Celtics Sign, Waive Reggie Kissoonlal
4:49pm: The Celtics have already waived Kissoonlal, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.
4:21pm: Reggie Kissoonlal has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Celtics, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. He is expected to be waived and will wind up with the team’s G League affiliate in Maine, Weiss adds.
The seven-footer has been playing overseas since going undrafted out of Northwestern State in 2019. He spent last season with Randers in Denmark.
The Exhibit 10 contract will provide Kissoonlal with a bonus of $50K if he spends at least 60 days with Maine.
Once the moves are complete, Boston will have one open spot on its 20-man roster for the preseason.
Celtics Waive Brodric Thomas
The Celtics have waived Brodric Thomas, according to the NBA.com transactions log.
The 25-year-old shooting guard spent last season with Boston as a two-way player and re-signed with the team in September shortly before the start of training camp. During 2021/22, he appeared in 12 games for the Celtics and 22 with the team’s G League affiliate in Maine.
Thomas has an Exhibit 10 contract, so he could theoretically earn a $50K bonus if he spends at least 60 days with Maine this season. However, the Celtics would have to acquire his returning rights from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
The move brings the Celtics’ roster to 18 players ahead of next week’s cutdown date.
Central Notes: LeVert, Bagley, McGruder, Dragic
The Cavaliers haven’t decided on their starting small forward, but Caris LeVert appears to be the favorite to win the job, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. LeVert has put together a strong preseason, and he gives Cleveland a third dynamic scorer to team with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell.
“He’s been as selfless as you can imagine, just trying to make it work,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of LeVert. “Sometimes to a point where we want to push him to do more, and that’s going to be a matter of time. When you’re playing with Donovan and Darius, he understands that he’s going to do more facilitating at times, but he also is going to recognize that we want him to play to his strength.”
When training camp began, Bickerstaff said six players had a chance to claim the final starting spot. Dylan Windler has been out for the past week with an ankle injury, Lamar Stevens hasn’t played much in the preseason and Cedi Osman is struggling with his shot. Fedor believes the battle is down to three players, with Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro as LeVert’s main competitors.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- After a disappointing start to his career in Sacramento, Marvin Bagley III welcomed a second chance with the Pistons. In an interview with Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype, Bagley talked about the trade that sent him to Detroit and the new contract he signed this summer. “I came in with an open mind. I didn’t know what to expect when I got traded here,” he said. “When I got here, I played my game and was able to be myself. Coach (Dwane) Casey helped me out a lot. The guys on the team welcomed me when I got here. I feel like I caught up pretty quickly and was able to go out, play and be a part of the games towards the end of the year. To start off the season with the team and go through a full training camp is exciting.”
- Rodney McGruder is enjoying his role as a veteran leader on a young Pistons team, writes Mike Curtis of The Detroit News. That role factored into Detroit’s decision to re-sign the 31-year-old guard, Curtis adds.
- At 36, Goran Dragic is savoring the latter part of his time in the NBA, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “This means I just want to enjoy basketball,” said Dragic, who signed with the Bulls in August. “I’m probably close to the end of my career. I just want to enjoy it and win games. I think this is a really awesome group that I’m a part of. Everybody is such a nice guy and having fun. And of course, now it’s all on us to start winning and it’s going to be much easier.”
Marcus Garrett To Miss At Least Four Weeks With Wrist Fracture
Heat guard Marcus Garrett has a fractured right wrist, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The team announced that Garrett is wearing a cast and his condition will be reevaluated in four weeks.
A wrist injury derailed Garrett’s rookie season and forced him to have surgery in January. He was released from his two-way contract following the injury, but he signed a new two-way deal this summer.
Coach Erik Spoelstra refused to speculate on whether Garrett could lose his roster spot again after the latest injury, calling it a “business decision,” tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.
If Garrett is released, Miami has several candidates for the two-way opening, including Haywood Highsmith, who is with the Heat on a partially guaranteed contract, and Mychal Mulder, who signed with the team over the weekend. The other two-way slot is held by Jamal Cain, whose Exhibit 10 contract was converted on Sunday.
