Lakers Center Thomas Bryant Undergoes Thumb Surgery
Lakers center Thomas Bryant underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair the ulnar collateral ligament on his left thumb, the team’s PR department tweets. He will be reevaluated by team doctors in approximately three weeks, the team adds.
Los Angeles signed Bryant early in free agency to a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract.
The Lakers are off to a bad start in terms of injuries. Another free agent acquisition, guard Dennis Schröder, underwent the same surgery on his right thumb this week and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
With Bryant out, Anthony Davis is expected to play the bulk of the minutes at center with Damian Jones in reserve.
Bryant’s career has been sidetracked by injuries. The former Wizards big man suffered an ACL tear two seasons ago and has only appeared in 37 games since, including 27 last season.
Bryant, who will turn 25 later this month, began his NBA career with the Lakers, having been acquired from Utah in a draft-night deal in 2017. The 42nd overall pick appeared in just 15 games as a rookie with L.A. and was waived in the summer of 2018.
The Wizards claimed Bryant off waivers and the big man spent the next four seasons in D.C.
And-Ones: NBA Rosters, Barkley, Vildoza, Wembanyama
The NBA’s opening night rosters feature a total of 120 international players, including a record-setting 22 from Canada and 10 from Australia, the league announced today in a press release. All 30 teams have at least one international player, while the Raptors – the NBA’s only international team – lead the way with eight international players.
Meanwhile, the opening night rosters also include a record-setting 234 players with some G League experience, according to the NBA (Twitter link). All 30 teams are carrying at least four players with G League experience, while the Nets‘ roster features a record 12 players who have spent time in the NBAGL — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Markieff Morris, and rookie Alondes Williams are the only Brooklyn players without G League experience.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The four members of TNT’s Inside the NBA studio show – Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal – have agreed to new multiyear contracts, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports announced this week. Barkley’s new deal covers 10 years and will be worth well above $100MM, reports Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, though Barkley said during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show that there’s “probably zero chance” he’ll stay for the entire 10 years (story via Awful Announcing).
- Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza, who spent parts of the last two seasons with the Knicks and Bucks, told Mozzart Sport (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops) that he didn’t get the opportunity he had hoped for in the NBA, but that he still feels like he benefited from his time stateside. “I feel better physically and stronger,” Vildoza said as he prepares to resume playing in Europe. He appeared in seven games for Milwaukee during the 2022 postseason, but has yet to play in a regular season NBA contest.
- Lakers star LeBron James isn’t the NBA’s highest-paid player in terms of salary this season, but he’ll earn the most money after accounting for endorsements, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. Baenhausen pegs James’ total 2022/23 earnings at $119.5MM, putting him ahead of Warriors guard Stephen Curry ($93.1MM) and Nets forward Kevin Durant ($91MM).
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a look at which teams can realistically be expected to tank in 2022/23 for a shot to draft Victor Wembanyama next June.
Central Notes: White, P. Williams, Mobley, Bucks, More
Bulls guard Coby White, the seventh overall pick in the 2019 draft, was eligible for a rookie scale extension up until Monday’s deadline, but he never really thought he’d sign a new deal this year, according to Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago.
“No, no. I didn’t,” White said on Tuesday. “I wasn’t really focused on that. Just play this year out. I put in a lot of work this summer, so let my work show, and take it from there.”
White also dismissed the idea that entering a contract year and playing for his next contract will provide any extra motivation this season: “Nah, I love playing basketball. That’s all the motivation I need. I love playing, I love hooping. I’ve had motivation my whole life. I ain’t gonna change nothing now.”
In other Bulls news, the team’s 2020 lottery pick, Patrick Williams, will open the season as the starting power forward, head coach Billy Donovan confirmed today (Twitter link via Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic). Williams came off the bench in multiple preseason games as Javonte Green shone, but Green will be part of the second unit to open the season.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- The Cavaliers feel as if Evan Mobley has Hall of Fame potential and believe his development is the key to whether the team can become a legitimate championship contender, Chris Fedor writes in an excellent article for Cleveland.com. “Evan needs to be in a position where people look at us and say, ‘Evan is their best player,'” assistant coach Greg Buckner said. “It can’t be, ‘Donovan (Mitchell) is their best player, Darius (Garland) is their best player or J.A. (Jarrett Allen) is their best player.’ It has to be Evan.” That view is shared by head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, according to assistant coach Luke Walton. “J.B. talks about it all the time with us: We need Evan to be one of the best players in this league, if not the best player in this league, if we’re gonna win championships,” Walton said. “That’s our mission coming from J.B. — help him get to that level.”
