Pacers Notes: Toppin, Q. Jackson, Slawson, Two-Ways, More
In a season in which the Pacers have been decimated by injuries, the team got a morale boost on Thursday when Obi Toppin returned to action after missing nearly all of 2025/26 following foot surgery, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). The popular sixth-year forward received a “thunderous standing ovation” from the home crowd when he was introduced as a starter.
“He’s our engine,” veteran point guard T.J. McConnell said. “He brings energy on both ends of the floor. To have him back, it’s just such a positive for our team. We’ve missed him dearly. He’s worked tirelessly to come back. … It just didn’t look like he missed a beat. It looked like he was having fun out there and I was just really happy for him.”
According to Dopirak, Toppin said he initially felt something in his right hamstring on October 26, when he exited Indiana’s third game of the season. Doctors determined that his hamstring was OK, but he was also experiencing discomfort in his right foot and underwent an MRI, which revealed a fracture in his fifth metatarsal bone. Toppin, who turns 28 years old in a few days, said he was determined to return this season.
“I always want to be out there on the floor,” Toppin said. “I wasn’t rushing to come back, but I definitely want to go out there. We’re still a team. We still want to find that rhythm. We’re not having the greatest year this year, but to find that rhythm and connectivity with the team. We have standards, we have things that we go by, so going out there and playing the right way for the team, whether that’s for this year or next year, we still have a lot of games coming up. Just continue to play the right way and show the younger guys how this goes.”
Toppin was limited to eight minutes and 29 seconds of playing time in Thursday’s loss and head coach Rick Carlisle indicated he would be on a minutes restriction for the rest of the season, Dopirak writes. Carlisle also praised Toppin’s versatility and fit with Indiana.
“Just the reaction of the crowd was heartwarming,” Carlisle said. “He’s a guy that brings energy to our team and our situation. … We need him.”
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- Most of the roster was in attendance on Friday for a Pascal Siakam fundraiser when the team surprised Quenton Jackson with the news that he being converted to a three-year standard contract, per Dopirak (subscriber link). The Pacers released a video of the interaction (Twitter link). “He’s really earned it,” Carlisle said of the fourth-year guard. “… He’s a culture enhancer. That’s really the starting point with him. His game is something that is really helped us. He’s versatile. He can play two guard positions. He defends. He can run a team. He can play off the ball. A lot of good stuff. Our fans love him. When he comes in the game he just energizes things.” Jackson said he was grateful for the promotion but remains determined to keep improving his game.
- Jalen Slawson‘s two-way contract covers the rest of the 2025/26 season, reports Forbes contributor Tony East. The Pacers called up Slawson from their G League affiliate, the Noblesville Boom, when they converted Jackson. “I think he’s an NBA player,” Carlisle said. “He’s had a good year with the Boom and this will be a great opportunity for him to play some games.” Slawson, a former second-round pick, will be a restricted free agent this summer if the Pacers give him a two-way qualifying offer.
- The Pacers will have to carefully manage their two-way players for the rest of the season, as each player has a limited amount of games in which he can be active, East writes for Forbes. Taelon Peter can be active for 14 more games, Slawson can be active for up to 13 and Ethan Thompson has 10 games of eligibility left. Indiana has 22 games remaining in ’25/26.
- A pair of Boom players have season-ending injuries, the team announced in a press release. Forward Gabe McGlothan suffered multiple rib fractures in a game on February 22, while forward Ray Spalding will undergo surgery on his right middle finger. Both players are expected to make full recoveries, per the Boom.
Pacers Notes: Jackson, Furphy, Jones, Siakam
Exploring the Pacers‘ options to fill their 15th roster spot, Tony East of Forbes identifies two-way player Quenton Jackson as a clear candidate for a promotion to a standard contract.
Unlike the contracts signed by fellow two-way players Taelon Peter and Ethan Thompson, Jackson’s two-way deal expires at season’s end. And because this is his fourth NBA season, he wouldn’t be eligible for another two-way contract in 2026/27, so Indiana would need to move him to the standard roster in order to retain him beyond this year.
