Nets Waive Alondes Williams
The Nets have waived rookie guard Alondes Williams, the team announced.
Williams won ACC Player of the Year in 2021/22 for Wake Forest, but went undrafted this past June. He caught on with the Nets shortly after the draft, signing a two-way contract.
The 23-year-old only made one NBA appearance for a total of five minutes. However, he was a regular for the team’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, averaging 9.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.5 APG in 11 games (26.2 MPG) during the Showcase Cup.
Williams struggled with turnovers (2.5 per contest) and efficiency (.368/.341/.625 shooting line) during the Showcase Cup, which may have played a factor in his release. The Nets have a full 15-man standard roster, but now have a two-way opening.
Pacers Rumors: Power Forward, Duarte, Collins, Turner, Bitadze
The growing sense among rival teams is that the 23-19 Pacers could be a buyer, rather than a seller, at this season’s trade deadline, writes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
Fischer acknowledges that Indiana’s trade deadline outlook could certainly be altered if Tyrese Haliburton‘s foot injury causes him to miss an extended period. Fischer also adds a caveat to the team’s potential status as a buyer — the Pacers won’t be in the market for short-term veterans like Jae Crowder or Bojan Bogdanovic, but will have an eye out for players who could be long-term fits.
According to Fischer, power forward is the spot the Pacers would most like to upgrade. Indiana was high on Keegan Murray prior to the 2022 draft, and while the club was happy to ultimately land Bennedict Mathurin at No. 6, missing out on Murray means the power forward position remains a priority going forward.
If they want to get aggressive, the Pacers will have a couple extra 2023 first-round picks to dangle in trade talks, having acquired Cleveland’s and Boston’s first-rounders. Additionally, while Indiana viewed Chris Duarte as off limits at one point, multiple front office sources tell Fischer that the team has been more willing to discuss him in recent talks.
Here’s more on the Pacers’ plans:
- Indiana has had internal discussions about the possibility of pursuing Hawks power forward John Collins, according to Fischer, who notes that Duarte and draft capital might appeal to Atlanta. The Hawks previously pitched the idea of trading Collins to the Pelicans for Trey Murphy and a first-round pick, Fischer explains. The fact that the Pacers could absorb Collins into their cap room without sending out matching salary could also intrigue the Hawks, who are right around the luxury tax line.
- The Pacers and Myles Turner‘s representatives at CAA continue to discuss a possible renegotiation-and-extension for the veteran center, sources tell Yahoo Sports. Fischer suggests that the four-year, $133MM offer sheet Indiana gave Deandre Ayton in July would be an “obvious benchmark” for Turner’s side to use in contract negotiations.
- Trade rumors involving Turner have slowed down as of late, Fischer observes. Teams like the Hornets, Pelicans, Mavericks, and Lakers have been viewed as potential suitors in the past, but don’t appear to be targeting Turner at this point. If the 26-year-old ends up back on the trade block, the Knicks, Raptors, and Clippers could be fits, Fischer writes.
- The most likely Pacers center to be traded is Goga Bitadze, according to Fischer, who hears from sources that the club would be willing to work with Bitadze’s representatives to find him a new team. Daniel Theis is due back from injury soon and Bitadze hasn’t had much of a role even with Theis out. The fourth-year center also hasn’t been interested in accepting an assignment to the Pacers’ G League team in Fort Wayne, says Fischer.
Bulls Rumors: Williams, Caruso, White, Vucevic, DeRozan, Dosunmu
Based on his conversations with executives around the NBA, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype doesn’t believe Patrick Williams or Alex Caruso are on the trade block for the Bulls, as he told guest K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago in the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast.
One executive who spoke to Scotto suggested the Bulls may have “devalued” Williams by holding onto him until now, but Johnson questions whether the No. 4 overall pick really had a ton of value last season or this past summer, given that a major injury limited him to 17 games in 2021/22.
Johnson and Scotto agree that Caruso would bring back a strong return if the Bulls were to make him available, with Johnson suggesting that Chicago could probably get a first-round pick and a player in exchange for the defensive-minded guard.
However, Johnson still believes the Bulls are more likely to buy than sell at the trade deadline. In that scenario, Johnson believes Coby White would be in whatever package Chicago sends out, perhaps packaged with Portland’s lottery-protected 2023 first-round pick. The Grizzlies previously had interest in White, Johnson adds, though it’s unclear if Memphis would still be a suitor at this point.
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- The general consensus among executives around the league, according to Scotto, is that the Bulls are likely to keep center Nikola Vucevic beyond this season. The veteran center wouldn’t have a ton of value on the trade market and there’s a belief that Chicago won’t want to lose him for nothing in free agency after giving up so much to acquire him from Orlando.
