- The Hornets have assigned point guard Julyan Stone to the G League, the team announced today in a press release. Stone appeared in Charlotte’s first two games this season, but has battled a hamstring injury since then and it’s not clear if there’s room for him in the rotation anymore.
- With Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky both sidelined due to injuries, the Hornets will have to make some adjustments to their frontcourt rotation, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer, who identifies Johnny O’Bryant and Mangok Mathiang as two players who could benefit. O’Bryant is in the final year of his minimum-salary deal with Charlotte, while Mathiang is on a two-way contract — he was transferred back to the Hornets today.
The Hornets will be without Cody Zeller indefinitely as the 25-year-old explores treatment options for a torn meniscus, the team announced in a press release. Zeller injured his left knee in Charlotte’s Wednesday night loss to the Warriors.
Zeller has seen his role reduced in 2017/18 thanks to the team’s acquisition of Dwight Howard, but he has been a pivotal part of the Hornets’ second unit. In 19.9 minutes per game so far this season, Zeller is averaged 7.2 points and 5.5 rebounds.
It’s not clear at this point whether Zeller will elect to go under the knife, but that surgery decision could impact his recovery time. Torn meniscus surgeries ended the 2016/17 campaigns of both Joel Embiid and Derrick Rose last spring.
In the meantime, Charlotte will rely more heavily on Howard with Zeller’s fellow reserve Frank Kaminsky hobbled by an injury of his own.
Hornets coach Steve Clifford will leave the team “for the immediate future” because of health concerns, the team announced this morning on its website. Associate head coach Stephen Silas will be the acting head coach while Clifford is out.
The team didn’t elaborate on the coach’s condition “out of respect for Clifford’s privacy.”
This is Clifford’s fifth season as Charlotte’s coach after spending 13 years as an NBA assistant. The 56-year-old has compiled a 169-181 record, including 9-13 this season, with two playoff appearances.
Silas, 44, is in his 18th year as an assistant. He started in the NBA as a scout with the Hornets in 1999 and rejoined the organization as a coach during the 2010/11 season.
- Michael Carter-Williams, who joined his fourth team in four years when he signed with the Hornets this summer, believes he has found a comfortable situation in Charlotte, according to Sam Perley of NBA.com. Carter-Williams’ season debut was delayed after getting platelet-rich-plasma injections in both knees, but he has found a role as a defensive specialist off the bench, averaging a team-high 1.25 steals per game. “MCW is a difference-maker,” said Hornets coach Steve Clifford. “He changes our defense, he can guard multiple guys. He’s working his way into shape, he’s got terrific feel, he can play fast and slow [and] he can find people.”
Malik Monk‘s spotty minutes in recent games is due to Michael Carter-Williams‘ defensive ability and not some sort of punishment for the first-round pick, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports. The Hornets have played much better defensively with Carter-Williams in the rotation and Monk became the odd man out, Bonnell continues. Monk is still learning to play point guard after being a shooting guard in college and has plenty of work to do defensively, Bonnell adds.
The Magic have fallen on tough times after an 8-4 start, but they are just two and a half games out of a playoff spot and still qualify as one of this year’s early-season surprises. Coach Frank Vogel tells Nick Friedell of ESPN the team made a mistake at the start of last season by going against the small-ball trend, adding that things began to turn around with the trade of Serge Ibaka to Toronto for Terrence Ross. That created an opening for Aaron Gordon at power forward and Evan Fournier at small forward.
“I think last year we were trying to go big when the whole league was going small and it wasn’t really working,” agreed center Nikola Vucevic. “A lot of guys were out of their comfort zone, a lot of guys were out of position. It just wasn’t working, it wasn’t clicking. I think this year players’ roles are more clear.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- New GM John Hammond is confident that Gordon, a restricted free agent, will agree to a long-term contract next summer, Friedell relays in the same story. Orlando wasn’t able to work out an extension with Gordon before last month’s deadline, but Hammond believes his future will be with the Magic. “You look at a guy like that and say, ‘He’s one of those guys as you move forward with, that you got to have,'” Hammond said. “And we feel that way.” Gordon is off to the best start of his career, averaging 17.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in 17 games.
- Early-season technical fouls are piling up for Hornets center Dwight Howard, notes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. The NBA announced today that Howard was fined $35K for an obscene gesture in Friday’s game at Cleveland. That’s his second fine this season and sixth technical in 18 games. There will be an automatic one-game suspension if he reaches 16, and the league could impose a separate suspension if the obscene gestures continue.
- Nicolas Batum isn’t worried about any long-term effects from his latest elbow injury, Bonnell tweets. Batum was able to return to the Hornets‘ lineup tonight after sitting out Friday. He left Wednesday’s game with a contusion on his left elbow, the same one that caused him to miss the first 12 games of the season.
The Hornets may be without Nicolas Batum yet again, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. The 28-year-old swingman injured the same elbow that sidelined him for the first 12 games of the season.
While details are not yet known as to the extent of Batum’s recent setback, he missed the second half of the Hornets’ Wednesday night home game against Washington with a left elbow contusion.
In his five games of action for the Hornets, Batum has averaged 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
- If Nicolas Batum ends up missing significant time with his re-injured left elbow, the Hornets will turn yet again to Jeremy Lamb who has emerged as a prolific perimeter scorer. The 25-year-old belongs in the conversation for Most Improved Player, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes.
There are 25 players around the NBA playing on 2017/18 salaries that aren’t yet fully guaranteed. While having those salaries guaranteed will be a mere formality for some players, others may be at risk of losing their roster spot with decision day nearing. If teams keep non-guaranteed players under contract beyond January 7, their salaries will become guaranteed for the season on January 10, so clubs still have more than a month to decide whether to lock in these players’ full-season salaries.
Listed below is the team-by-team breakdown of the players who are still on non-guaranteed salaries or partially guaranteed salaries. Unless otherwise indicated, each of these players is set to earn the minimum. Partial guarantees are noted if they exceed a player’s prorated salary to date. Any teams not listed below are only carrying players with fully guaranteed salaries.
Atlanta Hawks
- Luke Babbitt: Partial guarantee of $987,080.
- Isaiah Taylor
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
- Kay Felder: Partial guarantee of $456,529.
- David Nwaba
Dallas Mavericks
- Dorian Finney-Smith
- Devin Harris: Partial guarantee of $1,339,662.
- Full salary: $4,402,546
- Jeff Withey: Partial guarantee of $350,000.
Detroit Pistons
- Eric Moreland: Partial guarantee of $1,000,000.
- Full salary: $1,739,333
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Lakers
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Marcus Georges-Hunt: Partial guarantee of $275,000.
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
- Khem Birch: Partial guarantee of $407,808.
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
- Sheldon Mac
- Note: Mac is recovering from a torn Achilles and will continue to be paid his full-season salary until he’s cleared to return.
To keep tabs on these 25 players over the next several weeks, be sure to check back on our regularly-updated lists of salary guarantee dates and of non-guaranteed contracts.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images and USA Today Sports Images. Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
- Hornets coach Steve Clifford believes the lack of a team “identity” contributed to a recent six-game losing streak, relays Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte snapped that slide Saturday as Clifford juggled the rotation, which included benching rookie guard Malik Monk for the first time this season. “You lose six in a row and the defense has been bad,” Clifford explained. “It’s not Malik’s fault, it’s just his position; [Michael Carter-Williams is] a difference-maker defensively.”