Franz Wagner Enters 2021 NBA Draft
Michigan sophomore wing Franz Wagner has decided to enter the 2021 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility. The program issued a press release announcing the decision, and Wagner also wrote a piece on The Players’ Tribune about it.
“I’ll be honest … I’m definitely feeling a lot of emotions about it,” Wagner wrote of his decision to go pro. “I’m hopeful, more than anything — as playing in the NBA has been a big dream of mine. It’s something I’ve been working extremely hard for. And after talking with my coaches and my family, I know it’s something I’m ready for. From a basketball perspective, this is the move for me to make right now. Plus, I mean, if Moe (older brother Moritz Wagner) can play in the league — obviously they’ll take anyone.”
Wagner, who played for Alba Berlin and SSV Lokomotive Bernau in Germany before his two years with the Wolverines, averaged 12.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .477/.343/.835 shooting in 28 games (31.7 MPG) in 2020/21.
As Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN notes, Wagner – who comes in at No. 9 on ESPN’s big board – was considered the highest-rated prospect who had yet to declare for the draft. Wagner was also the ninth pick in ESPN’s most recent mock draft (Insider link).
Over 110 college freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are now expected to enter the draft, as our tracker shows. That number figures to keep growing in the next few weeks, before eventually decreasing when the withdrawal deadline approaches.
Knicks Re-Sign Jared Harper
The Knicks have signed point guard Jared Harper to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). Harper had his two-way deal turned into a 10-day contract on April 23rd. That 10-day contract expired on Sunday night.
NBA.com’s official log of transactions lists Harper as having signed a two-way deal, but the Knicks’ announcement suggests he’s back on the 15-man roster. Assuming that’s the case, the team still has an open two-way slot.
Harper, 23, has made six brief appearances with New York in 2020/21 after seeing action in three games with Phoenix last season.
Harper was claimed off waivers in June. Though he hasn’t seen much NBA action, he excelled in the G League season at the Orlando bubble. In 12 G League contests this season, Harper averaged 21.3 PPG and 7.0 APG and was named to the All-NBA G League First Team.
Harper has received more money by having his initial two-way contract converted. He was earning $3,076 per day on his two-way, while a 10-day deal pays him $9,902 per day.
Harper spoke to Hoops Rumors earlier this season about his experience in the G League and the time he has spent on the Knicks’ roster.
Kevin Love: Eventually Playing For Blazers Would Be “Special”
During the first half of the 2019/20 season, a report stated that if Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love was traded, he preferred to end up with his hometown Trail Blazers. Portland reportedly offered expiring contracts to Cleveland in exchange for Love, but were unable to complete a deal.
Love – who was born in Southern California and played for UCLA but grew up in Lake Oswego, Oregon – never publicly confirmed that Portland would have been his ideal landing spot. However, with the veteran forward and the Cavs increasingly likely to part ways sometime before his contract expires in 2023, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports asked Love during the most recent episode of his Posted Up podcast about the possibility of eventually joining the Blazers.
“Who wouldn’t want to play with Dame Lillard, first of all,” Love responded. “Dame, he’s special. He’s amazing. I claim Portland when they ask me where I’m from. It’s where I spent all of my formative years. I grew up in Portland. When people ask where I was born, obviously I say L.A. But Portland is always going to be a special place in my heart.
“Whether it be at the end of my career, whether it be in six months, or whatever it may be, if I was wearing a Portland jersey, that’s special,” Love continued. “That’s playing at home.”
Love still has two years and $60MM+ left on his contract with the Cavaliers, which will make a trade challenging, especially for Portland — if they’re going to take on that sort of money, the Blazers will be targeting an impact player in his prime.
Still, after Love’s latest on-court display of frustration, speculation has increased that the 32-year-old and the Cavs could be headed for a divorce sooner rather than later, even if that means Cleveland negotiating a buyout or accepting pennies on the dollar in a trade. If Portland could sign the former fifth overall pick at a discount once he eventually reaches free agency, the idea of a union between the two sides seems much more viable.
While he figures to be the subject of trade rumors again this offseason, Love is on track to finish the 2020/21 season with the Cavs. He has averaged 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per games in 21 contests (23.9 MPG) so far. Those numbers are all well below his career averages, as are his .404 FG% and .349 3PT%.
Dennis Schröder Out At Least 10-14 Days Due To Protocols
MAY 3: Schröder is expected to miss at least 10-to-14 days due to the protocols, sources tell Shams Charania and Bill Oram of The Athletic (Twitter link). That’s typically the timeline associated with a positive COVID-19 test, though that hasn’t been confirmed in Schröder’s case.
