COVID-19 Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Michael Porter Jr., Bol Bol Clear Protocols But Remain Unavailable

December 28th, 2021 at 1:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nuggets forwards Bol Bol and Michael Porter Jr. have both cleared the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, per Mike Singer of the Denver Post. Singer adds that neither player will be available tonight for the team’s game against the Warriors.

After playing just nine games this season, Porter underwent a back surgery and is expected to remain out for the year. Singer notes that Bol, who has re-joined the team, continues to recover from his tenure in the league’s coronavirus protocols. This sounds like Bol will need to finesse his conditioning before his return to the court.

The 22-year-old Bol, a third-year player out of Oregon, has yet to carve out meaningful rotation minutes with the team this year. Across 11 games, he is averaging just 4.6 MPG.

Denver is currently grappling with a slew of absences which have adversely impacted their contender status this season. The Nuggets are just 16-16 this year. Porter, one of the team’s most important contributors when healthy, is out for the year. Guard Jamal Murray, the team’s best player behind MVP center Nikola Jokic, has been sidelined all year as he recovers from an ACL tear, though he may return in the spring. Wing PJ Dozier is expected to miss the season with an ACL tear of his own.

The availability of guard Monte Morris for tonight’s game has been downgraded to questionable as he grapples with left knee soreness, per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (via Twitter).

COVID-19 Roundup: Nets, Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Knicks, Wizards, Thunder

December 28th, 2021 at 12:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA’s new guidelines regarding its health and safety protocols have resulted in several players being released from protocols this morning. The league and its players union agreed Monday to shorten the minimum required quarantine period for a vaccinated COVID-positive players and coaches from 10 days to six.

Here is the latest news on who has entered and cleared protocols today:

Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are out of protocols, as is LaMarcus Aldridge, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. While Durant and Aldridge may be ready for Thursday’s game, Irving is still working his way back into game condition and remains ineligible to play in home games because he hasn’t met New York City’s vaccine requirement.
Timberwolves forward Taurean Prince has cleared protocols and will rejoin the team, but won’t play tonight against the Knicks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Minnesota also gets back Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid (Twitter link).
Cavaliers power forward Evan Mobley has cleared protocols and is set to reunite with the club today, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com tweets that the Cavaliers hope to have Mobley play in tonight’s game against the Pelicans, but will put him through his pregame paces first to gauge his conditioning level.
Unfortunately, just as one of Cleveland’s best players recovers, another will be absent. Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, enjoying a nearly All-Star-level season with Cleveland, has entered the NBA’s coronavirus protocols, tweets Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.
Knicks rookie point guard guard Miles McBride has cleared protocols, the team has announced (via Twitter). New York adds that he has rejoined the team ahead of its game tonight against the Timberwolves.
Veteran Heat power forward Udonis Haslem has entered the league’s coronavirus protocols, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. Heat point guard Kyle Lowry is also in protocols. Miami assistant coach Chris Quinn will return to the sidelines, Chiang adds.
Wizards forwards Rui Hachimura and Montrezl Harrell have entered the league’s COVID-19 protocols, joining six other Washington players, the team has announced (Twitter link). Hachimura has missed the Wizards’ entire season thus far due to personal reasons. Among the others, unvaccinated All-Star guard Bradley Beal is still in protocols and Wallace reports that his status is “questionable” prior to the Wizards’ upcoming contest against the Heat tonight. Center Thomas Bryant, wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and guards Anthony Gill, Aaron Holiday and Raul Neto are still in protocols.
Thunder rookie guard Josh Giddey has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Head coach Mark Daigneault has also entered the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, and will be replaced by assistant coach Mike Wilks starting with this evening’s contest against the Kings, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Wilks, a former journeyman NBA guard, suited up for four games with the Thunder during the 2009/10 season, Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman adds (Twitter link). Players Darius Bazley, Tre Mann, Aleksej Pokusevski, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl remain in the protocols for Oklahoma City.
Keep track of all the players currently in COVID-19 protocols through out our daily tracker.

