Rockets Rumors: Tucker, Wood, Small-Ball
The Nets, Jazz, and Nuggets are among the teams that have “sniffed around” on Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Tucker has been viewed as a strong potential trade candidate since Houston moved James Harden, with a number of other teams mentioned as potential suitors in recent weeks, including the Lakers, Bucks, Heat, and Timberwolves. His three-and-D skill set makes him an easy piece to plug into just about any lineup, and his $8MM expiring contract wouldn’t be hard to salary-matching in a trade.
While the Rockets won’t just give Tucker away, Iko suggests that the 35-year-old is more of a “ceiling-raiser” than a “floor-raiser,” and Houston is in need of the latter kind of player. The Rockets’ asking price for Tucker is unclear — multiple reports last month indicated that they’d be seeking three second-round picks, but a more recent report said they’d prefer to acquire a player who can contribute immediately.
Here’s more out of Houston:
- Christian Wood has been hoping to return from his right ankle injury before the All-Star break, but the Rockets want to hold him out until the second half, according to Iko. Houston prefers to play it safe with one of its cornerstone players, hoping to reduce the risk of that ankle becoming a recurring issue for Wood, Iko explains.
- With Wood on the shelf and DeMarcus Cousins no longer on the roster, the Rockets have been reverting to some small-ball lineups, which doesn’t thrill point guard John Wall. “Small ball, I don’t really like it to be honest, because I need a big that can roll, finish,” Wall said, per Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link). “It’s just difficult. I’m a person that likes to pass. I’m used to finding my bigs on the roll.”
- The Rockets’ nine-game losing streak has moved them into fourth place in the NBA’s reverse standings, which will be worth watching all season long. The Thunder have the ability to swap first-round picks with the Rockets, but only if Houston’s pick doesn’t land in the top four.
Eastern Notes: Dinwiddie, T. Harris, Markkanen, Sampson
The Nets are “shopping” injured guard Spencer Dinwiddie, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated said during an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump on Thursday (video link via Billy Reinhardt of NetsDaily).
Dinwiddie, who suffered a partially torn ACL near the start of the season, has been pushing to make it back before the end of the playoffs, but is considered likely to be sidelined for the rest of 2020/21. Since he has the ability to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, his appeal on the trade market would be limited, but the opportunity to acquire his Bird rights may intrigue certain clubs, and his $11.45MM cap hit could be useful for salary-matching.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) observes, one downside of moving Dinwiddie for the Nets would be that the team would lose its $5.7MM disabled player exception, assuming that exception hasn’t already been utilized. The club has until April 19 to use that DPE, but it would forfeit it if Dinwiddie is traded.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Sixers forward Tobias Harris left Thursday’s game early after hurting his left knee, but he appears to have avoided a serious injury. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, an MRI showed no structural damage, confirming that Harris suffered a knee contusion. He’ll miss Saturday’s game vs. Cleveland will be re-evaluated in a couple days, per the team.
- The Bulls have played some of their best basketball this season with Lauri Markkanen unavailable, going 5-9 with the power forward in the lineup and 10-7 without him. However, head coach Billy Donovan still believes that the injured Markkanen is an “important piece to our team,” as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes. Markkanen will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end.
- JaKarr Sampson has been ruled out for Friday’s game due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, making him the first Pacers player to miss a game due to the COVID-19 protocols this season, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Sampson hasn’t been a regular part of Indiana’s rotation this season, averaging just 6.0 minutes per game in 13 contests.
Hoops Rumors’ 2021 10-Day Contract Tracker
On February 23, NBA teams became eligible to sign players to 10-day contracts, and many of the signings that take place between now and the end of the regular season in May will likely be of the 10-day variety. Hoops Rumors has created a database that allows you to keep on top of those deals, tracking every 10-day signing all season long.
Besides featuring all of this year’s 10-day deals, our 10-Day Contract Tracker includes information on all 10-day contracts signed since the 2006/07 season, giving you a chance to identify trends regarding your favorite teams and players. The search filters in the database make it easy to sort by team, player and year. For instance, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts that the Lakers have signed in recent years, you can do so here.
You can also see whether a player and team signed a second 10-day contract, or if those short-term deals led to an agreement that covered the rest of the season. Our tracker, which is updated when a 10-day signing becomes official, also notes which 10-day deals remain active, saving you from having to figure out whether a particular contract ends on Wednesday or Thursday.
