Jordan McLaughlin

Kings Notes: Ellis, Huerter, Injuries, Jones, Brown, Murray, DeRozan

There’s no question that Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, and Keegan Murray will be part of the Kings‘ starting lineup this fall, but the fifth member of that group has yet to be locked in, as James Ham of The Kings Beat and Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee write.

Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, and Keon Ellis are all realistic candidates to start at shooting guard for Sacramento. However, it seems likely that Monk will reprise the sixth-man role he thrived in last season. Huerter, meanwhile, hasn’t yet been cleared for full-contact work after undergoing surgery in late March to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

That may make Ellis the frontrunner to start alongside Fox in Sacramento’s backcourt. As Anderson writes, Ellis’ ability to play good defense and to operate on offense without the ball in his hands also makes him a good fit in the team’s starting group, whereas Monk and Huerter could handle a larger offensive load with the second unit.

“If you think about it, Keon, out of all three of those guys, is probably the one who will command the least amount of shots and/or the time the ball is in his hands,” head coach Mike Brown said last week. “He’s shown the last two years that he’s a capable catch-and-shoot shooter, and if you leave him open, he’ll make you pay on the catch-and-shoot shot from the three-point line. He shot 40-something percent from three in both years, so for us that is a little bit of a factor, making sure we put the right combinations on the floor that fit instead of just trying to throw guys out there because we think those guys can all score the best.”

Here’s more on the Kings:

  • Huerter, who was cleared for on-court workouts near the end of August, said he’s feeling good about the progress he’s made and is eager to advance to the final stage of his rehab process, per Anderson. “The last step for me is really just getting 5-on-5 full contact,” Huerter said. “I haven’t gone contact against a player yet. I haven’t been cleared to do that, but everything else. I’ve been 1-on-0 for four months now. … Itching to get back and go against somebody else.”
  • The Kings are battling the injury bug this fall, with Huerter and Devin Carter recovering from shoulder surgeries and Trey Lyles (groin), Jordan McLaughlin (ankle), and Orlando Robinson (knee) all dealing with health issues of their own. According to Ham, McLaughlin is expected to be back within the next few days and Huerter should be cleared for contact around the middle of the month, while Lyles will probably be sidelined until the end of the preseason schedule. Robinson and Carter will remain out for the start of the season.
  • As Anderson details in a separate story for The Sacramento Bee, Brown delivered a profanity-laced tirade near the end of a Saturday scrimmage. As the Kings’ head coach later explained, two-way player Mason Jones capped off a “really, really good day” by turning the ball over and giving up on the last couple plays of the day. Brown responded by calling out Jones and several of his vets. “I got on Foxy and Domas and DeMar a little bit because those three guys can’t let that slide,” he said. “I shouldn’t have to be the one saying that we all have to hold each other accountable. … We all have to hold each other accountable all the time, and if our vets see something like that from a young guy in Mason, then you’ve got to let him know, ‘Hey, Mace, you had a good day, but we can’t finish like that.'”
  • In another story for The Sacramento Bee, Anderson explores how Murray can continue to grow as a player as the former No. 4 overall pick enters his third NBA season.
  • A Los Angeles native, DeRozan hasn’t played for one of his hometown teams since entering the NBA in 2009, but he’s thrilled to be living in California again as a member of the Kings, so close to his family in L.A., he recently told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “It means so much,” DeRozan said. “Even one of my daughters, she is asking every day when she can come up — even a day where she could just come up for a day, spend time with me and go back. Her knowing that gives her excitement. That makes me extremely happy.”

Injury Notes: Walter, M. Williams, Lyles, McLaughlin, Watson

Raptors wing Ja’Kobe Walter, the No. 19 pick in this year’s draft, has been diagnosed with an AC joint sprain in his right shoulder, the team announced in a press release on Friday.

According to the Raptors, Walter – who sustained the injury during informal workouts this week – won’t be able to take part in on-court activities during training camp. An update on the rookie’s status will be provided by the club after camp has ended.

While it doesn’t necessarily sound as if Walter’s absence will be a long-term one, Toronto is now dealing with a pair of injuries on the wing that could impact the team’s depth in the early going. Bruce Brown underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Thursday and was ruled out for at least three weeks.

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

  • Hornets center Mark Williams, who missed much of the 2023/24 season due to a back issue, strained a tendon in his left foot during an offseason workout on Thursday, according to a press release from the team. Williams will be sidelined through training camp and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the club said in its statement.
  • The Kings announced on Friday that a pair of veterans won’t be available for training camp, as James Ham of The Kings Beat relays (via Twitter). Forward Trey Lyles will be reevaluated in approximately three weeks after straining his left groin during offseason workouts, while newcomer Jordan McLaughlin has been diagnosed with a grade 2 right ankle sprain and will be reexamined in about two weeks.
  • Nuggets guard Peyton Watson is dealing with a soft-tissue hamstring injury and likely won’t suit up for either of the team’s first two preseason games in Abu Dhabi next weekend, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscriber link). “I think it’s really important that we’re smart about his injury, his rehab, his recovery,” head coach Michael Malone said. “Because as much as we want him playing these games, the season opener in probably about four weeks is more important.”

