2021 | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Sign Tyler Hall To 10-Day Contract

December 18th, 2021 at 12:56pm CST by JD Shaw

The Knicks have signed guard Tyler Hall to a 10-day contract, the team announced today (Twitter link). New York currently has six players in the league’s health and safety protocols, so the team used a hardship exception to sign Hall.

At 6’5″ and 210 pounds, Hall has impressed in the G League this season, averaging 14.6 points per game for New York’s affiliate, the Westchester Knicks. He’s also pitched in 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per outing, playing an average of 38.5 minutes.

Hall went undrafted in 2019 after playing four collegiate seasons at Montana State University. The Knicks (13-16) have upcoming games scheduled against the Celtics on Saturday, Pistons on Tuesday and Wizards on Thursday.

Evan Mobley, Marcus Morris, Miles McBride Enter Protocols

December 18th, 2021 at 12:45pm CST by JD Shaw

Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley (Twitter link), Clippers forward Marcus Morris and Knicks guard Miles McBride (Twitter link) have all entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to their respective teams. All three updates were released on Saturday morning.

Mobley, Morris and McBride join a growing list of players in the league’s protocols. A total of 58 players are currently waiting to return, according to our tracker. Assuming the trio tested positive for COVID-19, they’ll be out for at least 10 days unless they register consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Mobley, 20, is currently enjoying a stellar rookie season. In 25 games, he’s averaged 13.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 33.6 minutes, starting in every one of his contests.

Morris, an 11-year veteran, is one of many Clippers players on the team’s injury report for Saturday’s game against Oklahoma City, but he’s the only player listed out due to the protocols.

McBride shined in the Knicks’ 116-103 win over Houston on Thursday, recording 15 points, nine rebounds and four steals as a starter. New York now has six players in the protocols.

Thaddeus Young Wants To Join Contender

December 18th, 2021 at 12:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thaddeus Young would prefer to play for a contender and he doesn’t view the Spurs in that category, he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports via the “Posted Up’ podcast.

“With this organization and this franchise, we’re not in a contending situation,” Young said. “We’re going to compete and we’re going to try to contend and try to do things, but we’re in a rebuilding situation. With being in a rebuilding situation, that’s not ideal for a guy that just came off a really good season, going into his 15th season to going to another rebuild.”

Except for a two-week stretch in November, Young has seen only spot minutes for San Antonio. In his last appearance, he played just four minutes against Charlotte.

He averaged 12.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 4.3 APG in 68 games with Chicago last season, including 23 starts. He was included in the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade.

“It bothers you a lot when you know that you’re 110% healthy and more than capable of helping your team and you’re not playing,” Young said. “It definitely bothers you. It doesn’t sit well with you. Sometimes it makes you sick to your stomach just because of the fact that you know you can help and you know that you can do certain things.”

Young expressed similar sentiments earlier this month, but it’s clear his frustration is growing. He has an expiring $14.19MM contract.

Coach Gregg Popovich is sympathetic to Young’s concerns and says the veteran forward has remained professional despite his lack of playing time, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News tweets.

“We’re a young team and we’re trying to develop a lot of guys,” Popovich said. “That’s going to take the priority, and he understands that. He doesn’t like that, but he’s still a great teammate because he’s a pro.”

Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving Enter Protocols

December 18th, 2021 at 11:51am CST by Dana Gauruder

11:51am: Irving has now been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols, making him the ninth Nets player on the list.

According to Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News (Twitter link), the typical testing process for Irving to rejoin the team wouldn’t have required him to be entered into the protocols, so he registered either a positive or inconclusive test.

Irving needs five consecutive days of negative tests to join the team for practices, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

10:38 am: Nets superstar Kevin Durant has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Durant has tested positive on multiple occasions over the past two years. He had his own bout with the virus shortly after the pandemic struck. He missed three games last January after testing positive and missed three more in February after being deemed a close contact.

Durant has been playing at an MVP level, carrying the team through its current COVID crisis. He’s averaging 33.1 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 6.7 APG this month for a team currently on a four-game winning streak.

Brooklyn, which has the Eastern Conference’s top record, also has seven other players on the protocols list. That group includes LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre’ Bembry, Bruce Brown, Jevon Carter, James Harden, James Johnson and Paul Millsap.

The Nets have been scrambling to have enough players in uniform. They announced on Saturday that James Ennis and Shaquille Harrison have been signed to 10-day contracts using the hardship exemption. Langston Galloway was previous signed under the same conditions.

They also announced on Friday that Kyrie Irving would return to the team and play in road games.