A link to our 10-Day Contract Tracker can be found at any time in the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site. On our mobile site, you can find it on our “Features” page. We’ll be keeping it up to date for the rest of the season, so be sure to check back to keep tabs on the latest signings as they become official.
Central Notes: LaVine, Young, Lamb, Nance, Pistons
Zach LaVine is enjoying a career year in Billy Donovan‘s first season with the Bulls, and the success of that pairing bodes well for the team’s long-term outlook, says K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Donovan won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, and word around the NBA suggests that LaVine won’t be either, Johnson adds.
With LaVine expected to be unavailable on the trade market in the coming weeks, the Bulls’ most valuable trade chip could be Thaddeus Young. ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) says a handful of league executives identified Young as a player who could impact the playoff race if he’s moved, noting that he’s a versatile big man on a reasonable contract who has plenty of postseason experience.
The Bulls currently hold the sixth seed in the East and figure to be in the mix for a playoff spot – perhaps via the play-in tournament – but Marks argues the club should take a big-picture view and consider moving Young, especially if a team is willing to give up a first-round pick for him.
Johnson, on the other hand, contends in a separate NBC Sports Chicago story that moving Young for anything short of a lottery pick or a very promising young player might be a mistake. As Johnson explains, the veteran forward has had a positive impact on LaVine on and off the court, and LaVine and the Bulls’ other young players need to get some postseason experience at some point — Young could play an important role in helping get them there.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- It has been a full year since Jeremy Lamb suffered a torn left ACL, and while it takes some players a while to get back to 100% following that injury, the Pacers guard has thrived since making his season debut on January 20, writes Wheat Hotchkiss of Pacers.com. Lamb is averaging 12.2 PPG in just 24.7 minutes per contest, and has made an even 50% of his three-point attempts through 17 games. “It’s great to see how far I’ve been able to come,” Lamb said. “I’m still getting stronger, still working on it, but it’s encouraging.”
- Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr., who underwent surgery on his hand earlier this month, is making positive progress and recently had his cast removed, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Nance was ruled out at least six weeks when he underwent the procedure, so we won’t see him back until sometime after the All-Star break.
- Missing their top two point guards, the Pistons are seeing some positive signs from Dennis Smith Jr. and Saben Lee, says Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Lee, who has averaged 15.3 PPG and 4.3 APG in his last three games, is showing why GM Troy Weaver referred to him as part of Detroit’s “core four” of rookie building blocks, despite the fact that Lee was a second-round pick who signed a two-way deal, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
Northwest Notes: McCollum, Nurkic, Diallo, Horford, Wolves
Both CJ McCollum (foot) and Jusuf Nurkic (wrist) are due to be reassessed on March 2, and the results of those evaluations will be crucial for a Trail Blazers team looking to make a second-half push, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. The hope is that McCollum and Nurkic will be able to return shortly after the All-Star break to complement Damian Lillard, who says he thinks about his missing teammates constantly.
“Maybe y’all haven’t been doing that, but I do that all the time,” Lillard said. “I don’t think you have two players at the level those guys are and not go into a game thinking of them.
“… You always see moments where they can help the team and impact the game,” he continued. “It hasn’t been just the last two games (both losses). Even when we were winning, those weren’t running-away wins. Those were down-to-the-wire wins, so even in those games, it was like, man, it would have been good to have those guys out there.”
The Trail Blazers are also missing fourth-year big man Zach Collins, but there’s no indication that he’s close to a return after being ruled out indefinitely following December ankle surgery.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- The Thunder may be without wing Hamidou Diallo for the rest of the first half, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, who says Diallo has been ruled out for at least the next two games due to a right groin injury.
- While he may prefer to be playing for a contender, big man Al Horford has embraced his role as a leader for the rebuilding Thunder since being acquired in an offseason trade, Mussatto writes in a separate story for The Oklahoman. “We have a great group of guys,” Horford said. “It’s something that has really impressed me since I’ve gotten here, just the willingness of our group to work, to focus, to try to be better. It makes it easier for me. It motivates me to be there for them and try to help them in any way that I can.”
- Following the Timberwolves‘ swift hiring of Chris Finch as Ryan Saunders‘ full-time replacement, the National Basketball Coaches Association criticized the team for not conducting a “thorough and transparent search of candidates from a wide range of diverse backgrounds,” as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune outlines.
Knicks Notes: Rivers, Drummond, Schedule, Porzingis
Veteran guard Austin Rivers was excited to join the Knicks as a free agent back in November, but his first year in New York hasn’t played out as he envisioned so far. After getting a late start to the season due to a groin injury, Rivers has now fallen out of the rotation entirely following the acquisition of Derrick Rose.
