Nets Expected To Sign Mike James To 10-Day Deal
APRIL 21, 2:39pm: Stein has now confirmed (via Twitter) that it’ll be a 10-day contract for James. As such, the expectation is that Brooklyn will simply release Aldridge to create a roster spot.
APRIL 21, 12:47pm: There are conflicting reports on the terms of James’ deal with the Nets. Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) suggests it’ll be a two-way contract, while Shams Charania of The Athletic says (via Twitter) it’ll be a 10-day pact.
Signing James to a 10-day contract would simply require waiving Aldridge. Chris Chiozza and Reggie Perry currently occupy Brooklyn’s two-way slots, so one of the two would have to be waived or promoted to the 15-man roster (taking Aldridge’s spot) if the team wants to do a two-way deal with James.
APRIL 21, 11:44am: James will sign with the Nets on Friday, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, who confirms (via Twitter) that the veteran guard is still going through the COVID-19 testing protocols.
CSKA Moscow announced (via Twitter) it has reached an agreement with James that will allow him to become a free agent “until the end of the 2020/21 season,” and that he’ll sign with an NBA team soon.
The wording of CSKA’s statement suggests that James’ contract hasn’t been terminated, so it sounds like he’ll be required to report back to the Russian club for 2021/22 after finishing this season with Brooklyn. Andrew Bogut did this a couple years back, joining Golden State in the middle of a two-year contract with the NBL’s Sydney Kings before returning to Australia for the second year.
APRIL 19, 4:00pm: The Nets are in advanced talks with veteran guard Mike James, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times, who tweets that a deal between the two sides could be completed as soon as Tuesday.
Antonis Stroggylakis and Dionysis Aravantinos of Eurohoops initially reported that the Nets were eyeing James, who has also drawn interest from the Knicks. Chema de Lucas subsequently reported (via Twitter) that the 30-year-old was expected to sign a rest-of-season contract with Brooklyn, though Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link) heard that James was one of a couple players the team was interested in.
James, who averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 assists in 36 total games for Phoenix and New Orleans during the NBA’s 2017/18 season, has been playing in Europe since then. He was having a big year for CSKA Moscow this season, racking up 19.3 PPG and 5.7 APG in 27 EuroLeague contests (31.2 MPG), but was suspended indefinitely by the club following an altercation with head coach Dimitris Itoudis in late March.
James is under contract with CSKA Moscow through 2023, but Eurohoops’ report indicates that the club is willing to accommodate him if he finds an NBA opportunity, while Stein suggests that James has already been released from his contract overseas.
Further clarity on James’ situation should come soon. Assuming he does officially complete a deal with the Nets, he’ll take the roster spot previously held by LaMarcus Aldridge. While Aldridge technically remains under contract with Brooklyn for the time being, he announced his retirement last week and is expected to be waived in a procedural move.
Anthony Davis Plans To Return On Thursday
As long as he’s feeling good and doesn’t experience any last-minute setbacks, Lakers star Anthony Davis plans to return to the court on Thursday for the team’s game in Dallas, he told reporters today (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN). We heard last week that he was nearing a return.
Davis has been sidelined for over two months due to a right calf strain and tendinosis, having last played on February 14. Discussing his injury today, he admitted that when it first occurred, he experienced what felt like a “ripping” sensation and was concerned that he may have suffered a torn Achilles (Twitter link via McMenamin). Testing showed that the injury wasn’t that serious.
Head coach Frank Vogel intends to immediately reinsert Davis into the Lakers’ starting lineup, as Mark Medina of USA Today tweets. However, he’ll be on a minutes restriction for the time being, and isn’t expected to play more than about 15 minutes on Thursday.
While the Lakers will get a boost as one of their All-Stars returns to the lineup, their other superstar still isn’t close to playing. A Tuesday report indicated that LeBron James‘ timeline can still be measured in weeks rather than days.
Pacers’ Sampson Suspended One Game; Spurs’ Mills, Gay Fined
Pacers forward JaKarr Sampson has been suspended for one game for an incident that occurred during Monday’s game against the Spurs, according to a press release.
Sampson got into an on-court altercation with Spurs guard Patty Mills, shoving him and then head-butting him (video link). He received a Flagrant 2 foul and an automatic ejection at the time.
Mills and Spurs teammate Rudy Gay, who each received technical fouls as a result of the incident, have been fined by the NBA, according to today’s announcement. Mills was docked $25K and Gay, who shoved Sampson, was hit with a $20K fine.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), the financial impact on Sampson won’t be quite as significant as the fines the Spurs’ veterans received. He’ll lose just $12,985 during his one-game suspension — that’s 1/145th of his $1,882,867 salary for this season.
