Warriors’ Porzingis Out Sunday Due To Illness
Warriors center Kristaps Porzingis will be sidelined for Sunday’s afternoon game against Denver due with what the team is calling a general illness, per Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link).
As Slater notes, Porzingis was able to practice the past two days. The team had been planning to slightly increase the big man’s playing time after he logged 17 minutes in his Warriors debut on Thursday.
Head coach Steve Kerr told reporters on Sunday that he got a text this morning stating that Porzingis was ill and he won’t be at the arena (Twitter link via Nick Friedell of The Athletic). The 30-year-old’s status for Golden State’s upcoming two-game road trip is to be determined, Friedell adds.
Injuries and illnesses have been a major issue for Porzingis this season, as he has only played in 18 of a possible 56 games in 2025/26. The one-time All-Star has been productive when he’s been on the court, averaging 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 23.9 minutes per game, but it’s safe to assume his lack of availability played a significant role in Atlanta’s willingness to trade him to Golden State.
Porzingis was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) after missing an extended stretch of time down the stretch and in the playoffs during the 2024/25 season. He expressed optimism this past fall about his ability to manage the condition going forward.
Porzingis, who is earning $30.7MM this season, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension before the start of the new league year.
Seven NBA Teams Have An Open Two-Way Slot
After a busy trade deadline, we’ve reached the portion of the season where teams make changes to the back ends of their roster in preparation for the playoffs and the future. That often involves promoting players from the G League to either 10-day deals or two-way contracts, and converting two-way standouts to standard deals.
While 16 two-way standouts have been promoted in the past few weeks, that’s not always the case. Minnesota recently waived Johnny Juzang after he reached his 50-game active limit, for example, and Oklahoma City did the same a few weeks ago with Chris Youngblood.
Teams can convert players on two-way contracts to standard deals until April 12, the last day of the regular season. However, March 4 is the final day for a team to sign a player to a two-way contract, and several clubs currently have a two-way opening ahead of that deadline.
As our tracker shows, a total of seven two-way spots are vacant around the NBA, and each opening is for a different team. Here’s the full list:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Sacramento Kings
Each of these seven teams is virtually certain to fill its open two-way spot in the next several days. Two-way contracts don’t count against the salary cap, so there’s no financial reason to not have all three spots filled by March 4.
Players on two-way contracts generally bounce back and forth between the NBA and G League, but remain under team control and can’t be poached by rival franchises. You can learn more about two-way deals in our glossary entry.
Timberwolves Notes: Gobert, Edwards, Conley, Reid
Rudy Gobert was terrific in Friday’s victory against Dallas, but the four-time Defensive Player of the Year will have to walk a fine line for the rest of the season after his latest flagrant foul resulted in another one-game suspension, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Gobert will receive an automatic two-game suspension if he accumulates any additional flagrant foul points.
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch believes the team’s starting center gets an unjust whistle from officials.
“Seemingly every time Rudy gets clocked in the head and the face, which is quite a bit, it’s always just, ‘Ah that’s just two guys, play on. It’s nothing,’” Finch said. “But yet the other way around, we seem to be penalized for it.”
The 33-year-old big man, who is having a strong season for the Wolves, agreed with his coach’s assessment, Krawczynski notes.
“Guys are coming at me every night, hitting me in the face, grabbing me,” Gobert said. “They purposely foul me. That was like five times tonight. Run into my knees trying to box me out. All these plays are dangerous, and I’m fine with it, you know? But it’s really hard when you get super penalized, and people can do anything without accountability on me. So hopefully they look at that and make it a little more fair.”
Here’s more on the Timberwolves:
- Star guard Anthony Edwards, who had 40 points — including 14 in the fourth quarter — in Friday’s win, is optimistic about the team’s chances of making another deep playoff run, Krawczynski adds in the same story. “I feel like if we play every team how we play the best teams in the league, I feel like we’ve got a chance to go 25-0,” Edwards said. “It always starts with me. But if we come out and play every team like we play the top teams in the league, I feel like we’ve got a great chance.”
