2021 December | Hoops Rumors

Nik Stauskas To Sign 10-Day Contract With Heat

December 30th, 2021 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Former lottery pick Nik Stauskas has an agreement in place with the Heat, who intend to sign him to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, league sources tell Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link).

The Raptors had a deal in place earlier this month to bring Stauskas aboard on a 10-day hardship deal, but it fell through when he didn’t pass the COVID-19 screening process. Now he’ll head to a Miami team that has been hit hard recently by both injuries and the coronavirus — the Heat had 12 players unavailable on Wednesday, resulting in their game in San Antonio being postponed.

Stauskas, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2014 draft, appeared in 335 regular season games from 2014-19 for the Kings, Sixers, Nets, Trail Blazers, and Cavaliers. He was a fairly reliable three-point threat (.353 3PT%) during that time, but didn’t show enough other skills to stick in the NBA.

After a brief stint overseas, Stauskas signed in the G League for the 2021 bubble and then returned to the NBAGL this season. In 12 games (38.3 MPG) in 2021/22 for the Grand Rapids Gold, the 28-year-old has recorded 21.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 4.4 APG on .429/.352/.915 shooting.

The Heat have already added Kyle Guy and Aric Holman on hardship contracts today and should be able to finalize their agreements with Stauskas and Haywood Highsmith before their game in Houston on Friday.

Julius Randle, Three Pacers Enter COVID-19 Protocols

December 30th, 2021 at 12:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks power forward Julius Randle has entered the health and safety protocols and will miss Friday’s game vs. Oklahoma City, the team announced today (via Twitter). If Randle registered a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, he’ll remain sidelined for at least six days or until he can return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Randle logged 26 minutes in the Knicks’ win in Detroit on Wednesday night after playing over 37 minutes on Tuesday in Minnesota, so his teammates and recent opponents will likely be monitoring for symptoms of their own in the coming days.

Here are a few more COVID-related updates from around the league:

After placing Jeremy Lamb in the health and safety protocols on Wednesday, the Pacers have had three more players enter the protocols today, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Malcolm Brogdon, Chris Duarte, and Isaiah Jackson are joining Lamb. Indiana had avoided a COVID-19 outbreak so far this month, but it may be catching up to the team now.
Bucks forward Semi Ojeleye has entered the protocols, tweets Wojnarowski. Milwaukee had multiple players in the protocols earlier in the month, but Ojeleye is the team’s lone player affected for now.
Timberwolves forward Jarred Vanderbilt has exited the COVID-19 protocols and should be available on Friday vs. Utah, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). Minnesota is down to just three players in the protocols, though Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell are two of those three.

Pacers Sign Nate Hinton To 10-Day Deal

December 30th, 2021 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have officially signed guard Nate Hinton to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, the team announced today in a press release.

Hinton, 22, signed a two-way contract with the Mavericks during the 2020 offseason after going undrafted out of Houston. The 6’5″ shooting guard spent his rookie season in Dallas under coach Rick Carlisle, appearing in 21 games for the club, but only played limited minutes, averaging 2.0 PPG in 4.4 MPG.

Hinton saw more action at the G League level last season for the Santa Cruz Warriors, putting up 10.6 PPG and 7.1 RPG in 10 games (23.0 MPG). This season, he joined the Pacers’ G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, and averaged 8.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 2.1 SPG in 14 contests (27.3 MPG).

Hinton is the first 10-day hardship signing for the Pacers, who placed Jeremy Lamb in the health and safety protocols on Wednesday.

VanVleet, Anunoby, Barnes Clear Protocols For Raptors

December 30th, 2021 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

After experiencing a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak this month, the Raptors appear to be nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. Three of the team’s starters – Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes – exited the protocols and returned to practice on Thursday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

It was a relatively full practice today for the Raptors, who only have Justin Champagnie and Isaac Bonga still in the protocols. As Lewenberg tweets, head coach Nick Nurse expects to have everyone but Champagnie and Bonga available on Friday vs. the Clippers, which means he could have a surplus of lineup options rather than trying to cobble together five-man groups using whoever is available.

The plan is for some combination of VanVleet, Anunoby, Barnes, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr., Khem Birch, and Precious Achiuwa to be in the starting five, according to Nurse.

