Damian Lillard Returns To Action Sunday
DECEMBER 4: As expected, Lillard is playing against Indiana tonight, Haynes tweets.
NOVEMBER 29: Trail Blazers perennial All-Star Damian Lillard is targeting a Sunday return from a leg injury, Chris Haynes reported during TNT’s Tuesday broadcast of the Clippers-Blazers game (video link). Portland begins a four-game homestand against the Pacers that night.
Lillard was diagnosed on Nov. 20 with a Grade 1 strain to the soleus muscle in the right lower leg. He was injured the previous night against Utah.
Lillard, who is averaging 26.3 points and 7.0 assists per game this season, also missed four contests earlier this season due to a calf strain. He sat out a majority of last season due to a core muscle issue.
Thus far during Lillard’s latest absence, the Blazers have lost to Milwaukee, Cleveland and Brooklyn and defeated New York in overtime. All those contests were on the road.
Following the Clippers’ matchup, Portland head out on the road again to play the Lakers on Wednesday and Utah on Saturday.
Hawks’ Trae Young Sat Out Friday After Tense Exchange With Coach Nate McMillan
Tensions have risen between Hawks star guard Trae Young and coach Nate McMillan, highlighted by a disagreement on Friday that led to Young choosing not to play against Denver on Friday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Sam Amick report.
According to Charania and Amick, Young and McMillan had a verbal exchange during the Hawks’ shootaround prior to the game. As Young received treatment on his right shoulder, McMillan asked him whether he would participate in the shootaround, then receive treatment during the walk-through and play against the Nuggets. Young told McMillan he wanted to miss the shootaround to focus on his treatment and decide later on whether he could play.
McMillan was unhappy Young didn’t participate in the shootaround and told Young he could either play off the bench that night or not show up to the arena. Young chose the latter, with the team officially ruling his absence due to right shoulder soreness.
The team didn’t take any disciplinary action against its franchise player. Young practiced fully on Sunday and will play on Monday against the Thunder.
McMillan on Sunday told reporters that it was a simple miscommunication between him and Young.
However, this has hardly been the only issue regarding McMillan and his players this season, according to The Athletic duo. The Hawks have held multiple team meetings already to resolve various conflicts.
For now, McMillan’s job appears safe. He signed a four-year contract to become the franchise’s full-time head coach after leading the Hawks to the conference finals as an interim coach in 2021. Both Young and McMillan are cognizant of the fact they’ll need to improve their relationship in order for the franchise to become a serious contender again.
In the meantime, Young’s leadership is under scrutiny since he also played a role in Lloyd Pierce’s dismissal, which led to McMillan replacing him. Young is in the first year of a five-year max extension.
The Hawks are looking to make a significant trade to improve their prospects of making a run. They’ve been shopping forward John Collins, who is currently sidelined with an ankle sprain. The Nets are among the teams who have expressed interest.
Dean Wade Expected To Miss 3-4 Weeks With Shoulder Injury
DECEMBER 4: The Cavaliers have issued an official update on Wade, announcing in a press release that he’s expected to be out for approximately three or four weeks due to an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder.
DECEMBER 3: Starting Cavaliers small forward Dean Wade had to exit Cleveland’s 107-96 victory over the Magic on Friday after aggravating a prior left shoulder injury, tweets Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.
Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game that Wade had been playing through the ailment for weeks, Russo adds (Twitter link). After Wade was hit in the shoulder Friday, “it was too much,” according to Bickerstaff, who suggests the impact seems to have compounded the injury.
Now, sources inform Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (via Twitter) that Wade may be sidelined for several weeks due to the shoulder issue.
In 17 games this season, Wade is averaging 6.4 PPG on .452/.411/.692 shooting splits, along with 4.1 RPG, 1.0 APG and 0.7 SPG, across 24.1 MPG.
Wade’s two-way play had made him Bickerstaff’s eventual pick for the only starting slot in question at the start of training camp. With the oft-injured 26-year-old now once again unavailable, it seems that Lamar Stevens, Caris LeVert, and Isaac Okoro could be in line for bumps in minutes. Prior to Wade’s recent promotion to starter status, Stevens had been the team’s starting small forward for the 15-8 Cavaliers, currently the East’s third seed.