Rivers, who said he heard rumors even before the season that the Knicks could eventually trade for Rose, referred to his situation as “tough.” But with the team outperforming preseason expectations, he’s focused on staying positive — even if his own future remains unclear as the trade deadline approaches.
“As long as I’m here, I’m here,” Rivers said, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. “I can’t control if I’m traded today, tomorrow or the next day. What I can control is how I am as a player and what I can bring to this team every day. That’s being ready at all times no matter if my name is called or not and to help the young, young guys be ready to play. I’ll just continue to be ready to play here as long as I’m here, for however long.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- The Knicks are “analyzing” whether to attempt to trade for Cavaliers center Andre Drummond, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. Drummond’s $28.75MM salary diminishes his value as a trade chip, but the Knicks still have approximately $15MM in cap room and wouldn’t have to match the big man’s full salary. Berman adds that the Cavs’ asking price is believed to be modest, which makes sense, since the club only gave up a second-round pick and expiring contracts for him a year ago.
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic explores how the Knicks’ second-half schedule will affect their chase for a playoff spot, noting that weathering the six games at the start of the second half will be crucial, since they could help determine the team’s approach to the trade deadline. That six-game stretch includes games against Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia (twice).
- In a separate story of The Athletic, Vorkunov and Tim Cato revisit the Kristaps Porzingis trade, which the Knicks and Mavericks made in January 2019. According to Cato, Dallas still feels strongly that it won the deal, especially given the way Tim Hardaway Jr. has played over the last two years. However, Vorkunov suggests it hasn’t been a total disaster for New York, given Porzingis’ ongoing injury issues and his up-and-down play, plus the fact that the Knicks could still make good use of the two first-round picks they’re owed.
Jazz Notes: Mitchell, E. Millsap, Lindsey, More
The Jazz have been the NBA’s most dominant team so far in 2020/21, and they added another impressive win to their résumé on Wednesday, blowing out the Lakers by a margin of 114-89 to bump their record to 26-6.
Utah has become a “hyperefficient machine that shows no signs of slowing down,” according to Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer, who explores how three-point shooting at every position except center, along with Rudy Gobert‘s ability to anchor the defense, has driven the club’s success this season. As Tjarks point out, the Jazz lead the NBA with 42.6 three-point attempts per game, and are making 39.9% of them, third-best in the league.
While the Jazz have been terrific during the first half, they’ll still need to prove they’re capable of knocking off the likes of the Lakers and Clippers in the postseason. Markieff Morris made that point following Wednesday’s game, vowing that things would be more competitive once the Lakers get healthier and the stakes are higher.
“We see the Jazz, we know they beat our a– tonight,” Morris said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “But in the playoffs it’s a different story.”
Here’s more on the Jazz:
- One longtime Western Conference scout who wasn’t sold on the Jazz entering the season has become a believer, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN details. “I thought Utah needed another star, but I’ve changed on that,” said the scout, who compared this iteration of the Jazz to the Pistons’ 2004 championship team.
- Having already been named an All-Star reserve, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell revealed on Wednesday that he’ll also be participating in the 3-point contest. “I’ve been begging Joe (Ingles) to get in it,” Mitchell said, according to Aaron Falk of UtahJazz.com. “But you know he’s old. He’s gonna sit in his rocking chair, or something, with the kids.”
- After former Jazz swingman Elijah Millsap accused Jazz president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey of using bigoted language during his 2015 exit interview, Lindsey – who was Utah’s GM at the time – categorically denied the allegation. Sarah Todd of The Deseret News has the details.
Celtics Notes: Ainge, Trade Exception, Stevens, Collins
Appearing today on Toucher & Rich on The Sports Hub 98.5 WBZ-FM in Boston, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge discussed his team’s recent slump and reiterated a couple points he made last week, expressing a belief that the team as constructed as not “good enough” to compete for a title and putting the blame on himself for the roster’s shortcomings (Twitter links via Keith Smith of RealGM).
While Ainge accepted responsibility for the holes on Boston’s roster, he also shared some concerns about the team’s intensity level. Ainge stressed that he believes in the club’s current players, but said, “I wish they were playing harder” (Twitter link via Smith).
“The intensity level hasn’t been there,” Ainge said (Twitter link via Smith). “I don’t know how to explain it. Our team isn’t playing well. They don’t play hard all the time. I don’t have an explanation. It’s been frustrating for the players and the coaches.”
