Wenyen Gabriel Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Caruso, Vogel, Magic, Augustin, Gabriel

March 6th, 2022 at 4:13pm CST by Rory Maher

LeBron James dropped 56 points on the Warriors Saturday night, leading the Lakers to a 124-116 win and ending a four-game losing streak, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. James shot 19-of-31 from the field, 6-of-11 from three, and 12-of-13 from the line while adding 10 rebounds and three assists in nearly 39 minutes of action.

The 56-point effort tied Trae Young‘s NBA season-high and is the most points LeBron has scored in a game for Los Angeles, Buha notes. James said he was just happy to get a win.

“It’s funny, our guys were following me off the floor tonight going into the locker room and they asked me, ‘How does it feel to score 56?’” James said. “I said, ‘Right now, I don’t give a damn about the 56. I’m just happy we got a win.’ That’s just literally the first thing that came to my mind.”

James’ spectacular performance was historic for a couple other reasons, Buha writes. He passed Karl Malone for the most combined regular season and postseason minutes, and became just the fourth player to record 50-plus points in a game at age 37 or older, joining Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Jamal Crawford.

“There’s really no words for it,” coach Frank Vogel said of James’ 56-point game. “An incredible performance by the best to ever do it, in my opinion, and as I’ve said.”

The Lakers have had an undeniably disappointing season, barely clinging to the No. 9 seed in the West with a 28-35 record, but James has been consistently great on offense. He’s now tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo for second in the league in scoring with 29.4 points per game, just a tenth of a point behind Joel Embiid‘s league-leading 29.5. It’s James’ highest scoring average since 2009/10.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

A source tells Marc Stein of Substack that James was a leading supporter of Alex Caruso and badly wanted the Lakers to re-sign him, but the team declined to offer Caruso a contract comparable to the four-year, $37MM deal he received from the Bulls last summer due to luxury tax concerns. Caruso was having a strong season for Chicago, but has played just 28 games to this point and is currently sidelined with a fractured right wrist.
Appearing on NBA Today, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (video link) that the Lakers haven’t moved on from Vogel due to long-term injuries to Anthony Davis and Kendrick Nunn, and more importantly the front office doesn’t think that replacing Vogel would make a difference in the team’s performance. “(The Lakers) would like to get through the rest of this season with Frank Vogel,” Wojnarowski said.
Prior to Saturday’s game, in an appearance on NBA Countdown (video link), Magic Johnson said the trade for Westbrook “could go down as the worst trade in Laker history” if L.A. is unable to advance past the play-in tournament.
D.J. Augustin and Wenyen Gabriel are eager to make an impact with their new club, according to Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. “I know they haven’t been playing up to everybody’s expectations, I would say,” Augustin said of the Lakers. “But it’s the NBA, and things happen. But we’re still in a good position where we can still have a chance. And that’s all you need in this league, is a chance.”

Players Who Have Spent The Most Time This Season On 10-Day Deals

March 3rd, 2022 at 7:23am CST by Luke Adams

It has been a record-setting season for the 10-day contract, which got more use than ever this winter as teams missing players due to COVID-19 scrambled to add multiple replacements at a time using the league’s newly-updated hardship provision.

By our count, an unprecedented 118 players have signed at least a single 10-day deal this season, and many of those players received more than one. Because hardship deals didn’t count toward the usual limit of two 10-day contracts per season with a single team, a handful of players even inked three or four 10-day pacts with the same team.

While no players were able to match or exceed the NBA’s rookie minimum salary on 10-day deals alone, a handful of players signed so many 10-day contracts that they earned a salary comparable to a two-way player.

With the help of our 10-day contract tracker, here’s a look at some of the players that have spent the most time this season on 10-day deals:

Chris Silva

Total 10-day contracts: 5
Days spent on 10-day contracts: 50
Teams: Heat (x4), Timberwolves
Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $479,650

One of two players who has signed four 10-day contracts with the same team this season, Silva might not be done yet — all four of his 10-day deals with the Heat were completed using the hardship provision, which means he could still sign one or two more standard 10-days with the team before the end of the season. Miami has an open roster spot, so it’s not out of the question.

