Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Irving, Morris, Kidd
All-NBA guard Luka Doncic (left thigh strain) will remain unavailable on Wednesday when the Mavericks visit San Antonio, the team confirmed (via Twitter). However, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), Doncic did accompany the Mavs on their road trip, which will continue in Los Angeles on Friday and Memphis on Monday.
As for Doncic’s backcourt mate, Kyrie Irving (right foot soreness) was listed as questionable for Wednesday’s contest, but said today that it’s “not looking good” for him to return, per MacMahon (Twitter link). It would be a third straight missed game for Irving, who continues to experience pain, especially in his big toe.
“This injury on my foot, it’s going to take a little bit more time than I thought,” Irving said (Twitter link via MacMahon). “It’s obviously still day to day, but we’ve just got to take more time.
“It’s right around my big toe, right around my plantar. I took a wrong step in New Orleans and it just felt like my knuckles cracked. I just wanted to take precautionary (measures) at this point in the season. I make my whole entire living with my feet, so I’d rather take care of it now than when I’m 40 years old.”
Here’s more on the Mavs:
- The other player Dallas acquired in the Irving trade will also likely be unavailable on Wednesday in San Antonio, as Markieff Morris (left knee soreness) has been downgraded from questionable to doubtful, according to the team (Twitter link). Morris has only logged 24 minutes across five appearances since joining the Mavs.
- Having lost three consecutive games and nine of their last 12, the Mavericks now hold the ninth seed in the West and have fallen below .500 (34-35). Tim Cato of The Athletic wonders if Dallas’ season is beyond fixing, but identifies five ways the team might turn things around, including playing by more pragmatic lineups and committing to a direction with Christian Wood.
- This year’s Mavericks may be charting the same course the Hawks did in 2022, when Atlanta was quickly eliminated in the first round of the playoffs after making it to the Eastern Conference Finals a year earlier, writes Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News. The Hawks’ inability to recapture their 2021 form ultimately led to Nate McMillan‘s dismissal this year, Cowlishaw notes, adding that it’s hard to say where things will stand for Jason Kidd if the Mavs don’t bounce back in the next few weeks.
Ja Morant Meets With Adam Silver, Receives Suspension
2:02pm: The NBA has suspended Morant for eight games without pay, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link). However, that suspension will be retroactive to March 5, the first game he missed, so he’ll be eligible to return to action this coming Monday (March 20).
According to the NBA’s announcement, its investigation did not determine that the gun Morant brandished in the Instagram Live video belonged to him or that he brought it to the night club. The investigation also didn’t find that Morant possessed the gun while traveling with the Grizzlies or at any NBA facility.
“Ja’s conduct was irresponsible, reckless, and potentially very dangerous,” Silver said in a statement. “It also has serious consequences given his enormous following and influence, particularly among young fans who look up to him.
“He has expressed sincere contrition and remorse for this behavior. Ja has also made it clear to me that he has learned from this incident and that he understands his obligations and responsibility to the Memphis Grizzlies and the broader NBA community extend well beyond his play on the court.”
After being away from the Grizzlies for multiple weeks, Morant may not suit up on Monday immediately upon rejoining the team, but the expectation it that his return will occur not long after that, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.
Morant’s eight missed games will cost him nearly $669K in salary, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. His base salary for this season had been approximately $12.1MM.
1:54pm: Grizzlies star Ja Morant met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver in New York on Wednesday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
While Wojnarowski doesn’t offer any details on what was discussed during that meeting, he says Morant has left his counseling program in Florida and is moving closer to preparing for a return to the court. However, the All-Star guard will have to wait until the NBA announces the results of its investigation into his Instagram Live video from a Denver-area strip club, which is expected to happen soon, per Wojnarowski.
The NBA opened a probe into Morant after he posted a video in which he flashed a gun at a strip club. It was the latest in a series of troubling off-court incidents allegedly involving the 23-year-old, who punched a 17-year-old during a pickup game last summer, was accused of threatening a security guard at a Memphis mall, and was reportedly involved in a confrontation with members of the Pacers’ traveling party after a January game.
After the league announced it was looking into the latest incident involving Morant, the Grizzlies said that he would be away from the team for two games, then four more. He’ll miss his sixth game on Wednesday night when Memphis visits the Heat in Miami and it sounds like his status beyond that will be determined in large part by the outcome of the NBA’s investigation.
Police also investigated the strip club video and didn’t find enough evidence to bring any charges against Morant, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the league will close its own probe without disciplining the Grizzlies guard.
