Clippers Rumors: Leonard, George, Morris, Ibaka, Winslow
In the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto said the Clippers remain focused on being competitive when Paul George and Kawhi Leonard get back on the floor.
However, despite a recent report stating that Leonard is ahead of schedule in his rehab from an ACL tear, Scotto has heard that some people within the organization believe the star forward is unlikely to return this season. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report echoes that sentiment, writing that there’s a “healthy dose of skepticism” around the NBA about Leonard playing in 2021/22.
“He’s always played things methodically and cautiously,” a source with knowledge of Leonard’s thinking told Fischer. “I knew he was ahead of schedule [in his rehab], but I wouldn’t bet on it. Kawhi is always focused on the long term. If they’re not in the playoff picture, I think the chances he comes back are slim to none.”
Fischer also shared an ominous update on George, writing that the Clippers are prepared for the possibility that the forward’s elbow injury will keep him sidelined far beyond the three-to-four week timeline the team initially announced for a reevaluation. It’s not out of the question that George’s injury could keep him out of action for the rest of the season, according to Fischer.
If the Clippers believe there’s a chance George and Leonard may both be unavailable for the rest of the season, there’s a reasonable chance they’ll pivot to becoming sellers at the deadline, Fischer adds.
Here’s more on the team from both Scotto and Fischer:
- Following Leonard’s ACL tear in the 2021 playoffs, the Clippers’ front office broached the possibility of treating the 2021/22 season as more of a “gap year” before pushing again for a title in ’22/23, and owner Steve Ballmer was on board with that idea, Fischer says. The team didn’t initially go all-in on that plan, with head coach Tyronn Lue given no mandate to find minutes for young prospects, but George’s injury could push L.A. further in that direction.
- Rival executives believe the Clippers will be willing to discuss many of their veteran players at the trade deadline, per Fischer. “They’re pretty much open for business for anyone except their main guys and Terance Mann. I think they really are fine falling out of the playoffs and regrouping for next year,” a Western Conference official told Bleacher Report. “I think they’re trying to shed the Marcus Morrises of the world, guys that have some value and maybe can replace them with younger talent, maybe cheaper [contracts], to free them to get someone else this summer.”
- The Jazz would be a good fit for Morris, in Fischer’s view, but he cautions that the Clippers may be hesitant to send the veteran forward to a key Western Conference rival like Utah, since even if the Clips are sellers this season, the two teams could face one another again in the playoffs again as soon as next year.
- Serge Ibaka and Justise Winslow are among the players the Clippers have received inquiries about, Scotto said on the HoopsHype podcast. Fischer suggests that Ibaka may be the top trade candidate on L.A.’s roster, since offloading his $9.7MM salary would save the team a ton of money on its year-end tax bill. The Thunder, one of the only teams that can accommodate a salary-dump trade without sending out a player, are a team to watch, per Fischer. The Clippers could incentivize them with cash and/or second-round picks.
Wizards’ Harrell, KCP Had Halftime Altercation On Tuesday
Wizards big man Montrezl Harrell and swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a physical altercation during halftime of Tuesday’s win over Oklahoma City, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.
According to Charania, Harrell was upset that Caldwell-Pope didn’t pass him the ball on a play at the end of the first half, and the two teammates began jawing at one another on their way to the locker room. The confrontation eventually escalated to the point where they took swings at each other (neither player connected) and had to be separated by teammates, Charania adds.
Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington shared video of the play that seemingly led to the incident.
Harrell and Caldwell-Pope played together in Los Angeles last season before being traded by the Lakers to the Wizards in the Russell Westbrook blockbuster over the summer.
The two veterans have had key roles on a 21-20 Washington team that remains firmly in the playoff mix in the Eastern Conference. Harrell is averaging 14.4 PPG and 7.3 RPG in 34 games (25.4 MPG), while Caldwell-Pope has put up 11.6 PPG and a .389 3PT% in 38 appearances (29.7 MPG).