Contract Details: Quickley, Barnes, Batum, Jones, CP3, Oubre, More

Initially reported to be worth $175MM over five years, Immanuel Quickley‘s new contract with the Raptors actually has a base value of $162.5MM, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter link). It also features $12.5MM in unlikely incentives – $2.5MM per year – that would allow the guard to max out at $175MM if he earns all of them. But for now the cap hits for Quickley will be $32.5MM annually.

Meanwhile, the “Rose rule” language in Scottie Barnes‘ new five-year, maximum-salary extension with the Raptors is fairly straightforward, Murphy notes (Twitter link). Barnes will have a starting salary worth 30% of the 2025/26 salary cap if he makes any All-NBA team – first, second, or third – next season, or if he wins MVP or Defensive Player of the Year. If he doesn’t earn any of those honors, his starting salary will be 25% of the ’25/26 cap, with 8% annual raises from there.

Based on the NBA’s latest salary cap projection, Barnes’ five-year extension would be worth $224,238,150 if it starts at 25% next year’s cap, or $269,085,780 if it starts at 30%.

Here are more details on a few of the contracts recently finalized around the NBA:

  • Nicolas Batum (15%) and Derrick Jones (5%) each received trade kickers on their new contracts with the Clippers, Hoops Rumors has learned. Batum’s deal is worth the full bi-annual exception ($9,569,400 over two years) with a second-year player option, while Jones’ three-year, $30MM deal was completed using a significant portion ($9,523,810) of the mid-level exception. Los Angeles still has $3,298,190 left on its MLE for now.
  • Chris Paul‘s one-year contract with the Spurs has a guaranteed base value of $10.46MM, with unlikely incentives that could push his total earnings as high as about $12.03MM, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. That structure allowed San Antonio to create the extra cap room necessary to accommodate Harrison Barnes‘ incoming salary while also putting Paul in position to earn more his initially reported salary of $11MM.
  • Kelly Oubre, whose two-year, $16,365,150 contract is worth the Sixers‘ entire room exception (and features a player option), waived his right to veto a trade in 2024/25, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Kings center Alex Len gave up that right as well on his one-year, minimum-salary contract, Hoops Rumors has learned.
  • As expected, the contracts signed by new Kings guard Jordan McLaughlin and new Pelicans center Daniel Theis are one-year deals worth the veteran’s minimum.

Kings Sign Jordan McLaughlin To One-Year Deal

JULY 9: McLaughlin has officially signed with the Kings, according to the NBA’s transaction log. It’s a minimum-salary deal, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.


JULY 7: The Kings and free agent point guard Jordan McLaughlin have agreed to a one-year contract, agent Greg Lawrence tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link) was the first to report that the two sides were nearing a deal.

McLaughlin, 28, has spent all five of his NBA seasons to date with the Timberwolves, providing backcourt depth behind the team’s various starting point guards — he has come off the bench in 235 of 242 career regular season outings. In 2023/24, the former USC standout averaged 3.5 points and 2.0 assists in 11.2 minutes per game across 56 appearances.

While McLaughlin’s counting stats are modest, he does a good job taking care of the ball, having averaged just 0.3 turnovers per game last season, and is a solid shooter. His .472 3PT% in ’23/24 was an outlier, but he has made 36.9% of his career three-point attempts.

McLaughlin will give Sacramento another option behind De’Aaron Fox in a backcourt that will no longer feature former lottery pick Davion Mitchell, who was traded to Toronto in June.

While terms of the agreement have yet to be reported, the Kings project to have little breathing room below the luxury tax line once they complete their sign-and-trade deal for DeMar DeRozan, so I’d expect McLaughlin to sign for the veteran’s minimum. For a player with his five years of experience, that would work out to a salary of about $2.43MM for him, with Sacramento carrying a cap hit of approximately $2.09MM.

Wolves Notes: Point Guards, McLaughlin, Offense, Edwards

Point guard has become a position of strength for the Timberwolves, according to Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune, who points out that Mike Conley, Monte Morris, and Jordan McLaughlin shared the court together during Friday’s victory over Cleveland.

Known more for their star frontcourt duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, the Wolves have been forced to play smaller lately due to injuries to those big men and it has been working for the club, which also occasionally uses Nickeil Alexander-Walker in a ball-handling role.

“We’re spoiled for choice right there,” head coach Chris Finch said of his point guards. “And I love the fact they all like to play together and they can play together.”

