Victor Oladipo To Miss At Least Four Games
Victor Oladipo will not accompany the Heat on their four-game West Coast trip, the team’s PR department tweets. He’ll undergo further evaluation in Miami.
Oladipo suffered a right knee injury against the Lakers on Thursday. He was enjoying his best game with Miami prior to the injury, posting 18 points, four rebounds and three steals in 25 minutes.
A long-term issue with Oladipo would severely hamper Miami’s attempt to make another deep playoff run. In the short term, Kendrick Nunn would seemingly re-enter the picture after losing his rotation spot and getting benched in the aftermath of the Oladipo deadline trade with Houston.
Another major injury to Oladipo, who admitted last weekend that he still hasn’t fully recovered from his serious leg injury in 2019, would naturally impact his bargaining power in unrestricted free agency this summer.
Blazers Sign Rondae Hollis-Jefferson To 10-Day Deal
APRIL 8: The Blazers have officially signed Hollis-Jefferson, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that it’s a 10-day contract. The forward will earn $128,963 on the deal.
APRIL 2: The Trail Blazers plan to sign forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Hollis-Jefferson was on the Timberwolves’ training camp roster but was waived in December.
The Trail Blazers had two openings on their 15-man roster and needed to sign at least one player under NBA requirements. Portland was seeking another wing or guard to fill a roster spot.
The Blazers dropped to 13 players on the 15-man roster in the 2-for-1 trade with the Raptors that brought Norman Powell to Portland.
Hollis-Jefferson, 26, played for the Raptors last season, providing energy and defense off the bench. He averaged 7.0 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 60 games (18.7 MPG) for Toronto.
The veteran forward has averaged 9.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 1.9 APG in 294 career NBA games. He played his first four seasons with Brooklyn.
Latest On Kristaps Porzingis’ Wrist Injury
APRIL 6: Carlisle shared a positive update on Porzingis today, telling reporters that the big man will travel to Houston with the Mavericks and that there’s a good chance he’ll play on Wednesday vs. the Rockets (Twitter link via Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News).
APRIL 5: Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis has a sprained right wrist and could miss multiple games, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
It’s the latest ailment for the oft-injured Porzingis, who has appeared in 31 games this season. He missed the first nine games while recovering from offseason surgery on his right knee. He sat out three February games due to lower back tightness and has also been sitting out the second game of back-to-backs.
Dallas defeated Utah on Monday without him, the Mavs’ fifth consecutive victory.
The latest injury has been a nagging one.
“We don’t have a timetable,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We hope it’s not serious. It’s something that he’s been dealing with for a number of weeks, so we’re going to hope for the best on that.”
Porzingis is averaging 20.2 PPG, 8.9 RPG and 1.6 BPG this season. He’s signed through the 2023/24 season, with the final year being a player option.
Bucks Notes: Holiday, Portis, Ham
Jrue Holiday‘s contract extension includes $4.1MM in bonuses currently deemed likely and $20.9MM in unlikely bonuses, Eric Nehm of The Athletic reports. The guaranteed salary adds up to roughly $135MM through the 2024/25 season.
The contract includes a player option in the fourth and final season. He received a 20% raise from his $25.1MM base salary this season. From there, the extension gives him an 8% raises on his first-year base salary.
With Holiday locked up along with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, it will be nearly impossible for the Bucks to create cap space to sign significant free agents. Instead, they will have to using cap exceptions and offer minimum contracts, Nehm adds.
We have more on the Bucks:
- Holiday’s contract will make it nearly impossible to retain Bobby Portis, John Hollinger of The Athletic writes. Portis has a $3.8MM option on his contract for next season and is likely to opt out. Milwaukee won’t have access to its full mid-level exception next year and that will remain the case should the front office extend Donte DiVincenzo close to his market rate, Hollinger adds.
- Holiday already feels like a part of the Bucks’ family and didn’t have to be persuaded to sign the extension, according to an ESPN story. “I’m really not the type to be wooed and all that,” he said. “I don’t need to be courted or whatever, but it felt good to be appreciated. It felt good to be wanted.”
- Darvin Ham had discussions with Texas Tech, his alma mater, about its head coaching position but opted to stay on Milwaukee’s staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Ham plans to stay in the NBA and pursue a head coaching job. He was a finalist for the Pacers’ head coaching job last fall and also interviewed for the Clippers’ head coaching position.
Clippers Notes: Rondo, George, Cousins, Zubac, Kennard
Rajon Rondo will try to maximize the production of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George when he’s on the court for the Clippers, Mark Medina of USA Today writes. “I’ll try to get our two main guys the ball in a lot easier spots as far as them not having to work so hard to get the ball against a set defense,” Rondo said. “If we’re able to create the stops and get out on the break, it’s my job to advance the ball and let those guys attack one-on-one before the defense gets set.” Rondo has already noted opponent tendencies that his teammates have found helpful, Medina adds.
We have more on the Clippers:
- George has no issue with Rondo jumping right in as a team leader and sage voice, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “Rondo’s a leader, you know the point guard, he’s a leader,” George said. “We’re going to listen to him. I look at him as a leader, a leader of this group. He’ll hold a lot of weight. He holds a lot of weight in the locker room. As he gets more comfortable within our system, getting games under his feet, he’ll hold us accountable.”
- DeMarcus Cousins‘ 10-day contract will pay him $175,668, with $110,998 counting toward the cap, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. Cousins was officially signed on Monday to provide frontcourt depth with Serge Ibaka currently out due to a back injury.
- A couple of tweaks could help both the starting lineup and second unit. A Western Conference scout told the Los Angeles Times’ Dan Woike the team should keep Ivica Zubac in the starting lineup, even when Ibaka returns. A executive within the conference believes the coaching staff should unleash Luke Kennard as the primary second-unit point guard.
