Hornets Sign Malachi Flynn To 10-Day Deal
March 1: Flynn’s 10-day deal with the Hornets is now official, according to the team (Twitter link).
February 28: Malachi Flynn will join the Hornets on a 10-day contract, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The 26-year-old point guard was in training camp with San Antonio after signing an Exhibit 10 deal in August. He was waived before the start of the season and has been playing for the Spurs’ G League affiliate in Austin, where he’s averaging 21.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 18 regular season games.
Flynn will take the place of Elfrid Payton, whose second 10-day contract expired on Thursday, according to Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Payton was signed with a hardship exception that remains in effect due to long-term injuries affecting Tre Mann, Brandon Miller, Grant Williams, and Josh Okogie.
Payton appeared in six games for the Hornets, making two starts and posting 1.0 point, 2.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 20.5 minutes per night.
Charlotte will be Flynn’s fourth team in the past two seasons once his contract becomes official. He was selected by Toronto with the 29th pick in the 2020 draft and spent three and a half years with the Raptors before being sent to New York as part of the OG Anunoby deal. The Knicks shipped him to Detroit at last February’s trade deadline.
Flynn has appeared in 213 games through his first four NBA seasons, averaging 5.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 14.2 minutes per night. His standout moment came last April when he scored 50 points off the bench for Detroit.
Assuming he’s signed before Saturday’s meeting with Washington, Flynn will be available for five games during the 10-day contract. He will be eligible to sign one more 10-day deal with Charlotte once this one expires.
Warriors Sign Kevin Knox To Second 10-Day Contract
March 1: Knox’s second 10-day deal with the Warriors is official, according to a team release (Twitter link).
February 28: The Warriors intend to sign forward Kevin Knox to a second 10-day contract once his initial deal expires, sources tell Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Knox’s current 10-day contract will expire tonight, so he’ll need to be re-signed on Saturday in order to be active for Golden State’s game in Philadelphia tomorrow.
Knox has been in the Warriors’ organization since last July, having played for Golden State in Summer League and during the preseason before spending the majority of the 2024/25 campaign with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League.
Although he played a modest role off the bench on his 10-day contract, Knox impressed the team with his contributions in limited action, according to Slater. The former ninth overall pick scored 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting in 29 minutes across four games while also contributing eight rebounds, three assists, and a pair of blocks.
Knox will earn $150,179 on his second 10-day contract, with the Warriors taking on a cap hit of $119,972.
Since Golden State is navigating a hard cap, it will be interesting to see whether the team signs a second player to a 10-day contract alongside Knox in order to remain at 14 on standard deals. With Yuri Collins‘ 10-day contract also set to expire on Friday night, the Warriors will temporarily dip down to 12 players before re-signing Knox to get to 13.
Golden State can only carry fewer than 14 players for up to 14 more days this season, so that clock would begin to tick again starting Saturday if the club doesn’t sign a second player, whether that’s Collins or someone else.
Southeast Notes: Hawks Bench, Poole, Hornets, Green, Smith
The Hawks are receiving strong contributions from their bench since adding Caris LeVert, Terance Mann and Georges Niang at the trade deadline, Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. That trio helped Atlanta defeat Miami on Monday and combined for 50 points on Friday. On Wednesday, the bench – LeVert, Mann, Niang, and Clint Capela – scored 45 of the Hawks’ 109 points.
“I feel like we can keep getting better,” Capela said of Atlanta’s second unit. “Once again, defensively, we’re able to get stops and run get easy buckets for everybody, myself included Caris, Terance, Georges. I mean, I feel like, those are the guys that know how to play, they’ve been in this thing long enough to know how to play, and I’ve started feeling better playing with them.”
In the eight games since the newcomers arrived, Niang is averaging 14.0 points per game while shooting 41.7% on 7.5 three-point attempts per game, LeVert is recording 15.3 PPG, and Mann is averaging 8.4 PPG while shooting 57.9% from beyond the arc.
“Yeah, I think that’s the thing that’s kind of bringing us together, is our communication and our experience,” LeVert said. “We’ve all played a lot of basketball. So, I think just getting on the same page has been a lot easier.”
Williams adds that the Hawks still need to find a solution for replacing some of Trae Young‘s play-making production when he sits and that Vit Krejci should be considered an option for alleviating that concern.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Jordan Poole is enjoying a strong second season in Washington after his production dipped in his first season there. As Varun Shankar of The Washington Post writes, Poole is averaging career highs in points (21.0), assists (4.8) and three-point percentage (37.0%). Poole didn’t start in 12 games last season but now he’s a full-time starter and is second on the Wizards in minutes per game.