Lakers Notes: Davis, Thomas, Westbrook, Ariza

December 18th, 2021 at 9:50am CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers forward Anthony Davis suffered a left knee injury in the team’s 110-92 loss to the Timberwolves on Friday and he’ll undergo an MRI today after the team flies to Chicago, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“So far all is in good structure, but (we) want to take another image,” a source familiar with the injury told McMenamin.

Davis had already been dealing with soreness in the same knee. He underwent an ultrasound on Monday and was examined by the Timberwolves’ team doctor after Friday’s game. Officially, the Lakers are calling Davis’ injury a knee contusion. He struggled to make it to the locker room, collapsing to the ground in pain going through the tunnel.

We have more on the Lakers:

Isaiah Thomas made a heartwarming return to the NBA after signing a 10-day contract via the hardship exemption. He scored 19 points and received an ovation from the Minnesota crowd when he entered. Thomas expressed gratitude and said he feels healthy, McMenamin tweets. “I just never thought I would feel this way again,” he said. “Like, I have no limitations with my body, with my hip and that’s why I just smile so much because I’m in a great place mentally and I’m in a great place physically.”
It’s unlikely that Thomas will wind up remaining on the 15-man roster, Jovan Buha of The Athletic writes. The team would likely have waive Avery Bradley or shed the guaranteed contract of Rajon Rondo or DeAndre Jordan to make that happen.
Russell Westbrook had 14 points in 29 minutes on Friday. He entered health and safety protocols briefly but didn’t miss any games after producing multiple negative tests. Westbrook had three negative tests after testing positive, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets. He arrived in Minneapolis in mid-afternoon from Dallas, where Los Angeles played its previous game.
Trevor Ariza was in uniform on Friday but was the only player on the active list to record a DNP. The team will ease the veteran forward back into action, Bill Oram of The Athletic tweets. Ariza has yet to make his season debut after undergoing ankle surgery.

Rockets Waive House, Promote Mathews, Sign Queen

December 18th, 2021 at 9:19am CST by Rory Maher

DECEMBER 18: The Rockets announced via a press release they have converted Mathews’ two-way contract into a standard contract, signed Queen to a two-way contract, and waived House.

DECEMBER 17: The Rockets are waiving Danuel House, signing two-way player Garrison Mathews to a standard four-year contract worth more than $8MM, and signing wing Trevelin Queen to a two-way deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon of ESPN (All Twitter links).

The Rockets had been looking for a way to create an opening on their 15-man roster in order to convert Mathews, and they’ve done so by waiving House. Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that the Rockets will use a portion of their mid-level exception to convert Mathews to a standard contract.

The Rockets will be responsible for the full $3.9MM of House’s guaranteed contract this season, although he’s already earned approximately $1.4MM, so it’s really an additional $2.5MM, as Marks tweets.

House has been out of Houston’s rotation this season as the team prioritizes younger players. In 16 games this season (14.6 MPG), he averaged 4.8 PPG and 2.7 RPG on .338/.294/.895 shooting. If he clears waivers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.

The Rockets claimed Mathews off waivers the day before the season started and converted his Exhibit 10 deal into a two-way contract. He’s certainly earned his promotion to a standard deal; in 11 games since entering the starting lineup, Mathews has averaged 14.5 PPG and 3.8 RPG on .435/.378/.795 shooting in 33 MPG. He’s attempting 8.2 three-pointers (3.1 makes) and 3.5 free throws during that stretch, a very nice shot profile for an analytically-driven Houston team. The Rockets are 7-4 over those 11 games.

The 24-year-old Queen has been playing with Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grand Valley Vipers. In 10 games with the Vipers, he’s averaging 22.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.3 APG and 2.9 SPG.

Nets Sign James Ennis, Shaq Harrison Via Hardship Exemption

December 18th, 2021 at 9:02am CST by Dana Gauruder

DECEMBER 18: Brooklyn has signed both players, the team tweets.

DECEMBER 16: The Nets are planning to use the hardship exemption to sign forward James Ennis, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. They will also give Shaquille Harrison a 10-day deal using the same exemption, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.

The team was missing seven players on Thursday due to health and safety protocols — James Harden, Bruce Brown, Paul Millsap, Jevon Carter, James Johnson, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre’ Bembry. Joe Harris is recovering from ankle surgery.

Despite being shorthanded, Brooklyn won its fourth straight by downing Philadelphia 114-105. The club had only nine players available, including Langston Galloway, who received a 10-day contract on Thursday using the exemption.

The well-travelled Ennis appeared in 41 games for the Magic last season, including 37 starts. He averaged 8.4 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 24.0 MPG. He failed to find a free agent offer after playing out his one-year, $3.3MM contract with Orlando.

Harrison played a combined 34 regular-season games off the bench for the Jazz and Nuggets last season. He also appeared in nine playoff games for Denver. He was waived by the Sixers during training camp.

