Skal Labissiere Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Add Skal Labissiere, Will Sign James Young

December 9th, 2020 at 6:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

DECEMBER 9: The signing of Labissiere is now official, the Knicks have tweeted.

DECEMBER 7: Big man Skal Labissiere is signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Knicks, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. According to Stein, James Young is also headed to New York’s camp, apparently on a similar deal.

Labissiere and Young will receive $50K bonuses if they’re on the roster of the Knicks’ G League affiliate, Westchester, for at least 60 days.

Naturally, both former first-round picks hope they can make an even bigger impression in camp. Labissiere became an unrestricted free agent when the Hawks declined to extend a qualifying offer last month.

Labissiere, 24, played 33 games for the Trail Blazers last season, averaging 5.8 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 17.2 MPG. He suffered a knee injury in December and never suited up for Atlanta after it acquired him in a trade deadline deal.

Young, 25, was the 17th pick of the 2014 draft by Boston. He hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since the 2017/18 season, when he made six appearances for Philadelphia. He played in Israel last season.

The Knicks already have the maximum of 20 players in camp, so they’ll have to open up roster spots to sign the duo.

Hawks Notes: Okongwu, Trade Offers, Labissiere, QOs

November 19th, 2020 at 2:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk never got to see Onyeka Okongwu play in person, but he was convinced the USC center was the right choice with the No. 6 pick, according to Chris Kirschner and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Atlanta’s scouts were promoting Okongwu during the season and urged Schlenk to watch him, but that fell through when the Pac-12 Tournament was canceled.

Okongwu also didn’t work out for the Hawks because of a stress fracture in his sesamoid bone, which is located underneath his big toe. However, Schlenk knows what his new center can provide without seeing him in action.

“He’s going to be a plus rebounder defensively,” the Atlanta GM said. “He’s going to be a rim protector, and the other thing he does is he moves his feet very, very well in pick-and-roll coverages, and as you guys know, that’s extremely important for big guys to be able to guard in pick-and-rolls. Those are his strengths coming in. He’s got great instincts. Improving defensively is important for our group. The foundation of your defense is your big guy. They’re kind of the quarterback of the defense. They’re on the back line. They see everything. … That’s his strength, and that’s a very valuable strength in the NBA.”

There’s more from Atlanta:

The Hawks took a long look at Israeli forward Deni Avdija and Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton, according to Kirschner and Vecenie, but decided Okongwu’s potential was too good to pass up. They also listened to trade-down offers from the Knicks, Wizards and a few teams in the teens, but there were no prospects they especially liked in that range.
Atlanta now has four centers on its roster, but the front office won’t be in a hurry to unload any of them, Kirschner and Vecenie add. The Hawks traded for Clint Capela and Dewayne Dedmon last season. They also have Bruno Fernando, and John Collins plays in the middle sometimes. The addition of Okongwu means there’s no longer room on the roster for Skal Labissiere, who will not receive a qualifying offer. QOs also won’t be coming for DeAndre’ Bembry, Damian Jones and Charlie Brown Jr.
The Hawks aren’t worried that Okongwu’s injury will be a long-term issue, writes Sarah K. Spencer of The Journal-Constitution. Their medical team was able to evaluate his condition during the pre-draft process in October and will check him again soon to see how much he has healed. “The doctors, they weren’t concerned about a long-term injury at all,” Schlenk said. “So hopefully it’s healed from when the MRI was taken probably about four weeks ago, but it’s really hard to say until we get him here and get our doctors to see him. But there was no concern of a long-term injury with it.”

Hawks’ Bembry, Labissiere, Jones To Become UFAs

November 19th, 2020 at 1:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have elected not to extend qualifying offers to DeAndre’ Bembry, Skal Labissiere, Damian Jones, or Charlie Brown Jr., according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (Twitter link). As a result, all four players will be unrestricted free agents rather than restricted.

The decisions don’t come as a major surprise. Bembry was the No. 21 pick in 2016 and has spent the last four seasons in Atlanta, but didn’t have a great year in 2019/20, averaging 5.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .456/.231/.542 shooting in 43 games (21.3 MPG). Labissiere was said to be someone who intrigued Atlanta when he was acquired at the trade deadline, but he was unable to suit up for the Hawks due to health issues.

Jones made 55 appearances for Atlanta in 2019/20 but was unlikely to have a regular role next season with Clint Capela healthy and Onyeka Okongwu joining the Hawks in the draft. Brown, meanwhile, saw limited action in 10 games for the Hawks while on a two-way contract.

While those four players appear unlikely to return to Atlanta, Kirschner says (via Twitter) that the team is expected to guarantee Brandon Goodwin‘s minimum salary for 2020/21. Goodwin would earn a $1.7MM salary before becoming eligible for restricted free agency himself in 2021.

