Jerami Grant Out With Injured Thumb, Will Be Re-Evaluated In Six Weeks
DECEMBER 12: Grant suffered a UCL ligament sprain and will be re-evaluated in six weeks, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
DECEMBER 11: Pistons forward Jerami Grant will be out indefinitely with torn ligaments in his right thumb, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Grant suffered the injury in Friday night’s loss to the Pelicans as the thumb was bent backward in an awkward manner. He has been Detroit’s most consistent player for the first two months of the season, averaging 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 24 games.
Tests conducted earlier today confirmed the extent of the injury, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).
Grant, who has one more year left on his contract at about $21MM, has been the subject of trade rumors as the Pistons begin to look toward building for the future. A mid-November report suggested that the Sixers might have interest in Grant in a potential Ben Simmons swap, but that rumor seems to have gone cold.
While Grant is out of action, more playing time may fall to power forward Trey Lyles, who is averaging 7.8 points and 4.3 rebounds off the bench in his first season in Detroit.
Langston Galloway To Sign With G League Team
DECEMBER 12: Galloway has reached an agreement to join the G League’s College Park Skyhawks, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. The Skyhawks are the Hawks‘ G League affiliate.
The Skyhawks announced the deal via their official Twitter account.
DECEMBER 11: Point guard Langston Galloway, who helped the Suns reach the NBA Finals last season, will sign with the G League, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Like Isaiah Thomas, who is also hoping for an NBA comeback, Galloway will participate in the G League Showcase set for December 19-22 in Las Vegas.
Galloway played a role off the bench for Phoenix last season, averaging 4.8 points in 40 games while shooting 44.9% from the field and 42.4% from three-point range. However, he was unhappy about playing just 11.0 minutes per night and elected to seek a new team in free agency.
He signed a non-guaranteed training camp contract with the Warriors in late September, but was waived before the season started.
Galloway, who turned 30 this week, went undrafted out of St. Joseph’s in 2014, but was able to put together a seven-year career with the Knicks, Pelicans, Kings, Pistons and Suns. He has appeared in 445 NBA games with career averages of 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
RJ Barrett In Health And Safety Protocols
RJ Barrett has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, the Knicks announced (via Twitter). He will miss today’s game against the Bucks and maybe several more. He joins teammate Obi Toppin, who was placed in the protocols on Saturday.
As with Toppin, there is no word on whether Barrett tested positive for COVID-19 or has just been in contact with someone who has the virus. If he is positive, Barrett will be sidelined for a minimum of 10 days unless he returns two consecutive negative tests more than 24 hours apart.
The third-year swingman is averaging 15.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists through 25 games. Losing Barrett and Toppin will be the latest obstacle for a Knicks team that is off to a disappointing 12-14 start after finishing fourth in the East last season.
Obi Toppin Placed In Protocols
Obi Toppin is in the NBA’s health and safety protocols and will miss at least Sunday’s game against Milwaukee, the Knicks announced (via Twitter).
The second-year forward is averaging 8.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 15.9 minutes per night in 26 games. He is coming off one of the best performances of his career, with 19 points and 10 rebounds Friday against the Raptors.
There’s no word on whether Toppin tested positive for the virus, but if he did he will miss at least 10 days unless he returns two consecutive negative tests a minimum of 24 hours apart.
Toppin is the first Knicks player this season to be sidelined due to COVID-19.
Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu, Stanley Johnson Enter Protocols
The Bulls‘ COVID-19 outbreak continues with Ayo Dosunmu and Stanley Johnson both being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago.
They are the sixth and seventh Chicago players to enter the protocols, along with Coby White, Javonte Green, DeMar DeRozan, Matt Thomas and Derrick Jones Jr.
Johnson just joined the team on Thursday, signing a 10-day deal under the hardship exception. The Bulls added a second hardship player, Alfonzo McKinnie, on Friday. Dosunmu, a rookie guard, has started the last two games due to the depleted lineup.
