Atlantic Notes: Okafor, Russell, Hardaway Jr.
The Nets roster boasts two of the top-three 2015 draft picks but neither are currently in the lineup, nor are they expected to be in the near future. Brian Lewis of the New York Post confirms that while D’Angelo Russell is five weeks into his recovery from arthroscopic surgery last month, he’s still a couple of weeks away.
Jahlil Okafor, on the other hand, is out for a different reason. Prior to his acquisition on December 7, Okafor was seldom used by the Sixers, seeing action in just two games for Philly. The big man played for the Nets last week but has been held out since.
“I’d hate to put an exact date on [when Okafor will play again]. Depending on how he feels, we’re going day-to-day,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “I’d assume he’s still probably a week-and-a-half or two weeks away from where he feels comfortable out there and be able to play at the pace in which coach Kenny Atkinson and his staff want to play at.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- While they still haven’t released a timetable for his return, Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. has made progress in his recovery from a leg injury, Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes. The swingman can push off of his leg a little bit and will be re-evaluated again next week.
- The versatile contributions of Delon Wright have served the Raptors well, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. The 25-year-old is long and athletic, capable of both running with the squad and being patient when they need him to be. Wright has averaged 7.7 points and 2.4 assists in just over 20 minutes per game this season.
- The Celtics have been said to be interested in acquiring Anthony Davis. One C’s writer, however, doesn’t want the club to go all in on the Pelicans‘ superstar. D.J. Bean of NBC Sports Boston writes that giving up Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum may be too much, especially considering that the Warriors are going to be a formidable contender to seriously compete with over the next few seasons.
Mike James Waived By Suns
The Suns have waived guard Mike James, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The 27-year-old rookie had initially been signed to a two-way contract with the franchise but had that deal converted into a regular season contract.
The decision was likely a difficult one for the organization to make, considering that James had thrived on a young team that found stability in the mature first-year player. We discussed on Wednesday, however, that such a decision may have been looming for the franchise.
With four players sidelined due to injury, the team had recently been granted a hardship exception and used it on December 13 to sign journeyman point guard Isaiah Canaan. Canaan’s play in the four games since has essentially forced the team’s hand.
In four matchups this season, playing 25.0 minutes a night, Canaan has averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. While James’ numbers were respectable in their own right, Canaan may have the higher ceiling, not least because despite being a five-year veteran, he’s still actually younger than James.
James, who went undrafted in 2012, will now turn his attention to finding a new home, a task that may be a bit easier now that he has a quarter of a season of big league games under his belt.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/22/17
Here are the minor league moves from around the Association today:
- The Pacers have recalled T.J. Leaf and Ike Anigbogu from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team announced in a press release. Leaf averaged 23.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in three contests with the affiliate squad.
- The Rockets recalled Zhou Qi from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
- The Cavaliers assigned Ante Zizic to their affiliate, the Canton Charge announced in a press release. In four games with the minor league squad, Zizic has posted 15.8 points and 8.5 rebound sin just 23.5 minutes per contest.
- The Grizzlies have assigned Ivan Rabb to the Memphis Hustle, the Grizz announced in a press release. The rookie has averaged a double-double in 14 games with the G League squad.
- The Hornets assigned Julyan Stone to their G League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. The last time the guard suited up for the Greensboro Swarm, he put up 14 assists in 24 minutes.
Southwest Notes: Gentry, Noel, Grizzlies
The Pelicans are a fringe playoff team in the Western Conference, competitive enough to keep striving for the postseason but not quite ready to shed the mediocre label and genuinely compete. Unsurprisingly, Pels fans have started calling for head coach Alvin Gentry‘s job, William Guillory of The Times-Picayune writes.
While axing a head coach is often the first knee-jerk reaction that fans – and sometimes teams – have when things aren’t going as well as they could be, this could be a particularly bad time for the Pelicans to let Gentry go. For one, it would display a sense of desperation that could send a negative signal to their pair of superstar big men.
Guillory writes that both the coaches and the players should be to blame for the Pelicans’ woeful defense. They’ve ranked dead last in defensive efficiency this month, futile enough to overpower any offensive strides the team has taken.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Nerlens Noel deal has been more of a disappointment than an outright mistake, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News writes. Sherrington cites how little the Mavs had to give up for the big man as the reason why the trade isn’t as disastrous as, say, the Rajon Rondo deal back in 2014.
