- The Hornets‘ mid-level exception allowed them to give four years to Bryce McGowens on his new standard contract. It also let the team pay him a salary higher than the minimum for the rest of this season — he’ll earn $1,075,000 on his new deal in 2022/23, according to Smith (Twitter link). McGowens’ remaining three years are worth the minimum, but his $1.72MM salary for ’23/24 is fully guaranteed. The final two years are non-guaranteed, including a ’25/26 team option.
The Heat have lost four straight, including a five-point decision to the lottery-bound Hornets on Saturday, and Jimmy Butler is fed up, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Butler said he was “tired of losing.”
- Forward Kelly Oubre Jr. is headed to unrestricted free agency this summer but it sounds as if he’d like to stay with the Hornets. Oubre said he still has a “lot to give” to the franchise, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer tweets. I have a lot to give to this city, to this organization, to my teammates as far as my leadership and my life path,” he said.
3:09pm: McCowens’ new contract is official, the Hornets announced in a press release.
1:29pm: Bryce McGowens is receiving a promotion from the Hornets, as they plan to convert his two-way contract to a four-year, $7.4MM standard deal, his agents, Mark Bartelstein and Kyle McAlarney of Priority Sports, tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The fourth year of the deal, which would be for the 2025/26 season, is a team option, Wojnarowski adds.
McGowens was the 40th overall pick of last June’s draft after spending one college season at Nebraska. In 26 games (14.7 MPG) as a two-way rookie for Charlotte, he has averaged 4.1 PPG, 1.7 RPG and 1.0 APG on .379/.364/.786 shooting.
The Hornets still have their full mid-level exception available, and they’ll be using a portion of it to give the 20-year-old a four-year deal for more than the minimum in year one.
Charlotte has two openings on its 15-man roster at the moment, so the team won’t need to waive anyone to promote McGowens. Today was the deadline for the Hornets to fill the 14th spot on their standard roster, as we previously explained.
Once the signing is official, the Hornets will have one standard roster spot open as well as a two-way slot.
Coming into the 2022/23 season, there was some concern that the presence of Scoot Henderson and (especially) Victor Wembanyama at the top of the 2023 draft class could result in some pretty aggressive tanking from the bottom third of the NBA’s teams.
It hasn’t played out that way so far though, due to a competitive race for the top 10 spots in each conference. In the West, the top 13 teams all either hold a playoff or play-in spot or are no more than 1.5 games back of the No. 10 seed. It’s not quite as congested in the East, but the conference’s 13th team is only four games out of a play-in spot.
As a result, there have been only four teams in full-on “race for Wembanyama” mode, and one of those four clubs hasn’t exactly been in tanking mode as of late, winning its last four games. Here’s what the bottom of the NBA’s standings look like as of Sunday morning:
- Houston Rockets (13-46)
- San Antonio Spurs (14-47)
- Detroit Pistons (15-46)
- Charlotte Hornets (19-43)
- Orlando Magic (25-36)
- Indiana Pacers (27-35)
- Chicago Bulls (27-33)
- Los Angeles Lakers (28-32)
- (tie) Portland Trail Blazers / Oklahoma City Thunder / Washington Wizards (28-31)
Given that the odds for the No. 1 pick are the same for each of the NBA’s three worst teams, it seemed as if we’d get a four-team race for those three spots at the bottom of the standings. But the Hornets have won their last four games and appear far better positioned to continue getting victories than the Rockets (losers of eight in a row and 23 of their last 26), the Spurs (losers of 15 in a row and 21 of 22), and the Pistons (losers of four in a row and seven of their last eight).
Of course, if the Hornets were to play .500 ball the rest of the way, they’d still end up with just 29 wins, so they may end up with the NBA’s fourth-worst record even if they finish strong. After all, the Bulls, Lakers, Trail Blazers, and Wizards all seem motivated to make the play-in.
The Magic, Pacers, and Thunder are perhaps candidates for stealth end-of-season tanks in order to secure top-five lottery odds, since none of those clubs expected to be a playoff team this season. But they’ve been competitive all season and would probably have to start ruling out some of their top players due to injuries if they want to start winning less often (similar to what Portland did last year).
As for the race to the bottom among the NBA’s three worst teams, it’s hard to bet against the Rockets, who also finished with the league’s worst record in 2021 and 2022. But the Spurs are giving them a run for their money with their recent stretch of futility, posting an abysmal -15.8 net rating during their 15-game current losing streak. And the Pistons seem happy to experiment with new lineups while incorporating recently added players.
We want to know what you think. How will the race for lottery positioning play out the rest of the way? Which team will finish as the NBA’s worst? Has the Hornets’ recent success locked them into the fourth spot in the lottery standings? Are there any teams with 25 or more wins that you expect to go into full-on tank mode in the coming days or weeks?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in!