I’d expect the Wizards to downplay Tuesday’s altercation and look to put it behind them. Still, it’s worth noting – with the trade deadline just four weeks away – that both Harrell and KCP have pretty team-friendly contracts and their names could come up in trade discussions if Washington looks to upgrade its roster in the coming weeks. Harrell is on an expiring $9.7MM salary, while Caldwell-Pope is making $13MM this season and has a partial guarantee (about $5MM) on his $14MM salary for 2022/23.
And-Ones: Exceptions, Trade Market, Dunn, Ferguson, Roberts
Teams that still have money remaining on their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions saw those exceptions begin to prorate downward by 1/174th per day on Monday, January 10, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
For instance, if a team still had $5MM of its mid-level exception on Monday, that amount has now begun to decrease by $28,736 per day. The daily reduction for the rest of the season is always determined based on the amount of the exception left on January 10. So even if that hypothetical team with $5MM of its mid-level remaining decided to use $2MM of it today, the leftover amount would continue to decrease by $28,736 per day going forward.
Many teams have either already used their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions or don’t intend to. However, this may affect certain teams that want to pursue players on the buyout market or plan to convert players from two-way contracts to standard deals later in the season.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- In an Insider-only story for ESPN, Marks has shared his annual trade deadline guide, providing an in-depth look at what to watch for all 30 teams, including each club’s cap and tax situation, trade restrictions, and top trade candidates.
- After signing NBA G League contracts, two former first-round picks have new teams. Guard Kris Dunn has joined the Clippers‘ affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, while Terrance Ferguson will be a member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets‘ affiliate (Twitter links via Marc Stein).
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic spoke to outgoing NBPA executive director Michele Roberts about her tenure with the players’ union, her retirement, the upcoming CBA negotiations between the league and the union, and several more topics. Tamika Tremaglio took the reins as the NBPA’s new executive director on Monday.
Sixers Sign Charlie Brown Jr. To Two-Way Deal, Waive Aaron Henry
4:17pm: The Sixers have officially signed Brown to a two-way contract and waived Henry, the team announced in a press release.
4:00pm: The Sixers will retain guard Charlie Brown Jr. beyond his current 10-day hardship deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Brown will receive a two-way contract from the team. Philadelphia is waiving forward Aaron Henry to open up a two-way slot for Brown, Charania adds.
Brown is a Philadelphia native who played his college ball at Saint Joseph’s. He has bounced around the NBA and G League since going undrafted in 2019, spending time with Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Philadelphia at the NBA level and playing for the College Park Skyhawks, Iowa Wolves, and Delaware Blue Coats in the NBAGL.
Brown began this season with Delaware, averaging 16.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, and 1.6 SPG on .457/.400/.850 shooting in 11 games (30.2 MPG). That earned him 10-day hardship deals with the Mavs and Sixers.
He has appeared in two games since signing his 10-day contract with Philadelphia on January 3, averaging 2.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.0 SPG in 17.5 MPG.
Henry, who went undrafted out of Michigan State in 2021, logged just 17 total minutes in six NBA games for Philadelphia on his two-way deal. In 10 G League contests for Delaware, he recorded 13.2 PPG and 4.9 RPG on .431/.327/.500 shooting. The 22-year-old will be free to sign with any team if he clears waivers.
Brown’s current 10-day deal won’t expire until Wednesday night, but the Sixers could terminate it early if they want to move him into his newly-earned two-way slot sooner rather than later.
Grizzlies Notes: Trade Deadline, Rajakovic, J. Brown
The Grizzlies have been one of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises so far this season. Despite missing star guard Ja Morant for nearly a third of their games, the Grizzlies have a 28-14 record, good for fourth in the Western Conference. Memphis has a five-game cushion on the No. 5 Mavericks and is currently riding a nine-game winning streak.
Although the Grizzlies’ success makes them a candidate to be a buyer at the trade deadline next month, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on NBA Today on Monday that he doesn’t expect the club to take a big swing.
“They love this roster right now,” Wojnarowski said (video link). “I think it would take a pretty unique opportunity for them to do anything dramatic. There’s always some things around the edges.”
As Woj points out, the Grizzlies may be better positioned to do something more significant in the offseason, when they could have approximately $20MM in cap room and as many as three first-round picks — in addition to their own first-rounder, they control Utah’s pick (top-six protected) and the Lakers’ selection (top-10 protected).
