Magic Sign Donta Hall For Remainder Of Season
MAY 9: The Magic have officially signed Hall for the rest of the season via a hardship exception, the team announced today in a press release. The deal, which covers eight days, will be worth $79,216.
MAY 8: The Magic will sign forward Donta Hall to a rest-of-season contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Orlando signed Hall to a pair of 10-day contracts, the second of which was set to expire on Sunday. Before that deal ran its full course, the club inked Ignas Brazdeikis to a 10-day contract and released Hall.
The 23-year-old Hall has played eight games for the Magic, averaging 3.1 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 11.5 MPG. Hall also played in a total of nine games for Detroit and Brooklyn last season.
Orlando turned back to Hall after an apparent agreement with Admiral Schofield failed to materialize. It’s believed the injury-riddled Magic will sign Hall using the hardship exception.
Pelicans’ David Griffin Fined $50K
The NBA has fined Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin $50K for “public criticism of the officiating and comments detrimental to the NBA,” the league announced (via Twitter).
Griffin’s comments came Friday in response to a fractured finger that could keep Zion Williamson out for the rest of the season, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Griffin called the injury “avoidable” and said referees are allowing opponents to enjoy an “open season” on the second-year forward.
“We told the NBA through every means available to us … that the way they were officiating Zion was going to get him injured,” Griffin said. “Quite frankly, he’s injured because of the open season that there’s been on Zion Williamson in the paint. He has been absolutely mauled in the paint on a regular basis to the point where other players have said to him, ‘I’m going to keep doing this to you’ because they don’t call it. There is more violence encouraged on him in the paint than any player I’ve seen since (Shaquille O’Neal). It was egregious and horrific then. The same is true now.”
Griffin said Williamson’s injury didn’t occur on a single play, but was the result of excessive contact “over a period of time.”
“It’s a blunt-force injury,” Griffin said. “He was being beaten on the hand over and over and over again. For me to tell you one time, I don’t think I can do that. I don’t think he knows one time.”
Rodney Hood Has Left Hand Fracture
Raptors swingman Rodney Hood suffered a fracture of the second metacarpal on his left hand in tonight’s game, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.
With just four games left to play and Toronto out of playoff contention, Hood is likely done for the season. He played in 16 games after being acquired from the Trail Blazers in March and averaged 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per night.
Hood, 28, has a $10,851,246 contract for next season, but it’s currently non-guaranteed and he’s unlikely to be part of the Raptors’ future. His guarantee deadline precedes the 2021 free agent period, so he’ll likely reach the open market ahead of this year’s FA class.
Bulls To Target Schröder, Ball In Free Agency?
Dennis Schröder and Lonzo Ball could be potential targets for the Bulls in free agency this summer, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Countdown on Friday, Wojnarowski indicated Chicago will be in the market for a starting point guard (hat tip to Blake Schuster of Bleacher Report).
“Point guard is going to be at a premium for them,” Wojarnowski said.
Schröder, who is currently out due to the league’s health and safety protocols, reportedly turned down a four-year, $80MM+ contract extension offer from the Lakers. It’s likely he’ll be one of the top unrestricted free agents on the market. The Knicks are among the other teams who could potentially make a run at Schröder.
Ball’s situation is a little cloudier. New Orleans must decide whether to extend a $14.36MM qualifying offer, which would make Ball a restricted free agent. If the Pelicans do that, they’ll have the right to match any offer. Chicago’s potential interest in Ball has previously been reported, as has the Knicks’ interest.
The Bulls’ cap space this summer is dependent on their decisions regarding two players with partially guaranteed contracts (Tomas Satoransky, Thaddeus Young), restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen, and Ryan Arcidiacono ($3MM team option).
Bucks To Sign Elijah Bryant, Waive Rodions Kurucs
MAY 8: Bryant is leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv and will sign a two-year contract with the Bucks, a source tells Sportando. According to Carchia and Cohen, the Israeli team will receive a buyout worth $500K.
As Carchia reports and as Shams Charania of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter), Kurucs is expected to be waived to make room on the roster for Bryant.
MAY 5: The Bucks are expected to sign guard Elijah Bryant once he leaves his current team in Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando and Roi Cohen of Sport5 (Twitter links).
Bryant, however, doesn’t have a buyout clause in his contract, which could complicate any agreement between the sides. As Stefan Djordjevic of EuroHoops relays, Maccabi Tel Aviv views Bryant as an important piece to its team and could request up to $750K for a buyout to be formally processed.
Should the agreement go through, Milwaukee could part ways with forward Rodions Kurucs to make room for Bryant, Carchia adds (Twitter link). Kurucs has only appeared in five contests since being acquired in a trade with Houston in March.
Bryant averaged 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game in 34 EuroLeague contests (23.3 MPG) this season, shooting 44.0% from the field and 36.9% from deep. The 26-year-old went undrafted in 2018 after spending collegiate seasons at Elon and BYU. He also played summer league ball with the Bucks in 2019.
Milwaukee currently holds the third-best record in the Eastern Conference at 41-24 and officially clinched a playoff berth by defeating the Nets on Tuesday.
