Caris LeVert To Miss At Least Pacers’ First Four Games
The Pacers will be without guard Caris LeVert for at least the season’s first week, according to head coach Rick Carlisle, who announced today that LeVert’s back injury will sideline him for Indiana’s first four games (Twitter link).
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported at the start of training camp that LeVert was dealing with a stress fracture in his back, describing it as a “minor” setback and adding that the team hoped the former Net would be ready to return around the start of the season. However, it appears LeVert will require at least a little more recovery time.
Carlisle said today that LeVert will be re-evaluated on October 25. That means he’ll miss games against Charlotte (October 20), Washington (Oct. 22), Miami (Oct. 23), and Milwaukee (Oct. 25) to open the year.
LeVert has dealt with multiple serious health issues since entering the NBA in 2016. He broke his leg in gruesome fashion near the start of the 2018/19 season, then had surgery earlier this year to treat renal cell carcinoma of his left kidney. When he got healthy and debuted for the Pacers last season, the former first-round pick made a strong first impression, averaging 20.7 PPG and 4.9 APG in 35 games (32.9 MPG).
The Pacers will also be without forward T.J. Warren (foot) to start the season.
Mavericks Sign, Waive Justin Jackson, E.J. Onu
12:43pm: The Mavs have officially waived Jackson and Onu, per the team. Dallas’ roster is now at 17 players (including a pair of two-ways) and appears set for the regular season, barring any last-minute changes.
6:39am: The Mavericks have officially signed forwards Justin Jackson and E.J. Onu to their preseason roster, the team announced late on Friday night. The club had open spots on its roster after cutting Tyrell Terry, Carlik Jones, and Feron Hunt earlier in the evening.
Jackson, the 15th overall pick in the 2017 draft, has 248 NBA regular season games under his belt, including 94 with Dallas from 2019-20. He has also spent time with the Kings, Thunder, and Bucks, recording career averages of 6.6 PPG and 2.5 RPG on .427/.321/.797 shooting in 19.1 minutes per contest.
A 6’11” forward, Onu played four seasons at Shawnee State before going undrafted this year. He averaged 16.9 points and 8.1 rebounds as a senior and helped the Bears capture the NAIA championship. He was named Defensive Player of the Year in the Mid-South Conference three times and was selected as MSC Player of the Year this season. Onu played for Dallas’ Summer League team in August.
This type of signing would typically be for G League purposes, and it’s certainly possible that’s the case here. However, the deal with Onu is slightly perplexing, since Dallas already signed him to an Exhibit 10 contract and subsequently cut him earlier in the offseason, so the team could’ve made him an affiliate player without re-signing him. Perhaps the new deal gives him a more favorable bonus if he reports to the Texas Legends, the Mavs’ G League team.
Celtics Release Ryan Arcidiacono, Juwan Morgan
OCTOBER 16: The Celtics have waived Arcidiacono and Morgan, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.
OCTOBER 15: The Celtics are releasing a pair of training camp invitees, according to Jay King of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that guard Ryan Arcidiacono and forward Juwan Morgan are hitting waivers.
Celtics head coach Ime Udoka said before Friday’s preseason finale vs. Miami that the roster moves weren’t official yet, but acknowledged that Arcidiacono and Morgan wouldn’t be active for the game, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Arcidiacono and Morgan are both expected to join Boston’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, as affiliate players, a league source tells Himmelsbach.
Arcidiacono, 27, has spent the last four seasons with the Bulls, averaging 4.8 PPG, 2.2 APG, and 2.0 RPG with a .431/.373/.807 shooting line across 207 total games (17.6 MPG). He signed a two-way deal with the team in 2017, a one-year contract in 2018, and a three-year pact in 2019. Chicago turned down its team option on the last year of that deal earlier this year.
A former Big Ten standout at Indiana, Morgan went undrafted in 2019 and caught on with the Jazz, first signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Utah and then agreeing to a multiyear deal with the team. In 50 total regular season games with the club across two seasons, the 24-year-old averaged 1.4 PPG and 1.1 RPG on 51.8% shooting in just 5.6 minutes per contest.