Three Nuggets Players Enter Protocols

December 30th, 2021 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

After having cleared their list of players in the health and safety protocols earlier this week, the Nuggets now have three new players in the protocols, as Jeff Green, Bones Hyland, and Zeke Nnaji entered today, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

As Wojnarowski points out, the Nuggets – who will also be without head coach Michael Malone and had two assistant coaches test positive for COVID-19, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link) – are suddenly in danger of not having the required minimum of eight players available for Thursday’s game vs. Golden State.

In addition to Green, Hyland, and Nnaji, the Nuggets are missing four players – Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, PJ Dozier, and Markus Howard – to long-term injuries. On top of that, Vlatko Cancar (non-COVID illness), Aaron Gordon (hamstring), Monte Morris (knee), and Austin Rivers (thumb) are all listed as questionable on the latest injury report.

That leaves the Nuggets with six healthy players. Davon Reed is expected to sign a new 10-day contract today, but that would still just get Denver to seven. The team may have to count on one or more of those questionable players being active and hope that additional testing doesn’t turn up new COVID-19 cases.

On the plus side, since the Nuggets now have players in the protocols, Reed’s new 10-day deal will fall under the COVID-related hardship umbrella, meaning it won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Doc Rivers, Michael Malone Enter COVID-19 Protocols

December 30th, 2021 at 10:55am CST by Luke Adams

Two more NBA head coaches have entered the health and safety protocols and won’t be on the sidelines for their respective teams in the short term.

Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that Sixers coach Doc Rivers has entered the protocols, while Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link) hears from a source that Nuggets coach Michael Malone has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now in the protocols.

In Philadelphia, assistant Dan Burke will take over for Rivers as the 76ers’ acting head coach, according to Wojnarowski. Malone will be replaced in Denver by assistant David Adelman for the time being, says Singer.

The list of head coaches in the protocols continues to grow — Frank Vogel, Billy Donovan, Monty Williams, Chauncey Billups, and Mark Daigneault are also currently affected. Rick Carlisle and Alvin Gentry were in the protocols earlier in the month but have since resumed coaching the Pacers and Kings, respectively.

In addition to placing Rivers in the health and safety protocols today, the Sixers also had two more players enter — Myles Powell and Tyler Johnson are now in the protocols and have been ruled out for Thursday’s game vs. Brooklyn, tweets Wojnarowski.

Heat Officially Sign Kyle Guy, Aric Holman

December 30th, 2021 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have officially signed Kyle Guy and Aric Holman to 10-day deals using hardship exceptions, the team announced today in a press release. Both agreements were initially reported on Wednesday.

The 55th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Guy spent his first two NBA seasons on a two-way contract with Sacramento, but played a very limited role with the Kings, appearing in 34 games and averaging 2.7 PPG and 1.0 APG in 7.2 minutes per contest.

Guy has seen more action at the G League level, appearing in 37 games with the Stockton Kings as a rookie and 12 more games this season with the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate. The 24-year-old has averaged 21.1 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 4.3 RPG on .421/.392/.758 shooting in 35.7 MPG over the course of his NBAGL career.

Holman, who went undrafted out of Mississippi State in 2019, played in Germany last season but has otherwise been in the G League since going pro. In 14 games (20.4 MPG) for Austin this season, the 24-year-old averaged 7.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.5 BPG on .463/.326/.250 shooting (that free-throw mark came on just four attempts).

In addition to adding Guy and Holman, Miami is expected to sign Haywood Highsmith to a 10-day contract soon. With 12 players unavailable on Wednesday, the Heat had their game in San Antonio postponed because they didn’t have the required minimum of eight players.

Guy, Holman, and Highsmith should get the Heat up to that minimum for Friday’s game in Houston, but the club is eligible to continue adding replacement players if it so chooses.

COVID-19 Updates: Payton, Nader, Lopez, Ross, Cavs, Duke

December 30th, 2021 at 9:38am CST by Luke Adams

It has been an unusual week for Suns guard Elfrid Payton, who entered the health and safety protocols on Sunday, then exited them on Monday after what appeared to be a false positive. On Wednesday, prior to Phoenix’s game vs. Oklahoma City, Payton reentered the protocols, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes.

