VanVleet, Anunoby, Barnes Clear Protocols For Raptors
After experiencing a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak this month, the Raptors appear to be nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. Three of the team’s starters – Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes – exited the protocols and returned to practice on Thursday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
It was a relatively full practice today for the Raptors, who only have Justin Champagnie and Isaac Bonga still in the protocols. As Lewenberg tweets, head coach Nick Nurse expects to have everyone but Champagnie and Bonga available on Friday vs. the Clippers, which means he could have a surplus of lineup options rather than trying to cobble together five-man groups using whoever is available.
The plan is for some combination of VanVleet, Anunoby, Barnes, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr., Khem Birch, and Precious Achiuwa to be in the starting five, according to Nurse.
Three Nuggets Players Enter Protocols
After having cleared their list of players in the health and safety protocols earlier this week, the Nuggets now have three new players in the protocols, as Jeff Green, Bones Hyland, and Zeke Nnaji entered today, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
As Wojnarowski points out, the Nuggets – who will also be without head coach Michael Malone and had two assistant coaches test positive for COVID-19, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link) – are suddenly in danger of not having the required minimum of eight players available for Thursday’s game vs. Golden State.
In addition to Green, Hyland, and Nnaji, the Nuggets are missing four players – Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, PJ Dozier, and Markus Howard – to long-term injuries. On top of that, Vlatko Cancar (non-COVID illness), Aaron Gordon (hamstring), Monte Morris (knee), and Austin Rivers (thumb) are all listed as questionable on the latest injury report.
That leaves the Nuggets with six healthy players. Davon Reed is expected to sign a new 10-day contract today, but that would still just get Denver to seven. The team may have to count on one or more of those questionable players being active and hope that additional testing doesn’t turn up new COVID-19 cases.
On the plus side, since the Nuggets now have players in the protocols, Reed’s new 10-day deal will fall under the COVID-related hardship umbrella, meaning it won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes.
Doc Rivers, Michael Malone Enter COVID-19 Protocols
Two more NBA head coaches have entered the health and safety protocols and won’t be on the sidelines for their respective teams in the short term.
Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that Sixers coach Doc Rivers has entered the protocols, while Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link) hears from a source that Nuggets coach Michael Malone has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now in the protocols.
In Philadelphia, assistant Dan Burke will take over for Rivers as the 76ers’ acting head coach, according to Wojnarowski. Malone will be replaced in Denver by assistant David Adelman for the time being, says Singer.
The list of head coaches in the protocols continues to grow — Frank Vogel, Billy Donovan, Monty Williams, Chauncey Billups, and Mark Daigneault are also currently affected. Rick Carlisle and Alvin Gentry were in the protocols earlier in the month but have since resumed coaching the Pacers and Kings, respectively.
In addition to placing Rivers in the health and safety protocols today, the Sixers also had two more players enter — Myles Powell and Tyler Johnson are now in the protocols and have been ruled out for Thursday’s game vs. Brooklyn, tweets Wojnarowski.
Heat Officially Sign Kyle Guy, Aric Holman
The Heat have officially signed Kyle Guy and Aric Holman to 10-day deals using hardship exceptions, the team announced today in a press release. Both agreements were initially reported on Wednesday.
The 55th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Guy spent his first two NBA seasons on a two-way contract with Sacramento, but played a very limited role with the Kings, appearing in 34 games and averaging 2.7 PPG and 1.0 APG in 7.2 minutes per contest.
Guy has seen more action at the G League level, appearing in 37 games with the Stockton Kings as a rookie and 12 more games this season with the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate. The 24-year-old has averaged 21.1 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 4.3 RPG on .421/.392/.758 shooting in 35.7 MPG over the course of his NBAGL career.
Holman, who went undrafted out of Mississippi State in 2019, played in Germany last season but has otherwise been in the G League since going pro. In 14 games (20.4 MPG) for Austin this season, the 24-year-old averaged 7.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.5 BPG on .463/.326/.250 shooting (that free-throw mark came on just four attempts).
In addition to adding Guy and Holman, Miami is expected to sign Haywood Highsmith to a 10-day contract soon. With 12 players unavailable on Wednesday, the Heat had their game in San Antonio postponed because they didn’t have the required minimum of eight players.
Guy, Holman, and Highsmith should get the Heat up to that minimum for Friday’s game in Houston, but the club is eligible to continue adding replacement players if it so chooses.
COVID-19 Updates: Payton, Nader, Lopez, Ross, Cavs, Duke
It has been an unusual week for Suns guard Elfrid Payton, who entered the health and safety protocols on Sunday, then exited them on Monday after what appeared to be a false positive. On Wednesday, prior to Phoenix’s game vs. Oklahoma City, Payton reentered the protocols, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes.
The specifics of Payton’s situation are unclear, but he’ll now remain in the protocols for at least six days unless he can once again return two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart.
According to Rankin, Payton wasn’t the only Sun to be placed in the protocols on Wednesday — Abdel Nader has also joined that list. However, Nader has been out of Phoenix’s lineup since November 19 due to what the team has called “right knee injury management,” so his placement in the protocols had no real impact on the rotation.
Here are a few more COVID-related updates from around the NBA:
- Magic center Robin Lopez has entered the COVID-19 protocols, the team announced on Thursday morning (via Twitter). However, Terrence Ross is listed on Orlando’s latest injury report as out due to “return to competition reconditioning,” which suggests he has exited the protocols. With Lopez in and Ross out, there are still five Magic players in the protocols.
- The Cavaliers‘ latest injury report lists Jarrett Allen, Dylan Windler, and Lamar Stevens as going through return to competition reconditioning, so they’ve cleared the protocols. Allen is considered doubtful for Thursday’s game in Washington, while Windler and Stevens are questionable.