Even if he doesn’t sign another 10-day contract this season, Silva’s earnings have already exceeded the base salary for a player on a two-way deal ($462,629).

Lance Stephenson

Total 10-day contracts: 5
Days spent on 10-day contracts: 43
Teams: Pacers (x4), Hawks
Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $690,095

One of Stephenson’s 10-day hardship deals with the Pacers was terminated after just three days so that he could sign a standard 10-day contract in order to remain on the active roster. As a result, he didn’t spend quite as many days as Silva as a 10-day player this season.

Still, Stephenson is one of just two players to have signed five 10-day contracts this year, and no player has earned more money via 10-day deals than he has this season. Stephenson also parlayed those four short-term commitments from Indiana into a rest-of-season deal.

Stanley Johnson

Total 10-day contracts: 4
Days spent on 10-day contracts: 40
Teams: Lakers (x3), Bulls
Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $480,332

Danuel House

Total 10-day contracts: 4
Days spent on 10-day contracts: 40
Teams: Jazz (x3), Knicks
Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $445,828

Wenyen Gabriel

Total 10-day contracts: 4
Days spent on 10-day contracts: 40
Teams: Clippers (x2), Nets, Pelicans
Total earnings on 10-day contracts: $383,720

There are five NBA players who have signed at least four 10-day contracts so far this season, with Johnson, House, and Gabriel joining Silva and Stephenson.

Johnson and House took very similar paths. Both players signed a single hardship 10-day contract with one team in December (the Bulls for Johnson and the Knicks for House), but didn’t get a chance to make a real impression for that team — Johnson was almost immediately placed in the COVID-19 protocols himself, while House logged just three total minutes for New York. Both players subsequently caught on with new clubs, signing a hardship 10-day contract and then a pair of standard 10-days before finalizing a full-season agreement.

Gabriel, meanwhile, has bounced around the NBA a little more this season, signing a total of four 10-day hardship deals with three separate teams. He didn’t earn a rest-of-season commitment from any of them, but eventually landed with the Lakers on a two-way contract.

Players who have signed three 10-day contracts this season:

Zylan Cheatham, Heat/Jazz/Pelicans
Marquese Chriss, Mavericks (x3) *
DeMarcus Cousins, Nuggets (x3) *
Mamadi Diakite, Thunder (x3) *
James Ennis, Nets/Clippers/Nuggets
Tim Frazier, Magic (x2)/Cavaliers ^
Langston Galloway, Nets (x2)/Bucks
Shaquille Harrison, Nets (x2)/Grizzlies
Haywood Highsmith, Heat (x3) #
Justin Jackson, Suns (x2)/Celtics *
Greg Monroe, Timberwolves/Wizards/Bucks
Xavier Moon, Clippers (x3)
Davon Reed, Nuggets (x3)
Cassius Stanley, Pistons (x3)
Isaiah Thomas, Lakers/Mavericks/Hornets ^
D.J. Wilson, Raptors (x3) ^

* Chriss, Cousins, Diakite, and Jackson each had one of their 10-day contracts terminated early, so they’ve technically spent fewer than 30 days on 10-day deals this season.

^ The third 10-day contracts for Frazier, Thomas, and Wilson are still active.

# Highsmith’s third 10-day contract is still active. Additionally, his second deal was technically an 11-day contract since it ran through the All-Star break and needed to cover a minimum of three games.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Augustin, Gabriel, Nunn

March 2nd, 2022 at 7:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers‘ record fell to 27-34 on Tuesday, as the team entered the fourth quarter with a lead over Dallas but couldn’t hang on and lost by a score of 109-104. Los Angeles, the No. 9 seed in the West, is now just two games ahead of No. 11 Portland for a play-in spot, but Russell Westbrook – who acknowledged that he has to play better – still believes better things are ahead for the club.

“Super confident that we’re going to be all right,” Westbrook said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I’ve got confidence in this group, like I always have. And we can play the best teams. I’m not worried about nobody we have to play. We’ve beaten the best teams; we’ve lost to some of the worst teams. So, our confidence and my confidence in this group is extremely high because I know what we’re capable of when we put our mind to it and do exactly what we need to do on a night-in, night-out basis.”

