Emanuel Terry Signs 10-Day Deal With Suns
1:26pm: Terry has officially signed his 10-day deal with the Suns, the team announced on Sunday. Terry will wear uniform No. 10 with the club.
11:52am: The Suns will sign rookie Emanuel Terry to a 10-day contract, tweets Gina Mizell of The Athletic.
The 23-year-old power forward played for the Nuggets’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League, but was waived by Denver in early October. Three days later, he signed an Exhibit 10 training camp contract with the Cavaliers, but failed to make the team and has been playing in the G League. Terry was a Division II All-American last season at Lincoln Memorial University.
The expiration of Quincy Acy‘s second 10-day contract gives Phoenix a roster opening to add Terry.
Knicks Notes: Burke, Kanter, Ntilikina, Trade Deadline
Trey Burke is back in the Knicks‘ rotation, but it looks like a temporary situation until he either gets traded or Emmanuel Mudiay returns from a strained shoulder, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Burke, who began the season as the starting point guard, poured in 25 points Friday, but doesn’t appear to have a long-term future in New York.
The Knicks have committed to a youth movement and are looking to trade veterans Courtney Lee, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Enes Kanter as well. Burke has an expiring $1.795MM contract and likely won’t be around next season no matter what happens at the deadline. A source tells Berman that Burke prefers to be dealt, but he insists he’ll be fine either way.
“As a basketball player, you look at other scenarios,” Burke said. “How I’d fit in other scenarios, in that system, in that situation. But I think the direction of this organization, I want to be part of that. I know that there’s still a lot I have to prove. That’s fine with me.”
There’s more today out of New York:
- Kanter continues to seethe about being about not being used, even after an injury to starting center Luke Kornet, Berman relays in a separate story. Kanter sat out back-to-back games after Fizdale promised him a return to the rotation, with the coach explaining that he’s trying a versatile, switching style of defense that doesn’t fit Kanter’s game. “I was talking to one of my teammates … and I said I could get 30 and 30 (points and rebounds) tonight,” Kanter said after Friday’s loss to the Nets. “But I guess they didn’t want me to get 30 and 30.”
- Mudiay’s injury provides Frank Ntilikina with a new opportunity to impress Knicks management, but foul trouble is getting in his way, Berman notes in another story. Ntilikina made his seventh start of the year at point guard Friday, but played just 18 minutes before fouling out. “I have to be smarter to avoid these fouls and know what moment when the refs are going to call it,’’ he said. “Fouls are going to come by being aggressive, but I have to control it.’’
- The Knicks are in a tear-down phase with almost everyone on the roster available for trades, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. However, an Eastern Conference executive told him that recent additions such as Burke, Mudiay, Noah Vonleh and Mario Hezonja don’t carry much trade value.
Bulls Notes: Hutchison, Parker, Anthony, Dunn
Serious injuries have now affected nearly every key piece of the Bulls‘ rebuilding effort, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. The latest casualty is rookie Chandler Hutchison, who will be sidelined until at least the All-Star break with an “acute injury” to his right foot.
He joins Lauri Markkanen, who missed the first 23 games of the season with a right elbow injury, Kris Dunn and Bobby Portis, who both had extended absences with knee issues, Denzel Valentine, who is out for the year after ankle surgery, and Wendell Carter Jr., who may miss the rest of the season after thumb surgery.
The timing of Hutchison’s injury is unfortunate because he had just moved into the starting lineup when the Bulls traded Justin Holiday to Memphis.
“You see the confidence Hutch is playing with and the growth he has had, the confidence Wendell was playing with and the growth he has had,” coach Jim Boylen said. “And you forget about Denzel coming into his third year ready to go, pumped, had a great summer. So it’s gut-wrenching. It’s painful for them individually and painful for the team. It’s tough.”
There’s more from Chicago:
- Boylen has several options at small forward while Hutchison is out, Johnson adds in the same piece. Jabari Parker could be moved back into that spot or the team could try a smaller lineup with Wayne Selden or Shaquille Harrison. Regardless, Parker should see steady playing time after about a month of hardly leaving the bench. “The dude’s special,” Zach LaVine said of Parker. “He’s one of the only dudes on the team who has averaged 20 points per game in the NBA. He’s one of the most talented dudes on the team. I’m happy for him. It’s a tough situation, but he’s handling it well.”
- Chicago acquired Carmelo Anthony this week, but the move came five years later than the organization would have liked, Johnson notes in a separate story. The Bulls were serious suitors for Anthony when he was a free agent in 2014, and Johnson speculates that he could have been the missing piece to make the Bulls title contenders.
- Parker and Robin Lopez have dominated the trade deadline speculation in Chicago, but the most important decision may involve Dunn, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. The third-year point guard will become eligible for an extension this summer, and the Bulls have to decide soon whether he will be part of their future. Mayberry notes that the team recently scouted Murray State point guard Ja Morant, who now projects as a top five pick.