- Point guard Mike Conley re-signed with Minnesota last week after being traded to Chicago and then Charlotte ahead of the deadline. The 19-year veteran knows he might not play many minutes going forward, but he says he’ll be ready when he’s called upon, according to Andrew Dukowitz of Zone Coverage (Twitter video link). “I’m getting older, man (laughs), that’s one thing, but I just think that it’s their opportunity more than it is mine,” Conley said of his backcourt teammates. “… They’re right before their prime or in their prime. They should be getting these runs, they should be getting these big minutes… I’ve done all that, and I can be the stop gap here and there or the pinch hitter when you need me or whatever you need, but I’m prepared for that… like I said, I’m just happy to be here and help the guys as much as I can.”
- Backup big man Naz Reid is eyeing another Sixth Man of the Year trophy after winning the award two years ago, tweets Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “Yeah, for sure. I need another one,” Reid said. “But that comes with winning. You gotta win as well. So those two things go hand in hand: winning and obviously having that award.” Reid, who threw down a poster dunk on Friday (YouTube link), is averaging 14.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.0 SPG and 0.9 BPG on .471/.387/.733 shooting through 57 games (26.3 MPG).
Grizzlies’ Pippen, Heat’s Gardner Ejected After Scuffle
Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. and Heat forward Myron Gardner were ejected from Saturday’s game in Miami after a brief scuffle between the two players late in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s victory, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
The incident appeared to start when the two were jockeying for rebounding position on a Simone Fontecchio three-point attempt (Twitter video link). Gardner gave Pippen a shoulder check and gained inside position near the rim, and after Gardner jumped up for the offensive rebound, Pippen pulled him down to the court.
Memphis had a transition opportunity with Gardner trailing the play, and Pippen made an open three. He briefly backpedaled after the shot and Gardner bumped him from behind, knocking Pippen down.
Pippen got up and jogged to opposite corner of the court where Gardner was standing. He pointed at Gardner and pushed him, and the two fell to the court near the baseline. Several players and coaches quickly ran over, and Pippen and Gardner were eventually separated. Both players were ejected for fighting.
“I thought it was kind of a cheap shot,” Pippen said. “He kind of hit me from when I didn’t see him. So I thought it was a soft move.”
Pippen said he didn’t think he deserved a suspension for his role in the altercation, according to Chiang.
“I don’t think any punches or anything were thrown,” he said. “I think it was, like I said, a hug. I don’t think it was too crazy. I got ejected. I think it should be left at that, but we’ll see.”
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra showed support for Gardner, a rookie who was recently promoted to a three-year standard contract.
“His greatest strength is this unbridled intensity and effort and energy, and his heart is in a great place, and he’s wired like us competitively,” Spoelstra said, per Chiang. “So you add that type of intensity to this competitive will that will boil over at times. I don’t want to take away from that competitiveness.
“We love Myron. I don’t know what happened on the three-point shot. I just saw Pippen fall. I haven’t seen the replay on that one. I just saw the play after that, and that looked like it was 95 percent Pippen. But let’s just see what it is. I love Myron regardless.”
And-Ones: MVP Race, No. 1 Pick, Peterson, P. Gasol
Reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains the favorite to claim the award again in 2025/26, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, who recently conducted his second MVP straw poll. The Thunder guard was the only player to appear on all 100 ballots and accumulated 930 points.
Injuries to top players have significantly impacted the MVP race this season, Bontemps writes, as multiple contenders for the award may not qualify due to the 65-game rule. Despite being sidelined with an abdominal strain, Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t in imminent danger of not meeting that threshold — he’ll likely have 10 total missed games when he’s reevaluated later this week.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic remains in second place (700 points), but the gap between the two players has grown since Bontemps’ initial poll in December. That’s largely because the three-time MVP missed 15 games because of a knee injury and can’t have more than two additional absences without becoming ineligible for major postseason awards.
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (382 points) and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama (242 points) were the only other players to receive first-place votes. Lakers guard Luka Doncic (177 points) rounds out the top five of Bontemps’ poll.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- How much would the No. 1 overall pick in the loaded 2026 NBA draft be worth if it were available in an auction? Brian Windhorst of ESPN briefly discussed that topic on the Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “I was talking to a league executive today and he said to me, this is after Darryn Peterson had 23 points in 18 minutes and after we’ve seen some other top guys have big time games over the last four or five days,” Windhorst said. “… I had an executive tell me that the No. 1 pick this year is worth $100 million. If you gave the opportunity to buy that pick, teams would pay $100 million for it. Keep that in mind when the Jazz were fined $500,000.”
