NBA Postpones Nuggets/Warriors Game
The NBA is postponing Thursday night’s game in Denver between the Nuggets and Warriors, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Nuggets don’t have the required minimum of eight available players, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
As we outlined earlier today, the Nuggets had three players – Jeff Green, Bones Hyland, and Zeke Nnaji – enter the health and safety protocols. The team also has four players – Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, PJ Dozier, and Markus Howard – out with long-term injuries.
If everyone else had been good to go, Denver would still have 10 players on hand — or even 11, if Davon Reed signed his new 10-day contract prior to tip-off. However, Vlatko Cancar (non-COVID illness), Aaron Gordon (hamstring), Monte Morris (knee), and Austin Rivers (thumb) were all listed as questionable on this afternoon’s injury report — if all of them were deemed unavailable, the Nuggets would have only had six or seven healthy players.
The Nuggets will likely look to complete another hardship deal or two besides Reed’s before their next scheduled game on Saturday in Houston.
This postponement is the 11th of the NBA season, as our tracker shows. All of those postponements have occurred since December 14.
Bulls Sign Jordan Bell To 10-Day Contract
DECEMBER 30: Bell’s 10-day deal with the Bulls is now official, according to the transactions log at NBA.com. It will run through January 8, covering Chicago’s next four games.
DECEMBER 29: The Bulls plan to sign big man Jordan Bell to a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the team will use a hardship exception to complete the move.
Bell technically was a Bull once before, having been drafted by the team with the 38th overall pick in 2017 — his rights were quickly dealt to the Warriors on draft night in exchange for cash.
Since 2017, Bell has appeared in a total of 160 regular season games for Golden State, Minnesota, Memphis, and Washington, averaging 3.7 PPG and 3.1 RPG on 12.1 minutes per contest. He also played in 32 postseason games with the Warriors and won a title in 2018. The 26-year-old had been playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League this season, averaging 10.8 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.6 BPG in nine games (28.6 MPG).
Perhaps no team has been hit harder in the last month by COVID-19 than the Bulls, who placed power forward Marko Simonovic in the health and safety protocols earlier today, per Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link).
Although Chicago only has five players in the protocols for the time being, nearly all the team’s players have been affected by COVID-19 at some point this month. As K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets, Alex Caruso and Tyler Cook are the only players on the team’s standard 17-man roster who haven’t been in the protocols this season.
Nik Stauskas To Sign 10-Day Contract With Heat
Former lottery pick Nik Stauskas has an agreement in place with the Heat, who intend to sign him to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, league sources tell Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link).
The Raptors had a deal in place earlier this month to bring Stauskas aboard on a 10-day hardship deal, but it fell through when he didn’t pass the COVID-19 screening process. Now he’ll head to a Miami team that has been hit hard recently by both injuries and the coronavirus — the Heat had 12 players unavailable on Wednesday, resulting in their game in San Antonio being postponed.
Stauskas, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2014 draft, appeared in 335 regular season games from 2014-19 for the Kings, Sixers, Nets, Trail Blazers, and Cavaliers. He was a fairly reliable three-point threat (.353 3PT%) during that time, but didn’t show enough other skills to stick in the NBA.
After a brief stint overseas, Stauskas signed in the G League for the 2021 bubble and then returned to the NBAGL this season. In 12 games (38.3 MPG) in 2021/22 for the Grand Rapids Gold, the 28-year-old has recorded 21.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 4.4 APG on .429/.352/.915 shooting.
The Heat have already added Kyle Guy and Aric Holman on hardship contracts today and should be able to finalize their agreements with Stauskas and Haywood Highsmith before their game in Houston on Friday.
Three Nuggets Players Enter Protocols
After having cleared their list of players in the health and safety protocols earlier this week, the Nuggets now have three new players in the protocols, as Jeff Green, Bones Hyland, and Zeke Nnaji entered today, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
As Wojnarowski points out, the Nuggets – who will also be without head coach Michael Malone and had two assistant coaches test positive for COVID-19, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link) – are suddenly in danger of not having the required minimum of eight players available for Thursday’s game vs. Golden State.
