Raptors Sign A.J. Lawson To Two-Way Contract
DECEMBER 11: The Raptors have officially announced Lawson’s two-way contract with the team.
DECEMBER 10: The Raptors have agreed to a two-way deal with free agent shooting guard A.J. Lawson, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
Lawson had an eventful training camp with the Mavericks. Dallas waived the 24-year-old Canadian and his non-guaranteed standard contract, then brought him back on a two-way deal after he cleared waivers. The Mavericks cut Lawson once again before the regular season and he subsequently joined the Long Island Nets in the NBA G League.
Lawson appeared in a total of 56 NBA games for the Mavericks during his two seasons with the team, including 42 in 2023/24. He averaged 3.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.4 minutes per contest and posted a shooting line of .457/.307/.548 at the NBA level.
Lawson has averaged 24.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game for the Long Island Nets this season.
Toronto opened up a two-way slot on Tuesday by waiving D.J. Carton, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury. Several Raptors regulars are dealing with injuries, including Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and Bruce Brown. The 6’6” Lawson will add depth to the wing positions.
Scottie Barnes Expected To Miss Several Weeks Due To Ankle Injury
9:56am: The Raptors have confirmed that Barnes’ right ankle injury is a sprain and have announced he’ll be reevaluated in one week. The press release from the team doesn’t provide a specific timeline for the forward’s return to the court.
9:26am: Raptors forward Scottie Barnes is expected to miss “several” weeks as a result of the right ankle injury he sustained on Monday, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Barnes injured his ankle in the third quarter of a home loss to the Knicks when he contested a Karl-Anthony Towns shot attempt near the basket — the two players got tangled up and Towns came down on Barnes’ foot (video link). The 2022 Rookie of the Year fell to the floor in obvious pain and was helped off the court by teammates before hopping to the locker room, unable to put weight on his right foot.
According to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), Barnes was in a walking boot on Tuesday and was expected to undergo more imaging on the injury, initially diagnosed as a right ankle sprain, with the Raptors expected to provide an update on Wednesday. I’d expect that formal update from the team will come soon, but Charania’s report makes it clear that Barnes is facing an extended absence.
It’ll be the second lengthy layoff already this season for Barnes, who missed 11 games over three-plus weeks in October and November due to a right orbital fracture.
Barnes has been extremely effective when healthy, averaging career highs in points (20.6), rebounds (8.4), and assists (7.4) per game in 14 outings (33.2 MPG). The Raptors have been more competitive when the 23-year-old has been available, going 5-9 with him and 2-9 without him this fall.
It’s a rebuilding season for Toronto, so Barnes’ absence isn’t the same sort of setback it would be for a team with championship or playoff aspirations — in fact, it might ultimately benefit the franchise in the long run if it helps the Raptors’ draft position. Still, it’s a disappointing development for a team that still hasn’t had a chance to see two of its cornerstone players – Barnes and Immanuel Quickley – play together this season.
Another extended absence will also have major financial implications for Barnes, who is now on track to fall short of the 65-game threshold in 2024/25, making him ineligible for end-of-season awards, such as All-NBA.
Given the Raptors’ place in the standings, an All-NBA nod was probably a long shot for Barnes anyway, but missing out on that honor will ensure that his maximum-salary rookie extension begins at 25% of the salary cap next season instead of 30%. That means it’ll be worth a projected $224MM over five years instead of $269MM.
Barnes’ injury will result in more offensive responsibilities for RJ Barrett and Gradey Dick, with Jonathan Mogbo, Chris Boucher, and Jamison Battle among the candidates for increased roles. Bruce Brown, who should make his season debut soon after undergoing offseason knee surgery, should also help fill the hole created by Barnes’ absence.
GM Rafael Stone: Rockets Not Looking To Make Big In-Season Trade
With the Heat said to be open to listening to inquiries on star forward Jimmy Butler, the Rockets have been identified multiple times as a possible landing spot for the Houston native. However, while Rafael Stone couldn’t address Butler specifically, the Rockets general manager made it clear during a SiriusXM NBA Radio appearance on Tuesday that he doesn’t plan to pursue a star on the trade market this season (Twitter audio link).
“Of course, my job is to be open to everything, so I’m not going to not do my job,” Stone said. “(But) we like this team. We definitely do not intend to change anything and I would be shocked if something changes this season.
“We like where we’re at. We want to continue to develop our guys, full stop. Will I listen to other teams? Of course I will, that’s my job. But again, there’s no part of me, there’s no part of our decision-making process that suggests that we’re looking to do anything big now or in the near term.