Garrett, 23, appeared in all four Heat games during the preseason, averaging 3.3 PPG in 18.4 minutes per night. He got into 12 games with Miami last season before the injury.
Northwest Notes: Paschall, Nnaji, Simons, Little
The long process of waiting for a phone call in free agency caused Eric Paschall to consider a career change, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Paschall didn’t receive a qualifying offer after playing for Utah last season and he spent nearly a month as an unrestricted free agent before signing a two-way contract with the Timberwolves in late July.
“It was just a lot, you know what I’m saying?” Paschall said. “I feel like mentally I wasn’t in the greatest place. Just tired. I was like, ‘I might just stop playing basketball.’ … You see the other players getting picked up, you’re not getting a call. You’re calling your agent every day. So I was at a point where I was like I might walk away.”
Paschall credits former teammate Donovan Mitchell and other players with helping him stay focused on the game. Dell Demps, who joined Minnesota’s front office over the summer, was a strong advocate for signing Paschall.
“It wasn’t really the easiest decision. Had to have a lot of tough conversations about it,” Paschall said of accepting the two-way offer. “But I feel like I’m in a pretty good place now. Pretty happy that I’m here.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- After spending the summer in the weight room, Nuggets power forward Zeke Nnaji has added 10 pounds of muscle and increased his vertical leap by four inches, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Nnaji will be competing with veteran center DeAndre Jordan for backup minutes in the front court. “I’ve really taken a giant leap coming into my third year,” he said. “This is an important year for me.”
- After running the Trail Blazers’ offense during the second half of last season, Anfernee Simons has to adjust to playing alongside Damian Lillard, notes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Simons has gotten off to a rough start to the preseason, making just six of 25 shots from the field, as he settles into his new role. “It’s a different kind of dynamic from last year because, obviously, I was like the primary ball-handler at all times,” Simons said.
- Nassir Little is in a battle for the Trail Blazers’ starting small forward spot after injuries wiped out his summer, Fentress adds in a separate story. Little suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder in January, then had core muscle surgery in May and wasn’t able to play 5-on-5 until last week.
Jamal Cain Gets Two-Way Contract With Heat
1:15pm: The Heat have issued a press release confirming that their series of moves – converting Cain to a two-way deal, waiving Days, and signing Mulder – are now official.
10:33am: The Heat will convert Jamal Cain‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
The team will waive Darius Days from his two-way contract to accommodate the move, and his roster spot will be given to Mychal Mulder.
Cain, a 23-year-old small forward, signed the Exhibit 10 deal in July after going undrafted out of Oakland. He played for the Heat’s Summer League team and has been impressive during the preseason, causing Miami officials to fear that he might not clear waivers if he was let go.
The Heat still have plans for Days, assuming he clears waivers, Chiang writes in a full story. His two-way contract was converted to an Exhibit 10 deal on Saturday, and he appears headed to Miami’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls if he’s not claimed by another team.
Days was given a two-way contract in mid-July after a strong Summer League showing with the Spurs. He appeared in two preseason games, but saw limited action.
Mychal Mulder Joins Heat On Exhibit 10 Deal
1:13pm: Mulder has officially signed with the Heat, according to the team. As we relayed in another story, two-way player Darius Days has been waived to create an opening on the 20-man preseason roster for Mulder.
9:26am: The Heat will sign Mychal Mulder to an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
The 28-year-old guard finished last season in Miami after signing a two-way deal in late March. He appeared in just two games, but was also part of the Heat’s Summer League team. Mulder started last season on a two-way contract with the Magic and averaged 3.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 15 games before being released in January.
Miami currently has a full 20-man roster, so someone will have to be waived before Mulder can officially be signed. Orlando Robinson, Jamaree Bouyea, Jamal Cain and Dru Smith are all in camp on Exhibit 10 deals.
Mulder is expected to wind up with Miami’s G League affiliate in Sioux Falls once the preseason ends, Chiang adds (via Twitter).
