DeMarcus Cousins Has Successful Surgery
The Pelicans have officially announced that center DeMarcus Cousins underwent successful surgery today at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute in Los Angeles to repair the season-ending rupture of his left Achilles tendon that he suffered in last week’s game against Houston.
As previously reported, Cousins will miss the remainder of the 2017/18 season, but his surgery went “very well” and he is expected to make a full recovery and be able to return to basketball after an intensive rehabilitation program.
Cousins, 27, had been playing at an All-NBA level before the injury, appearing in 48 games and averaging 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game.
Grizzlies To Sit Tyreke Evans
7:36pm: Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer is reporting that multiple teams have already put a first-round pick on the table for Evans.
5:59pm: As trade discussions involving Grizzlies guard Tyreke Evans intensify, the team will sit him out until a deal is completed, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Evans will not play this evening in Indiana, as confirmed by Michael Wallace of Grind City Media, who reports that he witnessed the veteran guard leaving Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Wallace adds that Evans believes any potential deal would send him to a playoff team.
As we detailed earlier today, the Bulls are doing the same thing with trade candidate Nikola Mirotic, holding him out of games while pursuing potential trades. Bobby Marks of ESPN suggests both teams’ decisions, while unprecedented, are the right moves given that both the Grizzlies and Bulls have little chance of making the playoffs.
Marks also tweets that teams interested in trading for Evans are being cautious due in part to Evans not having either Bird or Early Bird Rights this offseason, meaning a team over the apron (i.e. the Cavaliers, who are reported to have interest) would be limited to offering Evans a starting salary in the range of about $5.4MM, the projected value of the taxpayer mid-level exception.
Earlier reports linked the Sixers, Celtics, Cavaliers, Pelicans, Thunder, Heat, and Rockets to Evans.
Bucks Interested In Malik Monk
In addition to looking for help at center, the Bucks are reportedly interested in potentially acquiring a shooting guard before next week’s trade deadline.
According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, one possible candidate is Hornets‘ rookie Malik Monk, who has fallen out of Charlotte’s rotation while working to improve his defense and adjust to the NBA game. League sources tell Woelfel that the Bucks have contacted Charlotte about Monk.
Woelfel adds that there is apparently a split in the Hornets’ hierarchy as to whether the team should hold on to Monk or move him. As highlighted before and mentioned above, the 19-year-old Monk has struggled for much of his rookie season, averaging a lowly 5.2 points per game on 33% shooting from the floor.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Monk’s best game of the season came against Milwaukee on November 1, when he poured in 25 points on five of eight from long range.
The Bucks are currently over the salary cap, but possess a $5MM trade exception that was created when they traded Roy Hibbert to Denver last season. The team also has some non-essential players that could be included in trades for salary-matching purposes.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/27/18
Here’s the G League activity from Saturday:
10:43pm:
- The Warriors recalled center Damian Jones from their Santa Cruz affiliate, the team announced on its website. Jones is averaging 15.5 points and leading the G League by shooting 68.1% from the floor.
2:55pm:
- The Raptors assigned Alfonzo McKinnie to their G League affiliate, the Raptors 905, in advance of today’s game against the Wisconsin Herd, the G League affiliate announced in a press release. McKinnie has averaged 1.3 points per game in 10 contests with the Raptors so far this season.
- The Nets have recalled Isaiah Whitehead from the Long Island Nets in anticipation of tonight’s game at Minnesota, reports Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Whitehead is averaging 17.5 points per game in the G League so far this season.
- Damyean Dotson has been assigned to the Knicks’ G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, according to an official tweet from the team. Dotson has averaged 17.9 points per game in 11 games with Westchester this season.
- The Suns have recalled Davon Reed from their G League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, as reported by an official tweet from the team. Reed has only played in one game for the Suns so far this season.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 1/20/18 – 1/27/18
Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Here are our original segments and features from the past seven days:
- As part of our Community Shootaround discussions, we focused on the following questions:
- Should the Cavaliers be willing to part with the Nets‘ first round pick?
