Grizzlies Sign DeJon Jarreau To 10-Day Deal
MARCH 10: The Grizzlies have officially signed Jarreau to a 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
The deal will run through March 19, covering Memphis’ next five games, and will be worth $103,550.
MARCH 9: The Grizzlies are promoting guard DeJon Jarreau from their G League affiliate and will sign him to a 10-day contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Jarreau, who won the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award in his final college season at Houston in 2021, had brief stints with the Pacers and Rockets as a rookie, but has spent most of his professional career in the G League. He has played for four separate NBAGL clubs since 2021, including the Memphis Hustle in 2023/24.
In 36 total Showcase Cup and regular season games this season for the Hustle, Jarreau has averaged 14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.2 assists in 25.0 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .468/.313/.777. As Wojnarowski notes, he has played some of his best basketball as of late, putting up 21.6 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 8.6 APG in his past 10 games.
The Grizzlies have a full 15-man roster, with Wenyen Gabriel also under contract via the hardship exception. A team qualifies for a hardship exception – granting an extra roster spot temporarily – if it has four players who have missed three or more consecutive games due to injury or illness and are expected to remain out for at least two more weeks.
Memphis appears to have six players who fit that bill: Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Derrick Rose, and Ziaire Williams. Unless the Grizzlies expect one of those players back within the next couple weeks, they could qualify for up to three hardship additions — Jarreau will be the club’s second hardship addition, Wojnarowski confirms, so no corresponding cut will be necessary to make room for him.
As our 10-day contract tracker shows, Jarreau will be the eighth player to sign a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies this season.
Disabled Player Exceptions For 2023/24 Expire On Monday
A series of disabled player exceptions granted to teams earlier in the 2023/24 season will expire on Monday if they go unused.
The deadline to use a disabled player exception is typically March 10, but when that deadline falls on a weekend, it gets pushed to the next business day, which means teams have until March 11 this season to take advantage of their DPEs.
We go into more detail on who qualifies for disabled player exceptions and how exactly they work in our glossary entry on the subject. But essentially, if a team has a player suffer a season-ending injury prior to January 15, the exception gives that team the opportunity to add an injury replacement by either signing a player to a one-year contract, trading for a player in the final year of his contract, or placing a waiver claim on a player in the final year of his contract.
Here are the teams whose DPEs will expire if they aren’t used on Sunday or Monday:
- Chicago Bulls: $10,232,559 (Lonzo Ball) (story)
- Portland Trail Blazers: $5,785,715 (Robert Williams) (story)
- San Antonio Spurs: $1,300,000 (Charles Bassey) (story)
- Note: The Denver Nuggets also applied for a DPE worth $1,117,180 for Vlatko Cancar‘s ACL tear; it’s unclear whether or not that request was granted.
The trade deadline has passed and no players are currently on waivers, so there’s essentially just one way left for those teams with disabled player exceptions to use them: signing a free agent. However, that appears unlikely, given that the Bulls, Trail Blazers, and Spurs (as well as the Nuggets) have full rosters and haven’t shown any signs that they intend to make changes within the next 36 hours or so.
In other words, those exceptions will – in all likelihood – expire without being used.
The Grizzlies are the only team to use a disabled player exception so far this season. In a trade with Houston last month, Memphis took Victor Oladipo‘s $9.45MM expiring contract into the $12,405,000 disabled player exception that was granted as a result of Ja Morant‘s season-ending shoulder injury.
The Grizzlies traded Steven Adams to the Rockets in that deal, forfeiting a second disabled player exception (worth $6.3MM) that they received as a result of Adams’ season-ending knee injury — a DPE can’t be used after the team trades away its injured player. However, using the Morant exception to absorb Oladipo’s salary rather than matching it using Adams’ outgoing salary allowed the club to generate a new traded player exception worth Adams’ cap charge ($12.6MM).
Hornets To Hire Ryan Gisriel Away From Nets
After hiring Nets assistant general manager Jeff Peterson as their new head of basketball operations, the Hornets are poised to add another executive from Brooklyn’s front office, reports Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
According to Lewis, Ryan Gisriel is expected to leave his position as the Nets’ executive director of basketball and business operations to take a job in the Hornets’ front office under Peterson. His title in Charlotte isn’t yet known.
