Bulls-Raptors Game Postponed
Tonight’s game between the Bulls and Raptors has been postponed, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The decision was made because Toronto doesn’t have the league minimum of eight players available due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing (Twitter link).
The Raptors are dealing with a virus outbreak that affected Pascal Siakam and most of their coaching staff for Friday’s game. At least one coach reportedly tested positive, while the rest are in quarantine. Siakam, who reportedly returned an inconclusive rapid test on Friday, is expected to be out of action through the All-Star break, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Toronto has two games remaining before the break, and both may be in jeopardy considering the league’s policy of being cautious amid coronavirus outbreaks. The Raptors are scheduled to host the Pistons on Tuesday and the Celtics on Thursday.
The Bulls shouldn’t be affected, as they just arrived in Florida on Saturday, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports. They will return home for Monday’s game against the Nuggets. It remains to be seen if today’s news will have any effect on the Rockets, Toronto’s opponent on Friday, who are scheduled to face the Grizzlies tonight.
The Raptors had been one of just four teams without a postponement during the first half of the season, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The only remaining unaffected teams are the Lakers, Clippers, and Nets.
Tonight’s game is the 34th to be postponed since the season began, and the 30th caused by the virus. Three others were due to harsh weather in Texas last week and one was a scheduling choice to accommodate a makeup game. You can see the complete list here.
Austin Rivers Not On Knicks’ Bench For Saturday’s Game
The end of Austin Rivers‘ stay with the Knicks could be close after he wasn’t on the bench for Saturday’s game, suggests Marc Berman of The New York Post.
A team official told Berman that Rivers was at Madison Square Garden, but was getting treatment for a sore ankle. He wasn’t listed on the pre-game injury report and there was no mention of an injury in the box score, where he was designated as DNP-Coach’s Decision.
Rivers was removed from the rotation after the Knicks traded for Derrick Rose three weeks ago. Elfrid Payton has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, but coach Tom Thibodeau gave the extra minutes to little-used Frank Ntilikina instead of Rivers.
Rivers, 28, signed a three-year contract with New York in November, but only the first season of the deal is guaranteed. Through 21 games, he is averaging 7.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 21.0 minutes per night. He has played five total minutes in the last nine games and was the only player not used in Thursday’s blowout of the Kings.
A sprained ankle suffered by veteran big man Taj Gibson Saturday night could hasten Rivers’ departure, Berman adds. The Knicks, who are already without starting center Mitchell Robinson, have a full roster and would have to waive someone to add another frontcourt player. Thibodeau said after the game that team president Leon Rose “will look into players that are available.’’
Kevin Durant Will Still Serve As All-Star Captain
Kevin Durant won’t play in next Sunday’s All-Star Game and he may not even travel to Atlanta for the event, but he will remain one of the team captains, according to Malika Andrews of ESPN.
Durant hasn’t played since February 13 because of a strained left hamstring, and the decision to have him skip the All-Star Game was made this week after a follow-up MRI. The Nets‘ medical staff believes Durant needs additional time to return to full strength.
Durant will continue with rehab and will be re-evaluated after the break. Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis was selected as his replacement for the All-Star Game, while Celtics forward Jayson Tatum will replace KD as one of the game’s 10 starters.
As captain, Durant will participate in the All-Star draft along with LeBron James to choose which players will be on each team. The event will be televised March 4 on TNT.
Siakam Expected To Miss Next Three Games
Raptors forward Pascal Siakam is expected to remain sidelined until after the All-Star break due to the league’s health and safety protocols, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Siakam was placed under those protocols on Friday and missed the team’s game against Houston. A majority of the coaching staff, including head coach Nick Nurse, also missed the game due to those restrictions.
Siakam is averaging 20.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 4.8 APG this season. Toronto was able to get past the Rockets 122-111 with Chris Boucher taking his spot in the lineup. Yuta Watanabe received some additional playing time off the bench.
The Raptors, who are sitting at .500, have home dates with Chicago and Detroit and a road trip to Boston prior to the break.
Pistons Interested In Spencer Dinwiddie
With the NBA trade deadline approaching, the Pistons are one of several teams interested in Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie, according to SNY’s Ian Begley.
Dinwiddie, 27, is currently sidelined with a partially torn ACL, having undergone ACL reconstruction surgery in early January. There was some optimism that Dinwiddie may be able to return later this season, but the Nets appear prepared to finish the 2020/21 campaign without him.
The Nets are expected to be active on the buyout market and seek additional upgrades to the roster. Dinwiddie could hit free agency this upcoming offseason given his $12.3MM player option for the 2021/22 campaign.
While Dinwiddie struggled in three games before his injury this season, he averaged 20.8 PPG and 6.8 APG for the Nets in 64 games last season. Therefore, he could be a valuable piece to a team in the future despite the nature of his injury.
As Begley notes in his report, if Dinwiddie were to be traded, the team that acquires him would likely want to sign him beyond this season. The Pistons project to have cap room this summer, so Dinwiddie’s Bird rights wouldn’t necessarily be as valuable to them as they would be to some other clubs.
While it is a concern that this is Dinwiddie’s second ACL tear, players in recent years have generally made full recoveries from the injury and have been productive upon their return.
Nets Re-Sign Shumpert, Roberson To 10-Day Contracts
As expected, the Nets have brought back guard Iman Shumpert and forward Andre Roberson shortly after waiving them, announcing today in a press release that they’ve officially signed the two veterans to 10-day contracts.
