Kevin Durant Diagnosed With Sprain, May Return In 4-6 Weeks
The Nets appear to have avoided a serious injury with Kevin Durant, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. An MRI showed that Durant has a sprained medial collateral in his left knee and is expected to return to full strength after treatment.
Team officials are optimistic that Durant will only need four-to-six weeks of rehab work on the knee before he can resume playing, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Durant suffered the injury in the second quarter of Saturday’s game when Bruce Brown was knocked backwards into his knee while playing defense. Durant attempted to remain in the game, but decided to go to the locker room to have it checked. He underwent an MRI this morning.
The Nets, who are in a tight race for the top spot in the East, will have to survive an extended stretch without the former MVP, who is leading the league in scoring at 29.3 PPG. Eleven of their next 14 games are away from home, which means Kyrie Irving will be eligible to play.
Mavericks Waive Willie Cauley-Stein, Sign Marquese Chriss To Two-Year Deal
6:22pm: Both moves are official, the Mavericks announced (via Twitter).
4:08pm: The Mavericks will sign hardship addition Marquese Chriss to a two-year contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Willie Cauley-Stein will be waived to make room on the 15-man roster.
Chriss, who signed his third 10-day deal with Dallas under the hardship provision earlier this week, has been productive since joining the team in December. He has appeared in 12 games, all off the bench, and is averaging 6.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per night.
Chriss will earn a prorated minimum salary for the rest of the season and a standard minimum in 2022/23 for a player with six years of service, giving him roughly $3MM overall, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. It’s unclear at this point if next season’s salary will be guaranteed.
The 24-year-old was taken by the Suns with the eighth pick in the 2016 draft, but hasn’t lived up to the promise he showed during his rookie season. He also spent time with the Rockets, Cavaliers and Warriors, but was out of the league until COVID-19 forced teams to seek emergency replacements.
Cauley-Stein is in his seventh NBA season and his third with the Mavericks. He’s averaging 1.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 18 games, but hasn’t played since November 27.
The 28-year-old center is making $4.1MM on an expiring contract. Dallas will still owe him the remainder of that salary (about $1.95MM) unless he is claimed on waivers, according to Marks (Twitter link). The sixth pick in the 2015 draft, Cauley-Stein signed with the Mavericks as a free agent before the start of the 2020/21 season.
No Structural Damage To Zach LaVine’s Knee
Bulls star Zach LaVine underwent an MRI on Saturday that revealed no structural damage to his left knee, the team announced on social media. LaVine has been dealing with knee soreness and played just over three minutes of the team’s game on Saturday because of it.
His knee has flared up occasionally since undergoing ACL surgery in 2017, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has been playing through soreness these past couple of weeks, but the Bulls have clarified that he isn’t expected to miss significant time due to the injury.
LaVine continues to feel stiffness and will be reevaluated next week, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports the sides will proceed with caution. He’s averaged 24.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this season, shooting 49% from the floor and 41% from deep.
LaVine’s strong play is a major reason why the Bulls are 27-13, good for the best record in the East. Without him, players such as Ayo Dosunmu and Troy Brown Jr. figure to get more playing time.
Anthony Davis Could Return During Late January Trip
Lakers perennial All-Star big man Anthony Davis could be back in action sometime this month, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. His return may come during a six-game road trip which runs from January 21-30.
Davis participated in an individual on-court workout on Friday, four weeks after spraining the MCL in his left knee. The initial prognosis was that Davis would miss at least four weeks.
Davis was injured when LeBron James was called for an offensive foul for pushing Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels, who lost his balance and fell into his left knee. Davis is averaging 23.3 PPG and 9.9 RPG.
Davis has missed the Lakers’ last 12 games and the team has gone 5-7 during that stretch. The Lakers play three more games before their six-game road trip, which begins in Orlando next Friday.
CJ McCollum Set To Return On Monday
The Trail Blazers have endured a rough season but they will get one of their top players back in action on Monday, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Guard CJ McCollum will be in uniform against Orlando after fully recovering from a collapsed lung, an injury he suffered against Boston on Dec. 4. Portland indicated in a press release two days before Christmas that McCollum’s lung had healed but he required several more weeks of recovery to regain his conditioning.
