2021 | Hoops Rumors

Mavs Rookie Omoruyi Out 4-6 Months After Toe Surgery

December 23rd, 2021 at 6:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks two-player Eugene Omoruyi recently underwent surgery on his right big toe and will require 4-6 months to return to basketball activities, the team’s PR department tweets. Head coach Jason Kidd said Omoruyi will likely miss the remainder of the season, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News tweets.

Omoruyi suffered the injury in an NBA G League game with the Texas Legends on December 15.

Undrafted out of Oregon, the 24-year-old small forward has appeared in four games with Dallas this season. He has averaged 15.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 2.9 APG in eight G League games.

Omoruyi played his first three college seasons with Rutgers.

Dallas could look to add another two-way player to replace Omoruyi. Like many teams, the Mavericks have been hit hard by COVID-19 cases as of late.

Karl-Anthony Towns Enters League Protocols

December 23rd, 2021 at 5:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves star center Karl-Anthony Towns has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, the team’s PR department tweets. McKinley Wright IV has also been placed in the protocols.

They join a long list of Minnesota players currently in league protocols. Anthony Edwards, Patrick Beverley, Josh Okogie, Taurean Prince and Jarred Vanderbilt will also miss the team’s game against Utah on Thursday.

Towns and Wright will be sidelined at least 10 days, unless they can register two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart during that span.

Towns was the Western Conference Player of the Week as the Timberwolves went 3-0 during the week of December 13-19, with victories over the Nuggets, Lakers, and Mavericks. The former No. 1 overall pick averaged 28.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.7 SPG, and 1.3 BPG on .547/.375/.870 shooting in those three games (33.9 MPG). Wright, a rookie, has appeared in just one game.

Towns and his family have been affected greatly by the virus. Multiple family members, including his mother, died from COVID-19. Towns had his own battle after contracting the virus last winter, as he lost 50 pounds.

Four Pistons, Including Stewart, Enter Protocols

December 23rd, 2021 at 4:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons center Isaiah Stewart and guards Killian Hayes and Saben Lee have entered the league’s health and safety protocols ahead of the team’s game against Miami Thursday evening, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Reserve swingman Rodney McGruder has also entered the protocols, The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III tweets.

Top pick Cade Cunningham entered the protocols on Wednesday. The Pistons, who have lost 15 of their last 16 contests, will obviously be severely shorthanded for the game.

Those players will be sidelined for at least 10 days, unless they can register two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart during that span.

Stewart is averaging 7.9 PPG and 8.4 RPG. Hayes has started regularly as well, though he’s averaging just 6.4 PPG and 3.7 APG. Lee has come off the bench in 15 games and scored 16 points against the Knicks on Tuesday. McGruder has appeared in 14 games.

With Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk unavailable due to long-term injuries, the Pistons’ frontcourt is severely depleted with Trey Lyles and rookie Luka Garza the main options.

Mavericks Sign Brandon Knight Via Hardship Provision

December 23rd, 2021 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 23: The Mavericks have officially signed Knight to a 10-day deal, the team announced today (via Twitter). Dallas has now added six players via hardship exceptions, as our tracker shows.

DECEMBER 22: Another NBA veteran is making a comeback, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the Mavericks plan to sign guard Brandon Knight to a 10-day contract via a hardship exception.

Knight, who hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2019/20 season, has 446 regular season appearances on his career résumé, having spent time with the Pistons, Bucks, Suns, Rockets, and Cavaliers from 2011-20. The 30-year-old has averaged 14.1 PPG over the course of his career, though he has been well below that mark since the ’15/16 season.

Knight signed a G League contract earlier this year in the hopes of earning a shot with an NBA team. He has put up 21.3 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 4.6 RPG in 11 games (38.0 MPG) for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s NBAGL affiliate, making 3.2 three-pointers per game at a 35.7% rate.

As we noted earlier when word broke that the Mavs had reached a 10-day deal with Carlik Jones, the club’s number of reported hardship signings has now exceeded the number of players they have in the health and safety protocols, which suggests a couple more Dallas players could end up entering the protocols today.

