Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jazz Sign Luka Samanic To 10-Day Deal

March 28th, 2023 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

2:39pm: The Jazz have officially signed Samanic to his 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release.

Brantley informed reporters that he isn’t getting a second 10-day contract from the Jazz, tweets Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. So the team still has one spot open on its 15-man roster.

10:05am: Big man Luka Samanic has agreed to sign a 10-day contract with the Jazz, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 19th overall pick in 2019, Samanic appeared in just 36 games in his first two NBA seasons with the Spurs, then was waived by San Antonio prior to the 2021/22 season. The Croatian spent much of last season on a two-way deal with New York, but didn’t appear in a game at the NBA level for the Knicks.

Samanic was in training camp with the Celtics this past fall, and while he didn’t earn a spot on Boston’s regular season roster, he became a key contributor for the Maine Celtics in the G League. The 23-year-old averaged a double-double (20.7 PPG, 10.9 RPG) in 17 Showcase Cup games and has carried his strong play over to the NBAGL regular season, putting up 22.0 PPG and 8.1 RPG in 27 contests (29.3 MPG).

The Jazz haven’t had a full roster in recent weeks and actually dipped to 13 players on standard contracts on Tuesday following the expiration of Jarrell Brantley‘s 10-day deal. If Brantley isn’t re-signed, Utah will still have a roster opening after officially adding Samanic.

Samanic will earn $109,318 on his 10-day contract with the Jazz. Assuming he puts pen to paper on Tuesday or Wednesday, his deal will cover Utah’s next five games.

Kevin Durant Expected To Return On Wednesday

March 28th, 2023 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 28: Barring a last-minute setback, Durant will return to action on Wednesday vs. the Timberwolves, Charania reports (via Twitter).

MARCH 24: Suns star Kevin Durant is making progress in his injury recovery and could potentially return to action next Wednesday in a home game vs. Minnesota, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Charania suggests that March 29 contest will be the target barring a setback in Durant’s rehab process.

Durant saw his Suns debut delayed while he recovered from an MCL sprain that he suffered as a member of the Nets. He eventually played his first game for Phoenix on March 1 and then suited up for the team’s next two games, all victories. However, prior to his fourth appearance as a Sun, he sprained his left ankle during warmups — he has been sidelined since then.

When they announced Durant’s diagnosis on March 9, the Suns said he would be reevaluated in three weeks, which would be on March 30. That’s a day after the new return target date reported by Charania. Still, March 29 would be three weeks since the day Durant sprained his ankle, and it’s worth noting that Charania’s reporting at the time of the injury suggested the Suns would reevaluate the 34-year-old in two weeks.

Assuming Durant is cleared to return next Wednesday, he would miss the Suns’ next three games but would be back with seven left on their schedule. That would give him more than enough time to get ramped up in advance of the postseason, even if he sits out one half of the club’s back-to-back set on April 6 and 7.

In addition to getting Durant up to speed for the playoffs, the Suns could also use him back in their lineup to secure a favorable postseason seed. Phoenix is currently fourth in the Western Conference at 38-34, but has lost five of seven games since Durant went down and only has a 2.5-game lead on the No. 11 Thunder.

Ben Simmons Ruled Out For Rest Of Season

March 28th, 2023 at 11:45am CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 28: The Nets are officially ruling out Simmons for the rest of the season and playoffs, Vaughn confirmed today (Twitter link via Alex Schiffer of The Athletic). Simmons will go through a rehab program for his back injury and is expected to make a full recovery, Vaughn added.

MARCH 25: The Nets are preparing for Ben Simmons to miss the remainder of the season, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

Talking to reporters before Saturday’s game, coach Jacque Vaughn admitted that Simmons is “probably not going to join us for the rest of the year,” although he added that a final decision won’t be made until Simmons meets with a back specialist. The former No. 1 overall pick is suffering from an impingement in his back, which happens when tissue or bone causes nerve fibers to compress.

“For me as a coach, there’s some things that I can control, some things that I can’t control,” Vaughn said. “What I can’t control is the impingement. What I can control is getting this group ready to play. And then in all honesty, the realism that he’s probably not going to join us for the rest of the year … certainty will come once he continues to be looked at by specialists.”

Simmons hasn’t played since February 15 because of his back condition, along with soreness in his left knee. He has been limited to 42 games in his first full season with the Nets, averaging career lows of 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists per contest. He’s shooting 56.6% from the field, but has connected at just 43.9% from the foul line and has missed his only two three-point attempts.

Simmons didn’t play at all last season because of physical and mental issues as well as a lingering dispute with the Sixers prior to being traded to Brooklyn. He will have a full offseason to try to regain the form that made him an All-Star in the previous three seasons.

