Nuggets Sign Axel Toupane To 10-Day Deal
THURSDAY, 2:49pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release. The contract will cover five games, against the Nets, Mavs, Knicks, Suns Wizards.
TUESDAY, 9:36am: The Nuggets plan to sign Raptors affiliate player Axel Toupane to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The 23-year-old swingman has been playing for Toronto’s D-League team since the Raptors cut him from the NBA roster at the end of the preseason. Denver has an open roster spot and a need on the wing with Danilo Gallinari expected to miss the next month after tearing two ligaments in his right ankle, as The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported overnight.
Toupane is averaging 14.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 29.7 minutes per game for Raptors 905, Toronto’s D-League outpost. It’s his first season in North America, as he spent the past several years with Strasbourg IG in his native France. He went scoreless in about 22 minutes of preseason action spread over two games on the NBA roster this past fall.
He’ll bolster the team’s depth in the wake of the Gallinari injury, one that presents a serious challenge to Denver’s ability to compete, in part because fellow small forward Wilson Chandler was already out for the season. The 27-year-old Gallinari is in the midst of a career year, fresh off a renegotiation and extension that ties him to Denver until at least the summer of 2017, when he can opt out. The eighth-year veteran’s 19.5 points per game are by far a career high, and he’s the leading scorer for the Nuggets, who have faint playoff hopes as they sit six games back of the eighth-place Rockets.
The Nuggets can’t receive an additional disabled player exception and already spent the one they had for Chandler in their deadline-day trade for D.J. Augustin and Steve Novak. A wrist injury threatens to sideline Jameer Nelson for the season, but Denver is still one long-term injury shy of qualifying for a 16th roster spot via hardship.
Nuggets Consider Shutting Down Danilo Gallinari
The Nuggets are thinking about sitting Danilo Gallinari for the rest of the season even if he returns to health with a few games left on the schedule, coach Michael Malone acknowledged to reporters, including Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The 27-year-old small forward suffered two torn ligaments in his right ankle during Friday’s game that are expected to sideline him for a month, as Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday, the same day that The Vertical’s Shams Charania reported the team would sign D-League small forward Axel Toupane to a 10-day contract.
Only five games are on the schedule for the Nuggets in April, as Dempsey points out, raising the question of whether it would be wise to put the team’s veteran centerpiece back on the court and risk additional injury with only a few games left to go.
“I’ve already thought about that. I don’t have an answer,” Malone said. “I think it’s a very good question. At that point, depending on where we are, it’s going to depend on four games to go, what is the picture? Are we 15 games out of the playoffs? Well, it probably makes sense to play some of our younger guys and let them get minutes and see what they can do. But we’ll see.”
Denver is six games behind the Rockets, who hold the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Malone said the team would consult Gallinari to see whether he wants to return to action, adding that the Michael Tellem client had earned the right to have input with his performance this season. The eighth-year veteran is in the midst of his best year in the NBA, averaging 19.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in 34.7 minutes per game, all career highs.
The Nuggets couldn’t get a disabled player exception, even if Gallinari becomes likely to miss the rest of the season, and while Wilson Chandler and Jameer Nelson are also sidelined, Denver still falls short of the four long-term injuries needed to qualify for an extra roster spot via hardship. The team already spent the disabled player exception it reaped from Chandler’s season-ending injury in the deadline-day trade with the Thunder. Nelson hasn’t played since January 30th because of a severely sprained left wrist, though he was available for Wednesday’s game, Dempsey notes. Kenneth Faried and Emmanuel Mudiay did play Wednesday despite minor ailments.
Gallinari is signed through next season with a player option for 2017/18, thanks to a rare renegotiation and extension deal that he and the team pulled off this past summer. The Nuggets reportedly turned away interest that the Celtics had in trading for him before last month’s deadline.
Western Notes: Wolves, Motiejunas, Gallinari
Timberwolves interim coach Sam Mitchell would like for his team to make a signing, lamenting how “awfully thin” the Wolves are inside, but he doesn’t anticipate a move until well after Tuesday, the last day players can hit waivers and still be eligible to play in the postseason for another team, notes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Mitchell, who isn’t assured of his job beyond this season, said the Wolves will be patient while free agents head to playoff-bound teams, according to Zgoda.
“After the dust settles, there are going to be some guys out there we’ll want to look at,” Mitchell said. “You don’t want to do it too fast because you don’t want to fill a spot and then someone becomes available. There are only so many playoff teams and only so many roster spots.”
Minnesota has an opening in the wake of its buyout with Andre Miller, and the team has reportedly engaged in advanced discussions with Kevin Martin about a buyout, too. See more from the Western Conference.