The NBA has a good deal of latitude to fine or suspend players for conduct detrimental to the league’s best interests. The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement also includes language specifically related to firearms, so if there’s evidence that Morant had a gun on him when traveling with the team or when at a team facility, that could result in a more punitive penalty.
Still, based on the tone of Wojnarowski’s latest report, it doesn’t sound like the league is preparing to drop the hammer on Morant.
Here’s more on the Grizzlies’ star:
- While news of Morant entering a counseling program didn’t break until this Monday, he took that step earlier in the month, shortly after announcing that he would be away from the team, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
- While he was in Florida undergoing counseling, Morant was communicating with his Memphis teammates via text and FaceTime video, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Vardon adds that Morant was accompanied to that “retreat-like setting” in Florida by a Grizzlies security officer.
- In a separate story for The Athletic, Vardon spoke to a handful of Grizzlies players about their conversations with Morant and noted that they seemed to be operating under the belief that the star guard would rejoin the club, possibly very soon. Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks said Morant has “made strides” and is “ready to come back.”
NBA Suspends Kings’ Trey Lyles, Fines Bucks’ Brook Lopez
Kings forward Trey Lyles has been suspended for one game without pay and Bucks center Brook Lopez has been fined $25K for their roles in an on-court altercation between the two teams in Sacramento on Monday, the NBA announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
During the final seconds of the Bucks’ win over the Kings, Lyles took exception to Giannis Antetokounmpo dribbling the ball toward him while running out the clock. He tried to steal the ball away, then shoved Antetokounmpo. Lopez jumped to his teammate’s defense, resulting in a brief on-court skirmish between the two teams (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report).
Both Lyles and Lopez were ejected from the game, and the NBA said in today’s announcement that the two big men were disciplined further for escalating the situation — Lopez did so by confronting Lyles, then the Kings forward escalated matters further by “striking Lopez in the face” and “grabbing and holding Lopez around the neck area.”
As a result of his one-game ban, Lyles will miss Wednesday’s game in Chicago and will forfeit about $18K, which is 1/145th of his $2.63MM salary for the season.
Lopez’s $25K fine will come out of his $13.9MM salary for 2022/23.
Timberwolves Say Towns Expected To Return In “Coming Weeks”
The Timberwolves have been relatively quiet on Karl-Anthony Towns‘ status since he was diagnosed with a right calf strain in late November, but the team put out a press release on Wednesday formally issuing an update on the forward/center.
According to the Wolves, Towns has progressed in his rehab process and is participating in basketball activities. The expectation is that he’ll return to action in “the coming weeks,” per the club.
That phrasing is pretty vague, but with three-and-a-half weeks left in the regular season, it sounds like the Wolves remain hopeful that they’ll get Towns back before the postseason gets underway. As Chris Hine of The Star Tribune observes (via Twitter), the club didn’t have to make an announcement on Towns’ status at this point, so the fact that it did so anyway suggests there’s optimism he’ll play this spring.
At 35-34, Minnesota currently controls the No. 7 seed in the West, but there’s not much room for error — the Thunder, Mavericks, and Lakers are all just one game back at 34-35.
Towns, who sustained his calf injury on November 28, was still adjusting to playing alongside newcomer Rudy Gobert when he went down. His scoring average (20.8 PPG), rebounding rate (8.2 RPG), and three-point percentage (32.5%) were all career worsts or close to it, though he was still making 50.5% of his shots from the field and was thriving as a facilitator, with a career-best 5.3 APG.
One report around the time of his injury suggested Towns would miss about four-to-six weeks and should be back on the floor in January. However, his recovery process has extended well beyond that, and the 27-year-old expressed some frustration in January about that initial reporting, referring to his injury as “significant” and indicating that he was always going to be out for more than four-to-six weeks.
If and when Towns returns, he’ll have more adjusting to do, as the Wolves have changed point guards since his injury — Mike Conley is now the team’s floor leader, replacing D’Angelo Russell.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: NBA Draft Lottery
The NBA’s draft lottery, which takes place annually between the end of the regular season and the draft, is the league’s way of determining the draft order and disincentivizing second-half tanking. The lottery gives each of the 14 non-playoff teams – or whichever clubs hold those teams’ first-round picks – a chance to land one of the top four selections in the draft.
Although the top four picks of each draft are up for grabs via the lottery, the remaining order is determined by record, worst to best. The league’s worst team isn’t guaranteed a top-four spot in the draft, but is tied for the best chance to land the first overall pick and will receive the fifth overall selection at worst.
The first four picks are determined by a draw of ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14. Four balls are drawn, resulting in a total of 1,001 possible outcomes. 1,000 of those outcomes are assigned to the 14-non playoff teams — for instance, if balls numbered 4, 7, 8, and 13 were chosen, that combination would belong to one of the 14 lottery teams. The 1,001st combination remains unassigned, and a re-draw would occur if it were ever selected.
