Clippers Sign DeMarcus Cousins For Rest Of Season
3:50pm: The Clippers have made it official, announcing that they’ve signed Cousins to a rest-of-season contract.
12:04pm: The Clippers will sign big man DeMarcus Cousins to a contract that covers the remainder of the 2020/21 season, league sources Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Cousins previously signed a pair of 10-day deals with Los Angeles. The second of those contracts expired on Sunday night, and a team isn’t permitted to sign a player to a third 10-day pact in the same season, so the Clippers would’ve had to let Cousins go if they weren’t willing to commit to him for the rest of the season.
Cousins, who began the season with the Rockets, has now appeared in eight games as a Clipper, averaging 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in just 11.5 minutes per contest. He’s making 48.8% shots so far in L.A., scoring far more efficiently than he did in Houston, where he was converting just 37.6% of his attempts from the floor. He has also drawn six charges on the defensive end.
Although Cousins isn’t playing a major role for the Clippers, he has fit in well so far and has been an important depth piece with Serge Ibaka (back) sidelined. Head coach Tyronn Lue believes there’s room for him to continue improving and to perhaps play a larger role, as Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group writes.
“Once (Cousins) learns the plays and sets, understands what we’re trying to do defensively, getting in a little better shape, I think he definitely can (help),” Lue said. “We have a month left before the playoffs start, and for him to get a month of just understanding what we’re trying to run, what we’re doing, I think it’ll make us so much better.”
If Cousins officially signs his new deal today, it would pay him $368,903 for the rest of the season, with the Clippers taking on a $233,095 cap hit.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Health Updates: Rockets, Nance, Cavs, Hachimura, Clifford
After missing the Rockets‘ last three games while in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, second-year wing Kevin Porter Jr. has rejoined the team and will be ready to play on Tuesday, head coach Stephen Silas said today (Twitter link via Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston).
Rockets big man Christian Wood, who missed Saturday’s game with a minor ankle injury, is also in position to return on Tuesday, Silas said (Twitter link via Berman). The team should get further reinforcements prior to the end of the season, according to Silas, who expressed optimism that D.J. Augustin (ankle), Sterling Brown (knee), and Eric Gordon (groin) will also be back in the coming weeks.
Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:
- Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr., who injured his right thumb on Sunday, has been diagnosed with a fracture in that thumb, according to a team press release. Nance has been ruled out for Monday’s game vs. Toronto and will be re-evaluated daily as he undergoes treatment and rehab. Sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that Nance will probably miss at least a week or two. With less than three weeks left in the regular season, there’s no guarantee we’ll see him again in 2020/21.
- Within the same release, the Cavaliers provided updates on several more players, announcing that Matthew Dellavedova (neck strain), Isaiah Hartenstein (concussion symptoms), and Lamar Stevens (concussion symptoms) have also hit the injured list and will miss tonight’s game.
- Wizards forward Rui Hachimura (knee) is set to return on Monday after missing the last four games, the team announced (via Twitter).
- Magic head coach Steve Clifford, who registered a positive COVID-19 test, will remain out for Monday’s game vs. the Lakers, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who tweets that Tyrone Corbin will once again act as the club’s interim head coach. Clifford continues to be asymptomatic, Robbins notes.
And-Ones: Referees, Play-In Tourney, Iverson Classic
While the NBA and its players’ union have provided weekly updates on the number of positive COVID-19 tests among players, we haven’t heard much about how the league’s referees – who travel commercially – have been affected by the coronavirus this season. Baxter Holmes of ESPN fills in some blanks, reporting that 10 of the NBA’s referees are currently sidelined, primarily due to COVID-related issues, and adding that 24 refs have missed at least one game this season due to the league’s health and safety protocols.
A league spokesperson tells Holmes that most of the current absences are related to contact tracing and that the NBA expects all 10 affected referees to be available for the start of the postseason next month.
In the interim, however, the league has had to “call up” six referees from the G League. According to Holmes, a number of teams and executives around the NBA have complained about the performance of those refs, prompting NBA VP of referee development and training Monty McCutchen to defend their performances.
“These were our top six G League officials who would have been getting some NBA games anyway this year. They had to be pressed into some more service, but they are knocking on the door to being staff members,” McCutchen told ESPN. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, let’s just call any random G League (official) because they live in Portland and we’ll pull them up that night.’ They had already reached levels of excellence that meant they were ready for this.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- NBA executives believe that flattening the lottery odds and introducing the play-in tournament has helped reduce league-wide tanking among non-playoff teams, according to Howard Beck of SI.com, who says that league sources think the play-in tournament will be adopted on a permanent basis beyond this season.
- The Iverson Classic All-American Game, which will take place on May 8 in Memphis, has received NBA approval as a certified event, meaning team scouts can attend and evaluate prospects, reports Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). Top 2022 prospects such as Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren headline the list of participants.