Minnesota acquired Morris at the trade deadline in order to fortify its depth behind Conley at the point, but McLaughlin – who had shared backup duties with Alexander-Walker until that point – has made the case with his recent play that the addition of Morris was more of a luxury than a necessity.

“J-Mac is just playing otherworldly right now,” Finch said. “He has come in and changed the game for us. He’s shooting with so much confidence, making all the normal J-Mac plays, getting all the 50-50 balls, competing for the ball in the air, flying around, getting his hands on stuff.”

Here’s more out of Minnesota:

  • Chris Hine of The Star Tribune takes a look at how the Timberwolves’ offense has changed since Towns went down with his knee injury earlier this month, observing that the team has been launching more shots from beyond the arc. Minnesota ranked 25th in the NBA in three-pointers per game up until Towns’ last appearance on March 4, but has jumped to No. 12 in the games since then. “We haven’t made a conscious decision to say, ‘Hey we need to shoot more threes because KAT’s not here.’ It’s a by-product of our spacing,” Finch explained.
  • It has been a tumultuous month for the Timberwolves on the whole — Towns’ injury occurred during the first week of March and was followed by the incoming ownership group’s push to secure the necessary financing in time for its payment deadline. The organization also reportedly fired an employee for stealing thousands of confidential files. However, as Michael Rand of The Star Tribune writes, Minnesota’s players have done a good job blocking the outside noise and focusing on its performance on the court, having gone 6-3 with Towns unavailable.
  • Howard Beck of The Ringer hopes NBA pundits don’t make a habit out of comparing rising Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards to Michael Jordan – as some have recently – arguing that such comparisons have backfired repeatedly over the years and that “we should just enjoy the Ant.”

Northwest Notes: McLaughlin, Olynyk, Jazz, Thunder

Veteran guard Jordan McLaughlin hasn’t seen much playing time this season for the Timberwolves, but he made an instant impact in his 12 minutes on Monday in New York, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune, and logged a season-high 17 minutes on Wednesday vs. New Orleans.

Minnesota lost both games, but McLaughlin was a plus-18 in his 29 minutes of action and appears on track to securing a more consistent role in head coach Chris Finch‘s regular rotation, according to Hine.

“Every single time he’s come in and had a super positive impact,” Finch said after the loss to the Knicks. “… We still believe that position (the ninth man) could be situational, but if somebody comes and takes it, then somebody comes and takes it and it looks like J-Mac is on his way to doing that right now.”

As Hine writes, McLaughlin was limited last season due to a calf injury, and a knee issue affected him for several weeks earlier in 2023/24, but he looks like he’s back in form as of late. The 27-year-old is in the final season of a three-year contract with the Wolves and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • Big man Kelly Olynyk has had the most “robust” trade market so far of the Jazz players presumed to be available, Ben Anderson of KSL Sports says in a mailbag. That doesn’t necessarily mean that an Olynyk trade would result in the most significant return — it’s more likely that his skill set (and expiring contract) appeals to the widest range of teams.
  • After searching for an optimal rotation for much of the season, the Jazz seem to have found it lately, notes Tony Jones of The Athletic. Since Kris Dunn entered the lineup as the starting point guard on December 21, Utah has won six of seven games. A starter earlier in the season, Jordan Clarkson has been thriving in a bench role, recording the Jazz’s first triple-double in 16 years on Monday.
  • In a pair of stories on the ascendant Thunder, Zach Kram of The Ringer takes a look at how impactful Chet Holmgren has been in his first 33 NBA games, while Anthony Slater of The Athletic explores how the team has taken advantage of its versatility and been “open-minded and experimental” in building a top-five offense.
  • Despite the Thunder‘s impressive 23-10 start this season, which includes recent wins over top teams like Boston, Denver, and Minnesota, the young team’s stars aren’t interested in discussing where they fit among the NBA’s contenders, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “We know we have a long ways to go,” Holmgren said after the victory over the Celtics on Tuesday. “We’re at 32 games into the season, so we still have 50 games left. We got a lot of lessons to learn, a lot of lessons we’ve already learned from that we’ve got to kind of keep in the back of our mind.”

Timberwolves Notes: Gobert, Edwards, McDaniels, McLaughlin

Rudy Gobert feels a greater acceptance in the Timberwolves‘ locker room and it’s showing on the court, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

Gobert has settled in after struggling through his first season with the franchise. He’s become the defensive force the Timberwolves were looking for when the front office made the blockbuster deal with Utah.

“I always tell people, great things take time. Especially myself, the way my life is, I’m not a guy that just comes here on Day 1 and everything is wonderful,” he said. “It takes time to build, to grind every day, build respect, build habits, build relationships with my teammates, the organization, the community.”

Gobert is also blending well with Karl-Anthony Towns on the court, Krawczynski notes. In the seven games since the Timberwolves took over the top spot in the Western Conference, the frontcourt duo has a plus-24.3 net rating in the 157 minutes they’ve shared the floor.

