Hornets Sign Damion Baugh To Two-Way Deal
9:30 am: Baugh has officially signed his two-way contract, according to a press release from the Hornets.
9:07 am: The Hornets have reached a deal with G League guard Damion Baugh and will sign him to a two-way contract, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Charlotte opened up a two-way slot on Sunday by promoting Moussa Diabate from his two-way deal to a spot on the standard 15-man roster and signing him to a new three-year deal, so no corresponding roster move will be necessary to make room for Baugh.
Baugh, who went undrafted out of TCU in 2023, spent his first professional season with the South Bay Lakers and has played for the Westchester Knicks in 2024/25. In 35 total Tip-Off Tournament and regular season appearances for New York’s G League affiliate this season, he has averaged 12.9 points, 7.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game, with a .456/.328/.712 shooting line.
Baugh will provide some additional backcourt depth for a Charlotte team that has battled significant health issues this season. Tre Mann and Brandon Miller are among the guards who are in the midst of long-term absences, while LaMelo Ball continues to battle ankle issues.
If Baugh officially signs on Wednesday, he’ll be eligible to appear in up to 18 NBA games for the Hornets down the stretch. Any games the 24-year-old plays in the G League while on his two-way deal with Charlotte will be for the Greensboro Swarm rather than Westchester.
As our tracker shows, the Hornets had been one of three teams with a two-way slot available. Golden State and Philadelphia are the other two.
Pacific Notes: Durant, Lakers, Clippers, Harden, Simmons
Facing Memphis on Tuesday, Suns forward Kevin Durant became the eighth player in NBA history to surpass the 30,000-point threshold over the course of his career. He entered the game with 26 points to go and accomplished the feat late in the third quarter, finishing the night with 34 points.
Durant joined LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, and Wilt Chamberlain in the exclusive 30,000-point club.
“A true honor to be in the same category as those players who helped shaped the game and push the game forward,” he said after the game, a loss that dropped the Suns below .500 (link via ESPN.com). “That’s always been my goal, to get the most out of myself every day and the most out of my career.”
Nowitzki, who ranks sixth on the league’s all-time scoring list with 31,560 points, told Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic that he’s fully expecting Durant to bump him down to seventh sooner or later.
“He’s 36 now…and he’s got, what, 1,500 more (points) to go,” Nowitzki said. “That’s obviously a season for him and he looks great, he moves great. I still see him on the perimeter crossing guys over, he’s got that slow cross, going to the basket. He doesn’t seem like he’s lost a step. I think he’s going to play at least a couple more years. I do think he’s going to catch me, but well deserved. Like I said, to me, he’s one of the purest scorers of all time.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Ranking all 30 NBA teams based on their moves at the trade deadline, John Hollinger of The Athletic places the Lakers atop his list due to their acquisition of Luka Doncic. After trading for Doncic, there was “literally no other move” the Lakers could have made on Thursday that would have moved them out of the top spot, Hollinger writes. That includes their decision to rescind a deal for Mark Williams, which Hollinger actually views as a “dodged bullet,” since he thinks there could be more appealing targets on the trade market for L.A. this summer.
- Hollinger also places the Clippers at No. 3 on his trade deadline rankings and lauds them for their work last week, which included moving off bad contracts, getting out of the luxury tax, and coming out ahead in terms of draft picks.
- James Harden‘s numbers in 2024/25, including 21.3 points per game on 39.5% shooting, are the worst of any of his All-Star seasons, but the impact his leadership has had on the Clippers has made it a special season for the former MVP, writes Law Murray of The Athletic. “The way he’s leading us this year, on and off the court, the way he’s setting everyone up, it’s incredible,” center Ivica Zubac said. “One of the best teammates ever. I think every player in the league would love to play with him.”
- Ben Simmons, signed by the Clippers off the buyout market, is looking forward to a fresh start, telling reporters on Tuesday that he feels “wanted” in Los Angeles, according to Anthony De Leon of The L.A. Times. “I just want to compete, regardless of all the bulls–t said online,” Simmons said, noting that the Clippers view him as a point guard, which is his preferred position. “I’m here to do that, and playing alongside some of these great players … Everyone’s just going to push each other to be better and expect greatness.”
