Injury Notes: Nets, Quickley, Craig, Wolves, Davis
The banged-up Nets, who have seven players listed as out for Saturday’s matchup with Houston, provided updates on a handful of their injured regulars on Friday, as Michael Scotto of HoopsHype relays (via Twitter).
Guard Cam Thomas, who has been unavailable since January 2 due to a left hamstring strain, is expected to make his return shortly after February’s All-Star break, per the Nets. Big man Noah Clowney will also likely remain on the shelf through the All-Star break after being diagnosed with a left ankle sprain.
Forward Cameron Johnson, meanwhile, is still day-to-day with the right ankle sprain that has cost him the past four games. He won’t play on Saturday.
The injury news in Brooklyn isn’t all bad. After leaving Wednesday’s game with left hamstring tightness, center Day’Ron Sharpe isn’t on the injury report for Saturday. Neither is forward Trendon Watford, who made his return on Wednesday after missing 21 consecutive contests while recovering from a left hamstring strain.
“It was good,” Watford said of his first game back (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post). “I’m just glad to be back out there with the guys, back playing basketball. Missing 21 games, I’ve been missing it ever since I left the game in Cleveland. It was great to be back.”
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley will be active on Friday vs. the Bulls after missing eight games due to a right hip strain, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. It was the third extended injury absence of 2024/25 for Quickley, who is appearing in just his 10th game of the season and will be on a minutes restriction against Chicago, Lewenberg adds.
- Bulls wing Torrey Craig will be inactive for a 15th consecutive game on Friday due to a right ankle sprain, but he appears to be nearing a return — he participated in shootaround today, per head coach Billy Donovan (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago).
- Timberwolves forward Julius Randle will miss his first game of the season on Saturday, having been ruled out vs. Washington due to a right groin strain, according to the team (Twitter link). However, Minnesota did pass along more positive injury news, announcing that rookie Terrence Shannon has been cleared for full-contact 5-on-5 activities and is being listed as questionable to play on Saturday (Twitter link). Shannon, who sustained a right mid-foot sprain while on a G League assignment, last saw the court for the NBA club on December 23.
- According to Lakers head coach J.J. Redick, the team isn’t expecting an extended absence for Anthony Davis, who was ruled out for at least a week due to an abdominal strain. Redick is hopeful Davis will be back in action at some point next week, per Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link).
NBA Names Four Replacements For Rising Stars Event
Three second-year players and one rookie have been named replacements for the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend in San Francisco, according to the NBA. The league issued a press release announcing the following changes:
- Magic guard Anthony Black is replacing Mavericks center Dereck Lively.
- Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara is replacing Hornets forward Brandon Miller.
- Pistons swingman Ausar Thompson is replacing Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama.
- Suns wing Ryan Dunn is replacing Sixers guard Jared McCain.
We noted when the Rising Stars participants were officially revealed on Tuesday that a few replacements would be necessary. Lively is sidelined for an extended period due to a stress fracture in his ankle, while Miller and McCain underwent season-ending procedures on their right wrist and left knee, respectively.
Wembanyama is healthy, but was selected as an All-Star reserve for the Western Conference. Players who are named All-Stars don’t take part in the Rising Stars event.
Black, Camara, Thompson, and Dunn will be included in the 21-player pool of NBA rookies and sophomores who will be drafted into three teams of seven players apiece on February 4. Those three teams, along with a fourth club made up of seven G League standouts, will compete a mini-tournament on Friday, February 14 as part of All-Star weekend’s opening night.
The squad that wins the Rising Stars event will advance to All-Star Sunday and take on one of three teams made up of NBA All-Stars in the semifinals of the new-look All-Star Game.
Mavs’ Dante Exum To Make Season Debut On Friday
4:36 pm: Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd confirmed that Exum will be available on Friday to make his season debut, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. Exum will be on a 15-minute limit, according to Kidd.
4:26 pm: Mavericks point guard Dante Exum, who has missed the first 48 games of the season while recovering from surgery on his right wrist, appears set to make his season debut on Friday, reports NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Exum is officially listed as questionable to play in Detroit on Friday night, so the Mavs themselves have yet to confirm he’s been cleared to return. But Stein’s reporting suggests he’s on track to suit up, barring any last-minute setbacks.