Blazers’ Nassir Little Out Six Weeks With Hip Fracture
Forward Nassir Little exited Tuesday’s loss to the Clippers with what was initially deemed a right hip strain. Further imaging revealed that Little had sustained a mild femoral head impaction fracture, and he’s expected to miss six weeks, the Trail Blazers announced in a press release.
Little, 22, signed a four-year, $28MM rookie scale extension before the 2022/23 season started (it kicks in next season). Through 21 games (15.3 minutes per night) for Portland, he’s averaging 5.5 points and 2.4 rebounds on .473/.372/.667 shooting.
Part of the reason Little accepted a relatively team-friendly deal is because he wanted “security” and “peace of mind.” But he also admitted that his injury history had played a factor.
“I’m not gonna lie, I think my talent level is worth more than that,” Little said of his $28MM contract. “But with me having an injury history, and them still taking a chance on me, I want to be here. I’ll probably perform at a level that’s worth more than that, but being in Portland is what I want.”
Little was having a breakout third season in ’21/22 but it came to an early end when he underwent surgery on February 1 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. In May, he underwent abdominal surgery to repair a core muscle injury.
Overall, he averaged 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds on .460/.331/.734 shooting in 42 games (25.9 MPG) last season.
The Blazers are dealing with several injured players at the moment (Twitter link). In addition to Little, second-year guard Keon Johnson (left hip pointer), star guard Damian Lillard (right soleus strain), and guard Gary Payton II (return to competition conditioning) are out Saturday at Utah, while wing Josh Hart (left ankle sprain) is doubtful and center Drew Eubanks (right hip contusion) is questionable.
Lillard is reportedly targeting a Sunday return at home against Indiana.
Payton, a key free agent addition, has yet to play this season after undergoing core muscle surgery in September. It was initially thought that he’d be available for the start of the regular season, but his progress has been slower than anticipated. The last update on his status was two weeks ago.
Portland had a great start to the season, going 10-4, but has lost seven of its past eight games to currently hold an 11-11 record, the 10th seed in the West.
Lakers Considering Dealing Beverley, Nunn, Draft Picks
The Lakers are “leaning toward” trading “some combination of Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn and picks (one first-round and/or multiple second-round picks) for role players” in order to upgrade the rotation, multiple team sources tell Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
Going that route would still give the Lakers the flexibility to move Russell Westbrook and another first-rounder closer to the deadline, Buha writes.
The Lakers are still contemplating offering a Westbrook and pick(s) package to land a “star or multi-player haul,” according to Buha, but that option is considered less likely than a smaller deal involving Beverley and/or Nunn plus picks.
Buha reported earlier this week that the Lakers are looking to upgrade their perimeter shooting and size. Any deal(s) would likely occur after December 15, when most free agents signed in the offseason become trade-eligible.
Considering the Lakers have an excess of small guards on their roster and Beverley and Nunn are the only players aside from Lonnie Walker who aren’t on minimum- or maximum-salary contracts, it’s only natural that they might try to use them as trade chips. That’s especially true since both have struggled mightily in 2022/23 — Beverley is averaging just 4.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.7 APG and 0.9 SPG on .268/.234/.824 shooting in 15 games (27.1 MPG), while Nunn is averaging 5.8 PPG, 1.4 RPG and 1.3 APG on .364/.291/.889 shooting in 18 games (13.9 MPG).
It’s a little shocking just how poorly Beverley has shot the ball early on, since he’s a career 37.5% three-point shooter over 541 regular season games — his 23.4% mark is almost certain to rise with time. Similarly, Nunn shot 36.4% from deep in his first two seasons with Miami prior to missing all of last season with a knee injury, but he hasn’t looked right since he returned in 2022/23.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin suggested on Monday that the Lakers might dangle the expiring contracts of Beverley ($13MM) and Nunn ($5.25MM). Combining their salaries would allow the Lakers to take on up to $22.9MM in salary, since they’re in the tax.
