Clippers Waive Moses Brown
The Clippers have officially waived center Moses Brown, the team announced today. Brown had been on a two-way contract, but reached his games-played limit when he was active for a 50th time on Thursday, as Law Murray of The Athletic notes (via Twitter).
Murray first reported (via Twitter) that the Clippers would cut Brown to free up his two-way slot. Agent Luke Glass tells ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) that it was a mutual decision, since the 23-year-old was ineligible to play another game for the Clippers this season while on his two-way deal.
Brown appeared in 34 games for the Clippers, averaging 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 8.5 minutes per night. He served as a backup center behind Ivica Zubac, but wasn’t always a part of the rotation and slid further down the depth chart following L.A.’s trade-deadline acquisition of Mason Plumlee.
Brown, who is in his fourth NBA season, will have the ability to sign a standard or two-way deal with any team if he clears waivers on Sunday. He has previously spent time with Portland, Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Cleveland.
The Clippers now have two openings on their 17-man roster — one on their standard 15-man squad and one two-way slot.
Pacific Notes: Wainright, Ross, Warriors, Sabonis, Vezenkov
Suns forward Ish Wainright was active for a 50th game on Thursday and has now maxed out the games-played limit on his two-way contract, confirms Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Wainright can remain on his two-way deal for the rest of the season, but he’ll be ineligible to be activated for another regular season or playoff game unless he’s promoted to the 15-man roster.
As Rankin notes, the Suns do have an open spot on their 15-man squad, so promoting Wainright is one option the club should seriously consider. But Phoenix could also decide to use that final roster spot on a veteran on the buyout market — the team was linked on Thursday to Kevin Love, for instance. If the Suns sign a vet like Love, that wouldn’t leave room for Wainright unless another player is waived.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- The Suns have already added one veteran who reached free agency after negotiating a buyout. Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports takes a closer look at that newest Sun, exploring what Terrence Ross can bring to the team.
- Tim Kawakami of The Athletic examines where things stand for the Warriors entering the All-Star break and considers whether this season represents a last stand for Golden State’s dynasty. As Kawakami writes, last week’s trade of James Wiseman for a win-now role player (Gary Payton II) signals that the team’s much-discussed “two-timeline plan” has essentially fallen by the wayside.
- In a Q&A with Sam Amick of The Athletic, veteran center Domantas Sabonis spoke about the Kings‘ resurgence, playing through a thumb fracture, and why this year’s All-Star nod means more to him than his previous two. “A lot of stuff was said when the trade happened,” Sabonis said. “(Kings executives) Monty (McNair) and Wes (Wilcox) trusted me to come here and start changing the franchise around. And it’s not just me — there’s obviously a lot of pieces. … But I was kind of that first piece, and there was a lot of responsibility. As a player, as a competitor, being named an All-Star on the West Coast, having been on the East Coast, I feel like it just means more because of everything that came with it, you know?”
- Kings assistant coach Jay Triano headed to Europe this week to scout draft-and-stash prospect Sasha Vezenkov, according to Stavros Barbarousis and John Rammas of Eurohoops. Sacramento holds the NBA rights to Vezenkov, who is having a terrific season in Greece for Olympiacos.
Southwest Notes: Jones, Langford, Vassell, Bassey, Grizzlies, Green
There’s optimism that the Spurs will get some key players back shortly after the All-Star break, head coach Gregg Popovich said on Wednesday (Twitter link via Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News). According to Popovich, Tre Jones, Romeo Langford, and even Devin Vassell are all getting close to returning.
Jones has missed six of the Spurs’ last seven games due to left foot soreness, while Langford has been out since January 23 with a left adductor injury. As for Vassell, he underwent a procedure on his left knee in early January and has been on the mend since then. All three players were part of San Antonio’s starting five before being sidelined.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Charles Bassey‘s new four-year contract with the Spurs has matching $2.6MM cap hits in its first two seasons, both of which are fully guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned. Bassey’s third- and fourth-year salaries are each $2.5MM and are non-guaranteed. His third-year salary would become guaranteed if he remains under contract through August 1, 2024 and his fourth-year salary would be guaranteed if he stays under contract through August 1, 2025.
- When Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. were named All-Stars for 2023, it the first time in franchise history that two Grizzlies players had made the All-Star team in the same season. As Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, the achievement serves as validation for the franchise that the right core pieces are in place, even if the club is still working on the complementary parts.
- Kelly Iko of The Athletic examines Jalen Green‘s development and explores how important the growth of the former No. 2 overall pick is in the Rockets‘ long-term plans. As Iko details, Houston wants to take a significant step forward next season — adding another lottery talent in the draft and having up to $60MM+ in cap room will help, but the team also needs its own young players to take a leap.
