- The Magic are interested in working out a new deal with Isaiah Briscoe this summer, tweets Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports. Briscoe, who is sidelined by a torn meniscus, was waived this week to open a roster spot for Michael Carter-Williams. He cleared waivers yesterday and is an unrestricted free agent.
- Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams is proving to be a difference maker as the team looks to make a final push for the playoffs, John Denton of NBA.com writes. Orlando signed Carter-Williams to a rest-of-season contract on Thursday, waiving guard Isaiah Briscoe. Carter-Williams provided a much-needed boost of energy off the bench during his first two 10-day contracts, scoring 5.4 points and dishing out 3.7 assists in 18.7 minutes per outing.
The Magic have officially released injured point guard Isaiah Briscoe, the team announced today in a press release. The move opens a spot on Michael Carter-Williams, who has been re-signed for the rest of the season and will now be playoff-eligible if Orlando makes the postseason.
It’s a tough break for Briscoe, who had assumed backup point guard duties for the Magic and had been holding his own before undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus last month. For the season, the 22-year-old out of Kentucky averaged 3.5 PPG, 2.2 APG, and 1.9 RPG in 39 games (14.3 MPG).
Carter-Williams had spent 20 days (two 10-day contracts) on the Magic’s roster as a 16th man — the injury-plagued club was allowed to add an extra player because it qualified for a hardship provision. However, MCW wouldn’t have been able to participate in the playoffs if he were re-signed with the hardship provision and Orlando didn’t waive another player.
The Magic’s decision was believed to come down to Briscoe vs. Jerian Grant. While Briscoe had supplanted Grant as the team’s backup point guard prior to his injury, the fact that Grant is healthy now probably gave him the upper hand. Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports tweets that the Magic would like to re-sign Briscoe this summer if possible.
Briscoe’s contract with Orlando includes non-guaranteed salaries for 2019/20 and 2020/21, so he could be an attractive target for teams interested in placing a waiver claim. Because he signed a three-year contract instead of a two-year deal though, he’s ineligible to be claimed using the minimum salary exception. A team would need to use a trade exception or cap room to put in a claim. If he clears waivers, he’ll become a free agent on Saturday.
APRIL 4: The Magic have officially re-signed Carter-Williams, the team announced today in a press release. The club waived Briscoe to ensure that MCW is playoff-eligible, as we detail in a separate story.
APRIL 3: Michael Carter-Williams‘ second 10-day contract with the Magic will expire after tonight’s game vs. New York, but the team doesn’t plan on letting him get away. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman tells Chris Hays of The Orlando Sentinel that the Magic plan on signing Carter-Williams for the rest of the season.
“So you are allowed two 10-days and after that you have to sign the player to a contract for the rest of the season, which we will do with Michael,” Weltman said. “Beyond that, as far as setting a roster for the playoffs, that’s bad karma to talk about right now. Let’s make the playoffs then we’ll talk about that.”
The Magic have been able to carry Carter-Williams on their roster via a hardship exception, which is granted to teams that have at least four players who have missed three or more games and are expected to continue to miss two weeks or more. However, as Weltman suggests, a 16th man signed via the hardship provision isn’t eligible for the playoffs.
Orlando can sign MCW for the rest of the season using the hardship provision, but in order to make him postseason-eligible, the team would need to waive another player to reduce its roster to 15 players before the end of the regular season. With a playoff spot not yet assured, the Magic figure to put off that decision until sometime next week.
Carter-Williams’ stats with the Magic (5.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, and a .364/.214/.667 shooting line) are somewhat modest, but he has helped stabilize the team’s second unit as D.J. Augustin‘s backup. The club is 6-2 since his debut.
If the Magic do make the playoffs, point guards Jerian Grant and Isaiah Briscoe figure to be among the candidates to be cut to make room on the 15-man playoff squad for MCW, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic wrote earlier this week. Grant is on an expiring contract, while Briscoe has two more years left on his minimum-salary contract, though Briscoe has a knee injury and isn’t expected to return this season.
After being named the G League’s Most Valuable Player and the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2018/19 season on Monday, Raptors 905 big man Chris Boucher – now a member of the Toronto Raptors – headlines the All-NBA G League first team, as the league announced today in a press release.
Boucher was joined on the All-NBAGL first team by teammate Jordan Loyd, as well as Capital City Go-Go guard Jordan McRae, Long Island Nets big man Alan Williams, and Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario center Angel Delgado. All four players are currently on two-way contracts with NBA teams.
That’s a common theme for this year’s All-NBAGL teams, as most of the 15 players named to the three squads aren’t currently NBA free agents, having signed two-way or NBA contracts.