- Johnson would be surprised if the Bulls move any of their Big Three at this season’s deadline, but suggests DeMar DeRozan would have the most trade value and that Zach LaVine would also draw interest. Johnson notes that Chicago will face an interesting decision on DeRozan this summer, since he’ll be entering a contract year and “you can bet” he’ll be seeking an extension.
- One NBA exec, speaking to Scotto, had the following to say about Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu, who can be a restricted free agent this summer: “Nobody will put a big offer sheet on him. His situation reminds me of Josh Hart. He could get that type of contract or bet on himself and take the qualifying offer.” As a restricted free agent in 2021, Hart signed a three-year, $38MM contract that wasn’t fully guaranteed; Johnson believes Dosunmu could end up with a three- or four-year deal in the range of $10-12MM per year.
Jazz Notes: Olynyk, Sexton, Mitchell, Trade Deadline
Jazz big man Kelly Olynyk will be sidelined for at least one week due to a left ankle sprain, tweets Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. Olynyk will receive treatment on his injured ankle and will be reevaluated next Wednesday.
After missing four games as a result of a sprained left ankle last month, Olynyk had been back for seven contests before re-injuring the same ankle on Sunday. He sat out Utah’s win over Cleveland on Tuesday and the timeline announced by the team means he’ll also be unavailable for games on Friday (vs. Orlando), Saturday (vs. Philadelphia), and Monday (at Minnesota) before being reassessed.
Here’s more on the Jazz:
- A hamstring issue has kept reserve guard Collin Sexton on the shelf for Utah’s last five games, but he appears to be nearing a return. According to Walden (Twitter link), Sexton is set to participate fully in Thursday’s practice before the team determines his status for Friday’s game.
- Donovan Mitchell‘s 46 points weren’t enough to get the Cavaliers a win in Utah on Tuesday, but the former Jazz star still enjoyed his return to Salt Lake City, where he spent the first five years of his NBA career. Mitchell said it “was great to be back” and expressed relief to hear cheers instead of jeers from the fans in Utah, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “I was prepared for both,” said Mitchell said, who made comments in a recent interview about the racial dynamic in Utah. “I had plenty of time to think about it. But when you get that, that’s what made it feel comfortable. When you hear your name introduced, you hear the fans screaming it, you see everybody courtside, wearing your jerseys, screaming your name, that’s what allows you to feel comfortable and it is a sigh of relief.”
- The Jazz have slipped in the standings following a hot start, but their 21-23 record still puts them in a play-in spot. How the next few weeks play out will likely go a long way toward determining how their trade deadline plays out, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News, who notes that it would be harder to justify selling off assets if the club has another hot streak before February 9.
Spurs’ Tre Jones Meets Starter Criteria, Increases QO
Spurs guard Tre Jones started his 41st game of the season on Wednesday night in Memphis, meeting the “starter criteria” and increasing the value of his qualifying offer when he reaches free agency, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Jones is the second restricted-free-agent-to-be to meet the starter criteria this season, joining Hornets forward P.J. Washington. As we explained on Wednesday after Washington made his 41st start, one of the ways for a player to meet the criteria is to start at least half of his team’s games during the season before he reaches free agency.
As the 41st overall pick in the 2020 draft, Jones would have been eligible this coming offseason for a qualifying offer worth $2,228,276 (125% of his current $1,782,621 salary). However, as a result of meeting the starter criteria, the former Duke standout is now eligible for a QO equivalent to what the 21st overall pick from the 2019 draft would receive if he had signed for 100% of his rookie scale amount. That figure works out to $5,216,324.
Jones is in the midst of a breakout season as San Antonio’s starting point guard, averaging 13.5 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per night in 29.9 minutes of action. Like Washington, he’s a good candidate for a multiyear contract that will far exceed his qualifying offer amount, so even after increasing by about $3MM, that QO could ultimately function as a placeholder.
Still, Jones’ qualifying offer bump could have a bit more of an impact than Washington’s, since his QO will also be his cap hold. As a result, the increase from $2.2MM to $5.2MM will reduce the Spurs’ projected cap space by approximately $3MM.
Of course, there’s still a scenario in which Jones doesn’t even make it to restricted free agency. Because he wasn’t a first-round pick, Jones will remain extension-eligible for the rest of the season, so the Spurs could take him off the 2023 market by locking him up to a new deal before then. The 23-year-old’s maximum in-season extension would be worth about $58MM over four years.
Pacers’ Haliburton Injures Knee, Leaves Arena On Crutches
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton left Madison Square Garden on crutches on Wednesday night after injuring his left knee in the second half of Indiana’s game against the Knicks, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
With just over two-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter, Haliburton drove to the basket for a layup attempt and lost his right shoe while falling awkwardly to the court (video link). He hurt both his left knee and left elbow on the play, per Bontemps, though it sounds like the knee is the more pressing concern.
