Chris Chiozza Undergoes Right Hand Surgery
Point guard Chris Chiozza, who is on a two-way contract with the Nets, underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a fractured third metacarpal of his right hand, the team announced in a press release.
Brooklyn didn’t set a specific timeline for Chiozza’s recovery, stating that more information on his status will be provided as it becomes available. However, it sounds like he’ll probably miss an extended period due to the hand injury.
Chiozza has appeared in 22 games this season, averaging 4.0 PPG and 3.0 APG in 10.5 minutes per contest as a depth piece for the Nets. He has seen most of his minutes either during garbage time or when Brooklyn’s backcourt has been hit particularly hard by injuries.
Chiozza is one of seven Nets players who has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game vs. the Sixers. Kevin Durant (left hamstring injury management), James Harden (right hamstring strain), LaMarcus Aldridge (illness), Blake Griffin (left knee injury management), Tyler Johnson (right knee soreness), and Spencer Dinwiddie (partial right ACL tear) are also unavailable for the showdown between the East’s top two teams.
Checking In On Traded 2021 First-Round Picks
It’s been nearly two months since we checked in on the status of 2021’s traded first-round picks, and there have been plenty of shifts in the NBA standings since then. Those changes have an impact on where in the draft certain traded picks will land, as well as whether or not some protected picks will change hands at all.
With just over a month left in the 2020/21 regular season, it’s worth revisiting the traded first-round picks for 2021. With the help of our reverse standings tool, here’s our latest look at which of those traded picks are most and least likely to change hands, and which ones are still up in the air:
Picks that will definitely change hands:
- Knicks acquiring Mavericks‘ pick (unprotected).
- Rockets acquiring Bucks‘ pick (top-nine protected swap).
The only unprotected traded pick for the 2021 draft, the Mavs’ selection currently projects to be the No. 21 overall pick. That would be a reasonably good outcome for the Knicks, but there’s even more upside here — since Dallas is currently the No. 7 seed in the West, a win in the play-in tournament may be necessary to secure a playoff spot.
The NBA has yet to clarify exactly how draft positioning will be affected by the play-in results, but presumably if the Mavs don’t clinch a postseason berth in the play-in, that pick would move into the lottery.
Meanwhile, the Rockets will acquire the Bucks’ pick, currently projected to land at No. 24 overall, in a swap for their own second-rounder (No. 32, for now).
Picks that definitely won’t change hands:
- Grizzlies acquiring Jazz‘s pick (1-7 and 15-30 protection).
- Pelicans acquiring Lakers‘ pick (8-30 protection).
- Rockets acquiring Pistons‘ pick (top-16 protected).
The Jazz are definitely making the postseason and the Pistons definitely aren’t, so their picks (currently projected to be No. 30 and No. 4, respectively) won’t change hands.
The Grizzlies should at least be able to count on getting Utah’s first-rounder in 2022, when it will become top-six protected. It may be a while before the Rockets get a pick from Detroit though — that first-rounder remains heavily protected in 2022 (top-16), 2023 (top-18), and 2024 (top-18) before those protections start to loosen a little.
As for the Lakers‘ pick, it isn’t technically a lock yet — there’s theoretically a scenario in which L.A. misses the playoffs and then moves into the top four in the lottery, sending its pick to the Pelicans. But that’s an extreme long shot. The Lakers’ pick is at No. 23 for now.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Knicks have the ability to swap their own 2021 first-rounder for the Clippers‘ pick. At the moment though, New York’s pick would be No. 15 and L.A.’s would be No. 26, so that won’t happen.
Still up in the air:
- Warriors acquiring Timberwolves‘ pick (top-three protected).
- Magic acquiring Bulls‘ pick (top-four protected).
- Thunder acquiring Warriors‘ pick (top-20 protected).
That Timberwolves pick will be a fascinating one to watch in the lottery. If Minnesota finishes with a bottom-three record, there will be a 40.1% chance it remains in the top three.
The Warriors will actually be rooting for the Wolves to finish with the NBA’s worst record, since in that scenario, there’s a 59.9% chance the pick lands at No. 4 or No. 5. If the Wolves instead have the third-worst record, the pick would be just as likely to land in the top three, but could slip as far as No. 6 or No. 7.
The Magic will have a good chance of landing the Bulls‘ pick, which currently projects to be the No. 10 overall selection. If Chicago remains in that spot, there would only be about a 14% chance of the pick moving up into the top four.
Golden State’s own pick, which currently projects to be No. 13, is unlikely to be sent to the Thunder unless the Warriors get hot late in the season. Assuming the Warriors’ first-rounder is protected, Oklahoma City would instead receive Minnesota’s second-round pick (currently No. 31).