Prior to Thursday’s game, Nets coach Steve Nash expressed concern about overusing Kevin Durant.

“I don’t know we can continue to lean on him the way we have,” he said, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “It doesn’t feel right.”

COVID/Injury Notes: Reaves, Hauser, Carter Jr., Birch, Bulls

December 17th, 2021 at 9:51pm CST by Rory Maher

Rookies Austin Reaves and Sam Hauser have entered the health and safety protocols for the Lakers and Celtics, respectively, according to Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group and Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter links).

If Reaves and Hauser tested positive for COVID-19, they’ll be out for the next 10 days or until they record two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Reaves has been a semi-regular member of the Lakers’ rotation, appearing in 17 games (19.7 minutes per game) with averages of 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds on .500/.390/.882 shooting. He hit a memorable game-winning three-pointer in overtime against Dallas Wednesday.

Hauser is on a two-way deal with the Celtics and has appeared in just seven total minutes across three NBA games. He’s been a regular for Boston’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, averaging 16.9 points and 5 rebounds on .487/.433/.917 shooting in 10 games (33.5 MPG).

Here are some more COVID-19 and injury-related notes:

Magic big man Wendell Carter Jr. was injured Friday night against Miami, suffering what the team called a right lower leg injury, per a team PR announcement (via Twitter). He missed the remainder of the game and will undergo further evaluation, the team adds. Hopefully it’s not a serious injury for both player and team, as the Magic already have several injured and/or COVID-afflicted players.
Khem Birch could return for the Raptors on Monday, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). Birch has been suffering from a bone bruise which still isn’t 100% healed yet, and says he’ll likely have to deal with it the throughout the season, Lewenberg relays.
The Bulls will be able to practice on Saturday for their first official team activity in a week, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago relays (Twitter links). They’ve had several players in the league’s health and safety protocols over the past couple weeks, but a few, including DeMar DeRozan, have returned recently. Two of their games were postponed this week due to the outbreak.

Kings Place Davion Mitchell In Protocols, Sign Justin Robinson

December 17th, 2021 at 8:45pm CST by Luke Adams

8:45 PM: The Kings have signed Robinson to a 10-day deal using the hardship exception and he will be available to play Friday night, according to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter links).

4:01 PM: The Kings have placed guard Davion Mitchell in the health and safety protocols, according to Sean Cunningham of ABC 10 Sacramento (Twitter link). Mitchell was initially listed as questionable for Friday’s game vs. Memphis – perhaps in the hopes that his COVID-19 test was a false positive – but he has now been ruled out, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Even if a player registers a false positive, he needs to return consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart in order to exit the protocols, so a negative result today wouldn’t have cleared Mitchell, assuming he tested positive earlier in the day.

Sacramento also has five other players in the health and safety protocols and is missing Richaun Holmes due to a right eye injury. On top of that, Tyrese Haliburton (back) and Chimezie Metu (knee) are listed as questionable for Friday’s game. If Haliburton and Metu are ruled out, the club would be down to eight available players, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee notes (via Twitter).

According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the Kings may sign free agent guard Justin Robinson before tonight’s contest to provide further reinforcements, assuming the game takes place as scheduled. Robinson would receive a 10-day contract via a hardship exception in that scenario.

Robinson began the season on a two-way contract with Milwaukee and appeared in 17 games for the team, averaging 2.8 PPG and 1.2 APG on .316/.270/1.000 shooting in 11.6 minutes per contest. However, he was waived at the end of November when the Bucks opted to replace him on the roster with Javonte Smart.

NBA, NBPA Discussing Requiring Replacement Players For COVID-Hit Teams

December 17th, 2021 at 8:06pm CST by Rory Maher

Amidst the massive influx of players testing positive for the coronavirus, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are discussing a plan that would require teams affected by COVID-19 to add replacement players, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Baxter Holmes.

Wojnarowski and Holmes write that NBA owners are desperate to avoid postponements and cancellations, and have come to an agreement on a plan to essentially update the hardship exception, but it must be approved by the NBPA as well.

The proposed plan would follow the same initial requirements as the hardship exception: four players need to be sidelined (either by injury or COVID) in order to sign a replacement player, but any teams with five or more players out would be required to sign additional players, in order to ensure teams have the minimum of eight players available.

So, four players out: replacement player available, but not required. Five players out: one replacement required. Six out, two required. Seven out, three required. A maximum of three replacement players would be available. All replacement players would be on 10-day contracts, the same as the current hardship exception.

Under the proposed plan, the 10-day replacement players would not count against the salary cap or luxury tax, which is a significant change for teams, according to Wojnarowski and Holmes.

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