Simmons has two years remaining on his contract at $37.9MM for next season and $40.3MM for 2024/25.

Nets Sign Moses Brown To Second 10-Day Contract

March 28th, 2023 at 8:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have brought back Moses Brown, announcing today that the center has signed a second 10-day contract with the club (Twitter link). Brown’s first 10-day deal expired overnight on Sunday.

Brown began this season on a two-way contract with the Clippers, appearing in 34 games as a backup center behind Ivica Zubac and averaging 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 8.5 minutes per night. He was in and out of the team’s rotation and slid further down the depth chart following L.A.’s trade-deadline acquisition of Mason Plumlee, eventually leading to his release when he reached the two-way limit of 50 active games.

Brown subsequently signed a two-way contract with the Knicks earlier this month, but was waived just four days later and made the move from one New York borough to another by signing a 10-day deal with Brooklyn.

During his first 10 days as a Net, Brown only appeared in one game, logging four minutes. Day’Ron Sharpe emerged as Jacque Vaughn‘s go-to backup center behind Nic Claxton during that time, so there was no real role available for Brown. However, it seems the team liked what it saw from the big man enough to bring him back for at least another week-and-a-half.

Brown’s second 10-day contract will run through April 6, covering Brooklyn’s next five games. If the Nets want to retain him beyond that, he’ll need to be signed for the rest of the season. However, it’s worth noting that because he was waived by New York this month, Brown isn’t playoff-eligible.

Sixers’ Embiid, Harden Out Monday In Denver

March 27th, 2023 at 8:21pm CST by Rory Maher

8:21pm: Harden has now been ruled out for Monday’s game as well, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The former MVP is targeting a return later this week after the Sixers return home, Woj adds.

1:10pm: Sixers star Joel Embiid is out for Monday’s matchup in Denver due to right calf soreness, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.

On a positive note for Philadelphia, guard James Harden, who has missed the past three games with Achilles soreness, is on track to play tonight, per ESPN.

According to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, Embiid — who was previously listed as questionable — tried to work out this morning, but the Sixers decided to be cautious with their best player. He recently spoke about the need for a day off to recover due to his nagging injuries and heavy workload.

“I’ve been playing a lot of minutes, I’ve been playing every single game.” Embiid said. “So to add to that, dealing with the calf and whatever the foot, I think at some point you gotta look at the bigger picture, which is the playoffs, obviously.”

It’s disappointing that Embiid will be unavailable for the highly anticipated matchup with the Nuggets and back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic, as the two centers are once again MVP frontrunners. Embiid recently played in back-to-back games — road losses at Golden State and at Phoenix — on Friday and Saturday. Still, being healthy for a potential playoff push is obviously much more important, as he mentioned.

In other Sixers health news, forward Danuel House (shoulder) participated in Monday’s shootaround and told reporters he was going to suit up on Monday (Twitter link via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer). House had missed the past two games with the injury.

NBA Rescinds Luka Doncic’s 16th Technical Foul

March 27th, 2023 at 12:31pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has rescinded Luka Doncic‘s 16th technical foul and he will not be suspended for Monday’s game at Indiana, the league announced (via Twitter). The Mavericks‘ star guard was originally issued the technical in the third quarter of Sunday’s loss at Charlotte.

After the game, crew chief Kevin Scott said the officials made the right call in assessing a technical on Doncic because he used profane language, per Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News.

“Doncic was assessed a technical foul for his use of profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review,” Scott said.

Apparently the NBA disagreed with Scott’s assessment.

Players are automatically suspended for one game without pay once they reach 16 technical fouls unless they are later rescinded, as is the case with Doncic. It would have been his first suspension, according to Caplan.

It remains to be seen whether Doncic will actually suit up for Monday’s game even though he won’t be suspended. It’s the second of a back-to-back, and he has only played in one out of five back-to-back sets this season. He also missed five games earlier this month with a left thigh strain, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he sat out, despite Dallas’ precarious spot in the standings.

The Mavs have lost seven of their past nine games — including four straight — to drop to 36-39, the No. 11 seed in the West. Losing two straight to the Hornets was particularly disappointing, as Charlotte has the fourth-worst record in the league and had multiple starters out with injuries in both games.

Doncic, who was fined $35K last week for “directing an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture” toward a referee, recently talked about his heightened level of frustration, not just with the team’s poor play, but due to personal issues as well.

Potential First-Round Pick Tyrese Proctor To Remain At Duke

March 27th, 2023 at 11:51am CST by Dana Gauruder

Duke freshman point guard Tyrese Proctor, a potential first-round pick, has opted to skip this year’s draft and return to college, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Adrian Wojnarowski report.

