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Blazers Announce Injury Updates On Henderson, Holiday

November 21st, 2025 at 7:49pm CST by Rory Maher

While third-year guard Scoot Henderson has made progress in his recovery from a torn left hamstring, he will be sidelined for at least two-to-four more weeks, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, the Trail Blazers announced in a press release.

The update on the former No. 3 overall pick was expected, as Henderson recently told Jason Quick of The Athletic that his return wasn’t imminent and his return to basketball activities was considered “week to week.” The 21-year-old point guard initially sustained the injury in late September during a workout before training camp.

Veteran guard Jrue Holiday, who was initially questionable for Friday’s contest at Golden State prior to being ruled out for his fourth straight game (Twitter link), will miss at least one more week with a right calf strain. According to the Blazers, the two-time All-Star will be checked out again in one-to-two weeks.

Holiday, a six-time All-Defensive member, was off to a solid start in his first season with Portland prior to the injury, averaging 16.7 points, 8.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals on .446/.365/.840 shooting in 12 games (33.4 minutes per contest).

While the press release doesn’t say anything about shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe, he will missed Friday’s game as well. It will be the high-flying Canadian’s second consecutive absence. Sharpe is, at least for now, considered day-to-day, writes Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link).

The Trail Blazers have been hit hard by backcourt injuries this fall. Henderson has yet to play in 2025/26; Blake Wesley is expected to miss extended time after undergoing foot surgery earlier this month; Matisse Thybulle is three weeks removed from thumb surgery which was expected to sideline him for four-to-six weeks; and Damian Lillard is out for the season with a torn Achilles, though the front office knew that when it re-signed Portland’s all-time leading scorer.

After a 5-3 start, the Blazers have dropped six of their past seven games and are currently 6-9.

“It’s just part of the game,” acting head coach Tiago Splitter said earlier this week, per Highkin. “We’ve got to adapt a little bit, and we will. Find ways to win basketball games just like everybody else. You’ve seen all the guys that are out lately [around the NBA], and the teams that adapt better to those situations are the teams that do well. So that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Highkin takes a look at some options the team might consider in the wake of all the guard injuries, including applying for a hardship exception. It’s unclear if the Blazers would be granted the exception, Highkin notes, as it will depend on how much more time Thybulle is expected to miss.

Pistons’ Jaden Ivey Could Make Season Debut Saturday

November 21st, 2025 at 6:21pm CST by Rory Maher

Pistons guard Jaden Ivey has been listed as questionable for Saturday’s game in Milwaukee, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic.

Ivey’s injury designation is “return to competition reconditioning,” which suggests he’s fully recovered from the right knee discomfort he experienced during the preseason. The former No. 5 overall pick underwent arthroscopic surgery on October 16 to address that knee pain.

As Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press notes (via Twitter), this is the first time Ivey has not been ruled out before a game this season.

Ivey, who will be a restricted free agent next summer, resumed on-court work last week and was assigned to the team’s G League affiliate (the Motor City Cruise) a few days ago with the goal of ramping up his conditioning.

The former Purdue star hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since New Year’s Day, when he suffered a fractured left fibula. He recovered from that injury over the offseason, then experienced the right knee issue — which the team said was unrelated to his broken left leg — this fall.

In 30 appearances last season, Ivey averaged 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 29.9 minutes per contest, posting a shooting slash line of .460/.409/.733. The 40.9% mark from long distance was a career-best percentage by a significant margin.

Despite multiple key rotation players missing time early on this season, the Pistons have had a terrific start to the 2025/26 campaign. They’ve won 11 straight games and hold the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 13-2 record.

Veteran forward Tobias Harris, who has missed the past nine games with a high right ankle sprain, is also questionable for tomorrow’s matchup at the Bucks.

Hornets’ Brandon Miller To Return Saturday

November 21st, 2025 at 4:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Former No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller, who has missed the past 13 games (and most of a 14th) with a partially dislocated left shoulder, is not on the Hornets‘ injury report (Twitter link) ahead of Saturday’s contest against the Clippers, which means he has been cleared to return to action.

Miller sustained a left shoulder subluxation in the second quarter of Charlotte’s second game of the season after a solid opener in which he recorded 25 points and seven assists. he made 74 appearances as a rookie, but was limited to just 27 games last season due a right wrist injury, which required surgery.

Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer reported that the injury occurred when Miller slipped while trying to fight through a screen. The guard/forward resumed basketball activities on Monday and practiced with the Hornets’ G League club, the Greensboro Swarm.

