COVID-19 Updates: Vogel, Lue, Pelicans, Raptors, Pokusevski
One Los Angeles team is getting its head coach out of the NBA’s health and safety protocols today, while the other has placed their coach in the protocols.
The Lakers got the good news, as Frank Vogel has cleared the protocols and will be back on the sidelines for the team on Friday night vs. Portland, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). David Fizdale will return to his role as Vogel’s lead assistant after serving as the acting head coach for the last 12 days.
Meanwhile, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue has entered the protocols, according to an announcement from the team. Lue, the 10th head coach to be affected by the protocols this month, will be replaced in the short term by assistant Brian Shaw.
Here are more protocol-related updates from across the NBA:
- The Pelicans got Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naji Marshall, and Jose Alvarado back at practice today following their respective stints in the COVID-19 protocols, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com. New Orleans isn’t entirely out of the woods though — center Jonas Valanciunas has entered the protocols, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).
- According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), Raptors rookie Justin Champagnie has exited the protocols, leaving Isaac Bonga as the only player from the team’s standard roster still affected. However, one of Toronto’s replacement players – D.J. Wilson – has now entered the protocols, Murphy notes.
- Thunder forward Aleksej Pokusevski is no longer in the protocols and will be available for Friday’s contest vs. the Knicks, says Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link).
Pacers Sign Ahmad Caver To 10-Day Contract
1:45pm: Caver has officially signed his 10-day contract with the Pacers, according to a press release from the team. Indiana is expected to complete another hardship signing, tweets Agness.
1:19pm: The Pacers will call up free agent guard Ahmad Caver from the G League and sign him to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
A 6’2″ point guard, Caver has played for the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate, since going undrafted out of Old Dominion in 2019. After coming off the bench for the Hustle for two years, he moved into the starting lineup in 2021/22, averaging 15.4 PPG, 6.9 APG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.8 SPG on .413/.364/.818 shooting in 14 games (35.6 MPG) this season.
Entering the day, the Pacers had four players in the health and safety protocols. They’ve since added a fifth, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link), who says Kelan Martin has tested positive for COVID-19.
Indiana has added one replacement player so far, signing Nate Hinton on Thursday. Caver is on track to be the team’s second hardship addition.
Clippers Sign Wenyen Gabriel Via Hardship Exception
1:21pm: Gabriel’s 10-day contract with the Clippers is now official, according to the team. It’ll run through January 9, covering the team’s next six games.
7:17am: Wenyen Gabriel, whose 10-day contract with the Nets expired overnight on Thursday, has lined up a new 10-day deal with the Clippers, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. The Clippers intend to sign Gabriel using a hardship exception and hope to have him available for Friday’s game in Toronto.
As Greif outlines, the Clippers are in need of some frontcourt help. Ivica Zubac entered the health and safety protocols on Thursday, Isaiah Hartenstein has been sidelined since December 18 due to a sprained ankle, and replacement player Moses Wright is no longer on the roster after his 10-day contract expired.
Gabriel could step into a rotation role right away for the Clippers after playing just a single minute during his 10 days with Brooklyn. The 24-year-old big man previously appeared in 51 total regular season games between 2019-21 for the Kings, Blazers and Pelicans.
The Clippers currently have three players in the COVID-19 protocols. Gabriel is on track to be the team’s third player on a 10-day contract, joining James Ennis and Xavier Moon. Ennis, like Gabriel, was with the Nets before agreeing to sign with the Clippers.
Pistons Sign Jaysean Paige To 10-Day Contract
12:45pm: The Pistons have officially signed Paige to his 10-day contract, the team announced this afternoon in a press release.
7:01am: The Pistons have reached a deal to sign point guard Jaysean Paige to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, agent Dean Hadley tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link).
Paige, who went undrafted out of West Virginia in 2016, has spent this season so far with the Maine Celtics, averaging 16.9 PPG on .455/.366/.870 shooting in 14 games (26.2 MPG) for Boston’s G League affiliate.
Prior to this season, Paige has played for teams in Germany, North Macedonia, England, Hungary, and Puerto Rico. He also had a previous stint with Maine during the 2019/20 campaign.
The Pistons have experienced plenty of roster turnover this month, with eight players currently in the health and safety protocols. They’ve already signed seven other players to 10-day hardship deals, so Paige is on track to be the eighth.
Heat Officially Sign Chalmers, Silva, Stauskas
The Heat have officially announced three previously-reported hardship signings, confirming in a press release that they’ve finalized 10-day deals with Mario Chalmers, Chris Silva, and Nik Stauskas.