- Hoops Rumors has confirmed that Didi Louzada is eligible to become an affiliate player for the Cleveland Charge after signing a two-way contract (rather than an Exhibit 10 deal) with the Cavaliers on Monday and being waived shortly thereafter. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype first reported the Cavs’ plan to secure Louzada’s G League rights.
- With Khris Middleton and Joe Ingles already ruled out for the start of the season, the Bucks will also be without Pat Connaughton for a few weeks, prompting Eric Nehm of The Athletic to explore how the team will deal with all its injury absences. As Nehm details, George Hill, Jevon Carter, and Wesley Matthews all figure to play increased roles, with young wings Jordan Nwora and MarJon Beauchamp potentially seeing action too.
- Pacers forward James Johnson was happy to earn the team’s final roster spot, beating out Langston Galloway and Deividas Sirvydis. However, as Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files relays, Johnson knows that he can’t get comfortable yet, since his contract still isn’t fully guaranteed for the season. “It’s an honor for this spot, but at the end of the day I’m still vulnerable,” he said.
NBA Teams With Most, Least Roster Continuity
Over the last several months, dozens of NBA players have changed teams via free agency, dozens more have entered or exited the league, and a total of 31 trades have been made. After all that offseason activity, some teams will enter the 2022/23 season looking totally different than they did in the spring, while others will look pretty similar to last season’s squads.
Roster continuity is generally perceived as a sign of stability, but carrying over a significant number of players from last year’s team doesn’t necessarily give a club a leg up entering a new season.
Heading into the 2021/22 season, for instance, the Nuggets, Kings, Hawks, and Magic were the teams with the most roster continuity, and none of those clubs had a hugely successful season (Denver and Atlanta exited the playoffs quickly, while Sacramento and Orlando didn’t make it). On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Celtics were one of the teams with the most roster turnover during the 2021 offseason and made it within two wins of a championship this past spring.
Entering the 2022/23 campaign, the Bucks, Pelicans, and Magic are the three teams bringing back the most players from last year’s end-of-season rosters (including two-way players). All three clubs retained 14 players over the summer.
It’s the third straight year in which Orlando has ranked among the teams with the least roster turnover, which suggests the team remains high on its young core and doesn’t want to break it up. Milwaukee and New Orleans, meanwhile, are joined by the Clippers (13 returning players) as teams perhaps hoping that the return of an injured star (Khris Middleton, Zion Williamson, and Kawhi Leonard, respectively) will help propel them to a deeper postseason run in 2023.
The Jazz are, unsurprisingly, the team that experienced the most roster turnover, having launched a rebuilding process that saw them trade away All-Stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, among other veterans. They’re bringing back just five players.
The Lakers, who had a disaster of a year 2021/22 after bringing back just three players from the previous season’s roster, once again rank among the teams with the most roster turnover, having retained just six players from their end-of-season roster. We’ll see if this version of the new-look squad has more success than last year’s did.
Here’s the total number of returning players for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, from most to fewest:
- Milwaukee Bucks: 14
New Orleans Pelicans: 14
Orlando Magic: 14 - Chicago Bulls: 13
Los Angeles Clippers: 13
Miami Heat: 13
New York Knicks: 13 - Charlotte Hornets: 12
Phoenix Suns: 12 (*)
Toronto Raptors: 12 - Brooklyn Nets: 11
Dallas Mavericks: 11
Houston Rockets: 11
Memphis Grizzlies: 11
Oklahoma City Thunder: 11
Washington Wizards: 11 - Boston Celtics: 10
Cleveland Cavaliers: 10
Detroit Pistons: 10
Golden State Warriors: 10
Indiana Pacers: 10
Philadelphia 76ers: 10
Portland Trail Blazers: 10
Sacramento Kings: 10
San Antonio Spurs: 10 - Denver Nuggets: 9
Minnesota Timberwolves: 9 - Atlanta Hawks: 7
- Los Angeles Lakers: 6
- Utah Jazz: 5
(* The Suns’ count includes Jae Crowder, since he technically remains on the roster, even though he’s away from the team.)
