- Point guard Michael Carter-Williams has been recalled from the G League by the Hornets, the team announced today in a press release. GM Rich Cho said that Carter-Williams scrimmaged with the Greensboro Swarm to test his knees — MCW may play on Charlotte’s upcoming four-game road trip, as Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer tweets.
- Backup Hornets point guard Michael Carter-Williams has been assigned to the Greensboro Swarm on a rehab assignment, the team announced today in a press release. Carter-Williams, who is recovering from knee issues, has yet to make his debut for Charlotte.
Here are the G League moves from around the Association today:
- The Hornets have assigned two-way player Mangok Mathiang to the Greensboro Swarm, the club’s public relations department announced on Twitter. Mathiang saw action in just one NBA game during his stint with the big league squad before joining the franchise’s affiliate.
- The Nets have recalled point guard Isaiah Whitehead from the Long Island Nets. He spent the weekend with the G League affiliate.
The Hornets have exercised the fourth-year option on Frank Kaminsky‘s rookie contract, the team announced in a press release. The 24-year-old big man will remain with the squad through the 2018/19 campaign.
Over the course of his first two seasons with the franchise, Kaminsky has established himself as a solid inside-out threat and important component of the team’s second unit.
In 75 games with the squad last year, Kaminsky averaged 11.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, adding 1.6 made threes per contest to boot. Those figures are likely to rise in 2017/18, his scoring average north of 14 over the course of the first five games of his third season.
Kaminsky, the ninth-overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft will earn $3.6MM next year.
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes that despite a love-hate relationship with Hornets fans, Frank Kaminsky is playing with a renewed confidence. After offseason surgery on his chest, which delayed his offseason workouts for several weeks, Kaminsky shown improvements all across the board.
The Hornets will be without Julyan Stone for the next four to six weeks because of a hamstring injury, the team announced on its website.
Stone has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, which occurred during Sunday’s practice. His injury is another blow to the backcourt depth for the Hornets, who are already missing Michael Carter-Williams, who had platelet-rich plasma treatments on both knees over the offseason.
Stone, 28, signed with Charlotte in late August after a prolonged effort to get out of his contract with an Italian team. He wanted to return to the United States to be closer to his ailing father.
Stone has appeared in both of the Hornets’ games so far, averaging 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 9 minutes per night. He spent time with the Nuggets and Raptors before heading overseas.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist rejoined the Hornets for practice today following a 12-day excused absence after his grandmother’s death, relays Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. The fifth-year small forward left the team midway through preseason and is working on conditioning so he can return to action. “He’s good, he’s a worker,” said coach Steve Clifford. “I really don’t have any idea when (he can play a significant role again), but he’s going to have to practice some for him to be ready to be play. I think we’ll know better after (Sunday), when we’ll do more contact.”
- Several former teammates of Hornets center Dwight Howard are disputing allegations that he was hard to get along with last season, writes Michael Cunningham of The Journal-Constitution. Amid reports that the Hawks wanted to get rid of Howard’s “negative influence” and that some players were happy to see him leave, at least two players are coming to his defense. Malcolm Delaney denied the accusation on Twitter, and Dennis Schroder says Howard is misunderstood. “Off the court he is a good guy,” Schroder said. “He did a great job trying to bring everybody together, as always. On the court we are too different. That’s on the court. But off the court, I think [he’s] amazing.”
OCTOBER 21, 1:56pm: In addition to Houston, the Nets, Hornets, and Pelicans are all interested in Nelson, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Nelson is looking for an opportunity that will allow him to play a significant role this season, Woj adds (via Twitter).
All four teams linked to Nelson are dealing with injuries at the point guard position, with Jeremy Lin, Michael Carter-Williams, and Rajon Rondo currently sidelined for Brooklyn, Charlotte, and New Orleans, respectively.
OCTOBER 20, 5:19pm: Veteran point guard Jameer Nelson has cleared waivers after being released by the Nuggets and the 35-year-old has already been contacted by a number of NBA teams, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets.
One possible landing spot for the 13-year vet is Houston. Given that the Rockets may be particularly cautious with Chris Paul‘s knee injury and potentially seek a temporary replacement, Nelson could possibly slot in until Paul fully recovers.
Haynes mentioned Houston specifically as one of the teams with whom Nelson’s representation has been in touch. The Rockets currently roster just 14 players, so they’d be able to add Nelson without any other moves.
What’s more, as Bobby Marks of ESPN writes, Houston is $2.8MM below the luxury tax, giving them just enough space to sign Nelson to a $2.3MM veteran’s minimum deal without consequence. That sort of deal would only count for a prorated portion of $1.471MM against the Rockets’ cap.
- Point guard Michael Carter-Williams will have to wait to make his debut with the Hornets. Although the guard was recently cleared for contact, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports that he suffered a setback on Monday that will bump back his timeline.
For the first time, NBA teams are permitted to carry up to 17 players this season. In addition to carrying up to 15 players to the NBA roster, teams can add two more players on two-way contracts. The rule changes related to roster sizes have allowed teams to maintain a little extra flexibility, and many clubs are taking advantage of that added flexibility to open the season, carrying the full 17 players.
Several teams still have open roster spots though, affording those clubs a different kind of flexibility. A team carrying only 14 NBA players, for instance, has the opportunity to sign a free agent or add a player in a trade at any time without waiving anyone, all the while avoiding paying for a 15th man who almost certainly won’t see much playing time.
With the help of our roster count page and our two-way contract tracker, here’s a breakdown of the teams that have at least one open NBA or two-way spot on their rosters:
Teams carrying just 14 NBA contracts:
- Boston Celtics
- Charlotte Hornets
- Detroit Pistons
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Portland Trail Blazers
It makes sense that a few of these teams would avoid carrying a 15th man to open the season. The Rockets, Thunder, and Trail Blazers are all taxpayers, and teams like the Clippers and Hornets are close enough to the tax threshold that avoiding a 15th salary is logical. Among these clubs, the Celtics seem like perhaps the best bet to fill their final roster opening soon, now that the team has likely lost Gordon Hayward for the season.
Teams carrying just one two-way contract:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Houston Rockets
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers don’t currently have a G League affiliate of their own, but the other five teams on this list do, so that’s probably not the reason Portland has waited to fill its second two-way slot. In all likelihood, these six teams will add a second two-way player in time for G League training camps, which open next week. The season tips off on November 3.