Lonzo Ball looked overmatched during his NBA debut against the Clippers as Patrick Beverley aggressively shut him down. Ball, 19, returned last night to post 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the Lakers‘ win against the Suns. Team president Magic Johnson spoke to USA Today before Ball’s debut and addressed his mindset before the game.
- The Clippers are finally (mostly) healthy and head coach Doc Rivers is eager to see how they perform together under the spotlight of the regular season, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes.
- According to president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, the Clippers view Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan as Clippers for life. The recently promoted executive spoke extensively about his role with Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register.
For the first time, NBA teams are permitted to carry up to 17 players this season. In addition to carrying up to 15 players to the NBA roster, teams can add two more players on two-way contracts. The rule changes related to roster sizes have allowed teams to maintain a little extra flexibility, and many clubs are taking advantage of that added flexibility to open the season, carrying the full 17 players.
Several teams still have open roster spots though, affording those clubs a different kind of flexibility. A team carrying only 14 NBA players, for instance, has the opportunity to sign a free agent or add a player in a trade at any time without waiving anyone, all the while avoiding paying for a 15th man who almost certainly won’t see much playing time.
With the help of our roster count page and our two-way contract tracker, here’s a breakdown of the teams that have at least one open NBA or two-way spot on their rosters:
Teams carrying just 14 NBA contracts:
- Boston Celtics
- Charlotte Hornets
- Detroit Pistons
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Portland Trail Blazers
It makes sense that a few of these teams would avoid carrying a 15th man to open the season. The Rockets, Thunder, and Trail Blazers are all taxpayers, and teams like the Clippers and Hornets are close enough to the tax threshold that avoiding a 15th salary is logical. Among these clubs, the Celtics seem like perhaps the best bet to fill their final roster opening soon, now that the team has likely lost Gordon Hayward for the season.
Teams carrying just one two-way contract:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Houston Rockets
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers don’t currently have a G League affiliate of their own, but the other five teams on this list do, so that’s probably not the reason Portland has waited to fill its second two-way slot. In all likelihood, these six teams will add a second two-way player in time for G League training camps, which open next week. The season tips off on November 3.
The Clippers were punished by injuries during preseason but regardless of the short-staffed lineups there were observations to be taken away, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. For one, star player Blake Griffin‘s toe appears to have held up despite his having undergone surgery for it in May.
“I haven’t had any problems,” Griffin said. “I haven’t sat out any practices. I haven’t had any restrictions. I didn’t really anticipate that. At the beginning of the season, I met with probably four of the top foot surgeons in the United States and I never anticipated sitting out [Clippers] training camp.”
- The reason Jerry West left his executive role with the Warriors to join up with the Clippers‘ front office is because he would have had to take a pay cut in the realm of $1MM. Daniel Mano of the Mercury News cites an excerpt from Jack McCallum’s book on California basketball.
- Offseason Clippers addition Willie Reed can have his misdemeanor domestic battery charge dismissed if he agrees to a diversion program, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes.
In his latest predictions feature, Zach Lowe of ESPN speculates that a number of players will be put on the block this season if not officially traded. Since we already know that there’s at least some truth to the oddly specific guess that the Timberwolves would trade Cole Aldrich for Jared Dudley, perhaps we should take a closer look at some of the rest.
Among the other trade predictions that Lowe makes is one that has the Raptors seeking to shop big man Jonas Valanciunas. Considering that the traditional Lithuanian center has been the subject of speculation over the course of the past few seasons, this one seems like rather low hanging fruit.
Similarly, Lowe makes the thoroughly uncrazy prediction that Eric Bledsoe will be on the move. What bonus points Lowe doesn’t earn for predicting a Bledsoe trade, however, he does earn for earmarking the Nuggets and Clippers as possible interested suitors. Alas Denver, it’s worth noting, is already rather backloaded at the guard positions.