As McMenamin writes, LeBron James missed some time about a month ago due to swelling in his left knee and said before the All-Star break that he’s still not 100%. However, James has no plans to shut his season down at any point and is committed to waiting until the offseason to rest his knee, sources tell ESPN.

“We still have games to play,” James said after Tuesday’s loss. “Until you stomp me out, cut my head off, bury me 12 feet under, then I got a chance. So that’s my confidence.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Head coach Frank Vogel is enthusiastic about what newly-signed point guard D.J. Augustin can bring to the team, as Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group relays. “I know his game really well,” Vogel said before Tuesday’s game. “He gets in late tonight – we’ll be able to sit down and talk more in depth about where he fits on our team. But I like what he brings to the table, not just with the off-ball ability, to shoot the basketball and stretch the floor and give our guys more space.”
Vogel also discussed new two-way player Wenyen Gabriel, who was signed on Tuesday along with Augustin. According to the Lakers’ head coach, Gabriel will join the NBA team immediately rather than being assigned to the G League. “The successful stints this year have been with Bron, Russ, (Anthony Davis), and the younger, energetic guys,” Vogel said, per Goon. “So, we’ll have to see what Wenyen brings to the table, but it is possible that he gets into the rotation and plays some.”
While replacing DeAndre Jordan and Sekou Doumbouya with Augustin and Gabriel adds more talent to the Lakers’ roster, the team had a greater need on the wing than at point guard, Jovan Buha of The Athletic opines in his analysis of Tuesday’s roster moves.
Explaining why the Lakers felt comfortable trading away Rajon Rondo earlier in the season if they still needed to sign a veteran point guard later, Vogel said that Rondo was intended to be a third-string backup behind Westbrook and wasn’t a good fit alongside him, whereas Augustin should be able to play with or without Westbrook. “Their skill sets don’t fit,” Vogel said of Rondo and Westbrook (via Goon). “They don’t match on the floor. So (Rondo) was not playing, or when he was playing, he wasn’t a good formula for us.”
There’s still no timeline for injured point guard Kendrick Nunn to make his Lakers debut, Vogel told reporters on Tuesday. “We just don’t know about Kendrick,” he said, according to Goon. “We’re still hopeful that he comes around and is able to ramp up and do it without pain and the MRI comes back where we want to see it. It hasn’t happened yet. Until we see him back on the floor, we need help at that position and that skill set.” Buha believes the signing of Augustin suggests we likely won’t see Nunn this season.

Lakers Officially Complete Roster Moves

March 1st, 2022 at 4:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Lakers have announced in a press release that they have officially signed free agent point guard D.J. Augustin and free agent power forward Wenyen Gabriel, two moves that had previously been announced as being in the works.

Los Angeles opted to waive reserve center DeAndre Jordan, clearing a spot for Augustin on the 15-man roster. Gabriel will replace Sekou Doumbouya on a two-way deal with the club.

The 34-year-old Augustin, most recently with the Rockets earlier this season, will provide a veteran presence backing up starting point guard Russell Westbrook. Augustin was selected with the ninth pick in the 2008 draft out of Texas, six spots behind Westbrook.

The 5’11” vet has previously suited up for the Hornets (back when they were the Bobcats), Pacers, Raptors, Bulls, Pistons, Thunder, Nuggets, Magic, and Bucks, before landing with Houston midway through the 2020/21 season. This season, Augustin averaged 5.4 PPG, 2.2 APG and 1.2 RPG across 34 games (15.0 MPG) in a reduced role for a rebuilding Rockets club.

The reeling Lakers have lost seven of their last 10 games, and currently occupy the Western Conference’s ninth seed with a disappointing 27-33 record. In Augustin, they’ll add a reliable bench option with a solid shooting stroke from deep. For his career, Augustin is connecting on 38% of his 3.4 three-point attempts a night. This season, he is converting 40.6% of his 2.8 looks. Westbrook, meanwhile, is making 29.2% of his 3.4 three-point tries per night.

