- After growing up in Kalamazoo and playing his college ball at Michigan, Isaiah Livers appreciated the opportunity to stay close to home with the Pistons and tells James L. Edwards III of The Athletic that he had a sense entering this year’s draft that Detroit would try to land him. “(General manager) Troy (Weaver), we were talking. A lot of the pre-draft, he was very interested,” Livers said. “He told me straight-up that he was interested in me and talked about what I could bring to the table, to the team. Once he told me that, he was one of the few GMs to say that to me. I thought he was definitely going to grab me if he had the chance. I was ready.”
The Pistons have signed guard Justin Robinson and wing Trayvon Palmer to 10-day contracts using hardship exceptions, the team announced today in a press release.
Robinson began the season on a two-way contract with Milwaukee and appeared in 17 games for the team, averaging 2.8 PPG and 1.2 APG on .316/.270/1.000 shooting in 11.6 minutes per contest. After being waived by the Bucks, the 24-year-old signed a 10-day hardship deal with Sacramento and logged 15 total minutes across three games with the Kings before his contract expired on Sunday night.
Palmer, 27, is a former Chicago State standout who had been playing for the Motor City Cruise in the G League this season. In 14 NBAGL contests (34.0 MPG), he averaged 11.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .496/.418/.800 shooting.
The Pistons, who have eight players in the health and safety protocols, now have six players on 10-day hardship contracts.
Donte DiVincenzo missed two early layups in his return to action on Saturday, but that didn’t take away from his joy at being back on the court for the first time since May, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. It has taken seven months for the Bucks guard to work his way back from a torn ligament in his left ankle that he suffered in the first round of the playoffs.
Milwaukee’s first championship in 50 years was more remarkable considering that it was accomplished without DiVincenzo, who became a starter last year in his third NBA season. He had been scheduled to return December 15, but was forced to wait 10 extra days after entering the league’s health and safety protocols.
“I was telling Jrue (Holiday) afterwards, it kind of felt like rookie year,” DiVincenzo said. “I had those little butterflies in my stomach, anxious being on the court, just running around, I was like, ‘I’m back!’ So, it took me a little while. Obviously, it’s going to take a while. I haven’t touched a ball in a little while and just trying to get a rhythm. I’m just happy that I’m back. You can’t do anything unless you have your health on the court, so that’s all I’m thankful for, and I’ll keep building off of that.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Brian Windhorst of ESPN looks at how the Cavaliers have found success by defying the league’s trend toward smaller lineups. In the space of less than a month, Cleveland drafted Evan Mobley, gave a $100MM extension to Jarrett Allen and traded for Lauri Markkanen. The Cavs have also benefited from a happier Kevin Love, who has accepted playing 20 minutes per night in a reserve role. “We’ve got a good thing going and I’m having a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s going to be great watching this young team develop.”
- Nikola Vucevic has looked like a different player since the Bulls returned from their week-long break due to postponements and he credits advice from coach Billy Donovan, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “One thing that when I spoke to Billy that has stuck out and helped me is he knew I was frustrated with shooting the ball and he was like obviously as a player you want to shoot the ball well,” Vucevic said, “but his main thing was I shouldn’t let that affect the rest of my game.’’
- With eight players and three assistant coaches in protocols, the Pistons are enjoying the advantages of having a G League team close to home, observes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. The team has called up Cheick Diallo, Derrick Walton, Cassius Stanley and Deividas Sirvydis, along with Motor City Cruise coach DJ Bakker.
The Pistons, who have been hit hard by COVID-19 in recent days, are signing forward Deividas Sirvydis from their G League affiliate on a 10-day contract via the hardship exemption, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The signing has been confirmed by a team press release.
Sirvydis has appeared in 14 games (eight starts) this season at the G League level for the Motor City Cruise. He’s averaging 12.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 2.1 APG in 25.7 MPG.
The 21-year-old Sirvydis was drafted in the second round by Dallas in 2019 and his rights were forwarded to the Pistons. He appeared in 20 games with Detroit last season.
Detroit has eight players in league protocols and two other prominent players, Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk, sidelined with long-term injuries.