The complete list of the 2018/19 All-NBA G League teams, along with the All-Rookie and All-Defensive squads, is below. Players currently on a 15-man NBA roster are marked with an asterisk (*), while players on two-way contracts are noted with a caret (^).
All-NBAGL First Team:
- Chris Boucher (Raptors 905) *
- Angel Delgado (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
- Jordan Loyd (Raptors 905) ^
- Jordan McRae (Capital City Go-Go) ^
- Alan Williams (Long Island Nets) ^
All-NBAGL Second Team:
- Isaiah Hartenstein (Rio Grande Valley Vipers) *
- Walt Lemon (Windy City Bulls) *
- Note: Lemon wasn’t on an NBA contract for most of the season, but was recently called up by the Bulls.
- Yante Maten (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
- Johnathan Motley (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
- Theo Pinson (Long Island Nets) ^
All-NBAGL Third Team:
- P.J. Dozier (Maine Red Claws) ^
- Amile Jefferson (Lakeland Magic) ^
- Kalin Lucas (Grand Rapids Drive) ^
- Duncan Robinson (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
- Christian Wood (Wisconsin Herd) *
- Note: Wood spent most of the season on the Bucks’ roster, but was recently released and claimed off waivers by the Pelicans.
NBAGL All-Rookie Team:
- Chris Chiozza (Capital City Go-Go) *
- Note: Chiozza wasn’t on an NBA contract for most of the season, but was recently called up by the Rockets.
- Angel Delgado (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
- Yante Maten (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
- Theo Pinson (Long Islands Nets) ^
- Duncan Robinson (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
NBAGL All-Defensive Team:
- Kadeem Allen (Westchester Knicks) ^
- Chris Boucher (Raptors 905) *
- Amida Brimah (Austin Spurs)
- Gary Payton II (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
- Norvel Pelle (Delaware Blue Coats)
The All-Defensive team is the only squad that features players who are currently NBA free agents — Brimah and Pelle haven’t been on an NBA roster this season, while Payton only briefly spent time with an NBA team, signing a 10-day contract with the Wizards in January.
- The Magic have been so impressed by Michael Carter-Williams that they would like to have him on the postseason roster if they qualify, but that will require a difficult decision next week, notes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Orlando received an injury hardship waiver that enabled it to sign Carter-Williams to a pair of 10-day contracts. His second deal expires Thursday, and he must be added to the 15-man roster to be eligible for the playoffs. Robbins identifies Jerian Grant and Isaiah Briscoe as candidates to be waived to make room.
Here are Thursday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- The Knicks have recalled center Luke Kornet from their G League affiliate in Westchester, the team announced today. Kornet, 23, originally signed a deal with the Knicks during free agency last July.
- The Magic have assigned Melvin Frazier Jr. to the Lakeland Magic, G League affiliate of the team, according to a tweet from the club’s PR department. Lakeland hosts Westchester in the NBA G League Eastern Conference Semifinal game on Friday night.
- The Kings recalled Caleb Swanigan and Cody Demps from their G League team in Stockton, James Ham of NBC Sports tweets. Both players joined the team in New Orleans for Thursday’s road game against the Pelicans.
- While his stats don’t jump off the page, Michael Carter-Williams has made an impact during his brief stay thus far with the Magic, John Denton of the Magic’s official site writes. Carter-Williams’ length and versatility have contributed to several late-season wins but his future with the franchise is up in the air.
While they haven’t all technically clinched yet, the eight playoff teams in the Western Conference have been pretty much set for the last couple weeks. That’s not the case in the Eastern Conference though, where late-season hot streaks for the Magic and Hornets have created an all-out, five-team battle for the final three postseason seeds.
With two weeks left in the regular season, the Nets have a tenuous hold on the No. 6 seed at 38-37, but they’re faced with the league’s most brutal end-of-season schedule, per Tankathon.com. Brooklyn’s next six games come against the East’s top five teams, including a pair against Milwaukee. The Nets will then close the season against Miami, one of the five clubs battling it out for a playoff berth.
At 37-37, the Pistons are right behind Brooklyn in the standings, but have lost three games in a row and will need to turn things around quickly to hang onto a playoff spot. Detroit will get to finish the season by playing Memphis and New York, but before that, a four-game stretch against the Trail Blazers, Pacers (twice), and Thunder will be sandwiched by crucial home contests against Orlando and Charlotte.
Speaking of Orlando, the Magic‘s six-game winning streak has put them in the No. 8 seed in the East for now, at 37-38. They’ll have to finish strong on the road to hang onto that spot, as five of their last seven games are away from home — and none of those games (in Detroit, Indiana, Toronto, Boston, and Charlotte) will be easy.