Star big man Giannis Antetokounmpo was upgraded from doubtful to questionable to available for Friday’s game against Miami after dealing with a right wrist sprain, but unfortunately he knocked knees (right) with an opponent and the Bucks ruled out him for the remainder of the contest, tweets Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
It’s unclear when the injury occurred, but Antetokounmpo signaled for coach Mike Budenholzer to call a timeout and limped slightly to the locker room, per Bally Sports Wisconsin (Twitter video link). Budenholzer didn’t have an update on Giannis’ status after Milwaukee’s win, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Here are some more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Nets swingman Ben Simmons was dealing with left knee soreness prior to the All-Star break and spent the break rehabbing, but he’s still in pain and will be reevaluated in about a week, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “I had it drained right before All-Star. I also had a PRP (injection),” Simmons said. “It’s frustrating, but it’s something that’s an injury I’ve never dealt with before. So it’s something I’m learning about, that we’re learning about.” Simmons added that he hasn’t been 100 percent the entire season and he’s on a strength program for the knee.
- Pistons rookie center Jalen Duren will be sidelined Saturday versus Toronto with bilateral ankle soreness, but Marvin Bagley III is probable after recovering from right hand surgery (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press). Bagley has missed the past 20 games. The former second overall pick is averaging 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in 25 games this season.
- Similarly, wing Kelly Oubre returned to action Friday after being sidelined due to hand surgery, per the Hornets (Twitter link). Oubre, who was thought to be a trade candidate given he’s on an expiring contract, previously talked about wanting to remain with Charlotte, which ultimately came to fruition. He last played on December 29.
- Knicks center Mitchell Robinson made his return to the starting lineup for Friday’s victory over the Wizards, New York announced (via Twitter). The news was expected, as head coach Tom Thibodeau recently said Robinson had practiced 5-on-5 with no issues. The fifth-year big man has been dealing with a fractured thumb. “I mean, playing basketball and then just running up and down the court, big difference. Big difference,” Robinson said of his condition level after the game (Twitter link via Fred Katz of The Athletic). The 24-year-old played nearly 28 minutes, scoring 10 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
Restricted free agent Miles Bridges could return to the Hornets next month, he told Larry Lage of The Associated Press.
“It’s been a long process,” Bridges said. “I might be back in March.”
Bridges was in attendance at Michigan State’s home game against Indiana on Tuesday night. Bridges played his college ball with the Spartans.
However, there’s still a strong possibility Bridges won’t suit up this season. He could face disciplinary action from the league, which is conducting an investigation into Bridges’ conduct.
He was arrested and charged with felony domestic abuse just days before he entered restricted free agency last summer. He was accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in front of their two children.
Bridges ultimately worked out a plea deal with prosecutors in Los Angeles County, agreeing to plead no contest to one charge of felony domestic violence while two child abuse counts were dismissed. The 24-year-old avoided jail time by accepting three years of probation. He was ordered to attend a year’s worth of domestic violence counseling sessions and parenting classes in addition to completing 100 hours of community service.
The Hornets denied last month they were engaged in negotiations with Bridges. President of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said this month that the franchise will still awaiting the league’s decision.
“I don’t know when the investigation is going to end,” Kupchak said. “When the investigation ends, we will have more information and we’ll go from there.”
The NBA’s rules require teams to carry a minimum of 14 players on their standard 15-man roster (not counting two-way contracts). However, teams are permitted to dip below 14 players for up to two weeks at a time, and that often happens around the trade deadline when clubs send out multiple players in a deal without acquiring as many in return.
Entering this week, there were six NBA teams who were carrying only 13 players on standard contracts. However, the Heat filled their two open roster spots by signing Kevin Love and Cody Zeller, while the Bucks are reportedly signing Meyers Leonard to a 10-day contract to be their 14th man (they’ll have to finalize that deal by Thursday).
That leaves four teams with roster moves to make in the coming days, as our roster counts page shows. Here’s the breakdown:
New York Knicks
The Knicks had a full 15-man roster heading into trade deadline day, but they sent out three players – Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, and Svi Mykhailiuk – in the multi-team deal that landed Josh Hart in New York.
As a result, the Knicks have been carrying just 13 players on standard contracts since February 9 and will have until this Thursday to add at least one player to their roster. Two-way player DaQuan Jeffries has been mentioned as a candidate for a possible promotion.
Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets didn’t make any mismatched trades at the February 9 deadline, but they already had one open roster spot at that time and created another when they bought out Reggie Jackson after acquiring him from the Clippers.