Pistons’ Nerlens Noel Hasn’t Actively Pursued Buyout
Veteran center Nerlens Noel has been listed as “not with team” on the Pistons‘ injury report since last Thursday’s trade deadline, leading to speculation that he’s headed for a buyout agreement. However, league sources tell Marc Stein (Substack link) that Noel hasn’t actively pursued a buyout to this point.
Noel, who signed a three-year contract with New York in 2021, was traded from the Knicks to the Pistons last summer in a salary-dump deal that helped New York create salary cap space for Jalen Brunson. The 28-year-old big man hasn’t had much of a role with the Pistons, appearing in just 14 games and logging a career-low 10.9 MPG.
The retooling Pistons have a crowded frontcourt that features a handful of young centers the team will want to take a long look at down the stretch. That group consists of a trio of former lottery picks: rookie Jalen Duren, recently acquired James Wiseman, and former King Marvin Bagley III, who is recovering from hand surgery and is in the first season of a three-year contract.
Given that he’s buried on the depth chart and isn’t owed any guaranteed money beyond this season (he has a $9.68MM team option for 2023/24), Noel looks like a logical buyout candidate. According to Stein, there would be multiple “playoff-bound” teams with interest in the former sixth overall pick if he reaches free agency.
It’s notable that Noel and his reps didn’t immediately seek a buyout last week after he stayed put at the deadline. Still, while he and the Pistons aren’t working on an agreement yet, that doesn’t mean one won’t happen by March 1, which is the deadline for a player to be waived if he wants to retain his playoff eligibility for his new team. Kevin Love, for instance, wasn’t initially considered a buyout candidate, but is now said to be nearing a deal with the Cavs.
On the other hand, agreeing to a buyout and then signing a minimum-salary contract with a new team would force Noel to give up his Bird rights and may pigeonhole him as a minimum-salary player going forward. So he has some incentive to pass on buyout talks and force the Pistons to make a decision on whether they want to simply waive him, paying his full salary, to open up a roster spot.
We’ll keep a close eye on Noel’s status in Detroit during the next couple weeks, but for now, it doesn’t appear that a buyout is imminent.
Nets Notes: Depth, Mills, Thomas, Drummond
The Nets‘ Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades earlier this month significantly reduced the team’s star power but have created a deeper roster, resulting in difficult decisions for head coach Jacque Vaughn, as Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post writes.
With Seth Curry back in action on Wednesday following a five-game absence due to a left adductor strain, the Vaughn and the Nets employed a 10-man rotation that left out a couple players who have had regular roles for much of the season. As Sanchez writes, there was no room in that 10-man rotation for Edmond Sumner or Yuta Watanabe in addition to Day’Ron Sharpe or Patty Mills.
Vaughn is happy to use 10 of the Nets’ 14 players (not counting two-ways) for the time being, but expects to tighten the rotation further this spring.
“We’re playing 10 guys right now,” Vaughn said on Wednesday. “Eventually that’s going to whittle down to nine or eight as you get into the playoffs, but I think that’s the biggest thing is being able to utilize the depth.”
Here’s more on the Nets:
- Although he’s one of the odd men out of the Nets’ new rotation, Mills said he likes the look of the roster in the wake of the trade deadline and remains confident in the team’s chances to make the playoffs. In a conversation with Ian Begley of SNY.tv, the veteran guard made multiple references to the character of the locker room and the off-court bonds between Nets players. “Genuinely, you look around the room and we’ve just got really solid dudes,” Mills said. “(Potential) friendships, (where) you can talk and you can go outside of the basketball court, which I think at the end of the day makes a real impact on what we can do on the court.”
- Given the opportunity to take on a larger role, Nets guard Cam Thomas scored 134 points in a three-game span earlier this month, but he has seen his minutes dip again within the last week, averaging just 19.8 MPG in Brooklyn’s last three games. Thomas, who expressed frustration with his limited playing time early in the season, doesn’t sound thrilled about once again taking a step back, Sanchez writes for The New York Post. “It’s tough,” Thomas said. “From doing one thing and trying to adjust to the team because that’s just what you got to do. It’s tough for sure. So just got to figure it out.”
- Speaking to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Bulls center Andre Drummond admitted that he would’ve liked to re-sign with the Nets as a free agent last summer, but turned to the “next best option” when things didn’t work out with Brooklyn. “I definitely wanted to come back, but I think they were going in a different direction, so there was nothing I could really do about that,” said Drummond, who was the Nets’ starting center down the stretch and in the playoffs last spring.