The team whose combination is drawn first receives the number one overall pick, and the process is repeated to determine picks two, three, and four. The 14 teams involved in the draft lottery are all assigned a specific number of combinations, as follows (worst to best):
- 140 combinations, 14.0% chance of receiving the first overall pick
- 140 combinations, 14.0%
- 140 combinations, 14.0%
- 125 combinations, 12.5%
- 105 combinations, 10.5%
- 90 combinations, 9.0%
- 75 combinations, 7.5%
- 60 combinations, 6.0%
- 45 combinations, 4.5%
- 30 combinations, 3.0%
- 20 combinations, 2.0%
- 15 combinations, 1.5%
- 10 combinations, 1.0%
- 5 combinations, 0.5%
If two lottery teams finish the season with identical records, each team receives an equal chance at a top-four pick by averaging the total amount of outcomes for their two positions. For instance, if two teams tie for the league’s fourth-worst record, each club would receive 115 combinations and an 11.5% chance at the first overall pick — an average of the 125 and 105 combinations that the fourth- and fifth-worst teams receive.
If the average amount of combinations for two positions isn’t a whole number, a coin flip determines which team receives the extra combination. For example, if two clubs tied for the league’s third-worst record, the team that wins the coin flip would receive 133 of 1,000 chances at the first overall pick, while the loser would receive 132. The coin flip also determines which team will draft higher in the event that neither club earns a top-four pick.
The table below displays the odds for each lottery team, rounded to one decimal place. Seeds are listed in the left column, while the picks are noted along the top row. For our purposes, the first seed is the NBA’s worst team.
| Seed | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 47.9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 27.8 | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | 14 | 13.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 14.8 | 26 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | 12.5 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.5 | 7.2 | 25.7 | 16.7 | 2.2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 2.2 | 19.6 | 26.7 | 8.7 | 0.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | 9 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.6 | – | 8.6 | 29.8 | 20.6 | 3.7 | 0.1 | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 8.5 | – | – | 19.7 | 34.1 | 12.9 | 1.3 | >0 | – | – | – |
| 8 | 6 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 7.2 | – | – | – | 34.5 | 32.1 | 6.7 | 0.4 | >0 | – | – |
| 9 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.7 | – | – | – | – | 50.7 | 25.9 | 3 | 0.1 | >0 | – |
| 10 | 3 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | 65.9 | 19 | 1.2 | >0 | >0 |
| 11 | 2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 77.6 | 12.6 | 0.4 | >0 |
| 12 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 86.1 | 6.7 | 0.1 |
| 13 | 1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 92.9 | 2.3 |
| 14 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 97.6 |
The NBA’s lottery format was changed in 2019, with that year’s draft representing the first one that used the new system. Previously, only the top three spots were determined via the lottery and the odds were weighted more heavily in favor of the league’s worst teams.
Beginning in 2021, the NBA’s lottery underwent another small change when the league introduced the play-in tournament. The lottery now includes the 10 teams that miss out on the playoffs and the play-in tournament, plus the four clubs that are eliminated in the play-in portion of the postseason.
That means a team can finish the regular season ranked seventh or eighth in its conference, but if that club is eliminated in the play-in tournament, it will be in the lottery. Conversely, a team that finishes ninth or 10th in its conference during the regular season and then wins a pair of play-in games to earn a playoff spot will be a non-lottery team.
Once the 14 lottery teams are determined, their lottery odds are still dictated by their regular season records, so the play-in losers won’t necessarily be the 11-14 “seeds” in the lottery. For example, in 2022, the 34-48 Spurs ended up with better lottery odds than the 37-45 Knicks or 35-47 Wizards, even though San Antonio participated in the Western Conference play-in tournament while New York and Washington didn’t qualify for the East’s play-in.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Information from Tankathon.com and Wikipedia was used in the creation of this post. Earlier versions of this post were published in past years.
Pacific Notes: Davis, Crowder, Westbrook, Mann, Clippers
Lakers star Anthony Davis led the team to a huge victory in New Orleans on Tuesday, piling up 35 points and 17 rebounds against his old club. However, the Lakers still aren’t comfortable having Davis play in both ends of back-to-back sets, so he’ll be held out of action on Wednesday in Houston, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays.
“He’s not going to play,” head coach Darvin Ham said. “He hasn’t been cleared. Even though he’s been playing pain-free, we made an organizational decision, starting with our team doctors, to hold him out of back-to-backs.”
