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Injury Notes: Zion, J. Brown, Middleton, Schröder, Biyombo

April 7th, 2023 at 11:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin announced on Thursday that Zion Williamson would remain out indefinitely as he continues to deal with a right hamstring strain that has kept him sidelined since January 2.

According to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, Griffin clarified on Friday that Williamson will not suit up for the play-in tournament, and he might miss a potential first-round playoff series as well.

“I would just say that if you looked at the logistics of where we are at, it’s not possible to get the work in that would put him in a 5-on-5 workout in time for any play-in,” Griffin said. “Based on today, our best possible outcome would be if everything lined up perfectly, maybe you’re in a position to practice prior to a first round. Or maybe during a first round. But it’s going to take more than one, right? It’s really hard. We may never get to that point, either. If it’s not a situation where those things align and he feels the way he needs to feel, we’re not going to let him go to the next phase.”

Williamson had a setback in February, which delayed his return to the court. Griffin said the All-Star forward hasn’t experienced another setback since then, but he lacks confidence in the hamstring.

Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:

Celtics guard/forward Jaylen Brown cut his right hand and had to get five stitches as he was picking up a glass vase he broke while watering his plants on Thursday night, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Brown expects to be ready for the playoffs, Weiss adds.
Bucks forward Khris Middleton had an MRI on Thursday after he aggravated a right knee injury, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. Nothing showed up on the imaging and Middleton is expected to rehab for the next week “in hopes of being ready” for the postseason, according to Charania. While it’s a positive development that the MRI was clean, Charania’s wording suggests it’s no lock that Middleton will be healthy when the playoffs start on April 15.
Lakers guard Dennis Schröder was ruled out of Friday’s matchup with Phoenix due to “extreme neck soreness” that stemmed from “general wear and tear,” head coach Darvin Ham told reporters, including Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). The team had previously listed Schröder as questionable due to neck spasms.
Suns center Bismack Biyombo was in a lot of pain and needed assistance to leave the court after taking knee-to-knee contact in Friday’s matchup with the Lakers. He was later ruled out for the remainder of the contest with a right knee injury, as Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports relays (All Twitter links).

Top Six, Play-In Tournament Now Set For Eastern Conference

April 7th, 2023 at 9:20pm CST by Rory Maher

The Eastern Conference’s postseason picture is much clearer after Friday night’s games, though we’ll still have to wait until next week’s play-in tournament to determine who will emerge as the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds.

The top six seeds are now set after Brooklyn defeated Orlando:

Milwaukee Bucks
Boston Celtics
Philadelphia 76ers
Cleveland Cavaliers
New York Knicks
Brooklyn Nets

Two first-round playoff matchups are finalized: Philadelphia will face Brooklyn, and Cleveland will face New York.

As for the bottom end of the postseason picture, Toronto lost to Boston tonight, which means the play-in tournament has been finalized for the East (Twitter link via Mark Medina of NBA.com).

No. 7 Heat will host No. 8 Hawks on April 11 — the winner advances as the No. 7 seed to face Boston.
No. 9 Raptors will host No. 10 Bulls on April 12 — the winner advances to face the loser of Miami vs. Atlanta.
Loser of the Heat/Hawks matchup plays the winner of the Raptors/Bulls on April 14 — the winner advances as the No. 8 seed to face Milwaukee.

The first round starts on April 15, according to the NBA. The Bucks have locked up the best record in the league and will have home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Celtics Notes: Brogdon, Muscala, Gallinari, Injury Report

April 7th, 2023 at 10:54am CST by Arthur Hill

Malcolm Brogdon knew he was going to be a sixth man when the Celtics traded for him last summer and he may have become the best in the league at that role, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive.

Brogdon, who’s in a battle with the Knicks’ Immanuel Quickley for Sixth Man of the Year honors, is making a late push for the award, delivering a 29-point performance in Wednesday’s win over the Raptors. While Brogdon would welcome the recognition, he considers it secondary to being part of a winning team again.

“I want to win,” he said. “The last two seasons for me were rough, not being able to win. I’m a winner. I feel like I’ve been known as a winner. I want to be known as a winner when I’m done playing in this league, and I want to win at the highest level, and that’s winning a championship. So being in Boston, being a Celtic fits me perfectly.”