Latest on the Rockets/Thunder/Heat/Blazers/Nets situation:
As a reminder, this series of trades and pick swaps is too convoluted to fit cleanly into any of the above sections. Here’s a breakdown of how it works:
- The Thunder will have the right to swap either their own first-round pick or the Heat’s first-round pick for the Rockets‘ first-round pick, but only if Houston’s pick doesn’t fall in the top four. In other words, if Houston gets a top-four pick, the Rockets will keep their own first-rounder; if not, the Thunder will get the two most favorable picks of their own, the Heat’s, and the Rockets’, and Houston will get the least favorable.
- Once the first step is complete, the Rockets will be left with at least one first-round pick, and almost certainly two, since they’re also owed the Trail Blazers‘ first-rounder (top-14 protected). They would then have the right to swap either of those picks for the Nets‘ first-rounder (unprotected).
As of today, the Rockets have the second-worst record in the league, giving them a 52.1% chance of having their pick land in its top-four protected range on lottery night. In that scenario, Houston would keep its first-rounder (tentatively No. 2) and would get the Trail Blazers’ pick at No. 22. The Thunder would keep their own pick (No. 6, pending lottery results) and receive the Heat’s first-rounder (No. 17), while the Nets would hang onto their own selection (No. 27).
On the other hand, if the Rockets’ pick falls outside of the top four, the Thunder would acquire it along with their own first-rounder, while Houston would get Miami’s pick at No. 17.
No matter how the rest of the season plays out, it’s safe to assume that lottery night on June 22 will have massive implications for the Timberwolves, Warriors, Rockets, and Thunder, and potentially for the Magic and Bulls as well.
While the Pistons, Cavaliers, and a handful of other lottery teams will also be invested in the results that night, the outcome won’t be quite as all-or-nothing for those clubs.
NBA Postpones Wolves-Nets Game From Monday To Tuesday
APRIL 13: Monday’s Timberwolves/Nets game has been rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). It will be played at 3:00pm central time without any fans in attendance, sources tell Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link).
APRIL 12: The NBA is postponing the Timberwolves/Nets game that had been scheduled to take place in Minnesota on Monday night, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links). The NBA has formally confirmed the postponement.
Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews of ESPN first reported (via Twitter) that there were ongoing conversations about a postponement of Monday’s game due to unrest in Minneapolis in the wake of a police shooting. A 20-year-old Black man, Daunte Wright, was fatally shot during a traffic stop on Sunday.
The MLB contest between the Red Sox and Twins that was scheduled to be played on Monday afternoon in Minnesota was also postponed.
While it won’t take place tonight, there’s still a chance that the Wolves/Nets game could be played on Tuesday, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
With just over a month left in the regular season, there won’t be a ton of opportunities to make up postponed games, and every win or loss is important for a Brooklyn team currently tied for first in the Eastern Conference. Minnesota’s final record will also be important for draft lottery reasons — the team is a half-game “ahead” of Houston for the top spot in the lottery standings.
Kyrie Irving and Karl-Anthony Towns had been ruled out for Monday due to personal reasons — it’s unclear if either one would be available by Tuesday.
Alize Johnson Signs Multiyear Deal With Nets
9:36am: The deal is official, the Nets announced in a press release.
8:03am: The Nets have reached an agreement on a multiyear contract with power forward Alize Johnson, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Johnson’s agent, George Langberg, confirmed the deal, which could be worth up to $4.1MM. Johnson could have received more guaranteed money from another team, but he was comfortable in Brooklyn, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
Johnson, 24, signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Nets, the second of which expired overnight. He has appeared in six games, averaging 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per night. Coach Steve Nash told reporters earlier this week that the Nets were happy with Johnson’s production and hoped to keep him around.
Brooklyn was able to sign Johnson for up to three years because the team still had part of its taxpayer mid-level exception available, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link).
A second-round pick in 2018, Johnson played his first two seasons with the Pacers and was in training camp this year with the Raptors.
Atlantic Notes: Thompson, Fournier, Johnson, Shamet, Hill
After missing nearly a month due to a positive COVID-19 test, Celtics big man Tristan Thompson returned earlier this week, a welcome sight for a Boston team struggling to play consistently. However, Thompson detailed a difficult battle with the virus while he was away from the team.
“That s–t’s no joke,” Thompson told reporters, including Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (Twitter link). “That was a battle. I had all the symptoms except losing my taste and smell, so at least I could enjoy my food.”
