JaKarr Sampson

And-Ones: Pinson Rule, Deadline Sellers, M. Gasol, Sampson, Faried

The NBA has instituted a rule change this season that will penalize teams whose bench players and coaches are crowding the sidelines and standing for long periods of time, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (all Twitter links). Teams will initially be warned, then get a delay-of-game warning, then be assessed a technical foul.

Winderman clarifies that the rule won’t apply at the end of games, when everyone is often standing, and won’t affect head coaches as long as they’re not interfering with play. The goal is to reduce instances of players and coaches on the bench attempting to blatantly distract players on the court.

The new rule will likely become informally known as the Theo Pinson Rule — Pinson was viewed as the unofficial ring leader of the Mavericks’ bench mob that earned the team $175K in fines during the playoffs due to its “bench decorum” violations. However, Pinson is unfazed by the change, joking to reporters on Monday that he intends to “find a loophole,” as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News writes.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • In a recent episode of The Hoop Collective podcast, Brian Windhorst of ESPN wondered if the surplus of competitive teams in 2022/23 might result in a few unexpected sellers at February’s trade deadline. “What I suspect will happen this year: there are too many good teams,” Windhorst said, per RealGM. “Too many teams are invested in winning. The lottery is very good. My suspicion is that some team, one to three teams, are going to get into January and realize, ‘It ain’t happening for us and we have to retrofit.'”
  • A rule change in Liga ACB, Spain’s top basketball league, will allow veteran center Marc Gasol to suit up for Girona this season despite also owning the team, according to a Eurohoops report. Girona earned a promotion to the ACB after Gasol helped lead the club to a top-two finish in Liga LEB Oro, Spain’s second division, last season.
  • In other international basketball news, veteran forward JaKarr Sampson has signed with China’s Liaoning Flying Leopards, per his agency Prostep Sports (Twitter link), while big man Kenneth Faried has joined Mexican club Soles de Mexicali, according to HoopsHype.
  • The Athletic’s team of NBA writers pose the biggest question facing each NBA club entering training camp, while ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider-only link) provides an in-depth, team-by-team training camp guide.

JaKarr Sampson To Play For Italian Team

After spending the past two seasons with the Pacers, JaKarr Sampson has reached an agreement to play in Italy. Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna announced in a press release that it will sign Sampson to a two-year deal that runs through June 30, 2023.

“Jakarr Sampson is a 28 year old athlete, with 200 NBA games of experience, and with characteristics of physicality and dynamism that we believe are useful to our roster,” said general manager Paolo Ronci. “On behalf of Virtus Segafredo I welcome JaKarr, who will be in Bologna in the next few days after completing the paperwork for the issuance of a visa to enter Italy.”

Sampson signed with the Sixers in 2014 after going undrafted out of St. John’s. He also had brief stops with the Nuggets, Kings and Bulls before coming to Indiana in 2019. He got into 29 games last season, starting four, and averaged 4.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per night.

There was a report last month that the Lakers might have interest in Sampson, but without a training camp invitation he decided to play overseas.

Lakers Rumors: Gasol, Frazier, Sampson, Thomas, LeBron

Veteran center Marc Gasol told reporters following his stint with the Spanish team at the Tokyo Olympics that he intends to play out the 2021/22 season with the Lakers, but NBA reporter Marc Stein (subscription required) has heard that Gasol isn’t a lock to return to the team.

Stein’s report is a little vague — it’s not clear, should the two sides part ways before the end of Gasol’s deal, whether that split would be initiated by the Lakers or by the 36-year-old big man. Stein suggests it’s also unclear whether Gasol would seek another NBA opportunity in that scenario or if he’d want to finish his playing career with a team in Spain like his brother Pau Gasol.

As we keep an eye on that situation, let’s round up a few more Lakers-related rumors and notes…

  • After a recent report identified free agent guards Isaiah Thomas, Darren Collison and Mike James as some players the Lakers have worked out and are considering signing, Stein adds a couple more names to that list, suggesting that the team also has guard Tim Frazier and forward JaKarr Sampson on its radar. Although Los Angeles doesn’t intend to carry a full 15-man roster to open the season, the team currently has just 12 players on guaranteed deals, so a couple more additions will be necessary.
  • Thomas’ workout with the Lakers happened a few weeks ago, before he scored 81 points in a pro-am game in Seattle, Stein says.
  • LeBron James took exception to the fact that 10 executives and scouts polled by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps all named either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kevin Durant as the NBA’s best player entering 2021/22. As Bontemps details in a separate story, James tweeted that he intends to use the snub as fuel going forward.

