And-Ones: Postseason Awards, Cacok, Grenades, Mock Draft
The NBA and the Players Association have discussed a games played threshold regarding postseason awards, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic reports.
The discussions are part of Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. The league has become increasingly concerned with load management, particularly regarding top players. Tying eligibility for awards to games played would be a way of discouraging them from taking nights off.
It’s believed the concept will be in the final CBA in some form, but negotiations are fluid. Only three of the top 12 vote-getters for the Most Valuable Player award last season played more than 68 games, Vorkunov notes.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA forward Devontae Cacok has signed with CSKA Moscow, according to a press release from the Russian club. Cacok had been playing for the Pistons’ G League club, the Motor City Cruise, where he averaged of 19.9 points and 9.7 rebounds in 31.2 minutes through 14 games. Cacok has appeared in 36 NBA games over the past three seasons with the Lakers and Spurs after going undrafted out of UNC Wilmington in 2019. He was waived by the Pistons this fall before joining their G League squad.
- The unwritten rule discouraging passes from being thrown late in the shot clock for a teammate to take a low percentage shot is detailed by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Such passes are called “grenades,” since it forces a teammate to lower his shooting percentages. League-wide, players shot 29.7% last season on contested field goal attempts after receiving a pass with two seconds or less remaining on the shot clock, MacMahon notes.
- With the trade deadline behind us, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report takes his latest swing at a two-round mock draft. Who goes after Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson? Wasserman has the Hornets selecting guard Amen Thompson with the No. 3 pick.
NBA Announces All-Star Saturday Night Participants
It was quite a Valentine’s Day for Mac McClung. He was signed to a two-way contract by the Sixers and, hours later, was named as one of the four participants in this year’s Slam Dunk competition during All-Star weekend, according to an NBA press release.
He’ll be joined by the Rockets’ Kenyon Martin Jr., the Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III and the Knicks’ Jericho Sims.
The Skills Challenge will feature a brother act. Team Antetokounmpo, predictably, will include Giannis Antetokounmpo and Thanasis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks and Alex Antetokounmpo of the G League’s Wisconsin Herd.
Team Jazz will include Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton, while Team Rookies will feature top pick Paolo Banchero of the Magic, as well as the Pistons’ Jaden Ivey and the Rockets’ Jabari Smith Jr.
The participants in this year’s 3-point contest can be found here.
Southeast Notes: Rozier, Nunn, Bey, Beverley
Despite being involved in a series of trade rumors leading up to last week’s deadline, Hornets guard Terry Rozier stayed put in Charlotte. Now, he says he needs to set a good example for his young teammates for the rest of the season, he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com.
“It’s definitely been a tough season — for a lot of reasons. It can definitely get you down,” the Hornets guard said. “But I’ve got to make sure I’m setting the right example. There’s a lot of young guys here, and they’re looking to the veterans. I can’t let the disappointment show. It’s easy at this point in the season, with all the injuries that we’ve had and the record what it is because of that, and All-Star break coming up, it’s easy to give in and have that look. But I’m trying to get better myself, too.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Wizards guard Kendrick Nunn, acquired from the Lakers in the Rui Hachimura swap, is trying to rebuild his value, Ava Wallace of The Washington Post notes. Nunn will be a free agent after the season. Nunn had 13 points — his highest output since the deal — and six assists against Golden State on Monday.
- Forward Saddiq Bey, traded by Detroit, is eager to establish himself with the Hawks, he told Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “This is my first time ever doing it (being traded), so we’re going to see how it goes,” he said. “But the coaching staff, the players, they’ve done a great job welcoming me. They’ve been playing, they play hard, they play together. So, it’s not going to be too hard to get adjusted, but I’m just trying to fit in with them.” Bey had 12 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes against Charlotte in his Atlanta debut.
- Patrick Beverley will give some money back to the Magic if he signs with another team, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link). Beverley was waived on Saturday after reaching a buyout with the Magic. Beverley had a $13MM contract and will receive that full amount from Orlando if he remains a free agent. The Magic’s obligation to him would be reduced by $918,516 if he were to sign with a team on Tuesday, says Marks.
Atlantic Notes: Simmons, Harden, Williams, Nurse
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn admits he’s not quite sure how to play Ben Simmons with the major changes made to the team’s roster the past two weeks, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Simmons has logged just 16 and 13 minutes in the team’s past two games.
“It’s gonna be some work that we have to do, because you just take a look at what the lineups could potentially look like,” the Nets coach said. “You put another big next to Ben, then you’ve gotta figure out what the spacing is around him. Then if you put another playmaker next to Ben, then you’ve gotta figure out what Ben looks like without the basketball. Then if you go small with Ben, then you’ve gotta figure out can you rebound enough with him. So the challenges are ahead of us. We’ll look them head on. We’ll figure it out.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers guard James Harden has chosen new representation, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports. He will be represented by Troy Payne, a former Adidas executive who is partnering with agents Mike Silverman and Brandon Grier. Payne, Silverman and Grier are now the agents for Harden, who signed a two-year contract with the 76ers last offseason but holds a player option on his $35.64MM salary for next season. Harden declined his $47.4MM player option last summer.
