strong push for O’Neale and tried to line up other deals to get the Nets the sort of assets they wanted, but Brooklyn – which was seeking more than a first-round pick – didn’t bite.
“I think there’s value in continuity,” Altman said. “I think there’s value in giving this group a runway. Sometimes you just say to yourself, ‘Don’t mess this up.’ I think that was a big key for us this deadline. It was not easy for me. We’re the fifth-best team in the NBA right now — 35 wins, which is the fourth-most in the NBA — and some really good numbers to back up what I think you guys see on the court every day. I didn’t see anything that was going to put us over the top.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription required) explores what Jae Crowder can bring to the Bucks and contends that hanging onto Grayson Allen through the trade deadline was a win for the team, since he’s having a strong two-way season.
- Adding former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman to an already crowded frontcourt in a trade that sent out Saddiq Bey may be Pistons general manager Troy Weaver‘s biggest gamble yet, argues Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required). James L. Edwards III of The Athletic spoke to colleague Anthony Slater about what to expect from Wiseman in Detroit, with Slater noting that the young center still has a ways to go on the defensive end.
- After not being included in a deadline deal, Pistons center Nerlens Noel has been listed as “not with team” on the club’s injury report, Edwards notes (via Twitter). Noel isn’t owed any guaranteed money beyond this season and finds himself buried even further down the depth chart following Wiseman’s arrival, so he could be a buyout candidate.
- The Pacers‘ relative inactivity at the trade deadline reflected president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard‘s desire not to shake up his core or disrupt the chemistry that the current roster has built, says Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). As Dopirak observes, Indiana’s lone deadline deal was primarily about using their remaining cap room to add more draft assets, but it will also give the team to take a low-risk look at young wing Jordan Nwora.
Pistons Sign Stanley Umude To 10-Day Contract
Rookie wing Stanley Umude has earned a call-up from the G League, as the Pistons announced on Friday that they’ve signed him to a 10-day contract. Umude had been playing for Detroit’s NBAGL affiliate, the Motor City Cruise.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors’ 10-day contract tracker]
Umude signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pistons during the offseason after going undrafted out of Arkansas and spent training camp with the team, but didn’t earn a regular season roster spot.
Since being waived at the end of the preseason, Umude has appeared in 31 total games for the Cruise — 18 in the Showcase Cup and 13 in the G League’s regular season. In those 31 appearances, he has averaged 14.3 PPG and 4.9 RPG on .402/.356/.754 shooting in 27.0 MPG.
Detroit had an open spot on its 15-man roster after completing a two-for-one trade on deadline day, sending out Saddiq Bey and Kevin Knox in a deal for James Wiseman. As a result, no corresponding roster move will be necessary to make room on the roster for Umude, who will earn $58,493 during his 10 days as a Piston.
Because the Pistons play three games before the All-Star break, Umude’s 10-day contract won’t extend beyond All-Star weekend. It will run through February 19, at which point Detroit will have the option of signing him to a second 10-day deal.
Lowe’s Latest: Durant, Grizzlies, Anunoby, Pelicans, Warriors, Clippers
In the wake of the Nets‘ Kevin Durant trade agreement with the Suns, reports indicated that Brooklyn only really negotiated with Phoenix rather than canvassing the NBA to generate a bidding war. The Nets likely already knew what teams were willing to offer after discussing Durant deals for nearly two months in the offseason, and liked the combination of players and picks the Suns were willing to offer.
According to Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link), another team that was prepared to put a strong package of draft picks on the table for Durant was the Grizzlies. Sources tell Lowe that the Nets were aware since July that Memphis was willing to trade every available draft pick and swap of its own for Durant (it’s unclear if that offer would’ve included Golden State’s lightly protected 2024 first-round pick or just the Grizzlies’ own first-rounders).
However, the Suns’ inclusion of Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson helped tip the scales in their favor. Sources around the league have said that the Grizzlies have kept Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. entirely off-limits in any trade talks, according to Lowe, so the players in Memphis’ offer wouldn’t have been as valuable as the ones in the deal Brooklyn ultimately accepted.
Here’s more from Lowe:
- After mentioning on his podcast that the Grizzlies and Pacers each offered three first-round picks for Raptors forward OG Anunoby, Lowe says the Pelicans – another presumed suitor – didn’t hold any serious talks with Toronto about him. As Lowe reiterates, the Raptors were seeking a high-level player or prospect in an Anunoby deal; Will Guillory of The Athletic says New Orleans didn’t show much interest in discussing Dyson Daniels or Trey Murphy in trade talks.
- The Warriors also engaged with the Raptors about Anunoby, Lowe confirms, but he says the two teams don’t appear to have gotten all that close to an agreement. Golden State likely would have had to include Jonathan Kuminga as the centerpiece of its offer, sources tell ESPN.