Miller, who turns 23 years old on Saturday, holds career averages of 18.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists on .428/.364/.832 shooting splits over 103 NBA appearances (32.5 minutes per game). He’s considered an important part of Charlotte’s core and will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the 2026 offseason.

Fifth-year guard Tre Mann, who has gotten off to a slow start this fall, exited Monday’s game with left ankle soreness and then missed Wednesday’s loss in Indiana. Mann is questionable to suit up tomorrow, per the Hornets.

After a 2-1 start, the Hornets have dropped 10 of their past 12 games. They’re currently 4-11, the No. 12 seed in the East.

Hornets’ Ball, Lee Address LaMelo Trade Rumors

November 21st, 2025 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

After a report on Thursday indicated that LaMelo Ball would be open to a trade out of Charlotte, the Hornets point guard responded on social media by posting a clown emoji. During a media session on Friday, Ball expanded on his reaction, telling reporters that he “loves being here” and explaining why he felt the need to respond to the trade rumor, as Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer relays.

“It didn’t come from me,” Ball said. “The source wasn’t me, so it’s false info. Got to let them know. I really don’t like commenting on stuff, but it got too big. … It was (spreading) so much, they were making headlines. Bleacher Report and this and that. So I didn’t want it to keep going on.”

Head coach Charles Lee was pleased to hear his star point guard publicly affirm his commitment to Charlotte.

“I’m glad to hear what he had to say because I would echo a lot of same things,” Lee said, per Boone. “Our relationship, our ability to have communication between myself, Melo and (president of basketball operations) Jeff (Peterson), it’s really hot. And I think that he’s always communicated to us. He wants to build this thing with us. He understands what it’s going to take to try to win and who we need in the building and stuff. So I think that he is just committed to Charlotte. He’s talked about how much he loves the city and the fans and that’s all I ever hear and that’s all.”

Since Ball arrived in Charlotte in 2020, the team hasn’t made the playoffs and has posted just one winning season (43-39 in 2021/22). The Hornets are coming off a 19-63 performance, their worst in two decades, and are off to a slow start this fall, with four wins in their first 15 games.

Ball’s injury history has played a part in Charlotte’s struggles. Plagued by ankle injuries, among other health issues, he has appeared in 36, 22, and 47 regular season games during the past three years and has missed six contests this month. However, he has played at an All-Star level when healthy, and the Hornets have actually been pretty solid when he’s on the court in 2025/26, with a +4.2 net rating in 282 minutes.

It’s enough for Ball to insist he still believes in the Hornets’ ability to turn things around.

“We are in some downs right now, but we are definitely going to go up,” he said on Friday. “I’m still confident in this whole group and everybody here.”

Pacers Retain Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Waive Monte Morris

November 21st, 2025 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

November 21: The Pacers have officially signed Robinson-Earl and waived Morris, the team confirmed today in a press release. As we outlined in a separate story, Indiana also added Garrison Mathews on a 10-day hardship contract.

November 20: The Pacers intend to re-sign forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to a non-guaranteed contract as his second 10-day deal concludes, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the team will waive point guard Monte Morris in order to create room on its 15-man roster.

The Pacers were able to sign Robinson-Earl to a pair of 10-day deals because they qualified for a hardship exception, which allows a team to temporarily exceed the usual 15-man limit. The NBA awards a hardship exception to a club if it has at least four injured players who have missed three consecutive games and are projected to miss at least two more weeks.

Indiana may still have four players who meet that criteria, with Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles), Obi Toppin (foot), Aaron Nesmith (knee), and Kam Jones (back) all sidelined. However, a team can’t sign the same player to a third hardship contract, so the Pacers have to move Robinson-Earl to the standard roster in order to retain him beyond his current 10-day deal, which will expire on Thursday night.

Robinson-Earl, 25, has appeared in 10 games and made three starts since joining the Pacers, averaging 5.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per contest. The fifth-year veteran is shooting just 36.4% from the floor and Indiana is being outscored by 15.7 points per 100 possessions during his time on the court, but the club likes what it has seen from the former Pelican enough to keep him around for at least a little while longer.

According to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link), Robinson-Earl will sign a two-year, minimum-salary deal. His salary for this season would become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract beyond January 7, and he’ll have a non-guaranteed team option for 2026/27.

If Indiana still qualifies for a hardship exception, the team could sign a new player to a 10-day contract once Robinson-Earl has officially been moved to the standard roster. While Morris theoretically could be that player, he would have to clear waivers first and didn’t make much of an impact in his first six games with the Pacers, averaging 3.0 points and 1.5 assists in 10.8 minutes per night, with a .350/.250/.500 shooting line.