The regular season ends on May 16, so it’s very possible we won’t see Schröder again until the postseason.
MAY 2: Lakers guard Dennis Schröder has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and will miss the team’s game against the Raptors on Sunday, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). It’s unclear how long he’ll be sidelined.
Los Angeles just welcomed back LeBron James (ankle) after 20 games, rolling with a starting lineup of Schröder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, James, Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond on Friday for the first time this season.
Building chemistry is imperative for championship contenders, and the loss of Schröder will hurt the Lakers’ ability to do so just weeks before the playoffs. In 59 starts this season, Schröder has averaged 15.5 points, 5.8 assists and 32.2 minutes per game, shooting 44% from the field and 34% from deep.
The Lakers own the sixth-best record in the West at 36-27 and have lost seven of their last 10 contests. They lead the No. 7 seed Blazers by just one game.
Nets Sign Mike James To Second 10-Day Contract
MAY 3: The Nets have made it official, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed James to his second 10-day contract.
MAY 2: The Nets plan to sign guard Mike James to a second 10-day contract, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
James’ initial 10-day deal with Brooklyn will expire on Sunday night, so he’ll be able to sign his new deal on Monday. The 30-year-old’s second 10-day would expire during the last week of the regular season, at which point he’d be eligible to sign a standard contract if the Nets want to keep him around for the playoffs.
James averaged 7.4 points, 4.2 assists and 19.6 minutes per game during his first 10-day deal, appearing in a total of five contests. He shot 36% from the floor and 27% from deep in those outings.
Brooklyn signed James to a 10-day deal last month after releasing veteran LaMarcus Aldridge, who retired after dealing with health concerns. The team owns the second-best record in the East at 43-22 and plays Milwaukee for a second straight game on Tuesday.
Magic’s Steve Clifford Cleared To Return On Wednesday
Magic head coach Steve Clifford, who has been in the NBA’s health and safety protocols for over a week, has been cleared and is on track to coach the team on Wednesday vs. Boston, the team announced today (via Twitter).
We heard back on April 24 that Clifford had registered a positive test for COVID-19. However, he had just received his second vaccination shot and reportedly didn’t experience any symptoms following his diagnosis. Despite not feeling ill, Clifford had to clear the league’s protocols before being given the go-ahead to be around the Magic again.
Clifford has missed five games so far and also won’t be available for Monday’s game against the Pistons, since the team has already traveled to Detroit for that contest. He’ll be ready to go when the Magic return home to host the Celtics on Wednesday.
In Clifford’s absence, Tyrone Corbin temporarily took the reins as Orlando’s acting head coach. He has led the team to a 2-3 record so far, with wins over Cleveland and Memphis.
LeBron James Exits Game Due To Ankle Pain, Criticizes Play-In Format
After the Lakers lost for the sixth time in their last seven games on Sunday night, forward LeBron James became the latest star player to criticize the NBA’s new play-in tournament that will determine the final two playoff teams in each conference, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.
“Whoever came up with that s–t needs to be fired,” James said.
Last month, Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic and owner Mark Cuban both offered similar assessments of the play-in format, with Doncic saying he didn’t see the point of it and Cuban calling it an “enormous mistake” to have implemented it this season.
As was the case with Doncic’s and Cuban’s comments, it’s impossible to accept LeBron’s critique at face value without considering his team’s place in the standings. After starting the season with a 21-6 record, the Lakers have gone just 15-22 and are now in a three-way tie for fifth place in the West — Dallas, Portland, and L.A. have matching 36-28 records, so if the Lakers’ slump continues in the season’s final two weeks, they’ll likely find themselves participating in a play-in game.
It’s probably safe to assume that LeBron wouldn’t be speaking out against the play-in format if the Lakers comfortably held a top-four seed — especially since he favored a play-in tournament to determine the last playoff team prior to last summer’s restart, as Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report notes (via Twitter).
Still, it sounds as if LeBron’s frustration with the format comes from a similar place as Cuban’s — the Mavericks owner wasn’t necessarily against the play-in tournament in general, but said that it was a mistake to introduce it during a compressed season, following a shortened offseason.
The play-in format makes the regular season results more important at a time when the league has squeezed 72 games into a 146-day calendar (instead of 82 in 177), meaning teams have to fight harder for their position in the standings when they may prefer to be resting key players and getting them healthy.