Arthur Hill contributed to this report.

COVID Updates: Wiggins, Poole, Len, Payton, Rogers, Tolliver, Wright

December 27th, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are the latest developments regarding players entering or exiting the league’s health and safety protocols:

Andrew Wiggins has cleared the protocols, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. The Warriors forward practiced on Monday and is probable to play on Tuesday against Denver, Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Wiggins entered protocols on December 19.
Guard Jordan Poole has also cleared the protocols, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. He’ll return to the Warriors’ facility on Tuesday but won’t play as the team needs to assess his conditioning, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.
Kings center Alex Len is listed as questionable to play on Tuesday, which indicates he’s cleared the protocols, James Ham of The Kings Beat tweets.
Suns guard Elfrid Payton returned to action on Monday after clearing the protocols, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Payton had just entered the protocols on Sunday, so apparently he had a false positive.
We noted earlier on Monday that Blazers coach Chauncey Billups has entered the protocols. Assistant coach Roy Rogers is also in the protocols, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian tweets.
Anthony Tolliver‘s 10-day contract with the Pelicans has been voided after he tested positive for COVID-19, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. Tolliver was signed on Sunday.
Moses Wright, who has been playing on a 10-day contract with the Clippers, has also entered the protocols, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets.

Deandre Ayton Enters Protocols; Trae Young Cleared

December 27th, 2021 at 5:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns center Deandre Ayton has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Assuming Ayton has been vaccinated, he will out at least six days or until he returns two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart. He joins teammates Jae Crowder and Elfrid Payton in protocols as well as head coach Monty Williams. Ayton is averaging 17.0 PPG and 11.1 RPG.

On the flip side, Hawks star guard Trae Young has cleared the protocols and will play against Chicago on Monday, Wojnarowski reports in a separate tweet. Atlanta has a 1-2 record since Young entered protocols. He produced a second negative test to exit the protocols, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets.

Young won’t have many of his usual teammates in uniform with him. Atlanta still has 10 other players in the protocols.

In Houston, Rockets players Jae’Sean Tate and Kenyon Martin Jr. have entered protocols, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. That increases the number of Rockets players in protocols to four.

The Wizards, who already had a handful of players in protocols, added Aaron Holiday to the list, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets.

COVID-19 Updates: Wizards, Billups, Thunder, Hornets, Raptors, More

December 27th, 2021 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards now have five players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to head coach Wes Unseld Jr., who told reporters today that Anthony Gill and Thomas Bryant are the latest players to enter the protocols (Twitter link via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington).

Bryant is coming off an ACL tear and has yet to play this season, so being in the protocols won’t affect his availability. However, Gill will no longer be an option in the short term for the Wizards after appearing in eight of the team’s last 11 games.

Here are more COVID-19 updates from around the NBA:

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has entered the COVID-19 protocols, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links), who reports that assistant Scott Brooks is expected to become Portland’s acting head coach as long as Billups is unavailable.
Aleksej Pokusevski and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of the Thunder have entered the health and safety protocols, according to the team (Twitter link via Wojnarowski). Aaron Wiggins also briefly entered the protocols, but has since been listed as available, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City now has four players in the protocols.
The Hornets announced some good news and some bad news on Monday. While Cody Martin has exited the protocols and has been cleared to play on Monday vs. Houston, rookie Scottie Lewis is now in the protocols, according to the team (Twitter link).
Three Raptors players – Pascal Siakam, Khem Birch, and Gary Trent Jr. – have exited the protocols and are listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game vs. Philadelphia as they go through a reconditioning period, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Toronto still has seven players in the protocols, but may finally be trending in the right direction.
Celtics forward Grant Williams boarded a flight to Minnesota earlier today and expects to play tonight vs. the Wolves, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). Williams has been in the health and safety protocols since December 17.
Although Ziaire Williams remains on the shelf due to an ankle sprain, he’s no longer listed in the protocols in the Grizzlies‘ latest injury report, suggesting he has been cleared.