Assuming the Pacers decide Jackson is the player they want to fill their open roster spot, it would make sense to sign him to a new deal sooner rather than later. As East outlines, Indiana now has enough room below the luxury tax line to give him either the veteran’s minimum or slightly above it for the rest of the season, and March 4 is the deadline to sign a player to a two-way contract. So if Indiana wants to promote Jackson and back-fill his two-way slot, it would have to happen by next Wednesday.
We have more on the Pacers:
- Second-year guard Johnny Furphy, who tore his right ACL earlier this month, underwent surgery in Chicago on Tuesday to repair that tear, the team announced in a press release. For now, the Pacers have simply ruled out Furphy for the rest of the 2025/26 season, but the typical recovery timeline for that procedure suggests he’ll miss a significant chunk of ’26/27 too.
- Rookie guard Kam Jones didn’t make his NBA debut until late December due to a back injury and didn’t play much in January, but he has appeared in each of Indiana’s past nine games, averaging 26.6 minutes per night during that time. As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star writes in a subscriber-only story, Jones has made the most of his recent opportunity and head coach Rick Carlisle has taken notice, noting that the 2025 second-rounder has a “knack for making intelligent basketball plays.” Carlisle added that Jones is in much better shape now than he was earlier in the season. “It’s hard to really understand if you’re a fan watching from afar how difficult it is to have a two-month head start that everybody gets on you from a conditioning and rhythm standpoint,” Carlisle said. “Really he was unable to do anything on the floor that required running or pounding because of the back situation. You’re seeing now that he’s getting into some real condition.”
- While there’s a chance Obi Toppin will return from foot surgery on Thursday vs. Charlotte, the Pacers will remain shorthanded whether or not the forward is available. Among the players likely to be inactive? Star forward Pascal Siakam, who is listed as doubtful due to a left wrist sprain. Siakam returned on Sunday after missing three straight games with a hamstring injury but injured his wrist and sat out Tuesday’s loss to Philadelphia.
Injury Notes: Brown, Hayes, Siakam, Thompson, Jovic, Goodwin
Celtics star forward Jaylen Brown won’t play on Tuesday against the Suns due to a right knee contusion. He was originally listed as questionable but was downgraded about seven hours before tipoff, Brian Robb of MassLive.com reports.
This will be the sixth game Brown has missed this season. The veteran wing is averaging 29.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game and scored a team-high 32 points in 36 minutes on Sunday against the Lakers.
Here’s more injury news from around the league:
- Lakers big man Jaxson Hayes will miss tonight’s game against Orlando due to a right ankle sprain, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets. Hayes played just five minutes against Boston on Sunday before exiting due to that injury.
- Rockets guard Amen Thompson will sit out Wednesday’s home game against Sacramento due to left quad tendinitis, Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Thompson played 29 minutes against Utah on Monday, contributing 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists in Houston’s 20-point victory.
- Pacers forward Pascal Siakam won’t play against Philadelphia tonight due to a left wrist sprain, Tony East of Forbess tweets. It will be the seventh game he’s missed this season.
- Heat forward Nikola Jovic has returned to Miami during the team’s current road trip for back treatment, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. Miami plays Milwaukee tonight and wraps up its trip in Philadelphia on Thursday. The Heat’s next home game is Saturday against Houston. It’s been a rough season for Jovic, who has been in and out of the rotation after signing a four-year, $62.4MM extension in October.
- Suns guard Jordan Goodwin, who is dealing with a left calf strain, will be re-evaluated in one to two weeks, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. Goodwin had a 17-point outing against Orlando on Saturday, then missed the next contest against Portland. The Suns also confirmed Dillon Brooks‘ four-to-six week timeline before a reevaluation of his broken left hand.
