Jazz Center Udoka Azubuike Done For Season After Surgery
Jazz center Udoka Azubuike underwent successful surgery on Friday to repair multiple ligaments in his right ankle and foot, the team announced. He’ll miss the rest of the 2021/22 season.
Azubuike appeared to suffer a dislocated ankle in a G League contest on March 10, his third right ankle injury in the past 13 months. He had a partially dislocated ankle back in November and a severe ankle sprain in February of 2021.
In 17 games this season, the second-year big man averaged 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per night while shooting 75.5% from the field. He appeared in just 15 games as a rookie last season, logging a total of 57 minutes.
After four seasons at Kansas, Azubuike was the 27th pick in the 2020 draft. Although his NBA run has been brief, the 22-year-old has shown flashes of upside — as Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune notes, Azubuike averaged 9.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks over a six-game stretch between February 2-14.
Since Azubuike was behind Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside on Utah’s depth chart, his absence won’t have much of an impact on the team’s playoff push, but obviously it’s a tough setback for the young center and hopefully he’s able to recover quickly.
At 45-28, the Jazz are currently the No. 4 seed in the West, but their hold on that spot is tenuous, as the Mavs have an identical record and the No. 6 Nuggets and No. 7 Timberwolves trail the Jazz by 2.5 and 3.5 games, respectively.
James Wiseman Out For Season
Warriors center James Wiseman will miss the remainder of the season as he continues to rehab his right knee, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wiseman, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2020 draft, will end up missing the entire season, including the playoffs, as he has yet to play a game at the NBA level in 2021/22.
He suffered a torn right meniscus last April and had the injury surgically repaired, then had a second, more minor surgery in December to address persistent swelling in the same knee.
He’d progressed to the point that he was able to play in three G League games with the team’s affiliate in Santa Cruz before being recalled to practice with Golden State last week, but unfortunately suffered another setback just as he was nearing a potential return.
The Warriors’ PR department sent out a tweet confirming the news that Wiseman will miss the rest of the season.
“We’ve maintained throughout his entire rehabilitation process that we’re going to be patient and look out for James’ best interests in what we anticipate to be a long and successful career,” said president of basketball operations Bob Myers. “As a 20-year-old, his entire career is ahead of him. For us, as an organization, our focus is on James’ long-term health and we’re confident — and our doctors are confident — that this long-term approach will help James become the player he will evolve into when he returns to the court.”
There are no additional plans for surgery and Wiseman will remain in the Bay Area to rehab his knee, the team said.
In 39 games as a rookie last season, Wiseman averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game. The Warriors are currently 48-25, the No. 3 seed in the West.
Drew Eubanks Signs Fourth 10-Day Deal With Blazers
9:13pm: The signing under the hardship exception is official, according to a team press release.
12:40pm: The Trail Blazers intend to sign center Drew Eubanks to another 10-day contract, which will be his fourth consecutive deal with the team, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
The 25-year-old has performed well through 13 games (28.1 minutes) with Portland, averaging 12.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists on .624/.286/.880 shooting (only seven attempts from deep). He’s started all 13 games in place of the injured Jusuf Nurkic.
Most of this year’s 10-day hardship contracts have been completed using the COVID-related hardship exception, but Eubanks has been signed multiple times using an injury-related hardship exception. A team qualifies for an injury-related hardship exception if it has at least four players who have missed three or more consecutive games, as long as those players project to remain sidelined for at least the next couple weeks.
Portland has at least six such players – Nurkic, Damian Lillard, Nassir Little, Didi Louzada, Joe Ingles, and Eric Bledsoe – and possibly as many as seven, if Anfernee Simons isn’t expected to return soon. That’s why the club is eligible for the hardship exception.
Eubanks’ last 10-day deal expired overnight. His new 10-day contract will pay him $99,380.
Chris Paul Returns From Thumb Injury
6:40pm: Paul is playing on Thursday, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets.
2:09pm: Suns point guard Chris Paul is listed as probable to return for Thursday’s game at Denver, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Paul has missed the past 15 games with a fractured right thumb; the team went 11-4 in his absence. At 59-14, the Suns hold the best record in the NBA.
They lead the No. 2 seed Grizzlies by nine games with only nine games to play, so one more victory by Phoenix will clinch the No. 1 seed and home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Paul, 36, was named an All-Star for the 12th time this season. Through 58 games (33 MPG), he’s averaging 14.9 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 10.7 APG, and 1.9 SPG on .487/.330/.843 shooting. His 10.7 assists per game leads the league, and if it holds up it will be his fifth assists title.