John Collins Out At Least Two Weeks; Nets Have Shown Interest
Hawks power forward John Collins will be out at least two weeks due to the left ankle sprain that he suffered during Wednesday’s victory over Orlando, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Atlanta confirmed Collins’ two-week timeline, tweeting that his MRI also revealed joint swelling. His return to play will be updated as appropriate, per the Hawks.
The 25-year-old has dealt with a number of injuries throughout his career — he appeared in 293 of 385 (76.1%) regular season games during his first five seasons, which amounts to an average of 62.4 games over an 82-game schedule — but he had yet to miss a game in 2022/23. The Hawks play seven times over the next two weeks, so he’ll be sidelined for at least those seven games.
Collins has been the subject of trade rumors for a few years, and this season is no different — Ian Begley of SNY.tv reported on Thursday (Twitter video link) that the Nets have “touched base” on the veteran big man, though he wasn’t sure how serious the discussions were. The Jazz reportedly inquired on Collins as well — rumors about Phoenix’s potential interest were disputed by multiple reporters.
Collins is having a down season by his standards — through 22 games (31.5 MPG), he’s averaging 12.3 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 1.4 BPG on .484/.219/.845 shooting. For context, his career marks are 16.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 1.1 BPG on .555/.362/.783 shooting.
The Hawks also announced (via Twitter) that fellow starting forward De’Andre Hunter — who aggravated his own injury Wednesday night — will miss at least one week with a right hip flexor strain. An MRI confirmed the diagnosis. If he’s sufficiently healed by next Friday, Hunter will miss three games with the injury, though that’s a best-case scenario.
Hunter, who signed a four-year, $90MM rookie scale extension prior to the season, is averaging 14.9 PPG and 4.0 RPG on .447/.354/.808 shooting through 21 games (30.9 MPG) for the 12-10 Hawks.
With Collins and Hunter sidelined, the Hawks will likely lean more on rookie wing AJ Griffin and second-year forward Jalen Johnson. Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s potential return should definitely help as well — he’s listed as questionable to make his season debut on Friday against the Nuggets, per Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum Named Players Of The Month
Suns shooting guard Devin Booker and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum have been named the NBA’s players of the month for the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).
All of the initial monthly awards combined the statistics from October and November, since October was an abbreviated month (the regular season started on the 18th).
Booker led the Suns to a 15-6 record over the past six weeks, the No. 1 seed in the West. Through 21 games (36.5), he’s averaging 29.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 5.8 APG and 1.1 SPG on .489/.378/.878 shooting.
The 26-year-old is coming off Wednesday’s spectacular performance against Chicago, in which he scored 51 points on 20-of-25 shooting — including 6-of-7 from three and 5-of-6 from the line — in only three quarters of action in the blowout victory.
Tatum led the Celtics to an NBA-best 18-4 record through November, the No. 1 seed in the East. Through 21 games (36.7 MPG), he’s averaging 31.6 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 4.5 APG and 1.1 BPG on .488/.366/.873 shooting.
The 24-year-old had his own incredible performance in Wednesday’s victory over Miami, recording season-high 49 points on .600/.667/.917 shooting splits.
According to the NBA (Twitter links), the other nominees in the West were Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic, De’Aaron Fox, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Ja Morant, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, OG Anunoby, DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, Donovan Mitchell and Franz Wagner were nominated in the East.
Lakers Waive Matt Ryan
3:38pm: The Lakers have officially waived Ryan, the team confirmed (Twitter link).
7:05am: The Lakers are waiving sharpshooter Matt Ryan, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). The move will open up a spot on Los Angeles’ standard 15-man roster and the team has no plans to immediately fill it.
Ryan, who has talked about working as a DoorDash driver after going undrafted out of Chattanooga in 2020, eventually landed with the Grand Rapids Gold in the G League in 2021/22, then made his NBA debut with the Celtics this past spring. He joined the Lakers on a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract in September and earned a spot on the regular season roster.
Although Ryan has exhibited the ability to knock down three-pointers, having made 13-of-35 attempts (37.1%) for L.A. this season, he only converted 2-of-14 two-pointers. In total, he averaged 3.9 PPG in 12 appearances (10.8 MPG).
