Rockets To Waive Two-Way Player Trevor Hudgins
The Rockets are waiving two-way player Trevor Hudgins, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
That opens up a two-way slot for Houston, which also has Jermaine Samuels Jr. and Jeenathan Williams on two-way deals.
Hudgins signed a two-way contract with Houston prior to last season after going undrafted out of Northwest Missouri State. He spent the season almost entirely in the G League, where he averaged 19 points per game for Rio Grande Valley. Hudgins, a guard, also appeared in five NBA games as a rookie.
He remained on the roster after accepting the Rockets’ two-way qualifying offer this summer.
Jazz Exercise 2024/25 Options On Agbaji, Kessler
The Jazz have exercised their 2024/25 options on the rookie scale contracts of guard Ochai Agbaji and center Walker Kessler, the team announced in a press release.
It was a mere formality the options would be exercised on two of their key young players. Agbaji, the 14th pick of last year’s draft, will make $4,310,280 next season. Kessler, who emerged as Utah’s starting center and a defensive force after being picked No. 22 overall in the same draft, will collect $2,965,920 in his third season.
Agbaji played in 59 games in his first season, averaging 7.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 20.5 minutes per game. Kessler, an All-NBA Rookie First Team selection, averaged 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 74 games (40 starts).
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 10/23/2023
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Mavericks Sign, Waive Tony Bradley
October 20: Bradley has been waived by the Mavs (Twitter link), which suggests he signed an Exhibit 10 deal and will be playing for the Texas Legends — Dallas’ G League affiliate — to start 2023/24.
October 19: The Mavericks have signed veteran center Tony Bradley, the team’s PR department tweets.
Bradley has played for Utah, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and Chicago over his six NBA seasons. He holds career averages of 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 179 games, including 18 starts.
It’s unknown what type of contract Bradley signed. Dallas had 14 players with guaranteed deals, so conceivably he could round out its bench. However, the Mavs already have rookie Dereck Lively, Dwight Powell and Richaun Holmes as options at center and Markieff Morris is considered the favorite to be the team’s 15th man.
Bradley reportedly drew interest from Golden State during the offseason. Last season, the big man was on the Bulls’ roster, but was waived in February when the team signed Patrick Beverley. Bradley saw limited playing time in 12 games, averaging 1.6 points in 2.8 minutes per night.
Wizards Notes: Jones, Poole, Kuzma, Gallinari
Tyus Jones is the unquestioned starting point guard for the first time in his career. The former Grizzlies backup is not only embracing that role, he has become the Wizards’ vocal leader, Ava Wallace of the Washington Post writes.
“I’m one of the older guys now, so it’s more on my plate from a teaching perspective. So it’s just trying to understand that, understanding that with the younger team, younger guys, there’s going to be days where certain things that you take for granted, they might not know yet or get or really realize that there’s a different way to do it,” Jones said. “. . . You know, you can’t talk too much in my shoes. The more I talk, the better. The more I’m communicating, the more I’m pulling the young guys aside and telling them what I see or what I want, the better.”
We have more from the Wizards:
- Jordan Poole will have the ball in his hands a lot more than he did in Golden State and Kyle Kuzma is confident Poole will thrive in that role. “His next progression is just making others better, because when he has the ball, people are going to know he wants to shoot and score, and that’s OK,” Kuzma told Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “That’s a good thing because that means your teammates are going to be more open from a defensive perspective. So he’s going to be great. This is his first time in this type of role. Playing off the ball for so many years, it’s going to take some time. But he’s young and he loves the game. He loves his craft.”
- After being unable to play for Boston last season due to an ACL injury, Danilo Gallinari is thrilled to be back on the court, as he told Chase Hughes of MonumentalSportsNetwork.com. “Right now after not playing basketball for 13 months, I just want to play basketball and have fun… When I wake up, I want to play basketball and I want to be in the gym,” he said. “It’s like a drug for me. If something happens that takes you away from having that, you want to get back right to it.”
