Giannis Antetokounmpo To Miss All-Star Game
A mild calf strain will keep Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo out of action for the next week and prevent him from participating in the All-Star Game, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since Feb. 2, but he’s expected to return shortly after the break, Charania adds.
However, NBA insider Chris Haynes hears that Antetokounmpo’s absence could be longer, with league sources telling him it may last “two to three weeks” (Twitter video link).
Milwaukee has lost two of the three games that Antetokounmpo has missed since suffering the injury and has dropped six of its last eight overall. The Bucks have slid into fifth in the East and are only two games ahead of seventh-place Miami in the battle for a guaranteed playoff spot.
Any calf injury is a concern for Antetokounmpo, who missed last year’s playoff series with Indiana due to a left soleus strain. While there’s no set timetable for him to return from the current injury, the Bucks are sure to be cautious to make sure he doesn’t aggravate it any further.
Antetokounmpo was headed to the All-Star Game for the ninth straight year, having been voted by fans as a frontcourt starter in the East. Commissioner Adam Silver will name his replacement.
Hornets Sign Two-Way Player Moussa Diabate To Three-Year Deal
The Hornets have promoted two-way player Moussa Diabate to a standard contract, the team announced in a press release. Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link) was the first to report the deal, and sources tell him it will cover three seasons.
The 23-year-old center signed with Charlotte last summer after spending his first two NBA seasons with the Clippers. He has made such an impact that the Hornets traded away centers Nick Richards and Mark Williams over the past month, although the Williams deal with the Lakers was rescinded Saturday night.
Diabate moved into the starting lineup for Friday’s game against San Antonio, producing nine points and 15 rebounds in 33 minutes. It’s uncertain if he’ll keep that role with Williams returning to Charlotte.
The Hornets are using a portion of their room exception to complete the signing, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Charlotte used that exception to acquire three players (DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown Jr., and Duane Washington) from the Knicks in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade in the fall, but still had enough of it left over to accommodate a deal for Diabate.
While Charlotte currently has 15 players on its roster, one of them is Elfrid Payton, who signed a 10-day contract on Friday under the hardship exception. That means no corresponding move will be needed to add Diabate to the regular roster, and the Hornets will have until March 4 to fill their two-way opening.
Diabate has appeared in 42 games this season, averaging 4.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in 19 minutes per night while shooting 59.4% from the field. He was selected with the 43rd pick in the 2022 draft after playing one season at Michigan.
Diabate was a two-way player in both of his seasons with the Clippers, so this marks his first standard contract.
Suns Notes: Jones, Durant, Beal, Locker Room
Addressing the media prior to Friday’s game, general manager James Jones didn’t seem worried that Kevin Durant will react negatively to finding out that the Suns considered trade offers for him before Thursday’s deadline, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Jones doesn’t believe Durant will let the trade speculation become a distraction as the team fights to secure a playoff spot.
“Kevin has been around the noise his entire career,” Jones said. “He’s a pro. He’s the best at it. It gets noisy when you’re not winning. The simple fact is we haven’t won enough and if we’re not winning enough, the storylines pop up, but we’re talking about basketball and he’s always shown and will continue to show, and I think this team will continue to show, that despite the things outside of our walls, we’ll focus on the task at hand and focus on ball.”
Durant sat out Friday’s game with a sprained left ankle and didn’t talk to the media, as the NBA’s policy doesn’t require injured players to do interviews. Jones refused to comment on a rumored deal with Golden State that was reportedly nixed when Durant said he didn’t want to return to the Warriors. Jones was also asked if he needs to smooth things over with his star player after trade talks collapsed.
“It’s ongoing dialogue with the team, but when you get to the trade deadline, every team has these moments of frustration, these moments of uncertainty,” Jones responded. “You talk about that early in the season, going into the preseason. You talk about that going into the trade deadline. You talk about it going into the playoffs. It’s an ongoing conversation. It’s not just something that you respond to at these type of pivotal moments. It’s a daily conversation about how you continue to stay focused on the task at hand, which is playing basketball at a high level and winning basketball games.”
Rankin points out that Durant passed on a chance to sign a one-year, $59.5MM extension before the start of the season, which makes him eligible for a two-year, $123.8MM extension this summer. There’s now less certainty that he’ll accept that extension if he’s unhappy about having been on the trade market.
There’s more from Phoenix:
- Bradley Beal is ready to move forward with the season now that the deadline has passed, Rankin adds in a separate story. Some fans are angry at Beal because he wasn’t willing to waive his no-trade clause to help the team land Jimmy Butler, but Royce O’Neale doesn’t believe they should be. “What are they going to be mad for?” O’Neale said. “We love Brad. He’s sacrificed a lot for this team, whether he’s starting, coming off the bench. His mentality, his character hasn’t changed. He does whatever it takes for us to win. Credit to him everything that he’s been through, everything that his family has heard.”