Lakers Sign Alex Len, Waive Christian Wood
4:56 pm: The Lakers have officially signed Len and waived Wood, the team confirmed in a press release.
4:13 pm: Free agent center Alex Len will sign with the Lakers, agent Mike Lelchitski tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
As we wrote earlier today, Len, who was cut by Washington on Saturday, initially planned to sign with the Pacers once he cleared waivers. However, he pivoted to an opportunity in Los Angeles after the Lakers rescinded their trade-deadline deal for Hornets center Mark Williams.
As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star notes (via Twitter), Len would have slotted in as the third center in Indiana behind Myles Turner and Thomas Bryant, but he should have an opportunity with the Lakers to earn the primary backup role behind Jaxson Hayes on a roster that’s thin on frontcourt depth after sending Anthony Davis to Dallas in last week’s Luka Doncic blockbuster.
Len, 31, has been a little-used reserve center over the past three-and-a-half seasons in Sacramento, averaging 3.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 10.0 minutes per game across 149 total outings (15 starts). The former No. 5 overall pick was traded from the Kings to the Wizards ahead of last Thursday’s deadline.
The Lakers have a full 15-man roster and will have to waive a player in order to make room for Len. According to Charania (Twitter link), that roster casualty will be Christian Wood, who has yet to play this season following offseason surgery on his left knee. That procedure was the second one Wood underwent on his knee in 2024.
In his first season in Los Angeles in 2023/24, Wood averaged 6.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 0.7 BPG in 50 games (17.4 MPG) with a .466/.307/.702 shooting line. He’s on an expiring minimum-salary contract, so the Lakers won’t carry any dead money on their cap for him beyond this season.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the Lakers entered the day with about $1.6MM in room below their second-apron hard cap. Len’s new deal will nearly trim that margin in half, but the team would still have enough flexibility to add a second player on the buyout market in the coming days or weeks if another opportunity arises. Another player on the current roster would have to be waived in that scenario, with Cam Reddish viewed as the most likely odd man out.
Lakers Expected To Add Center Soon
After having backed out of a trade-deadline deal for Mark Williams due to concerns about his physical, the Lakers find themselves shorthanded at the five. Jaxson Hayes is the only healthy center on the 15-man roster, with Christian Wood still recovering from knee surgery and two-way players Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison ineligible to play in the postseason.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter video link), the Lakers are expected to make a move soon to add more depth in their frontcourt.
“I’m told the Lakers are pursuing multiple big men in the marketplace right now,” Charania said during an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today on Tuesday. “They know they need some size. … I would expect the Lakers to move on a potential big man in the next 24 to 48 hours. They are working. Rob Pelinka and that front office are trying to acquire a center.”
The current list of free agent centers isn’t particularly inspiring, but there are a few veteran options who might make sense for Los Angeles, including Daniel Theis, Alex Len, Mohamed Bamba, and Moses Brown.
Theis is reportedly on the verge of signing with AS Monaco in Europe, but the others figure to be on the Lakers’ radar. Len was reportedly on track to sign with the Pacers over the weekend, but that deal fell through, fueling speculation that he might be pivoting to L.A. — Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) that the Lakers are “prominent” among the teams with interest in the Ukranian big man.
Within a discussion about possible frontcourt targets for the Lakers, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic suggests it’s worth keeping an eye on the international market too. According to Vecenie, Australian center Will Magnay, who is currently playing for the Tasmania JackJumpers, has an NBA out clause in his deal and has recently drawn interest from NBA teams.
If and when the Lakers do sign a free agent center, they’ll have to waive a player to do so, since their 15-man roster is currently full. Reporting on Monday indicated that Wood and Cam Reddish are among the team’s top release candidates. Neither one is owed any guaranteed money beyond this season.
While it sounds like the Lakers will likely add a center sooner rather than later, it’s worth noting that the club has just one more game before the All-Star break – on Wednesday vs. Utah – so if a signing hasn’t been finalized by that point, it could wait until next week.
Morey: Sixers ‘Feel Very Good’ About Re-Signing Yabusele
When the Sixers signed Guerschon Yabusele during the 2024 offseason, they gave him a one-year, minimum-salary contract. That deal has been a bargain, with the big man emerging as a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season in Philadelphia.
Yabusele has averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 26.8 minutes per game across 49 outings (26 starts), posting impressive shooting percentages of 52.4% from the floor and 40.4% on three-pointers.
Given the team’s limited ability to give him a raise as a free agent this offseason, however, there was some speculation leading up to the trade deadline that Yabusele, who reportedly drew plenty of interest on the trade market, would be on the move. But Philadelphia hung onto him and president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said the club feels good about a future with the Frenchman beyond this season, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I don’t think you can ever be confident in an unrestricted free agent, but we feel very good,” Morey said. “We love him. We just freed up more with (Caleb Martin‘s) contract going out; we freed up more room for the future. So we feel very good about retaining Yabu.”
As Morey notes, trading Martin, who had a guaranteed $8.6MM salary for next season, creates some additional cap flexibility going forward for the Sixers.
While it doesn’t affect what the club can offer Yabusele using his Non-Bird rights (up to 120% of his minimum), moving Martin off the books will generate some extra breathing room below the projected first tax apron in 2025/26 to potentially free up the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which will be worth up to $14.1MM, rather than the taxpayer MLE, which will be worth up to $5.7MM. Philadelphia could use that MLE to offer Yabusele a new contract.
As Pompey relays, Yabusele admitted that his contract situation is “definitely” on his mind. He’s hopeful he’ll be able to work something out with the team that gave him a second chance in the NBA after his initial stint (from 2017-19 with Boston) didn’t pan out.
“I really love this city,” Yabusele said. “I really love the fans. I really love the atmosphere and everything we got going on even though the season was up and down. And I really do think we got something going on in the team. We can definitely figure it out.
“… As far as right now, I’m going to try to play my best and definitely try to get the result. And as far as the summer, you know, I feel like I just have to sit down and see the [free agency] options. But knowing that Philly is here [as an option] is definitely something that I’m happy and proud [about].”
Injury Notes: Hart, Gafford, Ball, Cancar
Josh Hart hasn’t had to miss any time due to right knee soreness, but he has continually shown up on the Knicks‘ injury report as a result of the issue, notes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The 29-year-old forward said on Monday that he isn’t sure whether or not he’ll need to undergo an offseason procedure on the knee.
“We’ll see what it calls for at the end of the season,” Hart said. “But, like I said before, I’m a servant to (my teammates) this year. I want to make sure I put these guys in the best situation. It’s not just for them. It’s also for (head coach Tom Thibodeau). I want to make sure that I’m available to him, I want to make sure when I’m out there, I’m playing at a high level and playing the game the way I know how to play. If I’m out there, I’m healthy enough. And I’m good.”
Hart has certainly achieved his goal of playing at a high level this season. Appearing in 51 of 52 possible games, he has scored 14.4 points per game, with career-best marks in rebounds (9.6 per game), assists (5.7), steals (1.5), field goal percentage (55.4%), and free throw percentage (80.6%).
Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- The Mavericks‘ frontcourt situation went from bad to worse on Monday night, as starting center Daniel Gafford exited the game vs. Sacramento and didn’t return due to what the team called a right knee sprain (Twitter link). Dallas big men Dereck Lively (fracture in ankle) and Anthony Davis (adductor strain) are already expected to be unavailable for at least the next few weeks, so the club would be extremely shorthanded up front if Gafford has to miss time too.
- Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, who has battled ankle issues for multiple seasons and just recently returned from a left ankle sprain, sat out the final three quarters of Monday’s loss to Brooklyn due to right ankle soreness (story via ESPN.com). While Ball said after the game that he didn’t think the injury was serious, the Hornets could hold him out of their final game before the All-Star break on Wednesday in order to give him an extra week to rest.