Cavaliers Sign Kobi Simmons To 10-Day Contract
Kobi Simmons has signed a 10-day deal with the Cavaliers, the team announced on its website.
The 21-year-old guard has spent the season with Cleveland’s G League affiliate in Canton after the Cavs waived him in training camp. Simmons averaged 17.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 30 games for the Charge.
After going undrafted out of Arizona in 2017, Simmons signed a two-way deal with the Grizzlies. He appeared in 32 games for Memphis last season, starting 12, and averaged 6.1 points in about 20 minutes per game. He was released during the summer.
The addition of Simmons ensures that Cameron Payne is done in Cleveland, at least for now. His second 10-day contract expired on Friday.
Sixers Notes: Roster Depth, Brewer, Redick, Shamet
The Sixers will focus on improving their depth between now and the playoffs, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The team’s most pressing needs are another perimeter defender and a a big man to back up Joel Embiid, Pompey adds, and management plans to pursue both of those on the trade and buyout markets.
“Where you end up feeling it the most is, ‘What’s your depth? What’s the depth of your team?’” coach Brett Brown said. “(GM) Elton Brand is doing aggressive work behind the scenes, trying to figure out the design of our team as the trade deadline comes up. And I’m following his lead.”
The Sixers were big winners at buyout time last season, landing a pair of shooters in Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. However, Ilyasova had played in Philadelphia before and Brown had a connection to Belinelli from their days in San Antonio, so duplicating that success won’t be easy.
Two things are working against the Sixers’ effort, Pompey notes. The playoff race hasn’t shaken out like they had hoped, and with so many teams still in contention there may be a shortage of sellers before the deadline. Also, Markelle Fultz, who might have been a useful trade chip, has been sidelined since November 19 with thoracic outlet syndrome.
There’s more this morning from Philadelphia:
- Corey Brewer, who signed a second 10-day deal on Friday, deserves to be kept for the rest of the season and possibly longer, Pompey states in a separate story. Brewer has started the past three games while Jimmy Butler recovers from a sprained wrist and is averaging 10.8 points per night since joining the team.
- Surrounded by elite players, J.J. Redick can get overlooked, but the Sixers are pushing for him to land a spot in the All-Star Game, Pompey adds in another story. Redick is averaging a career-high 18.4 PPG at age 34 and is having one of his best all-around seasons, shooting 38.9% from 3-point range, contributing 2.8 assists per night and playing 31.1 minutes per game. “I just want to keep playing and enjoying playing,” he said. “Whether that’s three years or five years, I don’t know. You can’t really predict. But how I felt the last couple of years, I’d like to keep playing for a while.”
- The Sixers believe they have something special in rookie guard Landry Shamet, relays Dario Skerletic of Sportando. The 26th player selected in the 2018 draft, Shamet is averaging 8.4 points per game, shooting better than 40% on 3-pointers and has shown an ability to handle both backcourt positions. “He’s not your typical rookie,” Redick said. “It’s fun to see a guy who’s 21 years old and is already, basically a pro. He acts like a pro, he plays like a pro.”
Lakers Notes: Ball, LeBron, Young Talent, B. Lopez
Lonzo Ball feared the worst when he collided with the Rockets’ James Ennis last Saturday, relays Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. Ball wound up with a grade 3 left ankle sprain and a recovery time of four to six weeks, but he thought he had a broken bone as teammates carried him to the locker room.
“It happened kind of fast,” he said. “I remember my leg pretty much just going like that and kind of popping out.”
Ball made a bit of progress Friday, getting off crutches and shifting to a walking boot, and now plans to work in the weight room and engage in intensive film study as he prepares to return to the court. He laments the timing of the mishap, which came amid some of his best performances of the season, and the string of injuries that have affected the team in recent weeks.
“You’re asking people to play out of position. You’re asking people to play more minutes than usually they play. And we’ve never really had a full team for the whole year,” Ball said. “So hopefully after All-Star we can all come together and go on a nice little run.”
There’s more Lakers news to pass along:
- LeBron James went through contact drills in practice today for the first time since suffering a groin strain on Christmas, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James’ agent, Rich Paul, said he could return to action now if needed, but is working his way back to being a dominating presence. L.A. is 5-10 since LeBron’s injury and has dropped to ninth place in the West.
- The trade value of the Lakers’ young players has declined over the past six months, a Western Conference executive tells Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. Woike asked several league executives and scouts to evaluate Brandon Ingram, Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac. They were split on Ingram or Kuzma as the most coveted, with mixed opinions on the other three.
- The Lakers don’t have a center who can shoot 3-pointers to keep up with the league-wide trend, but they let one get away in Brook Lopez, Woike writes in a separate story. A move to the Bucks has turned Lopez into a dangerous 3-point weapon who is on pace to take more this season than he did in his previous eight years. He spent last season in L.A. before accepting a modest one-year, $3.382MM offer to go to Milwaukee.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/26/19
Here are Saturday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- The Spurs recalled forward Chimezie Metu and guard Lonnie Walker from their Austin affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Metu is posting a 14.2/7.5/2.2 line in 17 G League contests, while Walker is at 15.9/3.1/1.5 in 19 games with Austin.
