Trae Young To Miss Time With Ankle Sprain
Hawks point guard Trae Young will miss Atlanta’s tilt against the Bulls on Saturday after he suffered a sprained right ankle in Friday’s loss to the Bucks, the team announced. X-rays were negative and Young will remain in Atlanta to receive treatment.
Young suffered the injury in the second quarter of Friday’s contest. He needed to be assisted off the court by Vince Carter and was not able to put much weight on the injured ankle.
“I rolled it pretty bad,” Young said, per USA TODAY. “It hurts pretty bad right now, but that’s to be expected. I’m getting treatment on it and iced it already.”
This is the second time of the year that Young has suffered an ankle injury. The first time came five games into the regular season but he ended up missing just one week before returning.
When he’s been healthy, Young has performed at an elite level during his sophomore campaign. In 31 games, the 21-year-old is averaging 28.5 PPG and 8.3 APG for the Eastern Conference-worst Hawks.
Dewayne Dedmon Wants Out Of Sacramento
When Dewayne Dedmon signed his three-year, $41MM contract with Sacramento this offseason, the plan was for him to play a major role as a floor stretching big. However, Richaun Holmes has severely outplayed Dedmon, forcing coach Luke Walton to sour on the 30-year-old big man.
Now, Shams Charania of The Athletic hears that Dedmon wants out of Sacramento and multiple teams are speaking with the Kings about acquiring him prior to this year’s trade deadline.
The center has not played in eight of the last 10 games for the Kings. Neither the franchise nor Dedmon believes that they can work things out and move forward past the trade deadline.
Dedmon’s $41MM deal may make it a challenge for Sacramento to find a taker, but it’s not as onerous as other contracts that have been moved in recent years. His third-year salary is only partially guaranteed for $1MM, so teams aiming to open up cap room for 2021 may still kick the tires on the veteran big man.
Rockets Convert Chris Clemons’ Contract To Three-Year Deal
DECEMBER 27: The move is official, the Rockets announced in a press release. As we relayed on Thursday, the minimum-salary deal is guaranteed for 2019/20, with non-guaranteed years to follow.
DECEMBER 26: The Rockets have agreed to convert Chris Clemons‘ two-way contract to a standard deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The new contract will span across three seasons, including 2019/20.
Clemons used all 45 days of his eligibility in the NBA and would have only been permitted to play in G League contests had the Rockets not promoted him to the standard roster.
The shooting guard has appeared in 20 games for Houston this season. He’s scoring 4.8 points per contest and shooting 39.1% from behind the arc.
The Rockets have had an open roster spot on their 15-man squad since releasing Ryan Anderson earlier in the season, so no corresponding move will be required to make room for Clemons, who will be signed using the mid-level exception.
Houston will open up a two-way contract slot as a result of the deal.
Zach Randolph Confirms His Retirement
A few months after suggesting that he wanted to continue his NBA career, Zach Randolph tells TMZ his retirement is official. Randolph confirmed the news during a quick interview while he was at the Clippers–Lakers game on Christmas Day.
Randolph earned more than $200MM during his 17 years in the NBA. His time in the league ended unceremoniously last season as he spent time with the Kings and Mavericks, but never got into a game.
Randolph, who plans to devote more time to his music label, also spoke briefly about Ja Morant, saying he’s got a “good chance” to be Rookie of the Year.
In an interview shortly before training camps opened in September, Randolph declared, “I ain’t retired yet,” and seemed to be holding out hope that someone would give him a chance to earn a roster spot. But when that opportunity didn’t come, Randolph accepted that his career is over.
Buddy Hield: Kings Have “Trust Issues”
Buddy Hield complained to reporters about “trust issues” in Sacramento after being benched for much of the fourth quarter in last night’s loss to the Timberwolves, writes Jason Jones of The Athletic.
New Kings head coach Luke Walton has been keeping Hield off the court late in close games ever since a defensive lapse cost the team a victory against San Antonio on December 6, Jones adds. Hield didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter Monday and saw just 4:06 of action in the final frame of Thursday’s double overtime loss.
“Seems like we’re all over the place,” Hield said. “… Trust issues going on, I guess. They stop believing in players. It is what it is.”