According to McMenamin, Davis – who missed 20 games earlier in the season due a stress reaction and bone spur in his right foot – was reevaluated about two weeks ago, at which time the foot hadn’t shown significant healing. Lakers medical personnel has recommended holding him out of back-to-backs to reduce the risk of a setback.
“It’s just one of those things where even though he’s playing pain-free, it’s still an active injury,” Ham said. “So we have to monitor it and stick to the plan, as we always have done. And just go out there with our other guys and try to get a W and finish the trip the right way.”
While the Lakers are still favored to beat Houston even without Davis and LeBron James available, they certainly can’t take the game for granted in the midst of a competitive playoff race, especially given that the Rockets are coming off a Monday victory over Boston.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Bucks forward Jae Crowder derived some satisfaction from defeating his old team in Phoenix on Tuesday and was pleased with the reception he got from the Suns faithful, who gave him a resounding ovation in his first game back in the city. “Things ended in a bad way, on a bad note,” Crowder said after Milwaukee’s win, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “I appreciate the love and I appreciate the applause I got.”
- Russell Westbrook‘s arrival has resulted in a role reduction for Clippers guard Terance Mann, but there’s no animosity between the two players, who have become friends in recent weeks, according to Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. “It’s been amazing to be on a team with Russell Westbrook,” Mann said. “I’ve been a big fan of his since he’s been in the NBA. Last night, we were joking, he’s in Year 15 or something, and he’s 34. I was like, ‘Man, you look 23. You look younger than me.’ It’s crazy. So just being able to watch him lead and be great is cool.”
- With the Clippers‘ championship window starting to shrink in year four of the Kawhi Leonard/Paul George partnership, there’s an increased sense of urgency and a feeling that the stakes are higher as the playoffs near, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes within a closer look at where things stand for the franchise.
Meyers Leonard Signs Rest-Of-Season Deal With Bucks
MARCH 15: The Bucks have officially signed Leonard for the rest of the season, the team confirmed in a press release on Tuesday night.
It’s a minimum-salary deal, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Leonard will earn $409,916, while the Bucks will take on a cap hit of $284,911. However, the actual cost of the signing will exceed $1MM, according to Owczarski, due to the fact that team salary is well over the luxury tax line.
Leonard said on Tuesday that he’s “connected really well across the whole organization” since arriving in Milwaukee on his first 10-day deal and is grateful to the Bucks for bringing him aboard.
“I texted (general manager) Jon (Horst). I’m hoping to talk to (team governor) Marc (Lasry) at some point at length, or a little bit more intimately I guess, to say thank you,” Leonard said, per Owczarski. “They changed my life. They really did. This is going to be hard for me not to get emotional right now. It’s honestly hard to describe what this feeling feels like.”
MARCH 14: The Bucks are signing center Meyers Leonard for the remainder of the season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Milwaukee had to make a decision whether to offer Leonard a standard contract or let him go, since his second 10-day contract has expired. In five appearances thus far, Leonard is averaging 2.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per game.
Prior to joining the Bucks, Leonard hadn’t played since the 2020/21 season.
A combination of personal controversy and ankle and shoulder surgery recoveries kept him sidelined in the intervening seasons. Leonard was flipped from the Heat to the Thunder after using an antisemitic slur during a video game live stream. Oklahoma City subsequently released him.
The seven-foot Leonard, 31, provides big man depth for a club with Brook Lopez starting in the middle and Bobby Portis backing him up on most nights.
Pacific Notes: Curry, Hartenstein, Brown, Russell
Warriors star Stephen Curry turned 35 years old on Tuesday, but he’s not even close to thinking about retirement, as he told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. He’s hoping to play into his 40s, if all goes well.
“How I feel right now is not how I thought I’d feel at 35. That number sounds crazy, but in my head, I feel like I got a lot left,” he said. “The work I put into this I still enjoy. Who knows how [the future] looks?
“I talked to Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and other guys who have been on the other side of the halfway point. I know quarterbacking is different, but you can check yourself [mentally] into not fast-forwarding too far. They really did a good job of disciplining themselves for what is happening in real time. They’re 40 feeling like they can still play. I’m trying to stay in that mode. Thirty-five is a big milestone, but the next one is 40. The way I feel right now, who knows?””
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Knicks big man Isaiah Hartenstein suggested that if the Clippers had offered him the taxpayer mid-level exception last summer, he would have taken it, Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.com reports. Hartenstein wound up signing a two-year contract worth up to $18.1MM with New York. “I mean, they gave the only thing they really could’ve offered me to John Wall. I was — I can’t take that big of a pay cut,” he said. “I think I was actually gonna come back, but I can’t take that big of a pay cut. So they picked John Wall over me and I got to live with that.”