Wendell Carter Jr. Signs Four-Year Extension With Magic
OCTOBER 16: Carter has signed the extension, according to a team press release (Twitter link).
“Even in his relatively short time in the league, Wendell has proven to be a true professional,” team president Jeff Weltman said. “We are very happy that he will continue to build on his promising career here in Orlando.”
OCTOBER 15: The Magic have agreed to a four-year, $50MM contract extension for center Wendell Carter Jr., Anthony Fields of Vanguard Sports Group tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, the deal will be fully guaranteed.
Carter, 22, was selected by the Bulls with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft. Although he showed promise during his two-and-a-half years in Chicago, Carter battled injuries and didn’t substantially increase his rookie-year production in his second and third seasons.
The big man was dealt to Orlando at the 2021 trade deadline in the blockbuster deal that sent Nikola Vucevic in Chicago. He took over the Magic’s starting center job down the stretch and averaged 11.7 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 1.6 APG in 22 games (26.5 MPG).
It wasn’t clear this offseason whether the Magic were ready to commit long-term to Carter or if they wanted to see more from him in 2021/22. It seems the team has answered that question, taking the same route with Carter than it did a year ago with Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz, who both signed multiyear rookie scale extensions that kept them off the restricted free agent market in 2021.
Isaac got about $20MM more than Carter did on his own four-year extension. Fultz’s deal was also worth $50MM, but covers just three years. The closest recent comparable for Carter’s four-year, $50MM deal – which will go into effect in 2022/23 – is the extension that Robert Williams signed with the Celtics earlier this offseason. Williams will make $48MM over four years, with $6MM more available in incentives.
There are now 17 players still eligible for rookie scale extensions in advance of Monday’s deadline, as Carter joins Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Michael Porter Jr., and Williams in this year’s class.
Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Collin Sexton, and Jaren Jackson Jr. are among the remaining extension candidates worth watching in the coming days. Carter’s fellow Magic center, Mohamed Bamba, is also among those eligible for a rookie extension, but is considered extremely unlikely to sign one.
Why Many Teams Will Finalize Roster Cuts On Saturday
NBA teams have until Monday night to officially set their rosters for the 2021/22 regular season. However, a majority of NBA teams will likely have their rosters ready to go on Saturday, with far more roster cuts expected today than on Sunday or Monday.
Why is that? Well, releasing a player today will allow him to clear waivers on Monday, before the regular season gets underway.
Players who are cut during the season are also paid for each day they spend on waivers, so a player who hits waivers on Sunday and doesn’t clear until the first day of the season on Tuesday would technically earn one day’s worth of pay, even if his salary isn’t guaranteed. A player waived on Monday would spend two regular season days on waivers.
[RELATED: 2021/22 NBA Roster Counts]
For players with partial or full guarantees, spending the first day or two of the regular season on waivers doesn’t really matter — they’re getting their full 2021/22 salary (or their partial guarantees) no matter when they’re released. But if a team waits until Monday to cut a player with a non-guaranteed salary, that team will be on the hook for two days’ worth of dead money for the player.
Two days’ worth of dead money won’t exactly break the bank — it should come in below $20K for a minimum-salary player. But most teams already know which players are in and which are out, so there’s no need to take the decision down to the wire on Monday. They’ll make those cuts today and will avoid adding extra cap charges to their books for ’21/22. Even that small amount of savings could make a difference for teams who are right around the tax line or up against a hard cap.
While many teams will make their cuts today, several clubs – including the Raptors , Hornets, Rockets, and Spurs – can afford to wait an extra day or two if they want to, since they’ll all be waiving players who have full or partial guarantees. Waiting until Sunday or Monday to make those moves won’t affect their cap outlook at all.
Pacers Sign Three Players, Waive Three
The Pacers are doing some last-minute roster shuffling ahead of the regular season deadline, announcing on Friday night that they’ve waived three players and signed three more to fill their roster spots.