- The Nuggets assigned rookie forward Jarred Vanderbilt to the G League, according to a tweet from the team. Because Denver doesn’t have a direct G League affiliate, Vanderbilt will join the Delaware Blue Coats. A second-round pick this year, Vanderbilt has played just one NBA game.
Five Key Stories: 1/19/19 – 1/26/19
If you missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA, we’ve got you covered with our Week in Review. Below are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:
The Pacers were hit with a devastating loss Wednesday when star guard Victor Oladipo suffered a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee. The injury will require surgery that will keep Oladipo out of action for the rest of the season and perhaps longer. Indiana was third in the East at the time of the injury and has until the February 7 trade deadline to try to remake the team before the playoffs.
The Rockets finally found a taker for Carmelo Anthony, but the deal won’t revive his NBA career. Houston sent Anthony to Chicago in exchange for some cash and a swap of draft-and-stash players, but the Bulls don’t plan to use him. They will either trade Anthony somewhere else before the deadline or waive him so he can search for another opportunity.
The Mavericks’ standoff with Dennis Smith Jr. appears to be over, at least for now. Smith returned to the team after missing more than two weeks and was re-inserted into the rotation. There had been rumors that Dallas was seeking to trade Smith, but those seem to have quieted.
There are fresh rumors that LeBron James wants to see Luke Walton replaced as Lakers’ head coach. Talk of a possible coaching change emerged early in the season as L.A. got off to a slow start, but seemed to subside as the team became more successful. With James missing more than a month because of injury, the Lakers have dropped into ninth place in the West.
The Knicks have made Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee available for trades. Both veteran guards have contracts that run beyond this season, and New York wants to maximize cap space for free agency. Enes Kanter expressed a desire to be traded after receiving a DNP in Wednesday’s loss.
Here are 10 more notable NBA headlines from the past week:
- The Grizzlies are willing to part with long-time stars Mike Conley and Marc Gasol as they look toward the future.
- Memphis added some roster depth by signing Bruno Caboclo to a 10-day contract.
- Corey Brewer signed a second 10-day deal with the Sixers, who will have to decide whether to keep for the rest of the season once this one expires.
- Gary Payton II, son of the Hall of Fame guard, agreed to a 10-day contract with the Wizards, bringing Washington back up to the minimum roster count of 14.
- Kenneth Faried agreed to a buyout with the Nets and joined the Rockets, giving Houston some frontcourt depth while Clint Capela recovers from a thumb injury. To make room for Faried, the Rockets waived James Nunnally before his 10-day contract expired.
- Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie opted for surgery to fix damaged ligaments in his right thumb. He is expected to miss three to six weeks.
- Lakers guard Lonzo Ball will be out four to six weeks after spraining his left ankle.
- Darius Garland, a potential lottery pick in this year’s draft, withdrew from Vanderbilt after suffering a season-ending knee injury.
- A pair of Disabled Player Exceptions were granted this week. The Grizzlies received one for an injury to Dillon Brooks, and the Wizards‘ request was approved in the wake of John Wall‘s injury.
- Starters were announced for this year’s All-Star Game. As the top vote-getters in each conference, James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will draft the rosters for each team.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 1/19/19 – 1/26/19
Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Below are the original segments and features from the past seven days:
- Our Free Agent Stock Watch continued with a look at the Atlantic Division.
- Our Trade Candidate Series focused on the Northwest Division.
- Luke Adams examined the teams that have been granted Disabled Player Exceptions and how they might use them.
- Chris Crouse offered his latest batch of Fantasy Hoops advice.
- We conducted our weekly Chat ahead of the trade deadline.
- We provided our All-Star choices for the Eastern and Western conference.
- We also offered a look at players who can’t be aggregated in trades for the rest of the season.
- In this week’s Community Shootaround posts, we asked:
Specialist Confirms Jimmy Butler Suffered Sprained Wrist
JANUARY 26: The specialist that Butler saw confirmed the injury is merely a sprain, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Butler will miss tonight’s game, but is expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday.
JANUARY 25: Jimmy Butler‘s sprained right wrist may be more troubling than the Sixers originally believed. After an MRI taken Monday showed no serious damage, Butler will see a specialist today in Los Angeles to determine the extent of the injury, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Butler accompanied the team on its current four-game road trip and both he and Sixers officials remain optimistic that he will be able to play before it ends on February 2. He has been listed as doubtful for tomorrow’s game in Denver (Twitter link).
Butler has missed Philadelphia’s past two games because of the injury, but coach Brett Brown said on Wednesday he doesn’t expect it to be a long-term issue. The Sixers won both games with much of Butler’s playing time being taken over by Corey Brewer, who signed a second 10-day contract today.