Proctor had moved up from No. 42 to No. 30 on ESPN’s latest Best Available list for this year’s draft. He was ranked No. 36 by Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman entering the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

“This is the best decision for my career, both present and future,” Proctor said. “Coach [Jon] Scheyer and I share the same vision; we have unfinished business. We have the best staff in the country, and they will push me each and every day.”

Duke won the ACC Tournament but fell in the second round of the NCAAs to Tennessee. Proctor was the team’s third-leading scorer at 9.4 points per game. He also averaged 3.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds while appearing in all 36 games.

The 6’5” Australian could move into the 2024 lottery with a strong sophomore campaign. He has dynamic shot-making ability, creativity as a play-maker and strong competitiveness defensively, according to Givony.

Proctor, still just 18, was originally scheduled to graduate high school at the NBA Global Academy in Australia this year. He elected to reclassify and enroll a year early at Duke.

Proctor has also decided not to compete for a spot on the Australian senior national team, which will participate in the FIBA World Cup in September. He’ll instead work on his skills this summer at Duke.

LeBron James Returns For Lakers On Sunday

March 26th, 2023 at 2:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers All-Star small forward LeBron James will make his first appearance in a month on Sunday afternoon against the Bulls, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

James had been on the shelf since suffering a right foot tendon injury against the Mavericks in late February. He has missed 27 games for the Lakers thus far this season, and had been sidelined for the past 13 straight. When he has played, he’s looked more or less like vintage LeBron, at least on offense. He’s averaging 29.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 6.9 APG and 0.9 SPG.

It had been previously reported that James would test his right foot during team warmups ahead of today’s contest to ultimately determine whether or not he would suit up for Los Angeles.

James will come off the bench today for just the second time in his 20-year NBA career, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN (via Twitter). Troy Brown Jr., who has proven himself as a capable starter in his stead, will get the nod once again as LeBron gets back up to speed. One would assume it’s only a matter of time until James reclaims his starting spot.

McMenamin tweets that starting L.A. point guard D’Angelo Russell will miss his second straight game with right hip soreness.

Knicks Sign DaQuan Jeffries To Multiyear Deal

March 26th, 2023 at 1:32pm CST by Luke Adams

1:32pm: The Knicks have confirmed the signing of Jeffries, announcing the move in a press release (via Twitter).

11:22am: Following the expiration of his second 10-day contract, swingman DaQuan Jeffries has agreed to sign a multiyear deal with the Knicks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Jeffries signed a pair of 10-day pacts with the Knicks this month in order to ensure that the team was carrying the NBA-mandated minimum of 14 players on standard contracts. He completed the second of those deals on March 16, so it expired overnight on Saturday.

Jeffries didn’t actually play at all for New York during his 20 days on the NBA roster, but the 25-year-old has been a standout performer for the Westchester Knicks in the G League this season.

He started 15 games for Westchester in the fall’s Showcase Cup, averaging 18.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .482/.280/.769 shooting in 33.1 minutes per night. Since the NBAGL’s regular season began, he has appeared in 21 more games, putting up 21.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 2.0 SPG with a shooting line of .492/.390/.683.

Jeffries’ new contract will presumably only run through the 2023/24 season, since the Knicks will have to sign him using either the minimum salary exception or room exception — neither exception can be used to sign a player for more than two years.

Once the signing is official, New York will once again be carrying 14 players on standard contracts, leaving one roster spot still open. Both of their two-way slots are full.

Warriors Won’t Pursue Grievance Against Trail Blazers

March 25th, 2023 at 3:34pm CST by Rory Maher

4:05pm: The Blazers released a statement confirming the news, tweets Aaron J. Fentress of The Oregonian.

“The Golden State Warriors have decided to not pursue a grievance against the Blazers over the Payton trade. We are moving on, and glad to put this behind us.”

3:34pm: The Warriors have decided not to pursue an NBA investigation against the Trail Blazers following the four-team trade at last month’s deadline, league sources tell Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

The trade was held up for multiple days after the Warriors failed Gary Payton II‘s physical due to an adductor injury, but they ultimately decided to go through with it.

Payton has yet to play for the Warriors since the trade, but he is officially listed as probable for Sunday’s game and he intends to play against Minnesota barring a last-minute setback, per Kendra Andrew of ESPN (Twitter links). The veteran guard will be on an undisclosed minutes restriction, Andrews adds.

Payton, who helped the Warriors win the championship in 2021/22, signed a three-year, $26.1MM contract with Portland last summer, but only appeared in 15 games for the Blazers after offseason adductor surgery. He started for Portland the day before the trade.

A formal league inquiry into the Portland’s alleged failure to provide sufficient medical information was expected to be opened, but according to Haynes, the Warriors have decided against that course of action. It certainly doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Haynes’ report coincides with Payton’s imminent return to the court.