- A little over five months after the 2020 draft took place, Sam Vecenie, John Hollinger, of James L. Edwards III of The Athletic completed a re-draft of the ’20 class. Among the big risers in The Athletic’s re-draft are LaMelo Ball (No. 3 to No. 1), Tyrese Haliburton (No. 12 to No. 5), Isaiah Stewart (No. 16 to No. 7), Aleksej Pokusevski (No. 17 to No. 7), and Jaden McDaniels (No. 28 to No. 10).
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Bird Rights
The Bird exception, named after Larry Bird, is a rule included in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement that allows teams to go over the salary cap to re-sign their own players. A player who qualifies for the Bird exception, formally referred to as a Qualifying Veteran Free Agent, is said to have “Bird rights.”
The most basic way for a player to earn Bird rights is to play for the same team for at least three seasons, either on a long-term deal or on separate one- or two-year contracts. Still, there are other criteria. A player retains his Bird rights in the following scenarios:
He changes teams via trade. For instance, the Celtics will hold Evan Fournier‘s Bird rights when he reaches free agency this offseason, despite just acquiring him in March. His Bird clock didn’t reset when he was traded from Orlando to Boston.- He finishes a third season with a team after having only signed for a partial season with the club in the first year. The Heat signed Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson during the final week of the 2018/19 season. When their contracts expire during the 2021 offseason, they’ll have full Bird rights because those few days they spent with Miami at the end of ’18/19 started their respective Bird clocks.
- He signed for a full season in year one or two but the team waived him, he cleared waivers, and didn’t sign with another team before re-signing with the club and remaining under contract through a third season. This one’s a little confusing, but let’s use Glenn Robinson III as an example. Partway through his one-year contract with the Kings this season, Robinson was waived. He has yet to join a new team. If the Kings were to re-sign Robinson to a two-year contract in the offseason, without him joining a new team in the interim, they’d have his full Bird rights at the end of that deal.
A player sees the clock on his Bird rights reset to zero in the following scenarios:
- He changes teams via free agency.
- He is waived and is not claimed on waivers (except as in scenario No. 3 above).
- His rights are renounced by his team. However, his Bird clock picks up where it left off if he re-signs with that team without having signed with another NBA team. For example, Bismack Biyombo had full Bird rights last offseason, then had those rights renounced by the Hornets as the team attempted to gain extra cap room. Since Biyombo eventually signed a new one-year deal with Charlotte, he’ll regain his full Bird rights this summer — that wouldn’t have been the case if he had signed with a new team.
- He is selected in an expansion draft.
If a player who would have been in line for Bird rights at the end of the season is waived and claimed off waivers, he would retain only Early Bird rights. Meanwhile, a player with Bird rights who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract (or a one-year deal with a second-year option) would lose his Bird rights if he’s traded. As such, he receives the ability to veto trades so he can avoid that scenario.
[RELATED: Players with the ability to veto trades in 2020/21]
When a player earns Bird rights, he’s eligible to re-sign with his team for up to five years and for any price up to his maximum salary (with 8% annual raises) when he becomes a free agent, regardless of how much cap room the team has. The maximum salary varies from player to player depending on how long he has been in the league, but regardless of the precise amount, a team can exceed the salary cap to complete the deal.
A team with a Bird free agent is assigned a “free agent amount” or cap hold worth either 190% of his previous salary (for a player with a below-average salary) or 150% of his previous salary (for an above-average salary), up to the maximum salary amount. For players coming off rookie scale contracts, the amounts of those cap holds are 300% and 250%, respectively.
The Hawks, for instance, will have a cap hold worth $12,411,906 for John Collins on their 2021/22 books — 300% of his $4,137,302 salary for ’20/21. Atlanta could renounce Collins and generate an extra $12MM+ in cap flexibility, but the Hawks would then lose the ability to re-sign him using Bird rights, which would force them to use either cap room or a different cap exception to re-sign him. As such, it’s a safe bet that Atlanta will keep Collins’ cap hold on its books until his free agency is resolved.
Ultimately, the Bird exception was designed to allow teams to keep their best players. The CBA ensures that teams are always able to re-sign them to contracts up to the maximum salary, assuming the player is interested in returning and his team is willing to go over the cap.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Poll: Which Team Will Represent East In 2021 NBA Finals?
The top tier of the Eastern Conference has been clearly defined for months, as the Nets, Sixers, and Bucks separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the first half and have maintained that cushion for most of the 2020/21 season. With the postseason fast approaching, those three clubs look like the best bets to come out of the conference and represent the East in the 2021 NBA Finals.
