Hornets’ Monk Sidelined At Least Two Weeks
Hornets coach James Borrego anticipates that shooting guard Malik Monk will miss at least two weeks due to a sprained right ankle, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets.
Monk was injured when he landed awkwardly after colliding with Brooklyn’s Jeff Green during the fourth quarter on Thursday.
Charlotte entered Friday’s action with a tenuous hold on the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference.
For the fourth straight season, Monk is one of the Hornets’ key reserves. He’s averaging a career-best 13.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 1.9 APG in 21.7 MPG while appearing in 32 contests this season. Monk has knocked down a career-best 42.4% of his 3-point attempts.
He enjoyed one of the best games of his career last Friday, pouring in 32 points in 26 minutes in a five-point win over Miami. Monk is headed to free agency this summer — Charlotte could make him restricted if it extends a $7MM+ qualifying offer.
Caleb Martin and Cody Martin could see more action in Monk’s absence.
NBA Fines Kevin Durant $50,000
Nets superstar Kevin Durant has been fined $50,000 for using offensive and derogatory language on social media, the league announced in a press release today. The release added that Durant has since acknowledged his actions were inappropriate.
The incident occurred between Durant and actor Michael Rapaport, with Rapaport sharing digital screenshots of the interaction on Twitter this week.
“I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams did I think [Kevin Durant] would be among them,” Rapaport wrote in his post. “The [snake] himself is now threatening me, bringing up my wife and wants to fight. This is supposed to be America’s sweetheart right?”
Durant has since apologized for his words. The 32-year-old has only appeared in 19 games for the Nets this season, averaging 29 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per contest. Brooklyn is hoping he could return soon from a hamstring injury suffered in February.
A $50K fine is the maximum the NBA can give to a player under the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement without the player having the ability to file a grievance.
Pistons Expect Killian Hayes To Return Saturday
Killian Hayes has missed most of his rookie season with a hip injury, but the Pistons believe he’ll be able to return for Saturday’s game against the Knicks, tweets James Edwards III of The Athletic.
Hayes has been making significant progress with the injury lately, although most estimates were for him to return sometime next week. He was cleared for on-court basketball activities in mid-March.
The seventh pick in last year’s draft, Hayes won the starting point guard job in training camp. He played just seven games, averaging 4.6 points and 3.6 assists in 21.1 minutes per night, before suffering a right hip subluxation.
Aside from that early-season glimpse, the 19-year-old remains something of a mystery to most North American basketball fans. He grew up in France and played a season in Germany before being drafted. He will presumably be worked back into a starting role so the Pistons can see what he’s capable of before this year’s draft.
BIG3 Announces Return This Summer
The BIG3, a summer league that features many former NBA players, will return for its fourth season, the league announced on its website. The 2020 season had to be canceled because of COVID-19 concerns.
“After a challenging year, we can’t wait to have our players back on the court for the best BIG3 season yet – where the world’s top competitors come together on one court and provide fans with an unmatched entertainment experience,” league co-founders Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz stated on the website. “We are excited to bring the BIG3 to two basketball rich cities and we know our players will put on a show.”
The season will begin July 10 with games at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. There will be an eight-week schedule with games also being played at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, followed by two weeks of playoffs. The championship game is slated for September 4.
“We are happy to have two great host cities in Las Vegas and New Orleans for our fourth season, bringing our fast paced and one-of-a-kind game back to fans across the country,” said BIG3 CEO Chris Hannan.
Attendance policies and arena capacities will be set in accordance with protocols established by the host sites. All games will be broadcast live, either on CBS or Paramount+.
During its first three seasons, the BIG3 has served as a showcase for players such as Joe Johnson, Rashard Lewis, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Josh Smith.
Warriors Sell Minority Stake In Franchise
The Warriors have sold an estimated 5% of their franchise to private equity firm Arctos Sports Partners, according to Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico.
The team’s total value was most recently estimated at $5.21 billion by Sportico ($4.7 billion by Forbes), but the minority stake was purchased using a $5.5 billion overall valuation, per Sportico.
Soshnick and Novy-Williams note that this purchase marks the first instance that a private equity firm has procured a portion of an NBA club, following the league’s decision to expand its pool of prospective owners to include “institution investors.”
Arctos, founded by private equity veteran Ian Charles and former Madison Square Garden Company CEO David “Doc” O’Connor, holds roughly $1 billion in assets that it hopes to invest across multiple sports teams.
Majority owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber bought the franchise in 2010 for a then-record $450MM. Eleven years, five Finals appearances, and three titles later, they have turned quite a profit.
John Collins To Miss At Least One Week With Ankle Injury
Hawks big man John Collins, who suffered a sprained left ankle during Tuesday’s loss in Phoenix, underwent an MRI on Wednesday, according to the team. Following that MRI, Collins has been diagnosed with a lateral ankle sprain and associated bone bruise, the Hawks announced today.
Although Collins has begun “low-level” rehab activities, he’ll miss some time as a result of the injury. Atlanta said Collins will be reevaluated in one week, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be ready to return at that point.
Collins, who will be a restricted free agent at season’s end, is having a strong contract year for the Hawks, averaging 18.2 PPG and 7.8 RPG on .545/.380/.838 shooting in 47 games (30.3 MPG).