- The Hornets are going through a tough stretch — they won just two games in February and have lost five in a row. Still, coach Charles Lee is optimistic that the team is growing through the adversity, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer writes. “I thought just as a group, we competed at a much better level,” Lee said after their most recent loss, a 103-96 game against the Mavericks on Thursday. “To judge a man to see how he gets knocked down and to see how he responds, the group definitely responded today.“
- Josh Green returned to American Airlines Center for the first time as a member of the Hornets on Thursday. He had “weird feelings” in his return to face the Mavericks, with whom he spent the first four years of his career, according to Mavs.com’s Eddie Sefko. “It’s been different for me,” Green said. “Being a younger guy in Dallas and then to come here and being a veteran, it’s definitely been a shift. It’s fun. I’ve enjoyed it. Looking back at my time in Dallas, my first couple years were some of my really toughest times, not playing, not getting many minutes. Having guys like Dwight [Powell] and Maxi [Kleber] were great leaders for me. And it’s motivated me to be the best [mentor] I can be for guys.”
- Roster deadlines are approaching and – as we wrote last weekend – the Heat could conceivably make a two-way contract switch, since Dru Smith is out for the season. However, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald hears that the front office is leaning toward keeping Smith on his two-way deal to avoid another team claiming him and getting the chance to re-sign him in restricted free agency this summer. Asummiing he remains in Miami, Smith could be re-signed to a two-way deal or to a standard contract. He established himself as part of the team’s rotation before his unfortunate injury.
Cavs Notes: Garland, Mitchell, Allen, Celtics Win
Despite some speculation that the Cavaliers and Darius Garland might separate after the team’s second-round loss to the Celtics in the playoffs last season, that was never under serious consideration for either side, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
“It crossed my mind. Like just literally crossed it for like five seconds,” Garland said. “But I really love this group, man. It’s like a real brotherhood. We’ve been together for three years now, four years now, and I really want to win here. I think this group has the opportunity to do something special and bring a championship back to Cleveland. And that’s what I want to do.”
After remaining in Cleveland, Garland is having a career year for the East-best Cavaliers, averaging 21.3 points and 6.7 assists per game while shooting career highs of 49.1% from the field and 42.3% from three. It certainly helped that new head coach Kenny Atkinson met with Garland after being hired and discussed what his role could look like.
“He wanted to get back to an All-Star level and that was our job to help him get back there,” general manager Koby Altman said. “It was our job to help him with the staff that was going to empower him again. But never once did Darius ever ask out, never once did Darius have an issue with Donovan (Mitchell), and never once did he have an issue with the organization. His issue was, like, how do I get back? I know I’m one of the best players in the league, one of the best guards in the league. How do I get back?”
After last year’s playoffs, Garland’s goal for the offseason was building out his physique and becoming a more physical player, according to MacMahon.
“In an era or day and age where so many kids push for different things to happen, to get a new start, he put his head down and grinded every single day this summer to come back and be prepared for what was coming forward,” former Cavs and current Hawks forward Georges Niang said. “I’m happy for him because he deserves it.”
We have more from the Cavaliers:
- Mitchell recognized that in order for the Cavaliers to become true contenders, Garland would need to have the ball in his hands more often, MacMahon writes in the same story. Mitchell’s numbers have dipped this season and Garland credits the former Louisville guard for setting the cultural tone in Cleveland. “It’s one thing to be great talents, but it’s another thing to be great dudes,” Garland’s agent Rich Paul said. “When you got two ball-dominant players, they have to get a rhythm. In any relationship it takes the effort, no matter if it’s personal or business. It takes the effort to stay consistently successful. Those two guys have come out, checked their egos at the door and it’s really shown that, ‘Hey, this thing could work now.’“
- In addition to rumors circulating about the Cavs’ backcourt, there was talk during the 2024 offseason regarding the fit between Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the frontcourt. In an interview with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, Allen said he understood the nature of the business and the talk that comes with it, but he was happy to not have been traded out of Cleveland. “I really mesh well with these guys,” Allen said. “It’s just a good group to be around.”