Fischer: Hornets ‘Not Actively Looking To Move’ LaMelo Ball

November 20th, 2025 at 10:35pm CST by Rory Maher

Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports reported on Thursday that LaMelo Ball has become “increasingly frustrated” with the Hornets and is open being traded to a new team. Iko, citing league sources, also wrote that Charlotte’s front office had grown “disillusioned” with the star point guard and was open to a deal as well.

NBA insider Jake Fischer has heard differently. In his latest Bleacher Report live stream (YouTube link), Fischer said he made several calls on Thursday regarding Ball’s situation with the Hornets, and while rival teams are “hoping” and “preparing” as though the 23-year-old may become available prior to the February 5 deadline, that is not currently the case.

“I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Hornets are not actively looking to move LaMelo Ball any time soon,” Fischer reported.

Fischer went on to say that several key members of the organization — including Ball, coaches and front office executives — want to get a better idea of what the team looks like when Brandon Miller returns to action before making any type of drastic changes.

“LaMelo Ball is not asking out, to my understanding,” Fischer said. “And the Hornets are not actively looking to trade him by any stretch right now.”

According to Fischer, Ball isn’t the only former All-Star point guard that rival teams are monitoring: Ja Morant of the Grizzlies and Trae Young of the Hawks — both of whom are injured at the moment — fall into that category as well.

Fischer’s Stein Line colleague Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack story that the Hornets, Grizzlies and Hawks have each denied that they’re willing to listen to offers for their maximum-salary guards. Yet Stein also hears rival clubs are skeptical of that posturing and think that Ball, Morant and/or Young could indeed be on the market in the coming months.

Pacers Sign Garrison Mathews To 10-Day Contract

November 20th, 2025 at 5:30pm CST by Luke Adams

5:30 pm: Mathews’ 10-day hardship deal is now official, the Pacers announced in a press release.

11:21 am: The Pacers are planning to sign free agent wing Garrison Mathews to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Known primarily as an outside shooter, Mathews has appeared in 314 total NBA regular season games since debuting in 2019, averaging 6.5 points in 17.5 minutes per game and making 38.2% of his career attempts from beyond the arc for Washington, Houston, and Atlanta.

After spending the past two-and-a-half seasons with the Hawks, Mathews signed a non-guaranteed training camp contract this offseason with the Knicks in the hopes of earning a spot on their regular season roster. However, the 29-year-old was beaten out by fellow swingman Landry Shamet, resulting in New York waiving him at the end of the preseason last month. Mathews has been a free agent since then.

As we outlined in a separate story earlier today, the Pacers are currently carrying Jeremiah Robinson-Earl using a hardship exception, but his second 10-day contract is about to expire, so the team is signing him to a new two-year deal in order to retain him. Monte Morris will be waived to create room on the 15-man roster for Robinson-Earl.

A player isn’t permitted to sign a third 10-day contract with the same team, which is why Robinson-Earl is being moved to the standard roster, but the Pacers remain eligible for a hardship exception, which is granted when at least four players have missed three or more consecutive games and are projected to be out for at least two more weeks. Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles), Obi Toppin (foot), Aaron Nesmith (knee), and Kam Jones (back) all appear to fit that bill for Indiana.

Mathews will earn $165,197 over the course of his 10 days with the Pacers, while the team takes on a cap hit of $131,970.

Domantas Sabonis Out At Least 3-4 Weeks With Torn Meniscus

November 20th, 2025 at 5:12pm CST by Rory Maher

Kings center Domantas Sabonis has been diagnosed with a partially torn meniscus in his left knee and will be sidelined for at least three-to-four weeks, which is when he’ll be reexamined, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (story via ESPN’s Anthony Slater).

The Kings formally confirmed the news in a press release. According to the team, Sabonis experienced knee soreness after Sunday’s game in San Antonio and subsequently underwent an MRI, which revealed the meniscus tear.

It’s brutal timing for the Kings, who will get starting forward Keegan Murray back on Thursday after he missed the first 15 games of the season following thumb surgery.

As Slater observes, Sabonis has dealt with multiple injuries this fall, having previously missed three games due to hamstring and rib issues. The three-time All-Star was sidelined for Wednesday’s loss in Oklahoma City as well.

The 3-12 Kings are in a tailspin, having lost seven straight games for the first time since 2021/22, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. All seven losses have come by double digits, Slater notes.

Despite another loss on Wednesday, head coach Doug Christie came away encouraged by the Kings’ effort level, according to Anderson.