In addition to Green, Hyland, and Nnaji, the Nuggets are missing four players – Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, PJ Dozier, and Markus Howard – to long-term injuries. On top of that, Vlatko Cancar (non-COVID illness), Aaron Gordon (hamstring), Monte Morris (knee), and Austin Rivers (thumb) are all listed as questionable on the latest injury report.
That leaves the Nuggets with six healthy players. Davon Reed is expected to sign a new 10-day contract today, but that would still just get Denver to seven. The team may have to count on one or more of those questionable players being active and hope that additional testing doesn’t turn up new COVID-19 cases.
On the plus side, since the Nuggets now have players in the protocols, Reed’s new 10-day deal will fall under the COVID-related hardship umbrella, meaning it won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes.
Isaiah Thomas Signs 10-Day Deal With Mavericks
6:45pm: The Mavericks have officially signed Thomas to a 10-day contract via the hardship exception, the team announced (via Twitter). He’s expected to be active for Wednesday’s contest at Sacramento.
12:51pm: Free agent point guard Isaiah Thomas intends to sign with the Mavericks and is on track to join the team tonight in Sacramento, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Thomas, 32, returned to the NBA earlier this month for the Lakers, appearing in four games during his 10-day stint in Los Angeles. The veteran started strong, with 32 points in his first two games, but had just five points on 2-of-16 shooting in his next two contests.
Before he joined the Lakers, Thomas briefly played for the Grand Rapids Gold in the G League. In his first and only game with Denver’s affiliate, he put up 42 points, eight assists, and six rebounds in 42 minutes.
The safe bet is that Thomas will sign a 10-day hardship deal, but the Mavs currently have six replacement players on their roster and just five players in the health and safety protocols. If the plan is for Thomas to sign a 10-day contract, Dallas either has more players entering the protocols or will be replacing a couple of its current hardship signees.
[UPDATE: Two Mavs players have entered the protocols]
The Mavs do have one opening on their standard roster, but it’s a two-way slot — Thomas isn’t eligible for a two-way contract.
Cavaliers’ Ricky Rubio Out For Season With Torn ACL
Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio has suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and will miss the remainder of the 2021/22 season, the team announced (Twitter link). Rubio suffered the same injury to the same knee as a rookie in 2012.
It’s terrible news for both player and team, as Rubio will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2022, and Cleveland had already lost starting guard Collin Sexton for the season to a torn meniscus which required surgery. ACL tears typically have a recovery timeline of about 12 months, so Rubio might not return to the court again until 2023.
The 31-year-old point guard has been instrumental to the Cavaliers’ surprising 20-14 start to the season; they are currently fifth in the East after winning just 22 games last season. Rubio appeared in all 34 of the team’s games to this point, averaging 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 28.5 MPG.
His shooting slash line of .363/.339/.854 isn’t great, but he has been a locker-room leader, mentor, clutch shot-maker and defensive presence for the young Cavs. He’s currently 10th in the league in defensive win shares, per Basketball-Reference.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks relays (via Twitter), the Cavs could receive a disabled player exception worth $8.9MM if they choose to apply for it by January 15. However, the Cavs are currently only $3.1MM below the luxury tax threshold and already have a full roster, so they might not end up using it even if they receive it, which they almost certainly would.
Cleveland’s guard depth will be tested with Rubio and Sexton out for the season; rising star Darius Garland is also out for the short term, in the league’s health and safety protocols. Little-used backup Kevin Pangos and rookie two-way player RJ Nembhard could see an uptick in minutes with the three players sidelined. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Cavs target guards in trades, either.
NBA Postpones Heat/Spurs Game
The NBA has postponed the game between the Heat and the Spurs that was scheduled to be played in San Antonio on Wednesday night, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Miami doesn’t have the required minimum of eight players available.
The Heat have 12 players sidelined due to either COVID-19 or injuries. Zylan Cheatham, Udonis Haslem, Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, P.J. Tucker, and Gabe Vincent are in the health and safety protocols, while Bam Adebayo (thumb), Jimmy Butler (ankle), Dewayne Dedmon (knee), Markieff Morris (neck), KZ Okpala (wrist), and Victor Oladipo (knee) are injured.
