Thomas Bryant Set To Return On Wednesday
Wizards center Thomas Bryant appears likely to suit up for Washington on Wednesday against the Magic, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said today (Twitter link via Ava Wallace of the Washington Post).
This will be the first game back on the hardwood for Bryant in just over a year. The 6’10” big man tore the ACL in his left knee in a game against the Heat on January 9, 2021.
Unseld previously indicated that Bryant, still just 24, had cleared the league’s COVID-19 protocols and would take a bench role during his initial games back with the club.
Prior to the injury, Bryant averaged 14.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.5 APG and 0.8 BPG in ten games with the Wizards during the 2020/21 season, all starts. Bryant is in the final season of a three-year, $25MM contract extension he signed with the team in the 2019 offseason.
At 20-20, the Wizards currently occupy the No. 9 seed in the crowded Eastern Conference. A return for Bryant should help shore up their interior defense. For now, Bryant will play behind springy young starting center Daniel Gafford.
Nuggets Trade Bol Bol To Pistons, Sign Davon Reed To Two-Way Deal
JANUARY 10: The Nuggets have officially acquired McGruder and the Nets’ 2022 second-round pick in exchange for Bol, the team announced today in a press release. Denver also confirmed Reed’s two-way deal and Cornelie’s release in a separate announcement on Sunday.
JANUARY 9: The Pistons will be sending veteran shooting guard Rodney McGruder and a future second-round draft selection to the Nuggets in exchange for intriguing young power forward Bol Bol, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The pick going to Denver in the deal will be a 2022 second-rounder that Detroit originally acquired from the Nets, per Woj and James Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).
There is more personnel news out of Denver. The Nuggets will upgrade the contract of guard Davon Reed, currently signed to his third 10-day hardship exception contract, to a two-way deal, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post. To make a two-way slot available for Reed, Denver will release current two-way player Petr Cornelie.
In 12 games with Denver, including two starts, Reed is averaging 4.4 PPG on a .457/.350/.800 shooting line, along with 3.0 RPG, 1.3 APG and 1.2 SPG.
Singer notes that Bol struggled to find a consistent position while with the Nuggets and thus toggled between spot minutes at small and power forward. Head coach Michael Malone and his coaching staff also apparently projected more upside out of big men Vlatko Cancar and Zeke Nnaji, who had moved ahead of Bol in the team’s rotation prior to Cancar’s recent foot fracture. Singer adds that the Nuggets plan to retain McGruder for the time being.
Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press opines that the addition of Bol will help a depleted Detroit squad up front, which Sankofa identifies as one of the 8-30 club’s key weaknesses. Woj writes in his piece that the addition of the 7’2″ forward will be an opportunity for the rebuilding Pistons to take a flyer on a young player with upside.
This season, Bol is averaging 2.4 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 5.8 MPG. Last season across eight games with the Windy City Bulls, the 22-year-old averaged 12.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 2.3 BPG. He recently had his best offensive game at the NBA level, scoring 11 points against the Rockets in 20 minutes on January 1.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link) that, by sending the expiring $2.15MM deal of Bol out in exchange for the $1.7MM expiring deal of McGruder, the Nuggets will carve out additional space below the NBA’s luxury tax. Denver is now $2.4MM under the tax line.
The 6’4″ McGruder has not made much of an impact during his time in Detroit. The 30-year-old re-signed with the Pistons on a veteran’s minimum deal this summer after spending the 2020/21 season in Detroit. This season, he is averaging just 2.5 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 9.5 MPG, across 17 of the club’s 38 contests.
Community Shootaround: Eastern Conference All-Star Voting
The 2022 NBA All-Star Game will take place on February 20 at the Cavaliers’ home arena, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Will a Cavalier or two make the cut for the first time since LeBron James headed West in 2018? Time will tell, but the odds look good. The chances of a Cav earning an Eastern Conference starting spot, however, look slim.
Online fan voting started on Christmas Day, and is set to wrap up on January 22 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The first results of fan voting were announced by the NBA on January 6.
Players are separated by conference in the voting process (though not in the games), and divvied up across the frontcourt and backcourt. Fan votes will be weighed at 50% of the total vote, with 25% allocated to player voting results and an additional 25% given to journalists. Head coaches will vote for the All-Star benches after starters are announced.