McCollum has averaged 20.6 PPG and 4.5 APG on .424/.393/.700 shooting in 24 games (35.3 MPG) so far this season. The 30-year-old, who is in the first year of a three-year, $100MM contract, could be an in-season trade candidate.
McCollum’s long-term backcourt partner, Damian Lillard, underwent abdominal surgery on Thursday and will be reevaluated in 5-6 weeks. Portland is currently 10th in the Western Conference standings with a 16-25 record.
Lance Stephenson Signs Standard 10-Day Contract With Pacers
Lance Stephenson has been signed to a standard 10-day contract by the Pacers, according to a team press release.
Stephenson had signed a second 10-day deal under the hardship exception on Tuesday but could no longer be activated because Indiana does not currently have any players in the league’s health and safety protocols.
The veteran guard has given Indiana a huge boost during his latest reunion with the franchise. Prior to his 6-point, 6-assist outing against Boston on Wednesday, Stephenson averaged 20 PPG and 6.7 APG in the team’s three previous games.
The latest 10-day will buy Indiana a little more time before making a broader commitment to Stephenson. The Pacers have an open roster spot and won’t need to waive a player if they decide to retain Stephenson on a rest-of-season contract.
Raptors Interested In Jakob Poeltl?
Three-and-a-half years after they traded Jakob Poeltl to the Spurs in the Kawhi Leonard blockbuster, the Raptors are said to be interested in reacquiring the veteran center, according to Marc Stein, who adds that Toronto has been exploring upgrades at the center position “for some time.”
Poeltl, 26, is enjoying a career year so far in San Antonio, establishing new career highs in PPG (12.4), RPG (8.8), and APG (2.7) through 34 games (28.6 MPG). He’s in the second season of a team-friendly three-year contract that will pay him $8.75MM this season and $9.4MM in 2021/22.
The Raptors likely don’t have any regrets about moving Poeltl in 2018, considering that trade helped buoy the franchise to its first-ever championship. However, the team has struggled to find reliable options at center since the departures of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka in 2020.
The idea of adding Poeltl as a rim protector to complement talented, rangy defenders like Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam is an intriguing one. Poeltl could also be a good fit on offense as a rim-running pick-and-roll partner for Fred VanVleet.
Still, it’s unclear how motivated the Spurs would be to move Poeltl or what they’d want in return. San Antonio already has more talent and depth in its backcourt than its frontcourt, so the team may be reluctant to part with its starting center. If the Spurs are open to offers, Toronto could theoretically attach second-year big man Precious Achiuwa and/or draft assets to Chris Boucher‘s expiring $7MM contract.
Bam Adebayo Aiming To Return On Monday
Bam Adebayo, who hasn’t played for the Heat since November 29, is eyeing Monday’s game vs. Toronto for his return, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Adebayo underwent surgery on December 6 to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. When the Heat announced the procedure a day later, they said Adebayo was expected to miss about four-to-six weeks. Monday will represent the six-week mark since the 24-year-old went under the knife.
Adebayo was having another strong season for Miami before sustaining his thumb injury, matching career highs with 18.7 PPG and 10.2 RPG through 18 games (32.9 MPG). However, the Heat have held up well without Adebayo in the lineup, despite losing more players for days or weeks at a time due to injuries or COVID-19.
Omer Yurtseven has emerged as a legitimate contributor in Adebayo’s absence, having started Miami’s last eight games at center. Before Adebayo went down, Yurtseven hadn’t played more than eight minutes in an NBA game. As a starter, he has put up 12.1 PPG, 14.6 RPG, and 3.0 APG. He has also grabbed double-digit rebounds in 12 consecutive games.
It’s probably safe to assume Yurtseven will return to the bench once Adebayo is ready to go, but his emergence – along with Dewayne Dedmon‘s solid play in his 11 games as the starting center – is great news for the Heat, who can be more confident in their frontcourt depth going forward.
Cavaliers Hire Jose Calderon As Special Advisor
11:42am: The Cavaliers have officially announced the hiring of Calderon, stating in a press release that he’ll be a special advisor to the front office. The announcement doesn’t offer many specifics on Calderon’s role, noting that he’ll “assist the front office achieve their goals both on and off the court in a variety of engagements.”
