Sheldon Mac

And-Ones: P. Jones, Mac, Clark, Opportunities, Hardship Deals

Perry Jones and Sheldon Mac are the latest players attempting NBA comebacks, agent Harrison Gaines tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter). The two players will be entering the G League player pool.

Jones was the 28th overall pick of the 2012 draft for the Thunder and played three seasons with the team, last appearing in 2014/15. In 143 career games, Jones holds averages of 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 11.7 minutes.

The 29-year-old Mac appeared in 30 games for the Wizards in 2016/17, holding modest averages of 3.0 points and 1.1 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per contest.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Veteran forward Earl Clark has joined Miami’s G League squad, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. It was reported last week that Clark had signed a G League deal.
  • The opportunities for players caused by COVID-19 absences are no laughing matter, write Jon Krawczynski and Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Krawczynski and Weiss note that Timberwolves players who’d been out of the team’s rotation (Jake Layman, Nathan Knight, Jaylen Nowell) or out of the NBA (Greg Monroe) are trying to make the most of their newfound minutes. “I’m not quitting,” Monroe said. “I believe I belong in the NBA. So I’ll just come out and play wherever it is, as hard as I can.”
  • Michael Scotto of HoopsHype takes a behind the scenes look at what it’s like for players on hardship deals. Scotto spoke to Brandon Knight, Lance Stephenson and Joe Johnson about their new NBA opportunities.
  • There was a slight change to the NBA’s COVID-19 isolation rules for players outside of a team environment, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The change has no bearing on a return to team activities, so players who enter the health and safety protocols will still be required to remain away from the team for six days, unless they return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Seven Players On 10-Day Contracts When NBA Suspended Season

A moratorium agreement between the NBA and the NBPA will reportedly affect players on 10-day contracts, as Shams Charania of The Athletic said earlier today. Following up on that point, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links) confirms that the clock will stop on the 10-day contracts that were active when the NBA suspended its season.

Presumably, Grizzlies forward Anthony Tolliver won’t be impacted. His 10-day deal with Memphis was set to expire on Wednesday night, the last night of game action before the suspension began. Once the moratorium is lifted and play resumes, he’ll likely have to sign a new 10-day contract or rest-of-season pact with the Grizzlies to remain with the team.

However, there were seven other players whose 10-day contracts had yet to run their course as of Wednesday night. Here are the affected players, with the number of days remaining on their deals noted in parentheses:

We’ll have to wait for official details on the moratorium agreement to confirm exactly how these 10-day deals will be handled.

Based on today’s reports though, it sounds like the contracts for players like Chealey, Hall, and Randle, which would have expired on Thursday night, will carry over to the day the season resumes. A player like Noah, who still had a week left on his 10-day contract, should play out that week following the resumption of the season.

Unless we learn otherwise, our roster counts page and 10-day tracker will assume these seven 10-day contracts remain active.

Cavs Sign Sheldon Mac To 10-Day Contract

The Cavaliers have signed guard Sheldon Mac to a 10-day contract, announcing the move in a press release on Sunday. Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders first reported (via Twitter) that the two sides had agreed to a 10-day deal.

Mac joins swingman Sir’Dominic Pointer as the two Cleveland players on 10-day contracts, with the team signing Pointer to his deal last week.

“It’s been 3 years since I been on a NBA court…. today it ends!!!” Mac posted on social media. “All them earling mornings & late nights of therapy I will never forget!!!! ROTM is back.”

Mac, a 6’5″ guard, has played 41 games with the Cavs’ G League affiliate in Canton this year. The 27-year-old has averaged 15.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists on the season, going undrafted out of the University of Miami back in 2016.

Cleveland’s roster now stands at 17 players, which includes two players on two-way contracts. Mac, who is set to earn $81,678 during his 10-day deal, is the seventh player to receive a 10-day deal from the Cavs this season, as our tracker shows.

2019 NBA G League Draft Recap

Former Miami Hurricanes star Anthony Lawrence II was selected by Northern Arizona with the first pick in today’s G League draft. A combo forward, Lawrence spent four years in college, averaging 12.5 points and 6.6 rebounds last season. He was signed and waived by the Jazz last Saturday.

Lawrence played for the Cavaliers during Summer League, then signed with Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Israel. However, he parted ways with the team earlier this month after one preseason game.