“The level of compete the guys brought I thought was really, really high level,” Christie said. “That’s what we need to get ourselves out of where we’re at, and if we do that on a night-to-night basis, most nights in the NBA you give yourselves a chance to win. This was the world champs and there were eight, nine minutes left, and they found themselves right there.”

With Sabonis out for at least 10 games, Precious Achiuwa, Drew Eubanks and Maxime Raynaud are among the frontcourt members who could have expanded roles for Sacramento.

Hornets’ LaMelo Ball Reportedly Open To Trade

November 20th, 2025 at 5:10pm CST by Rory Maher

5:10 pm: For what it’s worth, Ball responded to Iko’s report (via Twitter) with a clown face emoji.

4:39 pm: After losing to Indiana on Wednesday, a defeat in which he was benched for the final 4:32 of the fourth quarter, LaMelo Ball has become “increasingly frustrated” with the Hornets and is open to being traded to a new team, multiple league sources tell Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports.

The Pacers entered Wednesday’s game with a 1-13 record and picked up their second victory of the season over the Hornets, who have dropped four straight and are now 4-11. Ball finished the game with 18 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes, but shot just 5-of-21 from the floor and committed six turnovers.

The third overall pick in the 2020 draft, Ball won the Rookie of the Year award in 2021 and was named to his first and only All-Star team in 2022. The 6’7″ point guard’s career has been derailed by a series of ankle injuries over the past few years. He played just 105 out of a possible 246 regular season games in the three seasons leading up to 2025/26.

Ball has gotten off to a rocky start this season, having missed six games due to a right ankle impingement and struggling with offensive efficiency. Still, Iko points out that Charlotte has been much better when Ball is playing and has struggled mightily when he’s not on the court.

According to Iko, one point of contention for Ball is his desire to play in a more uptempo offense — the Hornets currently rank 20th in the NBA in pace.

It sounds like the frustration goes both ways. Charlotte’s front office has grown “disillusioned” with Ball, no longer views him as a long-term cornerstone and is open to a trade as well, Iko reports.

[UPDATE: Fischer: Hornets ‘Not Actively Looking To Move’ LaMelo Ball]

As Iko writes, while Ball is still young and undeniably talented, it’s unclear how much interest he would generate if he’s made available, given his lengthy injury history, lucrative long-term contract, and “whispers” about the way he behaves on the court. Ball is on a maximum-salary deal which will pay him approximately $168.7MM over the next four years.

Lakers Removing Joey, Jesse Buss From Front Office Roles

November 20th, 2025 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Two members of the Buss family are having their front office roles with the Lakers terminated as the organization restructures its basketball operations department, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the team is removing Joey Buss and Jesse Buss from their respective positions.

Joey Buss had held the titles of alternate governor and VP of research and development, while Jesse Buss was an assistant general manager.

“We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons,” the brothers said in a statement to Charania. “Thank you to Laker Nation for embracing our family every step of the way. We wish things could be different with the way our time ended with the team. At times like this we wish we could ask our Dad what he would think about it all.”

The late Jerry Buss, father to Joey and Jesse, owned the Lakers until his passing in 2013. At that time, his stake in the team passed to his six children, with Jeanie Buss taking his place as Lakers governor. Since then, the children haven’t always seen eye to eye on how the organization should be run.

Two other siblings, Jim Buss and Johnny Buss, reportedly attempted to oust Jeanie from the Lakers’ board of directors in 2017 after she removed Jim from his position in the Lakers’ front office. A legal battle at the time resulted in an agreement that Jeanie would be the controlling owner and head of the team’s board of directors for as long as the family owned the Lakers.

The Buss family agreed to sell its controlling interest in the franchise to minority owner Mark Walter earlier this year for a record-setting valuation of $10 billion, with reporting at the time indicating that the vote among the Buss siblings on that decision wasn’t unanimous. Joey and Jesse voted against the sale, Charania said during a Thursday appearance on NBA Today (Twitter video link).

The sale to Walter was formally approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors last month.

The Buss family continues to hold a reported 15% stake in the Lakers, with Jeanie retaining the title of team governor for the time being. According to Charania, Joey and Jesse will still have their minority shares in the franchise despite no longer having roles in the basketball operations department.

As Charania notes, Joey and Jesse have been involved in the scouting department for the past decade while also contributing to personnel decisions. Charania reported in September that the two brothers – perhaps recognizing that they wouldn’t remain in their roles in the Lakers’ front office under new ownership – were launching an investment firm called Buss Sports Capital.

Much of the rest of the Lakers’ scouting staff has also been let go as part of the organizational changes, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.