Klay Thompson Ruled Out For Season
The Warriors have officially ruled out Klay Thompson for the season, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com passes along. The shooting guard continues to rehab from a torn left ACL he suffered in last season’s NBA Finals.
“This is what I expected from the beginning given the severity of the injury,” coach Steve Kerr said. “And the normal timetable [for recovery], and so here we are. It’s no surprise.”
Golden State’s medical staff made the final call on Thompson’s season. He remains on track to play at the beginning of the 2020/21 campaign.
Thompson could be ready by the time the Olympics roll around in the summer and Kerr said the sharpshooter could very well suit up in the games.
“It’s not off the table,” the coach said. “It’s still a possibility. We haven’t really discussed it. I think the [Olympic] team meets in July, so it’s still quite a ways away. But it’s really not anything we’re discussing at this point. It’s still a possibility … obviously his health is the No. 1 concern, and so we’ll kind of cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Clippers Sign Reggie Jackson
The Clippers have officially signed Reggie Jackson, as the team relays on its website. The point guard agreed to a buyout with the Pistons earlier this week.
“Reggie is a proven playmaker and scorer, and we are looking forward to adding his experience and creativity to our team,” said president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank.
Jackson will make $734,025 for the remainder of the season, Bobby Marks of ESPN.com tweets. Los Angeles will carry a $512,721 cap hit as a result of the signing.
Jackson, 29, spent the last five years in Detroit, having been acquired from the Thunder in a three-team trade in February 2015. He signed a five-year, $80MM deal with the Pistons a few months later and had been in the final season of that contract before he was released. Jackson gave back a flat $800K in his buyout agreement with the Pistons, reducing Detroit’s dead-money charge for 2019/20 to $17,286,956.
Jackson’s name was among those rumored to be available via trade prior to the deadline, though no deal materialized. The Lakers had interested in inking Jackson earlier this week before the Clippers swooped in.
Rockets Sign DeMarre Carroll
The Rockets have officially signed DeMarre Carroll, according to a team press release. It was reported earlier in the week that he would join Houston.
The Spurs agreed to a buyout with Carroll after not moving him at the trade deadline, waving the white flag on one of the worst offseason acquisitions in the league. It wasn’t necessarily Carroll’s play that was the issue; it was what the Spurs were forced to give up for the wing.
San Antonio had initially agreed to sign Carroll and planned to use their mid-level exception, but when Marcus Morris agreed to a deal with the team, the Spurs pivoted to acquiring Carroll via trade instead (and giving up Davis Bertans to the Wizards). Morris backed out of the agreement, which made giving up Bertans for Carroll an unnecessary move.
Carroll will join the Rockets as they embark on a unique, strange journey of playing no traditional big men most of the time. The 33-year-old will likely spend time at both forward spots with the club, though it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he sees minutes at the five in some funky lineups.
Carroll’s rest-of-season contract with Houston will pay him $811,447, which is the exact amount he gave up in his buyout agreement with the Spurs, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). The Rockets, who now have a full 15-man roster, will carry a cap hit of $512,721.
Kyrie Irving Out For Remainder Of Season
Kyrie Irving will miss the remainder of the season, Nets general manager Sean Marks said today, as Marc Stein of the New York Times relays (Twitter link). The point guard will undergo a procedure on his shoulder.
His last game came on February 1 against the Wizards, where he injured his knee. That ailment appears to be fine, but his shoulder woes, which he attempted to play through while taking a cortisone shot, will cause his debut season in Brooklyn to end.
Irving, who signed a big-money, four-year contract with the Nets last summer, has been limited to just 20 games in his first season with the club, primarily due to those shoulder issues. He has been his usual productive self when he has been healthy, averaging 27.4 PPG, 6.4 APG, and 5.2 RPG with a shooting line of .478/.394/.922, as own Luke Adams detailed earlier today.
The point guard’s best game of the season came in a 54-point performance in which Irving said he had the “Mamba Mentality,” dedicating it to the late Kobe Bryant.
Irving will return next season alongside Kevin Durant, who reiterated that he will not play this season. Durant inked a four-year deal with Brooklyn last summer.