- The Cavaliers split the season series against the Celtics 2-2 after an impressive come-from-behind win over Boston on Friday. As Joe Vardon of The Athletic notes, the Celtics took a 25-3 lead in the first quarter and could have easily run away with the game, but Cleveland ended the night with its biggest comeback in 11 years. Mitchell and Mobley’s contributions were key to getting the win. “The game rewards people when they stick with it,” Mobley said. “Just believe in myself, that’s the biggest thing. When you believe in yourself, you feel like you can do anything. Even with this slow start to the game, just believing in myself the entire game and eventually things started falling, and I think that’s the biggest factor in getting where you want to get to.“
Lakers’ Reaves To Undergo MRI, Team Optimistic Hachimura Injury Isn’t Serious
Lakers guard Austin Reaves exited Friday’s game against the Clippers and did not return due to right calf soreness, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. He subbed out with just under three minutes left in the first quarter and will receive an MRI on Saturday.
“He was experiencing some tightness in the calf, some soreness,” head coach JJ Redick said. “Was held out as a precaution.”
Forward Rui Hachimura missed Friday’s game entirely after he was ruled out due to a left knee strain he suffered on Thursday against the Timberwolves. Hachimura received an MRI on Friday, and while there’s no timetable for his return yet, Redick expressed optimism that the injury isn’t serious.
“It’s still not quite clear on when he will be available to play,” Redick said. “But we’re optimistic.”
The Lakers’ head coach later clarified that Hachimura has been diagnosed with left patellar tendinopathy and will be reassessed in one week, according to McMenamin (Twitter links).
In Reaves’ place, Gabe Vincent received an uptick in minutes and started the second half. Forward Dorian Finney-Smith took over a starting role with Hachimura out.
The surging Lakers will feel the absence of Reaves and/or Hachimura if either has to miss much time. Reaves has recorded multiple 30-point games since New Year’s Eve and is averaging 23.5 PPG in his last 11. Hachimura is a full-time starter when healthy, averaging 13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest this season.
The Lakers have won 15 of their last 18 games to move up the standings and now sit just a game back of the second seed in the West.
Northwest Notes: Watson, SGA, R. Williams, Timberwolves
Nuggets forward Peyton Watson, who has been sidelined since January 31 due to a sprained right knee, was ruled out for at least four weeks when the injury was first diagnosed. His absence is expected to extend a little beyond that initial timeline, head coach Michael Malone said on Thursday.
“He’s still got some hurdles to clear,” Malone said on Thursday, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required). “Heading in the right direction. … I don’t know, maybe another seven to 10 days, kind of see what happens after this road trip, when we get back after the Boston game (on Sunday). Kind of reassess everything. But he’s definitely making progress, and hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”
According to Durando, Watson played 3-on-3 with teammates this week, but continued to wear a brace on his right leg during that session.
Watson has further solidified his place in the rotation in his third year with the Nuggets after averaging 18.6 minutes per game across 80 appearances in 2023/24. Through 48 games this season, he has averaged 8.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 24.1 minutes per night, with a .471/.340/.752 shooting line.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Asked about his decision to part ways with his agents before becoming eligible for a super-max extension this summer, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said it wasn’t just about avoiding agent fees on his upcoming mega-deal, per Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). “It wasn’t entirely that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think, for myself, I wanna be a well-rounded human being. Not just a basketball player — a business man, a father, a husband. I want to check all the boxes. I think it would be a good experience for me to learn and get better in another area of life.”
- Trail Blazers big man Robert Williams, who is dealing with a left knee sprain, will remain inactive for the rest of the team’s road trip, which runs through next Friday in Oklahoma City, reports Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Williams has been out since February 20 and hasn’t played in two consecutive games in over a month.
- Anthony Edwards‘ one-game suspension, which he served on Friday, will cost him $242,393, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That’s 1/174th of Edwards’ $42,176,400 salary for the season. The Timberwolves will receive a tax variance credit of $121,196, Marks adds, which projects to reduce their end-of-season tax bill by about $515K.
- Speaking to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker discussed the process of establishing himself as a reliable rotation player in Minnesota and brushed off a question about his upcoming unrestricted free agency. “Truthfully, the preparation is to let the time come when it comes and not get ahead of yourself,” Alexander-Walker said. “It’s something for me to learn now. The season’s not done. I’m still trying to win a championship. This organization has given me so much. So I want to continue to pour into the opportunity that I have and see what I can do with it.”
