NBA Postpones Heat/Spurs Game
The NBA has postponed the game between the Heat and the Spurs that was scheduled to be played in San Antonio on Wednesday night, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Miami doesn’t have the required minimum of eight players available.
The Heat have 12 players sidelined due to either COVID-19 or injuries. Zylan Cheatham, Udonis Haslem, Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, P.J. Tucker, and Gabe Vincent are in the health and safety protocols, while Bam Adebayo (thumb), Jimmy Butler (ankle), Dewayne Dedmon (knee), Markieff Morris (neck), KZ Okpala (wrist), and Victor Oladipo (knee) are injured.
That leaves Miami with just five players – Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Omer Yurtseven, Caleb Martin, and Marcus Garrett – available from their standard roster. The Heat had agreed to 10-day deals for Kyle Guy and Aric Holman, but those signings aren’t official yet and would still leave the team one player short of the minimum.
Before the Heat resume their schedule on Friday in Houston, they’ll likely finalize their signings of Guy and Holman and add at least a couple more replacement players in order to avoid another postponement.
Wednesday’s Heat/Spurs game is the 10th contest to be postponed so far this season, as our tracker shows.
Thunder Sign Jaylen Hoard To 10-Day Deal
The Thunder have signed forward Jaylen Hoard to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, according to NBA.com’s official transactions log. Our JD Shaw (Twitter link) first reported the deal.
Hoard, who played his college ball at Wake Forest, went undrafted in 2019 and spent his rookie season with Portland on a two-way contract. In his second year as a pro in 2020/21, he played for the Thunder’s G League affiliate, then signed a two-way deal with the NBA club in April. He rejoined the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s NBAGL team, this season.
Over the course of his three-year career, Hoard has averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 32 NBA games (13.2 MPG), with 12.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 53 G League contests (24.6 MPG).
Six Thunder players are currently in the health and safety protocols and Hoard is the team’s fourth hardship addition, joining Olivier Sarr, Scotty Hopson, and Rob Edwards.
Additionally, a report on Monday indicated that Oklahoma City had reached a 10-day deal with Zavier Simpson, but that signing has yet to be finalized.
COVID-19 Updates: Mavs, B. Boston, Cacok, Lakers, C. Thomas
The Mavericks have placed center Boban Marjanovic and guard Brandon Knight – who signed a hardship deal last week – in the health and safety protocols, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Marjanovic and Knight are the sixth and seventh Dallas players currently in the protocols.
As we noted earlier today, the Mavericks reportedly reached an agreement to sign Isaiah Thomas, who will be the team’s seventh replacement player. If Dallas had just five players in the protocols, the team wouldn’t be able to make another hardship signing, so the fact that Marjanovic and Knight are now in the protocols helps explain the Thomas deal.
Here are a few more COVID-related updates from around the league:
- Clippers rookie Brandon Boston Jr. has entered the health and safety protocols, the team announced today. Boston had been playing an increased role as of late with the Clippers shorthanded, averaging 19.6 MPG in 13 games this month.
- Spurs two-way big man Devontae Cacok has joined teammate Dejounte Murray in the COVID-19 protocols, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). They’re the only two San Antonio players affected for now.
- Lakers guards Austin Reaves and Kent Bazemore have cleared the protocols, tweets Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group. They won’t be with the team in Memphis tonight, but should be available by Friday’s home game vs. Portland.
- Nets rookie guard Cam Thomas has exited the protocols and is available, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
Magic, Gabe York Agree To 10-Day Deal
The Magic will sign free agent guard Gabe York using a hardship exception, a source tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). York will receive a 10-day contract.
York has played for a series of international and G League teams since going undrafted out of Arizona in 2016. The 28-year-old had been playing for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season, averaging 18.3 PPG, 4.4 APG, and 1.7 SPG on .475/.487/1.000 shooting in nine games (29.3 MPG) for the Pacers’ G League affiliate.
The Magic currently have five players in the health and safety protocols, with York set to become the fifth player to join the team on a 10-day hardship deal.
While Orlando would be eligible to continue carrying all five of those players as long as five players remain in the protocols, it’s possible York will take Tim Frazier‘s spot on the roster — Frazier, whose 10-day deal expires on Thursday night, has struggled during his brief stint with the Magic, making just 3-of-17 shots from the field and recording as many fouls as points (10).
Northwest Notes: Faried, Jazz, Monroe, Reed
Kenneth Faried is joining the Grand Rapids Gold for the coming NBA G League season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Although Grand Rapids is the Nuggets‘ affiliate, Faried will remain an NBA free agent and will have the ability to join any team. If he doesn’t receive any NBA offers in the coming days, we should expect to see the 32-year-old in action for the Gold when the G League regular season begins on January 5.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- In the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto and The Athletic’s Tony Jones spoke about potential trade options for the Jazz, Danny Ainge‘s role with the franchise, and more. Jones expects Utah to be “really aggressive” in exploring the trade market for potential upgrades, reiterating that the team is definitely looking for one more perimeter player who can defend at a high level.
- Veteran guard Patrick Beverley is a big fan of what Greg Monroe brings to the Timberwolves and said on Tuesday that he’d like to see the team retain Monroe for the entire season, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Monroe has averaged 9.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, and 2.0 SPG in two games since joining Minnesota on a 10-day deal.
- Davon Reed‘s second 10-day contract expired overnight, so he’s technically no longer on the Nuggets‘ roster, but the team is considering how to keep him in the mix, as we relayed on Tuesday. With no players currently in the health and safety protocols, Denver’s options for keeping Reed would be to waive someone on the standard 17-man roster or to apply for a non-COVID hardship exception based on the team’s four injured players.