In James’ case, he recently returned from a right ankle sprain that sidelined him for 20 games, but it appears he’s still bothered by that injury. As McMenamin writes, the 36-year-old left Sunday’s loss midway through the fourth quarter due to right ankle soreness and didn’t return.
“I definitely want to get healthy. Not only for myself, but for our team,” James said. “I need to make sure my ankle is where it was before the injury. I’ve got to be smart with it.”
Sixers Sign Anthony Tolliver For Rest Of Season
MAY 2: The move is official, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
APRIL 30: The Sixers intend to sign veteran power forward Anthony Tolliver for the remainder of the season once his current 10-day deal expires, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Tolliver, who was out of the NBA for most of the 2020/21 season, signed a 10-day contract with Philadelphia on April 12, then got a second 10-day commitment from the team on April 22. That second deal will expire on Saturday night, so the 35-year-old’s rest-of-season deal figures to be finalized on Sunday.
Having made five appearances so far for the 76ers, Tolliver hasn’t exactly put up big numbers in his limited role, averaging just 1.6 points and 1.6 rebounds on .100/.143/.833 shooting in 12.4 minutes per contest. However, the 13-year veteran has a strong NBA track record, including a career .373 3PT%, and brings some playoff experience to Philadelphia’s roster.
Tolliver currently holds the 15th and final spot on the Sixers’ standard roster, and the team has also filled both two-way slots, so re-signing the former Creighton standout on Sunday could be the last roster move the club makes before the playoffs begin.
After earning $175,668 on each of his 10-day contracts, Tolliver will make $263,502 over the final 15 days of the regular season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kelly Oubre Has Torn Wrist Ligament, Palm Fracture
Warriors forward Kelly Oubre has been diagnosed with a torn ligament in his left wrist and a fracture on the palm of his left hand, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Further evaluations will be conducted to see if Oubre can continue playing, sources tell Charania. He reaggravated the wrist injury in an April 9 game, then returned to the court 11 days later, Charania adds.
Oubre hurt the wrist twice this season while falling to the floor after dunks, explains Anthony Slater of The Athletic (via Twitter). One happened in practice and the other was in a game against the Wizards on April 9.
Oubre is averaging 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds through 55 games in his first season with Golden State after being acquired in a November trade. He is headed toward unrestricted free agency after making $14.375MM this season.
Lillard Addresses Haynes’ Column: “That’s His Thoughts”
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports argued in an opinion column on Friday that the Trail Blazers‘ front office ought to be taking a more aggressive approach in trying to acquire a second star to pair with Damian Lillard, taking advantage of the perennial All-Star’s prime years before the team’s window of contention closes.
Asked on Friday night about that piece, Lillard acknowledged that some things Haynes wrote were true, including the fact that this has been his most frustrating season, in large part due to a series of nagging injuries. However, he made it clear that it doesn’t mean he shares all the views conveyed in the column (video link via Casey Holdahl).
“I took it for what it was,” Lillard said. “That’s his thoughts.”
As I noted yesterday, Haynes and Lillard have a long-standing relationship, which added an extra level of intrigue to the story. It was fair to wonder – given the connection between the two – if Haynes’ comments questioning Portland’s moves and suggesting that Lillard’s loyalty wasn’t being rewarded were things the Blazers’ star was feeling. But Lillard wanted to shut down that line of thinking.
“I was kind of — what word should I use — not irritated with him because he’s a writer, that’s what he does, so I can’t expect him to not do his job,” Lillard said. “But I know because of our relationship that people would assume that I was tied to the story. So I think that was the only thing that bothered me about it.”
While Lillard attempted to distance himself from the story, the fact that he didn’t denounce it in stronger terms may fuel speculation about his future in Portland. But he’s under contract through at least 2024 and has long conveyed a desire to finish his career with the franchise, so he’s almost certainly not going anywhere anytime soon.
Still, the Blazers’ front office will likely feel a little added pressure to make organizational changes this offseason, perhaps to both the roster and the coaching staff, especially if the team experiences an early playoff exit.
Whether or not Lillard actively pushes for changes to the roster, it’s a safe bet that team president of basketball operations Neil Olshey will get his star guard’s two cents before doing anything drastic.
“I lean on the fact that me and Neil, if we have a conversation, I know that I can go into his office and tell him whatever I think,” Lillard told reporters on Friday. “And we’ve had those conversations. Same with (head coach) Terry (Stotts).”