The expectation is that Exum will play limited minutes, Stein adds. Still, there could be a path to an immediate role for the former No. 5 overall pick, given Dallas’ injury woes — Luka Doncic (left calf strain), Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture), Dwight Powell (right hip strain), and Maxi Kleber, who underwent surgery this week to repair a right foot fracture, according to a team press release, are all sidelined.
Exum, who returned to the NBA last season after spending two years overseas, was a valuable role player for the Western Conference champions, averaging 7.8 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.7 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game across 55 appearances (17 starts). He posted a .533/.491/.779 shooting line and was one of the team’s best point-of-attack defenders.
He spoke on Wednesday about the long recovery from his wrist injury, as Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com relays.
“I think it would have been a lot easier if it was my left hand,” Exum said. “But it being my shooting hand and having to get the touch and the shooting form back, obviously, made it a little bit tougher.
“… It was hard for me to see everyone out there playing. And then with the season going on and seeing guys go down and having less and less bodies on particular nights, wishing I could just be out there to help for five or 10 minutes. It’s been tough. But being around the guys and everyone stayed connected. I can’t wait to get back on the court.”
Southeast Notes: Hornets, Okogie, Harris, Wizards, Young
The Hornets are seeking “creative” answers to their rotation with star guard LaMelo Ball out with an ankle injury, according to The Charlotte Observer’s Alex Zietlow.
“It’s hard to make up Melo’s production,” head coach Charles Lee said. “With all that he does, and he does it in such a unique way, and he’s able to sustain it for an entire game, and create so much open space and opportunities for all our guys.”
Charlotte is currently ravaged by injuries, with Ball, Mark Williams, Josh Green and Brandon Miller due to various injuries, including a season-ending wrist issue for Miller. The shorthanded Hornets had a poor offensive showing on Wednesday against the Nets, with Taj Gibson, Vasilije Micic and recently acquired Josh Okogie each inserted into the starting lineup while two-way players Moussa Diabate, KJ Simpson and Isaiah Wong saw extended workloads.
The goal for Charlotte now is to keep its injured players engaged with the team, per Zietlow, and to continue developing some of their younger players.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hornets could theoretically look to flip Okogie at the trade deadline after acquiring him for Nick Richards, but he’s looked like a solid fit in Charlotte in his first six games. He discussed his first impressions of Charlotte with Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda. “This whole team has been good at bringing everybody in,” Okogie said. “From the outside looking in, I didn’t really know how close they were with each other, but this team jokes, laughs, and kind of does everything together so far since I’ve been here. They’ve all embraced me, and that’s made me feel comfortable already.” In his first six appearances with the Hornets, Okogie is averaging 10.3 points per game and shooting 42.9% from three.
- After missing 13 games with a hamstring strain, Gary Harris made his return for the Magic‘s Wednesday game against Portland, as first reported by the Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede (via Twitter). Harris played 13 minutes and scored three points.
- Don’t be surprised if the Wizards go through the trade deadline with one or both of Jonas Valanciunas and Malcolm Brogdon still on the roster, The Washington Post’s Varun Shankar writes. The team could find more value in their leadership than in potential second round picks if offers aren’t to their liking — that was the case last season with Tyus Jones.
- The team continues to mentor two-way center Tristan Vukcevic, Shankar writes in the same article. Coach Brian Keefe said a team could run its offense through Vukcevic, but the Wizards want to see him become more of a defensive anchor.
- Hawks guard Trae Young ultimately wasn’t named an All-Star in the East despite averages of 22.5 points and 11.4 assists per game. He responded on Twitter on Thursday night. “[And] it’s no longer getting ‘snubbed’ it’s getting ‘Traed’ at this point,” Young wrote. “Sorry to my fans.. it’ll change eventually! All right, talk soon!“
Heat Notes: Fox, Adebayo, Ware, Herro
Bam Adebayo continues to serve as an ambassador for the Heat in attempts to recruit top players to Miami. Adebayo playing alongside Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard is a key reason why both players were interested in playing for the Heat before being traded elsewhere, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes. That’s why when Adebayo’s friend and former Kentucky teammate De’Aaron Fox was put on the trade block on Tuesday, it was safe to count the Heat among Fox’s potential destinations.
While the Spurs are said to be Fox’s preferred destination, the Heat have generally been in on most of the top stars to hit the trade market in the last few years. Adebayo discussed his relationship with Fox, noting that he was part of the point guard’s wedding party in 2022.