- The Celtics chose not to trade Grant Williams but various teams are monitoring the situation and curious about his future there, Marc Stein writes in a Substack post. Williams will be a restricted free agent this summer and may seek a contract similar to what Keldon Johnson received from the Spurs (four years and $74MM, plus incentives).
- Nick Nurse is back with the Raptors and will coach them against Orlando tonight, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Nurse missed Sunday’s game against Detroit due to personal reasons.
Charles Bassey Signs Four-Year Deal With Spurs
4:08pm: Bassey’s deal with the Spurs is now official, the team confirmed in a press release.
3:23pm: Spurs big man Charles Bassey isn’t just having his two-way contract converted into a rest-of-season deal with the team. He’ll sign a four-year, $10.2MM pact with San Antonio, agents Adie von Gontard and Daveed Cohen tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Bassey, who joined the Spurs in October on a two-way contract after being waived by the 76ers, has appeared in 25 games for the club so far this season, averaging 4.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per night. The 22-year-old was the 53rd overall pick in the 2021 draft.
Bassey is in position to take on a more significant role following the trade that sent starting center Jakob Poeltl to Toronto. A report on Sunday indicated that he was expected to be promoted to the standard roster to fill the open roster spot created when Stanley Johnson was waived.
The Spurs still have a ton of available 2022/23 cap room and are well below the salary floor, so they’ll be incentivized to front-load Bassey’s contract. We don’t know the exact structure yet, but San Antonio could construct a descending four-year, $10.2MM deal that is worth Bassey’s minimum (about $2.26MM) in year four.
According to Bassey’s agents, the contract will include $5.2MM in guaranteed money, which suggests it’ll probably be guaranteed for this season and 2023/24.
Injury Updates: Curry Brothers, LeBron, Kuzma, Robinson
There’s still no target date for Stephen Curry‘s return from a left leg injury, as he told reporters – including Kendra Andrews of ESPN – on Monday. The Warriors announced last week that Curry would be reevaluated after the All-Star break, but even if that assessment goes well, the former MVP won’t be ready to return to action right away.
“Ligaments can heal in all different types of timelines,” Curry said. “So there’s a window for each checkpoint. After the All-Star break, I will hopefully get back on the court, and then depending on how things go from there, we can key in on a specific date to get back.”
As Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, the Warriors have a busy schedule out of the All-Star break, with six contests in nine days, so Curry’s missed games could add up quickly if he still needs a week or two to get up to speed after his next reevaluation.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- A left adductor strain has kept Nets wing Seth Curry on the shelf for the last five games, but he has been cleared to return on Wednesday vs. Miami, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
- Lakers star LeBron James has missed three straight games with foot and ankle injuries and could get an extra week of rest if he sits out the team’s last game before the All-Star break. However, head coach Darvin Ham said on Monday that “in all likelihood” James will return on Wednesday vs. New Orleans, writes Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group.
- Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma will be back in action on Tuesday night in Portland after missing four consecutive games with a left ankle sprain, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson, who has been sidelined since January 2 due to finger surgery, appears to be on the verge of returning. He has been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday’s game in Brooklyn, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Rockets Notes: Kaminsky, Deadline Moves, Silas, Green
The Rockets acquired three veteran players at the trade deadline, but have already bought out two of them, placing Danny Green and Justin Holiday on waivers on Sunday and Monday, respectively.
As Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes, Houston didn’t necessarily acquire those players expecting to let them go, since the team likes the idea of having some veteran leaders to complement its young core. Head coach Stephen Silas addressed that issue when he discussed Holiday’s exit from the team, tacitly acknowledging that it’s hard to blame those vets for not wanting to stick around and be part of a 13-44 squad.
“Ideally you want a few guys who have more than three years of experience on the floor and he had 10,” Silas said. “But that’s the business of the game and where we are as an organization as far as rebuilding. Ideally, you don’t want to roll out 10 guys who are first-, second- and third-year guys but these are guys who play hard, try and learn and are improving. That’s where we’re at.”
Frank Kaminsky is the lone veteran acquired at the deadline who is still a Rocket, though there’s no guarantee that’ll be the case for the rest of the season. Team and league sources tell Iko that Kaminsky’s situation is “fluid,” with some teams expressing interest in signing the big man if he’s waived by Houston. While the two sides continue to talk, Kaminsky plans to make the most of his time with the team, even if it’s brief.
“This is the team that wanted me,” he said. “They want me to be here, so I’m going to do whatever I can to help as much as I possibly can. Whether that’s playing or me being a vocal leader in the locker room, practice, shootarounds, whatever.”