- What should the draft look like for the NBA All-Star starters?
- Our 2018 Free Agent Stock Watch focused on the the Suns and the Warriors.
- With the trade deadline less than two weeks away, we identified several players in the Atlantic, Northwest, and Central divisions who could be on the move.
- None of the last five NBA deadlines have featured fewer than eight deadline-day swaps, and there have always been a couple more moves made leading up to the deadline. We took a look at the last five NBA trade deadlines.
- Additionally, we took a look at five potential trade deadline buyers who are looking to upgrade their roster but don’t possess a 2018 first-round pick.
- Chris Crouse’s weekly fantasy basketball feature zeroed in on the recent struggles of the Cavaliers.
- We posted three separate polls, asking:
- Who will win the All-Star Game; Team LeBron or Team Steph?
- In the wake of the Cavaliers’ struggles, which team will win the Eastern Conference?
- Which teams will not make the Western Conference Playoffs?
Mike Conley To Miss The Rest Of The Season
According to an official team press release, Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley will undergo surgery to smooth a small bone protrusion in his left heel that continues to cause pain and soreness, leaving him unavailable for the remainder of the 2017-18 season. Conley is expected to make a full recovery prior to next season’s training camp.
In addition to the official release from the team, General Manager Chris Wallace sent an email to Memphis season-ticket holders earlier today, stating “Mike has been extremely diligent as we pursued multiple different approaches to alleviate the pain before deciding surgery was the best solution.”
Conley was able to participate in three-on-three scrimmages earlier this month, but the injury did not improve. Conley has appeared in just 12 games this season, last playing in mid-November. He averaged 17.1 points and 4.1 assists per game.
Five Key Stories: 1/20/18 – 1/27/18
Missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA? We’ve got you covered. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days.
The Bucks fired head coach Jason Kidd, and assistant coach Joe Prunty will take over for Kidd as the interim head coach in Milwaukee for the remainder of the 2017/18 season. Despite currently holding on to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, management is disappointed with the team’s mediocre record so far, especially after the in-season acquisition of point guard Eric Bledsoe. All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo was reportedly “devastated” by Kidd’s firing, so it will be interesting to see how the relationship between the Bucks and Antetokounmpo plays out in the future.
Pelicans All-Star big man DeMarcus Cousins suffered a torn achilles tendon in last night’s game against Houston and will miss the remainder of the 2017/18 season. The injury occurred with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter after Cousins notched his second triple-double in three games. Cousins will undergo surgery to repair the tendon as soon as possible and his estimated recovery period is six to ten months.
Despite a steadfast denial from within the Spurs’ organization and a stellar track record of good rapport between players and management, there are reports that the relationship between the Spurs and their superstar forward Kawhi Leonard has soured over differences in opinion regarding the treatment and rehabilitation of Leonard’s lingering quadriceps injury. Leonard is currently sidelined indefinitely as he focuses on rehabbing his quad.
After being pummeled by the Thunder on national television last Saturday, the Cavaliers held an emotional team meeting on Monday where teammates questioned Kevin Love about his early exit from both the game and arena as a result of an apparent illness. His teammates questioned whether he was truly sick, but Love defended himself and there was apparently a sense after the meeting that team had worked out some issues.
The NBA All-Star lineups and teams were finalized this week. As was highly publicized, leading vote getters LeBron James and Stephen Curry picked their teams from the pool of remaining starters and reserves. Team LeBron’s starting lineup includes James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Kyrie Irving. James’ reserves will be comprised of Bradley Beal, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Victor Oladipo, Kristaps Porzingis and John Wall. Team Curry’s starting lineup includes Curry, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid. Curry’s reserves will be Damian Lillard, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Kyle Lowry, Klay Thompson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Al Horford.
After requesting a trade from the Cavaliers in the offseason, Celtics’ All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving threatened to undergo knee surgery that would sideline him for most or all of the 2017/18 season if the Cavs didn’t move him, thereby convincing Cleveland’s front office and owner Dan Gilbert that the relationship wasn’t fixable. LeBron James apparently asked the front office not to move Irving, but they felt they had no choice.
