2021 | Hoops Rumors

Mavericks Sign Charlie Brown Jr. To 10-Day Contract

December 23rd, 2021 at 12:28pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

DECEMBER 23: The Mavericks have officially signed Brown to a 10-day deal, the team announced today (via Twitter). The team has now finalized three hardship signings this week and has two more (Brandon Knight and Carlik Jones) reportedly on tap.

DECEMBER 21: Valuable Mavericks swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. is now in the league’s coronavirus health and safety protocols, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Given that Hardaway is the fourth Maverick to be placed into COVID-19 protocols in the last four days, the Mavericks will ink shooting guard Charlie Brown Jr. to a 10-day contract via the league’s hardship exemption, Charania tweets.

Brown is currently with the NBAGL’s Delaware Blue Coats. Across two NBA seasons, he has appeared in 19 games between the Hawks in 2019/20 and the Thunder in 2020/21. He holds career averages of 3.2 PPG and 1.1 RPG.

The 23-year-old shooting guard out of Saint Joseph’s is averaging 16.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.6 SPG, and 0.9 BPG in 11 starts this season with the Blue Coats, on shooting splits of .457/.400/.850.

Dallas re-signed Hardaway this past summer to a four-year, $75MM contract. In 29 contests for the Mavericks, including 20 starts, the 29-year-old out of Michigan is averaging 14.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.4 APG and 1.0 SPG. The 6’5″ guard has had an inconsistent shooting season from the floor and has seen his numbers dip at the charity stripe, with splits of .391/.332/.743.

COVID-19 Notes: Freedom, McClaughlin, Kings, Vaccines

December 23rd, 2021 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Freedom was out of the rotation during the first month of the season, but had appeared in 19 straight games for Boston and even played 40 minutes in his first start of the season on Monday vs. Philadelphia.

As our tracker shows, the Celtics now have eight players in the COVID-19 protocols. They’re probably still a few days away from some of those players returning, since all of them have entered the protocols in the last week.

Here are a few more COVID-related updates:

Mavericks two-way player JaQuori McLaughlin has entered the health and safety protocols, according to the team (Twitter link). McLaughlin joins Luka Doncic and five other teammates — Dallas has had to place seven players in the protocols in the last six days.
In a well-reported story on the impact of the NBA’s COVID-19 surge, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Baxter Holmes share a number of interesting anecdotes, including how both Kings equipment managers contracted COVID-19 and couldn’t work, forcing the team to temporarily transfer those duties to a video room intern and a game-night attendant.
Within that ESPN story, Wojnarowski and Holmes say that some team executives around the league believe asymptomatic players should be allowed to play, but that idea is a “non-starter” for now in the eyes of NBA and NBPA leadership. ESPN’s duo also reports that almost one-third of the NBA’s vaccinated players initially received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which offers a lower level of protection than the Pfizer or Moderna shots.

Knicks Sign Danuel House To 10-Day Contract

December 23rd, 2021 at 10:57am CST by Luke Adams

After being waived last weekend by the Rockets, forward Danuel House has found a new NBA home, at least temporarily. The Knicks have signed House to a 10-day contract, the club announced in a press release.

It’s a hardship signing for the Knicks, who still have five players in the health and safety protocols even after Obi Toppin and RJ Barrett were cleared. New York has already signed three other replacement players to 10-day contracts — House joins Tyler Hall, Damyean Dotson, and Matt Mooney.

House had been a reliable contributor for the Rockets in past years, averaging 9.7 PPG and 3.9 RPG on .431/.373/.759 shooting in 138 games (27.7 MPG) in the three seasons preceding 2021/22. However, he fell out of Houston’s rotation this year as the team prioritized younger players. In 16 games (14.6 MPG), he averaged just 4.8 PPG and 2.7 RPG on .338/.294/.895 shooting.

House, whose $3,894,000 salary with the Rockets for this season was fully guaranteed, will earn another $111,457 on his 10-day deal with New York. That money won’t count against the Knicks’ team salary for cap or tax purposes.

House’s contract will run through January 1, covering the Knicks’ next five scheduled games.

Pistons Sign Cheick Diallo To 10-Day Deal

December 23rd, 2021 at 10:55am CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 23: Diallo’s 10-day contract with the Pistons is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log. It’ll run through January 1.