Skal Labissiere Interested In Hawks Reunion

September 26th, 2020 at 10:51am CST by marksuleymanov

Skal Labissiere has yet to suit up for the Hawks since being acquired in early February and has not seen any NBA action since December due to a knee injury. Now a participant at Atlanta’s minicamp, Labissiere has made it clear he wants to return to the Hawks next season, Sarak K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.

The Hawks were not invited to the Orlando campus once the 2019/20 season resumed given their poor record. However, Labissiere has been a frequent presence around the team, demonstrating his progress in recovering from his injury.

“Just to show that I’m ready to go, I can play,” Labissere said. “I’m ready to play. I’ve been out since December, and I’ve been doing rehab with the team that whole time, so for me I just wanted to show that ‘Hey, I’m ready to go,’ I’m ready to play, and I feel good. I just want to play basketball. It’s been a long time since I’ve played.”

Labissiere, 24, played in just 33 games this past season, averaging 5.8 PPG and 5.1 RPG for the Trail Blazers before he was traded. The 28th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft is not just the Hawks’ only pending free agent to participate in minicamp — he hopes the work he has put in with the team’s staff has earned him an opportunity to return for the 2020/21 campaign.

“I would love to be here,” Labissiere said. “Obviously, if I was not interested in being here I would not be here doing training camp, I could have been just working out somewhere else and not in the bubble setting. I’m very interested in being here, and we’ll see.”

Hawks Notes: Offseason, Depth, Capela, Draft, Cap

June 10th, 2020 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks are among the teams pushing the NBA to come up with a plan to ensure that the eight clubs not invited to Orlando this summer get some sort of offseason alternative to keep their players active and at their facility. Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, general manager Travis Schlenk stressed that having those players around for practices, scrimmages, and possibly exhibition games is especially important for a young team like Atlanta.

“One of the most important things for our guys is to continue to play,” Schlenk said. “Just think about last year. De’Andre Hunter, in Summer League, only played about a game-and-a-half before he got hurt. Now he was able to get a ton of minutes, which was great, but Cam (Reddish) was on a minutes restriction for the first half of the season and didn’t play in Summer League. We all saw the growth he had when he was able to play.

“Now if we go another summer where those guys aren’t on the court and able to play — same with Bruno (Fernando) — he didn’t get the minutes those other guys had. Summer League obviously isn’t going to happen this year. All of those things are important to our young guys as they continue to get better.”

As Kirschner observes, even after the NBA determines what to do with its eight non-Orlando teams, the Hawks may not get the opportunity to take a closer look at certain players they’d like to evaluate. Skal Labissiere, for instance, was acquired at the trade deadline but didn’t suit up for Atlanta due to a knee injury. According to Kirschner, Schlenk said on Tuesday that Labissiere has ramped up his workouts and and probably would have been able to play if the Hawks had been part of a resumed season.

However, with the former first-round pick facing potential restricted free agency this offseason, it probably wouldn’t make sense for him – and other FAs-to-be – to risk injury by participating in offseason scrimmages before signing a new contract.

Here’s more on the Hawks:

As relayed by Kirschner and Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link), Schlenk said the club’s top priority this offseason will be adding depth. Schlenk specifically cited the wing and power forward as positions the Hawks will look to fortify. Securing a reliable backup point guard will also be important, per Schlenk, who noted that Jeff Teague is one option for that spot.
Schlenk provided a positive update on Clint Capela‘s health, according to Spencer (Twitter link): “His foot’s feeling fine. He’s got his strength back. If we’re able to have some sort of competition this summer, whether it’s official or unofficial scrimmages, it would be great to get him on the court with our guys and just start that process.” Capela was acquired in a four-team deadline deal, but has yet to make his debut as a Hawk.
According to Schlenk (via Kirschner), the Hawks have yet to interview any potential top-10 picks in this year’s draft class, but have talked to some prospects projected to be late first-round selections or second-rounders.
The Hawks will likely have the most cap room of any NBA team this offseason, and Schlenk has the green light to spend, but he wants to make sure the club does so responsibly. “I honestly believe the worst thing that teams can do is when they have the money and owners or people in my position feel the pressure to go out and spend it,” Schlenk said, per Kirschner. “You give out a long, big contract, and you guys have probably heard me say this, but those mistakes can really hamper your franchise. When you give out those long, big contracts, you need to make sure they’re the right guys.”

Southeast Notes: Magic, Hawks, Heat, Jones

May 13th, 2020 at 11:34am CST by Luke Adams

After initially targeting Tuesday as the date for the potential reopening of their practice facility, the Magic delayed that target date to Wednesday, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

While there’s a chance that the team hits that target date and opens its facility today, Orlando is still waiting on coronavirus test results for some of its asymptomatic players and staffers, according to Robbins, who tweets that the Magic are in a “holding pattern” for the time being.