Some other notable selections include:

Mourning, who spent four years at Georgetown, is the son of Hall of Fame center Alonzo Mourning. He played for the Heat during Summer League. Duval, once a highly touted point guard at Duke, was a two-way player for the Bucks for most of last season and appeared in three NBA games.

Mac, formerly known as Sheldon McClellan, got into 30 games for the Wizards during the 2016/17 season. Thabeet, the second player chosen in the 2009 NBA Draft, worked out extensively with the Knicks this summer and is hoping to return to the NBA at age 32.

Other prominent draftees include former Celtics and Lakers guard Vander Blue, the 13th pick in the second round by Santa Cruz, and Trey Phills, son of former NBA player Bobby Phills, who went to Windy City with the 18th pick in the fourth round.

The full results of this year’s draft can be found here.

Hawks Waive Sheldon Mac

As expected, the Hawks have waived injured guard Sheldon Mac after acquiring him from the Wizards in a trade earlier today. Atlanta announced in a press release that it has requested waivers on Mac.

As we detailed in our earlier story on the Mac deal, the 25-year-old was on a non-guaranteed salary with the Wizards this season, but suffered a torn Achilles in the fall, which essentially guaranteed that he’d receive his full-year salary. Washington reduced its projected luxury-tax bill and opened up a roster spot in the deal that sent him to Atlanta.

Mac is the second player today that the Hawks have acquired and subsequently waived. The team also traded for Okaro White in a deal with the Heat and then released him. After today’s moves, Atlanta will have one open roster spot.

Wizards Trade Sheldon Mac To Hawks

4:38pm: The trade is now official, according to press releases issued by both the Wizards and Hawks. The heavily-protected second-rounder acquired by Washington in the deal is a 2019 pick.

3:18pm: The Hawks sent the Wizards a heavily-protected second-round pick in the swap, tweets Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That pick likely won’t ever change hands, and was simply included because of the requirement that Washington receive something in the deal.

Cunningham adds that Atlanta plans to waive Mac.

3:08pm: The Wizards are sending guard Sheldon Mac to Atlanta in a deal with the Hawks, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Atlanta will also receive cash in the trade, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.

Mac, 25, spent his rookie season with the Wizards in 2016/17 and had a non-guaranteed salary for 2017/18. However, before Washington made a decision on whether to keep him on the regular season roster, Mac suffered a torn Achilles, essentially guaranteeing his salary for the year.

By moving Mac, the Wizards will reduce their projected luxury tax bill and will open up a spot on their 15-man roster in case they want to get involved in the buyout market. The Hawks, meanwhile, will likely receive enough cash in the deal from Washington to cover the remaining portion of Mac’s salary.

2018 Free Agent Stock Watch: Washington Wizards

The Wizards made the bold decision to commit max money to three organization grown players long-term and will permanently have their hands full managing their finances as a result. In order to make the strategy work, they’ll need to be responsible with where they spend the rest of their budget.

While the club already projects to dip into the luxury tax this season and next (with over $29MM in guaranteed money tied up in Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi in 2018/19 alone), they’ll get a chance to practice financial restraint this summer with a handful of free agents that they can afford to part ways with if they feel the need to.

Tim Frazier, PG, 27 (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $4.1MM deal in 2016
One season removed from a fantastic stint as a spot starter in New Orleans in 2016/17, Frazier hasn’t had much of an impact since coming over in a draft day trade last June. The Wizards were in need of a reliable backup point guard when they targeted Frazier but seem to have grown comfortable with the idea of Tomas Satoransky handling backup point guard duties in John Wall‘s absence. For that reason, Frazier will probably have to choose between rounding out the club’s rotation as a third-string playmaker or look elsewhere.

Sheldon Mac, SG, 25 (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $1.8MM deal in 2016
A torn Achilles has rendered Mac unable to suit up in 2017/18. He’ll hit restricted free agency in the summer but don’t expect any suitors until he can prove that he’s healthy enough to battle for a rotation spot. That’ll likely have to happen in the G League.