The league continues to be ravaged by COVID positives with an increasing number of players entering the league’s health and safety protocols. Here are the latest updates:
- The Pistons, who already had six players in protocols, added guards Cory Joseph and Josh Jackson to the list, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets. The Pistons are scheduled to play the Spurs on Sunday night. San Antonio will be without Dejounte Murray, who also entered protocols on Sunday, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
- The Magic, who already had a handful of players in protocols, won’t have B.J. Johnson and Chuma Okeke available against Miami on Sunday after they joined the list, the team’s PR department tweets. Moritz Wagner has exited the protocols but is going through a reconditioning period before returning to action, per the team (Twitter link).
- Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo has entered protocols, joining three other Lakers, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets.
- Two-way player Jose Alvarado became the third Pelicans players to enter protocols, Andrew Lopez of ESPN tweets.
- Bulls guard Lonzo Ball has entered protocols, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The Bulls, who have experienced major COVID issues this month, also have Alfonzo McKinnie and Tony Bradley in protocols, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic tweets. McKinnie just signed a standard contract and he can be replaced via the hardship exemption, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Chicago has seen 14 players enter protocols this month.
- On the positive side, the Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey was spotted at shootaround after exiting protocols, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
If the Cavaliers are able to host the Raptors Sunday afternoon, both teams will have a shell of their normal lineups. Cavs forward Cedi Osman has become the team’s eighth player in the league’s health and safety protocols, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. He joins Jarrett Allen, Ed Davis, Evan Mobley, RJ Nembhard, Isaac Okoro, Lamar Stevens and Dylan Windler.
Toronto’s roster is even more strained, with 10 players currently in protocols. Khem Birch, Isaac Bonga, and Justin Champagnie were placed in the protocols earlier today, joining Precious Achiuwa, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Malachi Flynn, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet. Toronto will have to finalize 10-day hardship contracts with at least one more player before game time to reach the league roster minimum of eight.
There’s more COVID-19 news from around the league:
- Pistons forward Trey Lyles entered the protocols Saturday, becoming the team’s sixth player this week to do so, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Lyles is coming off his best game since signing with Detroit in the offseason, posting 28 points, eight rebounds and four blocks Thursday night. Sankofa expects rookie Luka Garza and possibly Jamorko Pickett to see more playing time while Lyles is unavailable.
- Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey has also been placed in the protocols, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Maxey has taken over as point guard in the absence of Ben Simmons and has started 28 of the 29 games he has played in his second NBA season.
- Kings forwards Marvin Bagley III and Louis King have cleared protocols and should be available Sunday, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Terence Davis has been cleared as well, Anderson tweets.
- Nets coach Steve Nash said veteran big man LaMarcus Aldridge has either exited the protocols or is close, but will need time for conditioning before he can resume playing, relays Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link).
- Josh Green has joined his Mavericks teammates in Utah after clearing protocols, but won’t be active for tonight’s game, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). He’s expected to be able to play during the rest of the team’s road trip.
- Mavericks assistant coach Kristi Toliver tweeted on Christmas that she contracted COVID-19.
2:21pm: The deals for both guards are now official, according to an official statement from the Pistons (via Twitter).
2:08pm: Guards Derrick Walton and Cassius Stanley are expected to sign 10-day deals with the Pistons via hardship exceptions, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Walton and Stanley logged some preseason run with Detroit before ultimately being waived ahead of the 2021/22 NBA season. They were most recently playing for Detroit’s NBAGL affiliate, the Motor City Cruise.
Stanley, a 6’5″ shooting guard, is averaging 9.6 PPG and 4.4 RPG for the Cruise, with a shooting line of .380/.256/.600. The 22-year-old was selected with the No. 54 pick by the Pacers in 2020 out of Duke.
The 6’0″ point guard Walton, 26, went undrafted out of Michigan in 2017. He has logged time with the Heat, Clippers, and Pistons. Walton also has played internationally, with Lithuanian club Žalgiris Kaunas and later German club Alba Berlin.
In 12 games for Motor City, Walton is averaging 13.6 PPG, 7.7 APG, 4.8 RPG, and 1.3 SPG. He holds shooting averages of .416/.365/.765 with the G League club.
The 5-26 club could use all the help it can get. Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Saben Lee, Rodney McGruder, and Isaiah Stewart are among the Pistons in the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Detroit is also without star forward Jerami Grant, still dealing with a thumb injury; big man Kelly Olynyk, absent due to a grade-2 MCL sprain; and Isaiah Livers, who continues to be day-to-day while he works on his conditioning.