- Suns players are disputing a claim by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that their locker room is “toxic” due to the Durant situation. “The locker room has been good all year long. It hasn’t changed at all either, so I don’t know where that came from,” said Grayson Allen (Twitter video link from Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports). O’Neale echoed the same sentiment, saying, “I feel like they be making up some stuff sometimes. I seen that, I was like, I don’t know what they talkin’ ‘bout.” (Twitter video link)
- Coach Mike Budenholzer provided updates on Durant, Beal and Allen, who all missed tonight’s game due to injuries (Twitter video link from Bourguet). Budenholzer said Durant’s ankle issue is “probably very short-term” and expressed hope that the two days off will help him heal. Beal has toe soreness in his left foot, and Allen is experiencing pain in his right knee. Budenholzer considers them both to be day to day.
Wizards Sign Jaylen Nowell To 10-Day Deal
10:54pm: Nowell’s signing is official, the Wizards announced in a press release.
Interestingly, the announcement didn’t come until after the completion of Washington’s Saturday game against Atlanta. Nowell wasn’t on the team’s active list or injury report for that matchup.
Since 10-day contracts must cover a minimum of three games and the Wizards only have two left before the All-Star break, it looks like Nowell’s deal will run through Feb. 21, Washington’s first post-All-Star contest.
If that’s the case, it would technically end up being a 14-day contract, paying Nowell a total of $195,147.
1:31pm: The Wizards intend to sign free agent guard Jaylen Nowell to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Nowell, who spent his first four NBA seasons from 2019-23 in Minnesota, had stints with Memphis and Detroit in 2023/24, then joined the Wizards’ G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, this past fall. The 6’4″ guard has spent most of the season with the Go-Go, pouring in 25.2 points per game on a scorching-hot .527/.515/.929 shooting line across 20 contests (34.3 MPG).
This will be Nowell’s second NBA stint of the season. He was also in New Orleans for about two-and-a-half weeks in November, appearing in eight games and averaging 8.4 PPG in 21.0 MPG for the injury-plagued Pelicans.
The 25-year-old should provide some offensive punch for a Wizards team that underwent an overhaul at the trade deadline, swapping out a third of its roster. Washington is reportedly waiving newly acquired center Alex Len, which will open up a spot on the 15-man roster for Nowell.
Assuming it’s finalized today, Nowell’s 10-day contract will allow him to be active for Washington’s final three games before the All-Star break. It will pay him $139,391.
Knicks’ Robinson Hopes To Play By March 1; Anunoby Expected Back After ASG
The Knicks are hoping to get two important frontcourt players back in their lineup within the next three weeks, Shams Charania of ESPN said on NBA Countdown (Twitter video link), providing medical updates on Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby.
Robinson, who has been sidelined since undergoing ankle surgery last summer, hopes to return to action by March 1, according to Charania. He recently received medical clearance to practice without restrictions and is expected to begin participating in five-on-five scrimmages soon.
There were numerous trade rumors involving Robinson over the past month, but the Knicks reportedly didn’t have any substantial talks about moving him. Instead, they sent Jericho Sims to Milwaukee as part of a four-team deal that has left the team somewhat short-handed in the middle.
Anunoby, who’s missing his third straight game tonight, isn’t expected to return until after the All-Star Game, Charania adds. That means he’ll also sit out Tuesday’s contest at Indiana and Wednesday’s home game against Atlanta.
Anunoby was originally diagnosed with a sprained right foot, but Charania reports that it’s actually a toe issue. He adds that it’s “more of an irritating injury” rather than something structural.
Anunoby, who has appeared in 49 of the Knicks’ first 51 games, is averaging 16.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 36.3 minutes per night. Injuries limited him to 50 total games last season with New York and Toronto.
Alex Len Waived By Wizards, Will Sign With Pacers
9:31pm: Len has been placed on waivers, the Wizards announced (via Twitter).
1:12pm: After acquiring him earlier this week, the Wizards will cut center Alex Len, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Charania, Len intends to sign with the Pacers after he clears waivers.
The fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Len never became the sort of impact player his lofty draft position might suggest, but he has been a reliable frontcourt option for 12 NBA seasons, spending time with the Suns, Hawks, Raptors, Wizards, and Kings.
The 31-year-old Ukrainian has spent the last few seasons as a depth piece in Sacramento, where he made 149 appearances (15 starts) over the course of three-and-a-half seasons, averaging 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game.
Len was sent from the Kings to the Wizards along with Colby Jones in a three-team deadline-day deal that saw the Kings receive Jake LaRavia from Memphis. Despite trading away big men Jonas Valanciunas and Marvin Bagley III this week, Washington didn’t feel the need to retain Len, who will get an opportunity to join a playoff-bound team in the East.