DECEMBER 22: The Pistons are signing big man Cheick Diallo to a 10-day contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Diallo had been playing for the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s G League affiliate.

The fact that it’s a 10-day agreement means the Pistons will use a hardship exception to complete the signing. Entering the day, Detroit had been one of nine teams without a player in the health and safety protocols — this deal suggests that’s about to change, since the club doesn’t have enough injured players to qualify for a hardship signing.

The 33rd overall pick in the 2016 draft, Diallo has appeared in a total of 180 regular season NBA games for the Pelicans and Suns. He averaged 4.7 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 47 games (10.2 MPG) for Phoenix in 2019/20, then spent last season in Russia and Spain.

The 25-year-old returned stateside this season and has averaged 14.2 PPG and 8.5 RPG on 71.4% shooting in 13 games (21.7 MPG) at the G League level.

Diallo will earn $102,831 on his 10-day contract, but it won’t count toward the Pistons’ team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker Becomes First Pelican To Enter Protocols

December 23rd, 2021 at 10:23am CST by Luke Adams

Third-year guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, becoming the first Pelicans player to do so this season, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Assuming Alexander-Walker registered a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, he’ll remain in the protocols for 10 days or until he can return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Alexander-Walker has struggled with his shot this season, making just 37.2% of his attempts from the floor (including 31.9% of his threes) through 32 games. However, the 23-year-old is coming off perhaps his best game of the season, so the timing of his entry into the protocols is unfortunate — he scored 27 points in 26 minutes on 10-of-16 shooting on Tuesday in a win over Portland.

New Orleans had been just one of eight teams without a player in the protocols. The Rockets, Pacers, Thunder, Suns, Trail Blazers, Spurs, and Jazz make up the rest of that group.

Several times this month, we’ve seen one positive test lead to a flurry of additional positives, so it’s possible Alexander-Walker won’t be the last Pelican to be affected — hopefully the team can avoid an outbreak.

Eastern Notes: Barrett, Cousins, Fall, Wizards

December 23rd, 2021 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

RJ Barrett has exited the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the Knicks announced today (via Twitter). The news comes on the heels of Obi Toppin clearing the protocols on Wednesday night, a sign that the team is hopefully getting through the worst of its COVID-19 outbreak.

Assuming Barrett and Toppin pass the necessary cardiac tests, they could be back in the lineup as soon as tonight vs. Washington or Saturday vs. Atlanta. Five Knicks remain in the protocols for the time being, as our tracker shows.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Earlier this week, Bucks center DeMarcus Cousins admitted he was still struggling to find his rhythm while getting “limited practice time (and) limited preparation” between games, as Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. Cousins, who signed with Milwaukee last month, logged a season-high 28 minutes on Wednesday and had his best game of the year, putting up 18 points and eight assists in a win over Houston.
Like Cousins in Milwaukee, Cavaliers center Tacko Fall has taken on a larger role this week due to various absences. Kelsey Russo of The Athletic takes a look at the unusual journey Fall took leading up to his first NBA start on Wednesday. Playing in Boston, where he began his NBA career, the 7’5″ center had four points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes.
Trade talks across the NBA have been put on the back burner for now as teams focus on dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks and signing replacement players. However, those discussions figure to heat up in the coming weeks, prompting Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington to take an early look at potential trade deadline priorities for the Wizards. The team could use more shooting, more size, and a speedy point guard, says Hughes.

Hawks Sign Wesley Iwundu To 10-Day Contract

December 23rd, 2021 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 23: Iwundu’s 10-day contract with the Hawks is now official, according to a press release from the team. The deal will run through January 1.

DECEMBER 22: The Hawks have reached an agreement to sign free agent forward Wesley Iwundu to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

According to Wojnarowski, Iwundu will officially sign on Thursday before Atlanta’s game in Philadelphia, which means he won’t be available for Wednesday’s home game vs. Orlando.

Iwundu, who turned 27 on Monday, spent his first four professional seasons in the NBA after being selected 33rd overall in the 2017 draft by the Magic. He was in Orlando for three years, then played for the Mavericks and Pelicans in 2020/21. In 223 total games (16.8 MPG), he has averaged 4.3 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .407/.286/.799 shooting.

