Marcus Garrett To Miss At Least Four Weeks With Wrist Fracture
Heat guard Marcus Garrett has a fractured right wrist, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The team announced that Garrett is wearing a cast and his condition will be reevaluated in four weeks.
A wrist injury derailed Garrett’s rookie season and forced him to have surgery in January. He was released from his two-way contract following the injury, but he signed a new two-way deal this summer.
Coach Erik Spoelstra refused to speculate on whether Garrett could lose his roster spot again after the latest injury, calling it a “business decision,” tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel.
If Garrett is released, Miami has several candidates for the two-way opening, including Haywood Highsmith, who is with the Heat on a partially guaranteed contract, and Mychal Mulder, who signed with the team over the weekend. The other two-way slot is held by Jamal Cain, whose Exhibit 10 contract was converted on Sunday.
Garrett, 23, appeared in all four Heat games during the preseason, averaging 3.3 PPG in 18.4 minutes per night. He got into 12 games with Miami last season before the injury.
New York Notes: O’Neale, Nets, Bower, Knicks, Grimes
New Nets forward Royce O’Neale has a chance to enter the starting lineup, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, who thinks the decision for the final spot on Brooklyn’s starting five will come down to O’Neale vs. Joe Harris.
Since Harris is coming off a pair of ankle surgeries and has missed a little time this preseason with a sore foot, there could be an opportunity for O’Neale to claim that spot, Lewis writes. Harris is traveling with the Nets for Wednesday’s preseason contest against Milwaukee, but won’t play in that game, tweets Lewis.
Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, and Nic Claxton are the Nets’ other projected starters.
Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York-based teams:
- Veteran NBA executive Jeff Bower, a former general manager in New Orleans and Detroit, has been hired by the Nets in a scouting role, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Bower most recently worked in Phoenix’s front office, but parted ways with the team in 2021.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic liked the Knicks‘ decision not to go all-in for Donovan Mitchell this offseason, even if it means the team will likely spend another season in “NBA purgatory.” After breaking down New York’s offseason moves, Hollinger projects the club to go 39-43 and finish 10th in the Eastern Conference.
- Quentin Grimes won’t be the Knicks‘ starting shooting guard to open the season, but he has earned Tom Thibodeau‘s trust and respect, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. “No one’s close to putting the amount of work that he puts in,” the head coach said of Grimes, per Fred Katz of The Athletic. Thibodeau’s fondness for Grimes is presumably one reason why the team has been reluctant to discuss the second-year wing in trade talks. “My name was in the trade rumors last year at the trade deadline, they called me and were like, ‘Thibs love you. …We love your work ethic,'” Grimes said, per Bondy.
Nuggets Re-Sign Grant Golden
After waiving him on Friday, the Nuggets re-signed rookie forward Grant Golden on Monday, per RealGM’s transaction log and the team’s official website.
Golden, who spent his entire college career at Richmond, averaged 13.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.9 APG on .506/.280/.706 shooting in 37 games (27.6 MPG) as a “super senior” in 2021/22.
After going undrafted, the 6’10” forward played for the Hawks’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, logging limited minutes in four appearances, then signed with Denver in September.
It’s unclear why the Nuggets waived and then re-signed Golden, since his initial deal was an Exhibit 10 contract and he’s expected to ultimately report to the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s G League affiliate. For the time being though, he remains on Denver’s 20-man roster, which is once again full after the club also signed Chasson Randle.
Jazz Sign Jeenathan Williams To Exhibit 10 Deal
OCTOBER 11: Williams’ signing is now official, the Jazz confirmed in a press release. To make room on the roster, Utah has waived guard Darryl Morsell, who signed with the team on Sunday.
JUNE 27: The Jazz and free agent swingman Jeenathan Williams have agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal, sources tell Jon Chepkevich of Rookie Scale (Twitter link).
Williams, who declared for the draft this spring following his fourth college season, earned All-MAC First Team honors in 2022 after making the Second Team in 2021.
The undrafted rookie out of Buffalo averaged 18.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in 54 contests (31.8 MPG) over his last two seasons. He also shot an impressive 42.5% on three-pointers during that time.
As Chepkevich notes, Williams stands at 6’6″ but has a seven-foot wingspan.