Gabriel, 24, will be playing for his third team this season, following stints with the Nets and Clippers. Across seven NBA games this season, the 6’9″ Kentucky alum is averaging 6.7 MPG. In 10 contests this season for the Bucks’ NBA G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, Augustin averaged a far more robust 28.3 MPG, as well as 16.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.2 APG and 2.1 BPG.

Bobby Marks of ESPN adds (Twitter link) that Augustin will be earning a $622,467 salary through the rest of the season, with a cap hit of $393,312. That will increase the Lakers’ already-significant projected luxury tax bill to $45MM.

Jordan and Doumbouya are on track to clear waivers on Thursday if they’re not claimed. Both will be playoff-eligible if they join new teams. Jordan is reportedly receiving interest from the Sixers.

Lakers To Waive Sekou Doumbouya, Add Wenyen Gabriel

March 1st, 2022 at 12:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers will open a two-way slot for Wenyen Gabriel by waiving Sekou Doumbouya, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. L.A.’s interest in Gabriel was reported Monday, but the team had to choose between unloading either Doumbouya or fellow two-way player Mason Jones.

Doumbouya, a 21-year-old forward, signed a two-way contract with the Lakers prior to the season, was waived in November, then signed a second two-way deal in January. However, he got into just two NBA games with L.A., logging 16 total minutes. He appeared in 12 games for the team’s G League affiliate in South Bay, averaging 6.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 20 minutes per night.

Doumbouya spent his first two seasons with the Pistons, but was traded twice during the offseason and was eventually waived by the Rockets in early October.

Gabriel, 24, signed 10-day contracts this season with the Nets, Clippers and Pelicans during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, playing in seven total games. He has previous NBA experience with the Kings and Trail Blazers, as well as a prior stint with New Orleans.

Lakers To Waive DeAndre Jordan, Sign D.J. Augustin

February 28th, 2022 at 6:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers are waiving DeAndre Jordan and are signing free agent guard D.J. Augustin. They also plan to sign forward Wenyen Gabriel to a two-way deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team had been seeking depth at the point behind Russell Westbrook.

Jordan played nine minutes in the blowout loss to New Orleans on Sunday but has seen limited action over the last two months. Overall, Jordan averaged 4.1 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 12.8 MPG in 32 games with the Lakers on a veteran’s minimum contract.

Jordan may not be out of work for long. The Sixers will aggressively pursue Jordan, either via a waiver claim or after he clears waivers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Augustin, meanwhile, was waived by the Rockets at the trade deadline. The 5’11” point guard, a 14-year NBA veteran, averaged 5.4 PPG, 2.2 APG and 1.2 RPG across 15.0 in 34 contests with Houston this season. Augustin, who has logged 955 regular-season games, will be playing for his 11th team.

Gabriel has spent time with the Nets, Clippers and Pelicans in 2021/22. All of his NBA contracts during this season were 10-day deals under the hardship provision.

Gabriel, who was waived by the Bucks during training camp, has played in seven NBA games this season — six for the Clippers and one for the Nets. The 24-year-old didn’t play at all during his most recent 10-day deal with New Orleans, but appeared in 21 games for the Pelicans last season. Overall, he has 58 career NBA appearances.

Los Angeles has Mason Jones and Sekou Doumbouya on two-way deals, so one of those players must be waived to make room for Gabriel.

Pelicans Sign Wenyen Gabriel Via Hardship Exception

January 29th, 2022 at 10:25am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans have signed forward Wenyen Gabriel to a 10-day contract via the hardship exception, according to a team press release.

This is fourth time Gabriel has signed a 10-day under the hardship provision this season after being waived by the Bucks during training camp. He had a pair of those contracts with the Clippers and an earlier one with the Nets. He has appeared in seven NBA games this season, averaging 2.0 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 6.7 MPG. Gabriel played 21 games for the Pelicans last season.

New Orleans rookie Trey Murphy has been in the league’s health and safely protocols since Monday and the team also listed Didi Louzada in the protocols prior to Friday’s game.