Carlisle Questions NBA’s Decision To Fine Pacers; League Responds
2:34 pm: An NBA spokesperson issued a statement to Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link) to push back against Carlisle’s framing of the investigation into the Pacers.
“Coach Carlisle’s description of the process that went into the decision to fine the Indiana Pacers is inaccurate,” the spokesperson said. “An independent physician led the medical review. In addition, the Pacers’ general manager and the team’s senior vice president (of) sports medicine and performance were interviewed as part of the process. The Pacers confirmed that it had provided all of the information requested by the league and the team reported that an interview with Coach Carlisle or a team physician wasn’t necessary.”
1:36 pm: The Pacers were one of two teams fined by the NBA ahead of the All-Star break for the manner in which they were managing their players. While Indiana’s $100K fine paled in comparison to the $500K penalty the Jazz received, commissioner Adam Silver‘s statement at the time suggested that the league believed both clubs were prioritizing “draft position over winning.”
The Pacers were disciplined for holding out Pascal Siakam and two other players for a February 3 game against Utah. According to the league’s statement, the NBA determined, with the help of an independent physician, that all three could have played in the game, perhaps in reduced roles.
The league fined Indiana for violating the league’s player participation policy, noting in its statement that the Pacers also could have held out those players in other games in order to better promote compliance with the policy.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle didn’t address the fine at length at the time it happened, but he was more open about it during a radio appearance on 107.5 The Fan on Tuesday, making it clear to Kevin Bowen and James Boyd that he didn’t think the NBA made the right call (Twitter video link).
“I didn’t agree with it,” Carlisle said (story via Boyd for The Athletic). “There was a league lawyer that was doing the interview that kind of unilaterally decided that Aaron Nesmith, who had been injured the night before and couldn’t hold the ball, should have played in the game, which just seems ridiculous.
“During the interview process – I was not on it, but I heard details – we asked them if they wanted to talk to the doctors, our doctors, about it because it was something that was documented by our doctors and trainers. They said no, they didn’t need to. They talked to their doctors, who did not examine Aaron Nesmith. And we asked them if they wanted to talk to (Nesmith), and they said, no, they didn’t need to.
“This was shocking to me. And during the interview, they also asked if we considered medicating him to play in a game when we were 30 games under .500. So I was very surprised. Obviously didn’t agree with it.”
It’s worth noting that Siakam (who sat out on Feb. 3 due to “rest”) was the only player specifically named in the NBA’s statement, and he meets the criteria of a “star” under the player participation policy. So if the league felt that the Pacers’ management of Siakam violated the policy, it could make the case for a $100K fine (the penalty for a first-time offender) without requiring any additional reasons.
Still, the NBA’s statement suggested the league determined that two additional starters held out of that Feb. 3 game – believed to be Nesmith (left hand strain) and Andrew Nembhard (low back injury management) – were healthy enough to play. Carlisle’s comments call into question how the NBA made that determination and whether or not it was accurate.
Aaron Nesmith Out At Least One More Week Due To Ankle Sprain
Pacers wing Aaron Nesmith, who suffered a right ankle sprain in Thursday’s loss to Washington, will miss at least one more week due to the injury, according to head coach Rick Carlisle (Twitter link via Tony East of Circle City Spin).
Nesmith was limited to 15 minutes in Thursday’s contest and was sidelined for Friday’s rematch with the Wizards. Sunday’s game vs. Dallas will mark his second straight absence, and he will miss at least two more games after that as a result of the sprain.
Indiana has been ravaged by injuries in 2025/26, as several players have been sidelined for extended stretches. Forward Obi Toppin, for example, hasn’t played since October after undergoing foot surgery, and second-year swingman Johnny Furphy was diagnosed with a torn ACL in his right knee a couple weeks ago, ending his season early.
In fact, only three Pacers have missed fewer than 10 games this season: Jay Huff (zero), Jarace Walker (one) and Pascal Siakam (six). All-Star forward Siakam will return to action on Sunday after missing the team’s last two games.