Chris McCullough, PF, 23 (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $3,8MM deal in 2015
The Wizards, to this point, have shown little interested in working McCullough into their rotation. The 23-year-old showed some flashes of promise during his rookie campaign with the Nets in 2015/16 but then again many fringe NBA players have looked half-decent in Brooklyn’s lineup the last few years. If all goes well, McCullough will find another squad to break training camp with next fall. It’s hard to say whether or not there will be much more beyond that.

Jodie Meeks, SG, 30 (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $6.7MM deal in 2017
After several years of struggling to stay on the court, Meeks has shown that he can contribute modestly off the bench. While his player option for 2018/19 comes in at a rather cheap $3.5MM for a player with his experience, don’t be surprised if the veteran elects to return. There may be a team out there willing to give the career .417 three-point shooter more than that on the open market but an argument can be made that Meeks could benefit more in the long run from simply focusing on staying healthy and relevant where he is, while worrying about free agency in 2019.

Mike Scott, PF, 29 (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $1.7MM deal in 2017
The Wizards got a key rotation piece for dirt cheap over the summer and the forward has done nothing but raise his stock over the course of the season. Expect teams to take an interest in the veteran role player with impressive efficiency numbers and the ability to put points on the board. Washington would likely be happy to retain him but will be limited in what they can offer him.

Jason Smith, C, 32 (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $15.7MM deal in 2016
Smith hit free agency at the perfect time back in 2016. This summer, in contrast, teams won’t be so willing to cough up significant money for career reserves with forgettable portfolios. Smith’s stints with the Magic, Knicks and Pelicans hardly justified the contract he signed two summers ago but he’s done even less since arriving in Washington. For that reason, expect him to accept his $5.5MM player option.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wizards’ Sheldon Mac To Miss 6-8 Months

OCTOBER 9, 9:54am: Mac will undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair his torn left Achilles and is expected to miss six to eight months, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical.

Mac’s 2017/18 salary is mostly non-guaranteed, but the Wizards will have to pay his salary until he returns to health, whether or not he remains on the roster. If Washington expects him to miss most or all of the season, the club may waive him simply to open up a roster spot.

OCTOBER 8, 3:47pm: The Wizards have scheduled an MRI for Monday for guard Sheldon Mac, tweets Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. A source tells Buckner the team believes Mac may have torn an Achilles tendon during today’s preseason game.

Mac had to be carried off the court after getting hurt on an attempted drive to the basket against the Cavaliers. He was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.

Formerly known as Sheldon McClellan, the 24-year-old shooting guard appeared in 30 games for Washington last season, averaging 3.0 points in 9.6 minutes per night. His contract for this season only carries a $50K guarantee through January 10.

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Crawford, Mack

The Hornets have taken significant steps forward this offseason but one of the big questions heading into the 2017/18 campaign will be whether wings Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Nicolas Batum will be able to thrive together.

In a recent mailbag, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tackled the question arguing that the lanky pair help the squad more than hinder them. Bonnell refers to the Hornets’ defensive woes as the major culprit for Charlotte’s disappointing 2016/17 campaign, saying that taking Kidd-Gilchrist out of the picture would only make matters worse.

Bonnell does add, however, that the Hornets would be wise to feature rookie Malik Monk as soon as he’s able to prove that he’s reasonably competent on the defensive end. If he slots in at the two, Batum could then slide up to the three.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Hawks acquired Jamal Crawford in the three-way deal that sent Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers and immediately began pursuing a buyout with the 36-year-old veteran. Exact details of the buyout are not yet known but Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that the guard’s cap hit will be around $11MM in 2017/18.
  • There’s no disputing Shelvin Mack‘s track record of success, he suited up for the 60-win Hawks of 2014/15 and served a valuable role for the 2016/17 Jazz squad that climbed back to relevance. According to John Denton of Orlando’s official website, the former Butler Bulldog thinks that even the Magic can be winners in the immediate future.
  • After a breakout 2013/14 campaign in which he filled in admirably for an injured Kobe Bryant, Jodie Meeks has posted three forgettable, injury-plagued seasons. Now a member of the Wizards, the soon-to-be 30-year-old is ready to reset and start anew. “I came back from my thumb at the end of the season,” he told Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic. “I played okay and finished out the season healthy. This summer I got some rest. Now I’m working out again and I feel fine.
  • After riding the pine for the Wizards in 2016/17, Sheldon Mac and Daniel Ochefu have taken noticeable steps forward, Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes.