Los Angeles Clippers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Checking In On Traded 2022 First-Round Picks

January 21st, 2022 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

We’re over halfway through the 2021/22 NBA regular season, which means it’s a good time to take a look at where things stand with 2022’s traded first-round picks. Many of the traded first-rounders for the ’22 draft come with protections, so there’s a chance they might not change hands this year after all.

Using our list of traded first-round picks for 2022 and our reverse standings tool, here’s our breakdown of which of those traded picks are most and least likely to change hands, and which ones remain up in the air:

Picks that will definitely change hands:

Thunder acquiring Clippers‘ pick (unprotected).

When the Clippers traded a series of first-round picks and swaps to the Thunder in the Paul George blockbuster in the 2019 offseason, they weren’t counting on losing both George and Kawhi Leonard to long-term injuries in the same season. That’s the case this year though, and it could result in Oklahoma City receiving an extra lottery pick.

The Clippers are currently in a play-in spot, so their pick could move to No. 15 or lower if they make the playoffs, but for now it’s projected to be No. 11 or No. 12 (they’re tied with the Knicks in the NBA standings).

Thunder acquiring Suns‘ pick (top-12 protected).

The Thunder will also receive a first-round pick from another Pacific team, though that selection appears likely to end up at the very end of the round — the Suns have the league’s best record so far, so their pick would be at No. 30.

Grizzlies acquiring Jazz‘s pick (top-six protected).

The pick the Grizzlies are getting from the Jazz will fall near the end of the first round too. For now, it projects to be No. 25 or No. 26, as Utah is tied in the standings with the Heat.

Grizzlies or Pelicans acquiring Lakers‘ pick (unprotected).

The Lakers will send their first-rounder to the Pelicans if it lands in the top 10 or to the Grizzlies if it’s between 11-30. It’s certainly possible things continue to go south in Los Angeles and the pick moves up into the top 10 — if the Lakers don’t make the playoffs, their pick could even jump into the top four via the lottery.

For now though, the more likely scenario is that Memphis will get the Lakers’ pick — it would be No. 15 or No. 16 (they’re tied with Minesota) if the season ended today and L.A. clinched a playoff spot in the play-in tournament.

Picks that definitely won’t change hands:

Thunder acquiring Pistons’ pick (top-16 protected).
Hawks acquiring Thunder‘s pick (top-14 protected).

There’s still a lot of basketball to be played this season, but it seems pretty safe to pencil in the Pistons and Thunder as non-playoff teams, which means they’ll keep their first-round picks in 2022. Right now, Detroit’s at No. 2 in the lottery standings, while Oklahoma City’s at No. 4.

Given how weak the bottom half of the Western Conference has been, the Thunder could theoretically sneak into a play-in spot and make the playoffs, but it’s an extreme long shot — the teams ahead of them in the standings will be more motivated to push for the postseason.

Assuming they keep their pick this year, the Pistons will owe the Thunder their top-18 protected first-round pick in 2023. If the Thunder’s own pick is protected, they’ll instead send the Hawks their 2024 and 2025 second-round selections.

Still up in the air:

Hornets acquiring Pelicans‘ pick (top-14 protected)
Bulls acquiring Trail Blazers‘ pick (top-14 protected)

At this point, it looks more likely than not that the Pelicans and Trail Blazers will keep their own lottery-protected first-round picks.

Portland, despite holding the West’s No. 10 seed for now, has a tenuous hold on a play-in spot with Damian Lillard sidelined for a while. New Orleans may have some potential for a second-half surge, especially if Zion Williamson returns, but the team is on the outside looking in for the time being. Either team would have a difficult path to a playoff spot as a lower seed in the play-in tournament.

Currently, the Pelicans’ first-rounder projects to be No. 6 or No. 7 (they’re tied with San Antonio), pending lottery results. Assuming that pick ends up in the top 14, New Orleans would instead send their 2022 and 2024 second-round selections to the Hornets.

If the Trail Blazers keep their first-round pick, currently projected to be No. 9, they’d owe the Bulls their top-14 protected first-rounder in 2023.

Hawks acquiring Hornets‘ pick (top-18 protected)

The Hornets‘ first-round selection, which was just traded from New York to Atlanta in the Cam Reddish deal, is right on the edge and could go either way. It’s top-18 protected and is currently projected to be at No. 19, meaning the Hawks would receive it if the season ended today (as long as the seventh-seeded Hornets clinched a playoff spot in the play-in tournament). That could change quickly though.

Rockets acquiring most favorable of Heat‘s or Nets‘ pick (Heat get least favorable).

Finally, the Rockets will control the two most favorable picks of the following three: their own first-rounder, the Nets first-rounder, and the Heat‘s first-rounder; Miami will get the least favorable of the three, unless the Heat’s own pick lands in the top 14 (in which case Miami would keep it and Houston would get the other two picks).

It seems safe to assume at this point that the Rockets will keep their own selection and the Heat will make the playoffs, so it’ll come down to whether Brooklyn or Miami finishes higher in the standings. Currently, the Heat are a half-game ahead of the Nets, so Houston would get Brooklyn’s pick (No. 24) and Miami would hang onto its own (No. 25 or No. 26).