Thompson, 30, has appeared in 38 games (31 starts) in his first season with the Celtics, averaging 7.9 PPG and 8.3 RPG. While his production is down, Boston is happy to have some size back in the frontcourt, especially given Thompson’s postseason experience. In the meantime, Thompson is looking forward to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
“…I’m definitely going to get the vaccine as soon as I can get it,” Thompson said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link).
Check out more news and notes from the Atlantic Division:
- Celtics head coach Brad Stevens announced that trade deadline acquisition Evan Fournier will not travel with the team during its upcoming road trip, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link). Fournier has appeared in four games for the Celtics since being shipped to Boston, averaging 11.5 PPG off the bench, but is currently sidelined due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
- Alize Johnson‘s second 10-day pact with the Nets is ending this Sunday and it remains to be seen what the team does with him. Johnson said he wants to keep showing the club “that I belong and I wanna be here,” per NetsDaily. Brian Lewis of the New York Post breaks down the Nets’ upcoming decision on whether or not to keep Johnson.
- After missing a series of games due to an ankle injury, Landry Shamet is expected to return for the Nets on Saturday, Lewis writes in a separate story. Brooklyn has dealt with a series of injuries but are slowly seeing players return, including Kevin Durant after a two-month absence.
- While it remains unclear when it will happen, Sixers guard George Hill, whom the team acquired at the trade deadline, expects to return this season, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Twitter link). “No one knows the timetable yet,” Hill said. “But I will be back this season for sure. I will be back before playoffs for sure.”
Nets Notes: Jordan, Griffin, Durant, Big Three
Two big-name additions on the buyout market have cut into DeAndre Jordan‘s playing time, but the Nets aren’t considering buyout talks with the veteran center, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Jordan has played just 12 minutes in each of the last two games, with much of his time going to Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge. Even though Jordan has fallen down the rotation, Brooklyn appears content to keep him on the roster.
“It’s never been discussed,” one source told Lewis about the possibility of a buyout. “Nothing going on there,” another source added.
The 32-year-old center was part of the Nets’ 2019 free agent bonanza, joining the organization at the same time as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. He averaged 8.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game during his first season and was putting up similar numbers this year before Brooklyn added Griffin and Aldridge. Today marks the deadline that players must be waived to preserve their playoff eligibility with a new team.
“(Jordan’s) got to stay ready. Who knows when it might be? It might be Sunday. It might be in two weeks. But everyone’s got to continue to prepare and stay ready and see what happens,” coach Steve Nash said. “We’ve got a lot of centers. We’re going to work through it and see what our rotation is going to be come playoff time.”
There’s more on the Nets:
- Griffin believes he benefited physically from the time he spent preparing to return to the court after signing with Brooklyn, Lewis adds in the same story. The Nets had him work his way back into condition before he began playing again, and he has looked more like his old self, with five dunks in his seven games with the team. “From top to bottom this organization does an unbelievable job of taking care of their guys and thinking of everything,” Griffin said. “Just being able to come here and take a couple of weeks and get with the performance staff and work on the things they wanted me to work on was huge.”
- Durant was in top form Wednesday as he returned after a 23-game absence with a strained hamstring, notes Nick Friedell of ESPN. In 19 minutes, Durant made all five of his shots from the field and posted 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot. “I expected to come out here and play the way I played,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to ease into the game. I just wanted to go out there and dive right into the action.”
- Injuries to Durant, Irving and James Harden have limited their time playing together, which Nash admits is “not ideal” heading into the postseason, Lewis writes in a separate story. The three stars have only been available at the same time for seven games since Harden was acquired in January.
Steve Nash Hints That Nets Plan To Keep Alize Johnson
It sounds like the Nets will try to re-sign Alize Johnson when his second 10-day contract expires this weekend, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Speaking to reporters before tonight’s game, head coach Steve Nash said the organization has been very happy with the performance of the 24-year-old power forward.
“I think we feel pretty comfortable with what we have with Alize,” Nash said. “He’s been outstanding, works hard, plays with incredible energy. … We think he’s a player that can help us.”
Players are limited to two 10-day contracts with a single team during a season, so Brooklyn would have to sign Johnson for the rest of the season to keep him on the roster. The Nets still have their prorated taxpayer mid-level exception available and can use it to sign Johnson for up to three years, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.
Johnson has appeared in four games since coming to Brooklyn on March 22, averaging 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per night. He has scored in double figures in both games where he has received significant playing time, including a 23-point, 15-rebound outburst against the Jazz last month.
A second-round draft pick in 2018, Johnson spent his first two seasons with the Pacers, appearing in 31 total games. He was in training camp with the Raptors before the start of this season, but was waived in December.