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Asked about the deadline-day trades that sent out Eric Gordon, Garrison Mathews, and Bruno Fernando, general manager Rafael Stone told reporters, including Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle that he’s confident the cap flexibility and draft assets generated by those moves will make the Rockets a better team in the long run. “We are going to have the most cap space this summer of any team in the NBA, I believe,” Stone said. “We’re going to have a lot of room to sign free agents to make trades into that space to really transform the team. And we decided that we’re really, really valuing that flexibility. And so, within that context, we think that we improved the team.”
- Stone said he’s not necessarily “satisfied” with the development of young players like Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith, but remains confident in the upside of Houston’s young core. “We want them to be great players, and they’re not, yet,” Stone said, per Feigen. “The goal is not to be OK. It’s not to be improving; it’s to be great. And we’re realistic. We knew that they wouldn’t be great in this time frame. But that’s the goal. So, until we get to the goal, we’re not going be satisfied. We like them. We liked their work ethic. We’re excited about their future. But we all have a lot of work to do.”
- Stone declined to comment about the future of head coach Stephen Silas beyond this season. According to Feigen, Silas is under contract for 2023/24, but his salary is not yet guaranteed.
- Danny Green gave up $289,472 as part of his buyout agreement with the Rockets, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link). That reduces his cap hit from $10MM to $9,710,528. Green is expected to receive $2MM from Cleveland on a rest-of-season deal.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 2/14/2023
The transcript of our weekly Tuesday chat can be accessed here.
Join Luke Adams for our next live chat on Thursday.
Sixers Sign Mac McClung To Two-Way Contract
2:50pm: The Sixers have officially signed McClung to a two-way contract and waived Champagnie, according to a press release from the team.
12:04pm: Mac McClung is getting a call-up from the G League to the NBA, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the Sixers are signing the 24-year-old guard to a two-way contract.
Philadelphia will waive current two-way player Julian Champagnie to create an opening for McClung, sources tell Charania (Twitter link).
Undrafted out of Texas Tech in 2021, McClung signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Bulls in his first professional season and then inked a two-way deal with the Lakers in April, appearing in one game with each club. He spent the majority of his rookie year in the G League with the South Bay Lakers – earning NBAGL Rookie of the Year honors – and has been playing for the Delaware Blue Coats in 2022/23.
In 18 regular season appearances for the Blue Coats this season, McClung has averaged 19.1 points and 4.7 assists in just 25.9 minutes per game, posting a shooting line of .579/.500/.844.
McClung was poised to become the first G League player to participate in the NBA’s dunk contest, but assuming the 76ers officially sign him this week, he’ll now have an NBA job when he competes in that event. He’ll have a busy weekend in Salt Lake City, since he’s poised to take part in the Rising Stars event and the G League’s Next Up game as well.
Champagnie, a rookie out of St. John’s, logged just seven total minutes in two games at the NBA level while on a two-way deal with Philadelphia. He has spent most of the season playing with McClung in Delaware, recording 14.3 PPG and 5.7 RPG on .419/.352/.875 shooting in 18 regular season games (28.7 MPG) for the Blue Coats.
Fischer’s Latest: Suns, Irving, VanVleet, Mavs, Nets, Bridges, Simmons
Before acquiring Kevin Durant from Brooklyn, the Suns also inquired about the possibility of trading for Kyrie Irving, and there were rumblings around the NBA about Phoenix trying to land the two Nets stars as a package, writes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. That’s similar to what Chris Haynes reported last week on an episode of his #thisleague UNCUT podcast.
Haynes cautioned not to dismiss the possibility of the Suns pursuing Irving in the offseason if things in Dallas don’t work out, and Fischer conveys a similar sentiment, writing that “a future reunification of Durant and Irving with the Suns will loom on the periphery of both Phoenix and Dallas’ stretch runs.”
Although Chris Paul still occupies the point guard spot in Phoenix, he’ll turn 38 this spring, so the Suns are already working on a potential succession plan. Phoenix was viewed prior to the trade deadline as a team that could be in on Fred VanVleet this summer if the Raptors point guard tests free agency, and Fischer expects the club to explore other contingency plans as well.
Here’s more from Fischer:
- The Mavericks‘ decision to gamble on Irving raised some eyebrows around the NBA, says Fischer. As he explains, sources close to the situation say that – despite some outside speculation about the franchise’s ceiling – Luka Doncic hadn’t begun to consider a future outside of Dallas this season. But if things go sideways with Kyrie, that could “escalate real concerns about Doncic’s timeline in Dallas,” Fischer writes.
- Even after trading Durant and Irving, the Nets believe they have enough talent to be a playoff team, and Fischer says the “smart money” would bet on them seeking win-now moves in the offseason rather than taking another step back. To that end, Brooklyn didn’t seriously entertain trade offers for Mikal Bridges despite serious interest from the Grizzlies, whose pursuit of Bridges began when he was still with the Suns.
- The Nets are widely expected to gauge the trade market for Ben Simmons this offseason, according to Fischer. However, the former Defensive Player of the Year runner-up will still have two years and $78MM+ left on his contract after this season.