“We are thrilled to add someone of Jose Calderon’s background and experience to our front office,” Altman said in a statement. “His accomplishments as a basketball player and familiarity with our organization will be invaluable. We look forward to his insights and perspective on how we can continue moving this team forward and enhancing our efforts towards sustainable and long-term success here in Cleveland.”
11:02am: The Cavaliers are hiring Jose Calderon to a position in their front office, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
A longtime NBA point guard, Calderon appeared in 895 regular season games for seven teams from 2005-19, averaging 8.9 PPG and 5.8 APG on .472/.407/.873 shooting in 26.4 MPG. The Spaniard spent his first seven-and-a-half seasons with the Raptors before bouncing around the league during the second half of his career, spending time with the Pistons (twice, Mavericks, Knicks, Lakers, Hawks, and Cavaliers.
Calderon also earned three Olympics medals (two silvers and a bronze) with Spain and won a gold medal while playing for his country during the 2006 FIBA World Cup.
When he retired as a player in 2019, Calderon accepted a role with the National Basketball Players Association, serving as a special assistant to executive director Michele Roberts. Roberts retired from her NBPA position this month, though it’s unclear if Calderon’s departure from the players’ union was related to Roberts’ exit.
Back in 2019, a number of teams reportedly contacted Calderon about possible front office jobs, but he preferred to stay flexible and consider his options. Now, he’s now poised to join a Cavs front office led by Koby Altman, whose first year as general manager coincided with Calderon’s lone season in Cleveland as a player.
According to Basketball-Reference, signing Calderon was Altman’s first official move as the Cavs’ GM. Four-and-a-half years later, it appears adding Calderon to his basketball operations department will be Altman’s first move after receiving an extension and a promotion from the franchise.
Hawks Trade Cam Reddish To Knicks
6:47pm: The trade is now official, the Hawks announced in a press release. Atlanta received Knox and Charlotte’ 2022 first-round pick (top-18 protected) in exchange for Reddish, Hill, Brooklyn’s 2025 second-round pick, and cash.
The Knicks confirmed in their own press release that they waived Arcidiacono.
10:33am: The Hawks will send Cam Reddish to the Knicks in a multi-player trade, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
New York will also receive veteran forward Solomon Hill and a second-round draft pick in 2025 that originally belonged to the Nets. Atlanta will get Kevin Knox in return, along with a protected first-round pick from the Hornets. The protections on Charlotte’s pick are top-18 this year, top-16 in 2023 and top-14 in 2024 and 2025, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). It will convert to second-round picks in 2026 and 2027 if not conveyed by then.
Atlanta had been searching around the league for a team willing to part with a mid-first-round pick or a young player in exchange for Reddish, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link). The Hawks explored several potential trade packages with the Knicks before settling on the final deal, and Woj reports that they also talked recently to the Pacers and Lakers about potential trades involving Reddish.
The 10th pick in the 2019 draft, Reddish has been an explosive bench scorer and a part-time starter during his two-and-a-half seasons in Atlanta. After having much of last season wiped out by injuries, he’s averaging a career-high 11.9 points per game this year while shooting 40.2% from the field and 37.9% from three-point range.
Reddish will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, which is one of the reasons the Hawks, who already have several sizable contracts in place, were willing to move him. He will carry cap hits for the Knicks of $4.7MM this season and $5.95MM for 2022/23, Marks tweets.
Hill, 30, is out for the rest of the season after suffering a torn right hamstring last month. He has veto power over the trade, but plans to approve it, according to Marks. He’s making $2,389,641 on a veteran-minimum contract that will expire after this season.
Knox, 22, had a bright rookie season in 2018/19, but hasn’t been the same player since. He has appeared in just 13 games this season, averaging 3.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per night. He is headed for free agency this summer, and the Hawks will have the option to make him restricted, though that seems unlikely.
The Knicks will have to release Ryan Arcidiacono early from his 10-day contract to make room on the roster for an extra player, Marks notes (Twitter link). Arcidiacono’s deal had been set to expire on Saturday night.
Atlanta will have an open roster spot, along with a $1.7MM trade exception. The Hawks will also get a little bit of luxury tax relief, moving from $1.87MM to $2.36MM under the tax threshold.