Here’s more on the Grizzlies:
- Assistant coach Darko Rajakovic will serve as the Grizzlies’ acting head coach on Tuesday night vs. Golden State, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter). With Taylor Jenkins and Rajakovic both in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, assistant Brad Jones filled in as the acting head coach for one game on Saturday. Rajakovic has since cleared the protocols.
- Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian considers how the Grizzlies should approach the trade deadline, pointing out that the team has enough assets to make a major trade, but could find itself caught between its present and future goals. As much as Memphis may want to upgrade the current roster, the team also recognizes that many of its players still have room to improve and might not reach their prime for a couple more years. Herrington identifies Jaylen Brown as one player he’d be prepared to go “all-in” for, but acknowledges the Celtics are very unlikely to move Brown at this year’s deadline.
- In case you missed it, Ja Morant was named the Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday for the second week in a row — he’s the first player to earn the honor in back-to-back weeks so far this season and is the only player in the West to win the award so far in 2022.
Thunder Sign Mamadi Diakite To 10-Day Contract
The Thunder have signed forward Mamadi Diakite to a 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. The deal was completed using a COVID-related hardship allowance.
Diakite, who will turn 25 next Friday, was in training camp with Oklahoma City in the fall, but fractured his hip and was waived at the end of the preseason. The 6’9″ forward spent his rookie season in 2020/21 with the Bucks after going undrafted out of Virginia. He initially signed a two-way contract, then was converted to a standard deal last April ahead of Milwaukee’s championship run.
Diakite played a very limited role at the NBA level in 14 regular season games and seven postseason contests. However, he put up big numbers in the G League bubble last winter for the Lakeland Magic, averaging a double-double (18.5 PPG, 10.4 RPG) and 2.1 BPG in just 27.7 MPG (12 games). He made 58.0% of his shots from the field for Lakeland, including half of his three-point tries (7-for-14).
The Thunder currently have two players – Isaiah Roby and Kenrich Williams – in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, allowing them to sign two replacement players using hardship exceptions. The team now has Diakite and Olivier Sarr on 10-day deals.
Diakite will earn $85,578 over the course of his 10 days with Oklahoma City, but it won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes. His deal will cover the Thunder’s next five games before expiring on his birthday.
COVID-19 Updates: McMillan, Casey, Dieng, Suns, Holmes, More
Two NBA head coaches have exited the health and safety protocols today. Hawks coach Nate McMillan was back at practice with the team on Tuesday, according to Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). McMillan should be ready to return to Atlanta’s bench on Wednesday night when the team hosts Miami.
Additionally, Pistons head coach Dwane Casey is no longer in the protocols after having entered them on Monday. In a press release confirming Casey’s status, the club stated that Casey registered two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests following what was believed to be a false positive. Casey will coach Detroit on Tuesday night against Chicago.
Here are a few more protocol-related updates from around the league:
- Hawks big man Gorgui Dieng has cleared the health and safety protocols, tweets Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta had one of the league’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks this season, with a staggering 13 players in the protocols at one point in late December. However, the team doesn’t have any players left in the protocols now.
- The Suns got guard Landry Shamet out of the COVID-19 protocols on Monday, but saw two-way forward Ish Wainright enter them, as Kellan Olson of 98.7 Arizona Sports tweets. Wainright is currently the only Sun affected.
- Richaun Holmes has cleared the protocols and is headed to the Kings‘ G League affiliate in Stockton for some reconditioning work, says James Ham of ESPN 1320 (Twitter links).
- The Thunder placed forward Kenrich Williams in the protocols on Monday and ruled him out for Tuesday’s game vs. Washington, tweets Andrew Schlecht of The Athletic.
- The Grizzlies are once again listing Yves Pons as being in the health and safety protocols (Twitter link). Pons initially entered the protocols on Saturday and exited them on Sunday. It’s unclear whether that status update on Sunday was a mistake or if his test results have been inconsistent in recent days, but Pons is once again listed in our health and safety protocols tracker.