Sampson will serve his suspension on Wednesday night as the Pacers face the Thunder in Indiana. Myles Turner (toe) and Domantas Sabonis (back) will also be unavailable for that game, with Goga Bitadze (ankle) listed as questionable, so the Pacers will be quite shorthanded in the frontcourt.
Bucks Promote Mamadi Diakite, Sign Justin Jackson
APRIL 21, 12:11pm: Jackson has now officially signed with the Bucks too, as the team issued a second release announcing his two-way contract.
APRIL 21, 11:22am: The Bucks have made Diakite’s new deal official, announcing in a press release that he has signed a new multiyear contract.
APRIL 20, 10:06pm: The Bucks are converting Mamadi Diakite‘s two-way contract into a multiyear deal, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
An undrafted forward out of Virginia, Diakite was named to the All-NBAGL First Team while playing for the Lakeland Magic in the Orlando bubble. He’s appeared in 11 Bucks games since the All-Star break, averaging 2.5 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 8.6 MPG.
“I have more to prove, I have more to give to the team and I have more to show to the fans,” Diakite said. “Them doing this shows me that they trust me in many ways, but I still have work to do.”
The exact terms of Diakite’s deal aren’t known, but it’s unlikely to be fully guaranteed beyond this season.
The Bucks are filling the two-way slot with forward Justin Jackson, who played 33 games with the Thunder this year. Oklahoma City released him earlier this month.
Jackson, who turned 26 in March, averaged 7.2 PPG and 2.2 RPG on .406/.306/.857 shooting this season.
The former 15th overall pick began his career in Sacramento in 2017 and also played for Dallas before arriving in OKC in the 2020 offseason along with Trevor Ariza as part of a three-team trade that sent Delon Wright to the Pistons and James Johnson to the Mavs.
Milwaukee now has a full roster.
Pacers Sign Oshae Brissett To Three-Year Deal
APRIL 21: The Pacers have officially re-signed Brissett, the team announced today in a press release.
APRIL 20: The Pacers and forward Oshae Brissett have agreed to a three-year contract, a league source tells J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
Brissett initially inked a 10-day contract with Indiana on April 1, then was re-signed to a second 10-day pact on April 11. That second deal is set to expire tonight. Because teams can only sign a player to two 10-day contracts in a season, Brissett would have become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow if the Pacers hadn’t been willing to sign him to a standard deal.
Brissett spent the 2019/20 season on a two-way contract with the Raptors, appearing in 19 games with the team last season after going undrafted out of Syracuse.
He reunited with former Toronto assistant Nate Bjorkgren in Indiana earlier this month and has made a positive impression on the Pacers in a limited role, averaging 4.8 points per game on .688/.571/.750 shooting in six games (8.2 MPG). His best game came last night, when he put up 13 points and six rebounds in a loss to San Antonio.
Because the Pacers haven’t yet used any of their mid-level exception yet this season, they were able to use a portion of it to go beyond a two-year deal for Brissett. While we don’t know the exact terms of the contract yet, the rest of this season’s salary will be fully guaranteed — years two and three will almost certainly be worth the minimum and are unlikely to be guaranteed.
Once they officially re-sign Brissett, the Pacers will have a full roster of 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
Kawhi Leonard Out Until At Least Next Week
Clippers All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard will be sidelined until at least next week due to right foot soreness, the team announced.
Leonard will be reevaluated sometime next week. He has missed four of the last five games.
The first absence on April 11 was due to rest, according to the club. He sat out the next three games due to the foot injury before returning on Sunday and posting 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in 23 minutes against Minnesota.
Leonard obviously must have continue to experience discomfort in the foot afterward, prompting the team to shut him down for at least the next three games. The Clippers play Portland on Tuesday, Memphis on Wednesday and Houston on Friday.
That last game against the Rockets kicks off a three-game road trip, so it’s quite possible Leonard will be out five or more games.
The Clippers currently hold the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference. Leonard is averaging 25.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 5.1 APG this season.
Harden Suffers Setback, Could Be Out Until Playoffs
Nets guard James Harden has suffered a setback in his rehab from a hamstring injury, the team announced today (via Twitter).
The setback occurred during an “on-court rehab session” on Monday, according to the team statement.
Harden had an MRI on Tuesday and will remain out indefinitely.
“We’re back to square one,” head coach Steve Nash said, according to an ESPN report. “He will be back when he’s back. It might be the playoffs. It might be sooner.”
Over the weekend, GM Sean Marks expresses optimism that Harden would suit up soon, so this obviously caught the Nets by surprise. Harden suffered the injury in the early going against the Knicks on April 5.
If the injury continues to sideline him or be a source of concern during the postseason, it could obviously affect the team’s championship aspirations. Harden has played to an MVP level since forcing a trade from the Rockets in January. He’s averaging 25.4 PPG, 11.0 APG and 8.7 RPG with Brooklyn.