- The Pelicans are pleased with what they’ve seen out of Jrue Holiday off the ball this season. Scott Kushner of The Advocate writes that the converted point guard has enjoyed a career year at shooting guard.
- Does the pairing of Mike Conley and Marc Gasol have a future beyond this season? That’s what Chris Herrington of the Memphis Commercial Appeal asks, arguing that the Grizzlies tandem could conceivably fare well together into their late 30s.
Pacific Notes: Ball, Chriss, Len
While Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has upped his shooting percentages over the course of the last few weeks, his inability to score consistently could prevent him from ever becoming a superstar, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN writes.
For a number of reasons, ranging from the wonky left-eye-dominant shooting stroke to his instinctive pass-first mentality, Ball may never develop into the scorer that he’d likely need to be in order to have his jersey raised in the Staples Center, as Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson so kindly requested at his introduction press conference.
Arnovitz suggests that while there may be hurdles for Ball to become the next Stephen Curry, he could still have an instrumental impact on the Lakers by becoming their Draymond Green. His feel for the game and style could inspire the team to play the right way, in line with head coach Luke Walton‘s vision, even if he never becomes a dominant offensive weapon.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- It may be time to temper expectations for Marquese Chriss, Zach Lowe of ESPN writes. The second-year Suns forward hasn’t taken any significant strides in his sophomore season, is weak on defense and doesn’t have a reliable offensive identity.
- Backup big man Alex Len has taken a major step forward in 2017/18, carving out a role as a consistently productive reserve for the Suns. As Cody Cunningham of the team’s official site writes, Len leads the league in rebounds per game off of the bench, with 9.5 boards a piece in 25 contests. Suffice it to say, Greg Monroe and Tyson Chandler may be even more expendable than previously thought.
- If it’s a “long shot” for the Lakers to sign LeBron James next summer, as has been reported, the franchise would be wise to start targeting Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report writes.
Jazz To Sign Naz Mitrou-Long To Two-Way Deal
The Jazz plan to sign Naz Mitrou-Long to a two-way deal, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The combo guard out of Iowa State went undrafted over the summer but played briefly with Utah in training camp prior to being cut ahead of opening day.
After his October 14 release from the Jazz, the Canadian combo guard went to work for Utah’s G League affiliate, playing 20 games for the Salt Lake City Stars averaging 15.0 points and 3.7 assists per game.
Mitrou-Long will slide into the opening created earlier today when the Jazz waived two-way guard Nate Wolters.
Mitrou-Long was named to the All-Big 12 second-team during his final year of NCAA action and played with the Kings in the Las Vegas Summer League.
Jazz Release Nate Wolters
The Jazz have released two-way signee Nate Wolters, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The 26-year-old guard only had only seen 3.8 minutes per game of action across five contests with the big league squad so far this season.
Wolters, who hadn’t played in the NBA since a 2014/15 campaign split between the Bucks and Pelicans, has started 13 games for Utah’s G League affiliate the Salt Lake City Stars.
The announcement comes a day after the Jazz let another player on a two-way contract go, waiving Eric Griffin to free up room in order to sign Erik McCree.
With Wolters out of the picture now as well, the Jazz will have one of their two allotted two-way slots free until they find somebody to sign. A player signed to such a deal today would have about 30 days of big league service time (down from the typical 45-day limit based on a full season).
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/21/17
Here are the G League moves from around the Association today:
- The Bucks recalled D.J. Wilson from their G League affiliate, the team revealed on its official site. The forward has played sparingly with the big league squad this season, averaging just 3.6 minutes per game in 11 contests.
- The Cavaliers assigned guard Isaiah Thomas and big man Ante Zizic to the club’s affiliate in Canton. We wrote about Thomas’ brief rehabilitation stint earlier today. Later in the day, ahead of Cleveland’s Thursday night tilt against the Bulls, the Cavs announced on Twitter that they had recalled both Thomas and Zizic.
2018 Free Agent Stock Watch: Denver Nuggets
After years of being a beloved up-and-coming Western Conference hopeful, the Nuggets have lost some of their sheen due to circumstances somewhat out of their control. The franchise made its intentions clear by signing Paul Millsap to a contract north of $31MM this season, which only adds to the frustration caused by a relatively mediocre start.