- Although Peterson’s sporadic for Kansas this season has undoubtedly been frustrating for him, the school, and its fans, his health issues are unlikely to have much of an effect on the 19-year-old guard’s standing as a top prospect in the 2026 draft class, per Brendan Marks and Justin Williams of The Athletic. “He’s elite, elite, elite,” one NBA scout told The Athletic. “When he’s fully healthy, the shot-making is on another level. … When it comes down to it, man, if you’ve seen this guy play in high school, and you saw those matchups, like, Darryn is the guy. For sure.”
- Hall of Famer Pau Gasol has been selected by Olympic athletes to represent them on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) board through the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles, according to The Associated Press.
Clippers Notes: Lopez, Leonard, Collins, Garland
Brook Lopez joined the Clippers to serve as a veteran backup to Ivica Zubac, but now it looks like he’ll be the starting center for the rest of the season, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes in a subscriber-only story. Lopez started a few games after Zubac hurt his ankle in December, but he also spent time out of the rotation, with rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser as the first center off the bench. Everything changed when Zubac was dealt to Indiana at the deadline, and L.A. will be counting heavily on Lopez in its bid to reach the playoffs.
“It’s just been about staying ready for me,” Lopez said. “Obviously, my goal is to help my team win by whatever means possible, so on a nightly basis, whatever’s required of me, I’m going to go out there and do it.”
Lopez, 37, was a starter throughout his career before signing with the Clippers last summer, so he’s ready for a heavy workload. He had 16 points and 10 rebounds in Friday’s loss to the Lakers, and the offense ran through him after Kawhi Leonard left the game with stiffness in his left ankle and Bennedict Mathurin fouled out.
“I’m comfortable in a lot of different roles,” Lopez said. “It’s something I got to do for a good decade in my career, so I’m confident doing that. Again, whatever’s required of me.”
There’s more on the Clippers:
- Leonard, who’s listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Orlando, drew high praise from long-time rival LeBron James after the game, Carr adds. James said that even with Leonard’s lengthy injury history, he’s one of the league’s best players. “There’s things you can’t control. You only can control the controllables and the things that he’s been controlling is how he comes back and how (much) perseverance he (has) every single time,” James said. “That guy’s awesome. I swear, I have nothing but great things to say about Kawhi and the type of basketball he’s been playing over the last couple months. I mean, he is who he is for a reason, so I’m not surprised by it.”
- John Collins will be held out of Sunday’s contest after suffering a head laceration and neck soreness against the Lakers, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Murray notes that there’s no indication of a concussion in the injury report.
- Darius Garland tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape that he knew a trade out of Cleveland was imminent, and he blames a recurring toe issue that limited him to 26 games this season. “It was going to happen regardless, either at the (trade) deadline or this summer. (My agent) Rich (Paul) had that conversation with me last summer,” Garland said. “But yeah, the toe definitely had a factor in it. They didn’t know if I was going to be healthy for this season, which I will be. But they thought that James (Harden) had something that I didn’t, I believe. He has experience in playoffs and All-Star numbers still to this day, even though he wasn’t an All-Star this year. But yeah, they want to win right now. They have a group, too. And I guess I really wasn’t part of the plan.”
Nuggets Notes: Simpson, Jokic, Murray, Gordon
KJ Simpson attended the championship parade in 2023 as the Nuggets celebrated their first NBA title, and now he’s on the roster with a chance to help them win another one, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Simpson was playing at the University of Colorado at the time and had a high school rivalry with Denver swingman Peyton Watson. As he watched Watson go by in the parade, Simpson was hoping to be able to have the same experience.
“That was the closest I had been to seeing or being there to experience a championship team, I guess,” Simpson said. “Seeing them just go by. The job is finished. That was mad inspiring to me. Like, man, I want to feel that one day.”
Simpson’s NBA career began last season when he was selected by Charlotte with the 42nd pick in the draft. He was waived on February 6 and signed a two-way deal with the Nuggets on Thursday. His debut came Friday at Portland, as he contributed three points and four assists in seven minutes.
“I’m just excited to play in front of that fan base,” Simpson said. “It’s bigger than just CU Boulder. Colorado in general. … I was there for three years. First place I lived other than home. So to me, that was considered like home. I loved my time there. I loved everything about it. The people. And we would go to Denver a lot just to go see games. … So I’ve always felt that connection to Colorado. It’s just crazy how full-circle it is.”