Although their plans remain fluid, the Magic appear likely to allow players to conduct individual workouts at their facility soon, something the Hawks did earlier this week.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has questioned the need to reopen his team’s facility, since his players have their own workout equipment and hoops, and the NBA is limiting players to an hour at a time at practice facilities. But Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk sees value in making his team’s facility available to players, as Chris Kirschner of The Athletic writes.

“You can certainly get a lot out of this,” Schlenk said. “You can get individual skill work, form stuff. For us, the focus this week is to really just get the guys back in the building and be able to get out of the house. It’s more the mental side than the physical side of things that we can get out of this. I’ve told the coaches that this isn’t the week to prove you’re the best individual coach in the league. This week is about getting the guys in here, getting their bodies moving.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Outside of the young core building blocks on their roster, it’s not clear how many of the Hawks‘ current complementary pieces might be keepers. Chris Kirschner of The Athletic digs into that subject by examining which of the team’s free-agents-to-be are most (and least) likely to return. In Kirschner’s view, Skal Labissiere and Jeff Teague are at least decent candidates to re-sign, but DeAndre’ Bembry, Treveon Graham, and Damian Jones probably aren’t.
Speaking at a “virtual luncheon” earlier this week, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said the franchise has committed to paying all of its full-time and part-time employees through at least the end of the fiscal year on June 30, per Tim Tucker of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel explores what it would take for the Heat to lose Derrick Jones in free agency this offseason and how the team would replace his minutes in that scenario.
We rounded up a handful of Wizards-related items earlier today.

Hawks Rumors: Pierce, Bembry, FAs, Collins

March 20th, 2020 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

In a look at some of the offseason questions that the Hawks will have to address later this year, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic points to head coach Lloyd Pierce‘s job status as one of those unanswered questions. As Kirschner explains, Pierce has done a good job developing Atlanta’s young players, but there are other factors that could impact his job security.

For one, star guard Trae Young hasn’t always been on the same page with Pierce, according to Kirschner, who suggests the All-Star guard has disagreed with some coaching decisions and didn’t love Pierce’s comments about Young not being named a finalist for Team USA’s roster. Sources with knowledge of the Hawks star’s thinking “have confirmed that his relationship with Pierce isn’t strong,” Kirschner writes.

Some Hawks players have also questioned Pierce’s in-game decisions and rotations. According to Kirschner, one player even offered the following assessment when discussing those decisions: “It’s almost as if we actually are tanking on purpose.”

Here are some other subjects that Kirschner touches on in his story for The Athletic:

DeAndre’ Bembry has been a personal favorite of Pierce’s, but he may have played his last game for the Hawks, according to Kirschner, who hears from sources that the RFA-to-be was “readily available” leading up to the trade deadline.
Kirschner is also skeptical that Jeff Teague or Damian Jones, who will be free agents this offseason, will be back with Atlanta in 2020/21. However, he believes Skal Labissiere is a candidate to be re-signed, despite not yet playing a game for the Hawks, since the recently-acquired big man has long been a favorite of GM Travis Schlenk.
If the 2019/20 season doesn’t resume, the Hawks won’t get a chance to evaluate the on-court fit between Clint Capela and John Collins before the latter becomes extension-eligible, and Kirsher thinks it’ll be hard for the team to offer Collins a massive long-term deal without having seen whether that frontcourt pairing works.
Given the lack of a clear-cut hierarchy at the top of this year’s draft, Kirschner speculates that the Hawks would be open to trading down or trying to trade that pick for an impact player, even if they were to land the No. 1 selection. Schlenk showed a willingness to move down in 2018, passing on the chance to select Luka Doncic.

Injury Updates: Markkanen, Lillard, Hawks, Zion, KD

March 4th, 2020 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of former top-10 picks are expected to return to action on Wednesday night after somewhat lengthy injury absences.

One of those players is Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen, who has been sidelined since January 22 due to a stress reaction in his pelvis. According to the team (via Twitter), Markkanen will return to Chicago’s starting lineup tonight in Minnesota, making him the third frontcourt player in the last week to get healthy for the team — Wendell Carter and Otto Porter are also back in action.