Gisriel was hired by Brooklyn as an intern in 2013 and has steadily risen through the organization since then, having held roles such as special projects coordinator, assistant to the GM, and director of basketball administration before being promoted to his current position.
As NetsDaily notes, Gisriel’s most recent title with the Nets reflected his longtime role as a “middleman” between the basketball and business sides of the organization.
Gisriel is the second executive reported to be joining Peterson in Charlotte. The Hornets are also said to be hiring Hawks executive Dotun Akinwale Jr. as an assistant GM.
Injury Notes: Lonzo, LaVine, Scoot, Ayton, Middleton, Maxey
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan shared some good news on Lonzo Ball on Saturday, telling reporters – including K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago – that the veteran point guard has begun more advanced rehab activities, including sprinting, cutting, and jumping. It’s a positive development, given that Donovan said last month that Ball hadn’t yet been cleared to sprint.
“Some of the workouts have been really, really positive and he has progressed,” Donovan said today. “He has responded well. Some of the things that medical guys have shown me is he looks good moving. I’m just really happy for him personally for his progress. He has worked hard to put himself in this position. And hopefully, he can continue to progress.”
Ball, who last suited up for an NBA game in January 2022, has undergone three surgeries on his left knee since then, including a cartilage transplant approximately a year ago. The next step in his recovery would be getting cleared for contact, but there’s no set timeline for him advancing to that stage, according to Donovan.
The Bulls’ head coach also provided an update on Zach LaVine, who underwent surgery on a “non-union Jones fracture” in his right foot last month. As Johnson relays, LaVine is ahead of schedule in his rehab process and is aiming to be back to full strength in three months rather than the four-to-six months initially projected. Either way, we shouldn’t expect to see the guard back in action until the fall.
Here are a few more injury-related updates from around the NBA:
- A pair of injured Trail Blazers appear on track to return to action on Saturday, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter links). Scoot Henderson, out since the All-Star break due to a left adductor strain, and Deandre Ayton, who has missed the past five games due to a sprained right hand, have both been listed as probable to play vs. Toronto.
- Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said on Friday night that Khris Middleton (left ankle sprain) could play on Sunday for the first time since February 6, tweets Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. As Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel observes, Middleton has been sidelined long enough that he’ll fall short of playing in 62 games, which means he’ll miss out on earning a $1.5MM bonus in his contract.
- Sixers head coach Nick Nurse described Tyrese Maxey‘s concussion symptoms earlier this week as “very mild,” per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer, and told reporters on Friday that he was optimistic about the guard’s chances to play on Sunday in New York (Twitter link via Mizell). However, Philadelphia has officially listed Maxey as out for that game. Unless that designation changes by Sunday night, it will be the fourth consecutive game he has missed.
Pacers’ Mathurin To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, Mathurin is expected to make a full recovery in advance of the 2024/25 season.
The Pacers have issued a press release officially confirming the news. The procedure will be performed next week in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, per the team.
It had been a promising sophomore season for Mathurin, who finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2022/23 and had become a more efficient scorer in his second year in the NBA.
The MVP of this year’s Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, he averaged 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 26.1 minutes per game this season, with a .446/.374/.821 shooting line across 59 appearances (19 starts).
Mathurin’s injury is an unfortunate development for a Pacers team that sacrificed some wing depth earlier this season by trading away Bruce Brown and Buddy Hield in separate deals. As Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Bobby Marks note (via Twitter), the 21-year-old was a key contributor to the NBA’s No. 1 offense and one of the league’s best second units.
Mathurin ranked third on the roster in total minutes played this season, behind only Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, but will now have to watch from the sidelines as the club continues its push for a playoff spot without him. The Pacers currently hold the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference with a 35-29 record. They have a 3.5-game cushion on the ninth-place Bulls and are only 2.5 games behind the No. 4 Knicks.
With Mathurin unavailable, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, Ben Sheppard, and Jarace Walker are among the Pacers role players who are candidates for increased roles. Trade deadline addition Doug McDermott also figures to take over some of Mathurin’s minutes once he’s healthy, but he has been sidelined since February 26 due to a calf injury.
As Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca notes (via Twitter), it’s not clear if Mathurin would have been in the mix for a spot on the Canadian national team this summer, but playing in the 2024 Olympics is almost certainly out of the question for him now.
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:
1. He changes teams via trade.
For instance, the Thunder will hold Gordon Hayward‘s Bird rights when he reaches free agency this offseason, despite just acquiring him in February. His Bird clock didn’t reset when he was traded from Charlotte to Oklahoma City.
2. 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 Haywood Highsmith during the second half of the 2021/22 season, adding him to their roster in March 2022. When his contract expires this offseason, Highsmith will have Bird rights despite not spending three full seasons with Miami, because that partial season in ’21/22 started his Bird clock.
3. He signed a full-season contract (ie. not a 10-day deal) 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 ultimately remaining under contract through a third season.
This one’s a little confusing, but let’s use former Raptors big man Christian Koloko as an example. After spending the 2022/23 season with Toronto and opening the ’23/24 season on the roster, Koloko was waived by the team in January. If the Raptors were to re-sign him in July without him joining a new team in the interim, his Bird clock would pick up where it left off. He’d have full Bird rights in the summer of 2025, since he would’ve spent part or all of each of the previous three seasons with Toronto, without changing teams in between.
It’s worth noting that while the Raptors could restart Koloko’s Bird clock by re-signing him, they wouldn’t be able to use any form of Bird rights to add him to their roster this offseason — they would have to use cap room or another exception to do so. His Bird clock would only resume once he’s back under contract.
This rule also applies to players who are waived after they already have Bird rights. For example, let’s say the Warriors were to waive Chris Paul this offseason before his $30MM salary for 2024/25 becomes guaranteed.
Golden State, which doesn’t project to have cap room this summer, would have no means to re-sign Paul except via the minimum salary exception or perhaps the mid-level exception, since waiving him would mean losing his Bird rights. But if they did find a way to re-add him on a one-year contract after waiving him, the Warriors would regain Paul’s full Bird rights in 2025.
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, as in scenario No. 3 above, a player’s Bird clock picks up where it left off if he re-signs with that team renounced without having signed with another NBA team. For example, Boban Marjanovic had Bird rights last offseason, then had those rights renounced by the Rockets as they freed up extra cap room. Since Marjanovic eventually signed a new deal with Houston, he’ll retain 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.
Players on two-way contracts accumulate Bird rights in the same way that players on standard contracts do. Magic forward Admiral Schofield has been under contract with Orlando on various two-way and standard deals in each of the past three seasons, so if he remains on his current two-way deal through the end of 2023/24, he’ll have full Bird rights this summer.
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.
It’s also worth noting that there’s one specific scenario in which a player with Bird rights can lose them in a trade. A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract (or a one-year deal with a second-year option) would have his Bird clock reset if he’s traded later that season. As such, he receives the ability to veto trades so he can avoid that scenario.
[RELATED: Players who had the ability to veto trades in 2023/24]
The Bird exception was designed to allow teams to keep their best players, even when those teams don’t have the cap room necessary to do so.
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, no matter how much cap space the team has — or doesn’t have.
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 re-sign a player with Bird rights.
A team with a Bird free agent is assigned a “free agent amount” – also called a 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 Sixers, for instance, will have a cap hold worth $13,031,760 for Tyrese Maxey on their books this offseason — 300% of his $4,343,920 salary for 2023/24. Philadelphia could renounce Maxey and generate an extra $13MM+ in cap flexibility, but doing so would cost the Sixers 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, we can count on Philadelphia keeping Maxey’s cap hold on the books until his free agency is resolved.
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 was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.
Suns Notes: Wainright, Booker, Durant, Ishbia
Ish Wainright, who returned to the Suns on a two-way contract earlier this week after being waived by Phoenix in October and by Portland in January, jokingly referred to Devin Booker as the “president of Arizona” and said it was Booker who first called him with the news that the team was re-signing him (Twitter video link via Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports).