There’s more on the Nuggets:
- Nikola Jokic didn’t wear tape on his right wrist Friday night, but the pain is still affecting him, Durando states in a separate story. Jokic estimates he has been dealing with wrist discomfort for six years, and it started flaring up again before the All-Star break. He still provided 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, scoring 19 points in the first quarter as Denver pulled away early. “When I tape it, I don’t feel it, and I don’t feel the ball. So that didn’t work really well for me,” Jokic said. “It’s pretty much the same.”
- Jamal Murray was listed as questionable for Friday with right hamstring tightness, Durando adds, and after playing 25 minutes he may be held out of Sunday afternoon’s game at Golden State. “If he feels anything, he’s not gonna play,” coach David Adelman said on Friday. “We played a 7:30 (Pacific time) game last night. We play 7:00 tonight. We play 12:30 on Sunday. It makes absolutely no sense for me to put him in a torture chamber and then be surprised if he gets hurt.”
- Aaron Gordon is making progress toward returning from a strained right hamstring, Tim MacMahon said on the latest edition of The Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Jordanna Clark of NuggLove). MacMahon reports that the Nuggets sent a trainer to Orlando with Gordon during the All-Star break, and he was able to participate in portions of practices this week. Gordon has been dunking and playing one-on-one games, and the team hopes to slowly expand those to five-on-five. MacMahon adds that the Nuggets are being careful with the injury and projects it will be a couple more weeks before Gordon resumes playing.
Southwest Notes: JJJ, Iisalo, Fears, Murray, Durant
Jaren Jackson Jr. shares his memories of nearly eight seasons with the Grizzlies and expresses his love to Memphis fans in a first-person piece for The Players’ Tribune. Jackson also relays the experience of finding out he had been traded to the Jazz, saying he knew right away that’s why he was called into general manager Zach Kleiman‘s office.
“It’s funny, though, when the conversation ended I was just awkwardly looking around all confused like John Travolta in Pulp Fiction,” Jackson wrote. “Like, Well, what now? I literally asked him, “Can I go back upstairs and say bye?” Like he was gonna press a button, and the trap door was gonna open up.”
Jackson stated that those final goodbyes were lighthearted, but they represented the end of a significant part of his NBA career. While the relationships may remain, he realized he was seeing his friends as teammates for the final time.
“But one thing I’ll never forget was a moment in the locker room before I left, when everyone was joking around again,” Jackson added. “And it was just so weird because in my head it was like, Wow, this is the last time I’m gonna see this. They were about to leave to get on a plane. It was a wrap. But I was joking around as if I was gonna see them later. I was just laughing, deep down thinking like, ‘Wow, I’m definitely gonna miss y’all boys.’ I didn’t say it in the moment. But I’m saying it now.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Prior to Saturday’s game, Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo told reporters that his approach to the season hasn’t been affected by the Jackson trade or other personnel moves, per Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). “Well, we’re trying to accomplish a lot,” Iisalo said. “The expectations have not changed. It doesn’t have anything to do with the roster we play. We still expect everybody to give max effort, max focus.”
- It’s been a season filled with growing pains for Jeremiah Fears and the Pelicans, but the rookie guard expresses confidence that better times are ahead in an interview with Sam Yip of HoopsHype. “Being able to lose to understand how to win, I think that’s huge,” Fears said. “We’ve been in a lot of very close games. We just got to learn how to finish. And I think once we learn how to finish, we’ll be really, really good and we’ll end up flipping the switch.”
- The Pelicans are targeting Tuesday against Golden State for Dejounte Murray‘s season debut, according to Rod Walker of NOLA (Twitter link).“I expect him to be there in the next couple games,” interim coach James Borrego said before tonight’s contest. “Hopefully it’s Tuesday night. We’d all be excited for that.”
- Rockets coach Ime Udoka would like to cut back on Kevin Durant‘s minutes, relays Varun Shankar of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Durant is logging 36.7 minutes per game in his first season with the team, and Udoka would prefer to trim that number to 33 or 34.
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Langdon, Huerter, Ivey
Cade Cunningham‘s outstanding season is moving him into the MVP conversation, writes Vincent Goodwill of ESPN. The Pistons guard turned in his latest dominant performance with 42 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in Thursday’s win at New York, as Detroit solidified its hold on the top spot in the East and improved its league-best record to 41-13.