Brooklyn is the odds-on favorite to win the East at this point. The Nets have had all three of their stars – Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving – healthy and available just seven times this season, but they still sit atop the conference standings with a 41-20 record. If they can play this well with just one or two of their stars on the court, it’s a reasonable assumption that the Nets will be an even tougher out in the playoffs once they have all three back.
Still, while Durant, Harden, and Irving are all expected to be ready to go for the postseason, that’s certainly not a lock. Durant has been limited to just 25 games as he has dealt with various injuries this season, Harden recently experienced a setback in his recovery from a hamstring strain, and Irving has a long history of health issues. Even if all three stars are available, their lack of minutes together to date could result in some growing pains when the stakes are highest. And Brooklyn’s 24th-ranked defense could be a concern in the postseason too.
The Sixers, at 39-21, currently hold the No. 2 seed in the East, and will also be counting on good health luck once the playoffs get underway. When he has been on the court, Joel Embiid has played like an MVP this season, but his injury history is a concern. While Ben Simmons is a legit Defensive Player of the Year candidate and Tobias Harris is having perhaps his best season as a pro, the Sixers’ ceiling hinges on Embiid’s availability.
The Bucks, meanwhile, have flown somewhat under the radar this season after leading the NBA in wins for two consecutive years. At 37-23, they appear to be focused less on piling up regular season victories and more about preparing for the postseason. With Jrue Holiday now in the mix, the Bucks – who are the only one of the East’s top three teams with both an offensive and defensive rating in the NBA’s top 10 – have a more versatile and more dangerous closing lineup than they’ve had in recent years.
According to the oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag, no other Eastern team is better than a 16-to-1 shot to come out of the conference. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on some of the dark horses, since we saw the fifth-seeded Heat knock off three higher seeds in last year’s playoffs to make the Finals.
This year’s Heat have a pretty similar roster, but they’re currently ranked just seventh in the East at 32-29, putting them in position for a play-in spot. They have the same record as the No. 6 Celtics, the team Miami beat in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. The C’s have underachieved a little this season, but if Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker are all clicking at the same time, they can hold their own against just about any team.
While Miami and Boston are more battle-tested in the postseason, they’re currently trailing the upstart Knicks and Hawks, who rank fourth and fifth in the Eastern standings. The two 34-27 squads are among the hottest teams in the league — New York has won nine straight games while Atlanta has won 20 of its last 27. Neither club has a ton of playoff experience, but if they can hang onto their current spots in the standings, at least one of them will make the second round.
What do you think? Which team do you expect to represent the Eastern Conference in this year’s NBA Finals?
Which team will win the East in 2021?
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Brooklyn Nets 38% (581)
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Milwaukee Bucks 26% (409)
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Philadelphia 76ers 21% (328)
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Another team 15% (229)
Total votes: 1,547
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Northwest Notes: Lillard, Nuggets, Wolves, Jazz
Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard, who recently missed three games due to right hamstring tendiopathy, hasn’t looked like his usual self in the three games since his return, all Portland losses, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. Lillard has made just 25-of-72 shot attempts in those games, good for 34.7% from the floor.
As Quick details, Lillard said on Sunday that this is the “worst year physically” he has had in his nine-year playing career, but the All-Star guard said he doesn’t intend to sit out any more games as the Trail Blazers fight for a favorable playoff position. They’ve slipped to seventh, one game back of the sixth-seeded Mavs.
While the Blazers want to avoid being relegated to in a play-in tournament to secure their postseason berth – like they were a year ago – Quick wonders if it might make sense to rest Lillard for a few games before the season ends to make sure he’s in top form. As Quick observes, Portland is 3-2 this season without its leading scorer and has the backcourt depth to get by without him for a few games if a break would benefit Lillard.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- With Jamal Murray out for the season, Michael Porter Jr. has been tasked with carrying more of the scoring load for the Nuggets, and with Will Barton sidelined, PJ Dozier has taken on an increased rotation role. As Mike Singer of The Denver Post details, both Porter and Dozier embraced their increased responsibilities on Saturday, combining for 62 points and 11 three-pointers in a win over Houston.
- Ramona Shelburne of ESPN examines the growing bond between Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, the pair of former No. 1 picks that the Timberwolves are poised to build around going forward.
- Jazz teammates Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles are both legitimate contenders for NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2020/21, prompting Sarah Todd of The Deseret News to take a closer look at their respective cases for the honor.
- Speaking of the Jazz, on Sunday they became the first team to clinch a 2021 playoff spot (Twitter link).
Nets Officially Sign Mike James To 10-Day Contract
APRIL 24: Not that there was any doubt, but NBA.com’s official transactions log confirms it was Aldridge waived to make room for James.