Marvin Bagley III Out At Least Three More Weeks
It’s turning into a lost sophomore season for Marvin Bagley III, who remains sidelined with a left foot injury. The Kings announced today in a press release that Bagley, whose injury is a mid-foot sprain, continues to work through the “reconditioning” process under the supervision of team doctors and foot specialist Dr. Martin O’Malley.
According to the Kings, the next update on Bagley’s status will come in three weeks, which means he’ll remain on the shelf through at least March 12. Even if last year’s No. 2 overall pick is ready to get back on the court at that point, which is hardly a lock, he’ll miss Sacramento’s next 11 games and would return with just one month left in the season.
Bagley had a promising rookie season for the Kings in 2018/19, averaging 14.9 PPG and 7.6 RPG in 62 games (25.3 MPG). He was expected to be a key player in the team’s push for a postseason berth this year, but has been limited to just 13 games due to health issues.
Bagley is one of several important Kings players who have battled injuries this season. De’Aaron Fox, Richaun Holmes, and Bogdan Bogdanovic have each missed between 11 and 19 games so far.
Damian Lillard Likely To Miss 3-4 More Games
Damian Lillard, who injured his right groin in the final game before the All-Star break last week, won’t be ready to return when the Trail Blazers resume play on Friday. After not practicing today, Lillard said he thinks he may miss three or four games, per Casey Holdahl (Twitter link).
When Lillard first went down with the injury, which sidelined him for All-Star weekend, it was diagnosed as a strain, with an expected recovery timeline of at least a week or two. If the star point guard can return after exactly two weeks, it will put him in line to make it back for Portland’s game in Indiana next Thursday, the team’s fourth post-All-Star contest.
With Lillard on the shelf, CJ McCollum and Anfernee Simons figure to take on more ball-handling responsibilities in upcoming home games against the Pelicans (Friday), Pistons (Sunday), and Celtics (next Tuesday).
Leading up to the All-Star break, Lillard had a 17-game stretch in which he averaged 35.5 PPG and was the team’s leading scorer in all 17 games — Portland will need him back soon to stay in the postseason hunt.
Although the Blazers hold the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, they’re four full games back of the eighth-seeded Grizzlies, including five in the loss column, so they don’t have much margin for error as they push for a playoff spot.
Kyrie Irving Likely To Undergo Procedure On Shoulder
2:39pm: Irving is considering treatment options – including surgery – and will make a decision within the next few days, according to Malika Andrews and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The expectation in Brooklyn over the past few days is that Irving will miss the rest of the season, sources tell Charania.
2:09pm: Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, who visited a specialist this week to get another opinion on his troublesome right shoulder, will likely undergo a procedure on that shoulder and miss an “extended period of time,” league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Irving, who signed a big-money-, four-year contract with the Nets last summer, has been limited to just 20 games in his first season with the club, primarily due to shoulder issues. He has been his usual productive self when he has been healthy, averaging 27.4 PPG, 6.4 APG, and 5.2 RPG with a shooting line of .478/.394/.922.
Although Charania’s report doesn’t provide specifics on Irving’s recovery timeline, it may be time to start wondering how much more he’ll actually contribute to the Nets this season. With Kevin Durant confirming he won’t play this season, Brooklyn isn’t a legit championship contender in 2019/20, so the team won’t want to rush Irving back.
At the very least, it seems likely he’ll miss the Nets’ second game in Boston on March 3, depriving Celtics fans of the opportunity to welcome him back this season following his free agency departure.
Regardless of when Irving is able to return to action, the 25-28 Nets, who currently rank seventh in the East, are in position to clinch a playoff spot. The team has a 17-16 record in games without Irving so far this season.
Kevin Durant Reiterates He Won’t Play This Season
Since back on Media Day last September, the Nets‘ decision-makers and Kevin Durant himself have been insisting that there are no plans to have the star forward return to the court this season. Durant, who continues to recover from a torn Achilles suffered last June, reiterated that point in a conversation with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks (video link), ruling himself out for 2019/20 in the most definitive terms yet.
Asked by Rooks if there’s any chance of a return this season, Durant initially replied, “No, I don’t think so.” When Rooks pointed out that his reply left the door open, KD promptly closed it: “No! No. The best thing for me is to continue to rehab, get as strong as I can and focus on next season.”