Johnson signed his second 10-day deal with the Nets on April 1, so it will expire Saturday night.
Johnson Has Impressed On 10-Day Contracts
- While he doesn’t receive as much attention as his star teammates, Alize Johnson who’s currently on his second 10-day contract in Brooklyn, is providing the Nets with strong production. “There are some nights where it might not look like he’s showing up on the stat sheet, but he does all the little stuff all the time. And then when we need him to come up for us offensively, he typically does,” Nets guard Joe Harris said of Johnson, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.
Harden Out At Least 10 Days, Durant To Return Wednesday
APRIL 7: Durant will be available to play on Wednesday night, the Nets have confirmed (Twitter link).
APRIL 6: After nagging hamstring discomfort limited James Harden to just four minutes of action in yesterday’s defeat of the Knicks, a subsequent MRI has indicated that the All-Star Nets guard has a strained right hamstring, the team tweets. The club will reassess the injury in 10 days.
Before his attempted return to the floor Monday, Harden previously missed two games with what was initially diagnosed as hamstring tightness. Harden had edged his way into the league MVP conversation with his stellar play of late, but any extended absence could derail his chances. With Brooklyn, Harden is averaging a sparkling 25.4 PPG, 11.0 APG, 8.7 RPG, 1.3 SPG, and 0.7 BPG, with a solid shooting line of .467/.361/.867 on high volume.
Harden’s comportment in forcing his way off the Rockets likely poisoned the well somewhat among the league journalists who vote for year-end award honors, so earning a second such career honor this season would’ve been an uphill battle even before the injury. Harden’s subsequent play for his new team, however, had made him somewhat undeniable as one of the league’s best players.
Meanwhile, Harden’s fellow Nets All-Star Kevin Durant could rejoin the club from his own strained left hamstring injury as soon as Wednesday against the Pelicans, per Malika Andrews of ESPN. The team officially lists him as probable (via Twitter), but Andrews notes that internally the team anticipates that the forward will play. Durant has been inactive for Brooklyn since February 13.
Since the Nets traded for Harden in mid-January, the team’s three All-Stars (Harden, Durant and Kyrie Irving) have only played together in seven games. Despite this, the club has an Eastern Conference-best 35-16 record.
Harden joins a crowded backcourt injury tally. Head coach Steve Nash suggested on Monday that reserve guard Tyler Johnson could miss two-to-three weeks as he recovers from right knee soreness. Backup guard Landry Shamet has been unavailable since last week with a right ankle sprain. Spencer Dinwiddie continues to rehabilitate from a partially torn ACL and the team expects him to miss the rest of the 2020/21 season.
Nets’ Johnson Likely Out 2-3 Weeks, Harden Still Bothered By Hamstring
Prior to Monday’s game vs. the Knicks, the Nets announced that guard Tyler Johnson will require a “period of rehabilitation and strengthening” to address the soreness in his right knee, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post relays (via Twitter).
The club didn’t offer a specific timeline for Johnson’s recovery, indicating in its announcement that updates on his status would be provided as appropriate. However, speaking later to reporters, head coach Steve Nash suggested that it would likely be a “two-or-three week thing” (Twitter link via Lewis).
Johnson has been a reliable rotation player for Brooklyn this season, averaging 16.8 minutes per contest in 31 games. However, he’s obviously not nearly as crucial to the team’s ongoing success as James Harden, who is dealing with a leg injury of his own.
After missing two games due to right hamstring tightness, Harden returned to action on Monday night, but only played four minutes before experiencing discomfort in the same hamstring and leaving the game, per Malika Andrews of ESPN.
As Lewis writes for The New York Post, Nash said that a pregame scan on Harden’s hamstring was clean and that his strength tests were normal, so there’s no indication that there’s any structural damage. For now, Harden is considered day-to-day — after the game, Nash expressed uncertainty about whether the former MVP would have to miss much time.
“This may linger. It may be all behind us like we thought it was before the game,” Nash said. “But it’s just one of those things where the scan is clean, the strength tests are clean, but he feels something, so we’re going to err on the side of caution.”
The banged-up Nets are also missing guards Landry Shamet, who is day-to-day with an ankle injury, and Spencer Dinwiddie, who is expected to be sidelined for the rest of the season while recovering from ACL surgery.
On the plus side, star forward Kevin Durant, who has been out since February 13 with a hamstring injury of his own, is reportedly close to a return. And even while battling the injury bug, Brooklyn keeps winning. The team is currently 35-16, a half-game ahead of Philadelphia for the top seed in the East.