The Pelicans sent Iwundu to Charlotte in August as part of their Devonte’ Graham sign-and-trade and he was subsequently waived in October by the Hornets, despite having a fully guaranteed salary for 2021/22. Iwundu has been a free agent since then.

The Hawks have three players – Trae Young, Clint Capela, and Danilo Gallinari – in the health and safety protocols and have reached deals with three replacement players this week. Lance Stephenson and Malcolm Hill are also reportedly signing 10-day deals with Atlanta.

Three Nets Rookies Enter Protocols; Harden, Two Others Exit

December 23rd, 2021 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets announced some good news and some bad news on Thursday morning. Three players – James Harden, Paul Millsap, and Jevon Carter – have exited the health and safety protocols, but three others – rookies Cameron Thomas, David Duke, and Kessler Edwards – have entered the protocols, tweets Adam Zagoria of Forbes.

You could make a strong case that no team has been hit harder in the last couple weeks by COVID-19 than Brooklyn, which still has 10 players in the league’s protocols after today’s updates. Of the 17 players the team had been carrying on its standard roster, 13 have been in the protocols this month, while Joe Harris (ankle) and Nicolas Claxton (wrist) have dealt with injuries.

Patty Mills and Blake Griffin have been the only players unaffected, and even Griffin is playing through knee pain. The Nets have also signed four replacement players – Langston Galloway, James Ennis, Shaquille Harrison, and Wenyen Gabriel – via hardship exceptions to help fill out the roster.

Brooklyn’s game in Portland on Thursday has been postponed, but the NBA will certainly want to avoid having the team’s Christmas Day game vs. the Lakers endure a similar fate. Head coach Steve Nash said today that Harris won’t play on the Nets’ current road trip, but the team hopes to have Claxton return on either Saturday vs. the Lakers or Monday vs. the Clippers (Twitter link via Brain Lewis of The New York Post).

If Harden, Millsap, and Carter are all cleared to return and Mills, Griffin, and the four replacement players are good to go, Brooklyn would have at least nine players available, even without Claxton. The Nets remain eligible to complete more hardship signings before Saturday too, if they so choose.

Alex Caruso Out At Least 7-10 Days

December 23rd, 2021 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Bulls guard Alex Caruso continues to battle injury issues, having sustained a left foot sprain in Monday’s win over Houston. According to the team (via Twitter), he’ll be reevaluated in about seven-to-10 days.

Caruso, who had been dealing with a right hamstring ailment earlier in the month, benefited from a pair of postponements last week, which gave that hamstring time to heal. However, he left Monday’s game with a new injury after playing just six minutes.

Despite being a little banged up as of late, Caruso has still appeared in 26 of Chicago’s 29 games this season, averaging 8.4 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.7 RPG on .448/.364/.830 shooting in 28.0 MPG. Those numbers undersell Caruso’s impact on the defensive end, where he’s averaging 2.0 steals per game. The Bulls have a +8.4 net rating when he plays, compared to -2.5 when he sits.

Chicago’s depth chart remains in flux as players enter and exit the health and safety protocols, but Coby White, Javonte Green, and Ayo Dosunmu are among those who could play larger roles until Caruso returns. Dosunmu is in the protocols, but could be cleared to return early next week.

Raptors Complete Three 10-Day Signings

December 23rd, 2021 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have officially signed guard Tremont Waters and forwards D.J. Wilson and Juwan Morgan to 10-day contracts, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. The deals were completed on Wednesday, so they’ll run through December 31.

Toronto’s agreements with Waters, Wilson, and Morgan were all previously reported. The team, which currently has eight players in the health and safety protocols, is also expected to sign Nik Stauskas and Brandon Goodwin to 10-day deals via hardship exceptions, though there have been rumors that at least one of them tested positive for COVID-19.

The Raptors had their game on Wednesday in Chicago postponed and won’t resume play until December 26, so they theoretically could’ve gotten a couple extra games out of their new additions if they’d waited until Sunday to complete the signings. However, I suspect the NBA’s new roster rules required the team to finalize at least three of its hardship signings on Wednesday, even though the game in Chicago was postponed. The Bulls, who will also be off until Sunday, completed two 10-day deals on Wednesday too.

Waters, Wilson, and Morgan should be available for the Raptors’ next three scheduled games vs. Cleveland (Sunday), Philadelphia (next Tuesday), and the Clippers (next Friday).

Year: 2024