Chalmers, 35, spent the first seven-plus years of his NBA career in Miami from 2008-15 and won a pair of championships with the franchise. The veteran guard appeared in a total of 646 regular season games and 99 postseason contests for the Heat and Grizzlies, but hasn’t played in the NBA since 2018. He recently joined the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s G League affiliate, in the hopes of making an NBA comeback.
Silva, who just completed a 10-day contract with the Timberwolves, began the season with the Iowa Wolves, averaging 15.1 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 12 games (25.6 MPG) for Minnesota’ G League affiliate. Like Chalmers, Silva has a history with the Heat — the former South Carolina standout began his career in Miami, appearing in a total of 55 games with the team between 2019-21 before being dealt to Sacramento at the ’21 trade deadline.
Stauskas, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2014 draft, appeared in 335 regular season games from 2014-19 for the Kings, Sixers, Nets, Trail Blazers, and Cavaliers. After a brief stint overseas, Stauskas signed in the G League for the 2021 bubble and then returned to the NBAGL this season. In 12 games (38.3 MPG) in 2021/22 for the Grand Rapids Gold, the 28-year-old has recorded 21.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 4.4 APG on .429/.352/.915 shooting.
The Heat now have seven players on 10-day hardship contracts, as Chalmers, Silva, and Stauskas join Kyle Guy, Aric Holman, Haywood Highsmith, and Zylan Cheatham. Cheatham is in the health and safety protocols, but the other six players should be available for Friday’s game in Houston.
Mavs Sign Chriss, Pinson To Second 10-Day Contracts
12:06pm: The Mavericks have officially signed Chriss, the team confirmed today (via Twitter). The team also announced that it signed Theo Pinson to a second 10-day contract (Twitter link).
Pinson appeared in five games during his first 10-day deal with Dallas, averaging 5.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.6 APG in 15.8 minutes per contest.
The two deals will run through January 9, covering the Mavs’ next six games.
10:26am: Marquese Chriss became a free agent today when his 10-day contract with the Mavericks expired, but he won’t remain on the open market for long. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Dallas intends to bring back Chriss on a second 10-day hardship deal.
Chriss, 24, appeared in four games during his first 10 days with the Mavs, averaging 6.3 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 12.3 minutes per contest. He scored 13 points in 13 minutes last Thursday vs. Milwaukee, though he had three turnovers and fouled out of that game.
Chriss, who previously played for the Suns, Rockets, Cavaliers, and Warriors, is coming off a 2020/21 season that came to an end after just two games when he broke his right fibula.
The Mavericks currently have eight players in the health and safety protocols and five players (besides Chriss) signed to hardship deals. However, four of those contracts will expire on Friday or Saturday night, and Dallas expects to have a few players clear the protocols soon, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
COVID-19 Updates: McGee, Buchanan, Hill, Wanamaker, More
JaVale McGee is the latest Suns player to enter the NBA’s health and safety protocols, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes. McGee joined Deandre Ayton, Jae Crowder, and Abdel Nader in the protocols on Thursday evening.
On the plus side, the Suns did get Elfrid Payton out of the protocols for the second time this week — Payton was placed in the protocols on Sunday and Wednesday, but quickly cleared both times, so it’s possible he has registered multiple false positive tests in recent days.
Here are a few more protocol-related updates from around the league:
- Shaq Buchanan, signed by the Grizzlies as a hardship replacement player, has now entered the health and safety protocols himself, according to the team (Twitter link). Buchanan’s 10-day deal runs through Tuesday night, so it may expire before he clears the protocols.
- The Hawks‘ COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread, as Malcolm Hill – a 10-day hardship addition – has entered the protocols, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Hill, who had appeared in three games since signing with the team last Wednesday, is one of a dozen Atlanta players in the protocols.
- Brad Wanamaker signed a 10-day deal with the Wizards on Wednesday, recorded seven points and seven assists in his first game with the club on Thursday, and has now entered the health and safety protocols on Friday, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. He’s one of seven Wizards players affected.
- Kenyon Martin Jr. exited the COVID-19 protocols and practiced with the Rockets on Thursday, says Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
- We continue to update our health and safety protocols tracker several times per day. It can be found right here.
Nets Don’t Expect Kyrie’s Part-Time Availability To Disrupt Continuity
When Kyrie Irving returns to the court for the Nets in January, he’ll only be eligible to play in certain games since he remains unvaccinated for COVID-19. New York City’s vaccine mandate will prevent him from playing in Brooklyn or in games at Madison Square Garden. International travel restrictions will also keep him out of road games in Toronto.
However, the Nets don’t expect Irving’s part-time availability to disrupt the team’s continuity, as multiple players and head coach Steve Nash said on Thursday.