Here are 10 more NBA headlines from the last week worth noting:
- As part of their potential efforts to trade point guard Kemba Walker, the Hornets would like to engage the Knicks in trade discussions.
- The Pelicans have signed guard DeAndre Liggins to a second 10-day contract after appearing in just one game during his first 10-day stint.
- Tony Parker, the Spurs’ 17-year veteran point guard, has ceded his starting role in the team’s first-unit to second-year point guard Dejounte Murray.
- Current Lakers’ shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is being prioritized by the Knicks as a free agent target this offseason.
- In addition to already-reported interest from the Cavaliers and Bucks, the Trail Blazers are also interested in a potential trade for Clippers’ big man DeAndre Jordan.
- The Cavaliers have inquired into the availability of the Hawks’ Kent Bazemore in anticipation of the upcoming trade deadline.
- The NBA has awarded the Jazz a $2.62MM disabled player exception as a result of the season-ending knee injury suffered by veteran swingman Thabo Sefolosha.
- LeBron James is apparently upset with the Cavaliers front office for not upgrading their roster with potential targets’ Paul George and Eric Bledsoe.
- Despite rumors throughout the last week, a trade between the Kings and Cavaliers for point guard George Hill is not imminent.
- The Mavericks are open to the possibility of trading guard Wesley Matthews, but are only looking to do so if they can get a first-round pick in return.
Pistons Sign Kay Felder To Two-Way Deal
JANUARY 15: The Pistons have officially signed Felder to a two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release.
JANUARY 13: The Pistons will sign former Cavaliers and Bulls point guard Kay Felder to its open two-way contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. Felder’s signing comes just days after Detroit converted Dwight Buycks two-way contract to a standard NBA deal.
It is a homecoming for Felder, 22, who was born and raised in Detroit and attended college at nearby Oakland University, which happens to be located in the Pistons’ former home, Auburn Hills.
Felder was drafted 54th overall in the 2016 NBA draft, and most recently played for the Bulls before being waived last month. Felder averaged 3.9 points and 1.4 per game over 14 games for Chicago this season.
Pelicans Sign Mike James To Two-Way Deal
JANUARY 14, 9:17am: The signing is official, according to the Real GM transactions log.
JANUARY 13, 1:34pm: The Pelicans will fill their remaining two-way slot by signing former Suns‘ point guard Mike James, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. James will move into the opening created by the Pelicans earlier this week when they waived two-way player Jalen Jones.
James, the 27-year-old rookie who went undrafted in 2012, and was the first player in league history to have his two-way contract converted into a regular season contract, was waived by the Suns last month to make room on the roster for Isaiah Canaan.
Before being waived, James put up respectable numbers for the Suns, averaging 10.4 points and 3.8 assists in 20.9 minutes per game. He will likely get a shot at showing fans in New Orleans that his stint in Phoenix was not a fluke, as the Pelicans currently have four players sidelined with long-term injuries.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 1/6/18 – 1/13/18
Every week, we at Hoops Rumors strive to create interesting original content to complement our news feed. Below are our original segments and features from the last 7 days:
- Chris Crouse offered fantasy hoops advice focusing on Tyler Johnson and Josh Richardson in the wake of Dion Waiters‘ season-ending injury, as well as Eric Gordon and Jabari Parker, among others.
- In two different Community Shootaround posts, we asked:
- After being waived by the Lakers, which team is now the best fit for Andrew Bogut? Do you believe he can still help a contender?
- In other Lakers news, what should the team do, if anything, in response to LaVar Ball?
- In a Weekly Mailbag segment, Arthur Hill answered questions involving trade targets of the Wizards, Pistons, and Blazers.
- Luke Adams recapped in detail the recent non-guaranteed contract decisions around the NBA.
- We reminded our readers of the 10-Day Contract Tracker feature.
- Our Free Agent Stock Watch focused on the Sacramento Kings.