“We definitely want this group to be as good as it can be this year and then we’ll evaluate things at the end of the year. But the hope is very much that this core group can lead us to where we want to go and that – from a transactional perspective – we’re largely done.”
That messaging isn’t new. Reporting from both The Athletic and ESPN in recent weeks indicated the Rockets are spreading the word that they’re not interested in breaking up their core this season. Stone is now expressing that sentiment publicly and even taking it a step further, suggesting that Houston’s belief in its current roster is so strong that the team won’t be looking to shake up the roster even after this season.
Whether Stone and the Rockets stick that stance remains to be seen. It will depend in part on how the rest of the 2024/25 campaign plays out and how the club’s young players continue to develop.
Of course, Stone’s comments and the Rockets’ position could also be a negotiating tactic. That was one point that ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst made during their discussion about Houston’s plans on an episode of the Hoop Collective podcast last week.
“This is exactly what you do when you have 19 interesting trade assets, all these draft picks and all these young guys,” Bontemps said at the time. “You say, ‘Hey, every good thing we’ve got, we’re not sure we’re going to do anything with any of those.’ And then you start to negotiate.”
The 16-8 Rockets, the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, are loaded with valuable trade chips – including players and future draft picks – and are well equipped to make a major deal if the right player is available. Seven players on the roster were first-round picks in the past four drafts and are 23 or younger. Houston also controls an extra first-round pick and draft swap rights in both 2027 and 2029.
FIBA, NBA Discuss Potential European League
The NBA has put off expansion domestically in recent years but the league could expand its reach into Europe. There are reportedly serious conversations regarding an NBA-owned league in Europe that could initially compete with the EuroLeague and top pro leagues in individual countries, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon reports.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his office have had discussions with FIBA officials regarding the possibility of starting a new league overseas.
“There is clear interest (by the NBA) and there are ongoing discussions with FIBA,” Andreas Zagklis, the secretary general for FIBA. “We’ve been having and will continue having discussions with … the company that operates the EuroLeague. It is something that has been on our radar. We tried to bring everyone together. This was not possible. So our job is to continue having serious conversations with our partners at the NBA.”
As Vardon explains, the EuroLeague is a conglomerate of 18 teams comprising two tiers of franchises — 13 permanent members and five that must qualify. The permanent members are shareholders in the EuroLeague and operate under a license, but the license expires after the 2025/26 season.
Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul are mulling whether to allow their licenses to expire. Another European club, ALBA Berlin, would reportedly be excluded from becoming a permanent EuroLeague member if current licensing agreements are extended. Those four clubs have academy systems for developing players that are being studied by the NBA, Vardon adds.
Another issue that is being addressed between FIBA and the NBA regards a minor adjustment to the league’s calendar for the 2027/28 season.
The 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles begin July 14 of that year, approximately three weeks after Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Eight teams will qualify for the Olympics at the World Cup in 2027 but FIBA must host four qualifying tournaments shortly before the Olympics to decide the final four bids to Los Angeles.
FIBA scheduled those qualifying tournaments from June 26- July 2 in 2028. Teams in those qualifiers will undoubtedly have NBA players and FIBA would like to give those national teams a reasonable amount of prep time.
“We cannot play any later because of the Olympics, and we cannot play earlier because we don’t have the availability of the players,” Zagklis said. “The conversation with the NBA is there. I do not expect a major adjustment to their schedule. But if it is a question of one or two or three days, we’ve always been collaborating well and I think we will find a solution.”
Clippers’ Derrick Jones Out At Least Two Weeks With Hamstring Strain
Clippers forward Derrick Jones will be sidelined for at least a couple weeks after suffering a right hamstring strain, the team announced (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN).
Jones will be reevaluated in two weeks, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he misses additional time beyond that, given the nature of soft-tissue injuries.
According to Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points (Twitter link), Jones was ruled out for the remainder of Sunday’s game vs. Houston after experiencing soreness in the hamstring. He played 12 minutes in the loss.
Jones signed a three-year, $30MM contract with the Clippers over the offseason after playing a key role in helping Dallas make the NBA Finals last spring. He was off to a solid start in his first season in Los Angeles, averaging 10.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 1.3 SPG on .500/.417/.871 shooting through 25 games, all starts (25.0 MPG).
With Jones out, forwards Jordan Miller and Nicolas Batum saw an uptick in minutes vs. Houston. That figures to continue for at least the next two weeks.
In other injury news, James Harden (groin), Amir Coffey (shoulder contusion) and Mohamed Bamba (left knee) practiced today, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. All three players were sidelined on Sunday.