APRIL 23: The Nets have officially signed Mike James to a 10-day contract, the team announced in a press release. The move had been expected once James cleared the league’s coronavirus testing protocols.
James, who averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 assists in 36 total games for Phoenix and New Orleans during the NBA’s 2017/18 season, has been playing in Europe since then. He was having a big year for CSKA Moscow this season, racking up 19.3 PPG and 5.7 APG in 27 EuroLeague contests (31.2 MPG), but was suspended indefinitely by the club following an altercation with head coach Dimitris Itoudis in late March.
Although CSKA Moscow’s contract with James runs through 2023, the team announced this week that it had reached an agreement to allow him to become a free agent until the end of the 2020/21 season, clearing the way for him to sign with an NBA team.
While the Nets’ official release confirms that James’ 10-day deal has been finalized, it doesn’t mention who was released to make room for him on the 15-man roster. It seems safe to assume that LaMarcus Aldridge was the player waived — he announced his retirement as a player last week.
It’s also still not entirely clear how James’ agreement with CSKA Moscow will work. The team’s statement didn’t give any indication that his multiyear contract has been terminated, but a EuroLeague club loaning a player to an NBA team isn’t exactly a common occurrence. We should get more clarity soon on James’ situation.
Michael Foster Jr. Signs With G League Ignite
The G League Ignite has secured its first prospect for the 2021/22 season, announcing today in a press release that 6’8″ forward Michael Foster Jr. has signed with the team.
Foster, a five-star recruit, is listed by ESPN as the seventh-best prospect in this year’s high school class. He was named a McDonald’s All-American earlier this year after averaging 32.2 points and 18.4 rebounds per game as a senior at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix.
“I’m super ready to learn the NBA game and train like an NBA player from NBA guys while playing for NBA G League Ignite,” Foster said.
Foster also considered committing to Florida State or Georgia or playing for a year overseas, but ultimately opted for the G League’s professional path, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. A source tells Spears that the young forward is expected to earn a salary in the $300K range.
The Ignite’s first season was thrown off track to some extent by the coronavirus pandemic, so we should get a better sense in ’21/22 of what a typical season will look like for the club, which will once again be made up of a combination of top prospects and veteran mentors.
Warriors’ Bazemore Expected To Miss One Week Due To Protocols
Already missing Damion Lee due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the Warriors have now placed swingman Kent Bazemore in those protocols as well, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
According to Slater (Twitter link), Bazemore is expected to be out for the next seven days, which suggests he may have been a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Bazemore confirmed in a tweet that he didn’t test positive for the virus himself.
It’s possible that the person with whom Bazemore had contact was Lee, since his expected absence of 10-14 days suggests he may have tested positive for the coronavirus. In any case, Golden State will have to get by without both players for the next few games, potentially forcing the team to further shorten a rotation that has already been hit hard by injuries.
In addition to being without Bazemore and Lee, the Warriors are, of course, missing Klay Thompson and James Wiseman, who previously suffered season-ending injuries. Eric Paschall is out with a left hip flexor strain, while Juan Toscano-Anderson has missed Golden State’s last two games due to a concussion — he’s listed as questionable for Friday’s game vs. Denver.
If Toscano-Anderson is unavailable tonight, the Warriors would be down to 10 healthy players. The Warriors figure to lean on Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre for big minutes on the wing, while Mychal Mulder could take on an increased role. Players who have been out of the rotation, such as Gary Payton II and Nico Mannion, could also see some action.
Chris Boucher Diagnosed With MCL Sprain
2:16pm: The Raptors have sent out a press release confirming Boucher’s diagnosis and announcing that he’ll be sidelined at least until the club departs for its upcoming West Coast trip, which begins on April 29 in Denver. His status will be updated as appropriate, according to the team.
10:16am: Raptors big man Chris Boucher has been diagnosed with a sprained left MCL, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Boucher, who hurt his knee during Wednesday’s win over Brooklyn, had been set to undergo further testing on Thursday to determine the severity of the injury. It sounds like those tests revealed no major structural damage, which is good news for Boucher and the Raptors.
A specific return timeline for Boucher has not yet been set, and will hinge on how his rehab process goes, says Charania. Typically, players who suffer MCL sprains miss at least a couple weeks of action. There are just over three weeks left in the 2020/21 regular season, but hopefully Boucher’s year isn’t over yet.
After re-signing with the Raptors during the 2020 offseason, Boucher has embraced an increased role with Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol no longer in the frontcourt picture. He has averaged 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game in 59 contests (24.0 MPG), making a case for a longer-term stay with the club.
Boucher’s contract includes a non-guaranteed $7MM salary for 2021/22. Even if Toronto hopes to maximize its cap space this summer, it might make sense to guarantee that money, since a new contract for the 28-year-old is unlikely to come any cheaper.