Brooklyn signed Shumpert and Roberson to non-guaranteed contracts in recent weeks, then cut both players on Tuesday night in advance of this year’s salary guarantee deadline. By releasing the two vets and bringing them back on 10-day deals, the Nets will retain some roster and salary cap flexibility with the trade deadline just a few weeks away. Both players cleared waivers today.
Shumpert and Roberson were initially signed to bring their defensive abilities to an offensive-minded Brooklyn roster, but neither player has seen much action for the team so far. Shumpert has appeared in a single game, logging six minutes, while Roberson played 22 total minutes in two appearances.
The two 10-day deals will cover the rest of the Nets’ three remaining first-half games, then the club will have to make a decision on whether to re-sign the players to start the second half of the season. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Shumpert will earn about $160K on his 10-day contract, while Roberson will make $149K. Both players will have cap hits of $111K.
The Nets now have a full 15-man roster, including three players – Shumpert, Roberson, and Tyler Cook – on 10-day contracts.
Siakam Out Due To COVID-19 Protocols; Scariolo To Coach Raptors
6:43pm: One Raptors coach is believed to have tested positive for COVID-19, while the others are ruled out due to contact tracing and are quarantining, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
As for Siakam, Grange reports (via Twitter) that the forward returned an inconclusive rapid test and is awaiting the result of his PCR test. If it’s negative, he could be cleared to play in the Raptors’ next game on Sunday.
5:06pm: In addition to missing head coach Nick Nurse and five other members of their coaching staff, the Raptors will also be without star forward Pascal Siakam on Friday night vs. Houston due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, as Doug Smith of The Toronto Star tweets.
One key assistant will be available and will temporarily ascend to the head coaching role in Nurse’s absence, according to the Raptors, who announced that Sergio Scariolo will coach the club on Friday night (Twitter link via Marc Stein of The New York Times).
Scariolo recently coached the Spanish national team for qualifying games for the 2022 EuroBasket tournament and had been quarantining before being cleared to rejoin the Raptors, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. According to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), Scariolo completed his quarantine period this morning, just in time to provide a much-needed veteran coaching presence on the depleted Toronto bench.
It remains unclear how much time Siakam and the Raptors’ coaches will miss. Some individuals affected by the protocols this season have been cleared after just a day or two if a contact tracing investigation determines they weren’t a close contact of someone who tested positive.
However, if they are determined to have been a close contact of someone who tested positive – or if they tested positive themselves – they may not be available until after the All-Star break.
Durant Sidelined Through All-Star Break; Sabonis Gets All-Star Nod
Nets All-Star forward Kevin Durant will not play prior to the All-Star break, according to a team press release. He’ll be replaced on the All-Star roster by Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
The decision on Durant’s status was made after a follow-up MRI on his strained left hamstring. The MRI led the team’s medical staff to the conclusion that Durant required an “additional recovery period.” The club is confident Durant will return to full strength and the “extra recovery time will allow him to perform at the level at which he was playing this season.” He’ll continue to undergo rehab and will be re-assessed after the break.
Earlier this week, coach Steve Nash said that he expected Durant to return before the break. Durant hasn’t played since February 13 but the Nets have won all six games he’s missed due to the injury. He also sat out the previous week due to COVID-19 contact tracing.
Brooklyn plays at home against Dallas on Saturday before embarking on a two-game Texas trip with stops in San Antonio and Houston before the March 7 All-Star Game.
Durant is averaging 29.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 5.3 APG after missing last season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Sabonis, meanwhile, is averaging 21.5 PPG, 11.7 RPG and 5.7 APG. He’ll be making his second straight All-Star appearance and will earn a $1.3MM bonus for making the team, even though he was named as a replacement rather than making the initial 12-man squad, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter).
Protocols Force Raptors Coaches To Work Remotely
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and five other members of the team’s coaching staff will not be on the bench indefinitely due to the league’s health and safety protocols, according to a team press release.
Toronto plays its next three games at its temporary home in Tampa, beginning with a matchup against Houston on Friday. The Raptors also have home games with Chicago (Sunday) and Detroit (Tuesday) and a road trip to Boston (Thursday) prior to the All-Star break.
It’s unclear who will be running the team from the sidelines before those staff members clear protocols. The Raptors have six assistant coaches, along with other staff members in a variety of roles. Chris Finch was hired as the Timberwolves’ head coach on Monday.
The coaches under quarantine will continue to work remotely, and details on their return will be communicated when appropriate, according to the release. GM Bobby Webster will address the media later this afternoon.
Lakers Sign Damian Jones To 10-Day Contract
The Lakers have signed center Damian Jones to a 10-day contract, ESPN’s Marc Spears relays via a team press release. The team had two open roster spots after waiving Quinn Cook on Wednesday.
Jones was waived by the Suns on Wednesday. He signed a partially-guaranteed two-year deal with Phoenix during the 2020 offseason but played just 6.7 minutes per game in 14 contests.
The 6’11” big man was selected with the No. 30 pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the Warriors out of Vanderbilt. He won two titles with Golden State in 2017 and 2018 as a little-used backup, then played significant minutes as a reserve with the Hawks during the 2019/20 season, averaging 16.1 MPG across 55 games (including 27 starts). Jones holds career NBA averages of 4.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 0.7 BPG in 13.3 MPG across parts of five NBA seasons.
Jones provides a little more depth up front with Anthony Davis sidelined by a calf injury. His 10-day deal will cover the rest of the season’s first half, paying him approximately $119K.