Head coach Tyronn Lue also provided an injury update on star forward Kawhi Leonard, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter links). Lue said that Leonard went through non-contact drills during Tuesday’s practice and he’ll remain out for Friday’s contest in Denver.
“He did offensive script, defensive work, just no contact. But he did pretty much everything else,” Lue said of Leonard (Twitter video link via McMenamin). “He looked good. He’s not playing this week but he’s getting better. … Just keep building up until he’s able to do contact. We’re not sure when that’s going to come.”
Pacers Actively Pursuing Backup Center
The Pacers are “actively pursuing” a center to back up starter Myles Turner, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Insider link).
At the start of the regular season, the Pacers expected offseason free agent addition James Wiseman to compete with former first-round pick Isaiah Jackson for minutes behind Turner. However, Wiseman suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in the regular season opener and Jackson sustained the same injury just nine days later.
Indiana signed journeyman center Moses Brown to a non-guaranteed deal in November and he appeared in nine games for the team before falling out of the rotation and being waived on Monday.
The Pacers now have an open spot on their 15-man roster and are operating approximately $2.2MM below the luxury tax line. That gives them the flexibility to trade for a player on a one-year, minimum-salary contract without becoming a projected taxpayer.
Charania doesn’t go into any detail on whether the Pacers have their eye on a specific player, but a number of centers who signed one-year minimum deals will become trade-eligible this Sunday. That group includes Thomas Bryant, Charles Bassey, Alex Len, and former Pacer Daniel Theis, among many others.
Indiana was awarded a $2.2MM disabled player exception for Jackson’s injury — it could be used to trade for a player on an expiring contract whose salary fits into the exception. There aren’t many centers who fit that bill – and who couldn’t simply be acquired using the minimum salary exception – but Jericho Sims is one example.
Trading for a player earning more than the minimum wouldn’t be out of the question for the Pacers, but it would likely mean sending out at least one player in order to stay below the tax line. Jackson, who is on a $4.4MM expiring contract, is one possible trade candidate who would make sense if Indiana targets a center in the $5MM range such as Nick Richards or Drew Eubanks.
Turner is averaging a career-high 31.9 minutes per game so far this season. In recent games, when he’s been off the floor, the Pacers have gone with small-ball lineups featuring multiple power forwards, including Pascal Siakam, Obi Toppin, and Jarace Walker.
Cavs’ Max Strus Nearing Season Debut
The Cavaliers have an NBA-best 21-4 record so far this season despite not yet having one of their five presumed starters available. According to Grant Afseth of RG.org, that fifth starter is on track to make his season debut later this week.
The expectation is that Cavs wing Max Strus will be available to suit up on Friday vs. Washington after recovering from the right ankle sprain that has sidelined him since before the regular season began, sources tell Afseth.
Strus initially sustained a hip contusion early in the preseason and was nearing a return from that injury when he sprained his ankle during an individual workout just days before the season opener.
Strus may not immediately reclaim his spot as Cleveland’s top small forward after starting 70 regular season games and 12 more playoff contests last season. Afseth suggests Strus will face a minutes restriction, and a previous report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com indicated the 28-year-old would likely come off the bench in his return.
“It’s like we signed a starting player to our team,”head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Strus’ impending return, per Afseth. “And now we’re going to have to figure out what that integration looks like, what the progression is… It’s a discussion with our performance team (about) what the minute build-up is going to look like.”
Strus was a solid contributor in his first year in Cleveland after signing a four-year, $62MM contract during the 2023 free agent period. He averaged 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game with a .351 3PT%. The Cavs are said to be eager to see what the veteran swingman looks like in Atkinson’s new up-tempo system.
Isaac Okoro (14 starts) and Dean Wade (nine starts) have been the primary replacements for Strus in the starting lineup so far this season. If and when Strus reclaims his starting spot and everyone’s healthy, they’ll be part of the second unit.
Nets Discussing Johnson, Finney-Smith, Schröder Trades; Warriors Have Interest
Nets veterans Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Dennis Schröder have all generated trade interest early this season, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Insider link), who reports that Brooklyn has begun to have exploratory discussions involving the trio.
The Warriors are among the clubs that have expressed interest in those three players, sources tell Charania, who adds that rival teams believe Golden State is willing to use De’Anthony Melton‘s $12.8MM expiring contract and draft assets in a trade. Melton suffered a season-ending ACL injury last month.
