Suns Sign Isaiah Thomas For Rest Of Season
APRIL 9: Thomas’ rest-of-season contract with the Suns is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
APRIL 8: The Suns intend to make veteran guard Isaiah Thomas playoff-eligible by signing him for the rest of the 2023/24 season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Thomas signed a pair of 10-day contracts with Phoenix, the second of which expires tonight. The 35-year-old will fill the 15th and final spot on the Suns’ standard roster.
A former two-time All-Star, Thomas had been out of the NBA for a couple years prior to getting another shot with Phoenix. He has only played 14 minutes of garbage time across four appearances this season, but he has reportedly played well in practices and has drawn praise from head coach Frank Vogel for being a good locker room presence.
Thomas, who has played for 10 different teams in his 12 seasons, will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 first reported around the time that Thomas signed his first 10-day deal last month that he was expected to eventually get a rest-of-season commitment from the Suns.
The move signals that Saben Lee and Phoenix’s other two-way players will remain on their current contracts and won’t become playoff-eligible.
New York Notes: Knicks, Robinson, Watford, Clowney
The NBA fined the Knicks $25K on Monday for an injury reporting violation (Twitter link). According to the league, New York originally listed center Mitchell Robinson as out for the March 27 contest vs. Toronto, but he wound up playing 12 minutes in his first game back from a lengthy absence.
Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York-based teams:
- Speaking of Robinson, who missed most of the season with a fractured left ankle that required surgery, he has been quite rusty since he returned a couple weeks ago, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. In addition to having poor conditioning and timing, the 26-year-old says he still isn’t 100% confident in his ankle. “Pushing off. Absorbing contact through it. Stuff like that,” the Knicks big man said. “’Cause obviously no one wants this to happen again. I damn sure don’t. … It’s something I’ve gotta get back used to again.”
- In another story for The New York Post, Bondy examines the Knicks‘ complicated playoff possibilities with four regular season games remaining. New York, which is currently 46-32, the No. 4 seed in the East, can finish as high as No. 2, but theoretically could drop all the way down to No. 8, though the latter is very unlikely.
- Third-year forward Trendon Watford will be a restricted free agent this summer if the Nets give him a qualifying offer. He hasn’t been a rotation regular for much of the 2023/24 season, but he’s been trying to take advantage of an expanded role as Brooklyn deals with multiple frontcourt injuries, per Bridget Reilly of The New York Post. Watford is averaging 13.1 PPG on .571/.474/.696 over the past eight games (23.5 MPG).
- Nets rookie Noah Clowney got his first career start in Sunday’s loss to Sacramento and the young big man got thoroughly outplayed by Kings center Domantas Sabonis, observes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Clowney had seven points, 10 rebounds and was minus-26 in his 35 minutes, compared to 18 points, 20 rebounds, nine assists and plus-18 in 35 minutes for Sacramento’s star big man. “He’s just gotta be in it, you know? This is good for him,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “He’s gotta be in it and experience it, learn from it, just as long as you don’t quit in it, and he’s not gonna quit in it. These guys have been around — Sabonis is an All-Star — so hopefully he watches the tape and maybe gets something from Sabonis to bring it in his game, go lift some weights, all that stuff.” Clowney became just the fourth teenager in franchise history to start a game for the Nets, Lewis adds.
Southeast Notes: F. Wagner, Rozier, Butler, Hayward
The Magic got good news on Monday, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel, who reports (via Twitter) that Franz Wagner will be questionable for Tuesday’s contest in Houston. An MRI confirmed the initial diagnosis of a right ankle sprain, Beede adds, but the fact that the third-year forward has a chance to suit up tomorrow after exiting Sunday’s contest with the injury is a positive development.
Wagner, who helped Germany win a gold medal at last year’s World Cup, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason. The 22-year-old has averaged 19.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 3.8 APG and 1.0 SPG through 70 games (32.4 MPG) for Orlando, which is currently 46-32, the No. 3 seed in the East.
Here’s more from the Southeast:
- Heat guard Terry Rozier said he hurt his team by suiting up in Sunday’s loss to Indiana due to a neck injury that limited his effectiveness and caused him to sit out the entire fourth quarter. He’s questionable for Tuesday’s game vs. Atlanta, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscriber link).
- Wizards guard Jared Butler was recently promoted from a two-way deal to a three-year standard contract. His new contract pays him $1.25MM for 2023/24, but it doesn’t feature any guaranteed money beyond this season, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Washington, which completed the signing using a portion of its mid-level exception, will hold a team option on Butler for ’25/26, Scotto adds.