Today, we’ll take a look at the leaders in the clubhouse to earn an All-Star start in the Eastern Conference, in addition to making the case for a few other notable players deserving of a shot.
Nets forward Kevin Durant led all Eastern Conference players with 2,360,435 results in his favor after the initial tally. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was nipping at his heels with a robust 2,145,835 fan votes of his own. Sixers center Joel Embiid received 1,236,060 fan votes. The top three frontcourt vote-getters (again, as determined by a split of fan, player, and media votes) will earn starter honors.
The selections of Durant, Antetkounmpo, and Embiid (all in the early running for MVP consideration) were largely expected. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Heat forward Jimmy Butler were the only other frontcourt players to earn 500K or more fan votes.
While Butler is clearly enjoying an All-Star-level season, which would be his sixth overall, he has only appeared in 23 of a possible 40 games for the 25-15 Heat. Currently sidelined with an ankle injury, Butler is expected to return to the court soon, and, provided that he does, should be a lock to make the coaches’ picks for East reserves.
Tatum and Boston wing Jaylen Brown have each had productive individual seasons, but it has not translated to team success for the 19-21 Celtics, currently the tenth seed in the Eastern Conference. A team in danger of missing the play-in tournament seems unlikely to earn two All-Stars. Brown is listed in the backcourt for fan voting, while Tatum is in the frontcourt.
Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, who was a big part of the trade that netted Brooklyn superstar guard James Harden, has blossomed into an All-Star caliber talent with Cleveland this season. Allen and guard Darius Garland are the Cavaliers’ two All-Star candidates this season, though neither looks to have the votes to claw their way into the starter conversation. Allen was sixth in the first fan voting results for Eastern Conference frontcourt players with 168,019 votes. Garland ranked ninth among East guards (behind two much less-worthy candidates, whom we will discuss in a bit) with 119,399 votes. Rookie Cleveland power forward Evan Mobley, an early leader for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, will most likely not make the cut, though he has been a crucial part of the team’s incredible turnaround this season.
Other frontcourt players who have put up solid numbers on good teams in the conference include young Hornets forward Miles Bridges, enjoying a Most Improved Player-level season with an upstart Charlotte club. Hawks power forward John Collins also has a case, though the team’s middling record could limit Atlanta from getting more than one All-Star this year. Other candidates for All-Star consideration (though probably not worthy of starting) include a cadre of recent All-Stars, among them Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis, Raptors power forward Pascal Siakam (though he has missed 14 games so far), Knicks power forward Julius Randle, and Bulls center Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic has stabilized after a rough shooting start, and has improved on defense this season.
In the backcourt, the two current frontrunners to start are Bulls wing DeMar DeRozan (1,487,598 fan votes), enjoying a comeback season in Chicago at age 32, and Nets guard Harden (892,065 votes), who – despite having one of his worst seasons in years – remains one of the better guards in the NBA.
The selection of DeRozan here has stirred up a bit of controversy — not because of his merit, but because of his positional listing. The 6’6″ DeRozan is the Bulls’ starting small forward, and moonlights plenty as a small-ball power forward. When he last made an All-Star team, with the Raptors in 2018, DeRozan was a shooting guard, but he was unlocked in subsequent seasons at the three and four while with the Spurs. Regardless, DeRozan looks to be a lock, provided he stays relatively healthy for the rest of the voting window.
Hawks point guard Trae Young is right behind Harden with 862,878 fan votes, while Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine (776,043) and second-year Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball (422,247) round out the top five vote-getters among backcourt players. LaVine may not boast the late-game heroics or ball-handling ingenuity of his fellow Chicago swingman DeRozan, but he has put up terrific numbers as one of the undisputed two best players for the East’s best club as of this writing. Chicago boasts a 26-10 record.
Young, fresh off leading his Atlanta team to a surprising Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2021, is enjoying a great statistical season individually, but it has not translated to team success, in part because Young’s defense has been… apathetic at best. The Hawks are currently the No. 12 seed in the East with a 17-22 record. Ball has led Charlotte to a 21-19 record and the East’s eighth seed. Young, LaVine and Ball are all more deserving starters than Harden this season, though Harden remains worthy of a (bench) All-Star slot.
Insanely, Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, who has played in all of one game this season, is right behind Ball with 267,929 fan votes, while Knicks reserve point guard Derrick Rose, out for months following an ankle surgery and having put up fairly pedestrian numbers on a non-playoff team, has gotten 232,501 votes of his own. Neither player will get a shred of votes from players or journalists, and neither player has a chance of making the All-Star team, as a starter or reserve, this season.