It was reported on Monday that Paul was nearing a return to action. He was given a six-to-eight week recovery timetable when he initially suffered the fracture on February 20, but it seems he will return in less than five weeks, which is pretty remarkable given his advanced age (by sports standards).
Cameron Payne has been starting in Paul’s stead and is likely to head back to the bench. He’s played well of late since returning from a right wrist injury, averaging 14.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 9.5 APG on .421/.339/.783 shooting in March (11 games, 30.5 MPG).
Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle Out Next Two Games
Head coach Rick Carlisle will miss the Pacers‘ upcoming road games at Memphis on Thursday and at Toronto on Sunday due to personal reasons, the team announced. Assistant coach Lloyd Pierce will serve as acting head coach in Carlisle’s stead.
As Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files observes, this is the second time that Carlisle has been away from the team this season. He contracted COVID-19 in December and missed four games, with Indiana going 2-2 with Pierce at the helm.
“I encouraged Lloyd to follow his instincts,” Carlisle said in December. “He’s an experienced head coach — and when you’re on the sidelines and you’re making the play calls and you’re calling the timeouts and things like that, there’s a feel element to it. And you can’t have that interrupted just because you work for the guy that’s not there.”
In other Pacers news, rookie Isaiah Jackson was unable to play the second half of Wednesday’s game against Sacramento due to a headache, according to James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star.
Jackson suffered a concussion last week and missed two games. Carlisle said he didn’t know whether Jackson’s headache was related to the concussion.
“I don’t know exactly what’s gonna happen,” Carlisle said, per Boyd. “Doctors felt it was best to keep him out of the game. … The hope is that this is not anything serious, but we’ll know more (Wednesday night) or (Thursday), and whenever we can let you know where things are at, we will.”
Jackson has been ruled out of Thursday’s game, Boyd tweets.
Paul George Practices With Clippers
Clippers star Paul George practiced with the team on Thursday for the first time since he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. George hasn’t played in a game since December 22.
George is listed as out for Friday’s game against Philadelphia and there’s no official timetable for his return, but he’s clearly making progress as he recovers from the injury.
“He is doing good,” coach Tyronn Lue said prior to Thursday’s practice. “He hasn’t felt any pain so that is a positive thing. Just working on his conditioning and just making sure he can continue to go through the minimal contact without having any issue. So as of right now, it hasn’t been a problem.”
Lue also said that Norman Powell has begun shooting on the court with the team, but is still limited to non-contact work. Powell broke a bone in his left foot after just three games with his new club. He was acquired in a trade with the Blazers ahead of the February deadline.
At 36-38, the Clippers are currently the No. 8 seed in the West. Despite losing four straight games, their place in the standings is pretty secure, as they trail the No. 7 Timberwolves by six games and hold a four-and-a-half game lead on the No. 9 Lakers with only eight games remaining.
Youngmisuk states that the Clippers hope to reduce the minutes for veterans Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris, and Reggie Jackson ahead of the play-in tournament.
Draft Notes: Hardy, Minott, Nesbitt, Benitez
In an appearance on the Posted Up podcast with Chris Haynes, G League Ignite guard Jaden Hardy sounded confident that he should be a top pick in the 2022 NBA draft (Twitter link via Yahoo Sports).
“I feel like I’m the best player in this draft, if you ask me. Playing in the NBA G League, I mean it’s the second-best league in the world. I’ve played against people that are playing in the NBA right now, like Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga. Like those guys are on the Warriors getting good minutes and they were just playing against me. So I’m playing against NBA talent,” Hardy said.
The 6’4″ guard is currently No. 26 on ESPN’s best available players list, but Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer has him No. 13 on his latest Big Board.
Here are some more draft-related notes:
- Freshman forward Josh Minott is entering the draft and will initially keep his college eligibility, but he has no intention of returning to Memphis, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Minott is No. 54 on ESPN’s best available list, but he hopes to move up draft boards in June. “I plan to be like Josh Primo [a surprise No. 12 pick in the 2021 draft] coming out of the woodwork this spring,” Minott said. “I will listen to the NBA’s feedback. If they feel I’m a first-round talent and want to invest in me, that would be the best situation.” John Hollinger of The Athletic likes Minott as a sleeper, as we previously relayed.