- Sunday marked a homecoming of sorts for Gordon Hayward, who signed a lucrative long-term deal with the Hornets four years ago before being traded to the Thunder in February, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Perhaps fittingly in an unfortunate sort of way, the oft-injured veteran sat out the game with a lower left leg injury. Boone argues Hayward’s $120MM contract should be a cautionary tale for the new front office to spend wisely when signing free agents going forward.
Celtics Promote Neemias Queta To Multiyear Standard Contract
8:42pm: While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, a source tells Brian Robb of MassLive that Queta received a multiyear contract. Since the Celtics don’t have their mid-level exception available, the deal can’t cover more than two seasons.
7:16pm: The Celtics have promoted center Neemias Queta from a two-way deal to a standard contract, the team announced in a press release.
Converting Queta makes him eligible for the postseason, and the move also completes Boston’s 15-man standard roster.
The NBA’s first player from Portugal, the Lisbon native was the 39th overall pick of the 2021 draft after playing three years of college ball at Utah State. He spent his first two seasons on two-way deals with Sacramento, but he was released in September and signed with the Celtics a few days later.
Queta, 24, has been a standout at the G League level over the past three seasons, including helping lead the Maine Celtics to their first ever appearance in the NBAGL Finals. Maine will face the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s affiliate, in a best-of-three series that begins on Tuesday.
In 26 games with Boston in 2023/24, Queta has averaged 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 61.4% from the field in 11.4 minutes per contest.
Community Shootaround: Who Will Win The West?
The Celtics currently hold a 14-game lead for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, making them a very strong favorite to reach the NBA Finals, though that outcome is far from assured.
The standings are much more competitive in the West though. The seedings are still up for grabs, but the top 10 teams are all but secured after Golden State beat Houston on Thursday.
The Timberwolves are currently the No. 1 seed due to a tiebreaker over the defending-champion Nuggets, who hold an identical 53-24 record. The upstart Thunder are one game back at No. 3, followed by the Clippers, Mavericks and Suns.
The Pelicans, Kings, Lakers and Warriors are currently the Nos. 7 through 10 seeds, meaning they’d be in the play-in tournament if the season ended today. Only two games separate Phoenix and the Lakers, however, so things could certainly change between now and April 14, when the regular season concludes.
Each of the top teams in the West has question marks ahead of the postseason, mostly due to injuries. Minnesota may not have Karl-Anthony Towns back before the first round, and the team has only advanced past that stage one time in franchise history. Denver, which went 16-4 in last year’s playoffs en route to its first title in 2023, has been playing without star guard Jamal Murray of late, though he may return soon.
Oklahoma City is young and is not playoff tested, plus MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been sidelined recently with a quad injury. Kawhi Leonard is currently dealing with a knee injury for the Clippers.
The Mavericks have dealt with injuries to rotation players throughout the season, though they’re the hottest team in Conference at the moment. Phoenix’s “big three” has only played in 36 games together in 2023/24. New Orleans, Sacramento, the Lakers and Golden State have all been inconsistent throughout the season.
With so many unknowns, it makes it difficult to pick a favorite. That leads us to our question of the day: Who do you think will advance out of the West and make the NBA Finals? Head to the comments and let us know what you think.
Princeton’s Xaivian Lee Among Players Entering Draft
Princeton sophomore guard Xaivian Lee is declaring for the 2024 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Lee wasn’t highly recruited entering college — in fact he had no scholarship offers, according to Wojnarowski. But the Toronto-area native had a solid second season, averaging 17.1 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.7 APG and 1.0 SPG on .451/.338/.798 shooting in 29 games for the Tigers.
Butler’s Posh Alexander, a senior guard, is declaring for the draft (Twitter link) while maintaining his fifth and final year of college eligibility. Oklahoma’s Jalon Moore, a junior forward, is another draft early entrant (Twitter link), and while he didn’t say it outright, he suggested he would be maintaining the possibility of returning to Norman.
Evansville’s Yacine Toumi, a Tunisian-French forward, has also declared for the draft, he told Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Toumi will be testing the draft waters or forgoing his final season of eligibility.
South Florida’s Selton Miguel (Instagram link) is another player testing the draft waters while maintaining his eligibility, but he’s also entering the transfer portal. The 6’4″ guard has one season of eligibility left.
None of the players are listed on ESPN’s big board of the top-100 prospects in 2024, seemingly making it unlikely that any of them will hear their name called in June. They’ll be trying to impress NBA teams in pre-draft workouts and interviews to boost their stock.
Central Notes: Green, Bulls, Ball, Mitchell, Bucks, Flynn
In his first game after signing a rest-of-season contract that made him eligible for the postseason, Bulls swingman Javonte Green had the best performance of his career in Friday’s victory against the Knicks, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
The 30-year-old finished with careers highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 10-of-14 from the floor while contributing a pair of steals and a block in 33 minutes.