Veteran Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet, who finished tenth during this initial window of fan voting, has emerged as perhaps the representative best player for a frisky Toronto club. Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday and Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal also seem worthy of All-Star berths, though they both finished outside the top 10 this year in fan voting and appear doomed to join the ranks of the reserves.
New Heat point guard Kyle Lowry has had a down scoring year but has been the steady hand guiding the ship for a terrific Miami club missing its best players, Butler and big man Bam Adebayo, for a significant portion of its season. Yes, sixth man Tyler Herro is averaging significantly more points than Lowry (20.6 PPG to 13.7 PPG), but their overall shooting percentages are fairly similar. Herro is connecting on 42.7% of his field goal looks to Lowry’s 42.2% shooting from the floor. Lowry, a six-time All-Star with the Raptors, has proven to be the better set-up man and defender by a long shot.
As of right now, this fan voter would slot Durant, Antetokounmpo and Embiid among his three starting frontcourt players, and put the two Bulls, DeRozan and LaVine, into the two starting backcourt spots.
We want to know what you think! Which players comprise your Eastern Conference All-Star starters? Are there any borderline starters you think could be determined based on their level of play over the ensuing month?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in!
Cavs Sign Brandon Goodwin To Two-Way Deal, Release Tacko Fall
The Cavaliers have signed point guard Brandon Goodwin on a two-way contract and release 7’5″ two-way center Tacko Fall to complete the deal, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Goodwin went undrafted out of Florida Gulf Coast in 2018 and spent a year with the Nuggets as a two-way player. He then joined the Hawks on a two-way contract in 2019/20, before being signed to a standard deal midway through the season.
The 26-year-old Goodwin earned a training camp deal with the Knicks at the start of the 2021/22 season. After New York waived Goodwin, he logged time with the team’s NBAGL affiliate, the Westchester Knicks. Goodwin subsequently signed a 10-day hardship exception deal with the Raptors but failed to see the floor.
The point guard first joined Cleveland on a 10-day hardship exception deal on New Year’s Eve 2021. Across 22.7 MPG in three games, the 6’0″ Goodwin is averaging 7.3 PPG, 4.7 APG, 3.7 RPG and 0.7 SPG.
The decision to retain Goodwin beyond his 10-day contract makes plenty of sense, as the 22-17 Cavaliers are currently strapped for backcourt talent. Cleveland lost guards Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio with season-ending knee injuries earlier this year. Cleveland has gone 2-3 since Rubio went down with a torn ACL.
Thanks to the play of Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley, the team has remained in the thick of the playoff hunt since, and is clearly looking to shore up its depth at the point guard position. The Cavaliers also recently traded for former four-time All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo.
Fall, 26, was in his first year as a Cavalier after two seasons in Boston. In 11 games with Cleveland, Fall averaged 1.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 0.5 BPG. His counting stats are more impressive with the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge. In five games with the Charge, Fall put up 18.6 PPG, 12.0 RPG and 3.4 BPG.
Olivier Sarr Signs Second 10-Day Deal With Thunder
Rookie center Olivier Sarr has inked his second 10-day contract with the Thunder, according to the official NBA transactions log.
Oklahoma City has an open spot on its 15-man roster, Sarr has been added via a hardship exception, since power forward Isaiah Roby is currently in the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, per our tracker.
Sarr, who has spent most of the 2021/22 season with the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, first joined the Thunder proper in late December. The 22-year-old went undrafted out of Kentucky in 2021.
The seven-footer had been averaging 7.1 PPG and 4.9 RPG across 14 games with the Blue before being called up. Sarr has appeared in two contests with the Thunder thus far, averaging 2.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 1.0 BPG in 7.0 MPG.
Vlatko Cancar Out At Least 12 Weeks With Foot Injury
JANUARY 7: Cancar underwent surgery to repair a right fifth metatarsal fracture, according to the Nuggets, who stated today in a press release that the forward will be reevaluated in 12 weeks.
JANUARY 4: The hits keep coming in Denver. Nuggets reserve forward Vlatko Cancar has suffered a right foot fracture and will be unavailable for an extended period of time, per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (via Twitter). Wind notes that a surgery is possible to treat the break, incurred during the team’s 103-89 loss to the Mavericks on Monday night.
