- Garrison Mathews was grateful to receive a four-year contract from the Rockets after fighting for years to earn an NBA job, he told Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “Those two-way contracts, they’re hard to get out of. Because with two-way contracts, there’s not a lot of opportunities,” he said. “Then you’re in restricted free agency. It’s just tough, man. A lot of people go through it, and it’s hard. So, a lot of relief, a lot of thankfulness, honestly.” Mathews’ four-year contract is worth $8.2MM, with a $2MM guaranteed salary this season.
4:45pm: Jarreau has signed a 10-day contract under the hardship exemption, according to a team press release.
3:41pm: The Rockets are set to sign former Houston Cougars guard DeJon Jarreau, per Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link). Berman adds that Jarreau will be suiting up with Houston and available to play tonight against the Lakers.
Jarreau, most recently a two-way player with the Pacers, was cut by the club earlier this month to make room for fellow undrafted rookie guard Terry Taylor. Jarreau appeared in just one NBA game during his stint with the Pacers.
The 6’5″ rookie shooting guard played in 10 contests for the Pacers’ NBAGL affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, this season. In 20.9 MPG, he averaged 9.7 PPG on .407/.381/.588 shooting, along with notching 4.3 APG and 3.9 RPG.
Given that the Rockets have 15 guaranteed contracts on their books and both two-way contract slots occupied, the deal is most likely a 10-day contract using a hardship exception.
The Rockets currently have guards D.J. Augustin, Kenyon Martin Jr., and Garrison Mathews, as well as small forward Jae’Sean Tate, all in the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
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.
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).
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:
- Warriors star forward Draymond Green has entered the protocols, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Green joined four other Warriors in the protocols heading into a pair of games against Denver.
- The Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks, De’Anthony Melton and Yves Pons all entered the protocols prior to their game against Sacramento on Sunday, the team’s PR department tweets. Memphis now has five players under those restrictions.
- Darius Bazley became the first Thunder player in protocols, Andrew Schlecht of The Athletic tweets.
- Veteran Rockets guard D.J. Augustin has entered the health and safety protocols, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
- Clippers two-way player Jay Scrubb has been placed in the protocols, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
- Wizards guard Raul Neto has joined two other Washington players in the protocols, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
- Two Hornets regulars, Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington, are now in the protocols, the team’s PR department tweets.
- On the positive side, Sixers forward Georges Niang has cleared the protocols, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
- The Rockets’ Eric Gordon, who has battled knee problems in recent years, is playing both ends of a back-to-back this week for the first time this season, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “This was the plan long ago,” Gordon said. “I’ve been feeling pretty good all year. This was definitely the plan before the season started. But I will be looking forward to playing back-to-back.”
- Injured Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. doesn’t have a return date yet, but he’s continuing to make progress with his bruised left thigh, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Porter, who hasn’t played since December 3, has been ramping up his workouts over the past week. “We’re getting there,” he said. “It has been a work in progress, but we’ve just been making progress each and every day. I’m feeling good. We’re taking steps forward. It’s always hard waiting. Honestly, when it first happens, I feel like it’s the worst because (the rehab) is a long-ball game, but almost being back is a boost of confidence and (to) your self-esteem about everything every day, everything you do daily.”
Rockets rookie Jalen Green is on track to play on Thursday in Indiana, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston has a back-to-back road set on Wednesday and Thursday vs. the Bucks and Pacers, respectively, so the team is eyeing the second game in that back-to-back for Green’s return.
The No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, Green has been sidelined for nearly a month due to a strained left hamstring, which he suffered on November 24. He averaged 14.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .382/.378/.807 shooting in his first 18 NBA games (30.8 MPG) and will be looking to improve upon those numbers when he returns to the court.
Here are a few more updates from around the league related to injuries and COVID-19:
- Bulls wing Troy Brown has exited the health and safety protocols and is rejoining the team, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Chicago still has five players in the protocols.
- The Cavaliers have placed veteran big man Ed Davis in the health and safety protocols, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Cleveland is facing a significant COVID-19 outbreak, with eight players in the protocols, but should have enough players available to continue its schedule, says Wojnarowski.
- An MRI on P.J. Tucker‘s left knee injury revealed no structural damage, says Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The Heat have diagnosed Tucker’s injury as lower left leg nerve inflammation and ruled him out for Tuesday’s game vs. Indiana. It’s unclear how much more time he might miss.
- Rockets head coach Stephen Silas is hopeful that Jalen Green (hamstring), who has been out since November 24, will be back in the lineup before Christmas, but said Kevin Porter Jr. (thigh), who last played on December 3, will remain sidelined through the Christmas break, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. The Rockets are in action on Wednesday in Milwaukee and Thursday in Indiana, then will resume play next Monday in Charlotte.
- Garrison Mathews‘ new four-year contract with the Rockets is worth $8.2MM, with a $2MM guaranteed salary in 2021/22, sources tell Alykhan Bijani and Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), Mathews will have non-guaranteed salaries with trigger dates in years two and three, plus a fourth-year team option.