According to Ainge, surrounding Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with more scoring and more “dynamic talent off the bench” is a priority. While the Celtics’ top executive restated that he doesn’t want to make a move just to do something, he said the team is always looking for ways to upgrade its roster. “Time will tell” if it happens before the deadline, Ainge added (Twitter links via Smith).
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- Specifically addressing the possibility of utilizing the Celtics’ $28.5MM trade exception before the trade deadline, Ainge noted that the exception might be easier to use during the offseason, when the hard cap isn’t a concern and more teams around the NBA can afford to make big-money deals that drastically shake up their rosters (Twitter link via Smith).
- Appearing on Felger & Mazz on 98.5 FM in Boston, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck made it clear that the franchise is happy with Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens, despite the club’s struggles. “They’re our guys and we’re sticking with them, and it’s not even a question in my mind,” Grousbeck said (audio link via NBC Sports Boston).
- Hawks big man John Collins is one potential trade candidate who could appeal to the Celtics, so Chris Kirschner, Jay King, and Jared Weiss of The Athletic dug into a hypothetical trade to try to determine whether there’s a match between the two teams. Kirschner – who cover the Hawks -and the two Celtics’ writers ultimately agreed that something like Payton Pritchard, Carsen Edwards, and two or three first-round picks might work.
Sixers, Heat, Clippers Considered Potential Suitors For Lowry
The Raptors have told point guard Kyle Lowry they’d be open to the possibility of trading him to a preferred destination as long as they can get something of value in return, sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
According to one of Pompey’s sources, the Raptors want to reward Lowry for his long, decorated tenure with the franchise by giving him an opportunity to win another NBA championship. The Raptors, who have lost several key pieces from their 2019 title team and are just 16-17 so far this season, may not be in position to give him that opportunity themselves.
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Pompey reports that the Sixers, Heat, and Clippers would be among the possible suitors for Lowry if the Raptors make him available. One source tells The Inquirer that Lowry would have interest in playing in his hometown of Philadelphia; that source believes the 76ers and Raptors may be able to get something done.
Lowry is earning $30.5MM this season, so a team that wants to acquire him would have to send out at least $24.32MM in matching salary. Presumably, if the Sixers made a play for the veteran guard, they’d want to keep their veteran core of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris intact, meaning a package may have to start with Danny Green‘s and Mike Scott‘s expiring contracts for matching purposes.
The Heat have a few expiring contracts that could be used for matching. The Raptors would have to be willing to take on some multiyear money in order to make a deal with the Clippers.
Toronto would likely ask for some combination of draft assets and/or young players in exchange for Lowry, a six-time All-Star who continues to make a two-way impact on the court. Pompey suggests that any team acquiring the 34-year-old would probably have to be comfortable with re-signing him when his contract expires this offseason. Sources tell Pompey that Lowry wants to play at least two more seasons and may seek a salary similar to his current $30MM rate this summer.
Despite their sub-.500 record, the Raptors are currently the No. 5 seed in the East. If they hold steady or climb into the top four, they likely won’t be eager to be sellers at the trade deadline. However, they’ve played well even without Lowry in the lineup and could remain competitive if they acquire one or two players who are ready to contribute immediately. Based on Pompey’s report, it sounds like Toronto is open to working with the longtime face of the franchise if he prefers to join a team closer to title contention.
Two New Positives Among Players In Last Week Of COVID-19 Testing
Of the 455 players tested for the coronavirus between February 17-24, two returned confirmed positive tests, the NBA and its players’ union announced on Wednesday in a press release.
After a COVID-19 outbreak among Spurs players contributed to an increase in positive tests last week, when five were reported, the league appears to be trending back in the right direction this week.
In the NBA’s latest injury report on Wednesday, 10 players were listed as out due to the health and safety protocols, but some of those players – including several Spurs and Jrue Holiday – reportedly tested positive in previous weeks, while others are believed to be affected by contact tracing and haven’t tested positive at all. As such, it’s not clear which two players were diagnosed with COVID-19 this week.
The league figures to be extra vigilant about trying to avoid positive tests after the All-Star break, since it may be difficult to make up any additional postponed games during an already-crowded second half. Teams like the Grizzlies and Spurs are scheduled to play 40 games in 68 days — if any of their contests are postponed, it will be tricky to squeeze them into the schedule without pushing back the end of the season.