Joel Embiid To Miss 2-3 Weeks With Bone Bruise In Knee
Sixers MVP candidate Joel Embiid is expected to miss 2-to-3 weeks after an MRI revealed a bone bruise in his left knee, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Embiid’s MRI revealed no structural damage to his knee and there is a feeling of relief within the Philadelphia organization that the superstar’s injury isn’t worse, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
The soon-to-be 27-year-old suffered the injury on Friday night during the Sixers’ tilt against the Wizards. Embiid hyperextended his left knee after landing awkwardly following a dunk in the third quarter. Embiid stayed down for several minutes before exiting under his own power, albeit with a noticeable limp.
Friday’s contest was Embiid’s first action since before the All-Star break as he – along with teammate Ben Simmons – was forced to sit out the star-studded contest due to contact tracing. Simmons and Embiid saw the same barber who later tested positive for COVID-19 and had to isolate.
While the injury might impact his MVP odds, Embiid has played like one all season for Philadelphia. In 31 games, he is averaging 29.9 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.4 BPG and is shooting 52.5% from the field.
Anthony Davis To Miss At Least Two More Weeks
Anthony Davis will miss a minimum of two more weeks as he continues to recover from a right calf strain, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register relays (Twitter link).
The team said in a statement that Davis has been cleared to enter the “next phase of his return to play process.” However, the Lakers’ superstar big man won’t be re-evaluated again for two weeks.
Beginning with Friday’s contest against Indiana, the Lakers have a very busy schedule for the next couple weeks, as they’re scheduled to play nine games.
Davis was initially ruled out at least two or three weeks when he was first diagnosed with a right calf strain. That timeline was amended to four weeks on February 19, so Davis’ recovery has taken longer than expected.
Davis suffered the injury against the Nuggets on February 14. He was averaging 22.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 3.0 APG this season.
Eric Gordon Expected To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Groin Strain
The Rockets continue to be hit hard by the injury bug, with shooting guard Eric Gordon the latest player to be ruled out. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Gordon is expected to miss approximately the next four-to-six weeks due to a moderate right groin strain.
Gordon strained his groin during the Rockets’ loss to Sacramento on Thursday night. He was listed as out for Friday’s game vs. Utah and had been scheduled to undergo an MRI today to assess the severity of the injury.
Gordon, 32, has had a fairly solid season for the Rockets, despite all the obstacles the team has faced so far in 2020/21. He’s averaging 17.8 points per game on .433/.329/.825 shooting in 27 games (29.2 MPG).
As Wojnarowski points out (via Twitter), Gordon would have been a trade candidate at this month’s deadline. Given his injury, he now looks like a safe bet to finish the season in Houston. The veteran guard remains under contract for three more seasons after this one, though his salary in that third year is non-guaranteed.
The Rockets signed Mason Jones to a 10-day contract earlier today to help fill the gap at shooting guard created by Gordon’s injury.
In addition to Gordon and P.J. Tucker, who is expected to be traded, Houston is missing Christian Wood (ankle), John Wall (knee), David Nwaba (wrist), Danuel House (knee), Dante Exum (calf), and Rodions Kurucs (oblique). The hope is that some of those players will be able to return soon.
Cavaliers Sign Quinn Cook To 10-Day Deal
MARCH 12: The Cavaliers have officially signed Cook to his 10-day contract, the club announced today in a press release.
MARCH 10: Free agent guard Quinn Cook will sign a 10-day contract with the Cavaliers, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
[RELATED: 10-Day Contract Tracker]
Cook, 27, spent the past season and a half with the Lakers before being waived last month. He got into 16 games this season, averaging 2.1 points in 3.9 minutes per night.
The Cavs will be the fifth team in five seasons for the former Duke star, who began his NBA career in Cleveland’s training camp in 2015, but wasn’t able to win a roster spot. He had brief stays with the Mavericks and Pelicans before winning a rotation role with the Warriors for two seasons.
The Cavaliers have an open roster spot, so no move will be necessary before signing Cook.
Caris LeVert Set To Make Pacers Debut On Saturday
Pacers guard Caris LeVert is on track to appear in his first game for his new team on Saturday in Phoenix, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
LeVert’s impending Pacers debut represents a remarkable turn of events for the 26-year-old, who was traded from Brooklyn to Indiana in mid-January in the four-team trade that sent James Harden to the Nets. At the time of the deal, a small mass was discovered on LeVert’s left kidney as part of a routine physical. He underwent surgery 10 days later to treat renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer.