That leaves Miami with just five players – Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Omer Yurtseven, Caleb Martin, and Marcus Garrett – available from their standard roster. The Heat had agreed to 10-day deals for Kyle Guy and Aric Holman, but those signings aren’t official yet and would still leave the team one player short of the minimum.
Before the Heat resume their schedule on Friday in Houston, they’ll likely finalize their signings of Guy and Holman and add at least a couple more replacement players in order to avoid another postponement.
Wednesday’s Heat/Spurs game is the 10th contest to be postponed so far this season, as our tracker shows.
James Ennis Signs With Clippers
DECEMBER 29: The Clippers have officially signed Ennis to a 10-day hardship deal, the team announced today. The contract will run through January 7, covering L.A.’s next five games.
DECEMBER 28: Veteran forward James Ennis is expected to sign a 10-day hardship contract with the Clippers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Ennis’ 10-day contract with the Nets expired last night and our JD Shaw reported today (via Twitter) that the team didn’t plan to sign him to a second deal. Ironically, Ennis made a cameo appearance against the Clippers on Monday. He also played one other game for the Nets.
The well-traveled Ennis appeared in 41 games for the Magic last season, including 37 starts. He averaged 8.4 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 24.0 MPG. He failed to find a free agent offer after playing out his one-year, $3.3MM contract with Orlando.
The Clippers currently have three players in the league’s health and safety protocols.
Three More Heat Players Enter COVID-19 Protocols
P.J. Tucker, Gabe Vincent, and Zylan Cheatham have entered the health and safety protocols, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). As Chiang notes, there are now six Heat players in the protocols, with Tucker, Vincent, and Cheatham joining Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, and Udonis Haslem.
Tucker had already missed the last four games due to a left leg injury, but Vincent and Cheatham were two of nine players active for Miami on Tuesday.
With six players now in the protocols and four others – Bam Adebayo, Dewayne Dedmon, Victor Oladipo, and Markieff Morris – dealing with injuries, the Heat will need to make at least one roster move to ensure they meet the required minimum of eight players before their game on Wednesday in San Antonio.
The Heat are reportedly expected to add Kyle Guy on a 10-day contract, which will get them up to eight players as long as the other seven who were active on Tuesday are good to go on Wednesday. That’s not a given though — as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets, Jimmy Butler (ankle) and KZ Okpala (wrist) are banged up and may not be available. For what it’s worth, Okpala is currently listed as questionable, while Butler isn’t on the team’s injury report.
Miami is eligible to complete up to four more hardship additions, but it’s unclear how many more signings the team will be able to complete before tip-off tonight.
Pelicans Get Disabled Player Exception, Bulls’ Request Denied
The Pelicans have been granted a disabled player exception for Kira Lewis‘ season-ending ACL injury, reports Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).
A salary cap exception designed to give teams extra flexibility when a player suffers a major injury, the disabled player exception can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade. However, it can only be used on a single player and can only accommodate a player on a one-year deal. A free agent signee can’t get a multiyear contract, and any trade or waiver target must be in the final year of his contract.
The DPE is worth half the injured player’s salary if that amount is less than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Lewis is earning a relatively modest $3,822,240 salary this season, so the Pelicans’ new DPE is worth just $1,911,120, which will limit the team’s options.
A disabled player exception also doesn’t create an extra roster spot, so if New Orleans wants to make use of its DPE, it will need to have an open spot on its standard roster.
Meanwhile, the Bulls – who applied for a disabled player exception in response to Patrick Williams‘ left wrist injury – have had their request denied, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
In order for a team to be approved for a DPE, its injured player must be deemed by a league-approved physician to be “more likely than not” to be out through at least June 15.
In Williams’ case, the Bulls announced a four-to-six month recovery timeline when the forward underwent wrist surgery in October, and reports have indicated he could be back during the postseason. In other words, he’s not considered likely to remain sidelined through June 15, which is presumably why Chicago’s request wasn’t granted.
If it had been approved, the Bulls’ DPE would have been worth $3,711,000.