Mavericks Sign Carlik Jones To 10-Day Deal

December 23rd, 2021 at 4:45pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 23: Jones’ 10-day contract with the Mavericks is now official, the team announced today (via Twitter). It will run through January 1.

DECEMBER 22: The Mavericks are calling up guard Carlik Jones from their G League affiliate, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Jones is getting a 10-day deal via a hardship exception.

A 6’1″ guard, Jones went undrafted earlier this year after transferring from Radford to Louisville for his senior season. He put up 16.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 19 games (37.5 MPG) in 2020/21 for the Cardinals and made the All-ACC First Team.

Jones spent training camp this fall with the Mavs, then reported to the Texas Legends, where he has started all 10 games he has played for Dallas’ G League team. He has averaged 20.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 4.4 APG on .451/.324/.875 shooting in 30.8 minutes per contest.

Dallas has now completed two hardship signings and has reportedly lined up three more, even though the team only has four players currently in the health and safety protocols. The NBA’s new rules allow clubs to sign a replacement for each player who enters the protocols.

That could mean that another Mavs player will enter the protocols today or that one of the team’s previously-reported agreements has fallen through — we’ll have to wait for more clarity.

Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Jarrett Culver Enter Protocols

December 23rd, 2021 at 3:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Wizards star Bradley Beal has entered the health and safety protocols and will miss Thursday’s game vs. New York, according to the team (Twitter link). Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is also currently in the protocols for Washington.

If Beal hasn’t registered a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, it’s possible he could exit the protocols in a matter of days. But if he did test positive, the 28-year-old figures to be sidelined for at least 10 days unless he can return two consecutive negative tests.

Beal, who remained unvaccinated as of September, missed the Olympics earlier this year because he tested positive for the coronavirus just before Team USA left for Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Lakers forward Trevor Ariza and Grizzlies wing Jarrett Culver have also been placed in the COVID-19 protocols, according to their respective teams (Twitter links). Ariza is the fifth Laker in the protocols, while Culver is the second Grizzlies player affected, joining Ziaire Williams.

While three players enter the protocols, another has exited — the Knicks announced that Quentin Grimes has been cleared to rejoin the team (Twitter link).

And-Ones: Hall Of Fame, House, Clark, Beasley, 2022 Draft

December 23rd, 2021 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has announced its list of 50 nominees for 2022, including four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili, who is eligible for the first time this year.

Chauncey Billups, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, and Mark Jackson are among the other nominees eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as players, while George Karl and Paul Westhead are two of many coaching nominees. Veteran referee Joey Crawford is also eligible for the first time this year.

The Hall of Fame will announce its 2022 finalists in February and will reveal this year’s class on April 2. The enshrinement ceremony will take place on the weekend of September 9-10.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Before Danuel House signed a 10-day deal with the Knicks, he received interest from a number of other teams, including the Sixers, Lakers, and Kings, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Veteran forward Earl Clark, the 14th overall pick in the 2009 draft, has signed an NBA G League contract, agent Daniel Hazan tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Clark appeared in 261 career NBA games, but hasn’t played in the league since 2015.
Former No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley has been sent a G League contract and invited to join the NBAGL player pool, tweets Marc Stein. Beasley joined a Puerto Rican team in October after playing for Portland in Summer League this year.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report takes a look at some early-season surprises and disappointments among 2022 NBA draft prospects, while ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz (Insider link) published an updated version of their 2022 mock draft this week. Purdue guard Jaden Ivey has moved up to No. 4 in ESPN’s latest mock, while Jaden Hardy of the G League Ignite has slipped out of the top five.

Bucks Sign Javin DeLaurier To 10-Day Contract

December 23rd, 2021 at 2:36pm CST by Luke Adams

2:36pm: The Bucks have officially signed DeLaurier, the team announced today in a press release.