And-Ones: World Cup Qualifiers, Nike Summit, MVP Race, Rising Stars, Draft
With two more qualifying matches for the 2023 World Cup right around the corner, USA Basketball has officially announced the 12-man roster that will compete in February’s games. Team USA’s squad is made up primarily of G Leaguers, but features a number of players with NBA experience.
The 12 players who will represent the U.S. on February 23 vs. Uruguay and Feb. 26 vs. Brazil are Deonte Burton, Will Davis II, Abdul Gaddy, Langston Galloway, Treveon Graham, Dusty Hannahs, Nate Hinton, Jay Huff, Xavier Moon, Elijah Pemberton, Reggie Perry, and Craig Sword.
So far, Canada is the only team in the Americas field to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, having won all of its first 10 qualifying contests. However, Team USA – which has an 8-2 record so far – will clinch a World Cup berth by winning either one of its two games this month, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
Meanwhile, USA Basketball also announced the rosters for the 2023 Nike Hoop Summit, an annual showcase of U.S. high school prospects that will take place on April 8. The most notable name on the men’s roster is Bronny James, but Bronny isn’t the only son of a former Cavaliers lottery pick to be named to the event — the 13-player roster also includes Dajuan Wagner Jr.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is building a strong case for his third consecutive MVP award and leads the way in the latest straw poll conducted by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. Bontemps’ survey asks 100 media members for their current MVP ballots — Jokic received 77 first-place votes, easily besting runners-up Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks (11 first-place votes) and Joel Embiid of the Sixers (6).
- Rockets guard Jalen Green (left groin strain) and Pistons center Jalen Duren (right ankle sprain) have been forced to withdraw from Friday night’s Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend due to injuries, according to the NBA (Twitter link). They’re being replaced by Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu and Rockets forward Tari Eason.
- In his latest mock draft for The Athletic, Sam Vecenie moves Alabama wing Brandon Miller up to No. 3, writing that Miller is considered the safest bet in the 2023 draft class – outside of Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson – to be a “really good player” at the NBA level. Vecenie’s top five is rounded out by Overtime Elite guard Amen Thompson at No. 4 and Houston forward Jarace Walker at No. 5.
Cody Zeller Worked Out For Heat
The Heat recently brought in free agent center Cody Zeller for a workout, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
The fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Zeller spent his first eight NBA seasons in Charlotte, then played for Portland in 2021/22. He had a limited role for the Blazers last season, averaging 5.2 PPG and 4.6 RPG in a career-low 13.1 minutes off the bench in 27 games before a right patellar avulsion fracture ended his season.
Zeller signed a non-guaranteed training camp deal with Utah this past September, but failed to earn a spot on the Jazz’s regular season roster and was waived at the end of the preseason. He has been seeking a new NBA home since then and also worked out for the Lakers earlier in the season.
As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported this week, the Heat – who have one spot available on their 15-man roster and can create a second opening when Jamaree Bouyea‘s 10-day deal expires – are prioritizing frontcourt targets. Winderman mentioned Kevin Love and Serge Ibaka as possibilities and it appears the team is considering other vets as well.
Power forward is the spot the Heat would really like to address, but their center rotation isn’t entirely settled either. While rookie big man Orlando Robinson has been Bam Adebayo‘s primary backup for much of the season, he’s approaching the games-played limit on his two-way contract and would need to be promoted to the 15-man roster to remain active beyond that limit.
The Heat traded away Dewayne Dedmon prior to this month’s deadline and don’t seem comfortable relying on veteran Udonis Haslem to play a regular role. Omer Yurtseven is nearing his return from left ankle surgery, but it’s unclear how effective he’ll be after being sidelined for several months.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 2/16/2023
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today. Click here to view the transcript.
Our weekly chats will now take place at 2:00 pm CT on Tuesdays (with Dana Gauruder) and at 10:00 am on Thursdays (with me).
Central Notes: D. Green, Bulls, Wall, Wiseman, Bucks
The Cavaliers and Danny Green had some discussions when he reached free agency in 2021, but Cleveland was coming off a 22-50 season at that time and Green – focused on contending – ended up signing a two-year deal with the Sixers, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). After signing with the Cavs on Wednesday, Green reflected on that decision and observed that the club’s outlook has changed substantially in the last two years.
“That was before we knew how good they could be,” Green said. “They have grown since then. I wouldn’t say we kept in touch, but I’ve always been watching them and what they’ve been doing.”