According to the team’s press release, camp invitees Keifer Sykes, Terry Taylor, and Nate Hinton are out, while Justin Anderson, Bennie Boatwright, and Derek Culver are in.
It’s unlikely that any of the six players will actually make the Pacers’ 15-man regular season roster — Anderson, Boatwright, and Culver will probably be released shortly.
They are, however, all good bets to play for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s G League team. They’re receiving Exhibit 10 deals in order to secure their G League rights and/or ensure that they’re eligible for bonuses of up to $50K if they spend at least 60 days with the Mad Ants.
Teams are only eligible to carry up to four “affiliate players” on their G League rosters, but some of the six players involved in this series of transactions will qualify as returning-rights players, rather than affiliate players. Last month, Fort Wayne acquired the G League returning rights for Anderson (from the Long Island Nets) and Boatwright (from the Memphis Hustle).
As for the Pacers’ NBA roster, it appears mostly set, with 12 players on guaranteed contracts, a pair on two-way deals, and non-guaranteed players Kelan Martin, Oshae Brissett, and Brad Wanamaker still sticking around for now. Indiana could carry all three into the regular season, or waive one and begin the season with 14 players on standard contracts.
Warriors Waive Gary Payton II, Avery Bradley, Two Others
The Warriors made several roster cuts late on Friday night following their final preseason game, announcing in a press release that they’ve cut guards Gary Payton II, Avery Bradley, and Mychal Mulder, as well as big man Jordan Bell.
The four players had been vying for the 15th spot on Golden State’s regular season roster. Instead, it seems the team has decided to keep that spot open — at least for now.
As Anthony Slater of The Athletic explains, if the Warriors had decided to carry a 15th man, it almost certainly would’ve been Payton. In fact, there’s a possibility the club could bring back the 28-year-old on a new deal if he clears waivers, according to Slater.
The language in Payton’s contract called for him to receive a $659K partial guarantee if he had made the opening-night roster. The Warriors, who are far over the luxury tax line, would face a tax penalty worth several million dollars if they were to commit to that partial guarantee, which they weren’t prepared to do.
According to Slater, if Golden State re-signs Payton, it would likely be to a non-guaranteed deal that doesn’t include any trigger dates, so the team would essentially be paying the guard by the day until the league-wide guarantee date in January.
Bradley, Mulder, and Bell, meanwhile, figure to be on the lookout for new jobs if and when they clear waivers on Monday. All three players have multiple years of NBA experience on their résumés and Bradley, in particular, will be among the more accomplished veterans hitting the market this week. However, many teams around the NBA don’t have the flexibility – or the desire – to make last-minute additions to their 15-man regular season rosters.
It’s worth noting that Golden State does still have an open two-way contract slot. However, of the four players released today, only Mulder qualifies to sign a two-way deal. Perhaps that’s a possibility if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
In addition to their four cuts, the Warriors also announced that they’ve signed free agent forward Axel Toupane. That move was almost certainly made for G League purposes — Toupane will likely be cut on Saturday.
Pacific Notes: Suns, Bridges, CP3, Klay, Kawhi
The Suns‘ run to the NBA Finals in 2021 caught some NBA fans and observers off guard, but team owner Robert Sarver is confident that his club is well-positioned to “compete at a very high level again,” as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic relays. Sarver believe Phoenix has a solid foundation in place and that a handful of offseason roster tweaks will help the team remain in title contention.
“We added a few players that I think will help us,” Sarver said. “I think you’re seeing a little bit of that in the preseason so far. So I think between the additions, between the foundation and then between what I call the organic growth, which is just our younger players keep getting better and better and developing year by year, I think we have an opportunity to make another step.”
One of those “younger” players the Suns are counting on to play a big role is three-and-D wing Mikal Bridges, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension. Bridges and the Suns have until Monday evening to work out a new deal that would keep him off the restricted free agent market next summer, and he told reporters on Friday that his priority is to remain in Phoenix (video link via Rankin).