Exhibit 10 deals are non-guaranteed pacts that can be converted into two-way contracts before the regular season begins. They also allow a player to earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived before the season and joins his team’s G League affiliate.
Celtics Waive Luka Samanic, Sign A.J. Reeves
OCTOBER 11: Reeves has officially signed his Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics, tweets Weiss.
OCTOBER 10: The Celtics have waived big man Luka Samanic, Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets. In a corresponding move, they’re adding guard A.J. Reeves on an Exhibit 10 contract, Adam Zagoria tweets.
Boston signed Samanic to a non-guaranteed training camp deal in late September. It’s likely he’ll join the Maine Celtics of the G League once he clears waivers.
Reeves went undrafted after playing four seasons at Providence, where he averaged 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 25.3 MPG last season in 28 games.
Reeves will likely hit the waiver wire soon and join the Maine club, where he could earn a bonus up to $50K if he sticks there for 60 days.
The No. 19 pick in the 2019 draft, Samanic appeared in 36 games with the Spurs during his first two NBA seasons, averaging 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG on .430/.294/.576 shooting in 9.9 minutes per contest. He was waived by San Antonio before his third season and spent most of 2021/22 on a two-way deal with the Knicks before being cut in March.
Samanic was affected by plantar fasciitis last season and didn’t play for the Knicks. He appeared in eight total contests for the Westchester Knicks in the G League and put up big numbers, averaging 27.6 PPG, 10.4 RPG, and 3.4 APG.
Mavs Pick Up 2023/24 Option On Josh Green
The Mavericks have exercised Josh Green‘s fourth-year option for the 2023/24 season, the team announced today (via Twitter).
Green, who is set to earn approximately $3.1MM in his third NBA season this year, is now also guaranteed of receiving his $4,765,339 salary for ’23/24.
Green didn’t play much as a rookie in Dallas after being selected 18th overall in the 2020 draft, but saw more regular minutes last season, averaging 4.8 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .508/.359/.689 shooting in 67 appearances (15.5 MPG). He has received rave reviews from coaches and teammates for the work he did this past offseason, suggesting that he may be in line for a larger role in ’22/23.
The Mavs don’t have to make decisions on any other rookie scale team options before this year’s October 31 deadline, since they didn’t have a first-round pick in the 2021 draft.
Sixers Sign-And-Waive Justin Smith, Patrick McCaw
10:28am: The Sixers have formally confirmed that they signed and then waived both Smith and McCaw.
8:51am: The Sixers are rotating players in and out of the 20th spot on their preseason roster. After signing and waiving guard Mac McClung, the team also signed and waived forward Justin Smith, per NBA.com’s transactions log. Philadelphia subsequently signed veteran swingman Patrick McCaw to fill that 20th slot, per RealGM and the team’s official website.
Smith spent his rookie season with the Raptors 905 after going undrafted out of Arkansas in 2021. He averaged 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds in 29 games (21.7 MPG) for Toronto’s G League affiliate.
The Delaware Blue Coats acquired Smith’s NBAGL returning rights in a trade with the 905 last week, per Matt Murphy (Twitter link). He likely signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Philadelphia that will assure he receives a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the Blue Coats this season.
As for McCaw, the former Warriors and Raptors guard – a three-time NBA champion – has appeared in 199 total NBA games, but finished last season with the Blue Coats, playing a key rotation role for the team as it made a run to the G League Finals. Like Smith, McCaw appears likely to be waived and then head to Delaware as a returning-rights player.
Atlantic Notes: Harden, Melton, Raptors, G. Williams
Asked by Joe Vardon of The Athletic if he believes he’s gotten the proper credit for taking a pay cut this season in order to allow the Sixers to sign other players, including P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, James Harden shook his head.
“Nope, but guess what? I don’t care,” Harden said. “There’s like a stereotype (of Harden) where people always want to talk. People don’t really know me, so they feel like they can just say anything. One thing I won’t do is give them any attention. I won’t say anything, media-wise, publicly. I don’t care, because I’m comfortable and I’m confident in the things I do on and off the court.”