The Nuggets had their hands full adding Millsap to the fold alongside 22-year-old Nikola Jokic, so we can’t exactly fault the club for getting out to a slow start, but – at just 16-15 – they have. When word broke that the 32-year-old free agent would miss months with a wrist injury, the outlook grew even more bleak.
All told, the Nuggets may not be quite as mysteriously captivating as they were in the past, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still be a solid team eventually given the still-very-much intriguing young pieces that dot the roster.
Darrell Arthur, PF, 30 (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $23MM deal in 2016
While Arthur has played nine seasons with just two NBA franchises, carving out a role as a consistently reliable rotation player on both despite never logging more than the 21.7 minutes per game, his pedestrian career marks of 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game aren’t likely to yield much on the open market. For that reason, expect him to pick up his $7.5MM player option.
Will Barton, SG, 27 (Up) – Signed to a three-year, $10MM deal in 2015
In three and a half seasons with the Nuggets, Barton has made a name for himself as a solid spark plug off the bench. The soon-to-be 27-year-old unrestricted free agent will hit the open market in July and seems likely to command more from another suitor than the Nuggets would be comfortable matching given the other building blocks they’ll need to commit to.
Wilson Chandler, SF, 31 (Down) – Signed to a four-year, $47MM deal in 2015
Despite having a career year in 2016/17 and starting every game of the season for the Nuggets so far this year, Chandler isn’t a major part of Denver’s long-term plans. Given that we may see more penny pinching next summer than we did the last two because of a league-wide dearth of cap room, it’s hard to imagine the forward landing more than what he’ll be able to get just by accepting the $13MM player option he has for $2018/19.
Richard Jefferson, SF, 38 (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $2MM deal in 2017
After landing with the Nuggets on a minimum deal following his release from the Cavaliers at the start of the season, Jefferson will hit free agency once again next summer. At the ripe age of 38, no longer privy to the luxuries of competing for a championship, don’t put it past the podcasting superstar to retire.
Nikola Jokic, C, 23 (Up) – Signed to a four-year, $6MM deal in 2015
The Nuggets have options for dealing with Jokic’s inevitable free agency. There’s no denying that the affable big man with a 24.1 career PER will command max money whenever he’s eligible to sign a new deal — whether that happens next summer or the one after that is the question. Denver holds a team option for Jokic’s 2018/19 campaign. While they could technically turn down his team option and look to lock him up as a restricted free agent in 2018, the Nuggets are already flirting with the luxury tax for next season without a monster Jokic deal on their books (or a possible Barton deal, for that matter). The front office could be better suited accepting the team option and then making a major play for the big man in 2019, once the contracts of Chandler, Arthur and Kenneth Faried expire. Still, there are optics to think about in that scenario. Regardless, Jokic has earned big money, so let’s pull up some chairs and watch how Tim Connelly and Arturas Karnisovas try to figure this out.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Atlantic Notes: Nets, Ujiri, Porzingis
There’s no denying that the Nets were in a pickle when Sean Marks took over from Billy King as general manager of the franchise. In the time since, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer writes, the former Spurs‘ staffer has changed the culture of the franchise by consistently and patiently strategizing ways to improve.
Another transformative figure within the Nets organization is head coach Kenny Atkinson. O’Connor details Atkinson’s hands-on approach and willingness to get in the foxhole with his players.
The results speak for themselves. While the Nets don’t exactly strike fear in their opponents yet, they’ve managed to amass a solid cache of promising young players despite the previous regime having unloaded a bounty of picks in one of the worst trades in sports history.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Ex-Celtics big man and current Heat forward Jordan Mickey gives his former boss the benefit of the doubt regarding his release from the team. Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets that Mickey was surprised about being waived in the summer but that he trusts that Danny Ainge knows what he’s doing.
- Give Masai Ujiri more credit for his work with the Raptors, Tom Ziller of SB Nation writes. The Raps’ president of basketball operations has turned a fledgling squad into a consistent playoff team and now a potential contender, all without bottoming out.
- Desperate to build enough strength to avoid injuries, Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis has been working with famous personal trainer Carlon Colker, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. The doctor and former MMA fighter has worked previously with Shaquille O’Neal and, uh, Justin Bieber.