Bradley Beal In Health And Safety Protocols
Bradley Beal will miss Monday’s game at Charlotte after being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the Wizards announced (via Twitter).
Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said Beal tested positive for COVID-19 and is exhibiting some minor symptoms, tweets Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.
Beal will return “upon receiving clearance under the current NBA guidelines,” the team added. Washington will wrap up the preseason Friday against the Knicks, so Beal may not play again until the regular season opener October 19.
The NBA revised its COVID-related protocols over the summer and now requires testing for vaccinated players only when they show symptoms of the virus. Unvaccinated players still must be tested once per week. Players are subject to isolation measures after a positive test.
Beal, who signed a five-year extension in July, has only appeared in one preseason game, scoring nine points in 18 minutes.
Sixers Waive Trevelin Queen
10:19am: Queen has officially been waived, the Sixers announced in a press release.
9:59am: The Sixers are waiving Trevelin Queen, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The 25-year-old shooting guard had a two-year, minimum-salary contract with a $330K guarantee for the upcoming season. He was named G League MVP with Rio Grande Valley last season and appeared in 10 games with the Rockets after signing a two-way contract in December.
By waiving Queen before the season begins, Philadelphia was able to avoid a $198K tax variance charge, according to Sixers reporter Derek Bodner (Twitter link).
Queen’s departure leaves the team with 19 players and it means the battle for the final roster spot will likely be between shooting guard Isaiah Joe and center Charles Bassey, Bodner adds (via Twitter). Joe has a $1.78MM non-guaranteed contract that will become fully guaranteed if he’s still on the roster on opening night, while Bassey has a $75K guarantee on his $1.563MM deal.
Nets Notes: Toughness, Simmons, Marks, Durant, Harris
Thursday’s 29-point loss to the Heat brought back a familiar concern that the Nets might not have enough toughness to succeed against the NBA’s best teams, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. It’s a point that was raised recently by free agent addition Markieff Morris, who played for Miami last season and said Heat players considered Brooklyn to be “soft.”
Getting tougher with opponents was stressed during this week’s film sessions, and Saturday’s practice ran noticeably longer than usual, Lewis adds. The Nets have assembled a talented roster and they don’t want a perceived lack of grit to be their downfall.
“Yeah, the low-hanging fruit that we could honestly all agree on is sometimes in possessions we’re not playing hard enough,” Kyrie Irving said. “You saw it against Miami the other night. They were really physical, and we don’t want that to be our stigma or M.O. in the league. … The most physical teams usually win ballgames, especially down the stretch. So we’ve got to be tougher. Like Markieff said, we’ve got to be comfortable with being uncomfortable at times. We’re going to mess up things, but we don’t want it to carry over to the next possession. That’s what our [message] has been in practice: on to the next play. Regardless what the ref’s doing [or] our opponent is doing, we want to focus on us.”
There’s more from Brooklyn:
- After not playing for 16 months, Ben Simmons knows it will take a while to get comfortable again on the court, Lewis adds in a separate story. The Nets want Simmons to attack the basket more frequently, but he took just three shots against the Heat while committing six turnovers. Still, he remains confident that he’ll work things out. “Obviously, having back surgery and rehabbing, there’s a lot of things that physically I want to do that I’m not doing right now: getting to the rim, getting hit, things like that, and hitting other people,” Simmons said. “But that’s all going to come. We’ve got time. So in due time, it’ll come.”
- General manager Sean Marks discussed Kevin Durant‘s offseason trade demand with Alex Chapman of the New Zealand-based NewsHub, explaining that none of Durant’s suitors was willing to offer enough to get a deal done. “I think, at the end of the day, other teams realized they don’t have the assets to give up to acquire arguably the top one-two-three player in the world, who’s on a contract for four years,” Marks said. “If they’d had to give away their treasure chest, their goals may be reduced.”
- Foot soreness prevented Joe Harris from playing against Miami, according to a NetsDaily story. The team is being cautious with Harris, who has undergone two ankle surgeries over the past year.