- The Clippers never ended up having any serious trade talks for D’Angelo Russell or Kyle Lowry, and the Mike Conley bidding was out of their price range, Lowe says. They also got nowhere close on Fred VanVleet, since the Raptors would have wanted Terance Mann and possibly more draft equity than L.A. could’ve offered, Lowe adds.
Northwest Notes: Payton, Blazers, Hyland, Clarkson, Conley, Gobert
It got a bit lost in the shuffle of Thursday’s trade deadline activity, but one of the more interesting moves at the deadline was the Trail Blazers trading away guard Gary Payton II after he had appeared in just 15 games with the team. Payton was dealt just seven months after Portland beat out rival suitors to sign him to a three-year contract as a free agent.
One source tells Jason Quick of The Athletic that one key reason for the move was that Payton had indicated he didn’t want to be in Portland anymore — he was “ecstatic” to be sent back to the Warriors, according to that source.
It’s a worrying sign that so many players the Blazers trade seem so enthusiastic about leaving Portland, Quick writes, pointing to Norman Powell, Robert Covington, Larry Nance Jr., and Josh Hart as other recent examples.
Quick also questions how Damian Lillard and Jerami Grant (who has been offered an extension) might view the Blazers’ deadline moves, which included trading Payton and Hart and acquiring flawed or unproven young players like Cam Reddish, Matisse Thybulle, and Kevin Knox.
Head coach Chauncey Billups had been hoping to add size and experience to the roster, but Portland’s deals this week accomplished neither and may result in the team taking a step back in the short term. As Quick writes, the Blazers will have to hope that Lillard and Grant still believe in the team’s long-term plan.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- When Bones Hyland left the Nuggets‘ bench out of frustration in the fourth quarter of a Jan. 22 game against Oklahoma City, it represented a tipping point, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post, who says that incident didn’t sit well with a number of Denver’s veterans and led to the team exploring Hyland’s trade market in earnest. According to Singer, Hyland’s poor fit alongside Jamal Murray, his defensive lapses, and his displeasure with his role were all factors that led to him being dealt. Still, trading the second-year guard was a difficult decision that went up to ownership, sources tell The Denver Post.
- The Jazz and guard Jordan Clarkson aren’t expected to reach an agreement on an in-season extension, but sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic that Utah remains very open to continuing its relationship with Clarkson beyond this year. The 30-year-old can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer by turning down a $14.3MM player option for 2023/24.
- The Timberwolves‘ acquisition of Mike Conley signals the team’s commitment to improving the fit for Rudy Gobert, who developed chemistry with Conley in Utah, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “I love Mike,” Gobert said on Wednesday. “I just love the way he plays the game — the way he makes people around him better, his professionalism, the way he plays to win and his selflessness, and I love him as a person too, so obviously I’m happy.”
Nuggets Eyeing Reggie Jackson As Buyout Target
Although the Nuggets didn’t make a major splash at the trade deadline, they did add some frontcourt depth by sending out Bones Hyland in a deal for veteran center Thomas Bryant. As a result of that move, Denver is in the market for a backout player to fill out their 15-man roster, and according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post, veteran guard Reggie Jackson is near the top of the team’s wish list.
Jackson was on the move on deadline day, having been included for salary-matching purposes in the swap that sent center Mason Plumlee from the Hornets to the Clippers. Charlotte is considered likely to buy out the veteran guard.
Jackson, 32, was the Clippers’ full-time starter at point guard last season, but fell out of the team’s starting five in 2022/23. For the season, he has averaged 10.9 PPG and 3.5 APG on .418/.350/.924 shooting in 52 games (38 minutes; 25.7 MPG).
According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter video link), the Suns, another Western Conference contender, are also viewed as a probable suitor for Jackson, who played high school basketball in Colorado.
The Nuggets have an open spot on their 15-man roster and are seeking a reliable insurance policy in their backcourt or on the wing. Jamal Murray, the team’s primary backcourt ball-handler, has missed a few games recently due to right knee inflammation, Bruce Brown isn’t a natural point guard, and veteran Ish Smith is more of an emergency option, Singer writes.
Although Jackson is at or near the top of Denver’s list of targets, there are plenty of other buyout candidates the team could consider. Russell Westbrook, John Wall, and Patrick Beverley are among the veteran point guards likely to reach free agency. Singer also points to Danny Green as a wing who might be a nice fit for the Nuggets, though there’s no indication yet that Houston will buy out Green after acquiring him from the Grizzlies.
A reunion with Will Barton, who is reportedly working on a buyout with the Wizards, won’t be possible, since NBA rules prohibit a team from re-signing a player it traded during the offseason if he’s waived by his new team during the subsequent season.