Rockets Claim DaQuan Jeffries
7:29pm: The Rockets have officially claimed Jeffries, according to a team press release.
4:28pm: The Rockets will claim former Kings forward DaQuan Jeffries off waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Jeffries, a 23-year-old shooting guard, is under contract through next season. He was placed on waivers Saturday by Sacramento.
The Rockets had an open roster spot after waiving Ben McLemore.
Jeffries signed a two-year, $3MM contract in November which included a $1.7MM team option on the second season. Houston can take a look at Jeffries the rest of this season and see if it wants to exercise that option.
Jeffries missed time this season due to a Grade 3 ankle injury and fell out of Sacramento’s rotation. He averaged 3.1 PPG and 1.6 RPG across 17 games for the Kings this season after appearing in 13 games as a rookie on a two-way contract last season.
He had a season-high 18 points against Milwaukee on February.
Malik Beasley To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Injured Hamstring
Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley will miss the next four-to-six weeks due to a Grade 3 left hamstring injury, The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweets.
Beasley played 29 minutes against Memphis on Friday, then missed Minnesota’s game against Philadelphia on Saturday for what was initially described as a minor hamstring injury. The injury turned out to be much more severe after an MRI was conducted, according to a team press release. He’ll be re-evaluated in three weeks, the release adds.
Beasley is averaging 19.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 2.4 APG while making 39.9% of his 3-point attempts. He re-signed with Minnesota on a four-year, $60MM contract in November as a restricted free agent.
With Minnesota wrapping up its schedule on May 16, it sounds like Beasley’s season could be over.
The news of Beasley being sidelined coincides with the return of backcourt partner D’Angelo Russell, who will play on Monday after missing 26 games due to a knee injury.
D’Angelo Russell Ready To Return On Monday
Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell will return to the lineup on Monday against Sacramento, according to Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Russell last played on February 8, when he lasted just six minutes against the Mavericks before leaving with what was described as left leg soreness. He also missed a game due to right quad soreness.
Russell is averaging 19.3 PPG and 5.1 APG this season. After being drafted by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick in 2015, Russell was shipped to the Nets in the summer of 2017. He became an All-Star for Brooklyn in 2019 but wound up with the Warriors on a four-year, $117MM maximum contract sign-and-trade that summer.
He was traded last February, along with Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman, to Minnesota in exchange for Andrew Wiggins and two future draft picks.
Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns have only played five games together since the trade. Russell’s return gives Minnesota a chance to evaluate how Russell, Towns, and top pick Anthony Edwards blend together.
Draft Notes: McBride, Cooper, Livers, Suggs, Duke, Harper, Anderson
West Virginia sophomore point guard Miles McBride will test the draft waters but maintain his college eligibility, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. McBride is currently ranked No. 35 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list and No. 8 among point guard prospects. He averaged 15.8 PPG, 4.9 APG and 1.9 SPG this season. McBride racked up 30 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists against Morehead State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
We have more draft-related news:
- Confirming a report earlier this week, Auburn freshman guard Sharife Cooper is declaring for the draft and will forego his remaining college eligibility by hiring an agent, Givony writes in a separate story. Cooper is ranked No. 17 by ESPN. “This season was a roller coaster filled with many ups and some downs,” Cooper said. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything, even through the bad times I enjoyed every second at Auburn.” Eligibility issues and an ankle injury limited him to 12 games but he averaged 20.2 PPG and 8.1 APG in those contests.
- Michigan forward Isaiah Livers underwent surgery on his right foot and will require a minimum of six months to recover, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Livers, ranked No. 47 by ESPN, missed the NCAA Tournament due to the injury. He averaged 13.1 PPG and 6.0 RPG for the Big Ten regular-season champions.
- Gonzaga point guard Jalen Suggs has risen to No. 2 overall behind Cade Cunningham in the latest rankings by The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. Vecenie notes that Suggs’ “ability to pair powerful athleticism and downhill driving/transition ability with high-IQ passing and legitimate shot-making potential is everything that NBA teams are looking for out of lead ball-handlers in today’s game.”
- Providence’s David Duke will sign with an agent and enter the draft, Rothstein tweets. The junior guard averaged 16.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 4.8 APG. He’s listed as the 67th-best prospect by ESPN.
- Rutgers swingman Ron Harper Jr. will test the waters but maintain his eligibility, Rothstein adds in another tweet. He averaged 14.9 PPG and 5.9 RPG for the Scarlet Knights.
- Oklahoma State’s Avery Anderson has also declared while keeping his eligibility option open, according to Rothstein (Twitter link). The sophomore guard averaged 12.2 PPG and 4.0 RPG this season.
Gordon Hayward Out At Least Four Weeks
Hornets star forward Gordon Hayward has suffered a right foot sprain and will miss at least four weeks of action, according to a team press release. Hayward will be reevaluated after that four-week period.
The injury was suffered during the second quarter of Friday’s win over the Pacers. The initial diagnosis was confirmed via a physician’s exam and studies in Indianapolis on Saturday.
Hayward is averaging 19.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 4.1 APG in 34.0 MPG over 44 appearances.
Charlotte has been decimated by injuries in recent weeks. Rookie of the Year candidate LaMelo Ball could miss the rest of the season after undergoing wrist surgery, while top reserve Malik Monk will miss at least two weeks with a right ankle sprain.
Charlotte will have to lean heavily on Cody Martin and Miles Bridges in Hayward’s absence. The Hayward acquisition was one of the biggest moves last offseason, as he agreed to a four-year, $120MM contract and officially joined the team in a sign-and-trade with the Celtics.