Wainright went on to say that he received calls from several former coaches and teammates after he was waived by the Trail Blazers in January, providing encouragement and assuring him that he’d get another shot in the NBA. Booker was among those who reached out, with Suns head coach Frank Vogel and team owner Mat Ishbia also remaining in touch.
The 29-year-old forward had been working out in Phoenix since being let go by Portland and is thrilled to be back on the Suns’ roster.
“This whole time we stayed in contact, ’cause I know what they want to build here and I wanted to be a part of it,” Wainright said (Twitter links via Bourguet).
Vogel told reporters that the Suns are excited to have Wainright back, referring to him as a talented player and a “really good culture guy” with a strong work ethic, adding that he benefits from already knowing the team’s system (Twitter video link).
Here’s more on the Suns:
- Booker, who is recovering from a right ankle sprain, did some on-court work on Friday, but will be listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game vs. Boston, according to Vogel (Twitter video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).
- Kevin Durant spoke to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report about how he stays motivated, his belief in the Suns, and his desire to continue establishing chemistry not just with star teammates Booker and Bradley Beal but with the entire roster. “I think we’re starting to build something and form an identity. And that takes time and reps,” Durant said. “Our coaching staff is doing a great job. I’m not promising anything, but I like our chances against anybody.”
- Ramona Shelburne of ESPN takes an in-depth look at Mat Ishbia‘s “topsy-turvy” first year owning the Suns and considers what comes next for the club. Ishbia told ESPN that he intends to do “whatever it takes to win” and isn’t concerned about the limitations that operating above the second tax apron will impose on the franchise. “I understand all the rules that come with the second apron. I understand exactly what the CBA tried to do,” he said. “I read it, I know it inside and out, and we made a calculated decision that we think the team with the best players wins. Would I rather have Brad Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker than just having two of those guys? I’d rather have all three a hundred times out of a hundred, and I don’t think there’s another GM or owner or CEO that wouldn’t say that exact same thing.”
- Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports passes along some of the notable quotes from Ishbia’s Thursday press conference with Adam Silver, where the NBA announced that Phoenix will host the 2027 All-Star Game. We relayed Ishbia’s comments about free-agents-to-be Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale in a separate story.
Stephen Curry Injures Right Ankle, MRI Clean
3:07pm: An MRI on Curry’s right ankle came back clean, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who says (via Twitter) that the star guard’s return timeline will depend on how the ankle responds within the next few days.
Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link) report that Curry will miss at least one game and possibly more, but there’s optimism that his absence won’t be a lengthy one.
The Warriors are expected to issue a formal update on Saturday, tweets Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
7:04am: Warriors star Stephen Curry exited the team’s Thursday loss to the Bulls late in the fourth quarter after rolling his right ankle and didn’t return to the game, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN and Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
The injury occurred as Curry was cutting to the basket and receiving a pass (Twitter video link via NBC Sports Bay Area). After attempting to walk it off, he eventually limped to the locker room.
Speaking to reporters after the game, head coach Steve Kerr didn’t have much of an update on Golden State’s leading scorer, offering only that he saw Curry with his right foot in a bucket of ice after the game. However, as Andrews and Slater observe, Curry’s teammates were talking as if they’re preparing for him to miss a little time.
“He had his ankle wrap on,” Klay Thompson said, per Slater. “Icing his ankle. I know we’re going to miss him … if he does have time off. We’ve been in this position before where he has had time off and we have to do it collectively. I know he’ll be ready to go when he does come back.”
Draymond Green said Curry’s spirits were “high” after the game but that he might undergo an MRI on the injured ankle. Green also discussed the possibility of Chris Paul entering the starting five in Curry’s place, expressing confidence that the team would be OK despite the potential lineup change.
“We know he is more than capable. He’s Chris Paul,” Green said, according to Andrews. “It’s been incredible having C here, but then you have Steph going down — no one is Steph Curry in the NBA. But knowing you are going into the game with a guy who can win you game after game after game, it definitely gives you confidence going in knowing that you are more than capable to win games.”
Curry, who has dealt with some ankle sprains in the past, had been enjoying one of his healthiest seasons in years heading into Thursday’s contest. He missed two games in November due to a minor knee issue and sat out one end of a back-to-back set in January but has appeared in 59 of the Warriors’ 62 games.