We have more on the Timberwolves:

  • Anthony Edwards is listed as questionable to play in the Timberwolves’ return to action on Wednesday against San Antonio, the team’s PR department tweets. Edwards is dealing with a right hip pointer and has missed Minnesota’s past two games.
  • Forward Jaden McDaniels, who suffered a right ankle sprain on Nov. 20 against the Knicks, was reevaluated and he’s progressing well throughout his rehabilitation program with no setbacks, according to a team press release. He has been cleared to participate in individual on-court player development basketball and strength training activities.
  • Guard Jordan McLaughlin, who suffered a right knee MCL sprain on Nov. 2 against the Celtics, is also progressing well, the team announced in the same release. He has been cleared to participate in full, five-on-five on-court basketball activities.

Injury Notes: Grant, Simons, Duarte, Hachimura, Wolves

Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant has been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol, Portland announced on Monday (via Twitter). Grant sustained the injury during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against Utah and did not return, per the team.

Grant, who re-signed with Portland on a five-year, $160MM contract over the summer, is averaging 22.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists on .437/.412/.830 shooting in 19 games this season.

In other injury news for the Blazers, guard Anfernee Simons is nearing a return, tweets Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report. Simons, who has been out since Oct. 25 after tearing a ligament in his thumb and undergoing surgery, practiced on Monday and is considered day-to-day, according to Highkin.

Here are some more injury notes from around the league:

  • Kings wing Chris Duarte will miss Monday’s in-season quarterfinal matchup against New Orleans due to knee soreness, league sources tell Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL (Twitter link). It will be the second straight absence for the former first-round pick, who is averaging 4.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 15.1 minutes in his first season with Sacramento.
  • Lakers forward Rui Hachimura was cleared for Saturday’s contest against Houston, but head coach Darvin Ham opted to be cautious and held him out after he missed a week due to nasal fracture surgery. “In all likelihood” Hachimura will play in Tuesday’s quarterfinal against the Suns, Ham said on Monday (Twitter link via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin). Hachimura practiced today while wearing a face mask and he thinks he’ll be ready tomorrow, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
  • Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was a partial practice participant on Monday and is day-to-day after missing the past two games with a hip injury, head coach Chris Finch told reporters, including Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link). Jaden McDaniels (ankle sprain) did not practice and will not play this week, but the team is hopeful he might be able to practice next week, Finch added. As for Jordan McLaughlin, who has missed the past month with a knee sprain, he was a full practice participant and he could return as soon as later this week, according to Hine.

Jordan McLaughlin Has Knee Sprain, Out At Least One Month

Jordan McLaughlin has played sparingly for the Timberwolves so far this season and he won’t play at all for at least the next month.

McLaughlin underwent an MRI on Tuesday that revealed a right knee MCL sprain, according to a team press release. He will be reevaluated in four weeks.

McLaughlin was injured during a four-minute stint against Boston on Monday. He has appeared in five games last season.

It’s a rough blow for a 27-year-old reserve who will be a free agent after the season. He had his $2.32MM salary for this season guaranteed prior to the start of free agency in July.

A member of the Timberwolves since the 2019/20 season, McLaughlin appeared in 43 games last season and a career-high 62 in 2021/22. He sports career averages of 4.6 points and 3.4 assists in 16.4 minutes over 197 career games.

Raptors’ Thaddeus Young Among Players Earning Salary Guarantees

Veteran forward Thaddeus Young got good news on Friday when the Raptors opted to keep him on their roster rather than waiving him. Because he’s still under contract, Young’s $8MM salary for the 2023/24 season has become fully guaranteed, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). It was previously only partially guaranteed for $1MM.

Young didn’t initially look like a great bet to earn that full $8MM, since Toronto was facing a cap crunch and he didn’t play a major role in 2022/23. The 35-year-old, who appeared in 54 games for the Raptors last season, averaged just 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per night — all three numbers were career lows.

However, the Raptors gained significant cap flexibility when Fred VanVleet opted to leave Toronto for Houston in free agency. With no risk of surpassing the luxury tax threshold, the team opted to hang onto Young, whose expiring salary could come in handy in a trade at some point during the 2023/24 league year.

Young was one of several players who had a salary guarantee deadline on Friday, as our tracker shows. Hoops Rumors can confirm that Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of the Thunder ($1.9MM) and Brandon Boston Jr. of the Clippers ($1.84MM) also remain under contract and have fully guaranteed salaries for 2023/24, as does Timberwolves guard Jordan McLaughlin ($2.32MM), which was anticipated.

Trail Blazers forward Trendon Watford was the only roster casualty among Friday’s group, having been cut before his $1.84MM salary became guaranteed. The Magic postponed their decision on big man Bol Bol, though his new salary guarantee date has yet to be reported.