Gabriel has also worn a Trail Blazers and Kings uniform after going undrafted in 2018. He’s appeared in 58 career games, averaging 2.6 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 9.0 MPG.

Most recently, Gabriel has appeared in 14 games (12 starts) for the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s NBA G League affiliate, averaging 14.1 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 2.1 BPG in 25.9 MPG.

Clippers Sign Wenyen Gabriel To Second 10-Day Deal

January 11th, 2022 at 1:10pm CST by Luke Adams

1:10pm: Gabriel’s second 10-day contract is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. It’ll run through January 20, covering the Clippers’ next five games.

9:21am: The Clippers intend to sign big man Wenyen Gabriel to a second 10-day contract, agent Gary Durrant tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Gabriel’s initial 10-day deal with the team expired on Sunday night.

Tasked with providing the club with some frontcourt depth during his first 10 days in Los Angeles, Gabriel appeared in five contests, averaging 2.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 8.4 minutes per contest. Prior to joining the Clippers, he also spent 10 days with Brooklyn. In his two previous seasons, the former Kentucky standout spent time with Sacramento, Portland, and New Orleans.

The Clippers currently have two players – Luke Kennard and Justise Winslow – in the health and safety protocols, with one player – Xavier Moon – signed to a 10-day hardship contract. Haynes indicates that Gabriel will be another hardship signing, which makes sense if the expectation is for Kennard and Winslow to remain in the protocols for a little while longer.

If one of those players is on the verge of exiting the protocols, L.A. would need to either terminate Moon’s deal early or have another player enter the protocols in order to qualify for a COVID-related hardship exception for Gabriel.

Theoretically, the Clips could also qualify for an injury-related hardship exception, since Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Jason Preston, and Isaiah Hartenstein all remain sidelined. However, unless it’s reported otherwise, our expectation is that Gabriel will be added with a COVID-related hardship allowance, meaning his 10-day earnings ($95,930) won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Clippers Sign Wenyen Gabriel Via Hardship Exception

December 31st, 2021 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

1:21pm: Gabriel’s 10-day contract with the Clippers is now official, according to the team. It’ll run through January 9, covering the team’s next six games.

7:17am: Wenyen Gabriel, whose 10-day contract with the Nets expired overnight on Thursday, has lined up a new 10-day deal with the Clippers, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. The Clippers intend to sign Gabriel using a hardship exception and hope to have him available for Friday’s game in Toronto.

As Greif outlines, the Clippers are in need of some frontcourt help. Ivica Zubac entered the health and safety protocols on Thursday, Isaiah Hartenstein has been sidelined since December 18 due to a sprained ankle, and replacement player Moses Wright is no longer on the roster after his 10-day contract expired.

Gabriel could step into a rotation role right away for the Clippers after playing just a single minute during his 10 days with Brooklyn. The 24-year-old big man previously appeared in 51 total regular season games between 2019-21 for the Kings, Blazers and Pelicans.

The Clippers currently have three players in the COVID-19 protocols. Gabriel is on track to be the team’s third player on a 10-day contract, joining James Ennis and Xavier Moon. Ennis, like Gabriel, was with the Nets before agreeing to sign with the Clippers.

Nets Sign Wenyen Gabriel To 10-Day Contract

December 21st, 2021 at 3:36pm CST by JD Shaw

DECEMBER 21: Gabriel has officially signed his 10-day contract, the Nets announced today in a press release.

DECEMBER 18: The Nets are planning to sign big man Wenyen Gabriel to a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Brooklyn will be using a hardship exception to sign him.

The Nets have already signed Langston Galloway, James Ennis and Shaquille Harrison to 10-day contracts using hardship exceptions this week. The team currently has nine players in the league’s health and safety protocols, including Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

Gabriel, 24, went undrafted in 2018 after spending three seasons at Kentucky. He holds past NBA experience with the Kings, Blazers and Pelicans. In 12 games with the Wisconsin Herd this season, he’s averaged 13.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 25.6 minutes per game.

Despite being shorthanded, Brooklyn most recently won a 114-105 contest over the Sixers, led by Durant’s 34 points and 11 rebounds. The team will host the Magic (5-25) on Saturday night.