“He’ll get looked at (Thursday) closely,” head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after the game. “He’s walking out of Madison Square Garden on crutches, so I would guess his availability on Friday (vs. Atlanta) will be in question, and probably Saturday (vs. Memphis), too.
“But who knows. One of the great things about Tyrese is he has been banged up the last year and a half that he’s been with us and he always wants to play. He always wants to play, and it’s something that’s really helped our culture as a team. So we’ll hope for the best. We’re surely not going to put him in harm’s way.”
The Pacers, viewed during the preseason as one of the East’s worst teams, have significantly exceeded outside expectations so far in 2022/23. Their 23-19 record puts them in a tie with New York for the No. 6 seed in the conference, and Haliburton has been a huge part of that success.
Through 40 games, the third-year point guard has made a strong case for an All-Star spot, averaging 20.2 points, a league-leading 10.2 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 33.4 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .480/.399/.880.
Haliburton’s injury came on the same night that the Pacers were without starting center Myles Turner, who was a late scratch due to back spasms, per Bontemps.
“We finished our team meeting, and Myles had a spasm, a reaction in his back. It tightened up pretty significantly. Trainers worked on him for a while, and then he was ruled out,” Carlisle said.
Making it clear that Turner’s unexpected absence was the result of his back ailment and not a trade, Carlisle reiterated a point he made earlier in the season, telling reporters that he has “no interest” in trading the big man. As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star notes (via Twitter), the decision on Turner’s future will ultimately be up to Indiana’s front office, but Carlisle is ensuring that his position is known.
Heat Suspend Dewayne Dedmon One Game Without Pay
After consulting with the NBA, the Heat have suspended backup center Dewayne Dedmon for one game without pay for conduct detrimental to the team, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel notes (via Twitter), Dedmon cannot be sanctioned further by the NBA after being suspended by the Heat due to a “no double-jeopardy” rule.
Dedmon was suspended for an incident during Tuesday’s victory over Oklahoma City. After being subbed out of the game less than three minutes into the second quarter, he got into an argument on the sidelines with head coach Erik Spoelstra and assistant Caron Butler.
When the big man, visibly angry, left the bench and began walking toward the locker room, he swatted at a Theragun and sent the massage device flying onto the court in the middle of play (video link via Bleacher Report). Dedmon was ejected from the game for the incident.
The 33-year-old has dealt with plantar fasciitis in his left foot in 2022/23, which has limited his effectiveness. Through 29 games, he’s averaging 5.9 points and 3.7 rebounds on .512/.306/.727 shooting in 11.7 minutes per contest.
Dedmon makes $4.7MM this season, so he will lose approximately $32K as a result of the one-game suspension.
Knicks Notes: Barrett, Quickley, Hartenstein, Grades
RJ Barrett returned to the Knicks‘ starting lineup on Wednesday against Indiana and did not have a minutes restriction, head coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters, including ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link). The fourth-year forward missed six straight games after suffering a pretty gruesome finger injury which required six stitches.
Through 35 games (34.1 MPG), Barrett is averaging 19.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 3.0 APG on .427/.332/.762 shooting.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Immanuel Quickley proved that he deserves a bigger role after strong performances starting in place of Jalen Brunson and Barrett, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link). Thibodeau is a big fan of the third-year guard’s basketball IQ and defense. “The thing I love about Quick is that he’s smart, he’s very, very smart,” Thibodeau said. “He knows, he understands what he has to do to help our team defense. I think it’s his greatest strength. So he can play — even when he’s guarding twos, his size, because of his intelligence, he knows how to create body position. Very good with his hands, his feet, rarely is he out of position, and I think that does your defense a lot better. And he’s going to give you great effort all the time.”
- Free agent addition Isaiah Hartenstein provided nice play-making for the Clippers last season, but the Knicks haven’t utilized him in that role. He said his first season with the Knicks has been “up and down,” writes Greg Joyce of The New York Post. “It’s been a little difficult, but at the end of the day, it’s about what the team needs,” Hartenstein said of adjusting roles. “Everyone sacrifices certain aspects of their game. Not everyone’s playing exactly how they want to play, but that’s every team. … Now I just kind of have to sacrifice one of my best attributes. But whatever the team needs. We got three guys that are very ball-dominant and I think that’s kind of how we’ve been winning. It’s hard to say much if we’re winning.”
- Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News hands out midseason grades for the Knicks. Both Brunson and Mitchell Robinson received an A.
Southeast Notes: Wizards, Vucevic, Magic, Favors, Heat
Johnny Davis, the 10th overall pick last June, has rarely seen the court for the Wizards, making just 10 appearances for an average of 5.0 minutes per contest. The rookie guard has spent most of the season with the team’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, averaging 11.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.0 SPG on .408/.352/.786 shooting in 14 games (25.2 MPG) during the Showcase Cup.
Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. has been keeping a close eye on the lottery pick’s G League performances, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.
“I think the injuries have been a big piece of it. It’s hard to really evaluate a guy who hasn’t had a ton of opportunities here. I’ve seen a lot of growth with his G-League development,” Unseld said of Davis, who is currently sidelined with a right hip strain.
“The level of confidence he’s playing with, I think he’s starting to see the game slow down for him. Offensively, I think he’s starting to settle in to see the types of plays and the types of shots we want him to take. So, there’s a lot of growth there. I know it’s not translating as fast as maybe we would all like to see, but I think it bodes well.”
Go-Go head coach Mike Williams also spoke to Hughes about Davis, saying he’s done a nice job defensively, but he needs to work on his decision-making and shooting offensively.
Here’s more from the Southeast:
- The Wizards are shorthanded for tonight’s game against the Bulls. In addition to guard Bradley Beal, who continues to be sidelined with a left hamstring strain, big men Daniel Gafford (right ankle sprain) and Kristaps Porzingis (right rib contusion) were downgraded from questionable to out (Twitter link). Deni Avdija and Taj Gibson started in place of Gafford and Porzingis. Backup forward Rui Hachimura should also see an uptick in minutes.
- In an appearance on The Sixth Man Show podcast, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic was asked if he would be open to returning to the Magic if it made sense for him down the road. “Of course, I mean yeah,” Vucevic said. “That’s something that I would love to do at some point. We’ll see when that is possible, if that’s realistic and how it all works out. But yeah, for sure, I would like to, if anything, at least get one last year in Orlando. I think it’s only right it happens, so we’ll see. … I feel like I have a lot of basketball left, so who knows what will happen, but yeah, for sure, it’s something that’s on my mind, I can’t say it’s not.” The two-time All-Star will be a free agent in the summer.
- Veteran center Derrick Favors, an Atlanta native who just inked a 10-day contract with the Hawks, says he grew up a fan of the team. “Oh, definitely a fan growing up,” Favors said, per Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscriber link). “Back when they had like Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, those guys. I’m definitely a fan, Al Horford. And just being from Atlanta has always been a dream to, you know, at least put the jersey on at least one time. So, it’s definitely a dream, and I’m blessed and humbled to be here.” According to Williams, Favors went through shootaround Wednesday, but he wasn’t sure if he’d see the court against the Bucks. “It’s up to them, you know, if they call the name, call my number, I’ll be ready,” he said. “You know, if not, then you know, I’ll be ready for the next game. So, you know, we’ll see.”
- Head coach Nate McMillan provided a little more context on Favors’ potential role during his 10-day stint, Williams adds (Twitter links). He said he would prefer Favors to go through a practice before actually playing, but he might play Wednesday if needed. McMillan views Favors as an “insurance policy” when the Hawks need more size.
- The Heat have dealt with so many injuries this season that head coach Erik Spoelstra admits that he sometimes forgets who is actually available to play, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We’ve been dealing with a lot of moving parts,” he said. “I kept on forgetting who’s available and who’s not.” Miami only had a seven-man rotation after Dewayne Dedmon was ejected Tuesday.
Heat’s G League Affiliate Acquires Justin Champagnie
The Heat‘s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, has claimed former Raptors forward Justin Champagnie off waivers, the Skyforce announced in a press release.
Champagnie, went undrafted in 2021 after two seasons at Pitt. He caught on with the Raptors, signing a two-way deal and appearing in 36 games as a rookie for an average of 7.8 minutes per contest. Champagnie then had his two-way deal converted to a standard contract last summer, but it was only partially guaranteed and he was waived by Toronto at the end of last month.
The 21-year-old has only made three NBA appearances thus far in 2022/23, but he has been a standout performer in the G League, averaging 22.5 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.5 SPG and 0.9 BPG on .521/.368/.714 shooting during the Showcase Cup with Toronto’s affiliate, the Raptors 905. He remains an NBA free agent.
There is a viable pathway for Champagnie to land an NBA deal with the Heat if he performs well with the Skyforce and certain moves are made.
Backup center Dewayne Dedmon has fallen out of the Heat’s rotation and a recent incident with the coaching staff likely won’t do him any favors. If he gets traded, which seems probable, rookie center Orlando Robinson, who is on a two-way contract, is viewed as strong candidate to be promoted to a standard deal.
If both of those things transpire, Champagnie could receive Robinson’s two-way spot. If the Heat dump Dedmon’s salary in a trade, then they could also look to add a second player on their standard roster — their 15th spot is currently open due to their proximity to the luxury tax line, but removing Dedmon’s cap hit would give them the flexibility to fill it.