The 23-year-old has been Atlanta’s second-leading scorer and a full-time starter this season, so the team will miss him as it jockeys for playoff position. Currently, the Hawks rank seventh in the East with a 23-24 record, but only a half-game separates them from the teams ahead of and behind them in the standings.
With Collins out, the Hawks figure to lean more heavily on Danilo Gallinari and Solomon Hill in the frontcourt.
Bucks Sign Jeff Teague
APRIL 1: The Bucks have made it official, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed Teague.
MARCH 29: Free agent point guard Jeff Teague will sign with the Bucks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Teague was waived by the Magic over the weekend after they acquired him as a salary throw-in to complete the Evan Fournier trade with the Celtics.
Teague, 32, signed a one-year deal with Boston during the offseason. He appeared in 34 games, including five starts, and averaged 6.9 PPG and 2.1 APG in 18.1 MPG while shooting 41.5% from the field.
For his career, Teague has averaged 12.3 PPG, 5.6 APG and 2.3 RPG in 805 games for the Hawks, Pacers, Timberwolves and Celtics.
With Milwaukee, he’ll add some depth at the point behind Jrue Holiday and will reunite with former Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer.
The Bucks have an open roster spot for Teague. They were seeking to fortify their guard depth after trading reserve point guard D.J. Augustin to Houston in the deal that brought veteran forward P.J. Tucker to Milwaukee.
Milwaukee will have one more opening on its 15-man roster after signing Teague, so the move doesn’t rule out the possible addition of Austin Rivers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Out Until At Least Mid-April
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still isn’t close to a return, according to head coach Mark Daigneault, who said on Wednesday that the guard will be out for at least the first half of April, per ESPN’s Royce Young. Gilgeous-Alexander has been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
“(Mid-April) will be our next touchpoint with him,” Daigneault said, indicating that Gilgeous-Alexader will be reevaluated in about two weeks. “He’s progressing and doing his thing.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has had his best season as a pro so far in 2020/21, averaging 23.7 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 4.7 RPG on .508/.418/.808 shooting in 35 games (33.7 MPG).
However, as Young observes, the Thunder want to be careful with SGA’s workload, since the team is coming off a shortened offseason and the former lottery pick may play for Team Canada in the Olympic qualifiers this summer, resulting in another abridged break between seasons.
Additionally, the 20-27 Thunder are signaling that they’re not exactly going all-out in a push for one of the final playoff spots in the West this season, having traded away veteran guard George Hill and sat big man Al Horford. Still, the expectation is that Gilgeous-Alexander will return before the end of the season, says Young.
Cade Cunningham Declares For 2021 NBA Draft
Oklahoma State star and potential No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham formally announced on Thursday that he will enter the 2021 NBA draft, writes Cliff Brunt of The Associated Press.
The 6’8″ freshman guard was one of the most dynamic players in the nation during his first and only college season, averaging a conference-best 20.1 PPG to go along with 6.2 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 1.6 SPG. He had a shooting line of .438/.400/.846 in his 27 games with the Cowboys (35.4 MPG), winning the Wayman Tisdale Award as the NCAA’s top freshman.
Although Oklahoma State had a relatively early exit from the NCAA tournament, falling in the second round to Oregon State, that 80-70 defeat didn’t reflect poorly on Cunningham, who scored 24 points in the losing effort.
There are a handful of impressive young players expected to join Cunningham at the top of draft boards this year, including Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green, and Jonathan Kuminga. However, Cunningham has long been considered by draft experts to be the top prospect in the 2021 class and is the strong favorite to be the first player off the board on July 29.
As Jonathan Givony of ESPN notes in his scouting report of Cunningham, there are still some questions about whether the 19-year-old can be the go-to offensive creator for an NBA team. However, Cunningham’s size, physical tools, improved shooting touch, and defensive versatility make him a potential two-way force, says Givony.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Thabo Sefolosha Discusses Retirement
Veteran NBA wing Thabo Sefolosha, who last played for the Rockets in 2019/20, hasn’t officially announced his retirement as a player. However, in a recent appearance on the Fastbreak podcast, Sefolosha didn’t object to being characterized as retired by the hosts.
“It’s treating me good,” Sefolosha said, when asked how he has adjusted to retirement. “It’s a nice change of pace being back home with the family. It has been great.”
As Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com relays (via Twitter), Sefolosha went on to explain that he has returned to his home country of Switzerland with his family and is enjoying spending more time with his wife and children. While he didn’t explicitly close the door on playing basketball again, the 36-year-old doesn’t sound like someone pursuing another NBA contract.
“We had already talked about it at the end of last season, coming back to Switzerland,” Sefolosha said. “We have kids that are growing up and it was important for us to be as a family together, spending more time together with myself being more involved and being able to spend more time with homework and all of this.
“After 14 years, I felt like it was kind of time for me to take a step back and spend the majority of my time doing something different now.”
Assuming Sefolosha has played in his last NBA game, he’ll call it a career after appearing in 869 regular season games and another 96 postseason contests. The former 13th overall pick averaged 5.7 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 21.9 minutes per game in the regular season, spending time with the Bulls, Thunder, Hawks, Jazz, and Rockets.
Sefolosha was also a strong perimeter defender, having earned a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive Team in 2010. Although he didn’t win a championship, he played in the NBA Finals once, with the Thunder in 2012.
Sefolosha last appeared on the court on March 8, 2020, having opted out of the summer restart in Orlando.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.