After falling last night to the Magic, the Heat are a half-game out of the postseason at 36-38. With games this week vs. Dallas and New York, Miami will have a chance to get back to .500, but after that, things get significantly more challenging — the Heat finish the season with games against Boston (twice), Minnesota, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn.
As for the Hornets, Jeremy Lamb‘s incredible buzzer-beater on Sunday kept their playoff hopes alive, and they’ve since extended their winning streak to four games to push their record to 35-39. A daunting Western road trip looms, with games vs. the Lakers, Warriors, Jazz, and Pelicans on tap. If they can hold their own during that stretch, the Hornets will have a chance to make up ground in the season’s final week with games vs. Detroit and Orlando. Matchups with the Raptors and Cavaliers round out Charlotte’s remaining slate.
What do you think? Will the Magic and Hornets keep rolling and earn playoff spots? Will the Nets’ tough schedule cost them down the stretch? Can the Pistons and Heat finish the season strong?
Vote in our poll below on which three teams you ultimately expect to claim the final three postseason slots in the East, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!
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For a star like Kevin Durant, the results of the 2018/19 season haven’t had much of an impact on his projected earnings in free agency. Heading into the season, the expectation was that Durant would land a maximum-salary contract; that hasn’t changed. In fact, barring a catastrophic injury, it’s hard to imagine what KD could have done this season that would’ve significantly impacted his stock as his free agency nears.
For most other NBA players in contract years though, their performance on the court this season will go a long way toward determining what sort of offers they’ll get this summer. There are several players around the league who have increased their value significantly with their on-court showings in 2018/19 and figure to do better than originally expected in free agency this year as a result.
Today, we’ll shine a spotlight on some of these players from the Eastern Conference, identifying five 2019 free-agents-to-be who have improved their stock with their play this season.
Let’s dive in…
D’Angelo Russell, G, Nets (RFA): We’ve written repeatedly about Russell’s ascension this season, but it’s still worth reiterating how impressive it has been. It’s easy to forget now, but before Caris LeVert dislocated his foot in November, it was LeVert that looked like the Nets guard headed for a breakout year. Instead, Russell has emerged as The Man in Brooklyn, averaging 21.8 PPG, 7.4 APG, and 3.7 RPG on .436/.366/.792 shooting in the 60 games since that LeVert injury. Assuming the Nets can hold onto a playoff spot, D-Lo will have the opportunity to turn a few more heads in the postseason, positioning himself for an annual salary between $20MM and the max.- Nikola Vucevic, C, Magic: To thrive in the modern NBA, a center generally needs to be able to shoot from outside or protect the rim — or both. Neither skill had ever been a huge part of Vucevic’s game, but he has proven he’s adaptable in recent years. In 72 games this season, the Magic center is putting up career highs in 3PT% (.366), total 3-pointers (74), and BPG (1.2). His 20.7 PPG and 12.1 RPG are also career bests, buoying him to his first career All-Star Game. At age 28, Vucevic may not be in line for a massive payday, but he appears set to get a nice raise on his current $12.75MM salary, which was hardly a lock heading into the season.
- Bojan Bogdanovic, G/F, Pacers: A sharpshooting role player prior to joining the Pacers, Bogdanovic has taken his game to another level this season — especially since Victor Oladipo suffered a season-ending quad injury in January. Having never averaged more than 14.3 PPG in a season, the 29-year-old has posted a blistering .509/.403/.794 shooting line in the 27 games since Oladipo went down, averaging a team-high 21.3 PPG in that stretch. Bogdanovic isn’t an elite defender, but any wing who can knock down threes at the rate he can will do well for himself in free agency.
- Danny Green, G, Raptors: While All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry and Most Improved Player candidate Pascal Siakam have – deservedly – received much of the credit for the Raptors‘ success this year, Green shouldn’t be overlooked. Viewed as almost a throw-in in the deal that sent Kawhi to Toronto, Green has had a terrific bounce-back season, knocking down a scorching 44.3% of his 3-point attempts. His on/off-court numbers exhibit his importance — the Raptors have a +12.2 net rating when he plays, compared to a -5.0 mark when he sits. An ideal three-and-D wing, Green should be in line for another lucrative multiyear deal this summer.
- Brook Lopez, C, Bucks: Like Vucevic, Lopez has avoided becoming an NBA relic by modernizing his game. Once a fixture in the low post, the 30-year-old can now frequently be found a few steps behind the arc, having earned the nickname Splash Mountain by knocking down threes and helping to space the Bucks‘ offense. Lopez is more of a role player than the core piece he was in Brooklyn, but his shooting (2.4 3PG, .371 3PT%) and rim protection (2.2 BPG) make him a valuable contributor. Milwaukee almost certainly won’t be able to bring him back at the same bargain-basement rate he agreed to in 2018 ($3.4MM).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.