Even if Curry has to miss some time, there’s no indication at this point that the ankle injury is serious enough to jeopardize his ability to play in at least 65 games and qualify for an All-NBA spot. However, his diagnosis may affect Golden State’s push for a higher playoff seed.
The Warriors currently hold the No. 9 spot in the West at 33-29. They’re just percentage points ahead of the 34-30 Lakers and trail the eighth-place Mavericks by 1.5 games.
Checking In On Traded 2024 First-Round Picks
A year ago, entering the 2023 NBA draft, just one of the 14 picks in the lottery had changed hands — the Magic owned Chicago’s first-rounder.
In 2024, there’s a viable scenario in which half of of the 14 picks in the lottery will be controlled by new teams.
With just over a month left to go in the 2023/24 season, let’s check in to see where things stand with the traded picks for the 2024 draft and the protections that apply to them…
Picks that won’t change hands (or swaps that won’t be exercised):
- Wizards‘ pick (top-12 protected) to Knicks
- Pistons‘ pick (top-18 protected) to Knicks
- Hornets‘ pick (top-14 protected) to Spurs
- Trail Blazers‘ pick (top-14 protected) to Bulls
- Wizards‘ right to swap picks with Suns
- Grizzlies right to swap picks with Suns or Wizards (least favorable)
The Wizards, Pistons, Hornets, and Trail Blazers are currently four of the five worst teams in the NBA (the fifth, San Antonio, unconditionally controls its own first-rounder). While it’s not ideal that they’ve each traded away a first-round pick, the good news is that all four clubs are locks to hang onto those first-rounders in 2024. Even with extremely bad lottery luck, none of them are falling out of the top 10.
Unfortunately, all four of those teams’ draft obligations will simply be pushed back a year, so they’ll be in danger of losing their 2025 first-round picks if they don’t once again fall in their respective protected ranges.
The Wizards obviously won’t be using their ability to swap first-round picks with the Suns, who are currently 27.5 games ahead of them in the standings. That leaves Memphis the option to swap first-rounders with Phoenix, but the Grizzlies have the league’s sixth-worst record, so they won’t be taking advantage of that ability either.
Picks that might change hands (or swaps that might be used):
- Raptors‘ pick (top-six protected) to Spurs
- Rockets‘ pick (top-four protected) to Thunder
- Jazz‘s pick (top-10 protected) to Thunder
- Kings‘ pick (top-14 protected) to Hawks
- Lakers‘ pick (unprotected) to Pelicans
- Pelicans‘ right to swap picks with Bucks
The Spurs could add a second top-10 pick if the Raptors‘ first-rounder lands outside the top six. Toronto currently has the NBA’s seventh-worst record and even “passing” Memphis in the reverse standings for the sixth-worst record wouldn’t offer the Raptors any assurances. In that scenario, they’d still be more likely to fall out of the top six and lose their pick (54.2%) than to remain in the top six and keep it (45.8%).
The Thunder, meanwhile, won’t be in the lottery themselves for the first time in several years, but they’re still well positioned to control a top-10 selection. If the season ended today, the Rockets would be No. 9 in the lottery standings, giving them just a 20.2% chance of moving into the top four and hanging onto their first-rounder.
Getting lucky in the lottery wouldn’t just allow Houston to keep its own pick — it would allow the team to extinguish that obligation to Oklahoma City by sending its 2025 second-rounder instead. However, the Rockets do still owe the Thunder a separate 2026 first-rounder.
The Jazz‘s 2024 first-round pick could go either way. They currently have the 10th-worst record in the NBA at 28-35, but they’re neck-and-neck with Houston (27-35) and Atlanta (28-34), so it’s not out of the question that the Thunder end up getting Utah’s pick too. For what it’s worth, finishing with the league’s 10th-worst record would put the Jazz in a strong position to keep their first-rounder, but wouldn’t guarantee it, since a team 11th or lower in the lottery standings could push them out of the top 10 by winning a top-four pick on lottery night.