Hield’s comments capped an overall miserable night for the Kings, who fell to 12-19 with their fifth straight loss. Not only did they allow Minnesota to snap an 11-game slide, but De’Aaron Fox left the game after two minutes with back spasms and Marvin Bagley III exited in the third quarter with an injured left foot.
But the bigger issue might be Hield, who is lashing out at the organization two months after signing a four-year rookie-scale extension worth $86MM. Hield also clashed with former coach Dave Joerger after repeatedly abandoning set plays to get his own shot, and Jones notes that their uneasy relationship was part of the reason for Joerger’s dismissal.
That’s not going to happen with Walton, who has a four-year contract and the full support of management, Jones adds. He was given the freedom to remove Dewayne Dedmon from the rotation after the team signed the free agent center to a three-year, $40MM contract this summer, and he will be allowed to handle Hield as he sees fit.
Hield didn’t directly attack Walton last night and made it clear to reporters that he doesn’t feel like he’s being singled out by the coaching staff.
“I never said that,” Hield said. “I just feel like I’m one of the better players on the team, I should be in there in the fourth quarter, trying to help my team win, regardless. That’s why I’m here, right?”
Hield hit a key shot in the first overtime and played the entirety of the second one. However, he showed questionable judgment at the end as the Kings had the ball and a chance to win with 11.6 seconds remaining. Hield ran off nearly the entire clock before misfiring on a 3-pointer.
“I don’t coach the team, it is what it is,” he said. “I’m an emotional player. I express my feelings on the bench and they know how competitive I am and they hear me. I don’t say nothing quietly. They know I’m all about winning, I’m a team-first guy and nobody says I’m being selfish so that’s not the case, I’m not a selfish guy.
“I’m all about winning. When I’m not out there, it hurt my gut not to be out there. For the past two games when I feel I can make a difference. … I know they’re trying to prove a point, of course. But the point didn’t get proved; that’s a game we could have won.”
Jeff Green Clears Waivers, Becomes Free Agent
Two days after being released by the Jazz, veteran forward Jeff Green has gone unclaimed and cleared waivers, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Green is now an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team.
Green, 33, has bounced around the NBA in recent years, spending time with seven franchises in the past six seasons. While he has been a regular rotation player and occasional starter for every team he has played for, he was off to a slow start in Utah, averaging career lows in PPG (7.8), RPG (2.7), MPG (18.4), FG% (.385), and a handful of other categories. The Jazz reportedly loved Green’s professionalism, but felt their bench needed a shake-up.
Since he was on a minimum-salary contract, Green was a candidate to be claimed off waivers, since teams wouldn’t have faced cap obstacles to bring him aboard. However, few teams around the NBA have available roster spots.
While Green is a free agent for now, I’d expect him to catch on with another team on a prorated minimum-salary deal before the end of the season.
Knicks Monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns’ Situation
Yes, we’ve heard this before: the Knicks are planning to make a big splash by trading for or signing a star. In the latest edition of this Groundhog-Day-like news cycle (it’s Christmas so perhaps, we should use 12 Dates of Christmas as a reference), New York continues to have hopes of using its cap flexibility and assets to turn itself into a contender.
Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that the Knicks’ current “dream scenario” is to trade for a disgruntled superstarm and the franchise is expected to monitor Karl-Anthony Towns‘ situation. Towns, who signed a five-year, $190MM extension prior to the 2018/19 season, is from Metuchen, New Jersey, and the team has hopes that he would be open to playing for the Knicks should the Wolves ever consider trading him.
Berman writes that Bradley Beal remains on the Knicks’ radar. However, a source tells Hoops Rumors that the Wizards still aren’t entertaining trade offers for the shooting guard, who is ineligible to be moved until the 2020 offseason anyway.
New York has the assets to put together a pretty compelling package for any star that becomes available. In addition to their own picks, the Knicks have two future firsts from the Mavericks as well as several young prospects. The franchise could have more long-term assets if it makes future-looking trades at the deadline, such as moving Marcus Morris.
Trading for a star appears to be the Knicks’ best chance at landing a one and with the Timberwolves dwelling in the cellar of the Western Conference, it’s fair to wonder whether Towns and Minnesota would each welcome a deal. Still, any deal for Towns appears to be far away, as the Wolves have given every indication that they are not open to trading their franchise center.