- In case you missed it, the Wizards tweaked their camp roster by adding Devon Dotson. Get the details here.
Eastern Notes: Simmons, Ntilikina, Middleton, Harden, Dick
Ben Simmons continues to brim with confidence during training camp. The Nets guard said he’ll be even better than what he showed early in his career, when he was named to the All-Star team three times.
“I’m going to be better than I was,” Simmons told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “My job is just to show up, perform, work my ass off and lead this team the right way. So it’s doing all the little things, and everything else takes care of itself.”
We’ve got more from the Eastern Conference:
- Hornets guard Frank Ntilikina departed their preseason game on Thursday with a hyperextended left knee, the team’s PR department tweets. Ntilikina’s $2,528,233 minimum salary won’t be fully guaranteed until January 10. He signed a one-year deal in August.
- Khris Middleton hasn’t played in the preseason but that appears likely to change on Friday. The Bucks swingman, who has been working his way back from right knee surgery, says he’s good to go for the preseason finale, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “As of right now, I definitely feel like I’ll be out there playing tomorrow,” Middleton said. “Don’t know how long, how many minutes, but I do expect to be playing, which is exciting for me.”
- James Harden missed practice for a second straight day on Thursday but coach Nick Nurse said it didn’t distract his Sixers teammates. “I think the organization has made it clear what’s going on,” Nurse told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “They are working on stuff, as we say, day by day. We had a really good practice today. Very energetic, the guys that were here. And that’s what we are focused on.” Nurse said it’s “unlikely” Harden will play in the preseason finale on Friday even if he returns to the team by then.
- Gradey Dick may be a fan favorite but he’s unlikely to be in the Raptors’ rotation early in the season, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. The first-round pick requires “a lot of patience and time,” coach Darko Rajakovic said. “He’s got to slow down himself before the game slows down for him,” Rajakovic added.
Clippers Notes: Covington, Batum, Mann, Rotation, Harden
The Clippers may use a committee approach at power forward once the regular season begins, according to Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum and versatile Terance Mann are likely to share that spot.
“All three guys bring something different to the table when we talk about defense,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “T-Mann can start, he can guard the point guard tonight and guard the four tomorrow. Nico can guard the point guard in the four tonight and RoCo is more of an off-the-ball deflection, steals, weak-side defender type guy. So, they do some different things. And so, it could be by committee … every night could be something different.”
We have more on the Clippers:
- Lue will use nine or 10 players in his rotation and the competition for playing time beyond the team’s stars is fierce. Lue doesn’t see having good depth as a bad thing. “It’s kind of like [Team] USA. You have a lot of guys who deserve to play but you can’t play all those guys,” he told Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times. “For me, [I am] just having the constant dialogue with the players and communicating and just let them know that, ‘This is what I’m looking at, this is the sample size of games that I’m looking at, and you‘ve just got to be ready.’”
- Will the constant trade chatter regarding James Harden have a negative impact on the locker room? Lue doesn’t think so, he told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “I like the team that we have right now,” he said. “We have a great unit. I’m just focusing on our guys that’s in the locker room. They’re the same way. We’ve had a great camp. They’re locking in and paying attention to detail on both sides of the basketball. That has to be our mindset all season long. That’s what we’re focused on right now.”
- Can the second unit go without a true center? Do they have enough shooters? Those are two of the questions hovering over the team as training camp winds down, The Athletic’s Law Murray opines.
- An emphasis on better success during the regular season to get the Clippers prepared for a deep playoff run is reiterated in a column by Sportsnaut.com’s Mark Medina.
Heat Notes: Adebayo, Sioux Falls, Richardson, Highsmith, Roster Decisions
Bam Adebayo is eligible to sign a two-year, $97MM extension until Monday. However, the Heat center realizes he could get a longer and more lucrative contract if he waits, he told Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
Adebayo could meet the super-max criteria and become eligible to sign a four-year, $245MM extension in the 2024 offseason if he makes an All-NBA team or is named Defensive Player of the Year this season.
“The money difference does play a part,” he said. “But we’ll have that conversation at some point.”