“That’s my man,” Adebayo said. “That’s my college roommate. Our relationship, for me, I think is very solid. I was in his wedding, I was a groomsman. That just shows the level of respect. That just shows the level of respect and obviously the bond that we have.”
Adebayo said he hasn’t spoken directly with Fox about trade possibilities and didn’t specifically address the possibility of the Heat making an offer for the Kings star.
“There are a lot of dudes who have been in organizations where in 10 years, they had seven or eight different coaches,” Adebayo said. “They’ve had teams where it’s all young dudes because they’re in the lottery all the time or dudes that have never been past the second round. They see the success here and they want to be a part of it.”
We have more from the Heat:
- The Heat are seeing success from two-big lineups featuring Adebayo and rookie Kel’el Ware, but they ran into some difficulty when playing the similarly supersized Cavaliers on Wednesday, Chiang writes in a separate story. The Cavs’ frontcourt led by Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley helped Cleveland outscore Miami 68-38 in the paint. The Heat were also outscored in second-chance points. “The second-chance points are a big problem that we need to hone in on,” Adebayo said. “But it’s not just because we got two bigs out there, you think you’re going to fix a problem. You’re trying to add pressure to a rookie that just really started getting his minutes and started to get his feet wet. So I don’t really look at it in that sense. But we do collectively as a group have to get better at rebounding.“
- The Heat are sixth in the East following Wednesday’s loss to the Cavs, just a half-game ahead of the Magic and Pistons. While Ware is still a work in progress, the Heat are trying to win now behind their young talent. “We’re a bigger frontline and this needs to be corrected,” Spoelstra said, per Chiang. “There are no excuses now. We have to be a lot more physical and purposeful on the glass. It’s that important for us to finish possessions.”
- Trade chatter surrounding Jimmy Butler could have easily derailed the Heat’s season, but they’re in playoff position due in part to Tyler Herro‘s career year, which earned him his first All-Star nod on Thursday. As William Guillory of The Athletic writes, Herro’s inclusion in trade rumors in his first few seasons in the league helped him sharpen his mindset. “Honestly, I think a lot of that stuff helped me. It might sound crazy. I think it allowed me to come in with a clear mindset,” Herro said. “There was so much talk [in the summer of 2023] that there was no way I could avoid it. I couldn’t pretend like it wasn’t there. But once I just accepted that there was nothing I could do about it, it made it a lot easier to just focus on hooping. Overall, I think it helped me become a better player.“
Rockets Interested In Long-Term Deal With Fred VanVleet
After three straight seasons at or near the bottom of the league standings from 2020-23, the Rockets added Fred VanVleet in the 2023 offseason, and he’s helped jump-start significant improvement over the past two seasons. Houston improved 19 wins from 2022/23 to last season and they’re on a near-56-win pace this year, holding the No. 2 seed in the West.
VanVleet hasn’t been the sole reason for the Rockets’ improvement — they added fellow vet Dillon Brooks and are seeing growth from young players like Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, and Tari Eason — but it’s no coincidence that his arrival coincided so directly with Houston’s climb to the top of the standings.
That’s why, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Rockets and VanVleet have mutual interest in completing an agreement on a deal that keeps the veteran point guard in Houston. VanVleet has been a steadying force since arriving in Houston, averaging 16.5 points, 7.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game. He has ranked first among Rockets players in minutes in each of his first two seasons with the team.
VanVleet has a team option for next season worth about $44.9MM, but it sounds like there’s a chance that will be declined in order to allow both sides to rework a multi-year deal.
The Rockets’ affinity for VanVleet is presumably a factor in their reported reluctance to pursue De’Aaron Fox. According to Fischer, there’s some concern with how Fox would fit on a roster that is already seeing strong point guard play from VanVleet even if Fox’s age meets Houston’s competitive timeline.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 1/31/2025
Hoops Rumors held a live chat on Friday at 1:00 pm Central time (2:00 pm Eastern) to discuss all the latest trade rumors and possibilities ahead of next Thursday’s deadline.
Pacers Aren’t Looking To Trade Andrew Nembhard, Myles Turner
Moving Andrew Nembhard before the trade deadline could help avoid a tax issue next season, but the Pacers are more focused on winning than their financial future, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic.