Celtics officials view the fit the same way, Terada adds, as Brogdon has become a leader in the locker room in addition to his on-court production. He also provides additional depth that the team lacked last season when it appeared to run out of gas during the NBA Finals.

“The humility that he brings to our team, he takes that pride in the second unit,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “In order to be a great team, you have to have people like that and we have that from top to bottom. Different guys do different things, and Malcolm has come in here with patience, humility and understanding.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Mike Muscala delivered 12 points and six rebounds in 32 minutes on Wednesday while making his third start since Boston acquired him from the Thunder at the trade deadline, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Muscala, who suffered through a shooting slump in March, was 3-for-5 on three-pointers, including a clutch shot in the closing minutes. That’s the kind of production he’ll need to carve out a role in the playoffs. “I think the challenge for me is to keep that mindset regardless of how many minutes you’re playing because those are the players that are harder to guard when you have that mindset,” Muscala said. “No matter if you’re playing five minutes or playing 30, you come in and you’re aggressive and that part should not waver.”
The Celtics are likely to bring back Danilo Gallinari for another season rather than try to deal him during the summer, Robb states in a mailbag column. Robb believes the team showed its commitment to the veteran forward, who suffered a torn ACL shortly after signing as a free agent, by not moving him at the trade deadline.
With the second seed wrapped up, Brogdon, Marcus Smart, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White are all listed as questionable for Friday’s rematch with Toronto, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.

Celtics Sign Justin Champagnie

April 7th, 2023 at 10:04am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

APRIL 7: The signing is official, the Celtics announced (via Twitter).

APRIL 3: Free agent small forward Justin Champagnie, currently with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBAGL, is set to sign a deal with the Celtics, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Celtics have both their two-way player slots occupied, but do still possess an opening on their standard 15-man roster. It seems likely they will add Champagnie to their standard roster for the 2022/23 season’s final week and possibly give him a non-guaranteed salary for ’23/24.

After going undrafted out of Pittsburgh in 2021, the 6’6″ swingman inked a two-way deal with the Raptors for the 2021/22 season. The team brought him back aboard for 2022/23, but after he had appeared in just three games for Toronto this season, he was cut in December. He has been with Sioux Falls ever since.

Champagnie holds career NBA averages of 2.2 PPG and 1.9 RPG across 39 pro games, while playing sparingly. In 23 games with the Skyforce this season, the 21-year-old has averaged 18.2 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.9 SPG, and 0.7 BPG.

Jazz Notes: Markkanen, Olynyk, Sexton, THT

April 5th, 2023 at 5:45pm CST by Rory Maher

Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen recently sat down for an interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The Q&A session covered his self belief, his stints in Chicago and Cleveland, Utah’s future, and several other topics.

Markkanen, who plans to compete for Finland’s national team at the World Cup this summer, said he’d be thrilled if he’s named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2022/23, according to Scotto.

“I think it would be great,” Markkanen said. “With the regular season about to end and I start hearing that stuff, it would be a pretty cool trophy to have at home. I take a lot of pride in the hard work and, like becoming an All-Star, knowing what I’ve gone through and being able to bounce back from that would mean a lot for me. Hopefully, I get it done. It would be pretty cool.”

Here’s more on the Jazz:

Veteran big man Kelly Olynyk acknowledges he heard the trade rumor of the Celtics being interested in his services. However, he says he’s happy with the Jazz and he has no plans to ask out in the offseason, he tells Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I mean, I love Boston,” said Olynyk, who spent his first four seasons with the Celtics. “I grew up in Boston basically, coming out of college and starting my professional career. I have nothing but great things to say about the city, the organization, everybody involved. It feels like home every time I come back. When you see those kind of rumors, it brings up great memories. It’s a city that has unbelievable people, fans, culture, all that. So you always think, ‘What if? Maybe it could happen.’ But you obviously have to focus on the now and what you’re doing. I’m definitely not trying to get out of anywhere. This is a great situation to be a part of with this team, but your mind can’t help but wander for a second when you hear about things.”
Collin Sexton had a solid showing in his first game back from a nagging hamstring injury, recording 15 points and three assists in 16 minutes in the Jazz’s loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. “It feels like he is just all competitiveness. He gives our team such a lift energy-wise. It is infectious, contagious, however you want to describe it,” head coach Will Hardy said, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. “The guys love how he plays. … It’s the same Collin that we all know, and it’s the same Collin that we’ve missed for the last 18 games. So it was great to see him out there.”
Sarah Todd of The Deseret News examines the pros and cons of Talen Horton-Tucker‘s game and wonders if he’ll be in the team’s long-term plans. Still just 22 years old, the fourth-year guard continues to show flashes of intrigue, but he’s also inconsistent and doesn’t shoot well from behind the arc (28.6% on threes). Todd thinks it’s very likely that Horton-Tucker will pick up his $11MM player option for 2023/24.