1:32pm: The Bucks intend to promote Javin DeLaurier from their G League affiliate, having agreed to sign him to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, agent Gary Durrant tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

DeLaurier, a 6’10” forward/center, spent four seasons at Duke prior to going undrafted in 2020. He appeared in seven G League games for the Greensboro Swarm – Charlotte’s affiliate – last season and has played 12 games for the Wisconsin Herd in 2021/22.

In 16.6 minutes per game for Milwaukee’s NBAGL squad this season, DeLaurier has averaged 7.8 PPG and 6.8 RPG while shooting 60.0% from the floor.

The Bucks have three players currently in the health and safety protocols, but have yet to sign a replacement player using the hardship exception. DeLaurier’s 10-day deal, which will pay him $53,176, won’t count against Milwaukee’s team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Zach LaVine, Four Other Bulls Exit COVID-19 Protocols

December 23rd, 2021 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

All the Bulls players who were in the health and safety protocols have now rejoined the team, head coach Billy Donovan said today (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago). That group consists of Zach LaVine, Ayo Dosunmu, Alize Johnson, Matt Thomas, and Devon Dotson.

LaVine, Dosunmu, Johnson, and Thomas were all placed in the COVID-19 protocols at least 10 days ago. Dotson just entered the protocols on Tuesday, but has since tested out of them, according to Donovan (Twitter link via Johnson). That suggests that perhaps Dotson registered a false positive test earlier in the week.

It’s great news for the Bulls, who were one of the first teams to be affected by a coronavirus outbreak this month and who have had three games postponed. They’ll resume play on Sunday when they host Indiana.

The Bulls currently have three replacement players on 10-day hardship contracts. Alfonzo McKinnie signed his second 10-day deal on Monday and Ersan Ilyasova and Mac McClung inked their respective 10-day pacts on Wednesday.

While those contracts remain active for now, once all the Bulls players coming out of the protocols have been medically cleared to return to action, the team won’t be able to continue carrying those hardship signees, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). That means Ilyasova and McClung likely won’t get to play out their full 10-day contracts, and if Chicago wants to keep McKinnie around, the team would have to create room by trading or waiving someone from the 15-man roster.

2021/22 NBA Game Postponement Tracker

December 23rd, 2021 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

A year ago, the NBA waited until midway through the season to finalize its schedule for the second half, recognizing the need to be flexible and to account for postponements. Sure enough, more than 30 games were eventually needed to be rescheduled, primarily due to complications related to COVID-19.

Heading into 2021/22, there was a hope that fewer – if any – postponements would be required. The league released its entire schedule at once and made it through most of the first two months of the regular season without having any games affected by COVID-19 outbreaks.

However, that has changed as of late. So, with the number of postponements beginning to add up, we’re creating a space to track them all. The full list of postponed 2021/22 games is below. Once the NBA announces plans to reschedule these contests, we’ll add those details to our breakdown.

This tracker will continue to be updated throughout the ’21/22 league year, and can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.

Detroit Pistons at Chicago Bulls

Original date: December 14, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Bulls were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak.
New date: January 11, 2022

Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors

Original date: December 16, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Bulls were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak.
New date: February 3, 2022

New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers

Original date: December 19, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Sixers were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak.
New date: January 25, 2022

Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks

Original date: December 19, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Cavaliers were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak.
New date: March 31, 2022

Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets

Original date: December 19, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Nets were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak.
New date: January 26, 2022

Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors

Original date: December 20, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Magic were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak.
New date: March 4, 2022

Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets

Original date: December 21, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Nets were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak.
New date: February 17, 2022

Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls

Original date: December 22, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Raptors didn’t have the required minimum of eight players available.
New date: January 26, 2022

Brooklyn Nets at Portland Trail Blazers

Original date: December 23, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Nets didn’t have the required minimum of eight players available.
New date: January 10, 2022

Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs

Original date: December 29, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Heat didn’t have the required minimum of eight players available.
New date: February 3, 2022

Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets

Original date: December 30, 2021
Reason for postponement: The Nuggets didn’t have the required minimum of eight players available.
New date: March 7, 2022

Year: 2024