The Bulls still have 11 active players, so there doesn’t appear to be any danger of tonight’s game in Miami being postponed. The NBA hasn’t called off any games so far this season after COVID-19 caused chaos with the schedule last year, particularly in the early part of the season.
Schaefer adds that Alex Caruso, who has missed the past three games with a strained right hamstring, has been listed as available for tonight.
Zion Williamson Suffers Setback In Rehab
Pelicans star Zion Williamson continues to experience soreness in his surgically-repaired right foot, the team announced in an injury update today. As a result, his training intensity will be reduced for an extended period in order to help his bone heal.
Williamson, 21, underwent foot surgery last offseason and his bone hasn’t healed like the team expected it would. Medical imaging showed a regression in the bone healing of his fifth metatarsal, the team said.
The Pelicans cleared Williamson to participate in full team activities on November 26, which included playing in four-on-four games. However, the Duke product started to experience soreness just over a week later, delaying his potential in-game return.
New Orleans (8-20) has played all 28 of its games without Williamson this season. In 61 outings last season, Williamson averaged 27 points, 7.2 rebounds and 33.2 minutes per contest, shooting 61% from the floor.
Bucks’ DiVincenzo To Make Season Debut On Wednesday
Donte DiVincenzo will make his season debut on Wednesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports.
DiVincenzo was a fixture in the Bucks’ starting lineup last season while averaging 10.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 3.1 APG. He suffered a torn ligament in his left ankle during the third game of Milwaukee’s first-round sweep of Miami and underwent surgery in June.
He’s been rehabbing with the G League’s Wisconsin Herd recently while preparing for his return to action.
The Bucks didn’t sign DiVincenzo to a rookie scale extension before the season, so he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.
DiVincenzo will provide an immediate boost to the Bucks’ backcourt. Grayson Allen has become Jrue Holiday‘s backcourt partner in DiVincenzo’s absence and is averaging 13.0 PPG. Key reserve George Hill has been sidelined the past week with a knee issue.
The Bucks are finishing up a road swing in New York and Boston before returning home to play Indiana on Wednesday.
Myles Turner Clarifies Comments, Doesn’t Want Trade
Pacers center Myles Turner reiterated his desire for a bigger offensive role on Friday but also made it clear he’s not seeking a trade, according to James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star.
Turner has discussed his role with the staff and appears to be satisfied with the tone of those conversations.
“It’s easy for me to sit here and say I want to shoot the ball 20 times a game. Everybody does. There’s only one ball out there,” Turner said. “There have been active conversations about me ‘asserting myself’ more. … We don’t really run a lot of plays …. We get a lot of our stuff off of the flow of our offense, and that’s not even what I’m asking. I’m not asking for individual plays. It’s just role clarity. That’s the best way I can describe it. Those are the candid conversations that I’ve had and it’s made my job easier.”
Turner raised some eyebrows with recent comments to The Athletic, saying he was frustrated with being a “glorified role player.”
“It’s clear that I’m not valued as anything more than a glorified role player here, and I want something more, more opportunity,” Turner said earlier in the week. “I’m trying really hard to make the role that I’m given here work and find a way to maximize it. I’ve been trying to the past two, three seasons. But it’s clear to me that, just numbers-wise, I’m not valued as more than a rotational role player, and I hold myself in a higher regard than that.”
Turner added he didn’t want to be just a floor spacer and “hide in the shadows.” Turner said on Friday he’s just tired of doing the same thing every season and compared his desire for a bigger role with a media member seeking a better job.
“You don’t want to stay consistent at the same exact thing, going for four, five, six years. Eventually you’re gonna want to move up, whether it be a promotion, whether it be a senior writer or (however) it works out,” he said. “It’s the same thing, how I addressed it. It’s not like me saying, ‘I’m demanding a trade.’ It’s not like me saying, ‘Get somebody else out here.’ It’s none of that. All that was me saying that I know my worth. I hold myself to a high regard, and I expressed that.”
The Pacers have won three straight and Turner has played a prominent offensive role the last two games. He had a 22-point outing against the Knicks on Wednesday and a 17-point output against the Mavericks on Friday.