Grant Williams Meets Starter Criteria, Increases QO

April 5th, 2023 at 8:44am CST by Luke Adams

After logging 29 minutes on Tuesday night in the Celtics‘ loss to Philadelphia, forward Grant Williams has now played more than 2,000 minutes this season, meeting the “starter criteria” for restricted free agents.

A player achieves the starter criteria when he starts at least 41 games or plays at least 2,000 minutes in the season before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency (or if he averages 41 starts or 2,000 minutes in the two seasons leading up to his free agency).

Williams made 21 starts and logged 1,875 minutes in 2021/22 and has started just 23 games this season, but has now surpassed the minutes-played requirement for ’22/23.

As a result of meeting the starter criteria, the 24-year-old will see the value of his qualifying offer increase by more than $2MM. The No. 22 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Williams had been on track for a QO worth $6,235,495, but that figure will be bumped to $8,486,620, which is the equivalent of what the No. 9 pick in his draft class would receive.

That modest bump may not have a tangible impact on Williams’ free agency. He’s considered highly likely to sign a new multiyear contract that exceeds $8.5MM in annual average value, so that qualifying offer would essentially just serve as a placeholder during his negotiations with the Celtics or rival suitors.

If Williams doesn’t get any multiyear offers he likes and is intrigued by the possibility of reaching unrestricted free agency in 2024, accepting a one-year, $8.5MM offer would certainly hold more appeal than signing a one-year, $6.2MM offer, but his restricted free agency seems unlikely to play out that way.

Williams is the sixth potential restricted free agent to meet the starter criteria so far this season, joining P.J. Washington, Tre Jones, and Ayo Dosunmu — Kenyon Martin Jr. and Herbert Jones also made more than 41 starts, but they have 2023/24 team options on their respective contracts and may not reach free agency this summer (Jones definitely won’t, based on the structure of his deal).

Nets forward Cameron Johnson could join that group by starting two of Brooklyn’s last three regular season games this week. Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle will fall just short of the starter criteria after missing Tuesday’s game — he needs to make four more starts, but Portland now only has three games left on its schedule.

Final Check-In On Open NBA Roster Spots

April 2nd, 2023 at 9:57am CST by Luke Adams

With just one week left in the NBA’s regular season, there are still a number of teams around the league with open roster spots, and there’s little downside to filling those openings before the regular season ends.

For playoff teams, adding one more player would create a little extra depth in the event of postseason injuries or garbage-time minutes. For non-playoff teams, it makes sense to try to convince a young player to accept a multiyear deal that includes little or no guaranteed money beyond this season, since it gives those teams another option for next year’s roster.

Even clubs over the luxury tax line or right up against it shouldn’t have a problem paying one more player a prorated minimum salary for the last day or two of the season — the prorated minimum for a veteran on a rest-of-season deal is just $10,552 per day, which is a drop in the bucket for NBA franchises.

With all that in mind, it’s safe to assume that some – if not all – of the teams with open roster spots should fill them by next Sunday. Here are those teams:

Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets *
Charlotte Hornets *
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Lakers
New York Knicks
Phoenix Suns ^
Utah Jazz #

The two teams marked with an asterisk (*) here technically have full 15-man rosters as of today, but one of their players is on a 10-day contract. That’s Moses Brown for the Nets and Xavier Sneed for the Hornets. Both of those contracts run through Thursday night before expiring, so Brooklyn and Charlotte will have the opportunity to sign a player to a rest-of-season or multiyear deal at that time.

The Suns (^) have a full 15-man standard roster but have an open two-way contract slot alongside Saben Lee. It’s possible Phoenix won’t bother signing someone to fill that opening, since two-way players aren’t eligible to play in the postseason and the Suns don’t have a G League affiliate (the NBAGL season is just about over anyway).