NBA, NBPA Agree To Reduce Quarantine Period For COVID-Positive Players

December 27th, 2021 at 3:22pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 27: The NBA and NBPA have agreed to adjust the minimum required quarantine period for a vaccinated COVID-positive player to six days, reports Wojnarowski (Twitter links). A player who continues to test positive can be cleared after six days in quarantine if testing data shows he’s no longer at risk of being infectious.

According to Wojnarowski, the new rule – which also applies to coaches – is expected to immediately impact many players currently in the health and safety protocols. That suggests we could see a significant number of players cleared within the next day or two.

DECEMBER 23: The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are nearing an agreement to reduce the minimum quarantine period for COVID-positive players, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter) initially reported today that the two sides were engaged in discussions on the subject after commissioner Adam Silver mentioned the possibility during an interview with ESPN earlier in the week.

Currently, the quarantine period for a player who tests positive for COVID-19 is 10 days. However, the league and the players’ union could agree to lower it to as few as six days in certain cases, per Charania and Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The NBA and NBPA are consulting with their own infectious disease specialists and are studying research models from around the world before finalizing a decision, Wojnarowski explains.

Silver stated in his ESPN appearance on Tuesday that the viral load of a COVID-positive player can be ascertained during the testing process and suggested that it might be safe for such a player to return to action if his viral load drops below a certain threshold, since the risk of transmitting the virus would drop significantly. A player’s vaccination status may also be a factor in determining his required quarantine period.

“I think (medical experts are) already realizing that you can move away from the 10-day protocol when you have players who are vaccinated and boosted,” Silver told ESPN’s Malika Andrews on Tuesday. “It seems that the virus runs through their systems faster. They become not just asymptomatic but – more importantly – they’re not shedding the virus anymore.”

It’s unclear how quickly the new guidelines might go into effect if and when the NBA and NBPA reach an agreement.

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Suns Sign Emanuel Terry; Monty Williams In Protocols

December 27th, 2021 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

2:25pm: The Suns have officially signed Terry, the team announced in a press release. His 10-day contract will run through January 5.

12:14pm: The Suns are set to sign forward Emanuel Terry to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Terry, 25, has played for a handful of international and G League teams since going undrafted out of Lincoln Memorial in 2018. He also got into three NBA games as a rookie back in 2018/19 — two for Phoenix and one for Miami.

This season, Terry has been playing in the G League for the Stockton Kings, averaging 11.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 1.0 BPG in 10 games (25.5 MPG) for Sacramento’s G League affiliate. He also represented Team USA last month in the first two qualifying games for the 2023 World Cup.

For most of the month, Phoenix had avoided the league-wide COVID-19 outbreak that left a number of teams around the NBA shorthanded. However, the Suns placed Jae Crowder and Elfrid Payton in the health and safety protocols on Sunday, making them eligible to sign up to two replacement players via hardship exceptions.

The Suns have also temporarily lost their head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Monty Williams has entered the protocols. Williams will miss Monday’s game vs. Memphis and figures to be sidelined into the new year if he has registered a confirmed positive test. Assistant coach Kevin Young will likely take over as acting head coach in Williams’ absence, tweets Wojnarowski.

Eastern Notes: Raptors, Wright, LeVert, Turner, Bridges

December 27th, 2021 at 10:15am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said on Sunday that two of the replacement players the team had hoped to sign in advance of its game vs. Chicago last Wednesday didn’t pass the COVID-19 screening process, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweets. The game was ultimately postponed because Toronto didn’t have enough players available.

The Raptors were said to have deals in place with Brandon Goodwin and Nik Stauskas, but those agreements were reported a week ago and were never finalized, so presumably those are the two players Nurse was referring to.