- Donatas Motiejunas said he doesn’t resent the Rockets for trying to trade him to Detroit, observes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The deadline-day trade that would have sent the soon-to-be restricted free agent to the Pistons fell apart when he didn’t pass Detroit’s physical. Motiejunas played nine minutes Sunday in his first action for Houston since December 31st. “I feel good,” Motiejunas said. “This team traded me because of the first-round pick, the lottery pick. It’s a big thing. I don’t see any problems with it. They were really waiting for me to get back. I love these guys, love the team, love the fans.”
- Danilo Gallinari expects that he’ll miss the next three to four weeks with injury, as he told Davide Chinellato of La Gazzetta dello Sport (Twitter link). The leading scorer for the Nuggets had an MRI on Saturday after suffering a severely sprained right ankle in Friday’s game, notes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The team has an open roster spot.
- Steve Kerr and Draymond Green largely dismissed any idea of tension stemming from a tirade that Green delivered to Warriors coaches at halftime of Saturday’s game, notes Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. The versatile frontcourt player, who’s missed his last 12 3-pointers, was upset because he felt the coaches don’t want him to shoot, according to ESPN’s Lisa Salters.
Pacific Notes: Griffin, Schlenk, Nance
Clippers president of basketball operations Doc Rivers told ESPN’s Chris Broussard that there isn’t truth to the idea that his team offered Blake Griffin and Lance Stephenson to the Nuggets for Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Will Barton and Nikola Jokic, as a source who spoke with the reporter had said earlier. Broussard relayed the exchange in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” show (audio link; scroll to 6-minute mark), adding that the source had told him the Nuggets turned down the offer out of concern that Griffin would opt out and leave in free agency after next season. That jibes with an earlier report from Mitch Lawrence of Forbes, who indicated 10 days ago that the Clippers had engaged the Nuggets in talks about Griffin, though Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times reported shortly thereafter that the Clippers had no interest in trading their star power forward, a refrain that Rivers repeated in the days that followed. See more from the Pacific Division:
- Kings owner Vivek Ranadive is known to be high on Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk, writes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee amid a piece that argues the Kings should bring in an experienced front office hand to work beneath GM Vlade Divac. Sacramento reportedly interviewed Schlenk for the lead front office role in 2013, and he was believed to be one of the candidates to fill former GM Pete D’Alessandro‘s chair in Divac’s front office this past summer.
- The Kings anticipate making a minor move at Thursday’s trade deadline, Voisin writes in the same column, speculating that such a trade could involve Marco Belinelli or Ben McLemore going out for draft picks or a wing defender.
- Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports lists Larry Nance Jr. alongside Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell among those the Lakers should refuse to trade and instead make the focal point of their rebuilding efforts.
Celtics Rumors: Lee, Thomas, Horford, Love
The trade deadline is just four days away, but the Celtics don’t feel any urgency to make a deal, according to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. A league source told Murphy that Friday’s rumored three-team trade with Cleveland and New York “never existed” and that Boston hasn’t talked to the Rockets about acquiring Dwight Howard. The Celtics are willing to add a player for the right price, but they believe everyone currently in play is overpriced. The source said that includes the Hawks’ Al Horford, whom the Celtics don’t want to invest heavily in because of his looming free agency. Boston had interest in the Nuggets’ Danilo Gallinari, but the source said that would-be deal was “a dead issue” before it was even reported.
There’s more this morning out of Boston:
- The Celtics haven’t found any teams interested in David Lee and his $15.5MM contract, Murphy writes in the same piece. The source said Lee has “no value” around the league, even though his expiring deal presents an opportunity for cap relief this summer.
- Isaiah Thomas recently became a recruiter when a player from another team asked him about the benefits of Boston, Murphy adds. Thomas, who used the reputation of coach Brad Stevens as one of his selling points, wouldn’t offer any clues as to who the player was. “The coaching staff is great and the organization is 100% – it’s A1,” Thomas said. “I told him, You watch us. It’s fun to watch us. We were joking around the locker room about how everyone likes to watch the Boston Celtics, and how hard we play.”
- The unidentified player may have been Horford, speculates A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE. He noted that Thomas smiled and said, “I didn’t say that” when asked if it was Horford he was talking about. A late replacement pick for the All-Star Game, Horford is trying to focus on business as usual despite the trade talk. “I’m going to continue doing what I do,” he said. “I can’t control the speculation that’s going on.”