The Pacers opened the season with Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman backing up starting center Myles Turner, but both reserves suffered Achilles tears during the season’s opening days, decimating the team’s depth in the middle.
Although Indiana traded for Thomas Bryant in December, the club could still use some another trustworthy veteran option as injury insurance, especially with Turner currently dealing with a neck strain.
The Pacers sent Wiseman to Toronto in a salary dump trade on Thursday, which both opened up a spot on their 15-man roster and created enough room below the luxury tax line to sign Len to a rest-of-season contract. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), Indiana was only $147K below the tax threshold before making that deal.
Kings Sign Daishen Nix To 10-Day Contract
8:25 pm: The Kings have officially signed Nix to a 10-day contract, the team confirmed in a press release.
3:08 pm: The Kings and guard Daishen Nix have reached an agreement on a 10-day deal, sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Nix, who began his NBA career with Houston as an undrafted rookie in 2021, has appeared in a total of 99 NBA regular season games for the Rockets and Timberwolves since then, averaging 3.3 points and 1.8 assists in 12.5 minutes per night.
The 6’4″ guard was on a two-way deal with Minnesota earlier this season, but was waived about a month ago before his two-way salary became guaranteed.
Nix has spent the majority of this season in the G League, appearing in 10 games for the Iowa Wolves and seven games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers since being cut by Minnesota. He has filled up the box score in those 17 outings, averaging 18.5 points, 7.2 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game, but has had trouble with turnovers (3.9 per game) and shooting efficiency (.364/.298/.732).
Sacramento sacrificed some backcourt depth in its pre-deadline deals, sending out De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin, and Colby Jones and only getting one guard – Zach LaVine – in return. With three open spots on their 15-man roster, the Kings have plenty of flexibility to bring in a player like Nix for insurance purposes ahead of the All-Star break.
The Kings play four games before the All-Star break, beginning on Saturday vs. New Orleans, so if Nix officially signs within the next few hours, he could be active for all four. He’ll earn $124,288 on his 10-day deal.
Mark Williams Trade To Lakers Rescinded
The Lakers say their deal to acquire Mark Williams from the Hornets has been rescinded, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). L.A. is claiming that Charlotte failed to satisfy one of the conditions of the trade.
Sources tell Charania that Williams failed his physical with the Lakers due to “multiple issues” (Twitter link). He adds that none of the concerns involve problems with Williams’ back, which caused him to miss most of last season.
With L.A. looking for help in the middle after sending Anthony Davis to Dallas in the Luka Doncic deal, the Hornets agreed to part with Williams in exchange for rookie wing Dalton Knecht, forward Cam Reddish, the Lakers’ unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a 2030 first-round pick swap.
Although both teams announced the trade on Thursday, it remained conditional on Williams and Knecht reporting to their new teams and passing physicals, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
If the trade deadline hadn’t passed, the two teams could have gone back to the negotiating table, as the Sixers and Mavericks did after Dallas didn’t like Caleb Martin‘s physical. However, after the deadline, a trade can only be accepted or voided, not amended, so Williams will go back to Charlotte and Knecht and Reddish will return to L.A. along with the draft assets.
That means instead of having an opening, the Lakers now have a full 15-man roster and are $1.6MM below the second apron. The Hornets will have 14 players on standard contracts, along with Elfrid Payton, who signed a 10-day deal on Friday via the hardship exception.
Although the Lakers are 3-0 since giving up Davis, there are concerns about how the team will get by without a proven center who can rebound and protect the basket.
Jaxson Hayes has moved into the starting lineup over the past five games, and he had another solid outing today with nine points and 12 rebounds in 29 minutes in a victory over Indiana. Trey Jemison, who joined the team on a two-way contract last month, logged nearly 12 minutes off the bench and may see regular playing time for the rest of the season.
General manager Rob Pelinka thought he solved that problem when he reached the deal with Charlotte, valuing Williams highly enough to part with his last available first-round pick when there were more affordable centers on the market. Finding a long-term answer in the middle will likely be a top priority for Pelinka this offseason.
The Williams deal is the first NBA trade to be rescinded since the Pistons voided a deal with the Nuggets ahead of the 2022 trade deadline due to concerns about Bol Bol‘s physical.
Celtics Notes: Craig, Springer, Stevens, Porzingis, Holiday
Torrey Craig chose to sign with the Celtics because they’ll give him a chance to compete for a title, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. The 34-year-old forward became a free agent when Chicago needed to trim two players off its roster to complete a three-team trade this week. He wasn’t on the open market very long before reaching an agreement with Boston that became official this morning.
“As a competitor in the league, you always want to play for something and compete for something,” Craig said. “I’m a super competitor and I want to play basketball the right way at the highest level. Just to get an opportunity to come play with these guys was like a no-brainer.”
