Norvel Pelle Enters G League Bubble As NBA Teams Circle
Free agent center Norvel Pelle, recently waived by the Nets, is set to enter the Orlando G League “bubble” campus for the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers‘ G League affiliate, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
After going undrafted in 2013, the 6’10” big man had four separate stints with the Sixers’ G League affiliate in Delaware, first while the club was still known as the 87ers, and most recently after the team had rebranded itself as the Blue Coats. Across 83 games (including 38 starts) for parts of four seasons with the Delaware G League affiliate, Pelle holds averages of 8.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.2 BPG, all in just 18.1 MPG. He also logged time overseas, playing in Taiwan, Beirut, and Italy.
Pelle finally made his NBA debut at age 26 last year, averaging 9.7 MPG across 24 NBA games with the Sixers during the 2019/20 season. This season, Pelle inked a deal with Brooklyn after the club traded away center Jarrett Allen and forwards Taurean Prince, Caris LeVert and Rodions Kurucs in the deal that netted them All-Star guard James Harden.
Pelle appeared in three games for Brooklyn before the team cut him to make room for defensive-oriented wing Andre Roberson earlier this week.
Bondy adds that several NBA playoff hopefuls have expressed some interest in Pelle as a candidate to shore up their own frontcourt rotations, including the Rockets and two Atlantic Division rivals to the Nets and Sixers, the Knicks and Raptors.
Southwest Notes: Green, Tate, Rockets, Grizzlies
The Mavericks announced today (via Twitter) that they are sending rookie shooting guard Josh Green to join the Salt Lake City Stars, the G League affiliate of the Jazz, in the NBAGL’s ongoing Orlando “bubble” campus.
Dallas’s own G League affiliate, the Texas Legends, is not participating in this year’s G League season. Green started in five games for the Mavericks earlier this season, but has been riding the bench recently. He is averaging 12.5 MPG across 17 contests.
There’s more out of the Southwest:
- Rookie Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate has proven to be Houston’s iron man this season, the only player to suit up for every game after P.J. Tucker sat with a bruised thigh, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Tate has been an important element of the Rockets’ frontcourt given the recent injuries to Christian Wood, Tucker, and Ray Spalding.
- Long-injured young Grizzlies players Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow have joined their teammates in portions of practice, according to Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Jackson is recovering from a torn left meniscus and Winslow is working his way back from a left hip displacement.
- Despite severe winter weather in Texas, the Rockets still intend to return to Houston ahead of their scheduled contests on Friday (against the Mavericks) and Saturday (against the Pacers), according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. There is a chance these games are ultimately postponed as a result of continuing water and power trouble in Texas, Feigen notes. “If playing basketball games makes sense we will,” head coach Stephen Silas said about the situation. “If it doesn’t, Houstonians are most important and the thing that we should all be thinking about as we go home.”
Northwest Notes: Diallo, KAT/D-Lo, MPJ, Lillard
Thunder wing Hamidou Diallo has displayed such improvement this season that he could be a leading candidate for Most Improved Player honors, argues Jenni Carlson of the Oklahoman.
Diallo’s output has dramatically increased across the board. The third-year swingman out of Kentucky is averaging career-highs in points (12.7), rebounds (5.5), assists (2.4), field goal percentage (48.9%) and minutes (24.2) for a chippy Thunder squad. “I would say the biggest thing is just opportunity,” he said of his progress this year. “Sometimes, when you have opportunity and you have people around you that believe in you, it just makes the game much easier.”
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- A variety of health and injury problems have conspired to limit marquee Timberwolves players Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell to just five games together since Minnesota acquired Russell last season. Towns recently vented his frustration, as Chris Hine of the Star Tribune details. “Obviously we want to play with each other,” Towns said. “I finally come back [from a COVID-19 absence] and now he’s out [with a knee injury], so he was emotional too because it’s been bothering him, wanting to play together.” Britt Robson of The Athletic wonders if the Towns-Russell tandem, light on defense, will live up to fan expectations once it finally does appear more consistently.
- Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. has shown off his impressive scoring abilities this season, but his defensive flaws (especially at the rim) are clear too, writes Michael Pina of Sports Illustrated. Porter, 22, is averaging 13.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.2 BPG and 1.0 SPG this season. He is also shooting well, with a slash line of .475/.379/.786.
- Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard is set to compete three-point shooting contest at this year’s Atlanta All-Star Game, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Haynes notes that Lillard currently ranks third in the league when it comes to made three-pointers this season. Lillard’s 105 made triples rank behind only Buddy Hield (106) and Stephen Curry (140).
California Notes: Looney, Wiseman, Lakers, Santa Cruz Warriors
Warriors center Kevon Looney, sidelined since spraining his left ankle in a February 2 loss to the Celtics, has rejoined the Warriors for “segments of practice” and is planning on suiting up with the club during Golden State’s impending road trip, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link).
Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle details the import of the big man’s return to the lineup in a new piece. “I always joked that I never hurt my ankle,” Looney said after incurring the injury. “I guess karma caught up with me.”
There’s more out of California:
- Warriors rookie center James Wiseman, out with a left wrist injury suffered on January 30, rejoined Golden State for practice on Tuesday, according to Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area. The No. 2 overall draft pick out of Memphis, Wiseman has a chance to return to the court for the Warriors as soon as Friday against a depleted Magic team. “With a sprained wrist you don’t know if it will be one week, two weeks or three, so I’m just following each procedure, but there are no setbacks,” Wiseman said.
- The Lakers are seeing their frontcourt depth tested with the extended absence of All-Star power forward/center Anthony Davis, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic. Kyle Kuzma has taken over starting duties, and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell is seeing expanded minutes as a super-sub. Starting center Marc Gasol and reserve power forward Markieff Morris have also seen more run in the rotation.
- Warriors.com spoke to Santa Cruz Warriors broadcaster Kevin Dana about how Golden State’s G League affiliate team is adjusting to life in the 2021 NBAGL Orlando “bubble.” Dana lauded the output thus far of young prospects Nico Mannion and Jordan Poole.
Ish Smith Suffers Quad Injury, Out 6-8 Weeks
Wizards reserve point guard Ish Smith has suffered a right proximal quadriceps injury, and is expected to be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks, per an official team tweet. Washington will reassess his status after three weeks of rehabilitation.
Smith inked a two-year, $12MM contract with the Wizards in the summer of 2019. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. In 19 games with the Wizards this season, Smith is averaging 5.2 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 3.5 RPG across 20.6 MPG.
The 6’0″ veteran guard out of Wake Forest has already been unavailable for the past two Wizards games with the injury, as Fred Katz of The Athletic notes (Twitter link). In his stead, Raul Neto and Troy Brown have compensated for his minutes behind starter Russell Westbrook.
“It’s tough news,” head coach Scott Brooks said of the Smith injury, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). “He does things that we’re not going to be able to replace in the second unit. He gives us that instant change of pace.”
Five New Positive COVID-19 Tests Among Players Since Feb. 10
The NBA has announced that five new NBA players, among the 454 who have been tested for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 since February 10, yielded a confirmed positive test result.
This tally marks a jump from the last time COVID-19 test results were announced, when just one player among 470 recorded a confirmed positive test between February 3-9. It’s also the first time since January 20 that the league has had a week with more than one new positive confirmed test.
The NBA noted that anyone who “has been identified as having been in close contact to an infected person, is isolated or quarantined.”
Four Spurs players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, prompting the postponement of four San Antonio games thus far due to contact tracing that left the team without the league-mandated minimum of eight players available. At least one of the Spurs players recorded a positive result in a confirmatory test.
Hornets forwards Cody Martin, Caleb Martin, and P.J. Washington all missed action due to the league’s health and safety protocols late last week, though it is unclear if they tested positive, registered an inconclusive test result, or were held out as a consequence of contact tracing.
Per our tracker, 29 regular season NBA games have been postponed so far during the 2020/21 season due to coronavirus-related absences, and a 30th was delayed due to extreme weather in Dallas this week.
Southwest Notes: Oladipo, Hinton, Point Zion, Tucker
Even before his recent right foot injury, new Rockets shooting guard Victor Oladipo has been wrestling with his productivity this season, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
The sore right foot, meanwhile has hampered his mobility of late and may keep him unavailable during the Rockets’ upcoming road trip. At a high 31.8 usage rate, Oladipo is shooting just 38.6% from the floor and 29.9% from long range through his first 11 games in Houston.
“Victor’s gonna get there,” Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said, going on to highlight Oladipo’s contributions on the other side of the ball. “Hopefully, his injury isn’t too bad. He is a big part of what we do, and one of the of the reasons we’re top five defensively is because of Victor Oladipo.”
There’s more out of the Southwest:
- Whilst on the NBAGL Orlando “bubble” campus, two-way Mavericks rookie shooting guard Nate Hinton has been recalled from the Long Island Nets and transferred to the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to a team tweet. Dallas’ own affiliate, the Texas Legends, isn’t active this season.
- The Pelicans‘ offense has benefited from second-year forward Zion Williamson being utilized at the point, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Williamson has frequently been starting the team’s offensive actions during the last five games. “That’s how I grew up playing the game,” Williamson said. “When I’m bringing it up, I take a quick snapshot of the court. I know where all my teammates are and I know where all my teammates are going to be.”
- Defensive-oriented 35-year-old Rockets iron man forward P.J. Tucker has yet to miss a game since joining Houston in 2017. writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. This season, Tucker and rookie forward Jae’Sean Tate are the only Rockets to have not missed any of Houston’s 26 games this season.