Clippers Sign Wenyen Gabriel To Second 10-Day Deal
1:10pm: Gabriel’s second 10-day contract is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. It’ll run through January 20, covering the Clippers’ next five games.
9:21am: The Clippers intend to sign big man Wenyen Gabriel to a second 10-day contract, agent Gary Durrant tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Gabriel’s initial 10-day deal with the team expired on Sunday night.
Tasked with providing the club with some frontcourt depth during his first 10 days in Los Angeles, Gabriel appeared in five contests, averaging 2.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 8.4 minutes per contest. Prior to joining the Clippers, he also spent 10 days with Brooklyn. In his two previous seasons, the former Kentucky standout spent time with Sacramento, Portland, and New Orleans.
The Clippers currently have two players – Luke Kennard and Justise Winslow – in the health and safety protocols, with one player – Xavier Moon – signed to a 10-day hardship contract. Haynes indicates that Gabriel will be another hardship signing, which makes sense if the expectation is for Kennard and Winslow to remain in the protocols for a little while longer.
If one of those players is on the verge of exiting the protocols, L.A. would need to either terminate Moon’s deal early or have another player enter the protocols in order to qualify for a COVID-related hardship exception for Gabriel.
Theoretically, the Clips could also qualify for an injury-related hardship exception, since Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Jason Preston, and Isaiah Hartenstein all remain sidelined. However, unless it’s reported otherwise, our expectation is that Gabriel will be added with a COVID-related hardship allowance, meaning his 10-day earnings ($95,930) won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 1/11/2022
Hoops Rumors’ weekly live chat took place this afternoon. Click here to read the transcript.
Our next live chat will be on Tuesday, January 18 at 12:00pm CT.
Knicks Notes: Walker, Quickley, Grant, Randle
The Knicks are paying the price for counting on a pair of point guards in their 30s who have a history of health issues, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. The team entered the season with Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose atop its depth chart at the point, but Walker has missed time recently due to knee problems and Rose is out indefinitely following ankle surgery.
As Bondy outlines, playing without a reliable point guard has created some additional offensive problems for the Knicks, who have the NBA’s 23rd-most efficient offense and rank last in the Eastern Conference in assists per game.
“The defense has pretty much been there,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said after a weekend loss in which the Knicks scored just 75 points in Boston. “It’s the offense has been inconsistent.”
New York’s injury absences have resulted in Immanuel Quickley taking on more point guard responsibilities as of late, notes Steve Popper of Newsday. Thibodeau lauded the second-year guard for the progress he has made in that role while acknowledging there’s still work to do.
“There’s stretches in the game where you have to settle the team down and get the team organized,” Thibodeau said of Quickley. “I think that will come in time. The more he does it the better he’ll get at it. I love his versatility. You can play him with the ball, you can play him off the ball, and that’s what makes him so valuable to us.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Thibodeau said on Monday that Walker is getting “close” to returning to action from what the team has called a sore left knee, Popper writes for Newsday. Asked whether Kemba remains sidelined due to healing or conditioning, Thibodeau replied, “Probably a little bit of both. Each day he’s doing a little bit more. The main thing was letting his knee calm down. It’s done that and now ramping it up again.”
- Following up on Shams Charania’s report on New York’s interest in Pistons forward Jerami Grant, Fred Katz and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic consider whether the 27-year-old would be a good fit for the Knicks and what a trade might look like. The Athletic’s duo suggests a hypothetical package of Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks, Obi Toppin, and the Knicks’ 2022 first-round pick (lightly protected), but observes that a three-for-one swap could be tricky for Detroit to accommodate.
- Last season’s Most Improved Player has seen his numbers dip so far this season and has shot just 36.7% (19.4% on threes) since Christmas, but the Knicks remain confident in Julius Randle‘s ability to battle through adversity. “I don’t want anyone get wrapped up in any personal dilemmas or any of that stuff,” Thibodeau said on Monday without directly mentioning Randle (link via Ian O’Connor of The New York Post). “…There are going to be ups and downs throughout the course of the year. You’ve got to be mentally tough when you face adversity. Everyone does, right? It’s probably the most important thing in life. Sometimes it goes our way, sometimes it doesn’t. Just navigate through it all.”