- Head coach Mike Brown has raised the bar for the Kings and they’ve responded, as Sam Amick of The Athletic details. Brown ripped his team for giving up 23 offensive rebounds to the Knicks on Thursday, even though Sacramento won. Holding his players accountable has paid off. “That’s why we’re in the position we’re in right now, because he wants us to be perfect,” guard Malik Monk said. “He knows we can’t be perfect, but he wants us to be perfect. So I think that’s why we’re succeeding right now. He’s pushing us, coming in and telling us that was B.S. You would’ve thought we lost if you heard what was going on, but he just wants the best for us, man. Like I said, he wants us to be perfect in a world that’s not perfect.”
- D’Angelo Russell is hopeful of re-signing with the Lakers this offseason when he hits free agency, Jacob Rude of SilverScreenAndRoll.com relays. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said at halftime of the Knicks-Lakers game on Sunday night that Russell wants to extend his second stint with the franchise. “D’Angelo Russell very much wanted a second chance in LA with the Lakers and you’ve seen the impact he made coming back against Toronto the other night, playing great in a win, and again (Sunday). He wants to be the point guard of the future for this organization.”
Bulls Notes: White, Ball, Beverley, Green, Vucevic, Schedule
Coby White didn’t get an extension last offseason, meaning he’ll be a free agent this summer. The Bulls can make him a restricted free agent by extending him a qualifying offer of $7.74MM.
The fourth-year guard wants to build up his value and show his versatility this season, he told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times.
“I just wanted to take steps this year and prove that I could do things that people thought I couldn’t do,’’ White said. “But with all that said, you just never know in this league, this business. You never know what’s really going on. So I just have to keep the mindset of keep it steady, keep it consistent, and hopefully everything will take care of itself.’’
White has been in the rotation much of the year, averaging a career-low 8.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 22.3 minutes per game.
We have more on the Bulls:
- With Lonzo Ball possibly undergoing another procedure on his knee, the team’s brass will ponder whether to bring in another starter-level point guard this summer, Cowley writes in the same piece. “I do think the front office, ownership, will sit down after [Ball’s] decision is made, look at a timetable of how long this rehab and recovery will be, and then make decisions from there on what are the expectations of him coming back, what will the length of the rehab look like, how much more time he’ll miss?’’ coach Billy Donovan said. “I think that will be a conversation we would all have at the end of the year.’’
- Zach LaVine says that Patrick Beverley has been a huge boost since joining the team as a free agent, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. “Energy. Heart. Toughness. Vocal. He gets us going,” LaVine said. “You can see how much he cares about winning and his teammates. We definitely needed someone like that. It shows with the impact he has on the game.”
- Javonte Green was able to run and cut during practice for a second straight day, according to Donovan, Johnson tweets. An update on Green’s status is expected next week. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Jan. 11.
- Nikola Vucevic‘s stats haven’t changed much from last season, other than his shooting percentage (51.2% compared to 47.3%). However, he feels like he’s having a better year than his first full season with the franchise, according to Johnson. “Last season, I felt I was up and down a little bit while trying to figure out my role,” said Vucevic, a free agent after this season. “So it was very important for me to come back and have a strong season and play well. I think I’ve been able to do that.”
- The Bulls will have to adjust defensively to different styles in order to nail down a play-in tournament berth, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic writes. They begin a three-game homestand against the Kings on Wednesday. “We better be able to,” LaVine said. “You can’t take the same plan into each game, especially defensively. Going up against Sacramento coming up now, you can’t treat them like they’re Houston. … So it’s another thing for us to lock into. And after that game, you’ve got to switch it up and get ready for the next team.”
Hassan Whiteside, Brandon Knight Join Puerto Rican Team
Longtime NBA players Hassan Whiteside and Brandon Knight have signed with Puerto Rico’s Piratas de Quebradillas, La Guerra del BSN tweets. The tweet shows the two players standing near a plane holding Puerto Rican flags.
The Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) is the top level professional league in Puerto Rico.
Whiteside, 33, played 65 regular season games for the Jazz last season, backing up Rudy Gobert. He’s averaged 12.6 points and 10.8 rebounds in his 511-game NBA career. He also played for Sacramento, Miami and Portland.
Whiteside became a free agent after last season but didn’t generate much buzz on the open market. Traditional veteran centers have found it increasingly difficult to find suitors due to the way the game is currently played.
Knight, 31, has averaged 14.0 points and 3.9 assists in his 451-game NBA career. He had a five-game stint with the Mavericks last season on a pair of 10-day contracts. He has also played for Detroit, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Houston and Cleveland.