Grant Williams Discusses Not Reaching Extension With Celtics
Celtics forward Grant Williams was one of the 13 players eligible for a rookie scale extension who didn’t sign a new deal before Monday’s deadline. Speaking to Jay King of The Athletic, Williams said it would’ve been nice to lock in some long-term security, but that he and the C’s ultimately couldn’t find common ground.
“I wasn’t moving off of what I wanted,” Williams said. “And I don’t think they were either.”
Multiple reports leading up to the extension deadline indicated that a new deal for Williams was unlikely. He was believed to be seeking a long-term commitment in the range of $14-16MM per year, while the Celtics were unwilling to go that high.
Although the two sides couldn’t work anything out, Williams said he has no hard feelings about how the negotiations played out and hopes to remain in Boston going forward, adding that he’s “thankful for the opportunity” the club has given him.
Interestingly, Williams – who is a vice president of the National Basketball Players Association – said one important factor in his decision was that he felt a responsibility not to take a below-market contract that could hurt his fellow players in their own negotiations.
“When you look across the league, when you look at the role that I play in the Players’ Association, the idea is that you understand where the league is going in the future and you understand where the league is currently at,” Williams told King. “So for me it wasn’t a matter of life-changing money, it was a matter of value not only for this year but the years to come.
“I think that for both sides, we all negotiated to get to that point. And there was no ill will, there were no frustrations. It was one of those things that you just couldn’t come to terms. It doesn’t mean that a deal doesn’t get done next year, it doesn’t mean a deal won’t get done in the future.
“So for us, it’s just a matter of perspective. Like, I want to make sure that not only the deal that I take is something that I feel confident about, but it’s something that it doesn’t mess up the guys around me, it doesn’t mess up the market for the guys who do the things that I do.”
Williams will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer, at which time the Celtics will have the ability to match any offers he receives from other teams, assuming they issue him a qualifying offer.
Heat Notes: Oladipo, Strus, Haslem, Adebayo
There are health concerns regarding Victor Oladipo as the Heat prepare for their season opener, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Oladipo was held out of today’s practice due to left knee tendonosis and may not be able to play Wednesday night. The team’s official injury report will be released later this afternoon.
Miami will proceed cautiously with Oladipo, who has undergone two surgeries on his right knee in a little more than three years. Even though this condition affects his other knee, there is speculation that it may be related to his injury history.
“When you really start to ramp it up, there’s still a little bit of overcompensation and a lot of load on the other leg,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Everybody downstairs feels like this is the normal process. I know how badly he wants to be out there right now. But we’re looking at this big picture still and we don’t want to skip steps. We want to make sure his body is feeling great and so things like this don’t linger.”
There’s more from Miami:
- After earning a starting role in late March, Max Strus will have to get used to coming off the bench again, Chiang adds. Strus spent the preseason working on his fit with the reserves. “I would imagine I would be more aggressive in the second unit because I’m not playing with Jimmy (Butler), Kyle (Lowry), Bam (Adebayo). Maybe I’ll look for my shot a little more,” Strus said. “But I am still going to play the same way I always do, get everybody else involved and find my shots throughout the offense.”
- Strus may be the only bench player with regular minutes every night, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Roles for Dewayne Dedmon, Duncan Robinson and Haywood Highsmith could depend on matchups, and Spoelstra may go back and forth between Oladipo and Gabe Vincent in the backcourt. First-round pick Nikola Jovic will have to prove he’s ready to contribute right away.
- Udonis Haslem has been the Heat’s inspirational leader for most of his 20-year career, but he’s getting ready to pass the torch, Chiang states in a separate story. As Haslem prepares for his final NBA season, the 42-year-old believes Adebayo is ready to take on that leadership role. “He can have it now. It’s time for him,” Haslem said. “… We’ve had these conversations about physically, vocally, emotionally. I think it’s time for him.”
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 10/18/22
In advance of the opening night of the 2022/23 NBA season, Hoops Rumors held a live chat today at 12:00 pm Central time (1:00 pm ET).
Click here for today’s chat transcript, and join us on Thursday at 11:00 am CT for our next live chat with Dana Gauruder.