It’s possible Toronto will circle back to Goodwin and/or Stauskas at some point. However, if they contracted COVID-19, they won’t be short-term options for the Raptors, so we’re no longer counting on those deals to be completed and have removed them from our roster counts page.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Hawks guard Delon Wright has entered the health and safety protocols, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Atlanta’s roster is in rough shape, with 11 players now in the protocols, but – for now at least – the team still has enough bodies available Monday’s game vs. Chicago, including five replacement players (a sixth, Wesley Iwundu, is in the protocols).
Caris LeVert has been playing his best basketball this month since joining the Pacers, averaging 22.1 PPG and 5.3 APG with a .392 3PT% in his last 10 games. Myles Turner, meanwhile, had one of his best games of the season last Thursday, putting up 32 points on 14-of-18 shooting. Besides helping out Indiana with their production, LeVert and Turner – both considered trade candidates – are displaying their value for potential suitors, writes Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star (subscribers only).
Philadelphia native and former Villanova star Mikal Bridges, who was traded from the Sixers to the Suns on draft night in 2018, doesn’t think often about what could have been if he had remained with his hometown team, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Being (in Phoenix) and knowing the city, the people, and what we’ve been doing these past years, I don’t even think twice about ever being home,” Bridges said. “I’m in a great situation now, and I love it.”

Jayson Tatum Enters Health And Safety Protocols

December 27th, 2021 at 9:49am CST by Luke Adams

Star forward Jayson Tatum has joined a long list of Celtics players in the health and safety protocols, the team announced today (via Twitter).

There are now nine Celtics players in the protocols, as our tracker shows. Of those players, eight have been ruled out for Boston’s Monday game vs. Minnesota. The ninth, Grant Williams, is listed as questionable, which suggests he has either exited the protocols or is on the verge of doing so.

Only two other teams – Atlanta and Toronto – currently have more players in the protocols than the Celtics, whose situation actually seemed to be improving in recent days. Juan Hernangomez, Jabari Parker, Sam Hauser, and Brodric Thomas all recently cleared the protocols.

However, now Boston’s top scorer will be out for 10 days or until he can return consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart. Tatum is averaging 25.6 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 3.8 APG this season in 33 games (36.7 MPG), though his shooting numbers are down (.417 FG%, .329 3PT%).

Tatum contracted COVID-19 last season and had breathing problems well after his return, using an inhaler before games.

COVID-19 Updates: Suns, Blazers, Rockets, Wolves, More

December 26th, 2021 at 9:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are the latest health and safety protocols updates from around the NBA:

Entering the protocols:

Jae Crowder and Elfrid Payton have become the first two Suns players to enter the COVID-19 protocols, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The Trail Blazers‘ outbreak continues to grow, with Jusuf Nurkic and Cody Zeller among the players now in the protocols, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Seven Portland players have been placed in the protocols since Friday.
Rockets guard Garrison Mathews became the second Houston guard to enter the protocols today, joining teammate D.J. Augustin, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
Timberwolves big man Naz Reid is now in the health and safety protocols, bringing Minnesota’s list of affected players up to eight, tweets Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
The Thunder announced today that they’ve placed rookie guard Tre Mann in the protocols. Oklahoma City now has two players affected — Mann and Darius Bazley.

Exiting the protocols:

Point guard De’Aaron Fox returned to action on Sunday when the Kings hosted Memphis. Fox had been in the health and safety protocols since December 16.
A pair of Timberwolves – Patrick Beverley and Josh Okogie – are no longer in the health and safety protocols, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. They’re both listed as questionable for Monday’s game vs. Boston.
Clippers forward Marcus Morris has cleared the health and safety protocols, though he remained inactive on Sunday as he goes through a reconditioning period, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Cavaliers wing RJ Nembhard was no longer listed on the team’s injury report on Sunday and played vs. Toronto, so he’s out of the protocols. Isaac Okoro has exited the protocols too, though he’s still working his way back, according to head coach J.B. Bickerstaff (Twitter link via Kelsey Russo of The Athletic).