“He’s one of those guys you want to have on your team,” DeMar DeRozan said of Green. “For him to bounce back in a tough year for him just trying to get back healthy and for him to be doing what he’s been doing since he came back is amazing. We all know what to expect from Woo. Every time he goes out there, he plays like he’s 6-9 and he does anything and whatever for the team. … He’s one of a kind. I’m glad to have him back.”
While Green provided a much-needed boost and a feel-good story, the win was marred due to ankle injuries to Coby White and Alex Caruso, who both left the game and were unable to return, Johnson adds. The two starters were able to walk on their own after the game and seemed to be in “good spirits,” though head coach Billy Donovan said the team would have to await further testing to learn the extent of the injuries.
Here’s more from the Central:
- Appearing on 670 The Score (YouTube link), LaVar Ball — the father of injured Bulls guard Lonzo Ball — projected his son could start playing 5-on-5 with full contact in August or September, as Ryan Taylor of NBC Sports Chicago relays. “I’m thinking at least four or five months. Four or five months where he can really get dialed and do what he do,” LaVar said. That projection aligns with what Donovan said about Lonzo’s recovery last month, Taylor notes. Ball, who hasn’t played since January 2022, has undergone three knee surgeries over the past two-plus years, but the team is cautiously optimistic he could return next season.
- If the Cavaliers fail to make a deep playoff run and Donovan Mitchell declines a contract extension, would they entertain the possibility of trading him this summer? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that topic, listing five potential landing spots for the All-Star guard if Cleveland goes that route.
- The Bucks were expected to be a title contender, and they’re still (barely) clinging to the No. 2 seed in the East. However, they’ve been playing their worst basketball of the season at the absolute worst time, dropping five of their past six games, including three straight to Washington, Memphis and Toronto — three teams at the bottom of the standings — with only five regular season games remaining, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. After Friday’s loss to the Raptors, who had dropped 15 straight games, Bucks players said they’re not panicking, but they’re frustrated, as is their head coach. “The last three were against three bad teams. To me, that’s inexcusable. For all of us,” said Doc Rivers, who is now just 15-16 with Milwaukee since taking over mid-season. “As I told them, this is on me. I gotta figure out what we gotta do to play at a higher pace.”
- Pistons guard Malachi Flynn has averaged 5.4 points on .386/.337/.749 shooting in 208 career regular season games (14.2 MPG). He had one of the most unexpected 50-point games in NBA history on Wednesday, shooting 18-of-25 from the floor while being plus-14 in 34 minutes in an eight-point loss to Atlanta. In Friday’s loss to Memphis, the former 29th overall pick fell back to Earth, notes John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), going 0-of-12 from the field and scoring three points (all at the free throw line) while being minus-13 in 23 minutes. If Detroit issues him a qualifying offer, Flynn will be a restricted free agent this summer; otherwise, he’ll be unrestricted.
Nuggets Notes: Murray, Nnaji, Playoff Rotation, Spurs
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray missed his seventh consecutive game in Thursday’s two-point loss to the Clippers, but head coach Michael Malone said his team’s second-best player is “getting closer and closer,” to a return, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link).
Murray is officially questionable for Saturday’s contest vs. Atlanta due to right knee inflammation, tweets Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette.
Here are a few more notes on the defending champs:
- While he didn’t get any playing time, big man Zeke Nnaji was active on Thursday for the first time since March 17. He has been dealing with a right adductor injury the past few weeks. The 23-year-old isn’t on the injury report ahead of Saturday’s game.
- In addition to Christian Braun and Reggie Jackson, Malone mentioned Peyton Watson and Nnaji as players who might crack the playoff rotation, though he suggested others could get a look depending on the matchup, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “A lot of it’s gonna come down to who we’re playing, to be honest,” Malone said. “If we’re playing a team that’s really big, I’ll probably have to play a bigger lineup and some other guys. Obviously, trying to get Zeke Nnaji back healthy. He’s been out for a little while now. We know that we can go with Aaron (Gordon) as our backup five. … But there’s a lot of guys that we can throw into games. And obviously, Christian, Reggie, Peyton, Zeke, D.J. (DeAndre Jordan) — whoever the game calls upon, those guys will all be ready. I have no doubt about that.”
- It’s a tall order, to be sure, but general manager Calvin Booth says the Nuggets hope to emulate the Spurs‘ dynasty in the years to come, per Troy Renck of The Denver Post. Led by Tim Duncan, San Antonio won four championships from 1999-2007, and a fifth title in 2014. “It is of utmost importance and something I believe in a lot. As a front office, we understand the importance of studying historical patterns and what things have worked,” Booth explained. “The Spurs are the standard.”