Heat To Sign Aric Holman To 10-Day Contract
The Heat will sign big man Aric Holman to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
As Wojnarowski details, Holman had been playing for the Austin Spurs in the G League, which means he’s within driving distance of San Antonio. The plan is for him to head there immediately to join the Heat in advance of Wednesday’s game vs. the Spurs to help avoid a postponement.
Three more Heat players entered the health and safety protocols today, bringing the team’s total to six. With four players also injured, the team is at risk of not having the required minimum of eight players for tonight’s contest. Holman and Kyle Guy, who has also agreed to a 10-day deal, should help Miami get there.
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).
Three More Heat Players Enter COVID-19 Protocols
P.J. Tucker, Gabe Vincent, and Zylan Cheatham have entered the health and safety protocols, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). As Chiang notes, there are now six Heat players in the protocols, with Tucker, Vincent, and Cheatham joining Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, and Udonis Haslem.
Tucker had already missed the last four games due to a left leg injury, but Vincent and Cheatham were two of nine players active for Miami on Tuesday.
With six players now in the protocols and four others – Bam Adebayo, Dewayne Dedmon, Victor Oladipo, and Markieff Morris – dealing with injuries, the Heat will need to make at least one roster move to ensure they meet the required minimum of eight players before their game on Wednesday in San Antonio.
The Heat are reportedly expected to add Kyle Guy on a 10-day contract, which will get them up to eight players as long as the other seven who were active on Tuesday are good to go on Wednesday. That’s not a given though — as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets, Jimmy Butler (ankle) and KZ Okpala (wrist) are banged up and may not be available. For what it’s worth, Okpala is currently listed as questionable, while Butler isn’t on the team’s injury report.
Miami is eligible to complete up to four more hardship additions, but it’s unclear how many more signings the team will be able to complete before tip-off tonight.
Eastern Notes: Rubio, Iwundu, Beal, Livers
Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio, who left Tuesday’s game after injuring his left knee, will get an MRI on that knee today to determine the severity of the injury, according to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez and Adrian Wojnarowski.
Rubio has played a key role in the Cavaliers’ resurgence this season — although he hasn’t been in the starting lineup for most of the year, the veteran point guard has logged 970 total minutes, the second-highest mark on the team.
Rubio, who wasn’t able to put any weight on his left leg as he left the court on Tuesday night, tore his left ACL back in 2012, Lopez notes. The Cavaliers are holding their breath and hoping that this injury isn’t as serious as that one.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Hawks wing Wes Iwundu has exited the health and safety protocols, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Woj, Iwundu will rejoin the team in Chicago on Wednesday ahead of its game vs. the Bulls.
- Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who stated in September that he remained unvaccinated, has since received a COVID-19 vaccine, people familiar with the situation tell Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. Beal is currently in the health and safety protocols, but his updated vaccinated status was “welcome news to many in the organization,” says Wallace.
- After growing up in Kalamazoo and playing his college ball at Michigan, Isaiah Livers appreciated the opportunity to stay close to home with the Pistons and tells James L. Edwards III of The Athletic that he had a sense entering this year’s draft that Detroit would try to land him. “(General manager) Troy (Weaver), we were talking. A lot of the pre-draft, he was very interested,” Livers said. “He told me straight-up that he was interested in me and talked about what I could bring to the table, to the team. Once he told me that, he was one of the few GMs to say that to me. I thought he was definitely going to grab me if he had the chance. I was ready.”
Nets Re-Sign Shaquille Harrison
The Nets have signed guard Shaquille Harrison to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. The move was completed using a hardship exception.
Harrison, who was initially on a 10-day deal with Brooklyn from December 18-27, appeared in two games for the team during that time, averaging 2.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.5 APG in 11.5 minutes per contest. The 28-year-old is known more for his ability to defend than for his contributions on the offensive end.
Harrison and James Ennis both had their 10-day deals with the Nets expire on Monday night. As our JD Shaw noted on Tuesday (via Twitter), Brooklyn opted not to re-sign Ennis since Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge were exiting the health and safety protocols. However, with Kyrie Irving working on his conditioning and rookie guards David Duke and Cam Thomas still in the protocols, the club apparently decided it was worth retaining Harrison for another 10 days.
Brooklyn now has three players on hardship contracts. Wenyen Gabriel‘s deal runs through Thursday, while Langston Galloway‘s expires next Wednesday night.
Pelicans Get Disabled Player Exception, Bulls’ Request Denied
The Pelicans have been granted a disabled player exception for Kira Lewis‘ season-ending ACL injury, reports Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).
A salary cap exception designed to give teams extra flexibility when a player suffers a major injury, the disabled player exception can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade. However, it can only be used on a single player and can only accommodate a player on a one-year deal. A free agent signee can’t get a multiyear contract, and any trade or waiver target must be in the final year of his contract.
The DPE is worth half the injured player’s salary if that amount is less than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Lewis is earning a relatively modest $3,822,240 salary this season, so the Pelicans’ new DPE is worth just $1,911,120, which will limit the team’s options.
A disabled player exception also doesn’t create an extra roster spot, so if New Orleans wants to make use of its DPE, it will need to have an open spot on its standard roster.
Meanwhile, the Bulls – who applied for a disabled player exception in response to Patrick Williams‘ left wrist injury – have had their request denied, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
In order for a team to be approved for a DPE, its injured player must be deemed by a league-approved physician to be “more likely than not” to be out through at least June 15.
In Williams’ case, the Bulls announced a four-to-six month recovery timeline when the forward underwent wrist surgery in October, and reports have indicated he could be back during the postseason. In other words, he’s not considered likely to remain sidelined through June 15, which is presumably why Chicago’s request wasn’t granted.
If it had been approved, the Bulls’ DPE would have been worth $3,711,000.