Bucks Sign Rayjon Tucker To Three-Year Deal
11:08am: The Bucks have officially signed Tucker, the team confirmed today in a press release.
8:51am: The Bucks are in agreement on a multiyear contract with swingman Rayjon Tucker, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Tucker is signing a three-year deal with Milwaukee.
Tucker, who went undrafted out of Little Rock in 2019, spent most of the 2019/20 season with the Jazz, then signed a two-way contract with the Sixers in January 2021 and got a 10-day deal from the Nuggets in December 2021. He has appeared in a total of 37 NBA games across three seasons, averaging 2.8 PPG and 0.9 RPG in just 7.0 minutes per contest.
Tucker has spent more time on the court in the G League during those three seasons, having played for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Wisconsin Herd, and the Delaware Blue Coats. In 27 regular season games this season for the Herd (the Bucks’ NBAGL affiliate), the wing averaged an impressive 21.1 PPG on 53.4% shooting. He also chipped in 7.5 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.1 SPG.
Although Tucker’s new deal will cover three seasons – the rest of 2021/22 and two more beyond that – it’s unlikely to include much, if any, guaranteed money in the next two years. That will give the Bucks the flexibility to move on from him this summer or this fall if they need the roster spot. On the other hand, if he impresses and sticks around, Milwaukee will have him locked up at a team-friendly rate through 2024.
It appears that Tucker will be the final member of the Bucks’ 15-man playoff roster this spring. The team opened up the 15th spot on its roster on Thursday by waiving injured veteran DeAndre’ Bembry.
Grizzlies’ Ja Morant Nearing Return
After an off day on Friday, the Grizzlies will wrap up their regular season by hosting the Pelicans on Saturday and the Celtics on Sunday. According to an Associated Press report, there’s hope that star point guard Ja Morant will be able to play in one of those games.
“He’s doing great,” head coach Taylor Jenkins said on Thursday. “All signs are in a really good direction, but he’s definitely getting close. … He did 5-on-5 for the first time today, so that’s really encouraging. (He) responded well afterward. We’ll see how he responds (Friday) obviously, as we go into this back-to-back back home.”
Morant has been sidelined since March 18 due to a right knee injury, but the Grizzlies had always been optimistic that he’d be ready to return in time for the postseason.
Since Memphis’ first-round series won’t get underway until April 16 or 17, the team could get Morant several extra days of rest by holding him out of the last two games of the regular season. However, Jenkins indicated on Thursday that he’d like to see the 22-year-old back in action and the roster at full strength once more this weekend, if possible.
“If that’s not what’s the recommendation of the medical team, (if) we don’t feel like that’s the smartest move, then we won’t do it,” he said.
At 55-25, the Grizzlies are locked into the No. 2 seed in the West and have nothing significant at stake in their final two games, so if Morant does play this weekend, the team will likely put him on a minutes restriction and not push him too hard.
Wolves Sign Greg Monroe For Rest Of Season
6:04pm: Monroe has officially signed a contract for the rest of the season, the team announced in a press release.
8:12am: Veteran center Greg Monroe will sign a contract with the Timberwolves that covers the final days of the regular season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The move will cap off an active season for Monroe, who signed a 10-day contract with Minnesota in late December and spent time with the Wizards, Bucks and Jazz as well. He just completed a 10-day deal in Utah that expired Wednesday night. He has played 13 total games, averaging 5.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per night.
Wolves owner Glen Taylor indicated last month that the Wolves had interest in bringing back Monroe to help with rebounding. Minnesota has a roster opening, so no other move will be necessary. Monroe will be postseason-eligible.
The expected signing removes an option for the Jazz as they look to fill a roster spot ahead of the postseason, notes Ryan McDonald of The Deseret News. Utah added Monroe after injuries to backup centers Hassan Whiteside, who has since returned, and Udoka Azubuike, who is out for the season.
McDonald adds that one possibility for Utah is converting the two-way contract of Trent Forrest so he would be eligible for the playoffs.
Suns Waive Frank Kaminsky
6:02pm: The Suns have officially waived Kaminsky, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets.
4:28pm: As the playoffs approach, the Suns are waiving veteran forward Frank Kaminsky, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Kaminsky hasn’t played since November 15. He suffered a stress reaction in his right knee, which later required surgery.
The defending Western Conference champions, who own the league’s best record, can now add a free agent or promote one of their two-way players to the 15-man roster, making Kaminsky’s replacement eligible for the postseason.
Kaminsky was headed to unrestricted free agency this summer even before he was let go. He re-signed with the Suns on a minimum contract last offseason.
Kaminsky appeared in 96 regular-season games with Phoenix in a three-season span after spending four years with Charlotte.
Lakers Waive Trevor Ariza
The Lakers have waived veteran forward Trevor Ariza, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
The front office opened a roster spot in order to add a young player before the season ends on Sunday, according to Charania. The Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention this week and a major roster shakeup is expected. They didn’t wait for the offseason to begin that process.
The move was confirmed in a team press release, Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays in a tweet.
After signing a one-year, veteran’s minimum in the offseason, Ariza was expected to have a significant role. However, ankle surgery delayed his debut and reduced his impact. He only appeared in 24 games (11 starts), averaging 4.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG.
Ariza, 36, has been in the league since 2004. It’s uncertain whether this is the end of the road for the 18-year veteran, who has appeared in 1,118 regular season games.