Nembhard, a 25-year-old guard, is only making $2MM this season, but that will increase to $18.1MM when his extension begins in 2025/26. Katz notes that Indiana could deal him now for a low-salaried player and create a significant savings on next year’s payroll. Because he was a second-round pick in 2022, Nembhard isn’t affected by base year compensation language in the collective bargaining agreement.
However, Katz hears that the Pacers view Nembhard as part of their future and plan to hold onto him even if it means going into luxury tax territory for the first time in 20 years. Sources tell Katz that teams have inquired about Nembhard’s availability, but haven’t been able to make any progress in trade talks.
Nembhard is averaging career highs with 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game in his third NBA season. Katz notes that Indiana is better by 15 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the court, which is the fourth-best differential in the league.
The Pacers currently have 10 players under contract for next season at a total cost of about $165MM, which is $23MM short of the projected tax line. That’s without starting center Myles Turner, who is on an expiring $19.9MM contract and has been the subject of recent trade rumors.
Indiana would almost certainly be in tax territory if Turner is re-signed, but league sources tell Katz that “all signs” point to Turner not being traded before next week’s deadline. He adds that the Pacers have surged to fifth place in the East after a slow start and have no desire to weaken their roster before the playoffs.
Katz hears that Obi Toppin, who’s on the books for $14MM next season, has been discussed with other teams, though sources tell him there “hasn’t been much traction” toward a deal. Katz suggests Indiana may be able to trade Toppin for an expiring deal now, whereas waiting until the summer and just unloading his contract at that point might mean giving up draft assets to anyone willing to take on his contract.
Isaiah Stewart Suspended, Fined
Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart has received a one-game suspension for accumulating six flagrant foul points, the NBA announced (via Twitter). He will serve the suspension during Friday’s home game against Dallas.
The release from the league notes that Stewart had four flagrant foul points heading into Wednesday’s contest at Indiana. He was ejected for a Flagrant 2 midway through the second quarter for shoving Pacers center Thomas Bryant (Twitter video link), adding two points to his total and triggering the automatic suspension.
Stewart was also fined $50K for making “inappropriate and objectionable gestures” after being tossed out of the game.
The incident will cost Stewart $86,207 in salary, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN, bringing his total loss to more than $136K with the fine included.
The league’s system imposes an automatic two-game suspension for any player with five or more points who commits another Flagrant 2, so Stewart could be in danger of missing more time later in the season.
Pelicans Contact Heat About Jimmy Butler
The Pelicans are the latest team to get involved in Jimmy Butler trade talks, Jake Fischer and Marc Stein reveal in a Substack column (subscriber only).
League sources tell Fischer and Stein that New Orleans contacted the Heat this week about Butler, although terms of the offer weren’t divulged. The authors’ sources say Brandon Ingram‘s $36MM expiring contract would be the basis of the deal.
The Pelicans have been exploring the trade market for Ingram after being unable to work out an extension with him last summer. Sources tell The Stein Line that New Orleans has been attempting to use Ingram’s contract to facilitate a Butler trade, but eventually decided to make its own offer.
Even though Ingram hasn’t played since December 7 due to injury, getting a player with his pedigree would intrigue the Heat as they prepare to make a playoff run. However, the authors aren’t sure what Butler’s reaction might be to joining a 12-36 New Orleans team whose season has been derailed by injuries to numerous rotation players.
Butler makes roughly $12.8MM more than Ingram this season, so the Pelicans would have to add multiple players to match salaries. Fischer and Stein note that they’re currently almost $1.5MM over the tax line and are expected to maneuver underneath it to avoid paying the tax in a lost season. That means one or more additional teams may have to get involved to allow them to acquire Butler and still duck the tax.
The Suns remain Butler’s preferred destination, according to the authors, but that possibility looks increasingly remote as no teams want to take on Bradley Beal‘s contract and Beal appears unlikely to waive his no-trade clause. That leaves the Pelicans with the Warriors, Bucks and Grizzlies as teams that have been publicly linked to Butler. They all have the resources to complete a deal, but Fischer and Stein note that none of them have gone all-in with their efforts to acquire the disgruntled forward.
Stein reported earlier this week that the Raptors have expressed interest in Ingram, marking the first movement on that front in several months. The Pelicans also had preliminary discussions with the Hawks about Ingram, but sources told Stein that they “have not gained significant traction.”