- Jordan Nesbitt of Saint Louis has declared for the draft (via Twitter). The 6’6″ guard averaged 8.2 points and 4.3 rebounds on .391/.337/.692 shooting as a sophomore for the Billikens. Based on the wording of his announcement, it sounds like he plans to forgo his remaining eligibility.
- French point guard Hugo Benitez will also declare for the draft, his agent Herman Manakyan told ESPN’s Givony (Twitter link). Benitez, who turned 21 in January, is averaging 7.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals on .509/.395/.875 shooting for JL Bourg of the LNB Pro A league. Givony states that Benitez is a good defensive player who displays intelligence and maturity in pick-and-rolls.
Kyrie Irving Now Exempt From NYC’s Vaccine Mandate
MARCH 24: In a press conference at Citi Field, Adams officially announced that New York City’s vaccine mandate exemption has been expanded to include local athlete and performers, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. That clears the path for Irving to begin playing in home games.
MARCH 23: Kyrie Irving has been unable to play home games the entire season for the Nets, but that could change soon.
As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Jeff Passan relay, there’s cautious optimism that New York City’s private-sector COVID-19 vaccine mandate may be rolled back soon — Irving is unvaccinated, which is why he’s been unable to play in Brooklyn. Sources tell Wojnarowski and Passan that talks are progressing to the point that Irving may be able to return for home games as soon as next week.
Sally Goldenberg of Politco goes a step further than ESPN’s report, writing that NYC mayor Eric Adams plans to reverse the vaccine mandate for performers and athletes on Thursday.
Shams Charania of The Athletic hears the same as Goldenberg, reporting that Irving will be cleared on Thursday. The change will give exemptions to unvaccinated performers and athletes, Charania states, which is the current protocol for visiting players (Twitter links).
Irving, who turned 30 today, is averaging 27.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 5.3 APG and 1.4 SPG on .490/.430/.901 shooting through 19 games this season. The seven-time All-Star holds a $36.5MM player option for next season and can become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he declines the option.
With a 38-34 record, Brooklyn is currently the No. 8 seed in the East. The Nets hold a one-game lead on the No. 9 Hornets and trail the No. 7 Raptors by two games. It’s worth noting that if the season ended today, Irving still wouldn’t be able to play at Toronto (for the play-in tournament) due to the vaccine requirements to enter Canada.
Here are a few more notes on the Nets:
- Seth Curry (left ankle sprain) and Goran Dragic (left knee soreness) are out for Wednesday’s game at Memphis, but coach Steve Nash is hopeful both guards will be able to play Saturday at Miami (Twitter link via Nick Friedell of ESPN).
- Unsurprisingly, Nash says he “would welcome” Irving being able to play home games soon, tweets Friedell. Brooklyn’s next home game is Sunday, March 27, against Charlotte.
- Nash also said he’d be comfortable using Ben Simmons in a playoff game for his potential season debut, although that may be in a limited role off the bench, Friedell relays (via Twitter). Simmons still isn’t doing any basketball-related activities as he deals with a herniated disc in his back.
Grizzlies Notes: Jackson Jr., Bane, Contender, Morant
In an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Countdown prior to Wednesday’s game against Brooklyn (video link), Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. said he believes he should win the Defensive Player of the Year award this season. Jackson leads the league in blocked shots per game with 2.2; he also averages 1.0 SPG and 5.9 RPG in 27.3 MPG.
“Of course I think I’m Defensive Player of the Year,” Jackson said. “I just think what I’m able to do, I mean the blocks are cool, but you get blocks from contesting shots. I’m able to do a lot more than most people who get a lot of blocks. I’m able to switch out on guards, I’m able to talk.
“You’ve gotta be a quarterback on defense and I think that’s what people miss. It’s a mind game. You’re really playing chess. I think Draymond [Green] might have said that one time, you’re playing chess with the offensive team coming down. So, I’m just able to read and I’m able to use my length to my advantage when I can.”
After appearing in just 11 games last season as he recovered from a torn meniscus, Jackson has played a career-high 72 contests to this point, only missing one game for the 50-23 Grizzlies.
Here’s more from Memphis:
- With his fifth three-pointer in Wednesday’s 132-120 win over the Nets, Desmond Bane broke Mike Miller‘s single-season franchise record for threes made, the team announced (via Twitter). Bane finished the game 8-of-17 from the field, including 6-of-10 from deep, for a total of 23 points. He also chipped in four rebounds, five assists, a steal, and was plus-20 in 32 minutes of action. Bane has now converted 204 three-pointers this season.