Since Jackson was officially waived on February 12, the Hornets’ two-week window to add a 14th man will close on Feb. 26, so they still have a few days to make a decision on that spot. Promoting a two-way player (Theo Maledon or Bryce McGowens) is one option for Charlotte, though the team could also target a free agent for either a 10-day or rest-of-season contract.
Houston Rockets
The Rockets made a series of cuts after the trade deadline passed, waiving John Wall and buying out Danny Green and Justin Holiday. They did sign Boban Marjanovic during that time as well, so they only have two openings on their roster, rather than three. But they’ll have to add a 14th man by February 27, two weeks after Holiday was officially cut.
Again, the Rockets could choose to promote a two-way player, but Darius Days or Trevor Hudgins have barely played at the NBA level this season, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Houston opt for a free agent or a G League call-up instead.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz had a full roster entering February 9, but traded four players for three in their deal with the Lakers and Timberwolves. They subsequently created two more roster openings by buying out Leandro Bolmaro (on Feb. 16) and Russell Westbrook (on Monday).
Because they first dipped below the 14-man minimum last Thursday, Utah will have until next Thursday (March 2) to add two players.
The 29-31 Jazz remain very much in the play-in mix, just a half-game behind the No. 10 Thunder, so it’s possible they could have interest in a veteran who could contribute immediately.
On the other hand, the Jazz’s deadline moves suggested management wasn’t focused on going all-out for a top-10 seed, so they may rather bring in young players they could develop — Utah could potentially sign those players to multiyear contracts that aren’t guaranteed beyond this season, allowing the team to take cheap fliers on a couple prospects.
[Note: The Jazz reached agreements to sign Frank Jackson and Kris Dunn to 10-day contracts a few hours after this story was published.]
FEBRUARY 14: Jackson has signed with the Nuggets, the team tweets.
FEBRUARY 11: Former Clippers guard Reggie Jackson is finalizing a buyout agreement with the Hornets and intends to sign with the Nuggets after clearing waivers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Denver had been hoping to land the 32-year-old guard, who was traded to Charlotte on Thursday, but wasn’t required to report to the team. The Nuggets have an opening in their backcourt after sending Bones Hyland to the Clippers in a four-team deal. The Suns also were reported to be heavily interested in Jackson as a buyout candidate.
Denver has an open roster spot, so Jackson can be added without making another move.
Jackson has strong ties to Colorado, notes Harrison Wind of DNVR (Twitter link). He was named Mr. Colorado Basketball as a high school player in 2008 and always has a large cheering section of family and friends whenever he plays in Denver.
Jackson spent the past four years with the Clippers and was the team’s starter at point guard last season. He was taken out of that role this year and saw his playing time cut to 25.7 minutes per night in 52 games.
Assuming Jackson winds up in Denver, other teams in need of a point guard will have to look elsewhere. Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley and John Wall are among the players traded this week who are considered strong candidates to become free agents soon.
Those players – and any other buyout candidates – must be waived by March 1 to be eligible for the playoffs with their new teams.
Despite being involved in a series of trade rumors leading up to last week’s deadline, Hornets guard Terry Rozier stayed put in Charlotte. Now, he says he needs to set a good example for his young teammates for the rest of the season, he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com.
“It’s definitely been a tough season — for a lot of reasons. It can definitely get you down,” the Hornets guard said. “But I’ve got to make sure I’m setting the right example. There’s a lot of young guys here, and they’re looking to the veterans. I can’t let the disappointment show. It’s easy at this point in the season, with all the injuries that we’ve had and the record what it is because of that, and All-Star break coming up, it’s easy to give in and have that look. But I’m trying to get better myself, too.”
Veteran guards Reggie Jackson and John Wall were among several players who were officially waived on Sunday, according to press releases from their respective teams. The Hornets cut Jackson, while the Rockets let go of Wall.
Both players had spent most of the season with the Clippers, who completed a series of deadline deals on Thursday. Jackson was sent from Los Angeles to Charlotte in trade for Mason Plumlee, while Wall was moved to Houston in a deal for Eric Gordon.
Since they were both essentially just salary-matching pieces in those trades, Jackson and Wall were widely expected to be waived. Jackson was said to be negotiating a buyout with the Hornets, while Rockets general manager Rafael Stone confirmed in his post-deadline presser than Houston would simply release Wall, whose last stint with the team didn’t end well.
Jackson is reportedly on track to sign with the Nuggets once he clears waivers; Wall doesn’t yet have his next NBA home lined up, as far as we know.
Jackson and Wall were among several veterans who were officially cut on Sunday. The Rockets also waived Danny Green, while the Magic parted ways with Patrick Beverley and Terrence Ross and San Antonio released Stanley Johnson.