Robert Williams Receives PRP Injection In Knee
Celtics big man Robert Williams, who continues to recover from an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee, received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in that knee on Monday to promote healing and recovery, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
After Williams underwent the procedure, the Celtics announced on September 23 that he was expected to resume basketball activities in about eight-to-12 weeks. However, Charania suggests that Boston’s starting center is unlikely to return until the second half of the season. That would mean Williams would remain sidelined into the new year — the Celtics will reach the halfway point of their regular season schedule on January 9.
For their part, the Celtics say they don’t anticipate a change in Williams’ recovery timeline, tweets Steve Hewitt of The Boston Herald.
Williams, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Monday, initially underwent surgery on the knee in March after tearing his meniscus. He was able to return to the court less than a month later and played a part in the Celtics’ run to the NBA Finals, but he wasn’t at 100% in the postseason. He sat out five games in the second and third rounds of the playoffs and reportedly required extensive treatment as he dealt with fluid build-up.
As Charania notes, the hope was that Williams would be OK by the fall, but he experienced discomfort when he began ramping up for training camp, prompting him and the team to decide he required another procedure.
Williams is entering the first season of a four-year extension he signed with Boston a year ago. He’ll earn a base salary of approximately $10.7MM, but will almost certainly miss out on a series of bonuses that he can only trigger by appearing in at least 69 games this season.
As for the Celtics, they’ll get by during Williams’ absence in the first half by leaning more heavily on frontcourt players like Al Horford, Grant Williams, Blake Griffin, Luke Kornet, and Noah Vonleh.
Jazz Sign GM Justin Zanik To Multiyear Extension
The Jazz have signed general manager Justin Zanik to a multiyear contract extension, the team announced today in a press release.
A former player agent, Zanik originally joined the Jazz as an assistant general manager in 2013 and spent three years in that role before taking a job in the Bucks’ front office for the 2016/17 season. He returned to Utah as an assistant GM in 2017 and earned a promotion to general manager in 2019.
Although Zanik was initially below president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey in the Jazz’s front office hierarchy and is now technically working under CEO and top decision-maker Danny Ainge, he has essentially been running the front office’s day-to-day operations since his promotion to GM in 2019.
“Justin’s basketball acumen, ability to create meaningful relationships throughout the league, and management of our front office are invaluable assets,” Ainge said in a statement. “We’re thrilled that he’ll continue to lead the team.”
Zanik’s new deal is a signal that Jazz ownership is happy with the job that he and the front office did this summer reshaping the roster and building for the future.
The Jazz acquired a total of seven unprotected first-round picks, a top-five protected first-rounder, and three future first-round pick swaps in trades involving Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, and Royce O’Neale during the offseason, setting the franchise up to be a player in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes this season.
2022 NBA Rookie Scale Extension Recap
The NBA’s annual deadline for rookie scale contract extensions passed on Monday, officially bringing the extension period for 2019 first-round picks to an end. In total, 11 players eligible for rookie scale extensions signed new contracts this year, which matched a record set last year.
We’ve seen a noticeable uptick in rookie scale extensions in recent years, with at least 10 such deals completed in each of the last three offseasons. Prior to 2020, the last time as many as 10 rookie scale extensions were signed in a single league year was back in 2006, when players like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were signing their second NBA contracts.
Here’s a breakdown of the 11 rookie scale extensions signed before this year’s deadline, sorted by total value. In cases where we haven’t yet seen the official contract terms for the extension, we’re basing our figures on the latest reports and will update these numbers as necessary. These deals will go into effect beginning in 2023/24:
Ja Morant (Grizzlies): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $194,300,000. Projected value can increase to $233,160,000 if Morant meets Rose Rule criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker.- Darius Garland (Cavaliers): Five year, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $194,300,000. Projected value can increase to $233,160,000 if Garland meets Rose Rule criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker.
- Zion Williamson (Pelicans): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $194,300,000. Projected value can increase to $233,160,000 if Williamson meets Rose Rule criteria.
- Note: Williamson’s salary guarantees in the final four years of the extension could be adjusted downward if he doesn’t meet certain games-played thresholds.
- Note: Williamson’s salary guarantees in the final four years of the extension could be adjusted downward if he doesn’t meet certain games-played thresholds.