- The Grizzlies are way ahead of schedule in their rebuild, according to Tim MacMahon and Kevin Pelton of ESPN. Many expected the Grizzlies to be in the mix for the play-in tournament again after making their way to the No. 8 seed last season, but they’ve made a major leap and currently hold the second-best record in the NBA, only trailing the 59-14 Suns.
- Nets star Kevin Durant thinks Ja Morant is bound for Springfield (Massachusetts) when his career is finished, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. “When you got a future Hall of Famer at the head of the snake, it just makes everybody better,” Durant said on Monday. “He’s a combination of players, I feel. I think the greatest players in our game can transform into anybody at any given point. And I think Ja’s on the way to that. When he’s playing, I see like two or three, four different Hall of Famers in his game. From [Allen] Iverson, to he might make a [Michael] Jordan-like layup, or he might run down the court like a [Russell] Westbrook or a [Derrick Rose].”
- In case you missed it, Morant underwent an MRI and X-ray on his sore right knee on Wednesday.
Bucks Notes: Giannis, Portis, Middleton, Bembry
Reigning Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was recently interviewed by Sam Amick of The Athletic and provided some insight into last year’s championship with the Bucks, this season’s MVP race, and a few other topics. Here are a couple highlights:
On being more focused on winning another championship versus a third MVP:
“Nah, I want another championship. You know, like, the joy that I felt when I won the MVP was unbelievable. I was with my family. I wish my (late) Dad was there. That was an unbelievable feeling. Grateful. But the joy that I felt when I won a championship, there’s no comparing. There’s no comparing (an MVP) to the joy of being on the bus and seeing 200,000 people celebrating — White, Black, Hispanic, or whatever the case may be. Everybody was celebrating, and you’re giving everybody that joy.
“There were people that had never seen a championship for 50 years. (They’d say), ‘The last time I saw the championship, I was two years old.’ You know? That’s a different type of joy. It’s not just me being able to win the award. The whole city won an award. That’s what I want, you know? And hopefully, God can bless me and give me that. I’ll do whatever I can do to do it.”
On playing through a hyperextended knee, which could have been catastrophic:
“It killed me. Game 1, there was a play where Jae Crowder shot and I stepped on his leg. And you know how he does this kick thing, and I literally tried to avoid him and he kicked me on my leg and my leg hyperextended (for the second time — Antetokounmpo hyperextended the same leg in the Eastern Conference Finals against Atlanta).
“What basically happened is that if my leg had hyperextended one more time…(claps hands) I was done. There’s nothing to cut that was in there. It was torn already. It was out — (the piece that) protected me from an MCL or ACL (tear). There’s a thing (in your leg) that protects you when you hyperextend (your knee) that doesn’t let you go all the way back. So that thing was torn. So if I had gone all the way back again, that’d be it for me.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen where people wear a big brace on your knee, like Goran Dragic wears — a big brace. They (the Bucks) told me, ‘Giannis, Tim Duncan wore this (so) wear this.’ I said, ‘Heeeell naw.’ They said, ‘Giannis, you need to wear this.’ And they had made one specifically for me. I said, ‘Hell. No. I’m not wearing that s—.'”
Amick’s full interview with Antetokounmpo can be found here.
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- After starting 57 of 63 games this season, Bobby Portis could have griped about being replaced by incumbent center Brook Lopez (recently returned from back surgery), but Portis says he’s fine with coming off the bench. “Right now is not the time for nobody to be talking about minutes or things like that. It’s all about the team. It’s all about trying to win. Be the best Bucks basketball team we can be,” Portis said, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Eleven games left, just trying to play our best basketball. Like I said, in life, sacrifice is always the biggest thing. Obviously, everybody’s role is going to be shifted a little bit, but that’s part of the plan, part of playing a team sport.”
- Khris Middleton will miss his second straight game Thursday against Washington due to a sore left wrist, tweets Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Middleton fell on the wrist last Saturday against Minnesota and coach Mike Budenholzer said the team hopes it’s a short-term injury.
- DeAndre’ Bembry underwent successful surgery Wednesday to repair his torn right ACL and MCL, the team announced (via Twitter). Bembry suffered the injury on March 12 and will miss the remainder of the season, and likely most of next season as well.