- Nuggets forward Vlatko Cancar, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in early December, will remain on the shelf through the All-Star break, but there’s a chance his return isn’t too far off, according to head coach Michael Malone (Twitter link via Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette). Malone said over the weekend that Cancar might make it back to the court before Peyton Watson does — Watson was ruled out for at least four weeks on February 3 due to a right knee sprain.
Pelicans Bracing For Herb Jones To Miss Rest Of Season
There’s a good chance that Pelicans forward Herbert Jones will be shut down for the season, executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin said today to reporters, including Rod Walker of NOLA.com (Twitter link).
Jones has been out since January 8 due to a torn posterior labrum in his right shoulder. The club indicated at the time that he had been ruled out indefinitely.
As Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes tweeted at the time of Jones’ diagnosis, when a posterior labrum tear is small and the instability in the shoulder is minimal, a non-surgical treatment plan can improve the issue. In other cases, a surgical procedure is necessary.
It’s not clear whether or not Jones will go under the knife, but Griffin noted today that the forward has gotten opinions on the injury from multiple medical experts (Twitter link via Erin Summers).
The 35th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Jones has been a valuable role player for New Orleans over the course of his four NBA seasons, particularly on defense — he earned a spot on the All-Defensive First Team in 2023/24. The 6’8″ forward averaged 10.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals in 32.4 minutes per game this season across 20 appearances (all starts), with a shooting line of .436/.306/.825.
Jones is one of several Pelicans regulars whose 2024/25 campaign was derailed by health issues. With the team lottery-bound at 12-41, it sounds like the goal in New Orleans is to make sure he’s healthy for the start of next season.
Jones is under contract for two more seasons beyond this one — he’s set to make $13.9MM in 2025/26, with a $14.9MM salary for ’26/27. He would be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027 if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
Alex Len Not Signing With Pacers
Veteran center Alex Len won’t be signing with the Pacers after all, league sources confirm to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.
Len, who was traded from Sacramento to Washington at the trade deadline, was cut by the Wizards on Saturday, with reporting at the time indicating that he planned to sign with Indiana after clearing waivers. Dopirak heard the same thing over the weekend, but says that deal is no longer moving forward, with Indiana having pivoted to another former lottery pick, Jahlil Okafor.
[RELATED: Jahlil Okafor To Sign 10-Day Contract With Pacers]
While Dopirak doesn’t have specific details on why the reported agreement fell through, he notes that there has been “movement” at the center position around the league in recent days, which may have “changed the dynamics” of Len’s decision. Specifically, he points to the Lakers rescinding their trade for Mark Williams as one move that created a notable opening in the middle for a team seemingly headed for a postseason berth.
It’s also worth noting that Dave McMenamin of ESPN cited sources on Monday who said Los Angeles may have pursued Len if he hadn’t agreed to sign with the Pacers. There’s no indication at this point that Len has reached an agreement with the Lakers, but they’re certainly a team worth keeping an eye on here.
The fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Len has been a reliable frontcourt option for 12 NBA seasons, spending time with the Suns, Hawks, Raptors, Wizards, and Kings. The 31-year-old Ukrainian has spent the last few seasons as a depth piece in Sacramento, where he made 149 appearances (15 starts) over the course of three-and-a-half seasons, averaging 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game.
Bucks GM: Middleton Trade Was ‘Hardest Transaction’ Of My Career
Speaking to reporters on Monday for the first time since last week’s trade deadline, Bucks general manager Jon Horst said the decision to trade Khris Middleton to the Wizards was the “hardest transaction” he has made during his career as a front office executive, according to Jamal Collier of ESPN.
Middleton, who had been with the Bucks since being acquired from Detroit during the summer of 2013, made three All-Star teams during his 12 season with the organization and was a key part of the team that won a championship in 2021.
“I’m incredibly close with Khris personally, his family,” Horst said on Monday, per Steve Megargee of The Associated Press. “I probably have more Middleton jerseys in my house than anything and will still have more Middleton jerseys in my house than anything.”
Last week’s four-team trade saw the Bucks send out Middleton, 2024 first-round pick AJ Johnson, Delon Wright, a 2028 first-round pick swap, and cash in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Jericho Sims, and a pair of second-rounders.