“We want to be here,” Bridges said of himself and teammate Deandre Ayton, who is also up for an extension. “Plain and simple. We love this team, love this organization, what it’s done for us.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Speaking to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Suns point guard Chris Paul said he’s not thinking about retiring anytime soon and doesn’t have a specific goal in mind for what how many more years he’ll play. “I don’t know how long I’m going to play,” said Paul, who signed a new four-year contract in the offseason. “I’m going to play until God willing, and he says, ‘You need to sit down somewhere,’ or my kids tell me, ‘Daddy, you’re embarrassing us.'”
- Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson is expected to be cleared to practice in full within the next month or so, says Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link). That’s a pretty vague timeline, and Charania cautions that Thompson will require a ramp-up period once he begins practicing, so it remains unlikely that he’ll be back in Golden State’s lineup before sometime in December.
- The Clippers would rather have Kawhi Leonard on the floor, but while he’s recovering from ACL surgery, the team is glad he’s able to serve as a de facto coach on the sidelines, writes Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. “He’s not like the loudest one, but no, he knows what to say, what to do,” Nicolas Batum said of his star teammate. “When he has (something) to say, especially on the side when we play five-on-five … he’ll take guys on the side and tell you what he sees, what he just saw the last previous play.”
Southwest Notes: Mavs, Grizzlies, Rockets, Pelicans, Gordon
Appearing on the podcast 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he has a vaccine mandate for his employees.
“It is your choice. It is absolutely, positively up to you. But there are consequences that come with that,” Cuban said, per Selby Lopez of The Dallas Morning News. “If you work for me, I require my employees to be vaccinated unless there’s a doctor’s reason where they can’t be.”
Since the NBA doesn’t require its players to be vaccinated, that mandate doesn’t apply to the players on Dallas’ roster such as Trey Burke, who said during training camp he remains unvaccinated.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- John Hollinger of The Athletic interprets the Grizzlies‘ summer trades of Jonas Valanciunas and Grayson Allen as signals that the team isn’t feeling pressure to take another big step forward after making the playoffs last season. Hollinger expects his old club’s end-of-season record to look similar to last year’s, projecting a 41-41 finish.
- Hollinger also recapped the offseason and previewed the upcoming season for the Rockets and Pelicans. He was confused by Houston’s four-year commitment to Daniel Theis, given that most other veterans on the roster seem to be on the trade block, but expects the Rockets to be entertaining in 2021/22, projecting 26 wins. Hollinger had mixed feelings on New Orleans’ offseason, but suggests the moves look better in totality than they did individually at the time, and forecasts 43 wins for the Pels.
- Rahat Huq of The Houston Chronicle explores whether the Rockets should hang onto Eric Gordon or focus on trying to find a trade that gets him to a contender as soon as possible. As Huq observes, it’s difficult to find a good match for Gordon at this point, so it probably makes sense for the team to sit tight and see if more opportunities open up by the trade deadline or next offseason.
Rockets Convert Daishen Nix’s Deal To Two-Way Contract
4:01pm: The Rockets have issued a press release confirming that Nix’s deal has been converted to a two-way contract and announcing that they’ve waived Marcus Foster.
1:09pm: The Rockets are converting Daishen Nix‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Houston entered this week with Anthony Lamb and Tyler Bey occupying its two-way slots. However, Bey was waived so that the team could first convert Armoni Brooks to a two-way deal, then negotiate a new multiyear contract with him. Now that Brooks has finalized a new four-year pact and moved back to the standard roster, the Rockets have an open two-way spot, and it looks like Nix will fill it.
Nix was one of a handful of prospects who opted to forgo college ball in favor of a spot on the G League Ignite last season. The 6’5″ guard averaged 8.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 5.3 APG in 15 games (26.5 MPG) for the Ignite, but made just 38.4% of his shots from the floor, including 17.6% from beyond the arc.
After playing for the Sixers in Summer League, Nix signed a non-guaranteed camp deal with the Rockets. He made a cameo in just one of Houston’s preseason games and recorded more turnovers (2) than points (0) in his limited minutes, but it appears the team wants to see more from the 19-year-old.
Nix figures to split time between the Rockets and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League as long as he remains on a two-way deal with the club.