More importantly for the playoff race, Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is being listed as probable for Wednesday’s game against Washington (Twitter link via Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com). Lillard has been out since injuring his groin on February 12. Including that game, Portland has gone just 2-5 since his injury, but the team remains in the postseason hunt, 3.5 games back of Memphis.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

The Hawks announced today in a press release that big men Clint Capela (foot) and Skal Labissiere (knee) continue to rehab their respective injuries and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Both players were acquired at the trade deadline, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll see much -if any – action for Atlanta this season.
In other Hawks-related injury news, swingman DeAndre’ Bembry, who is dealing with abdominal pain, has been cleared for non-contact work, head coach Lloyd Pierce said today (Twitter link via Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Bembry, a potential restricted free agent this offseason, hasn’t played since January 20.
Zion Williamson isn’t currently dealing with an injury, but the Pelicans have played it safe since he returned from knee surgery, opting not to play him in back-to-back sets. That’s expected to change tonight, with the No. 1 overall pick on track to play against Dallas after being active against Minnesota on Tuesday. Andrew Lopez of ESPN has the full story.
During TNT’s Tuesday broadcast (video link), Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports cited league sources who say Nets star Kevin Durant is making good progress in his Achilles recovery and is doing some 3-on-3 work. Durant is on track to be ready for training camp in the fall.

Hawks’ Capela, Labissiere Out At Least Two More Weeks

February 19th, 2020 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

3:59pm: The Hawks have announced in a press release that both Capela and Labissiere will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

1:53pm: A pair of centers acquired by the Hawks at the trade deadline won’t be making their debuts for the team anytime soon, according to head coach Lloyd Pierce, who said today that Clint Capela and Skal Labissiere are still “weeks” away from playing, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter links).

Capela missed the last seven games before the All-Star break – three with Houston and four with Atlanta – due to plantar fasciitis in his right heel. After being acquired by the Hawks in a four-team trade at the deadline, the 25-year-old said he was aiming to get back on the court later this month, but based on Pierce’s update today, it sounds like that won’t happen.

As for Labissiere, he has been on the shelf since December 28 due to a left knee injury. The Trail Blazers’ last update, issued on January 8, suggested he’d be re-evaluated in four weeks. Instead, he was traded to Atlanta around that four-week mark and we haven’t gotten a concrete update on his timeline since then.

The 15-41 Hawks are much closer to the top spot in the draft lottery than they are to the No. 8 seed in the East, so the club won’t rush its injured players back onto the court. Still, Atlanta would presumably like to see how Capela and Labissiere look alongside the team’s young core before the end of the season.

Labissiere will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer. Capela is on a long-term contract, but the Hawks will want to see if he meshes with big man John Collins, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2020 offseason.

Hawks Notes: Dedmon, Labissiere, Collins, Goodwin

February 10th, 2020 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

After engaging with the Kings earlier in the season about a possible Dewayne Dedmon trade, the Hawks didn’t necessarily expect to circle back to those discussions at last week’s trade deadline, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, who says the team felt no real pressure to acquire another center following the Clint Capela trade.

However, Sacramento got back in touch and general manager Travis Schlenk saw an opportunity to land a player he liked, along with a couple second-round draft picks.

“They came in last minute,” Schlenk said of the Kings, per Kirschner. “The way the deal came together was we anticipated Jabari (Parker) was going to probably opt in (to his $6.5MM player option for 2020/21), so we weren’t going to be taking on that much money (by adding Dedmon’s $13.3MM salary for ’20/21).

“Now you’re taking on only $6MM, and we got two seconds. That’s really what drove us. I don’t want to say that we weren’t looking to do it when it came around, but we jumped at the opportunity because it was a small value money-wise, and we got two assets in it.”

Dedmon, who played well for the Hawks before signing with the Kings during the 2019 offseason, struggled in Sacramento and lost his starting role early in the season. According to Kirschner, there’s a belief in Atlanta that the big man was so unhappy with the Kings that it affected him on the court. Atlanta will rely on Dedmon and Capela to help improve an interior defense that has struggled this season.

Let’s round up a few more Hawks notes…

Schlenk had been eyeing Skal Labissiere since his days working as an assistant GM in Golden State, says Kirschner. The Hawks were able to acquire Labissiere from Portland on deadline day in what was essentially a salary dump, but it sounds as if the team will have interest in keeping him beyond this season if he looks good down the stretch. The big man can become a restricted free agent this summer.
John Collins‘ name popped up in trade rumors leading up to the deadline and there was speculation that the Hawks may start looking to move on from the former first-rounder if they acquired an impact center. However, Schlenk downplayed that notion, as Kirschner details. “John has been playing with Damian (Jones) all year,” Schlenk said. “His skill set is the same (as Clint’s). John has been playing with Bruno (Fernando) all year long. This isn’t the first time that John has played with another center. I think the public is making a lot more out of it than we are.”
Asked directly if Collins is considered is still considered a priority for the Hawks’ long-term future, Schlenk responded, “Yeah. John is one of our best players.”
The Hawks’ deadline moves left them with an open spot on their 15-man roster. According to Kirschner (via Twitter), one option being considered is promoting two-way player Brandon Goodwin to a standard contract. Goodwin has averaged 6.9 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 24 games (13.9 MPG) for Atlanta this season.