We have more on the Heat:
- Despite the logistics of shuttling players from Point A to B, the Heat announced a five-year agreement to keep their NBA G League affiliate in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). It’s approximately 1,824 miles between the two cities.
- Foot injuries continue to mar Josh Richardson‘s preseason. He departed Wednesday’s preseason loss with a right foot injury and was underwent an MRI on his foot on Thursday, according to Chiang. The MRI results were negative and he’s day-to-day. He sat out the Heat’s second and third preseason games due to left foot discomfort.
- An MRI on Haywood Highsmith‘s left knee revealed a sprain and he’ll be reevaluated in two weeks, Chiang tweets. He recently had his $1.9MM salary guaranteed.
- There are six players on the Heat’s current 19-man camp roster competing for the 14th spot on the standard roster and the three two-way contract slots. Out of that group, Jamal Cain, Dru Smith and Cole Swider have stood out, according to Chiang. Cain and Smith are already on two-way deals and looking to get a promotion to the standard roster. “It’s just gratifying to see that kind of improvement from a young player, particularly when it’s not easy,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Cain.
Central Notes: Stotts, Griffin, Cunningham, Bates, Allen, Nembhard
Terry Stotts isn’t retiring, even though the 65-year-old coach is exiting Adrian Griffin’s staff with the Bucks, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Stotts wasn’t comfortable with his fit on Milwaukee’s staff. Griffin claimed they got along just fine.
“It caught all of us off guard, of course, but again, you just support him,” Griffin said. “He was a terrific guy. I learned a lot from him in a very short time. He was really good at what he does. He made a decision – a personal decision – and we just have to respect that.”
However, The Athletic’s Eric Nehm and Shams Charania report that Stotts and Griffin had a tenuous relationship. That included a shootaround incident in which Griffin yelled for Stotts to join the coaches’ huddle when Stotts was about to have a conversation with the team’s star players. That highlighted the potential difficulty of Stotts adapting to an assistant role under rookie head coach Griffin. Conversely, it also spoke about the treatment and level of respect that Griffin needed to show Stotts, considering his lengthy coaching career.
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Pistons paid Monty Williams a lot of money to coach their team, and their star player, Cade Cunningham, has bought in to Williams’ hard-driving style, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. “I love the way he pushes us,” Cunningham said. “He calls things the way he sees them. I think that honesty and that bluntness towards us, that’s huge. Especially for a young team. The systems that he’s put in, the way that he’s made it around our abilities and the personnel we have has been great for us. It’ll continue to get better as he learns us and we learn him.”
- Rookie second-round pick Emoni Bates has led the Cavaliers in scoring during the preseason. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that he’s thrilled Bates dropped to the No. 49 overall pick. “I believe if Emoni had gone in the lottery he’d have been the type of player who’d have been in the Rookie of the Year conversation,” Bickerstaff said. “We are extremely fortunate that he’s here with us and we look forward to working with him.”
- Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen is showing progress from the right ankle injury that has sidelined him during much of training camp. On Thursday afternoon, he went through post-practice shooting drills and then went through an individual workout, according to Fedor. He is set for re-evaluation this weekend and there’s hope he can return for Cleveland’s regular-season opener on Wednesday night.
- Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard went through a full practice this week and is on track to play in the team’s preseason finale on Friday, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. Nembhard is working his way back from an ankle injury.
Suns Waive Ishmail Wainright
The Suns are waiving forward Ish Wainright, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The move has been announced in a press release, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.
The Suns exercised their club option on Wainright’s contract in June but his salary remained non-guaranteed and wouldn’t have become fully guaranteed until January 10. Wainright dealt with a right calf strain during training camp, which didn’t help his cause.
As our roster count shows, the Suns had 17 players on standard contracts, including 15 with full guarantees. Wainright’s status was shaky entering camp and now he’ll be looking for another team.
Wainright, 29, appeared in 105 regular season games over the last two seasons. He appeared in 60 games last season, including two starts, averaging 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game.