The Pacers signed Tony Bradley to a 10-day deal on Thursday just three days after releasing him from his non-guaranteed contract, but it doesn’t sound as if the Raptors will go the same route with Mo Bamba.
Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, who speculated after Toronto waived Bamba on Tuesday that he could return on a 10-day deal, says the Raptors considered that possibility but have decided against it for now. According to Grange, starting center Jakob Poeltl is close to returning after missing the team’s past eight games due to back issues, so re-signing Bamba – which would push the team further over the luxury tax line – isn’t considered necessary at this time.
With Poeltl nearly back and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles playing well, the Raptors will be selective about how and when they complete 10-day deals between now and the trade deadline, Grange explains, adding that Bradley is actually another potential frontcourt target to watch if Indiana doesn’t make a rest-of-season commitment to him.
We have more from around the Atlantic:
- James L. Edwards III of The Athletic considers whether or not the Knicks should make a trade to try to improve their defense, identifying Jose Alvarado, Keon Ellis, and Ochai Agbaji as a few targets who might make sense. While Agbaji probably has the least trade value of those three players, his $6.4MM salary would be the most challenging for New York to accommodate, Edwards notes. Alvarado is earning $4.5MM, while Ellis’ cap hit is just $2.3MM.
- Anfernee Simons was considered a candidate to be traded again from the moment the Celtics acquired him over the summer, but he keeps showing he deserves to stick with the team, opines Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required). Simons has averaged 17.3 points in 24.8 minutes per game on .486/.531/.889 shooting in his past six outings and earned praise from head coach Joe Mazzulla for his “great attitude.” Moving his $27.7MM in a cost-cutting move may no longer be a priority for a Boston team that has been more competitive than projected.
- Sixers two-way player Jabari Walker has been active for every one of the team’s games so far this season, but his eligibility is rapidly running out — as long as Philadelphia continues to carry an open spot on its 15-man roster, the team can only use up to 90 total games for two-way players — or up to 50 for Walker, specifically. Those counts are currently at 72 and 35, respectively. “Every now and then, it will pop up in my mind, but just putting my energy toward what I can control right now,” Walker said when asked about his dwindling eligibility, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). “And just whatever happens, just knowing that I left an impact on my teammates and left an impact in the game, I think that’s the biggest truth.”
Always said Simons is a good fit on that team. Playing SG he gets plenty of good looks. His strength is as a shooter. Imo he and White is a good fit. Only his contract is a bit high. Don’t know if he would take less money to stay.
Knicks don’t need any of those players. The Yabusele thing has to get fixed. Looney and Bey on this team. Fixes a lot of things. Mitch has to be moved to upgrade this team. Nobody needs a 20 mill backup center. Send Mitch home. …….
Looney and Bey to Knicks……
Simons is a scorer. Great bench piece
NYK’s defensive problems are real, but have absolutely nothing to do with their perimeter defenders outside of Brunson (OG, Bridges, Hart and McBride are as good as it gets). And Brunson isn’t going to have his minutes cut regardless, and certainly not in favor of any of the players mentioned. NYK need rim protection and physicality inside.
Alvarado would be a good fit, but right now, I’d pass. Kolek is playing reasonably well, and that should be allowed to play out since his ceiling is higher. I’m also tired of this FO assuming that bit players on losing teams will be upgrades. Mostly because they’ve essentially been wrong every time.
The game plan as I understood it was to play and focus on Anfernee, figuring he would score well. That’s happened, can’t ask for more. Then see if there was interest out there and hopefully make a deal to get us under the tax. Save the owners millions and fans would cut slack knowing it had to be done. But now that Anfernee is scoring so well and buying into our defense and the team is winning we’ll just have to trust that talent evaluator and team builder President Brad Stevens will make the right move. Speculation remains rife. Go Celtics!