- It’s unlikely the Celtics can get Kevin Love from Cleveland without a third team involved, Blakely said in an interview on SportsNet Central. Blakely explained that Boston has enough young players and draft picks to make a deal happen, but such a move wouldn’t get Cleveland any closer to a championship.
Atlantic Notes: Zeller, Jackson, Biyombo
Mike Conley, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, was disappointed that the Nets fired Lionel Hollins, who had coached Conley during his tenure with the Grizzlies, Andy Vasquez of The Record relays (via Twitter). The point guard also noted that Hollins’ presence would have been a major reason to consider signing with Brooklyn this offseason, Vasquez adds. Conley is slotted fifth in Hoops Rumors’ latest free agent power rankings. Here’s more regarding the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks’ players say they are also to blame for the team’s woes, not just former coach Derek Fisher, Neil Best of Newsday writes. “I think sometimes coaches get blamed, but it’s just about everybody,” said point guard Jose Calderon. “He was the guy let go but at the end of the day we are all together, from the top to the bottom of the staff, players, everybody. It’s tough to see him go like that because maybe we weren’t winning games lately, but it’s tough to see somebody go like that. It’s on us to turn this around or not and we’ve been saying that for a couple of weeks now.”
- Celtics big man Tyler Zeller has become a valuable contributor recently after playing sparingly the past few weeks, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com notes. “A true pro, a guy who’s been on the bad end of the stick and hasn’t really played that much,” Thomas said of Zeller. “Every time his name is called he’s ready, and that’s the definition of a true professional right there. He puts the work in each and every day, and he’s a great teammate.” Boston reportedly contacted the Hawks about a potential deal for center Al Horford before Zeller’s recent success.
- Knicks team president Phil Jackson has an opt out clause in his contract that he can exercise after the 2016/17 season, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com notes (Twitter link). A “strong belief” persists that Jackson will wind up back with the Lakers organization and fiancee Jeanie Buss in the future, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports.
- Bismack Biyombo has been a solid addition to the Raptors this season and he is providing better value than Amir Johnson, who departed as a free agent this past offseason, is for the Celtics, Ben Golliver of SI.com opines. Johnson is earning $12MM this season in Boston while Biyombo is due $2.814MM from the Raptors.
- Well before the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis, Italian big man Danilo Gallinari was considered the future of the Knicks franchise, but the team instead dealt him as part of a package to acquire Carmelo Anthony. The combo forward says he still has fond memories of his time in New York despite the team trading him away, George Willis of The New York Post writes. “It was tough for me because I got injured right away and had back surgery,” Gallinari said. “But it’s great when you’re a young player and you have the chance to play in a city like New York. My first two years were very intense and the third year we started winning and when you’re winning, New York is a lot of fun.” The Celtics are reportedly interested in acquiring Gallinari, but the Nuggets have rebuffed them so far.
Latest On Blake Griffin
The Sixers and Nuggets have talked to the Clippers about Blake Griffin, league sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio and Amico Hoops (Twitter link), confirming an earlier dispatch from Mitch Lawrence of Forbes, who first reported the involvement of the Nuggets. However, the Clippers have no active interest in trading him in spite of offers that several teams have made, a source told Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
It doesn’t seem as though the Nuggets have assets that align with what the Clippers would want for Griffin, observes Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (All Twitter links), even though Lawrence indicates that the Clippers were the ones who began the dialogue. The Sixers, like the Nuggets, will have as many as four first-round picks this year, but they have less to offer on their existing roster, as their league-worst 7-42 record would indicate.
The Nuggets have reservations about their ability to re-sign Griffin, whose contract runs through 2017/18 and includes an opt-out for the summer of 2017, Lawrence writes. Danilo Gallinari would be available for the right return, according to Lawrence, but it appears the price for Gallinari is high, as the Celtics have reportedly been unable to pry him from Denver. Outside of Gallinari and Emmanuel Mudiay, the Nuggets are “open for business,” as Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports said in a recent radio appearance, and Lawrence confirms the team would be willing to trade Kenneth Faried.
The Clippers plan a concerted effort to look for Griffin trades in the offseason if they disappoint in the playoffs this spring, as fellow Vertical scribe Adrian Wojnarowski reported earlier today, but coach/executive Doc Rivers isn’t eager to trade the star power forward before the deadline, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com wrote recently. Philadelphia chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo said this week that the Sixers aren’t actively looking for a deadline trade while not ruling out the possibility of making one. A pursuit of Griffin that takes place in the offseason would fall in line with reported efforts the team made to sign Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard under GM Sam Hinkie this past summer, though it’s unclear just how the Sixers will function now that Colangelo is around.