The deal significantly reduced Milwaukee’s overall salary, moving the team below the second tax apron, though Horst said that wasn’t a mandate from ownership. He believes the move will allow the Bucks to remain in contention in the present and future.
“It’s still the awesome responsibility to try to take this franchise and maximize the window that we have now as best we can,” Horst said. “What we think gives us the best chance to win, and figure out how to continue winning going forward. There’s a very narrow set of opportunities that we felt that we could do that, and this was one of them.”
Middleton has battled injuries in recent years and missed more games (112) than he played (111) from the start of the 2022/23 season to the time of the trade. However, Horst claimed the veteran forward’s availability wasn’t a driving factor in his decision to make the deal.
“Collectively, I think we’re deeper in the spots we needed to be deeper,” he said, according to Collier. “This gave us an opportunity to diversify a little bit, to kind of put money and talent and roster spots in other places where I thought we needed help.”
Kuzma is four years younger than Middleton and has been healthier too, though he’s having a down year this season. His shooting percentages of 42.0% from the field and 28.1% on three-pointers with the Wizards would have easily been career lows, and he averaged just 15.2 points per game prior to the trade after putting up 21.7 PPG in his first two years in D.C.
As Eric Nehm of The Athletic relays, Horst said the Bucks “strongly believe” that Kuzma remains in his prime and will play better than he did in the first half of this season. Milwaukee’s GM also lauded the veteran forward for his ability to move the ball, attack in transition, and serve as a secondary rim protector on defense.
Horst, noting that the Bucks made multiple deadline moves and also brought in Sims and Kevin Porter Jr., made it clear that he doesn’t want to directly compare Kuzma to Middleton.
“This isn’t a Khris or a Kyle comparison, although that’s the easy thing to do,” Horst said. “It’s the team before the trade deadline and the team after the trade deadline, and to be determined with an open roster spot, that we felt like in totality we positioned ourselves to have a better run this year. That doesn’t do anything to diminish the three-time All-Star, Olympian, NBA champion, pillar in the community, everything that Khris Middleton was for this franchise for over a decade.”
And-Ones: Trade Disputes, S. Johnson, Two-Ways, More
In the wake of the Lakers‘ decision to recind their Mark Williams trade with the Hornets, teams around the NBA are discussing whether the league should introduce new measures designed to reduce the likelihood of similar situations in the future, says ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
According to Marks, those clubs are wondering whether it should be solely at the discretion of a team and its medical staff to decide what constitutes a failed physical and whether a third-party mediator might be necessary to resolve disputes.
Those clubs have also asked whether there should be a window for teams to explore amending the terms of a deal after the trade deadline has passed if there are a concerns about a player’s physical. In that hypothetical situation, Marks notes, the amended terms would have to involve only draft compensation, not new players.
The Hornets have reportedly been in touch with the NBA to discuss whether they have an avenue to dispute the Lakers’ decision to void the Williams trade between the two teams.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA lottery pick Stanley Johnson has parted ways with Anadolu Efes for family reasons, the Turkish club announced (via Twitter). Johnson, a 6’6″ forward who appeared in 449 regular season NBA games from 2015-23 after being drafted eighth overall in 2015, is joining the South Bay Lakers. The Lakers‘ G League affiliate confirmed in a press release that it has acquired Johnson’s returning rights in a trade with the Rip City Remix.
- Five players, including Warriors big man Quinten Post and Sixers forward Justin Edwards, have been converted from two-way contracts to standard deals in the days since the trade deadline. There are several more two-way players around the league who could follow suit, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who identifies seven more candidates for promotions, including Wizards forward Justin Champagnie, Sixers guard Jared Butler, Timberwolves guard Jaylen Clark, and Pelicans wing Brandon Boston.
- Although the NBA pays a team a fee when it loses a home game in order to play overseas, that payment typically doesn’t cover the full cost of the lost revenue, writes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. So what’s in it for teams who choose to take part in those international games? Vorkunov explores that subject, detailing the brand-building calculus at play for those clubs.