Christian Wood Set To Return For Rockets
Rockets big man Christian Wood is expected to return on Wednesday night vs. the Warriors after missing the last 17 games with a sprained ankle, a source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Houston has lost 17 times in a row since Wood went down with the injury.
Wood will start and will be on a minutes restriction, adds Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link).
Prior to the ankle sprain, Wood was making a case for an All-Star spot, averaging 22.0 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game with a .558/.421/.688 shooting line in 17 contests (31.2 MPG).
At the time of Wood’s injury, the Rockets were in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race at 11-10. Now, they have the NBA’s third-worst record and are considered likely to be sellers at the trade deadline, with Wood viewed as perhaps the lone untouchable player on the roster.
Even with Wood back in the lineup, Houston figures to have a shortage of depth on Wednesday vs. Golden State. John Wall (knee), Eric Gordon (groin), David Nwaba (wrist), Danuel House (knee), Ben McLemore (ankle), Dante Exum (calf), and Rodions Kurucs (oblique) are also dealing with injuries, while P.J. Tucker is away from the team as he awaits a trade. However, House and McLemore have been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday’s game, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
Heat, Thunder Discussing Ariza Deal
The Heat are discussing a trade with the Thunder that would send veteran forward Trevor Ariza to Miami, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer tweets.
The Thunder have been seeking a second-round pick from the numerous playoff contenders showing interest in Ariza, O’Connor adds. Ariza has been away from the team all season, having been acquired in an offseason trade as a salary throw-in.
Ariza has a $12.8MM salary and the Heat are a hard-capped team, so they’d have to send out at least one player to match salaries. Miami has a $7.5MM trade exception that expires on Monday but Ariza’s salary wouldn’t fit into that slot.
Ariza, 35, appeared in a combined 53 games with Sacramento and Portland last season. He’d add some wing depth for Miami.
The Lakers are one of the other teams that have reportedly looked into acquiring Ariza.
Raptors’ Starters Siakam, VanVleet Cleared To Practice
The Raptors, who have been decimated by the league’s health and safety protocols, are getting closer to having their team back at full strength.
Starters Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, as well as reserves Malachi Flynn and Patrick McCaw, have been cleared to practice on Tuesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. The Raptors play at Detroit on Wednesday.
That leaves only OG Anunoby remaining under the COVID-19 restrictions. He’s listed as out for Wednesday’s game by the team, according to Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link). VanVleet is listed as doubtful to play, while Siakam, Flynn, McCaw are listed as questionable.
Toronto’s coaching staff, including Nick Nurse, were also placed under those protocols during the week leading up to the All-Star break.
The team’s fortunes have nosedived while playing shorthanded. The Raptors have lost five straight to fall five games below .500.
Cuban: Mavs Only Interested In Acquiring Another Star
The Mavericks don’t plan on making any trades before next Thursday’s deadline unless they can acquire a star player, owner Mark Cuban said recently on the Mavs Step Back Podcast (video link).
“Unless it’s a game-changing star, I don’t see us doing anything at all,” he said. “So, if someone decides they’re blowing it up, OK, we’ll talk to anybody about any great player. If it’s just ‘We’ll trade this guy for that guy’ and it’s not really going to move the needle, I’d rather go with continuity.”
Cuban added that the only other circumstances in which the Mavs would look to make a trade are if another team “makes a mistake” or offers a “great player” in a salary-dump deal.
The most significant trade the Mavs made during the offseason was sending Seth Curry to the 76ers for Josh Richardson and the rights to Tyler Bey. They also dealt Justin Jackson, a 2023-second rounder and a 2026 second-rounder to the Thunder and Delon Wright to the Pistons for James Johnson. In terms of free agency, they re-signed Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Burke.
Cuban said those moves – which allowed the team to retain 2021 cap space – had nothing to do with hoping that Giannis Antetokounmpo or other stars would chose free agency this offseason.
“The changes we made, the trades we made weren’t about setting us up for the coming summer,” Cuban said. “Not at all. We wanted defense, we wanted toughness and that’s what we went out and got.”
Kings’ Bagley Suffers Fractured Left Hand
Kings big man Marvin Bagley III suffered a fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his left hand on Monday, James Ham of the NBC Sports California tweets.
Bagley’s injury occurred during the first half of Sacramento’s game at Charlotte. An X-ray taken at the Spectrum Center revealed the fracture, according to a team press release. He’ll undergo a further medical evaluation in the coming days and an update regarding the course of treatment will be provided by the team.
Bagley, the second pick of the 2018 draft, was averaging 13.9 PPG and 7.6 RPG entering the contest while starting 36 contests.
He’s been snakebit by injuries over the last two seasons. Bagley missed the restart last summer due to a right foot injury and was also sidelined earlier last season by left foot and thumb ailments, as he appeared in just 13 games. He missed training camp workouts this season due to a bout with COVID-19.
Bagley’s father caused some controversy in early January when he tweeted that the team should trade his son, a tweet the younger Bagley declined to discuss.
There has been some speculation that the Kings’ new front office might try to move on from Bagley but potential suitors are discouraged by his contract and an approximate $15MM qualifying offer in 2022.
CJ McCollum Cleared To Play Tuesday
Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum has been cleared to return to action for Tuesday’s game against the Pelicans, Jason Quick of The Athletic tweets.
McCollum suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot on January 16 against the Hawks. McCollum, whose injury was initially diagnosed as a sprain, has missed 25 games with Portland going 14-11 during that span.
The high-scoring guard was off to a hot start prior to the injury, averaging 26.7 PPG and 5.0 APG in 13 games while shooting 44.1% from deep. Damian Lillard‘s backcourt partner averaged 22.2 PPG and 4.4 APG last season.