“I may be a little naive but I think I just keep it really simple,” Nash said, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. “Kyrie plays on the road and we figure out how he rejoins the group, finds his rhythm, and his place in the team and when we come home we’re back to normal, the way we’ve been all year. So I’m just trying to keep it really simple.”
“He’s a high IQ player,” Kevin Durant said of his All-Star teammate. “It’s just a matter of him getting his legs up under him and his wind up under him. And then for us we’re going to run plays for him, we’ll try to look for him. We play team basketball — but he can adapt and do anything out there so we’re not worried about him.”
It remains unclear when Irving will be ready to make his season debut. He has exited the health and safety protocols after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, but continues to work on ramping up his conditioning in advance of his return. The Nets’ next two road games are on January 5 in Indiana and January 12 in Chicago, so those are the most realistic target dates for Kyrie for now.
Here’s more on Irving and his impending return:
- In his first comments to reporters this week, Irving said that he “knew the consequences” of remaining unvaccinated, but “wasn’t prepared for them,” as Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post writes. Still, Kyrie recognized why the Nets decided to have him remain away from the team for the first couple months of the season. “I understood their decision and respected it,” Irving told reporters, including Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, on Wednesday. “I really had to sit back and think and try not to become too emotionally attached to what they were deciding to do. I had to really evaluate things and see it from their perspective, meaning the organization, my teammates. I really empathized and I understood their choice to say, ‘If you are not going to be fully vaccinated, then you can’t be a full [participant].'”
- Nash said on Thursday that he hasn’t talked to Irving about vaccines since the point guard returned to the team, Sanchez writes for The New York Post. “Not since we had those conversations in the preseason,” Nash said. While it would certainly make life easier for the Nets if Irving decides to get vaccinated, it doesn’t sound like the team is pressuring him to do so.
- In another article for The New York Post, Sanchez explores how Irving’s return will give the Nets two distinct squads depending on whether or not Kyrie is available.
Heat Expected To Sign Chris Silva To 10-Day Deal
The Heat‘s run of 10-day signings is expected to continue with forward Chris Silva, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, who reports (via Twitter) that the team is aiming to finalize a hardship deal with Silva ahead of Friday’s game in Houston.
Silva just completed a 10-day contract with the Timberwolves, but didn’t see much action during his brief stint with the team, logging only three minutes in one appearance. Before getting a call-up to the NBA, the 25-year-old had averaged 15.1 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 12 games (25.6 MPG) for the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’ G League affiliate.
Silva and the Heat have a history — the former South Carolina standout began his career in Miami, appearing in a total of 55 games with the team between 2019-21 before being dealt to Sacramento at the ’21 trade deadline.
It has been a busy week for the Heat, who have already signed Kyle Guy, Aric Holman, and Haywood Highsmith to 10-day hardship contracts and are also expected to officially complete deals with Nik Stauskas and Mario Chalmers soon.
The club currently has eight players in the health and safety protocols and is missing a few more players due to injuries, so a handful of hardship signings were necessary to ensure no more games will be postponed, like Wednesday’s contest in San Antonio was.
Nuggets Sign Davon Reed To Third 10-Day Hardship Deal
8:33pm: Reed’s third 10-day deal with the Nuggets is now official, the team announced. With three new Nuggets players entering the protocols today, Reed’s latest contract will again be completed using a COVID-related hardship exception.
10:13am: The Nuggets are signing guard Davon Reed to a third 10-day contract using a hardship exception, reports Mike Singer of The Denver Post. The deal is expected to be finalized on Thursday prior to Denver’s game against Golden State, says Singer.
Reed, the 32nd overall pick in the 2017 draft, had been out of the NBA for the last two seasons, but made a strong impression on the Nuggets during his first two 10-day deals with the team this month. In nine games (17.1 MPG), he averaged 5.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 1.2 SPG with a shooting line of .514/.438/.667.
Typically, a player is limited to no more than two 10-day contracts with the same team in a single season. However, it appears that rule has been adjusted for hardship signings.
It’s also worth noting that the Nuggets no longer have any players in the health and safety protocols, which has generally been what qualifies a team for a hardship signing in recent weeks. However, Denver has four players – Michael Porter, Jamal Murray, PJ Dozier, and Markus Howard – out with long-term injuries, which means the team is eligible for a traditional hardship exception unrelated to COVID-19.
In instances this season where hardship additions have been necessitated by players in the health and safety protocols, the NBA has allowed clubs to not have those 10-day deals count toward team salary for cap and tax purposes. As Singer tweets, it’s unclear whether or not that rule would apply to Reed’s third 10-day contract if he signs via injury hardship rather than COVID hardship.