Hornets Might Have Interest In Russell Westbrook
League insiders have increasingly mentioned the Hornets as a team that might have interest in trading for Lakers guard Russell Westbrook, writes Marc Stein at Substack.
Charlotte would only be interested in Westbrook in order to create long-term financial flexibility, and based on salary-matching rules, the team would have to send out roughly $38MM to acquire the former MVP. Stein points to Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier as contracts the team might want to move to accommodate a new deal for Miles Bridges this summer, plus the future max extension of LaMelo Ball.
Hayward has been very productive when healthy for Charlotte, but injuries have again been a concern. After appearing in 44 of 72 games last season, he’s played in 49 of 79 contests this season and is listed as doubtful for Thursday’s matchup with Orlando (Twitter link). Hayward will earn $30.075MM next season and $31.5MM in 2023/24.
Rozier has also been productive over the past few seasons. His four-year, $96.26MM extension starts next season, so he’ll be under contract through ’25/26.
Pairing Hayward or Rozier with Kelly Oubre could work as a framework of a deal, Stein says. He also notes that Hornets owner Michael Jordan has long admired Westbrook, although it isn’t known whether that would play a factor in a potential trade.
The Rockets remain the most logical trade partner for Westbrook due to John Wall‘s salary being a near-perfect match, but the Lakers might not find that any more palatable than they did previously, considering Houston was asking for a first-round pick, per Stein.
League sources tell Stein that the Lakers also haven’t ruled out using the waive-and-stretch provision on Westbrook’s contract, which would split his $47.06MM player option over three seasons with annual hits of $15.69MM. Going that route would take Los Angeles out of the luxury tax and make it much easier to retain Malik Monk; the team badly wants to bring him back, so it’s considered a viable possibility.
Rick Carlisle Denies Rumors Of Switch To Front Office
Amid speculation that Pacers coach Rick Carlisle desired to make a switch to a front office role, Carlisle adamantly denied those rumors on Thursday afternoon.
“I came here to coach. …I want to put this to rest once and for all,” Carlisle said (Twitter links via Pacers VP of basketball communications Michael Preston). “…Let me be absolutely clear. I’m here to coach this team and coach this team for the long-haul. I’m not afraid of any aspect of a rebuild one bit. Not one single bit.”
The speculation about the possibility of Carlisle transitioning to the front office has been persistent for several months, and popped again last week in Chicago when NBA executives attended the McDonald’s All-America game, as relayed by Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and Marc Stein (Twitter links).
At 62, Carlisle is the fifth-oldest head coach in the league (per Basketball Reference), so the rumors that he might not have the patience to coach through another rebuild make some sense. I use “another” because the Mavericks, his former team, struggled from 2016-19, going a combined 90-158 over the three seasons.
The Pacers were expected to compete for a playoff spot this season, even if it was on the bottom end, and instead have been one of the worst teams in the league. As shown by our reverse standings, Indiana currently holds a 25-55 record, the fifth-worst mark in the league.
However, owner Herb Simon has previously stated he doesn’t want to undertake a full-fledged rebuild, and that was made evident by the team acquiring a second-year player, Tyrese Haliburton, as opposed to draft picks at the trade deadline (as part of a larger deal headlined by Domantas Sabonis being sent to Sacramento).
P.J. Tucker Out At Least A Week With Calf Strain
Heat forward P.J. Tucker has a strained calf that will sideline him for the rest of the regular season, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. An MRI revealed the injury, Chiang adds, and Tucker’s condition will be re-evaluated in about a week.
Tucker has been a starter and a defensive stalwart in his first season with Miami. He has played 71 games, averaging 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 41.5% from three-point range.
The Heat are close to wrapping up the best record in the Eastern Conference and won’t begin the playoffs until April 16 or 17, so Tucker could be ready by then.
Bucks Waive DeAndre’ Bembry
9:59am: The Bucks have officially waived Bembry, the team announced today (via Twitter).
9:36am: The Bucks will create a roster opening by waiving DeAndre’ Bembry, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Bembry underwent knee surgery last month after tearing his ACL and MCL and will miss the rest of the season.
The 27-year-old swingman signed with Milwaukee on February 16 after being waived by the Nets, who needed to open a roster spot to complete their trade with the Sixers.
Bembry appeared in eight games for the Bucks, averaging 0.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per night. He will be an unrestricted free agent after clearing waivers, but his knee injury will likely sideline him for much of next season as well.
The 21st pick in the 2016 draft, Bembry spent his first four NBA seasons with the Hawks before signing with the Raptors in 2020. He landed a deal with the Nets after being waived by Toronto last summer.
Gabe York, Nate Hinton Sign Two-Way Deals With Pacers
The Pacers have signed G League guards Gabe York and Nate Hinton to two-way contracts, the team announced in a press release.
Indiana also confirmed that Duane Washington and Terry Taylor, who had both been on two-way deals, have received standard contracts that will cover multiple years. The team officially waived Keifer Sykes to make room on the 15-man roster for both players.
York averaged 21.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 34 games with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The 28-year-old played three seasons in the G League and spent time overseas as well after going undrafted out of Arizona in 2016. His only previous NBA experience came in attending training camp with the Magic in 2018 on an Exhibit 10 contract.
Hinton, 22, averaged 18.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists for Fort Wayne in his second G League season. He signed a 10-day contract with the Pacers on December 30 and played two total minutes in two games. Undrafted out of Houston in 2020, he appeared in 21 games with the Mavericks last season.