While there was plenty of optimism at the time of the procedure that LeVert would make a full recovery, there was some uncertainty about whether or not he’d be able to return to the court before the end of the 2020/21 season. Now, he’s set to play for Indiana much earlier than anticipated, only about a month-and-a-half after his surgery.
As J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star writes, Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren had told reporters on Thursday that LeVert wouldn’t be out much longer and that there was a chance he’d play on the team’s three-game road trip, which begins on Friday in Los Angeles. Having seen him play in practice, LeVert’s new teammates are excited about the effect he’ll have on the struggling club, which has lost 12 of its lost 17 games.
“He looked great. He looked confident,” Domantas Sabonis said, per Michael. “Really good in the pick-and-roll, being aggressive going downhill, giving us more options. He’s going to attract a lot of defense to him, creating open shots for everybody. That’s what we’ve been missing.”
The Pacers are also hoping to get injured forward T.J. Warren back at some point this season, but he’s expected to be sidelined for a while yet as he recovers from foot surgery.
P.J. Tucker Away From Rockets, Expected To Be Traded
Rockets forward P.J. Tucker is away from the team and there’s a belief that he has likely played his last game with Houston, head coach Stephen Silas said after Thursday’s game in Sacramento, his club’s 14th straight loss.
“P.J.’s not with the team,” Silas said (video link via Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston). “He traveled here (to Sacramento), but is traveling back to Houston (instead of accompanying the team to Utah). We’re going to try to figure out something that works for him and works for us, in terms of him not being on the team anymore.
“I was under the assumption that he was going to be playing tonight, and he didn’t play. And that was disappointing. But it’s no secret that it’s been a rough year. He’s been professional… But at this point we’re going to do what’s best for the group and what’s best for P.J., and that’s probably not having him here.”
Prior to Silas’ post-game presser, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon had reported that Tucker, who is “increasingly frustrated” about not having been traded to a contending team, was a healthy scratch and that there was uncertainty about whether he’d return to the lineup at all. Silas essentially confirmed that report after the game, suggesting that both sides are on board with the divorce.
“He decided he was just not really with it, and we decided that’s a good idea — let’s move on,” Silas said, explaining why Tucker didn’t practice with the team on Wednesday and didn’t play vs. the Kings on Thursday (video link via Berman).
Unlike other players that have been pulled from their teams’ lineups in recent weeks, such as Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, and LaMarcus Aldridge, Tucker has a very manageable expiring salary, worth just under $8MM. As such, it shouldn’t be too tricky to find a taker for him, despite the fact that he’s having a down year.
While he’s still a solid defender, the 35-year-old isn’t contributing much on offense this season, averaging a career-low 4.4 PPG with a .314 3PT% in 32 games (30.0 MPG). Tucker believes joining a contender would allow him to display his value in ways he hasn’t been able to on the struggling and rebuilding Rockets, a person familiar with his thinking told Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
According to Woj and MacMahon, the Rockets have engaged in several trade discussions with teams about Tucker in recent weeks, including the Bucks, Lakers, Heat, and Nets. The Sixers, Jazz, Nuggets, and Timberwolves have also been cited as clubs with potential interest in the veteran forward, as Houston seeks a young, productive rotation player.
Sources tell ESPN that the Rockets thought they were in position to sign Tucker to an extension earlier in 2020/21, having offered $17MM ($10MM guaranteed) over two seasons. However, they balked when Tucker’s camp countered with a fully guaranteed two-year, $24MM deal.
The Tucker situation is the latest unfortunate development in what’s turning into a nightmare of a season for the Rockets, who already had to deal with a prolonged push from superstar James Harden to be traded.
Houston has slumped badly with Christian Wood out due to an ankle sprain, and the club’s injury situation has gone from bad to worse within the last couple days. As Feigen details, John Wall was hit on the side of his left knee in a scrimmage on Wednesday and was ruled out for Thursday’s game, while fellow guard Eric Gordon strained his groin vs. Sacramento and will undergo an MRI (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
J.J. Redick Undergoes Heel Treatment
Following non-surgical treatment today to address a sore, inflamed right heel, Pelicans guard J.J. Redick will miss at least one week of game action, according to an Associated Press report. New Orleans will re-assess the heel next week and adjust his recovery timeline accordingly.