LeBron James Reportedly Weeks Away From Returning
LeBron James has progressed to “light work,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said on Monday, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN details. However, sources tell McMenamin that the star forward is still likely weeks away from playing again.
James hasn’t played since suffering a high-ankle sprain in a March 20 game. With less than a month left in the regular season, Vogel didn’t offer any prediction on when James might be available.
“Just trying to do a little bit more with his activity each day,” Vogel said.
The news is more encouraging on Anthony Davis, who may return this week after missing nearly nine weeks with a calf strain and tendinosis in his right leg. Davis put in some “good work” on Monday, according to Vogel, and will “build up” for a possible return Thursday night at Dallas. Vogel added that Davis is working his way back into playing shape and won’t get his usual allotment of minutes right away.
“The biggest thing is conditioning right now,” Vogel said. “He’s healthy. But having not played and not really being able to ramp up his physical on-court activity over the last two months, it’s going to take some time before he gets his wind under him and obviously, that’s the biggest thing. Because if his legs aren’t under him, we don’t want him to be at risk for re-aggravation of the injury or another injury. We want to keep a close eye on that.”
The Lakers have been able to stay in the Western Conference playoff race without their two stars, currently sitting in fifth place with a 35-23 record. They are 14-15 since Davis’ injury and 7-8 since James got hurt.
“I don’t think we’re there yet, to be honest,” Vogel said when asked if the worst is over for his team. “I know I’m not, my coaching staff is not. Even when Anthony returns, it’ll be in short, limited minutes … We’re still in a stretch where we’ve got to compete and win games for the most part without those guys.”
Nuggets Sign Austin Rivers To 10-Day Contract
APRIL 20: The Nuggets have signed Rivers to a 10-day contract, according to Singer. Denver has announced in a press release that it’s official, so it will run through April 29, covering the team’s next six games. The deal will pay Rivers $158,907, with the Nuggets taking on a $110,998 cap hit.
APRIL 14: The Nuggets are negotiating with free agent guard Austin Rivers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic, who adds that they are in “serious talks” toward a deal, pending health and safety protocols. The team’s interest in Rivers was first reported on Monday.
Rivers is currently in Denver and is expected to sign within the next few days, a source tells Mike Singer of the Denver Post (Twitter link). It will likely be a 10-day contract, Singer adds (Twitter link).
The Nuggets are need of backcourt help after losing star guard Jamal Murray for the rest of the season with a torn left ACL. Denver has a roster opening and can add Rivers without a corresponding move.
Rivers, 28, signed with the Knicks during the offseason, but was never able to establish himself in the rotation, averaging 7.3 points and 2.0 assists in 21 games. He was traded to the Thunder at last month’s deadline and was waived a few days later.
Rivers would be eligible for the postseason because he wasn’t on an NBA roster beyond April 9, Singer notes (Twitter link). He offers plenty of playoff experience, having reached the postseason five times, including the past two years with the Rockets.
Terry Stotts’ Seat In Portland Getting Hotter?
Terry Stotts is expected to remain the Trail Blazers‘ head coach for the rest of this season, but the team will likely take a “long, hard look” at Stotts’ performance this offseason, Jason Quick writes for The Athletic.
Stotts, who took the reins in Portland way back in 2012, has led the Blazers to a 392-312 (.557) record since then and is on track to make the postseason for an eighth consecutive year. This year’s team is 32-24, two games ahead of Dallas for the No. 6 seed in the West.
However, as Quick explains, Portland’s inability to improve on defense is a concern, especially since the front office has added several players – including Robert Covington, Derrick Jones, Norman Powell, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson – viewed as upgrades on that side of the ball. The Blazers currently rank 29th out of 30 teams with a 115.9 defensive rating.
This year’s Blazers have also shown a “staggering lack of fight” against some contenders, according to Quick, who notes that the club has a 1-8 record against the top five teams in the West. Quick observes that the team has had a few frustratingly flat performance as of late, with Stotts making some curious rotation decisions, such as holding out a healthy Jones for the entirety of Sunday’s loss in Charlotte.
Portland’s record this season has been buoyed by a 22-8 showing in “clutch” games (games whose scores are within five points at any time in the last five minutes), which can be attributed in no small part to Damian Lillard‘s heroics. The Blazers have a negative overall net rating, which is rare for a team eight games over .500.
As Quick writes, it’s not a question of whether the Blazers believe Stotts is a good coach — they wouldn’t have stuck with him this long if they didn’t think so. However, the front office will have to determine if he’s capable of getting more out of a team that has championship aspirations.
Stotts has one year and $7MM left on his contract after this season, according to Quick.