As for the Jazz (#), they currently have one open spot on their 15-man standard roster and will open up a second when Luka Samanic‘s 10-day contract expires on Thursday night. So Utah could technically bring in two new players before season’s end without waiving anyone.

The rest of the teams on this list – the Celtics, Rockets, Lakers, and Knicks – are carrying 14 players on standard contracts, leaving one spot available.

Boston and New York are postseason-bound and L.A. is in good position to join them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean each of those teams will sign a “win-now” veteran as a 15th man. They already have enough depth on their respective rosters that they may prefer to promote a player from the G League on a multiyear deal, assuming they decide to fill those openings at all. Boston and L.A. are taxpayers, so a signing would cost them a little more than just $10,552 per day.

Jaylen Brown Probably Won't Be Swayed By CBA Change

April 1st, 2023 at 2:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

How will the new CBA affect the Celtics? Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston explores that topic, noting that reported increase in veteran extensions from 120 percent to 140 percent is unlikely to impact Jaylen Brown, who is seeking a super-max extension.

Jaylen Brown Earns $2MM+ In Bonus Money

March 31st, 2023 at 8:05am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics forward Jaylen Brown earned more than $2MM in bonus money on Thursday when he played in his 65th game of the season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

As Marks explains, Brown’s contract with the Celtics includes a bonus of $518K for simply appearing in 65 regular season games. That was considered a likely incentive since he appeared in more than 65 contests last season. Brown’s deal also includes a $1.55MM bonus for making the All-Star team and playing in 65 games, Marks adds. That incentive was considered unlikely, since he wasn’t an All-Star a year ago.

Brown can earn an additional $1.1MM in incentives this spring based on certain individual honors and how far the Celtics advance in the postseason, Marks adds (via Twitter). Reporting from the time that Brown signed his contract suggests he’d have to earn an All-NBA spot and have the Celtics win at least one series to earn that bonus money.

Atlantic Notes: Brown, Pritchard, Embiid, Simmons

March 29th, 2023 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

After having recently made some noncommittal remarks about his future in Boston, Celtics forward Jaylen Brown told reporters that he’s “thinking about clarifying some of the things that have been recently said,” according to Jay King of The Athletic. Asked what he wanted to clarify, however, Brown opted not to explain further.

“Right now the only thing I want to clarify is that the Celtics need to play better and win more games,” Brown said. “If I want to say something in the future about the kind of things that have been floating around I will. But in terms of right now, I like when people hear things from the horse’s mouth and you can see my reaction, my face and everything how I feel about what I’m saying. Sometimes those things can get lost in translation, you know? So if I feel the need to do so I will.”

Brown would be eligible to sign a contract extension anytime during the 2023/24 league year, starting in July. However, because he’s earning well below his maximum salary and would be limited to a 20% raise in the first year of a veteran extension, the Celtics wouldn’t be able to offer him a maximum-salary deal until free agency.

That would change if Brown earns a spot on an All-NBA team this spring, in which case he’d become eligible for a super-max contract extension (worth 35% of the 2024/25 cap) entering the final year of his current deal.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Celtics guard Payton Pritchard returned to action on Tuesday following a nine-game absence due to a left heel injury. According to Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link), Pritchard said he had plantar fasciitis and a bone bruise in the heel.
In an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic, Sixers center Joel Embiid discussed his health, the MVP race, and why he won’t necessarily take a “title-or-bust” mentality into this year’s postseason. “People have been talking about who has the most pressure to win. People want to mention me,” Embiid said. “I’m not at the top of that list. I’m not a two-time MVP, I’ve never made first team All-NBA, I’ve never won anything. So why is there pressure on me to do something when there are guys that have won two MVPs, a bunch of MVPs and haven’t done anything either?”
Speaking to Ian Begley of SNY.tv and Andrew Crane and Brian Lewis of The New York Post, Ben Simmons‘ new agent Bernie Lee said that Simmons’ back issues are part of the recovery process from the microdiscectomy he underwent last May, adding that the Nets guard/forward won’t require additional surgery and is on track to be ready for training camp in the fall. “Ben is a 26 year-old-guy who is just starting his career and clearly there have been some challenges recently,” Lee told Begley. “But like every truly great person I’ve observed, Ben is motivated internally to continue to develop himself and his talent and test his ability and, most importantly, compete. He simply needs to gain the opportunity to be healthy which we believe we’ve found.”