Keep tabs on the league’s various coronavirus-related absences via our daily tracker.
Pistons center Isaiah Stewart and guards Killian Hayes and Saben Lee have entered the league’s health and safety protocols ahead of the team’s game against Miami Thursday evening, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Reserve swingman Rodney McGruder has also entered the protocols, The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III tweets.
Top pick Cade Cunningham entered the protocols on Wednesday. The Pistons, who have lost 15 of their last 16 contests, will obviously be severely shorthanded for the game.
Those players will be sidelined for at least 10 days, unless they can register two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart during that span.
Stewart is averaging 7.9 PPG and 8.4 RPG. Hayes has started regularly as well, though he’s averaging just 6.4 PPG and 3.7 APG. Lee has come off the bench in 15 games and scored 16 points against the Knicks on Tuesday. McGruder has appeared in 14 games.
With Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk unavailable due to long-term injuries, the Pistons’ frontcourt is severely depleted with Trey Lyles and rookie Luka Garza the main options.
DECEMBER 23: Diallo’s 10-day contract with the Pistons is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log. It’ll run through January 1.
DECEMBER 22: The Pistons are signing big man Cheick Diallo to a 10-day contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Diallo had been playing for the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s G League affiliate.
The fact that it’s a 10-day agreement means the Pistons will use a hardship exception to complete the signing. Entering the day, Detroit had been one of nine teams without a player in the health and safety protocols — this deal suggests that’s about to change, since the club doesn’t have enough injured players to qualify for a hardship signing.
The 33rd overall pick in the 2016 draft, Diallo has appeared in a total of 180 regular season NBA games for the Pelicans and Suns. He averaged 4.7 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 47 games (10.2 MPG) for Phoenix in 2019/20, then spent last season in Russia and Spain.
The 25-year-old returned stateside this season and has averaged 14.2 PPG and 8.5 RPG on 71.4% shooting in 13 games (21.7 MPG) at the G League level.
Diallo will earn $102,831 on his 10-day contract, but it won’t count toward the Pistons’ team salary for cap or tax purposes.
With three straight losses, an injured star, and COVID-19 affecting both the roster and the coaching staff, acting Lakers head coach David Fizdale feels like Russell Westbrook may be trying too hard to fix the situation by himself, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Westbrook has posted impressive numbers in the two games since Anthony Davis suffered an MCL sprain, averaging 21.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.0 steals, but he’s also committed a combined 13 turnovers, which Fizdale said disrupts the offense.
“I think the circumstances over the last few games, with so many people being in and out, triggered in him that he had to save us,” Fizdale said.
Already dealing with a disappointing season at 16-16, the Lakers are now facing the uncertainty that many teams have felt since the latest COVID-19 outbreak began sweeping through the league two weeks ago. They’re scheduled to host the Nets on Christmas Day, but Brooklyn’s last three games have been postponed.
“You’re just taking it and living day to day, you just don’t know what’s going to happen,” Carmelo Anthony said. “We could wake up tomorrow morning and they could say our game tomorrow is canceled. … Again, we don’t know what’s gonna happen, so we’re taking it day to day and we’re just trying to stay on top of what we need to stay on top of. But as we can see, it’s affecting everybody. It’s affecting a lot of different people, people who are vaccinated, people who do have boosters, so you just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Warriors players are raving about Klay Thompson after watching him in workouts, according to Shayna Rubin of The San Jose Mercury News. Thompson is expected to return sometime in January, and his teammates say he’s looking like the player he was before the injuries. “He’s always going to shoot the ball well, but he seems really confident in his body,” Kevon Looney said. “He’s going up for dunks. He’s playing physical and when you see that much confidence in him, it means he’s getting close to ready. It’s a joy to have in practice to have his energy back.”
- Clippers guard Reggie Jackson entered the league’s health and safety protocols today, but he’s not experiencing any effects from the virus, tweets Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. “Reggie says he feels fine, no symptoms, so that’s a good sign,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “Happy for him about that.”
- With trade rumors heating up again for Buddy Hield, Mark Schindler of Basketball News examines three potential destinations for the Kings guard. Schindler suggests deals that would send Hield to the Magic, Grizzlies or Pistons.