McCollum signed a three-year, $100MM extension in 2019 that goes through the 2023/24 season.
The Blazers entered the week tied for fifth place in the Western Conference. The return of one of Portland’s key players could increase the chances of the team being a buyer prior to the March 25 trade deadline.
Blazers Among Teams Interested In Aaron Gordon
The Trail Blazers are among the teams showing interest in Aaron Gordon, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who says the Magic have been open to listening to calls about the veteran forward. The Timberwolves have also been linked to Gordon multiple times since the 2020 offseason, and Charania indicates that Minnesota remains interested.
Gordon is dealing with an ankle sprain that has limited him to just one game since the start of February. He returned to action on Thursday, but logged just 14 minutes and has sat out the last two games due to “injury management.” If he’s healthy, the 25-year-old would be an intriguing fit on a Blazers squad that features star guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, as well as center Jusuf Nurkic.
Presumably, a Blazers offer would start with Rodney Hood‘s expiring $10MM+ contract for salary-matching purposes (Hood’s salary for 2021/22 is non-guaranteed). Portland would need about an additional $3MM in outgoing salary to sufficiently match Gordon’s $18MM+ cap hit, but would probably like to send out even more than that to avoid going into tax territory. That would make Enes Kanter ($5MM) a possible trade candidate, though he has had a nice season.
The Magic, meanwhile, would likely target young players like Gary Trent Jr., Nassir Little, Anfernee Simons, and CJ Elleby — some of those prospects would be more available than others, from Portland’s perspective. The Blazers would also be able to offer any first-rounders starting with their 2023 selection, since they’ve traded away their 2021 pick.
If Portland looks to upgrade its frontcourt without giving up multiple assets, LaMarcus Aldridge would be an option. According to Charania, the Blazers, Heat, and Celtics are considered the top contenders for Aldridge if he receives a buyout, though the Spurs remain focused on finding a trade.
Bucks Sign Axel Toupane To Two-Way Contract
MARCH 15: The Bucks officially signed Toupane to his two-way deal on Sunday, per a team press release.
MARCH 13: The Bucks will sign swingman Axel Toupane to a two-way contract, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The 28-year-old played for Santa Cruz during the just-completed G League season, averaging 17.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists in nine games. He was in training camp with the Warriors before being waived in December.
Toupane has previous NBA experience, playing 21 games for the Nuggets during the 2015/16 season, and two games each for the Bucks and Pelicans in 2016/17. He had been playing overseas before joining the G League this year.
Milwaukee has a two-way slot open after waiving Jaylen Adams last week. A report prior to the All-Star break suggested that Myles Powell would fill that slot, but that deal was never made official.
Caris LeVert “Grateful” To Be Playing Again
Pacers guard Caris LeVert felt “grateful” to be playing in an NBA game two months after doctors found a small mass on his left kidney, writes Eric Woodyard of ESPN. The discovery was made during a physical required to complete the four-team trade that send him from Brooklyn to Indiana in January. LeVert underwent surgery 10 days later for renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer.
He made his debut with the Pacers Saturday night, playing 27 minutes and contributing 13 points and six rebounds in a win at Phoenix. LeVert was in the starting lineup, even though Saturday marked just his second time playing five-on-five since the operation. He admitted having “heavy legs” as he continues to work his way back into basketball shape, but was happy with his performance.
“A month and a half ago, two months ago, I didn’t even know if I knew I was even gonna be out here, especially this soon, just with everything that happened, so it’s definitely a level of gratefulness and just happy to be on the court,” LeVert said.
The Pacers had the option to void the trade after LeVert’s condition was discovered, but they chose to keep him as a show of support and an expression of confidence that he would be able to return before the season ended. The organization has worked to make sure LeVert felt comfortable during his recovery, and he received a huge ovation from his teammates last night as he walked into the locker room after the game.
“Absolutely, he energized our team, and his character level is so high,” coach Nate Bjorkgren said. “He’s such a good person. He’s been a great teammate throughout this entire time that he’s been out, so our guys were very happy to have him back out there on the court.”
Thunder Trade Hamidou Diallo To Pistons
MARCH 13: The trade is official, according to press releases from both teams.
MARCH 12: The Thunder are trading guard Hamidou Diallo to the Pistons for swingman Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-round pick, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The future pick was originally acquired by Detroit from Houston in the Christian Wood sign-and-trade.
Diallo will be a restricted free agent with his qualifying offer projected to be worth approximately $2.1MM. However, the Pistons didn’t acquire Diallo to let him walk in free agency. They view him as a core piece, Wojnarowski reports in a separate tweet. Luguentz Dort‘s emergence made Diallo expendable, as Woj explains.
Mykhailiuk will also be a restricted free agent this summer. Currently, his QO is the same as Diallo’s.
The swap was executed by OKC general manager Sam Presti and his former assistant Troy Weaver, who was hired by Detroit last year as its GM and has nearly turned over the entire roster since then.
A second-round pick in 2018, Diallo has enjoyed a breakout season in his third NBA year with the Thunder. The 22-year-old is averaging 11.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 2.4 APG in 23.8 MPG. He’s a subpar 3-point shooter (career 26.2%) and free throw shooter (62.9%).
The 6’5” Diallo has a 7-foot wingspan and is extremely athletic, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press tweets. He’s currently sidelined by right groin soreness and hasn’t played since February 24.
Mykhailiuk, who began his career with the Lakers three seasons ago, has a different skill set. He’s a career 36.9% 3-point shooter and has knocked down 11 in Detroit’s last three games. He dished out a career-high eight assists in a loss to Charlotte on Thursday.
Overall, the 23-year-old Mykhailiuk is averaging 6.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 1.6 APG in 17.6 MPG over 36 games this season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.