Even with the streak, Indiana is four games under .500 and there’s been plenty of speculation the front office will shake up the roster. A report this week indicated Indiana was receptive to going into rebuild mode by trading veterans, with Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert, and Turner being the most notable players available.
Turner’s four-year, $80MM contract runs through next season but it shouldn’t be an impediment to a trade. He’s the league’s leading shot-blocker.
Sabonis says there’s no issues sharing the floor with Turner.
“I think it works great. We love playing together,” he said. “So as long as we’re great on the court together and we feel great playing together, I don’t think it matters.”
Momentum Towards Ben Simmons Trade, Lillard Off The Table
Momentum is building towards a Ben Simmons trade for the Sixers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN (Twitter link). Several teams are engaged with Philadelphia at the moment, with the 76ers discussing both two- and three-way deals. Philly is still searching for a top-tier player, Woj adds.
In a follow-up tweet, Wojnarowski relays that the increased activity is partially due to the fact that December 15 is just days away. That’s the date when most offseason signees become eligible for inclusion in trades.
Woj also says that the Trail Blazers have told the Sixers that Damian Lillard is off the table in trade talks, adding that interim GM Joe Cronin is committed to building around Lillard, who has repeatedly expressed his desire to stay in Portland long-term (Twitter links).
It’s only natural that trade talks would pick up around Dec. 15, but it’s interesting that the timing coincides with the Pacers listening to offers for Caris LeVert, Domantas Sabonis, and Myles Turner.
I’m not trying to imply that the Sixers necessarily want any of those three players, as Sabonis and Turner have positional overlap with Joel Embiid and LeVert has struggled thus far, but it’s definitely possible that the Pacers – who were linked to Simmons earlier this year – could be involved in the three-way talks.
Joe Cronin Will Be Given Chance At Blazers’ GM Job
At a potentially crucial stage for the Trail Blazers, interim general manager Joe Cronin will be given the opportunity to earn his position on a permanent basis, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian.
At a press conference Thursday, new president of business operations Dewayne Hankins said the organization is in the “first quarter” of its GM search and there’s no timeline to fill the role. Hankins said franchise chair Jody Allen and vice chair Bert Kolde will give Cronin the freedom to handle all the typical GM duties, but his primary mission will be to reform the roster to contend for a title.
“Ownership has been very upfront with me and they’ve told me that they believe in me and obviously by giving me this role, they trust me to transition this organization,” Cronin said. “So they haven’t made many declarations other than, ‘This is a nice venue for you to be able to do good work, and you’ll be evaluated,’ and I do have a chance. They told me, ‘You’ll have an opportunity. This is going to be a fair opportunity to prove yourself.'”
Cronin, who took over as interim GM after Neil Olshey was fired last week, said he has been working with coach Chauncey Billups to identify players around the league who might be available before the February 10 trade deadline. The slumping Blazers may have to shake up their roster soon after dropping four straight games and sliding to 11th place in the Western Conference.
Cronin explained to reporters that he will talk to other GMs about potential deals, but won’t finalize anything without approval from Allen and Kolde.
“The way I’ve kind of approached this is, I’m going to get the deal to the one-yard line, and then I’m going to take it to Jody and Bert, and then they make the final call,” Cronin said. “They’ll have our recommendations as to what to do. So, it’s pretty standard that way in the regard of there is a clearinghouse you have to go through. But my understanding is yes, go out, do your job, find deals, participate as if you are the GM.”
Trade rumors have surrounded the franchise for months, particularly involving star guard Damian Lillard. However, Lillard made a statement this week that he remains committed to staying in Portland and isn’t looking for a deal. Backcourt partner CJ McCollum is also seen as a potential trade candidate, along with Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic, who both have expiring contracts.
Billups, who also spoke at the press conference, said he wants a team that plays smart and shows competitive fire. He has criticized his players on numerous occasions for their effort following losses.
“Our roster is our roster and we’ve got some really talented players,” Billups said. “And when we’re playing well, we’re playing together, we’re pretty damn good. We’ve proven that already this year. And then we can be pretty bad too.”