Suns’ Cameron Payne Out At Least Two Weeks With Foot Sprain
Suns guard Cameron Payne has been diagnosed with a right foot sprain and will miss at least two weeks, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports.
Payne missed nine games in mid-to-late December with right foot soreness, and then aggravated the injury in just his second game back during Wednesday’s loss to Cleveland. He was sidelined for last night’s loss to Miami as well.
It’s a tough blow for the Suns, who continue to be hit hard by injuries. Payne is an important member of Phoenix’s backcourt, with averages of 12.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 5.3 APG and 0.9 SPG on .412/.378/.776 shooting splits through 28 games (14 starts, 24.0 MPG). The points and assists per game both represent career highs.
The Suns are already without star shooting guard Devin Booker (groin strain) and starting power forward Cameron Johnson (torn meniscus and subsequent surgery). Johnson has been making progress in his rehab, but he hasn’t participated in contact work yet, per head coach Monty Williams (Twitter link via Bourguet).
Williams also said Chris Paul is considered day-to-day with right hip soreness, and another update will be provided on Sunday. The veteran point guard missed 14 games earlier in the season with right heel soreness.
The Suns have dropped eight of their past nine games, including five straight, to move to 20-20 on the season. Their upcoming schedule over the next two weeks won’t do them any favors — they’re home against Cleveland on Sunday, then go on a four-game road trip against the Warriors, Nuggets, Wolves and Grizzlies, followed by home games against the Nets and Pacers.
With Payne, Booker, and potentially Paul sidelined, look for guards like Landry Shamet, Damion Lee and Duane Washington to get more minutes and shot attempts.
Heat To Guarantee Haywood Highsmith’s Salary
The Heat are guaranteeing the remainder of Haywood Highsmith‘s salary for 2022/23, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
Highsmith went undrafted in 2018 out of Wheeling University, a Division II school. Now in his third season, the 26-year-old has bounced between the NBA and the G League over the past five years, but appears to have found a nice niche with Miami.
His stats definitely don’t stand out — he’s averaging 4.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .383/.310/.375 shooting (only 16 free throw attempts, so a very small sample size) through 27 games (19.5 MPG). However, Highsmith is a strong and versatile defensive player, as head coach Erik Spoelstra noted a couple weeks ago.
The combo forward only had a $50K partial guarantee entering the preseason, but that increased to $400K when he made the Heat’s regular season roster. He signed a three-year, minimum-salary deal with Miami last March, and his salary for next season is non-guaranteed.
Bulls Notes: LaVine, Donovan, Ball, Green, Caruso
Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine erupted for 41 points in Friday’s win over Philadelphia, going an incredible 11-of-13 from deep. As Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes, that pushed the Bulls’ record against the Celtics, Nets, Bucks, Sixers and Heat up to 9-2, which is the polar opposite of 2021/22, when the team struggled against the East’s top teams (it’s fair to wonder whether the Heat still belong in that group at this point with a disappointing 21-19 record, but they were one shot away from the Finals last season).
However, the Bulls have been very inconsistent overall, and are currently just 18-21, the No. 9 seed in the East. LaVine was asked after the game whether he thought Chicago has shown enough to not only keep the current roster, but possibly add to it at the trade deadline as opposed to becoming a seller.
“At our best, we showed what we can be last year [at this time],” LaVine said, per Cowley. “We were the No. 1 team in the East. At our best, we’re one of the best teams in the league. That’s for them to decide. . . . I’m not worried about our roster.”
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- As we relayed a couple days ago, head coach Billy Donovan pushed back on the notion that Zach LaVine isn’t involved in his late-game play calls, even though DeMar DeRozan has dominated the team’s shot attempts in clutch situations. Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago provides more details and context on how the team operates at the end of close games, including quotes from Donovan regarding the DeRozan-LaVine dynamic.
- Injured guard Lonzo Ball (left knee surgery) continues to make slow progress as he attempts to return to action. Donovan said on Friday night that he’s shown improvement compared to the last update, but Ball still isn’t able to run yet, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link). Ball last played on January 14, 2022 — nearly a full year ago.
- Donovan also gave an update on forward Javonte Green, tweets Bontemps. The 29-year-old will be out for at least one more week as he continues to deal with right knee soreness, but the team is hopeful rest will help him recuperate. Green has been a key energy player off Chicago’s bench, averaging 5.9 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.8 SPG and 0.7 BPG on .587/.382/.674 shooting through 28 games (16.0 MPG). He has now missed 11 of the team’s past 17 games, including three straight.