Haliburton, Adebayo Now Eligible For Postseason Awards
Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton met the 65-game criteria on Friday against Oklahoma City, making him eligible for postseason awards, such as All-NBA.
Counting the in-season tournament final, it was technically Haliburton’s 66th game, but the one on January 8 — when he sustained a hamstring injury against Boston — didn’t count toward the 65-game rule because he played fewer than 15 minutes.
It’s a noteworthy benchmark for both Haliburton and Indiana, which gave the 24-year-old a five-year, rookie scale max extension last summer. That deal, which begins in 2024/25, features Rose rule language — if he makes one of the three All-NBA teams, he’ll earn 30% of next season’s salary cap instead of 25%.
Haliburton’s extension is currently projected to be worth $204.5MM over five years. If he makes an All-NBA team, the projection would increase to $245.3MM.
As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star writes, Haliburton has a legitimate shot at All-NBA, with averages of 20.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, a league-best 11.0 APG, and 1.2 SPG on .476/.368/.861 shooting through 64 games (32.2 MPG). He holds the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA at 4.85-to-1, and is the best player on a team that is currently the No. 6 seed in the East at 44-34.
At one point, it seemed like the Haliburton would be a shoo-in for All-NBA, as he was averaging 24.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 12.7 APG on .496/.404/.868 shooting in 32 games prior to the injury. While he’s played better recently, his post-injury numbers aren’t on the same level, with averages of 17.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 9.4 APG on .449/.324/.850 shooting in 31 games.
In addition to facing stiff competition amongst his backcourt peers, 2023/24 is the first season that All-NBA teams will be voted on without regard to position, Dopirak notes. It remains to be seen whether that will impact Haliburton’s case.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, Heat center Bam Adebayo and Magic guard Jalen Suggs also met the 65-game criteria on Friday.
A three-time All-Star who has finished fourth or fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting each of the past four seasons, Adebayo would be eligible for a super-max extension if he makes an All-NBA team or wins DPOY, though both scenarios seem fairly unlikely.
Suggs is a strong perimeter defender, though he won’t be financially impacted — at least not by CBA rules — even if he makes one of the two All-Defensive teams. The No. 5 pick of the 2021 draft will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.
Injury Notes: Luka, Warriors, Zion, Ingram, Young, Turner
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic was ruled out for Friday’s matchup with Golden State due to right knee soreness, as first reported by Marc Stein (via Twitter). Sources tell Stein there’s optimism that Doncic will return on Sunday vs. Houston.
The injury “shouldn’t be long term,” head coach Jason Kidd said (Twitter link via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon).
It will be the 10th missed game this season for Doncic, which will hurt his chances of claiming his first MVP award — frontrunner Nikola Jokic has only missed three games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the other primary candidate for the award, will miss his seventh game of 2023/24 on Sunday in Charlotte.
Mavs big man Maxi Kleber, who played 21 minutes in yesterday’s win over Atlanta, is also out Friday with back spasms, the team announced (via Twitter).
The Warriors will also be shorthanded for Friday’s matchup in Dallas, which is the second of a back-to-back for both clubs. Andrew Wiggins is out with left ankle soreness, while Jonathan Kuminga — who warmed up with the intent of playing — will miss his sixth straight game with knee tendinitis, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter links).
Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, who is dealing with a left finger contusion, was considered a game-time decision for Friday’s contest vs. San Antonio. However, he was later ruled out (Twitter link via the Pels). Prior to Friday’s game, head coach Willie Green also provided an injury update on Brandon Ingram, who is currently sidelined with a left knee bone contusion. “He’s jogging on the treadmill,” Green said, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com (Twitter link). “He’s in the weight room. Other than that, we don’t have anything new to report.” Green confirmed a recent report that New Orleans is optimistic about Ingram returning before the regular season ends, Clark adds.
- On his podcast (YouTube link), Hawks point guard Trae Young provided an update on his rehab from hand surgery, as Brad Rowland relays (via Twitter). “I got another call with the doctor next Monday,” Young said of when he could return. ” … Hopefully next week I can make a fist and I can get out of this cast. And then I can play. So hopefully next week.”
- Pacers center Myles Turner suffered a dislocated right index finger in Monday’s victory over Brooklyn, which caused him to miss Wednesday’s rematch with the Nets, but he was back in the starting lineup on Friday against Oklahoma City, the team announced (Twitter link). Turner has dealt with several injuries over the course of his career but he has been relatively healthy in ’23/24, appearing in 73 of 78 games.