Nesmith missed 19 consecutive games from mid-November to late-December because of a left knee sprain. The 26-year-old small forward, who was nominated for the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week award for games played from Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, has averaged 13.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 2.1 APG in 33 games this season (30.0 MPG).
Central Notes: Cunningham, Bickerstaff, Siakam, Bulls
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham will make his second straight All-Star appearance on Sunday. He tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape that being selected to the 2026 exhibition was one of his long-term goals, as the mini-tournament is being held at the Intuit Dome, where the men’s basketball competition will take place at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“The L.A. All-Star Game was part of that plan,” Cunningham said. “I wanted to make sure I’m in there. And then win a championship and be an Olympic point guard. It’s all part of the long-term plan, for sure.”
Cunningham is having an excellent all-around season for Detroit, averaging 25.3 points, 9.6 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals on .462/.330/.802 shooting through 46 games (34.9 minutes per game). Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made sure to point out that Cunningham excels on both ends of the court for the top-seeded Pistons.
“He is a [6-foot-6] point guard who dominates all areas of the offensive end of the floor,” Bickerstaff told Andscape. “But what I don’t think people talk about enough is his defense, his willingness to guard the other team’s best players.
“The impact that he has on that end of the floor – to me, he’s one of the top five two-way players in our league. There may be some guys that they talk about offensively, but his impact is on both ends of the floor. There’s not many guys in this league that are that way.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- In an interview with Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, Bickerstaff said he didn’t expect to be hired by the Pistons in the 2024 offseason after being let go by the Cavaliers. “I didn’t think I was going to get a job,” Bickerstaff told Heavy Sports. “There weren’t jobs available at that point. So I was just sitting at home and hanging out with my family back in Cleveland trying to figure out what was next. We were going to move to San Clemente, California. There’s a soccer academy there, and we were going to go there and let the kids go to the academy and train.” Bickerstaff has spearheaded a dramatic turnaround in Detroit, and he says he was able to grow from the experience of being fired by the Cavaliers. “That month that I had off gave me an opportunity to, like, evaluate myself and think about what I was going to be at the next opportunity and just understanding that the focus should always be on the process and not just focused on the results,” he said. “In my last year in Cleveland, I let that get the best of me, where it was like results, results, results. And we skipped some of the process stuff.”
- Pacers star Pascal Siakam recently spoke to Mark Medina of EssentiallySports at the Basketball Without Borders All-Star camp at the Lakers’ practice facility. Siakam was introduced to the NBA world when he attended a BWB camp in Africa in 2012. “I saw Luol Deng. I saw Serge Ibaka. I saw NBA players at that time. I thought, ‘This is cool.’ I saw NBA coaches. I had never been exposed to the NBA beforehand. I think that was my first time,” Siakam said. “I think I will always remember those memories and see how excited we were to get the opportunity. After that, my love for the game grew. We’re here now.” The All-Star forward also discussed his growth as a vocal leader, Tyrese Haliburton‘s impact on the team as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon, and his excitement about playing with new starting center Ivica Zubac, among other topics.
- Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times grades the Bulls‘ trade deadline moves, giving the front office a D-plus because the series of transactions “came at least a season too late.”
Jazz Fined $500K By NBA; Pacers Docked $100K
The Jazz have been fined $500K for “conduct detrimental to the league” related to Utah’s games on February 7 (at Orlando) and Feb. 9 (at Miami), the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Star forwards Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. sat out the entire fourth quarter of both of those contests, even though the league says they were “otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt.” Utah was up seven points entering the fourth quarter against Orlando and wound up losing by three; on Monday, the team was up three points entering the final period and won by four.
Jackson, whom the Jazz recently acquired in a trade with Memphis, will undergo season-ending surgery for a growth on his knee over the All-Star break. According to Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Jazz wanted to shut Jackson down when they discovered the issue in his physical, but the former Defensive Player of the Year was “adamant” about his desire to play at least one home game before the procedure.
Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports has heard similarly, stating (via Twitter) that Jackson wanted to play a few games with the Jazz prior to undergoing surgery, which O’Connor calls preventive.
Sources tell Jones that Jackson was on a restriction of 25 minutes, which is one reason why he didn’t play in the fourth quarter of either of those games. Of course, even if that’s true, it doesn’t explain Markkanen’s late-game absence.
Jazz owner Ryan Smith responded to the fine on social media (Twitter link), posting an eye roll emoji along with, “Agree to disagree … Also, we won the game in Miami and got fined? That makes sense …”
The Pacers, meanwhile, were fined $100K for violating the NBA’s player participation policy in relation to Indiana’s game vs. Utah on Feb. 3.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Pacers didn’t play Pascal Siakam — who is considered a “star” under the terms of the policy — and two other starters (they weren’t specifically named, but the league was likely referencing Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith). The league claims all three of those players could have suited up.
Alternatively, per the NBA, the Pacers could have sat the players in other games in a way that would have “better promoted compliance with the policy.” The player participation policy discourages teams from sitting several healthy players in the same game of a back-to-back set.
“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” commissioner Adam Silver said in the press release. “Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”
Team Rosters For All-Star Game Revealed
The rosters for the three-team 2026 All-Star Game were revealed by the NBA on Tuesday night (Twitter link).
The USA Stars, coached by the Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff, will be made up of the following eight players:
Scottie Barnes- Devin Booker
- Cade Cunningham
- Jalen Duren
- Anthony Edwards
- Chet Holmgren
- Jalen Johnson
- Tyrese Maxey
The USA Stripes, coached by the Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, will have the following roster:
- Jaylen Brown
- Jalen Brunson
- Stephen Curry
- Kevin Durant
- LeBron James
- Kawhi Leonard
- Donovan Mitchell
- Norman Powell
The World team, coached by the Raptors’ Darko Rajakovic, will feature these nine players:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Luka Doncic
- Deni Avdija
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Nikola Jokic
- Jamal Murray
- Pascal Siakam
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Victor Wembanyama
The U.S. All-Stars were assigned to teams based on age, with the younger group placed on USA Stars and the older group placed on USA Stripes. Team World is composed of international players.
The format for the Feb. 15 event consists of a round-robin mini-tournament with four 12-minute games. The matchups are as follows:
- Game 1: USA Stars vs. World
- Game 2: USA Stripes vs. winning team of Game 1
- Game 3: USA Stripes vs. losing team of Game 1
- Game 4: Championship (top two teams from round-robin play)
If all three teams finish 1-1 after the round-robin games, the first tiebreaker will be point differential across each team’s two games.
Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown Named Players Of The Month
Lakers guard Luka Doncic has been named the NBA’s Player of the Month for the Western Conference, while Celtics wing Jaylen Brown has won the award in the East, the league announced today (Twitter link).
The Lakers were 9-6 in games Doncic played in January, and the All-Star guard increased his league-leading scoring average by racking up 34.0 points per game in those 15 outings. He posted a shooting line of .506/.392/.747 for the month while also contributing 9.1 assists, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per night.
Doncic had four 30-point triple-doubles in January, capped by a 37-point, 13-assist, 11-rebound outing in Washington to wrap up the month last Friday. It’s the sixth Player of the Month award of his career and his first since he became a Laker almost exactly one year ago.
Brown’s career year continued in January as he led the Celtics to a 9-5 record in the 14 games he played, averaging 29.2 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 4.6 APG. The 29-year-old matched a career high by scoring 50 points in a win over the Clippers on January 3, then had a 27-point triple-double in a double-overtime victory in Brooklyn on Jan. 23.
While his teammate Jayson Tatum has racked up five Player of the Month awards over the course of his career, this is the first time Brown has earned the honor.