“It comes from doing the things I said, what I needed to do to be in that conversation,” Cunningham said. “Now that we’re getting closer, there’s more [talk] like ‘What is your case? You should speak on it.’ I don’t really care to speak on it. I want the people that vote on it to be smart enough to look at the game for themselves.”
However, he added, “I think I am [MVP]. And if you don’t agree with me, that’s your opinion.“
Cunningham ranks 12th in the league’s scoring race at 25.7 PPG and second in assists with 9.7 per game. He’s been the driving force on a team that has shattered all expectations coming into this season, and his competitive spirit has affected his teammates.
“He’s a winner, man. He really is. Attitude, leadership, every day, the guy is special,” Tobias Harris said. “I think more than anything, he wants championships, and that’s a difference. There’s guys who want to win MVP and guys who want to win championships.”
There’s more on the Pistons:
- In an interview with Chris Mannix of SI, owner Tom Gores gives credit to president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon for turning around a franchise that won just 14 games two years ago. “I probably saw 20 different people, a lot of known names. And Trajan was not necessarily one of the known names,” Gores said of the hiring process. “He had a good reputation. But I saw a real CEO and an executive in him. … His execution skills, like a CEO, are excellent, his strategy and analytic skills, excellent. He’s very execution oriented. And to me, I’ve never gotten anywhere in my life just with vision. We have to execute and he’s very execution oriented, and of course has a vision.”
- Kevin Huerter is only averaging 12 minutes per night in four appearances since being acquired from Chicago at the deadline. Speaking to reporters before Saturday’s game, coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he expects Huerter to eventually move into a larger role, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). “You see him and he’s got the reputation as a shooter, but I watch him as a play-maker, a ball-handler … his understanding of the game as a whole,” Bickerstaff said.
- Bickerstaff also commented on the decision to part with Jaden Ivey, who was getting limited playing time while working his way back after fracturing his left leg last season, Sankofa adds (Twitter link). “We expected a full recovery but the timing we didn’t know, which is something you can’t ever know,” Bickerstaff said. “And then the part of it for him, believing it and trusting it. That happens with injury too, especially when you’re that explosive and your athleticism is so unique.”
Celtics Notes: Tatum, Horford, Banton, Harper
Jayson Tatum emphasized that he still hasn’t made a decision on whether to return this season as he met with reporters before the Celtics practiced on Saturday, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. However, Tatum did discuss a workout he took part in this week in San Francisco with teammates and assistant coaches.
“There was a little five-on-five,” he said. “It’s tough to go into detail of every single thing I do every day. But I will say getting acclimated more and doing limited things with some of the guys out there. It’s all a part of the rehab.”
That session, combined with Tatum scrimmaging with Boston’s G League affiliate earlier this month, has fans buzzing that he might be ready for game action soon, Terada adds. Tatum refused to assign a percentage to his recovery, but said, “I know what 100% feels like.” However, he hasn’t practiced with the Celtics yet, which is one of several hurdles that have to be cleared before a comeback can be considered.
“It just kind of depends on how he continues to hit those checkmarks, whatever they may be,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day, we have to make sure the main goal has always been get to 100%, get to as healthy as you possibly can and go from there. He’s done a great job working. My hope is that he gets as healthy as he can.”
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Prior to Thursday’s matchup with the Warriors, Al Horford told reporters that his decision to leave Boston in free agency last summer was “something that’s deeper than just the basketball stuff of it,” relays Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link). Horford spent the previous four seasons with the Celtics before accepting a two-year offer from Golden State that includes a nearly $6MM player option for next season. “And it’s something that at some point I’ll share with people,” Horford said, “but for me it felt like it was the time for me to go elsewhere.”
- Dalano Banton, who inked a 10-day contract on Thursday, is thankful to get another chance with the Celtics, per Adam Himmelsbach and Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required). Banton signed with Boston prior to the 2023/24 season, but was sent to Portland at that year’s trade deadline. “Definitely grateful for the opportunity,” he said. “A lot of familiar faces here. I had a good short time here. That relationship still lasts. Kept in touch with a lot of the organization, a lot of staff while I was away. I feel like I had a good time here and building relationships with people go a long way and I’m grateful for them to bring me back.”
- In a mailbag column, Brian Robb of MassLive points to Ron Harper Jr. as the player most likely to be signed when the Celtics are able to afford a rest-of-season contract without going into tax territory. Harper is currently on a two-way deal and has appeared in 11 NBA games this season.