- Nets rookie David Duke has exited the health and safety protocols, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Brooklyn’s list of players in the protocols was in the double-digits earlier this month, but is now down to just two — Kessler Edwards and Day’Ron Sharpe.
- Our running list of players in the protocols can be found right here.
Grizzlies Sign Dakota Mathias To 10-Day Contract
The Grizzlies have signed free agent wing Dakota Mathias to a 10-day contract, the team announced in a press release.
The club put out the press release after its Wednesday night win over the Lakers, very early Thursday morning. So we’re assuming for now that December 30 is the start date for the deal, meaning it’ll run through January 8 and cover Memphis’ next five games.
Mathias, 26, went undrafted out of Purdue in 2018 and spent his first professional season in Spain. He joined the Texas Legends – Dallas’ G League affiliate – for the 2019/20 campaign, then began last season on a two-way contract with the Sixers before being waived in January. A report in August indicated Mathias had agreed to sign with the G League Ignite, but that deal apparently fell through.
In his lone NBAGL season in 2019/20, Mathias averaged 18.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG , and 3.1 APG on .432/.392/.831 shooting in 42 games (36.1 MPG) for the Legends.
The Grizzlies currently have four players in the health and safety protocols. Mathias is their fourth hardship addition, joining Tyrell Terry, Shaq Buchanan, and Xavier Sneed.
Isaiah Thomas Signs 10-Day Deal With Mavericks
6:45pm: The Mavericks have officially signed Thomas to a 10-day contract via the hardship exception, the team announced (via Twitter). He’s expected to be active for Wednesday’s contest at Sacramento.
12:51pm: Free agent point guard Isaiah Thomas intends to sign with the Mavericks and is on track to join the team tonight in Sacramento, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Thomas, 32, returned to the NBA earlier this month for the Lakers, appearing in four games during his 10-day stint in Los Angeles. The veteran started strong, with 32 points in his first two games, but had just five points on 2-of-16 shooting in his next two contests.
Before he joined the Lakers, Thomas briefly played for the Grand Rapids Gold in the G League. In his first and only game with Denver’s affiliate, he put up 42 points, eight assists, and six rebounds in 42 minutes.
The safe bet is that Thomas will sign a 10-day hardship deal, but the Mavs currently have six replacement players on their roster and just five players in the health and safety protocols. If the plan is for Thomas to sign a 10-day contract, Dallas either has more players entering the protocols or will be replacing a couple of its current hardship signees.
[UPDATE: Two Mavs players have entered the protocols]
The Mavs do have one opening on their standard roster, but it’s a two-way slot — Thomas isn’t eligible for a two-way contract.
Brad Wanamaker Signs With Wizards
6:40pm: Wanamaker’s deal is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. As anticipated, it’s a 10-day hardship deal. It’ll cover Washington’s next five games.
10:59am: Veteran guard Brad Wanamaker, who was waived by Indiana on Monday, is expected to sign with the Wizards, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando and Yakov Meir of Israel Hayom (Twitter link).
The Wizards don’t currently have any openings on their standard roster and have eight players in the health and safety protocols, so we can safely assume Wanamaker will get a 10-day deal via the hardship exception. He’ll be Washington’s fifth hardship addition.
Wanamaker, 32, appeared in 22 games for Indiana this season and struggled to make an impact, averaging 3.5 PPG and 2.2 APG with a .361/.235/.909 shooting line in 13.3 minutes per contest. His numbers in three previous seasons with Boston, Golden State, and Charlotte – 5.7 PPG and 2.4 APG on .427/.305/.906 shooting – were a little better.
Since he was just cut on Monday, Wanamaker will technically be on waivers until later today. Assuming he goes unclaimed, he and the Wizards will be free to complete their deal.
Sixers’ Drummond, Clippers’ Jackson, Others Exit Protocols
Sixers center Andre Drummond has exited the NBA’s health and safety protocols and was in attendance at the team’s practice on Wednesday, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
Drummond had been one of three Sixers players in the protocols, along with Shake Milton and Danny Green. While Green is still listed as out for Thursday’s game in Brooklyn, the team is hopeful that Milton will be able to clear the protocols and play in that game, tweets Pompey. Milton is currently considered questionable.
Here are a few more COVID-related updates:
- Clippers guard Reggie Jackson has exited the COVID-19 protocols and rejoined the team, but won’t play on Wednesday in Boston, sources tell Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Jackson will need a little reconditioning work before being activated.
- Kings rookie Davion Mitchell has cleared the health and safety protocols, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Another rookie, center Neemias Queta, is currently the only Sacramento player in the protocols.
- Thunder center Derrick Favors is no longer listed on the team’s injury report, which is a sign that he has cleared the protocols, notes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). Favors was just placed in the protocols on Tuesday, so he may have registered a false positive.
Pistons Sign Micah Potter Via Hardship Exception
3:10pm: Potter’s 10-day deal with the Pistons is now official, according to the team (Twitter link). It’ll run through January 7, covering Detroit’s next five games.
12:39pm: The Pistons are signing rookie forward/center Micah Potter to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Potter, 23, went undrafted out of Wisconsin earlier this year and competed in training camp for a two-way contract with the Heat. He was waived before the regular season began and caught on with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League team.
In 11 games (all starts) for the Skyforce in 2021/22, Potter has averaged a double-double, with 14.4 PPG and 10.6 RPG in just 26.3 minutes per contest. He has also exhibited an ability to stretch the floor, knocking down 39.5% of his three-point tries (15-for-38).
The Pistons, who have eight players in the health and safety protocols, haven’t been shy about auditioning replacement players on 10-day contracts — the team already has six players on hardship deals, so Potter is on track to be the seventh.