The broken shooting hand Griffin suffered, reportedly from hitting friend and Clippers assistant equipment manager Mathias Testi, will keep him from playing for several weeks, perhaps until late March, as the Clippers apparently believe. The incident has prompted an NBA investigation that’s likely to result in discipline for Griffin, commissioner Adam Silver told Sam Amick of USA Today.
Nuggets Seek Pick In Return For Joffrey Lauvergne
The Nuggets want a late first-round pick in exchange for Joffrey Lauvergne, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). It’s unclear just how motivated Denver is to trade Lauvergne, one of three centers under the age of 25 on the roster, though the Nuggets are largely “open for business” outside of Danilo Gallinari and Emmanuel Mudiay, as Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports said earlier this week. However, coach Michael Malone said last month that the 24-year-old Lauvergne is a major part of the team’s long-term plans.
Lauvergne, the 55th pick in the 2013 draft, is beneath Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic on the Nuggets depth chart after making 15 starts earlier this season. He’s averaging 7.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game. The 24-year-old who signed as a draft-and-stash prospect in February 2015 is on the books at nearly $1.71MM this season and the same figure next year, though his 2016/17 salary is non-guaranteed.
GM Tim Connelly has the security of a new extension to rely on if he wants to focus on the future at the expense of the present. Denver is already well-stocked with draft assets, as the Rockets, Grizzlies and Trail Blazers all have first-round debt to the Nuggets that comes due as early as this year’s draft, and the Nuggets have the right to swap first-rounders with New York this year. That exchange wouldn’t happen as it stands, with Denver at 19-31, three games worse than the Knicks and four and a half games out of the playoffs in the Western Conference.
Latest On Danilo Gallinari, Celtics
The Celtics have aggressively pursued a trade for Danilo Gallinari, but the Nuggets have consistently rebuffed them, Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports said in a radio appearance on the “Toucher & Rich” show on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston (audio link via CSNNE.com). That confirms a report last week from Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi, who heard that the Celtics were targeting Gallinari and that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was keen on his shooting ability and leadership skills. The Nuggets are similarly enamored with the Italian-born small forward, and they want to build around him, Mannix said.
Denver has set a high bar for Gallinari offers, demanding at least two first-rounders, according to Cauchi, and he and Emmanuel Mudiay are among the few Nuggets the team would object to parting with, as Mannix explained. The Celtics have no shortage of draft assets, but the unprotected 2016 first-rounder they have from the Nets is “definitely not available,” writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
The Gallinari talks with the Celtics never amounted to more than a conversation, even though the Nuggets are otherwise “open for business,” Mannix said. Gallinari became eligible for inclusion in a trade just this week on the six-month anniversary of the rare renegotiation-and-extension he signed over the summer. That deal gives the 27-year-old salaries that add up to $45.15MM from this season through 2017/18, though he can opt out after next season.
The Celtics have also been linked to Dwight Howard with several conflicting reports. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, who first reported the discussion between Houston and Boston, wrote that the Celtics had engaged the Rockets, but Mannix said Houston initiated the dialogue.
And-Ones: Gallinari, Barnes, Johnson
Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes has heard the rumors regarding Golden State being the favorites to land Kevin Durant if he were to depart the Thunder as a free agent this summer, but he isn’t fazed by the rumblings, Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle writes. “Oh man, that’s part of the business,” Barnes said. “He’s a great player. If that’s the move they want to make, you know, hopefully, it works out. It’s always something, right?” The first summer, it was Dwight Howard. The next summer, it was Kevin Love. Every single year, there’s always been somebody who the Warriors wanted or somebody who wanted to come here. That’s part of the business. That stuff happens. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, great. At the end of the day, I’ll still get the chance to be in the NBA and still get to play.”
Here’s the latest from around the league:
- Danilo Gallinari became eligible for a trade today, six months after he signed his renegotiation-and-extension with the Nuggets, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports notes (Twitter link). Players who sign extensions that exceed the limits placed on extend-and-trade transactions can’t be traded for six months, and Gallinari fell into that category.
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra praised injured point guard Tyler Johnson for his toughness, and indicated that the team had explored numerous alternatives to surgery for the young player, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “He took it as far as a human being could possibly take it,” Spoelstra said. “And he’s been dealing with his shoulder for a long time, even since college. But last year, this summer, we’ve tried every solution other than surgery. We pushed everything as far as you possibly could. His level of toughness and commitment was to do everything done to this point, but the human body can only go so far. So it was just no other course of action once it got to this point.” Johnson, set for restricted free agency at season’s end, is expected to miss at least two months of action after undergoing surgery this week.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.