If the season ended today and the Kings won one of two play-in games, their pick would likely be either 19th or 20th overall and would be sent to the Hawks. But finishing in play-in territory doesn’t lock in a playoff spot, especially given the potential play-in opponents currently bunched up with Sacramento in the standings. Even if they finish with the Western Conference’s seventh-best record, the Kings would move into the lottery if they’re eliminated in the play-in tournament, which would allow them to hang onto their selection.
As for the Pelicans, they may face a difficult decision on the Lakers‘ first-rounder, which they have the option to defer to 2025. Los Angeles is currently at No. 9 in the West, so that pick could land in the lottery. And even in a best-case scenario for the Lakers, it’s likely to be no lower than the mid-to-late teens. That might be hard to pass up, but this year’s draft class is viewed as weak and there are no assurances the Lakers will be any better in 2024/25, so New Orleans will be tempted to defer.
Finally, the Pelicans also have the ability to swap their own first-round pick for the Bucks‘ selection. New Orleans trails Milwaukee by 3.5 games in the standings, so if the season ended today, the Pels would stay at No. 23 and pass on the Bucks’ No. 25 pick. But if they can make up ground on Milwaukee in the standings, that swap option remains a possibility.
That picks that will (or are at least highly likely to) change hands:
- Nets‘ pick (unprotected) to Rockets
- Warriors‘ pick (top-4 protected) to Trail Blazers
- Pacers‘ pick (top-3 protected) to Raptors
- Mavericks‘ pick (top-10 protected) to Knicks
- Clippers‘ pick (unprotected/conditional) to Wizards or Jazz
- Thunder‘s pick (unprotected/conditional) to Wizards or Jazz
The Rockets may not end up with their own first-round pick, but they should still have a top-10 selection. The Nets‘ first-rounder projects to be No. 8 overall, and it’s going to Houston unconditionally.
The Warriors‘ and Pacers‘ picks currently project to be No. 14 and 15 overall, but if those teams miss the playoffs, there’s a long-shot scenario in which they get lucky on lottery night and move into the top four (or top three, in Indiana’s case). It’s extremely unlikely though, so the Trail Blazers and Raptors can probably plan on controlling those picks.
The Mavericks are eighth in the West and are in some danger of missing the playoffs for a second straight year, but even in that scenario, they would almost certainly place no higher than 11th or 12th in the lottery standings, creating extremely long odds for a move into the top four. It’s very likely the Knicks will get Dallas’ pick this year.
The Wizards will get whichever of the Clippers‘ or Thunder‘s first-round picks is more favorable, while the Jazz will get the least favorable of the two. Right now, that means L.A.’s pick (No. 26) would go to Washington and Oklahoma City’s (No. 28) would go to Utah, but the two teams are separated by just 2.5 games in the standings, so nothing’s locked in yet.
Kai Jones To Work Out For Sixers
Free agent big man Kai Jones is scheduled to meet with and work out for the Sixers in the coming days, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, who says Philadelphia has shown some interest in the former Hornet (Twitter video link).
The No. 19 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Jones averaged just 2.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per game across 67 total appearances in his first two professional seasons. He had a much bigger role at the G League level, averaging 17.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.1 blocks in 38 regular season games with the Greensboro Swarm — Charlotte’s affiliate — from 2021-23.
Jones made a series of unusual social media posts prior to the 2023/24 season, calling out some of his teammates in a handful of tweets and videos. A report ahead of training camp indicated that the big man wouldn’t be reporting to the Hornets for personal reasons. He subsequently requested a trade and then was waived by the club shortly thereafter. The 23-year-old has been a free agent since then.
According to Charania, Jones has been working on himself “on and off the court” since the fall in the hopes of earning another NBA opportunity. The young center said back in November that he was meeting with teams, and one report around that time indicated that the Clippers brought him in for “a visit of some capacity.”
As Charania notes, Jones played well for the Bahamas in a pair of AmeriCup qualifying contests last month, averaging 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game while making 68.8% of his shots from the floor.
The Sixers, who have been on the lookout for frontcourt help since Joel Embiid went down with a knee injury, have two open roster spots, so they’ll have to add a 14th man at some point relatively soon and figure to fill both of those openings before the end of the regular season.