Players Waived After Saturday Won’t Be Playoff-Eligible
In order to retain his postseason eligibility for a new NBA team, a player must be waived on or before March 1. That means that any player who remains on an NBA roster after Saturday won’t be eligible to suit up in the playoffs for a new team, though there’s at least one key exception to that general rule.
A player who is currently on a 10-day contract – or a current free agent who signs one after March 1 – will retain his playoff eligibility going forward. For instance, once Lamar Stevens‘s 10-day deal with the Grizzlies expires on Sunday night, he’d still be able to re-sign with Memphis or join a new team and be eligible to play in the postseason, since he’s not being placed on waivers after March 1.
That rule applies even if a player has his 10-day contract terminated early, since that player becomes a free agent immediately without being required to pass through waivers.
Here’s the list of players on 10-day contracts that run through at least March 1 who will retain their playoff eligibility when their current deals expire:
- Moses Brown, Mavericks (runs through 3/1)
- Killian Hayes, Nets (3/1)
- Jaden Springer, Jazz (3/1)
- Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Cavaliers (3/1)
- Bismack Biyombo, Spurs (3/2)
- Lamar Stevens, Grizzlies (3/2)
- Jalen McDaniels, Wizards (3/3)
Kevin Knox (Warriors), Kevon Harris (Hawks), and Malachi Flynn (Hornets) are also reportedly set to sign 10-day contracts this weekend. They’re all playoff-eligible too.
Since it’s often a point of confusion, it’s worth clarifying that a player doesn’t have to sign with a new team by March 1 to be playoff-eligible — he simply can’t be placed on waivers after 11:59 pm Eastern time on Saturday.
For example, P.J. Tucker was waived by Toronto on Friday. As long as he signs with a new team by the final day of the regular season (April 13), he can play in the postseason (including play-in games). If he had been cut two days later, on Sunday, Tucker would have lost his postseason eligibility.
The buyout market in 2025 hasn’t been all that active, with Ben Simmons, Javonte Green, Torrey Craig, and Alex Len among the only veterans of note who have been waived and found new NBA teams in February.
All of those players – and those who have been waived but haven’t yet signed with new teams, such as Josh Richardson, Reggie Jackson, and Mohamed Bamba – will be playoff-eligible for their new clubs, but anyone on a standard or two-way contract who is waived after Saturday won’t be. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the NBA’s transaction wire over the next 24 hours to see who else might land on waivers before that deadline passes.
Moses Brown, T.J. Warren, Chuma Okeke On Knicks’ Radar
For the first time this season, the Knicks are in position to sign a 15th man. New York has been limited by a restrictive hard cap since acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns in October and currently has $540,127 in wiggle room below that second-apron cap, as we detailed earlier this month. As of Friday, a rest-of-season minimum-salary contract for a veteran free agent would carry a cap hit of $539,876.
The Knicks added a crucial piece to their active roster ahead of Friday’s game, with center Mitchell Robinson cleared to play for the first time this season following ankle surgery. But they didn’t make a free agent addition on Friday and are still weighing their options for that 15th spot.
According to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link), center Moses Brown, forward T.J. Warren, and forward Chuma Okeke are among the players on the Knicks’ radar for their final roster opening.
Warren and Okeke have long been viewed as candidates to become New York’s 15th man — both players were in camp with the team in the fall and have spent the season playing for the Westchester Knicks. They’re also both thriving at the G League level. Warren has averaged 24.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on .492/.359/.836 shooting in 30 outings for Westchester, while Okeke has put up 17.0 PPG and 8.4 RPG with a .457/.365/.706 shooting line.
Brown is technically under contract with Dallas right now, but his 10-day deal expires on Saturday night. Because the Mavericks have even stricter hard cap constraints than the Knicks, they can’t complete another signing until April 10, meaning they won’t be able to immediately re-sign Brown once his current contract is up.
That could open the door for the Knicks or another team to sign the veteran big man, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds in a start for the Mavs on Thursday. Although New York got Robinson back on Friday, the team traded away Jericho Sims at this month’s deadline and saw rookie center Ariel Hukporti go down with a knee injury earlier in the week, so its frontcourt depth has taken a bit of a hit.
It’s worth noting that 10-day signings are an option for the Knicks if they don’t want to commit to a rest-of-season deal with so much time still left in the season. A 10-day contract would carry a cap charge of $119,972 and would allow the club to audition players or temporarily address holes on the roster while retaining late-season flexibility.