As Fedor writes, Green received interest from the Suns, Celtics, and Lakers upon reaching a buyout agreement with Houston following last week’s trade deadline. He ultimately chose the Cavaliers, who offered him $2MM for the rest of the season but gave him no assurances about playing time, per Fedor.
“The atmosphere, the culture seems to be really great,” Green said, explaining why he signed with the Cavs. “They’re doing some good things. They had an opportunity to make it happen and they were the most interested, which made it seem like it was a good fit and good spot. A team that really wanted me, needed me.
“Good opportunity to probably get some minutes on the floor with a team that’s going to be in the playoffs. That was a big emphasis for me. They are one of the teams that fit that category. They haven’t let me down yet. It’s still early, but it’s a great fit so far and culture is great.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- The Bulls have been in contact with John Wall‘s representatives, a source confirms to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Johnson previously reported that the Bulls have been in touch with Patrick Beverley‘s camp. The team has also been repeatedly linked to Russell Westbrook, who remains under contract with Utah.
- Head coach Dwane Casey said before Wednesday’s game that the Pistons intended to give James Wiseman regular minutes and made good on that promise by playing Wiseman nearly 24 minutes in his first game with the club (Twitter link via James L. Edwards III of The Athletic). The former No. 2 pick had 11 points and five rebounds, but believes he has room for improvement on both ends of the floor. “My wind got to me a little bit,” Wiseman said, per Edwards. “I’m going to do way better when I get my conditioning up.”
- The Bucks‘ 11-game win streak, including a Tuesday victory over the Celtics, has pulled them within one game of Boston for the Eastern Conference lead. However, star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo suggested after Tuesday’s game that Milwaukee isn’t focused on chasing that No. 1 seed down the stretch. “We’re playing good basketball, that’s what I care about,” Antetokounmpo said, per Jamal Collier of ESPN. “Now if we finish first, good. If we finish second, great. If we finish third, better. It doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, you’ve got to prepare your mind that in order for you to win a championship, you’ve got to play hard teams.”
Northwest Notes: Reddish, Thybulle, Thunder, Booth, Cancar
After failing to establish themselves as long-term cornerstones in New York (and Atlanta) and Philadelphia, respectively, fourth-year forwards Cam Reddish and Matisse Thybulle are welcoming the opportunity to prove their worth in Portland, where they’ve immediately been inserted into the Trail Blazers‘ starting five.
As Jason Quick of The Athletic writes, Reddish shed tears when he learned of the trade sending him to Portland, which came as a surprise to the 23-year-old, who said he didn’t “really know why” it happened: “I think it was I just had so much stuff bottled up.”
Following the Blazers’ acquisition of Reddish, head coach Chauncey Billups told the former lottery pick that he has a “clean slate” in Portland and that he’ll only be judged on what he does going forward, rather than what he’s done in his first three-and-a-half NBA seasons.
“I just haven’t really had like a real, real shot to really play my game at the level I know I can play it,” Reddish said. “I feel like, honestly, I’m blessed to be in Portland, to have this opportunity. And I want to take full advantage of it. I’m not going to take it for granted, not even for one second.”
As for Thybulle, Billups pulled the two-time All-Defensive wing into his office before his first game as a Blazer to tell him how happy the team was to have him, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Billups also advised Thybulle to play freely and not worry about making mistakes.
“The first thing was I felt comfortable,” Thybulle said, per Fentress. “I didn’t realize how much you can take that for granted. So, just to be out there and feel comfortable and to feel and know that I’m wanted and needed, and this coaching staff and players have my back. I think it showed in just my ability to play and be more of myself.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Within a feature on Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr., his father Jabari Smith Sr. suggests to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated that his son believed he had a promise from the Thunder to draft him second overall last June. Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link) doesn’t dispute that claim, but notes that Holmgren’s agent Bill Duffy told him on draft night that Holmgren – who was widely viewed as the favorite to be the No. 2 overall pick – was OKC’s “number one priority.” It’s possible the Thunder were counting on either Smith or Holmgren to be selected first overall and intended to draft the other.
- Harrison Wind of TheDNVR.com argues that Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth has a strong case for this year’s Executive of the Year award after drafting Christian Braun, trading for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and signing Bruce Brown as a free agent last summer. More recently, Booth addressed a pair of roster holes by acquiring Thomas Bryant at the trade deadline and signing Reggie Jackson on the buyout market.
- One under-the-radar Nuggets move last offseason was the decision to sign little-used forward Vlatko Cancar to a new three-year deal. As Wind writes in another TheDNVR.story, Cancar has enjoyed a breakout season in the first year of his new contract, posting a shooting line of .506/.442/.958, making high-IQ plays, and holding his own against most assignments on the defensive end.