Other players that come up in Lowe’s column include the likes Dennis Schroder, DeAndre Jordan and Tobias Harris.
There’s more from around the league:
- The NBA will name Michelle Johnson their new Senior Vice President and Head of Referee Operations, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. Johnson is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General.
- The NBA coaching community could soon have another recent league veteran join its ranks. As Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype writes, Kendrick Perkins – who played 11 seasons in the NBA – believes he would have plenty of options to accept a role on the sidelines.
- Only a few players from the 2014 NBA Draft class have landed sizable pay days and that’s for good reason, Mitch Lawrence of Forbes writes. Beyond players like Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, few have earned substantial rookie contract extensions. Only Marcus Smart, he writes, has been a notable contributor to an elite playoff team.
The Clippers reached the roster limit by waiving Marshall Plumlee, Ike Iroegbu and Tyrone Wallace, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
Plumlee was in camp on a non-guaranteed contract, hoping to win a spot as a third center behind DeAndre Jordan and Willie Reed. The 25-year-old spent part of last season with Knicks, appearing in 21 games, after going undrafted out of Duke. New York had interest in re-signing him, but Plumlee chose the opportunity with the Clippers.
Iroegbu, a 22-year-old point guard, signed with L.A. on Friday in a move designed to get him to the Clippers’ new G League affiliate. The Washington State alum went undrafted and played briefly with the Suns’ summer league team.
Wallace, 23, played for Utah’s G League affiliate last season after being the final pick in the 2016 draft. Even though he came to camp with the Clippers, his rights still belonged to the Salt Lake City Stars. However, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario made a trade to acquire Wallace’s rights earlier today.
Earlier today, we told you the Clippers opted to keep shooting guard C.J. Williams by converting his contract to a two-way deal. That will limit him to 45 days in the NBA this season.
With the regular season around the corner, the Clippers have decided to convert shooting guard C.J. Williams‘ NBA contract into a two-way deal, per Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Williams’ agreement with the Clippers included an Exhibit 10 clause, giving the club the opportunity to convert it into a two-way contract before the regular season begins. Los Angeles will have until Monday to make it official.
Williams, 27, was part of the Team USA squad that brought home gold at last month’s AmeriCup. He subsequently joined the Clippers for camp and got the chance to play in four preseason games for the team. On Friday night, he put up eight points, five assists, and four steals in a loss to the Lakers.
With Williams’ contract turning into a two-way deal, the Clippers will have a couple more roster moves to make before opening night. Ike Iroegbu and Tyrone Wallace are the most likely candidates to be waived, while Marshall Plumlee‘s status also remains uncertain.
Blake Griffin signed a long-term deal to stay with the Clippers this past offseason and when he signed on the dotted line, he became the undisputed face of a revamped franchise. Longtime point guard Chris Paul was traded to the Rockets, ending an era that saw the Clippers as perennial playoff contenders but also a team that never advanced past the first round.
In an interview with ESPN’s Sam Alipour, Griffin addressed the Clippers’ changed roster but said that change is not always a bad thing.
The Clippers signed point guard Ike Iroegbu to a deal on Friday, as reported by Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Iroegbu played for 17 minutes in the Clippers’ preseason finale against the Lakers, posting seven points, five rebounds and one assist.
Iroegbu, 22, spent the last four seasons at Washington State University. He appeared in 31 games in each of his four years at the school, averaging just under 10 points, three rebounds and three assists during his tenure. After going undrafted, Iroegbu participated in Afrobasket this year representing Nigeria and appeared in one game with the Suns during Summer League.
It is likely that the Clippers waive Iroegbu ahead of the deadline for teams to finalize rosters at 15 players. Signing and then waiving Iroegbu will give the Clips first dibs to make the young guard an affiliate player for their G League affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario.
- Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is impressed with rookie Sindarius Thornwell‘s toughness, which bodes well for his future with the team this season, Elliot Teaford of The Orange County Register writes.