While the wording of Charania’s report suggests Golden State has expressed interest in all three of those Nets trade candidates, Johnson looks to me like a less likely target for the Warriors. He has a $22.5MM cap hit and another $4.5MM in unlikely incentives that count toward the tax aprons, which could be problematic for a Warriors team operating right up against its hard cap.
Besides being a complicated fit from a salary perspective, Johnson is the player (of those three Nets) whose skill set overlaps least with Melton’s, so if Golden State is seeking a replacement for its injured guard, he’s not an obvious fit. But he’s off to a great start this season — his 18.8 points per game, 48.8% field goal percentage, and 43.4% three-point percentage would all be career highs.
Finney-Smith ($14.9MM) and Schröder ($13MM) have salaries in the range of Melton’s and have more in common with the 26-year-old guard on the court. Finney-Smith is a solid, versatile defender capable of knocking down three-point shots (a career-best 43.2% this season), while Schröder is a talented ball-handler, scorer, and play-maker whose 38.5% three-point rate and 2.5 three-pointers per game this season are career highs.
Besides having more modest cap hits, Finney-Smith and Schröder also have shorter-term contracts than Johnson. Schröder will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025 while Finney-Smith can join him by turning down his 2025/26 player option worth $15.4MM. Johnson’s contract runs through the 2026/27 season.
The Nets project to have the most cap room of any NBA team during the 2025 offseason, so they’ll likely try to avoid taking on multiyear contracts in any deal involving Finney-Smith and/or Schröder.
Besides registering interest in role players like the Nets’ trio, the Warriors remain interested in adding a star – ideally a play-maker and scorer – who could complement Stephen Curry, Charania reiterates.
Charania made a similar point during an NBA Today appearance last week, noting that Golden State will try to determine in the two months leading up to the February 6 trade deadline whether forward Jonathan Kuminga can become that sort of impact player or whether the club will need to keep trying to acquire a star via trade. The Warriors expressed trade interest over the summer in both Paul George and Lauri Markkanen.
Heat Open To Listening To Offers For Jimmy Butler
The Heat are open to listening to trade inquiries on star forward Jimmy Butler and making a deal if they get an offer they like, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Insider link).
Reporting in the wake of Miami’s elimination from the 2024 playoffs indicated that Butler would be seeking a maximum-salary extension during the offseason. Asked about that possibility during his end-of-season press conference, president of basketball operations Pat Riley expressed reluctance to make that sort of financial investment in a player “unless you have someone who is going to be available every night,” a reference to Butler’s injury issues in recent seasons.
Butler subsequently decided to put off extension discussions and remain with the Heat rather than pushing for a trade.
As Charania writes, the 35-year-old still has a strong affinity for Miami and has been professional throughout this season, but with the Heat having hovered around play-in territory for the last couple years and Butler potentially reaching free agency at season’s end, the front office has been “open-minded” about trade inquires.
According to Charania, Butler’s agent Bernie Lee has made it clear in league circles that Butler would be open to destinations like the Rockets, Mavericks, and Warriors. While Butler is a Texas native, his top priority in the event of a trade is believed to be joining a team capable of contending for a championship.
Teams, including the Heat, have been informed that Butler intends to turn down his $52.4MM player option for the 2025/26 season in order to become a free agent next summer, sources tell ESPN. Still, given that few teams project to have significant cap room in 2025, the club that has Butler on its roster at the end of the season would likely be the favorite to re-sign him, since that club would hold his Bird rights.
Butler has missed five games for health reasons so far this season, but has been effective in his 17 outings, averaging 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 32.1 minutes per game, with a .557/.360/.787 shooting line. The Heat have gone 10-7 in the games he has played and have a record of 2-3 when he’s been out.
Raptors Star Scottie Barnes Suffers Right Ankle Injury
Raptors star Scottie Barnes exited Monday’s game against the Knicks with what the team called a right ankle sprain, according to ESPN’s News Services. However, there is concern that the injury to his right ankle and foot could be more severe.
Barnes was helped off the court by teammates before hopping to the locker room, unable to put weight on his right foot. The injury occurred when he contested Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns‘s shot during the third quarter and Towns came down on Barnes’ foot near the basket (video link).
Initial X-rays were negative, according to head coach Darko Rajakovic, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. However, it’s anticipated Barnes will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the injury. He’ll be reevaluated on Tuesday morning, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet adds (via Twitter).
Barnes has already missed 11 games this season due a right orbital fracture. He entered the game averaging 21 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.8 assists per contest.
Barnes signed a five-year max extension and the contract’s value would increase if he made an All-NBA team this season. However, another extended absence would extinguish any chance of that happening due to the 65-game rule.