Redick, currently on an expiring $13MM deal, has been floated as a possible sharpshooting addition to more playoff-ready rosters. With a 15-21 record, the Pelicans are currently the No. 11 seed in the West.
The 36-year-old Redick, who has been moved to a full-time bench role for the first time since the 2012/13 NBA season, is averaging 8.7 PPG on 40.7% field goal shooting and 36.4% shooting from long range this season.
The AP’s report goes on to note that the loss of Redick, a key reserve for the Pelicans this season, will yield more minutes for young guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kira Lewis Jr.
“Hopefully, they make good, smart plays, take good shots — not any added pressure on them,” New Orleans head coach Stan Van Gundy said of the players’ increased workload. “They’re just going to get opportunities.”
Aaron Gordon Cleared To Return
Magic forward Aaron Gordon, who has missed the last 15 games with a sprained left ankle, has been cleared to return to the floor for Orlando as they face off against the Heat, their fellow Floridians, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. The Magic have a 5-10 record in their 15 most recent contests without Gordon.
Chiang adds (Twitter link) that Orlando head coach Steve Clifford has stated that Gordon will start for the team, but will be playing on a minutes restriction as he eases his way back into game shape.
Through 19 games this season (all starts), the 25-year-old is averaging 13.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 0.8 BPG and 0.7 SPG in just 29.1 MPG. Gordon is in the third season of a four-year, $80MM contract he inked with the Magic in the summer of 2018.
Gordon’s return to game action will be a welcome one for an injury-depleted Magic club that is missing starters Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz for the season due to knee injuries. Rookie point guard Cole Anthony and veteran wings Terrence Ross, James Ennis III and Evan Fournier are all out tonight with various maladies, but are expected to return soon.
Teams around the NBA also figure to be keeping a close eye on Gordon during the next week or two to assess his health, since he could be a popular trade target at this month’s deadline.
Game, Playoff Appearance Limits For Two-Way Players Lifted
The NBA’s Board of Governors, a group comprising all 30 team owners and league commissioner Adam Silver, has green-lit a deal to remove the 50-game cap on players signed to two-way contracts, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The Board of Governors will also now let those players join their clubs’ playoff rosters.
Last week, we relayed that the league planned to loosen the restrictions for players on two-way contracts, but was still holding for official ratification from the Board of Governors.
[RELATED: 2020/21 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Charania adds (via Twitter) that, as was initially reported last week, two-way players who take the floor for their NBA teams for more than the initially-allotted 50 games would get a raise, from their current $449,155 annual rate (half of the rookie minimum) to the league minimum that correlates with their total years logged in the NBA, which can be tracked here.
With several teams facing daunting second-half season schedules and new COVID-19 cases still impacting roster availability, this move will hopefully help teams avoid missing too many scheduled contests during the home stretch of this unique 2020/21 season.
Lakers Sign Damian Jones To Second 10-Day Deal
MARCH 11: The Lakers have officially re-signed Jones to a second 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release. It’ll run through March 20, covering L.A.’s next five games.
MARCH 10: The Lakers intend to re-sign center Damian Jones to a second 10-day contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Jones made a good impression during his first 10 days as a Laker prior to the All-Star Game, putting up eight points in eight minutes in his first appearance and earning a start in Sacramento last Wednesday. Head coach Frank Vogel said prior to the break that Jones should be “optimistic about what’s ahead of him,” hinting that the big man could get another 10-day deal.
The Lakers have two open spots on their roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to bring back Jones. With the March 25 trade deadline fast approaching, the team may leave its final roster spot open to maximize its flexibility for possible trades or buyout targets.
Since the Lakers aren’t in action until Friday, Jones likely won’t be officially re-signed until then — that would allow his new 10-day deal to run through March 21, covering the club’s first six second-half games. The contract will pay him $119K, with a $111K cap hit, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who tweets that L.A. remains about $1.5MM below the hard cap.
A player can only sign two 10-day contracts with the same team during a season, so if the Lakers want to bring back after his next deal expires, they’d need to sign him for the rest of 2020/21. That’s probably only a likely outcome if the team misses out on its top trade and buyout targets.