Brown beat out fellow nominees Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell of the Heat, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Sixers center Joel Embiid, Hornets forward Brandon Miller, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, and Pacers forward Pascal Siakam for the January award, per the NBA (Twitter link).
The other Western Conference nominees were Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Rockets forward Kevin Durant, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.
NBA Announces 2026 All-Star Reserves
The NBA has announced its 2026 All-Star reserves, revealing this year’s honorees on NBC ahead of the Knicks/Lakers matchup (Twitter links).
The following players will join the 10 All-Star starters the league announced on Monday, January 19.
Eastern Conference Reserves:
Guard: Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)- Guard: Norman Powell (Heat)
- Frontcourt: Jalen Johnson (Hawks)
- Frontcourt: Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks)
- Frontcourt: Pascal Siakam (Pacers)
- Frontcourt: Scottie Barnes (Raptors)
- Frontcourt: Jalen Duren (Pistons)
The East will see three first-time All-Stars in Johnson, Powell, and Duren. Powell is averaging a career-high 23.0 points per game in his first season in Miami, while Johnson has emerged as one of the league’s most versatile point forwards on offense, averaging 23.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per night while hitting 36.0% of his threes. Duren is averaging 18.0 PPG and 10.7 RPG, and is the second-leading scorer on the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons.
Towns is having a down year from an efficiency standpoint but has managed to contribute in other ways, leading the NBA in rebounds per game (11.8) while scoring 20.0 points per game on 36.4% shooting from deep. He will join teammate Jalen Brunson, who was named a starter for the second straight year, while Duren will join running mate Cade Cunningham.
Western Conference Reserves:
- Guard: Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
- Guard: Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
- Guard: Devin Booker (Suns)
- Frontcourt: Chet Holmgren (Thunder)
- Frontcourt: Kevin Durant (Rockets)
- Frontcourt: Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers)
- Frontcourt: LeBron James (Lakers)
For the Western Conference, Murray, Holmgren, and Avdija are all first-time All-Stars. Murray had long been considered one of the league’s best players – if not the best – to never take part in the event, but will no longer hold that title. He’s having his best scoring (25.8 PPG) and play-making (7.4 APG) season as a pro, and has helped the Nuggets hold onto the No. 2 seed despite missing co-star and All-Star starter Nikola Jokic for 16 games.
Avdija has exploded for the Blazers this season, averaging 25.5 points per game (after scoring 16.9 PPG last season) while also contributing 7.2 RPG and 6.7 APG and leading Portland to what is currently a play-in spot.
Despite cooling off a bit since his scorching start, Holmgren is averaging 17.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 2.0 BPG and has anchored Oklahoma City’s dominant defense all season, especially while starting center Isaiah Hartenstein faced an extended absence due to a calf injury.
Booker was named to the team after leading the overachieving Suns to a 30-19 record — they’re currently percentage points behind the Lakers for the No. 6 spot in the West.
James was named to his 22nd consecutive All-Star team despite having a down year by his own standards. He is currently averaging 21.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 6.6 APG for the Lakers, who are 29-18 coming into tonight’s game against the Knicks.
The Lakers, Knicks, Thunder, Pistons, and Nuggets are the teams with multiple players represented.
Some notable players not to make this year’s All-Star team include Michael Porter Jr., Kawhi Leonard, Bam Adebayo, Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Lauri Markkanen, Brandon Ingram, and Alperen Sengun — they’re among the top candidates to become injury replacements.
As Ian Begley of SNY notes (via Twitter), the NBA’s decision to include a USA versus World component requires at least eight international players. Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Jokic, Avdija, Murray, and Siakam will make up a majority of the World roster, but with starter Giannis Antetokounmpo injured, the league will need to decide whether Towns, who suits up for the Dominican Republic in international play, as well as Powell, who played with Jamaica last summer, will be considered international or American players, Marc Stein observes (via Twitter). Either way, an injury replacement will need to be named for the Eastern Conference.
Stein adds that the NBA will announce the official roster breakdowns on Tuesday (Twitter link).