- Guard Alex Caruso, who sprained his right ankle during Wednesday’s victory over the Nets and had to exit the game early, was ruled out for Friday’s win, notes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (via Twitter). Like Green, Caruso provides a lot of energy — he’s arguably the team’s best defensive player.
Pacers Guarantee Contracts For Brissett, Johnson
The Pacers have officially guaranteed the salaries of forwards Oshae Brissett and James Johnson for the remainder of the 2022/23 season, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).
Indiana is well below the league’s salary cap “floor,” so there was little reason to believe the team would release either player. Today is the deadline to waive players on non-guaranteed deals before their salaries become fully guaranteed for the rest of the season.
Brissett, 24, has been a rotation regular for the Pacers, averaging 5.9 PPG and 3.1 RPG while shooting 37.0% from three-point range in 35 games (15.7 MPG). He has spent the last three seasons with Indiana after playing for Toronto, his hometown, as a rookie in ’19/20.
Johnson, 35, is a well-traveled veteran — the Pacers are his 10th team in 14 NBA seasons. He has only made nine appearances this season for an average of 7.9 minutes per contest, but clearly the club values his locker-room presence.
Brissett will carry a $1,846,738 cap hit, which is just above Johnson’s minimum-salary cap hit of $1,836,090. Both players will be unrestricted free agents in the summer.
KZ Okpala’s Contract Guaranteed By Kings
The Kings are keeping KZ Okpala on their roster, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link), who hears from a source that the forward had his contract guaranteed for the rest of the season.
The 32nd overall pick of the 2019 draft, Okpala spent his first two-plus seasons with the Heat. However, Miami traded him to Oklahoma City last February and he was subsequently waived by the Thunder.
The 23-year-old signed a two-year, $4MM deal with the Kings ahead of training camp, but it was only partially guaranteed for $250K. The guarantee increased to $500K when he made Sacramento’s regular season roster.
Okpala started the Kings’ first three games in 2022/23, but he hasn’t played a whole lot since. Overall, he’s appeared in 25 games for an average of 7.8 minutes per night. Head coach Mike Brown is a fan of Okpala’s defense.
And-Ones: All-Star Voting, Moore, Sophomore Class, 2023 Mock
Superstar forwards LeBron James and Kevin Durant lead the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, in the first round of All-Star fan voting, the NBA announced on Thursday (Twitter link). Fan voting makes up 50% of the vote for the starting lineup, with players and the media accounting for 25% each.
The projected starting lineups, based on the initial round of fan voting, would be James, Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis in the West’s frontcourt, with Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic in the backcourt. The East’s frontcourt would be Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid, with Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt.
Fan voting ends on January 21. The next round of votes will be released on January 12.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Free agent guard E’Twaun Moore, a career 38.8% three-point shooter, believes he can still help teams. He’s working out and staying ready in case he gets a call, but he’s also making plans for his post-NBA career. “I got to be prepared if a team doesn’t want to pick me up,” he told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “Then what am I going to do?” As Vorkunov details, the 11-year veteran views fellow East Chicago, Indiana, native and former NBA player Junior Bridgeman as a role model due to his successful business ventures — Bridgeman is worth an estimated $600MM. Moore earned more than $42MM during his career, but he’s already accumulated another $40MM in various business interests after spending $6MM to acquire them, per Vorkunov. “That’s just getting started,” said Moore, who graduated from Purdue with a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership. “I want to try get nine figures. I want to make way more off the court than I did playing basketball.”
- The 2021 draft class has been largely disappointing in 2022/23, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. That’s a stark contrast from their rookie seasons, when players like Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, Evan Mobley and Jalen Green looked like future stars. Cunningham’s second year was cut short by season-ending surgery, and while the other three have shown glimpses, they’ve been pretty inconsistent in year two, says Hollinger, who also evaluates several other players from the class.
- In Jonathan Wasserman’s latest 2023 mock draft for Bleacher Report, Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, twin brothers for Overtime Elite, go No. 3 and No. 4 behind Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson. Villanova’s Cam Whitmore rounds out the top five.
Kings To Guarantee Matthew Dellavedova’s Contract
The Kings plan to guarantee Matthew Dellavedova‘s contract for the remainder of the season, a league source tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Dellavedova was signed to a partially guaranteed deal for the veteran’s minimum, so he will earn $2,628,597 in 2022/23. However, the Kings will only carry a $1,836,090 cap hit, as our Luke Adams details here.