Harden turned down a player option worth more than $47MM and accepted a $33MM salary for 2022/23, with a player option worth $35.64MM for ’23/24. Having sacrificed some short-term money for the good of the team, the former MVP told Vardon he intends to take the same approach with his on-court statistics this season.
“At this point, (big) numbers are great, but whether I’m averaging 22 or 28 (points per game), I think it’s more that I’m making an impact on the game each and every night,” Harden said. “I don’t really think about numbers. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about numbers, honestly. … Ultimately, it’s winning a championship. The numbers don’t really mean anything, individually.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- De’Anthony Melton is looking forward to showing what he can bring this season to the Sixers and is grateful that Grizzlies head of basketball operations Zach Kleiman traded him to a favorable landing spot, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Zach and I have a good relationship to where I know he wouldn’t send me to a bad situation,” Melton said. “He wouldn’t do anything that he doesn’t feel like is a good situation for his organization and for me. You don’t get that in a lot of GMs. So that’s why the care factor was there. I could be wrong. I could be right, but that’s what I felt, given the situation.”
- Dalano Banton‘s place on the Raptors‘ regular season roster looks increasingly secure after another solid performance vs. Chicago on Sunday, but the team’s 15th spot remains very much up in the air, says Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. As Grange notes, Justin Champagnie got a late start to the preseason, but hasn’t fallen far behind in the battle for the No. 15 spot, since none of D.J. Wilson, Josh Jackson, and Gabe Brown have run away with it.
- In a mailbag for NBC Sports Boston, Chris Forsberg makes a case for why the Celtics and Grant Williams should be able to get a rookie scale extension done before next Monday’s deadline, arguing that a deal in the range of $12-13MM per year would allow Williams to earn more than the mid-level and let the team lock up another member of its core.
Hawks Exercise 2023/24 Options On Okongwu, Johnson
The Hawks are picking up their team options on center Onyeka Okongwu and forward Jalen Johnson for the 2023/24 season, according to reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps (Twitter links).
The moves will lock in a fourth-year salary of $8,109,063 for Okongwu, the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft, and a third-year salary of $2,925,360 for Johnson, last year’s 20th overall pick.
Okongwu has had his season debut delayed by injuries in each of his first two years in the NBA, having dealt with a foot issue as a rookie and shoulder surgery last season. However, he has shown intriguing promise when he’s been healthy, averaging 8.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 1.3 BPG in 48 games (20.7 MPG) in 2021/22. He could be in line for a larger role going forward.
Johnson is also expected to see more action in his second NBA season, according to Bontemps. As a rookie, the former Duke standout logged just 120 total minutes in 22 games, averaging 2.4 PPG and 1.2 RPG.
Okongwu will now become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2023 offseason. As for Johnson, he has a $4.51MM team option for 2024/25, which the Hawks will have to make a decision on by October 31, 2023.
Central Notes: Nesmith, Pistons Lineup, Middleton, Drummond
Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith is nursing a foot injury and his availability for opening night is in question, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
Nesmith is expected to play a second-unit role after being acquired from the Celtics in the Malcolm Brogdon deal. Coach Rick Carlisle said the former first-round pick has “a plantar fascia issue.”
“He’ll miss some time,” he said. “The hope is that there’s a possibility he could be back for the opener, but we don’t know for sure. As the days go on, we’ll have a better feel for that.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Pistons could alter their frontcourt lineup depending on matchups, according to Mike Curtis of the Detroit News. Recently acquired Bojan Bogdanovic will join Saddiq Bey at the forward spots with Isaiah Stewart in the middle against certain teams. When a bigger lineup is desired, Bogdanovic could come off the bench with Marvin Bagley III sliding into the starting five.
- Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Khris Middleton is “making progress” but “he’s still got a ways to go,” Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The Bucks are hopeful Middleton will return early in the season after undergoing surgery in August to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist.
- Bulls backup center Andre Drummond is looking to become a 3-point threat, Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago writes. “It’s something that I spoke to the coaching staff in the summertime when I signed here, that it’s something that I’ve worked on, that I want to be able to stay on the floor, and I want to be able to add different facets to my game to be able to help this team win,” Drummond said. “And if I’m able to make that corner 3 when I’m wide open, it adds another element to our team.”