It would have been fascinating to see the seventh- or eighth-seeded Nets get Durant back for the postseason and suddenly become a dangerous sleeper, but that scenario was never realistic. Brooklyn knew when it signed Durant to a four-year, maximum-salary contract that he almost certainly wouldn’t suit up for the club until year two.
While Durant’s absence was expected, the Nets have also been without their other star free agent signee for much of the season. Kyrie Irving has been limited to 20 games and reportedly re-aggravated his shoulder injury this week.
There have been no updates yet on Irving’s visit to a specialist, but Brian Lewis of The New York Post wonders if the ailment might ultimately bring Kyrie’s season to an early end. As Lewis notes, Irving previously opted for a cortisone shot over arthroscopic surgery. If the latest specialist recommends surgery, Irving could join Durant on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.
NBA Likely To Keep Target Score Ending For All-Star Game
The NBA will probably use a target score again in next year’s All-Star Game, president of league operations Byron Spruell tells Zach Lowe of ESPN.
Based on the “Elam Ending,” the concept got rave reviews for bringing excitement and intensity to the end of this year’s game, which Team LeBron won 157-155 over Team Giannis. Spruell said the league hasn’t officially approved anything for next season, but there is strong sentiment for keeping the format.
After the third quarter of Sunday’s game, a target score was set at 24 points above the score of the team with the lead. There was no clock for the final quarter and the game continued until one team reached that mark.
Spruell said the original plan was to set the target score 38 points above the third quarter total, which has been the average fourth-quarter score per team since the current All-Star format was adopted. That figure was later reduced to 35 and then to 24 in honor of Kobe Bryant. Spruell said next year’s total will probably be higher, even though this year’s fourth quarter took 39 minutes to play and stretched over the equivalent of 15 minutes of game time. A television timeout is also being considered, and the rules may be adjusted so the game can’t end on a free throw.
The Elam Ending has been popularized through a pair of summer ventures, The Basketball Tournament and The BIG3 League. Chris Paul, president of the players’ union, coached a team in TBT last year and suggested it as a way to make the All-Star Game more competitive. Its debut received an overwhelmingly positive response.
“The intensity popped,” Spruell said. “The guys really bought in.”
He added that consideration will be given to bringing the target score to the G League, but was pessimistic about its implementation. The NBA wants G League games to resemble its own as much as possible to serve as a training ground for players, coaches and referees.
Spruell said NBA officials will discuss adopting the target score for elimination rounds of a proposed mid-season tournament, adding that a Board of Governors vote on that and a play-in tournament for the bottom two playoff spots in each conference could happen in September.
Karl-Anthony Towns Sidelined Indefinitely
The wrist injury that sidelined Karl-Anthony Towns shortly before the All-Star break will keep him out of action a while longer, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Towns was held out of today’s practice and won’t be in the lineup when the Timberwolves resume their season Friday night.
“He’s still being evaluated with things,” said coach Ryan Saunders, who didn’t offer a timetable for Towns’ return or discuss the severity of the injury. “He went through the All-Star break. We’ll get back in touch with him right here.”
Saunders confirmed that Towns’ absence will cover multiple games.
Towns had a brace on his left wrist as he took shots before today’s practice, Hine added, and he wasn’t using it as he caught passes from an assistant coach. He underwent an MRI on February 11 that confirmed the injury and sat out last Wednesday’s game.
Hine notes that the Wolves are often secretive about injuries, even when they keep players out of action for extended stretches. Examples include the 15 games that Towns missed earlier this season with a left knee injury followed by an illness, and the sprained toe that has sidelined Jake Layman since November.
An extended absence for Towns would provide a setback for the Wolves as they try to integrate seven new players after a flurry of moves at the trade deadline. The organization is especially concerned with building chemistry between Towns and point guard D’Angelo Russell, who was acquired in a trade with the Warriors.
“Being the youngest team in the league,” Saunders said, “we’re going to have to make sure that we grow and we don’t say, ‘Hey we’ll be better when we mature. We’ll be better in the summertime when you can focus on just development.’ We need to use all the time right now.”