Cancar is just the latest Nugget with a long-term injury. Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., PJ Dozier and Markus Howard have all missed significant time due to severe ailments, with Porter and Dozier not expected to return this season.
Cancar was selected with the No. 49 pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Nuggets. The 24-year-old finally joined the club ahead of the 2019/20 NBA season, but he has thus far seen limited action at the NBA level. He has suited up for 69 games in since the start of the 2019 NBA season, and 11 NBA G League contests with the Erie BayHawks and Grand Rapids Gold.
He appeared in 41 games during the 2020/21 season, averaging 6.9 MPG. This year, across just 14 contests, he is averaging 4.3 PPG and 1.6 RPG during 10.9 MPG.
In addition to the injury absences of Murray, Porter, Dozier, Howard and now Cancar, the Nuggets will continue to miss Jeff Green, Monte Morris, and Zeke Nnaji, all still within the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, Wind adds (Twitter link).
Bucks Waive DeMarcus Cousins
JANUARY 6: The Bucks have officially requested waivers on Cousins, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets.
JANUARY 5: On the night he scored 15 points, pulled down 10 boards, and chipped in three steals and a block across just 20 minutes for the Bucks, center DeMarcus Cousins, signed to a non-guaranteed deal, is set to be waived by Milwaukee, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The news comes two days ahead of the deadline for all contracts to be guaranteed for the rest of the year across the NBA. Cousins’ salary for 2021/22 isn’t fully guaranteed.
Across 17 contests with the Bucks, the former four-time All-Star is averaging 9.1 PPG and 5.8 RPG this season. Charania adds that Cousins will likely merit a look from other clubs.
The 6’10” veteran joined the Bucks a month into the season. He spent the 2020/21 NBA season with the Rockets and Clippers. The 31-year-old has never been the same since suffering Achilles and ACL tears, but has proven himself to be a volume bench contributor when healthy in recent seasons.
Shooting guard Wesley Matthews, the team’s other player signed to a non-guaranteed deal, remains with the team as of this writing. With Cousins slated to be waived, the Bucks will create one open roster spot.
Milwaukee GM Jon Horst commented on the decision to move on from Cousins, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link): “We wouldn’t have been able to get through this difficult stretch of the season as successfully as we did without DeMarcus.”
In further comments reported by Woj (via Twitter), Horst hinted at a potential reunion following the trade deadline, should Cousins be available: “We made a strategic decision to have an open roster spot, but there’s nothing that would prevent us from partnering with DeMarcus again down the road.”
Southeast Notes: Hawks, Magic, Wagner, Bryant
After a remarkable 2021 postseason run that saw them reach the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hawks have staggered out of the gate in 2021/22. The team is off to a 16-20 start and currently occupies the conference’s No. 12 seed. Chris Kirschner and John Hollinger of The Athletic discuss several potential trades for Atlanta. Kirschner and Hollinger identify a defensive upgrade on the wing as the ideal priority for the club.
Hollinger pinpoints the expiring mid-sized deals of Lou Williams, Gorgui Dieng and Delon Wright, as well as intriguing young players such as Cam Reddish, Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson, as possible trade chips that team president Travis Schlenk could look to move. Kirschner considers the Pacers and Celtics to be amenable to making deals that could suit the Hawks’ needs.
The Hawks would be open to offloading some of their depth to add a high-impact player in a two-for-one deal, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic in another piece. Amick suggests that forwards Danilo Gallinari and Reddish may be the most likely players to be moved.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- Several Magic players signed to 10-day hardship exception deals will soon discover their fates with the club, writes Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel. Hassani Gravett, Admiral Schofield, Tim Frazier and Freddie Gillespie are the team’s four current hardship exception signings. The contracts of Gravett and Schofield, who signed their second 10-day deals with Orlando in late December, expire today. “The one thing is these guys understand what we’re asking them to do,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Their ability to move the basketball, sit down and defend the right way — no matter who’s out there, they’re coming in and doing their jobs.”
- Rookie Magic small forward Franz Wagner, selected with the eighth pick out of Michigan, has emerged as one of the prime bright spots for the 7-32 team this season, writes Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel.
- Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. has revealed that center Thomas Bryant, still recuperating from ACL surgery, could rejoin Washington within the next two weeks, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link).