Magic No Longer Signing Admiral Schofield
Although a report several days ago stated that the Magic intended to sign forward Admiral Schofield via the hardship exception, Orlando’s plans have hit a glitch and the signing will no longer happen, tweets The Athletic’s Josh Robbins.
It’s unclear what exactly changed in the Magic’s plans, as the team has experienced a series of injuries and appeared to be on the verge of a deal with Schofield. Teams can use the hardship exception if at least four players miss three or more games and are expected to miss at least another two weeks.
Orlando currently has five players that could miss the remainder of the regular season, in addition to Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz, so the team would seemingly qualify for a hardship exception. We’ll have to wait to see if the Magic end up signing a different player or just stick with their current roster.
Schofield, 24, was the first player selected in January’s NBAGL draft but produced modest results. He averaged just 10.1 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 14 games for Charlotte’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm. He also shot below 40% from the field and a paltry 22.7% from beyond the arc.
The UK native was selected 42nd overall in the 2019 NBA Draft but has appeared in just 33 games during the 2019/20 campaign with the Wizards.
Donovan Mitchell To Be Re-Evaluated In One Week
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell was examined by medical staff in his recovery from a sprained ankle and it was determined he would be re-evaluated in one week, the team announced on Friday (Twitter link).
Mitchell suffered the ankle injury on April 16, but fortunately for both him and the Jazz, an MRI revealed no structural damage. He has steadily progressed and despite his absence, the Jazz remain in first place in the Western Conference with a 49-18 record.
Before the injury, Mitchell was in the midst of a career season, averaging a career-high 26.4 PPG along with 5.2 APG and 4.4 RPG in 53 games. With the regular season winding down, it remains to be seen how much time the two-time All-Star will have to ramp up before the postseason.
Kings’ De’Aaron Fox Clears Protocols
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox has cleared the league’s health and safety protocols, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.
Fox won’t play against the Spurs on Friday as he continues to take the final steps toward a return to action. Sacramento still has faint hopes of making the play-in tournament. The team trails San Antonio by 2 1/2 games for the 1oth and final playoff spot and a win on Friday, plus Fox’s return for the final week of action, could help the Kings sneak into the postseason.
Sacramento went 4-0 on its recent road trip and has five more games remaining after Friday, including a back-to-back against lottery-bound Oklahoma City.
Fox is averaging a career-best 25.2 PPG and 7.2 APG and was scoring at a 29.3 PPG clip last month before he entered protocols on April 23.
Zion Williamson Has Fractured Finger, Out Indefinitely
Pelicans star big man Zion Williamson has a fractured left ring finger and will be sidelined indefinitely, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
Williamson underwent a series of diagnostic tests on Thursday before the team departed for its game tonight at Philadelphia. A CT scan revealed the injury. A treatment plan and timetable for his return will be determined upon further evaluation, the team adds.
The loss of Williamson could kill off New Orleans’ playoff aspirations. The Pelicans are still in the running for the play-in tournament, sitting a game-and-a-half behind San Antonio for the 10th and final spot.
GM David Griffin held a press conference moments after the injury was announced and ripped the league’s officials, claiming Williamson hasn’t been getting enough calls when opponents get physical with him in the paint, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. Griffin blamed himself and the organization in part for not complaining enough about the way Williamson is officiated, Scott Kushner of the New Orleans Times Picayune tweets.
Griffin also said Williamson has been playing through an injury to his right thumb that would have required surgery for many other players, Guillory adds in another tweet.
Williamson played 37 minutes against Golden State on Tuesday, piling up 23 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. The All-Star is averaging 27.0 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 3.7 APG in his second season after being taken with the No. 1 pick in 2019.
Pelicans Sign Naji Marshall To Four-Year Contract
MAY 7: The Pelicans have made it official, issuing a press release to formally announce Marshall’s new contract.
MAY 6: The Pelicans have reached an agreement with rookie forward Naji Marshall on a new deal that will promote his from his two-way contract to a spot on the 15-man roster, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Sources tell Charania (Twitter link) that the deal will cover four years — the rest of this season, plus the next three. It will be fully guaranteed through 2022/23, with a non-guaranteed fourth year, Charania adds. The Pelicans will use a portion of their mid-level exception to complete the signing.
Charania pegs the value of the deal at $5.3MM, which indicates it’s a minimum-salary contract. That comes as no surprise, since today is the first day that the Pelicans were able to add a 15th man to their roster on a rest-of-season minimum deal without surpassing the luxury tax line.
Marshall, who signed a two-way contract with New Orleans in December after going undrafted out of Xavier, has emerged since the start of April as a regular rotation player for the club. For the season, he has averaged 6.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game in 26 contests (19.8 MPG). He has knocked down 37.3% of his three-point attempts.
The 23-year-old also participated in the G League bubble at Walt Disney World, recording 15.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 1.6 APG on .490/.349/.696 shooting in 12 games (26.9 MPG) for the Erie BayHawks.
Once the move is official, the Pelicans will have an open two-way contract slot, which they could fill before their season ends on May 16, if they so choose.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.