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (via Begley at SNY.tv), not signing anyone on Friday means the Knicks will have enough room under their hard cap to complete a second signing before the end of the regular season if they so choose.
New York currently has 14 players under contract, so a second signing would require the team to waive one of the players on its standard roster. But if the Knicks, for example, want to have both Warren and Okeke on their playoff roster, they could sign one of them on Saturday and the other on the final day of the season, cutting a little-used player such as Delon Wright at that time. The later they complete one signing, the earlier they could make a second roster move.
Southwest Notes: Zion, Mavericks, Popovich, Spurs
With Brandon Ingram no longer on the roster and Dejounte Murray out with a long-term injury, Zion Williamson will have to shoulder more leadership responsibilities for the Pelicans both on and off the court, says William Guillory of The Athletic. While there have been questions in the past about Williamson’s conditioning habits and the way he has communicated with the organization, he has earned rave reviews for the work he has put in behind the scenes this season, according to Guillory.
“I feel like he’s been a lot more locked in. He’s been taking it really seriously. You see a different look in his eye,” teammate Trey Murphy said. “He’s just ready to build and keep building chemistry and figure out what we’re doing.”
The former No. 1 overall pick led New Orleans to its third straight win on Thursday by recording the first triple-double of his career, with 27 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, as David Brandt of The Associated Press details. New Orleans outscored Phoenix by 17 points during Williamson’s 31 minutes on the court.
“It’s a reminder to the NBA, to the fans, to everybody,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said after the victory. “This is who he can be, night in and night out. That’s what we’re all striving to accomplish as a group. We’re striving to get our best player on the floor.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has his work cut out for him with his top three big men injured, Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract close to expiring, Dwight Powell on a restriction of 10-12 minutes per game, and Kessler Edwards just 10 appearances away from his limit of 50 active games, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Brown – who had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Thursday’s win over Chicago – can’t be re-signed until April 10 once his 10-day deal expires due to Dallas’ hard cap situation, which will also prevent the team from promoting Edwards to the 15-man roster until the final week of the season.
- The Dallas Morning News staff takes a closer look at what we know so far about the possibility of a new arena for the Mavericks, including the city of Irving’s efforts to lure the Mavs out of Dallas.
- Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today on Thursday (YouTube link), Shams Charania of ESPN provided a few more details on the first in-person meeting between Gregg Popovich and his players since the Spurs head coach suffered a stroke in the fall. Charania says that “tears were shed” during the meeting and notes that Popovich hasn’t given up hope of resuming his coaching career, even though he won’t be back this season.
Mitchell Robinson Making Season Debut On Friday
February 28: Robinson will make his season debut on Friday vs. Memphis, Charania confirms (via Twitter).
February 27: Knicks center Mitchell Robinson has been upgraded to questionable and is on track to make his season debut as early as Friday against the Grizzlies, Shams Charania of ESPN reports (Twitter link).
Robinson hasn’t played since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Pacers last spring, having been sidelined for all of 2024/25 so far while he recovered from ankle surgery.
It’s unclear exactly which game Robinson will return for, as Charania’s report says he’ll play “as early as” Friday. He’ll travel for the team’s upcoming two-game road trip that includes a matchup in Miami on Sunday and is expected to play in at least one of those two games.
It was previously reported that Robinson was “inching” toward a return and that the Knicks were optimistic about having him back this weekend. Robinson may be brought along slowly after not playing at all this season so far. However, when he’s at full strength, he’s an obvious boost to a Knicks frontcourt with depleted depth.
With Robinson out and Karl-Anthony Towns missing the team’s last game due to a lower body injury, New York turned to rookie Ariel Hukporti to make his first career start on Wednesday night. However, the rookie center is now out for at least four-to-six weeks with a significant knee injury he suffered in that game.
Not counting Robinson, Hukporti’s injury left the Knicks with only Precious Achiuwa as a big-man option behind Towns.
Robinson is a force on the boards for the Knicks, averaging 7.9 rebounds in 24.5 minutes per game over the course of his career. Last season, he averaged 5.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks, establishing himself as a defensive anchor for the team and ranking second in the league with 4.6 offensive rebounds per night. However, he was only available for 31 regular season contests and missed the final six games of the playoffs due to his ankle issues.
While Robinson is expected to come off the bench behind Towns upon returning to action, the Knicks figure to utilize the two big men together at times, with Towns stretching the floor on offense and Robinson protecting the rim on defense.