Central Notes: Hayes, Bucks, Sampson, Jrue Holiday

Pistons rookie guard Killian Hayes has appreciated the opportunity to log some time as a combo guard alongside fellow rookie ball handler Saben Lee as Detroit’s season wraps up, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News.

“I love it,” the 6’5″ Hayes said of his minutes alongside Lee in the Pistons’ backcourt. “That’s the second game I played at the same time with Saben and I love being able to play and be off the ball… So, with me being off of it and Saben doing his thing, creating, I just like playing the combo guard.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

  • The Bucks will be boosting their home court crowd capacity to 50% (approximately 9K fans) for the playoffs, per an official team announcement. Milwaukee is currently hosting roughly 3,300 fans (18% of the Fiserv Forum’s capacity).
  • Pacers forward JaKarr Sampson cleared the NBA’s concussion protocols and was able to return to the floor tonight for the first time since April 29, tweets J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star. The reserve appeared played 4 minutes in Indiana’s 103-94 win over the Sixers.
  • Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday has clinched a $255K minutes-played bonus after logging 1,823 minutes during the 2020/21 season, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The 30-year-old has been a key contributor for a stellar Bucks season. Led by All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee is presently the No. 3 seed in the East with a 43-25 record.

Pacers’ Sampson Suspended One Game; Spurs’ Mills, Gay Fined

Pacers forward JaKarr Sampson has been suspended for one game for an incident that occurred during Monday’s game against the Spurs, according to a press release.

Sampson got into an on-court altercation with Spurs guard Patty Mills, shoving him and then head-butting him (video link). He received a Flagrant 2 foul and an automatic ejection at the time.

Mills and Spurs teammate Rudy Gay, who each received technical fouls as a result of the incident, have been fined by the NBA, according to today’s announcement. Mills was docked $25K and Gay, who shoved Sampson, was hit with a $20K fine.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), the financial impact on Sampson won’t be quite as significant as the fines the Spurs’ veterans received. He’ll lose just $12,985 during his one-game suspension — that’s 1/145th of his $1,882,867 salary for this season.

Sampson will serve his suspension on Wednesday night as the Pacers face the Thunder in Indiana. Myles Turner (toe) and Domantas Sabonis (back) will also be unavailable for that game, with Goga Bitadze (ankle) listed as questionable, so the Pacers will be quite shorthanded in the frontcourt.

Eastern Notes: Dinwiddie, T. Harris, Markkanen, Sampson

The Nets are “shopping” injured guard Spencer Dinwiddie, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated said during an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump on Thursday (video link via Billy Reinhardt of NetsDaily).

Dinwiddie, who suffered a partially torn ACL near the start of the season, has been pushing to make it back before the end of the playoffs, but is considered likely to be sidelined for the rest of 2020/21. Since he has the ability to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, his appeal on the trade market would be limited, but the opportunity to acquire his Bird rights may intrigue certain clubs, and his $11.45MM cap hit could be useful for salary-matching.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) observes, one downside of moving Dinwiddie for the Nets would be that the team would lose its $5.7MM disabled player exception, assuming that exception hasn’t already been utilized. The club has until April 19 to use that DPE, but it would forfeit it if Dinwiddie is traded.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Sixers forward Tobias Harris left Thursday’s game early after hurting his left knee, but he appears to have avoided a serious injury. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, an MRI showed no structural damage, confirming that Harris suffered a knee contusion. He’ll miss Saturday’s game vs. Cleveland will be re-evaluated in a couple days, per the team.
  • The Bulls have played some of their best basketball this season with Lauri Markkanen unavailable, going 5-9 with the power forward in the lineup and 10-7 without him. However, head coach Billy Donovan still believes that the injured Markkanen is an “important piece to our team,” as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes. Markkanen will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end.
  • JaKarr Sampson has been ruled out for Friday’s game due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, making him the first Pacers player to miss a game due to the COVID-19 protocols this season, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Sampson hasn’t been a regular part of Indiana’s rotation this season, averaging just 6.0 minutes per game in 13 contests.