Both Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link) frame the decision to waive Ryan as one the Lakers made to give themselves extra roster flexibility when several of their players become trade-eligible on December 15 and they start to seriously consider potential deals.
However, as Bobby Marks of ESPN and Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter links) note, Ryan’s full-season salary wouldn’t have become guaranteed for another six weeks, so the Lakers could’ve waived him anytime before January 7 if they needed his roster spot to accommodate a trade.
Marks points out (via Twitter) that the Lakers, given their tax position, will save $61K per day without Ryan on the roster. Pincus, meanwhile, suggests that the decision to release the 25-year-old now may be partly logistical, since the team is about to embark upon a six-game road trip and likely determined it didn’t make sense to bring Ryan on that trip if he was already on the chopping block.
Assuming Ryan is officially cut on Thursday, he’ll have earned $442,439 for the 45 days he spent on the Lakers’ roster and the two he’ll spend on waivers.
Khris Middleton Plans To Return On Friday
DECEMBER 1: Middleton intends to make his season debut on Friday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN confirms (via Twitter).
NOVEMBER 30: Bucks wing Khris Middleton is getting close to making his season debut, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Middleton could be available as soon as Friday when Milwaukee hosts the Lakers.
A three-time All-Star, Middleton underwent wrist surgery in the offseason to repair a torn ligament and has spent the last several months recovering and working his way back to full health. He has been assigned to the G League multiple times this month in order to practice with the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s NBAGL affiliate.
When Middleton first went under the knife, reports indicated that he might be ready to return around the start of the regular season. On the day before the season got underway, another report suggested the Bucks were hoping to have him back at some point in November.
The 31-year-old has been ruled out for Wednesday’s contest against the Knicks, so a November return won’t happen, but if he’s back on Friday, he’ll be available for Milwaukee’s first December game. Following the game vs. the Lakers, the Bucks will embark upon a brief road trip to Charlotte on Saturday and Orlando on Monday.
Middleton had another productive season in 2021/22, averaging at least 20 points per game (20.1) for a third straight season to go along with 5.4 RPG and a career-high 5.4 APG in 66 games (32.4 MPG). However, a sprained MCL sidelined him during the postseason and he was unavailable when the Bucks fell to Boston in a seven-game second round series.
Milwaukee has gotten off to a good start this season, even with Middleton and offseason signee Joe Ingles (ACL) on the shelf. The club’s 14-5 record is the NBA’s second-best mark.
NBA Waiver Order Now Based On 2022/23 Records
As of December 1, the NBA’s waiver priority order is determined by teams’ current-year records, rather than the previous season’s results.
That means, starting today, the waiver order for this season is based on teams’ 2022/23 records, with the worst teams getting the highest priority. In other words, if two teams place a claim on the same player, the team lower in this season’s NBA standings will be awarded that player.
Up until today, the waiver claim order was based on which teams had the worst records in 2021/22.
Waiver claims are somewhat rare in the NBA, but it’s still worth noting which teams will have the first crack at intriguing players who may be cut over the next few weeks or months.
[RELATED: 2022/23 NBA Waiver Claims]
Here’s what the teams currently at the top of the NBA’s waiver order look like, as of today:
- Detroit Pistons (5-18)
- Orlando Magic (5-17)
- Houston Rockets (5-16)
- San Antonio Spurs (6-16)
- Charlotte Hornets (6-15)
- Los Angeles Lakers (8-12)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (9-13)
- Chicago Bulls (9-12)
- Miami Heat (10-12) (tie)
New York Knicks (10-12) (tie)
In instances where multiple teams have identical records, head-to-head record for the current season is used to break ties, if possible. Otherwise, a coin flip determines priority for those tied teams. That would be the case for the Heat and Knicks right now, since they’ve yet to face one another this season.
If a waived player can’t be claimed using the minimum salary exception, a team must use a trade exception, a disabled player exception, or cap room to absorb his salary. So a club with a top priority won’t be in position to nab just anyone who reaches waivers.
The Pistons, for example, have no cap space or exceptions available to place a waiver claim on any player earning more than the minimum, so despite their spot at the top of the waiver order, their ability to claim players is somewhat limited.