Sacramento just waived Chima Moneke, another player with a partially guaranteed deal, ahead of tomorrow’s guarantee deadline. KZ Okpala is the last remaining player whose contract is partially guaranteed, but he has appeared in more games than both Dellavedova and Moneke, so it would be a mild surprise if he’s released.
A nine-year NBA veteran, Dellavedova spent most of his career with the Cavaliers, winning a title in 2016. He also spent two-plus seasons with the Bucks. However, he was out of the league in 2021/22 — he played for Melbourne United in his native Australia.
Kings head coach Mike Brown coached Dellavedova when he was a rookie with Cleveland back in ’13/14, and that familiarity played a big factor in him landing another NBA deal. The 32-year-old has appeared in just 15 games with Sacramento for an average of 6.7 minutes per contest.
Kings Waive Chima Moneke
The Kings have waived forward Chima Moneke, a source tells James Ham of ESPN 1320 and TheKingsBeat.com (Twitter link).
Moneke was one of three players on Sacramento’s roster on partially guaranteed contracts — Matthew Dellavedova and KZ Okpala are the others. The deadline to waive partially and non-guaranteed deals before they become fully guaranteed is tomorrow, January 7.
The 27-year-old rookie out of Australia only appeared in two NBA games this season for a total of eight minutes. He spent the majority of the season with the team’s G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, averaging 17.6 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.6 SPG and 0.8 BPG in 16 games (36.3 MPG) during the Showcase Cup.
After going undrafted in 2018, Moneke played internationally for teams in France and Spain, first competing in the French LNB Pro B league before receiving a promotion to Orléans Loiret Basket of LNB Pro A, the top league in France, in 2020/21.
Last season he played for Baxi Manresa of Liga ACB, the top Spanish league, averaging 14.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 1.6 SPG on .521/.290/.735 shooting in 36 games (30 starts, 24.1 MPG). He was also named the MVP of the Basketball Champions League with Baxi Manresa in ’21/22.
Moneke was on a standard contract, so the Kings now have 14 players on their 15-man roster, with both two-way contracts filled.
Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins Expected To Return On Saturday
Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins was a full practice participant on Friday, per head coach Steve Kerr (Twitter link via ESPN’s Kendra Andrews), and is now listed as probable for Saturday’s game against Orlando, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Generally, when players are listed as probable, it means there’s a strong chance they’ll suit up, and that’s the expectation for Wiggins, according to Slater. The 27-year-old has missed 15 consecutive games due to strained right adductor and then an illness. As Slater notes, it has been the longest absence of Wiggins’ career — he had never missed more than 11 games in a season prior to this.
Through 22 games (32.8 MPG), all starts, Wiggins is averaging 19.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.4 SPG and 0.8 BPG on .511/.450/.628 shooting. His FG% and 3PT% are both career highs, as is his .621 true shooting percentage.
Wiggins is the second player expected to rejoin Golden State’s lineup on Saturday — forward Andre Iguodala announced on his podcast that he’s going to make his 2022/23 season debut against the Magic. The two veterans should help bolster the Warriors on both ends of the court — the defending champions currently rank 15th in offense and 18th in defense.
The Warriors are currently 20-19, the No. 9 seed in the West, but only trail the No. 6 seed Clippers by a half-game.
Bradley Beal Out At Least One Week With Hamstring Strain
An MRI has revealed that Bradley Beal has a low-grade left hamstring strain, the Wizards announced in a press release. He will miss Washington’s next three games and will be reevaluated in one week.
Beal missed six games last month with a low-grade right hamstring strain, returned for five games, and then injured the hamstring on his other leg. He missed three games with left hamstring soreness, but aggravated it when he returned to action in Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee.
“I tried to make a few accelerations, and (it) kind of prevented me from doing that,” Beal told reporters. “It’s frustrating because I didn’t have that the last 48 hours. Nobody wants to play more than me. But I’ve just got to be smart about it.”
Through 24 games (33.6 MPG), Beal is averaging 22.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 5.2 APG and 1.0 SPG on .525/.340/.861 shooting. With Beal sidelined, players like Corey Kispert and Delon Wright could receive more minutes.
The Wizards are currently 17-22, the No. 11 seed in the East, but they only trail the Bulls by a half-game for the final play-in spot.