The specifics of Payton’s situation are unclear, but he’ll now remain in the protocols for at least six days unless he can once again return two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart.

According to Rankin, Payton wasn’t the only Sun to be placed in the protocols on Wednesday — Abdel Nader has also joined that list. However, Nader has been out of Phoenix’s lineup since November 19 due to what the team has called “right knee injury management,” so his placement in the protocols had no real impact on the rotation.

Here are a few more COVID-related updates from around the NBA:

Magic center Robin Lopez has entered the COVID-19 protocols, the team announced on Thursday morning (via Twitter). However, Terrence Ross is listed on Orlando’s latest injury report as out due to “return to competition reconditioning,” which suggests he has exited the protocols. With Lopez in and Ross out, there are still five Magic players in the protocols.
The Cavaliers‘ latest injury report lists Jarrett Allen, Dylan Windler, and Lamar Stevens as going through return to competition reconditioning, so they’ve cleared the protocols. Allen is considered doubtful for Thursday’s game in Washington, while Windler and Stevens are questionable.
Nets rookie David Duke has exited the health and safety protocols, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Brooklyn’s list of players in the protocols was in the double-digits earlier this month, but is now down to just two — Kessler Edwards and Day’Ron Sharpe.
Our running list of players in the protocols can be found right here.

Knicks Notes: Walker, McBride, Rose, Barrett, Toppin

December 30th, 2021 at 8:28am CST by Rory Maher

Reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Kemba Walker‘s banishment from the Knicks‘ rotation may have been a blessing in disguise, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic. Walker admits he wasn’t aggressive enough at times to start the season.

“I just have a tendency of kind of not wanting to step on toes,” Walker said. “I think that’s what I did early on. I was here and I wasn’t being as aggressive, I think, as I could have been. But I think being out and seeing how the game has been flowing and going put me in a different mindset.”

Walker and the rest of the team’s starters struggled mightily in Wednesday’s 94-85 victory over the depleted Pistons, as the Knicks were carried once again by the bench group, all of whom finished with a plus/minus of at least plus-27. Walker had two points, two rebounds, two assists and three turnovers in 20 minutes.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

Prior to Wednesday’s game, Marc Berman of The New York Post suggested that rookie Miles McBride may face a diminished role, given Walker’s strong recent play. However, that wasn’t the case against Detroit — in his first game back from the COVID-19 protocols, McBride logged 25 minutes in the team’s victory, leading the team in plus/minus at plus-39 while Walker struggled.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau says Derrick Rose is recovering well from ankle surgery and that he’s confident in the Knicks’ guard play, Berman writes in another article for The New York Post.
RJ Barrett is trying to regain his shooting stroke after a bout with COVID-19, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Barrett is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, and how he finishes the rest of the season could have a major impact on the size of his contract, Bondy opines.
It’s clear the Knicks need to give Obi Toppin a lot more minutes than he has received so far this season, even if those minutes eat into Julius Randle‘s playing time, Ian O’Connor of The New York Post contends. In Wednesday’s win over Detroit, Toppin was an incredible plus-36 in 22 minutes, while Randle was a minus-27 in 26 minutes.

Grizzlies Sign Dakota Mathias To 10-Day Contract

December 30th, 2021 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies have signed free agent wing Dakota Mathias to a 10-day contract, the team announced in a press release.

The club put out the press release after its Wednesday night win over the Lakers, very early Thursday morning. So we’re assuming for now that December 30 is the start date for the deal, meaning it’ll run through January 8 and cover Memphis’ next five games.

Mathias, 26, went undrafted out of Purdue in 2018 and spent his first professional season in Spain. He joined the Texas Legends – Dallas’ G League affiliate – for the 2019/20 campaign, then began last season on a two-way contract with the Sixers before being waived in January. A report in August indicated Mathias had agreed to sign with the G League Ignite, but that deal apparently fell through.

In his lone NBAGL season in 2019/20, Mathias averaged 18.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG , and 3.1 APG on .432/.392/.831 shooting in 42 games (36.1 MPG) for the Legends.

The Grizzlies currently have four players in the health and safety protocols. Mathias is their fourth hardship addition, joining Tyrell Terry, Shaq Buchanan, and Xavier Sneed.

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