Central Notes: Matthews, DiVincenzo, Olynyk, Rondo
Veteran Bucks reserve shooting guard Wesley Matthews is making the most of his second stint in Milwaukee, writes Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Madison, Wisconsin native, a Marquette alum, made it clear that he wanted to return to the reigning champs. In 11 contests with the Bucks, the 35-year-old wing is averaging 5.6 PPG on a .511/.419/600 shooting line across 16.6 MPG.
“This is what I wanted, this is where I wanted to be,” Matthews said of his Bucks reunion. “I knew in my heart this is where I wanted to be and I felt that from the team, from the organization top-down and now we’re here and I can’t be more excited and happy for it.”
Matthews joined the Bucks on a non-guaranteed contract last month. The team will have to make a decision on whether to keep him around for the rest of the year by the league’s Friday deadline.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Just three games into his return from ankle surgery during the 2021 postseason, Bucks shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo suffered a mild ankle injury. He has already resumed on-court workouts, and Milwaukee will have a better sense of a timeline for his return to action next week, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Playing 16.7 MPG in his three games this season, the 6’4″ wing out of Villanova is averaging 7.3 PPG and 5.7 RPG for the Bucks.
- Pistons big man Kelly Olynyk, who has been out for Detroit since suffering a Grade 2 MCL sprain two months ago, has begun working out at the team’s practice facility, per Rod Beard of the Detroit News (via Twitter). Beard adds that the Pistons do not yet have a timeline for Olynyk’s return to game action.
- New Cavaliers point guard Rajon Rondo is hoping to have a bigger role in Cleveland than he did with his most recent club, the Lakers, writes Kelsey Russo of The Athletic. “I’ve always been the underdog my entire career,” Rondo said. “I love the expectations of being ‘done’ or not expected to do things. That’s what I kind of pride myself on, doing the impossible and doing the unthinkable. This group has the talent to do it. I’m looking forward to making some noise.” In 16.1 MPG across 18 games for the Lakers this season, the 35-year-old veteran point guard averaged just 3.1 PPG, 3.7 APG and 2.7 RPG.
COVID-19 Updates: Hachimura, Roby, Grizzlies, Bucks, Robsinon, Suns, Nance, Hawks
Wizards power forward Rui Hachimura has exited the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, though an exact timeline for his return to the court has yet to be determined, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Hachimura, 23, has missed the entirety of the Wizards’ 37-game 2021/22 NBA season thus far, due to a combination of an extended personal absence and subsequently his stint in the protocols. The 6’8″ big man is averaging 13.7 PPG and 5.8 RPG across his two seasons with Washington thus far.
Here are more protocol-related updates from across the league:
- Young Thunder reserve center Isaiah Roby has entered the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocols, per Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman (Twitter link).
- Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks and guard De’Anthony Melton have cleared the NBA’s coronavirus protocols but remain questionable ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Pistons as they continue to re-condition, while forward Kyle Anderson has also cleared protocols but will most likely not play due to back soreness, according to Memphis’s PR team (Twitter link).
- Bucks forwards Jordan Nwora, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, and Semi Ojeleye have exited the league’s COVID-19 protocols and are available for a short-handed Milwaukee team tonight against the Raptors, per Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). We first mentioned earlier today that that triumvirate of Bucks players was nearing a return. Through the game’s first half, Nwora is the only one of the three that has played.
- $90MM Heat shooting guard Duncan Robinson has exited the NBA’s coronavirus protocols and will reunite with the team in Portland ahead of its game against the Trail Blazers tonight, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The team has announced that Robinson will play (Twitter link).
- Suns centers Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee, along with starting power forward Jae Crowder, have all cleared COVID-19 health and safety protocols but will remain sidelined for Thursday’s home contest against the Clippers as they work their way back into game shape, reports Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.
- Trail Blazers forward Larry Nance Jr. has cleared the league’s coronavirus protocols and will be available to play tonight against the Kings, per Aaron J. Fentress of the Oregonian (Twitter link). We had first noted earlier today that Nance had registered an inconclusive COVID-19 test and that a quick return was a possibility.
- Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and small forward Jalen Johnson have exited health and safety protocols, writes Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Spencer says the two players are expected to consult with Atlanta’s medical staff in Los Angeles ahead of the team’s games against the Lakers and Clippers on Friday and Sunday. Spencer adds that Johnson struggled a bit with the coronavirus and could need additional conditioning time.