Victor Oladipo Hopes To Return In Late January
Injured Pacers guard Victor Oladipo continues to recover from a ruptured right quad tendon and is aiming to return to action by late January or early February, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
With Oladipo’s potential return still likely at least one month away, there’s no specific date or game targeted as of yet. However, Wojnarowski notes that if Oladipo achieves his goal of returning by the end of January or early February, he could end up being the most impactful “addition” made by any Eastern Conference contender before the February 6 trade deadline.
Even without Oladipo, the Pacers are off to a great start this season, with a 21-10 record. That’s a 55-win pace, though it only puts Indiana sixth in what has been a competitive Eastern Conference playoff race so far. The Pacers are just 1.5 games back of the No. 2 seed, so they could make a run at a top seed once Oladipo returns.
If Oladipo is able to make it back by early February, he’ll ultimately have missed just over one year as a result of his quad injury, which occurred on January 23. Before going down with that injury, the veteran guard had been named an All-Star in each of his first two seasons in Indiana. He has averaged 21.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.6 APG, and 2.1 SPG on .461/.362/.780 shooting in 111 games since joining the Pacers in a blockbuster 2017 trade.
Jazz Waive Jeff Green, Sign Rayjon Tucker
DECEMBER 25: The Jazz have officially signed Tucker, according to NBA.com’s transactions log, which suggests that the move was finalized on Tuesday. In addition to having a guaranteed contract for 2019/20, Tucker will have a partially guaranteed salary for next season, per Tony Jones of The Athletic.
DECEMBER 24: The Jazz have officially waived Green, the team announced today in a press release.
DECEMBER 23: The Jazz have decided to waive forward Jeff Green, Tony Jones and Shams Charania of The Athletic report.
Utah needed to open up a roster spot because the team is signing small forward Rayjon Tucker to a multi-year contract, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Tucker, who went undrafted out of Arkansas-Little Rock, made a strong impression at the G League Showcase, having been identified by John Hollinger as the NBAGL player most deserving of a call-up. He had been playing for the Bucks’ affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. His contract will be guaranteed for the remainder of this season, according to Wojnarowski.
In 16 G League games this season, Tucker was averaging 23.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 2.8 APG in 33.8 MPG. The Jazz only have the prorated minimum exception available to sign Tucker, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
Green was averaging 7.8 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 28 games with Utah. He scored seven points in 18 minutes against Miami on Monday. He was making the veteran’s minimum at $2.56MM.
Green, 33, was playing for eighth NBA team. He started 44 games for Washington last season. His scoring average with the Jazz was the lowest of his career.
It’s unusual for a team to cut a rotation player, particularly right after a game. But the Jazz obviously valued the 6’5” Tucker and had competition for his services.
The Jazz were busy throughout the night. They also agreed to acquire guard Jordan Clarkson from the Cavaliers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nuggets, Michael Malone Agree To Contract Extension
The Nuggets have agreed to a contract extension with head coach Michael Malone, the club announced today in a press release. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that it extends Malone’s contract through the 2022/23 season.
“This season and team has been about continuity, with Coach Malone being the first piece of that,” controlling owner Josh Kroenke said in a statement. “We are thrilled to continue to have him lead this promising young roster and are excited about what the future holds. Coach Malone has been pivotal in this organization’s success and will continue to be so.”
“We have been very fortunate to have Coach Malone lead our resurgence. His tireless work ethic and passion are clearly reflected in the continued improvement of our roster,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly added in a statement of his own. “We are all extremely excited for him to continue to lead our team as we try to build a championship level organization.”
Malone, who previously coached the Kings, has been on the sidelines for the Nuggets since the 2015/16 season. The team won just 33 games in his first year, but has improved its record in every season since then and is on pace to do so again in 2019/20. In total, Malone has a 194-163 (.543) record with the franchise, with one playoff series victory.
This is the second time in the last 15 months that the Nuggets have announced a new deal for Malone. The previous extension, which was finalized in October 2018, reportedly added two years to his contract, locking him up through the 2020/21 season. His latest agreement with Denver adds two more years to that deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.