Pacers Sign Guards Cassius Stanley, Naz Mitrou-Long

The Pacers have finalized agreements with two guards, signing rookie Cassius Stanley to a two-way contract and Naz Mitrou-Long to an Exhibit 10 deal, according to a press release on the team’s official site.
Indiana selected Stanley with the No. 54 pick in the 2020 draft out of Duke. The 6’6″ guard started all of his 29 games during his lone season with Duke in 2019/20, averaging 12.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG, while converting on 36% of his 3.0 long-range attempts a night. After two seasons with the Jazz, Mitrou-Long appeared in five games for the Pacers last season, averaging 9.4 MPG.
The announcement also confirmed several other previously-reported signings. Forward JaKarr Sampson will return for his second season with Indiana on a fully-guaranteed veteran’s minimum deal. Wing Kelan Martin, formerly with the Timberwolves, will join the Pacers on a two-year deal, though the speculation is that it will not be fully-guaranteed.
Forward Brian Bowen II, who suited up for six games with the Pacers last season, will occupy the club’s second two-way player contract slot alongside Stanley.
Mitrou-Long joins center Amida Brimah and forward Rayshaun Hammonds as the Pacers with Exhibit 10 contracts. All three will join the team for training camp, with an opportunity to make the club’s opening night roster. These are one-year, minimum salary deals that can carry an optional player bonus ranging from $5K to $50K.

Pacers To Re-Sign JaKarr Sampson

JaKarr Sampson has agreed to re-sign with the Pacers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. It will be a fully guaranteed minimum deal for one year, according to his agent, Aaron Turner.

The sixth-year forward came to Indiana in the summer of 2019 on a one-year contract. He appeared in 34 games, starting 12, and averaged 4.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per night.

Sampson, 27, has been with five teams since signing with the Sixers in 2014. He also had short stays with the Nuggets, Kings and Bulls.

McMillan Expects Oladipo To Play In Pacers’ Scrimmages

The Pacers will participate in their first inter-squad scrimmage this Thursday, and head coach Nate McMillan told reporters today that he expects star guard Victor Oladipo to play in that game — and in the rest of Indiana’s scrimmages.

“I do,” McMillan said. “He’s going through the practices and he’s looking good. Our first scrimmage is Thursday and we’ll see how our guys feel and get them minutes accordingly.”

Oladipo has wavered in recent weeks on whether or not he’ll participate in the NBA’s restart this summer. After initially ruling himself out for the summer in early July, Oladipo changed course, telling reporters last week that there’s a “strong possibility” he’ll play if his body continues to respond well to workouts.

McMillan’s comments today don’t mean that anything is set in stone regarding Oladipo’s availability for the team’s upcoming scrimmages, seeding games, or playoff contests. However, for now, it still seems as if we’re trending in the direction of seeing the two-time All-Star play this summer.

In other Pacers news, McMillan said today that Domantas Sabonis, Goga Bitadze, and JaKarr Sampson are dealing with what he referred to as soft-tissue injuries, tweets Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports. Sabonis has had a plantar fasciitis flare-up and is unlikely to play in Thursday’s scrimmage, tweets J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star.

Eastern Notes: Raptors Draft, Galloway, McConnell, Bulls

With the potential loss of Fred VanVleet in free agency and Kyle Lowry turning 34 this year, the Raptors could be in the market for a point guard in this year’s draft. With that in mind, Blake Murphy of The Athletic takes a look at floor leaders that the club could target with its late first-round pick. Duke’s Tre Jones, Stanford’s Tyrell Terry and Arizona’s Nico Mannion are some of the prospects that Murphy examines.

We have more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Pistons guard Langston Galloway, who is headed into unrestricted free agency, has “no regrets” about this season regardless of whether his team gets to play again, he told Rod Beard of the Detroit News. Galloway was the only player on the team to appear in every game and established himself as a solid second-unit shooter. “If we didn’t get to finish, I would say I had a great season and move on to the summer workouts,” he said. “I played in every single game, so I put my work on display every single game and the work I continue to put on display. I have no regrets going into the summer.”
  • Free agents T.J. McConnell, Justin Holiday and Alize Johnson are likely to remain with the Pacers next season, Scott Agness of The Athletic opines. McConnell and Holiday are solid reserves, while Johnson still has some upside. JaKarr Sampson is the only free agent that Indiana probably won’t re-sign, Agness adds.
  • The Bulls’ lottery chances could be jeopardized if they’re included in plans to resume the season, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago opines. Chicago is currently seventh in the draft lottery standings, giving the team a 32% chance at a top-four pick and a 7.5% chance at the No. 1 pick, Johnson notes. If the Bulls got hot during the resumption of play and even advanced in a revised playoff format, those odds would drop.