Craig, who has been out of action since December 30 with a sprained right ankle, told Terada that he’s feeling good, but he’s taking his return day by day. He’s trying to learn all he can about how the Celtics operate, and that process started with a quick tour of the facilities on Friday before accompanying the team on a flight for tonight’s game at New York.
Craig knows he may not have a large role with the defending champs, but he provides veteran wing depth and gives them another capable three-point shooter.
“They’re a deep team, super talented,” he said. “Well-coached, well-disciplined. They play the right way. They know what it takes to win playing defense. Playing together and having each other’s backs. You can just see it. The team chemistry and they allow each other to feed off each other and play together and I think that’s why they’ve been so dominant these past couple years.”
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Players were sad to lose Jaden Springer, who was traded to Houston on Thursday in a cost-cutting move, Terada adds in a separate story. The Rockets have already waived Springer, so he’ll be searching for his next job as a free agent. “Obviously, we’re gonna miss him,” Payton Pritchard said. “Jaden’s an unbelievable person. We loved him as a teammate. But hopefully he gets his opportunity and he can showcase what he’s capable of doing in this league. He’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable defender. I think there’s definitely a place for him in this league.”
- The Celtics were otherwise quiet at the deadline, which is a combination of the restrictions they face as a second-apron team and the faith that president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has in the current roster, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Washburn reveals that Boston had interest in Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, who was dealt to Cleveland, but wasn’t willing to part with Derrick White and draft assets to get involved in the bidding. “In our situation with our team this year, today was boring as hell,” Stevens said after the deadline. “It wasn’t going to be anything going and the phones didn’t ring. We had already had any discussions that we were going to have. We weren’t just going to do anything major because at the end of the day, even through our ups and downs through the last six weeks, what gives us our best chance to win is this group playing a little bit more like itself more of the time.”
- Kristaps Porzingis was a late scratch for tonight’s game due to an illness, Terada tweets. Boston is also without Jrue Holiday, who’s missing his second straight contest with a bruised shoulder.
Anthony Davis Downplays Injury That Shortened Mavs Debut
Anthony Davis had a dominant performance during his Mavericks debut Saturday afternoon, but he also suffered an injury that prevented him from finishing the game, writes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
Davis posted 26 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in 30 minutes of action as Dallas defeated Houston to improve to 28-25. He also had three blocks, helping the Mavs set a franchise record with 18 total.
However, as Curtis relays, the crowd let out a loud groan late in the third quarter when Davis grabbed his groin area while defending Rockets center Alperen Sengun. He signaled to the Dallas bench for a substitution and spent the rest of the contest in the locker room.
It was the first game action in more than a week for Davis, who suffered a strained abdomen while he was still with the Lakers. He told reporters, including Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Twitter link), that he doesn’t believe today’s injury scare is a cause for concern.
“My leg got tight, like a little spasm,” Davis explained. “I came back to try to get it loose while still dealing with the abdominal strain. But I managed to loosen it up, and it’s nothing serious. I’m fine.”
Davis added that the pain was in the “groin-quad kind of area.” He is “very confident” that he didn’t suffer a setback in his recovery from the abdomen issue, per Marc Stein (Twitter link).
There’s no word yet on his status for Monday’s home game against Sacramento or how the injury might affect his availability for next weekend’s All-Star Game.
Davis’ outstanding start seemed to lift the spirits of a crowd that was still angry about the surprise trade that sent Luka Doncic to L.A. last weekend, Curtis adds. The Mavericks gave him the ball on the first play of the game, and he responded to a double team by throwing a lob pass to Daniel Gafford for a dunk. A few seconds later, he blocked Sengun’s shot and fired an outlet pass to P.J. Washington for a breakaway slam.
He described his first quarter showing as “a friendly reminder of who Anthony Davis is,” according to Stein (Twitter link). It was a message to fans that Dallas didn’t get taken in the Doncic trade, even though Curtis reports that more than 100 of them held a pregame protest outside the arena with calls to sell the team and fire general manager Nico Harrison. Even so, Davis got a rousing reception when his name was announced during introductions.
Davis was also asked about his relationship with the Adelson and Dumont families, who own the Mavericks and signed off on the controversial deal, per Christian Clark of The Athletic (Twitter link).
“I know they have a vision and a plan for the team,’ Davis responded. “I heard some things from coaches about their casino thing they are trying to bring to Dallas. They have some really big ideas. Probably in the near future, will have dinner with them and just talk.”
The uproar over the Doncic trade led to a conspiracy theory that the Adelsons and Dumonts want to move the team to Las Vegas or some other location where it might be easier to get approval for a casino. Those rumors became so widespread that ownership issued a statement of denial, according to Tim Cato of DLLS Sports (subscriber only).
“The Adelson and Dumont Families have already started and are committed to investing and building in Dallas/Ft. Worth,” the statement reads. “The families have absolutely no plans to move the team out of North Texas.”