- Jordan Poole (Warriors): Four years, $123,000,000 (base value) (story). Includes $17MM in incentives.
- Tyler Herro (Heat): Four years, $120,000,000 (base value) (story). Includes $10MM in incentives.
- RJ Barrett (Knicks): Four years, $107,000,000 (base value) (story). Includes $13MM in incentives.
- De’Andre Hunter (Hawks): Four years, $90,000,000 (base value) (story). Includes $5MM in incentives.
- Keldon Johnson (Spurs): Four years, $74,000,000 (base value) (story). Includes $6MM in incentives.
- Kevin Porter Jr. (Rockets): Four years, $63,440,000 (base value) (story). Only first year is fully guaranteed. Includes fourth-year team option and $19,032,000 in incentives.
- Brandon Clarke (Grizzlies): Four years, $50,000,000 (base value) (story). Includes $2MM in incentives.
- Nassir Little (Trail Blazers): Four years, $28,000,000 (story).
A couple of these extensions were no-brainers — there was never any doubt that Morant was going to get maximum-salary offer from the Grizzlies as early as possible, for instance.
Of the three maximum-salary deals, Williamson’s was the most interesting, given his injury history and the frequent speculation about his commitment to New Orleans. He and the Pelicans shut down that speculation by reaching a lucrative long-term agreement very early in July.
Interestingly, seven of this year’s eight non-max rookie scale extensions include incentives, giving the teams some level of protection if their newly extended youngsters don’t continue taking significant steps forward.
The Rockets‘ deal with Porter is the most extreme example of a high-variance, incentive-laden deal — as Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets, team-based incentives can push the value of that contract beyond $20MM per year, but the base value is just $15.86MM annually, and only the first season is fully guaranteed.
Little’s new contract with the Trail Blazers is another fascinating agreement. We’ve seen Grayson Allen (2021) and Taurean Prince (2019) accept two-year rookie scale extensions in recent years that were worth less overall than Little’s $28MM deal, but Little’s $7MM average annual salary is the lowest for a rookie scale extension since Jeremy Lamb signed a three-year, $21MM deal in 2015.
With 11 players signing rookie scale extensions, that left 13 players who were eligible for a new deal and didn’t get one (a 14th, Ty Jerome, was waived by the Rockets during the offseason).
Here’s that list of those players, who are now eligible to become restricted free agents during the 2023 offseason, assuming they finish their current contracts:
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Jazz)
- Darius Bazley (Thunder)
- Goga Bitadze (Pacers)
- Rui Hachimura (Wizards)
- Jaxson Hayes (Pelicans)
- Cameron Johnson (Suns)
- Romeo Langford (Spurs)
- Cam Reddish (Knicks)
- Matisse Thybulle (Sixers)
- P.J. Washington (Hornets)
- Coby White (Bulls)
- Grant Williams (Celtics)
- Dylan Windler (Cavaliers)
For a second consecutive year, the most noteworthy extension candidate not to sign a new deal is a Sun. After not extending Deandre Ayton in 2021, Phoenix opted not to lock up Johnson before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency next summer. Unlike Ayton, Johnson wasn’t seeking a maximum-salary contract, but his price tag could certainly increase substantially in the coming months as he enters the Suns‘ starting lineup in place of Jae Crowder.
Washington and Williams are among the other notable extension candidates who didn’t get new deals and could be targets for lucrative offer sheets in July of 2023. Hachimura, Hayes, Thybulle, and White are a few of the players who could set themselves up for nice paydays next offseason if they take a step forward in 2022/23.
The rest of these players in this group weren’t serious extension candidates. Some – including Langford and Windler – appear unlikely to receive qualifying offers next offseason to make them RFAs unless they show a lot more than they have in their first three NBA seasons.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that there were five players selected in the first round of the 2019 draft who weren’t eligible at all for rookie scale extensions entering this offseason, for various reasons. Those players are as follows:
- Jarrett Culver: Fourth-year option declined by Grizzlies in 2021.
- Sekou Doumbouya: Waived by Rockets in 2021.
- Mfiondu Kabengele: Third-year option declined by Clippers in 2020.
- Chuma Okeke: Signed rookie scale contract in 2020; on track to be extension-eligible in 2023.
- Luka Samanic: Waived by Spurs in 2021.