Knicks Notes: Randle, Quickley, Rose, Noel
With the addition of Derrick Rose to the Knicks‘ roster, nominal point forward Julius Randle (averaging a career-best 5.8 APG) will have to make changes to his game, writes Peter Botte of the New York Post.
“He’s gonna be extremely helpful,” Randle said of the Rose addition. “It gives us not just a veteran presence but a guy who can go out there and create plays, just a steadiness about him, just a confidence about him.”
Botte notes that thus far Randle and Rose’s minutes have been relatively staggered.
There’s more out of New York:
- Knicks rookie Immanuel Quickley, not even the first Knicks first-round pick in the 2020 NBA draft, has been impressing around the league thus far in his first season, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Though fans fretted that the arrival of a proven veteran scorer like Rose could cut into Quickley’s minutes, the rookie point guard has been playing alongside the former MVP in reserve lineups. “I’m learning a lot of stuff [from him],’’ Quickley said. “He’s a dog, an alpha dog, he’s a leader. It’s great to have somebody like that in my corner.’’
- Rose is already proving a welcome addition to the Knicks, according to Peter Botte of the New York Post. “He’s a great student of the game,” coach Tom Thibodeau raved about Rose, who has played for Thibodeau in all three of his head coaching stops thus far. “I think that is what has allowed him to adapt, grow and change.” Rose is averaging 14.7 PPG and 4.0 APG with New York, while posting an impressive shooting line of .548/.529/.778.
- The injury that will keep starting center Mitchell Robinson sidelined for at least six weeks is creating a huge opportunity for backup big man Nerlens Noel, as Marc Berman of the New York Post details. “Mitchell is a big piece on this team,” Noel said. “Everything he brings to the table. I hope he has a speedy recovery. Until then, I’ll definitely man the defense, man the paint. Just make sure I’m playing at a high level for this team.”
Southeast Notes: Martin Brothers, MCW, Hawks, Collins
Caleb Martin and Cody Martin remain out for the Hornets today due to coronavirus-related issues, and starting power forward P.J. Washington has been categorized as doubtful ahead of today’s contest against the Spurs, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
When the Martins and Washington initially were held out Friday, Bonnell was unable to provide any additional info (in another piece) on whether either Martin brother or Washington had actually yielded a positive or inconclusive test for COVID-19 or had entered the league’s contact tracing protocols.
There’s more out of the Southeast:
- After a 19-game injury absence, point guard Michael Carter-Williams provided an ample boost for an injury-plagued Magic squad, per Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. “I’m always ready to go play the point,” Carter-Williams said. “Coach has me do it in practice sometimes. I’m always staying sharp in that area for moments like this, so we can go out there and not skip a beat and still be successful.”
- The Hawks have struggled to preserve leads in the fourth quarter, having gone just 9-7 this season when they’ve been ahead entering the final frame, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. “I don’t know if it’s always been the fourth,” head coach Lloyd Pierce notes of Atlanta’s recent struggles. “We’re trying to find our rhythm. We’re trying to find guys to find that belief to finish the game.”
- Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel wonders if the struggling Heat should make a full-court press for two-way Hawks power forward John Collins. The power forward position has been problematic for Miami this season, while Collins – who is on an expiring contract – is averaging 18.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 1.6 APG for the 11-15 Hawks. He holds a slash line of .543/.391/.853.
Central Notes: Cavaliers, Walsh, Plumlee, LaVine
The Cavaliers are in relatively good shape in relation to the salary cap, but will have some challenging decisions to make later in 2021, as Kelsey Russo and Danny Leroux of The Athletic examine.
Russo and Leroux estimate a price range for newly-acquired center Jarrett Allen ($8-12MM annually), who will enter restricted free agency this summer, and try to assess whether or not Cleveland will bring back reserve center JaVale McGee. They also discuss whether or not Cleveland will extend standout guard Collin Sexton during the offseason.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Former Pacers consultant Donnie Walsh, 79, spoke with Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files about his retirement this season. “I don’t have the same energy, I don’t have the same body, I guess, that I used to have,” Walsh said. “I just thought I’d like to spend the complete time with different members of my family and have the ability to do that. So that was the real reason I did it.”
- New Pistons free agent addition Mason Plumlee has emerged as Detroit’s “glue guy,” willing to do the team’s glass-cleaning and interior defensive dirty work, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “Mason is a great facilitator and obviously a great rebounder,” said fellow free agent signing Jerami Grant. “He can finish a lot of plays. We’re still a new team, so he’s getting more comfortable and playing at a high level.”
- The Bulls may have a decision to make regarding star shooting guard Zach LaVine, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times contends. The athletic sharpshooter, currently earning $19.5MM a year, will be in line for a raise on his next contract and could come at a cost higher than what Chicago should pay for a one-way player. Cowley points to LaVine’s ranking as 113th of 113 shooting guards in defensive real plus-minus as a limiting factor to his efficacy on a contender, and suggests the Bulls should think about moving the guard if they’re not comfortable maxing him out.