Nets Agree To Find New Home For Paul Millsap

January 20th, 2022 at 7:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have reached an agreement with Paul Millsap to find a new team for the 36-year forward, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Brooklyn will look to trade the little-used big man and could waive him if those efforts fail. Millsap has only played in two of the Nets’ last 17 games. Overall, he’s seen action in 24 games off the bench this season, averaging 3.4 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 11.3 MPG.

Millsap agreed to a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract in free agency to join a championship contender after his former team, the Nuggets, didn’t pursue him. He spent four seasons in Denver, averaging 9.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.8 APG on .476/.343/.724 shooting in 56 games (20.8 MPG) in 2020/21.

The Warriors, Bulls, and Clippers showed interest in Millsap last summer, so perhaps one of those clubs might be willing to trade for him.

COVID-19 Updates: Grant, Batum, Herro, McConnell, Smart, T. Jones, Jenkins

January 19th, 2022 at 9:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sidelined since December 10 after surgery on his right thumb, Pistons forward Jerami Grant has now entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Grant has been making progress toward playing again and began a rehab assignment with the G League’s Motor City Cruise this week.

Grant is considered the “grand prize” by some observers heading into the trade deadline and has been the subject of rumors involving at least nine teams. His time in the protocols could further limit the number of games he can play before Detroit has to make a decision on a deal.

He and rookie center Luka Garza are the only players currently in the protocols for the Pistons, who recently were among the hardest-hit teams in the league by COVID-19.

Here are some more protocol-related updates:

Clippers forward Nicolas Batum has been placed in the protocols, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Batum also spent time in the protocols in November.
Heat guard Tyler Herro has entered the protocols, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Herro is the only Miami player currently in the protocols.
Pacers guard T.J. McConnell, who may miss the rest of the season after having hand surgery, has been placed in the protocols, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has exited the protocols, the team announced in its injury report. However, he’s not playing tonight due to “return to competition reconditioning.”
Spurs guard Tre Jones has cleared the protocols, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News. He missed seven games while he was out of action.
Taylor Jenkins is out of protocols and is coaching the Grizzlies tonight, according to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link). Jenkins missed six games.

Paul George To Miss More Time With Elbow Tear

January 18th, 2022 at 3:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Clippers appear to be playing the long game with their latest sidelined superstar. Los Angeles will let injured All-Star forward Paul George stay shelved for “a few more weeks,” per Adrian Wojnarowski and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link). George is still recovering from a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

The seven-time All-Star was initially projected to miss at least three-to-four weeks of game action when he first incurred the injury in late December. Woj adds (via Twitter) that the team will assess George’s elbow after giving it more time for rest.

Through 26 games this season, the 6’8″ forward is averaging 24.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG and 5.5 APG. George had been one of the leading vote-getters in the West through the first All-Star fan voting returns. The injury seems to have impacted the fan vote, as George is now polling fourth among eligible conference forwards.

The Clippers are, of course, also missing their other All-Star forward, Kawhi Leonard, who remains shelved as he continues to recuperate from an ACL tear suffered during the Clippers’ 2021 playoff run to the Western Conference Finals.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (Twitter link), the Clippers owe their unprotected 2022 first-round draft pick to the Thunder as part of their initial trade for George in the summer of 2019. There is certainly a chance that that pick could wind up in the lottery, especially if George and Leonard remain sidelined indefinitely.

That said, L.A. is still in good position to make the play-in tournament. The Clippers have gone 5-8 since George’s injury. At 22-23, the Clippers are currently the eighth seed in the Western Conference, 4.5 games clear of the current No. 11 seed, the 18-28 Kings.

COVID-19 Updates: Haliburton, Clippers, Powell, Caruso, Bolmaro

January 17th, 2022 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

For a brief period in late December and early January, there were well over 100 NBA players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. However, the situation has improved considerably since that spike. The latest update of our protocols tracker shows just 15 players who are currently affected.

That doesn’t mean no one is entering the protocols anymore though. As Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes, Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton was placed in the protocols ahead of the team’s game vs. Houston on Sunday. Haliburton joins Robert Woodard as the two Sacramento players affected.

Here are a few more protocol-related updates:

Clippers teammates Luke Kennard and Justise Winslow have exited the COVID-19 protocols and are taking part in return to competition reconditioning, as Mirjam Swanson of the Southern California News Group tweets. Kennard is doubtful to play on Monday vs. Indiana, while Winslow is questionable.
Trail Blazers wing Norman Powell was upgraded to questionable for Monday’s contest in Orlando and his status is now listed as “COVID recovery,” so it sounds like he has cleared the health and safety protocols (Twitter link via Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian).
Bulls guard Alex Caruso won’t play on Monday in Memphis, but he’s no longer in the protocols, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
Timberwolves rookie Leandro Bolmaro exited the protocols on Sunday and was available vs. Golden State. He played the final 1:42 of garbage time in a 20-point Wolves victory.

Bulls Notes: Dosunmu, Hill, Trade Targets, Caruso

January 16th, 2022 at 9:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

The shorthanded Bulls have a three-game losing streak for the first time this season, but rookie guard Ayo Dosunmu has emerged as a bright spot, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. Making his third start, Dosunmu posted his first career double-double Saturday night with 21 points and 10 assists in a narrow loss to the Celtics.

Dosunmu made nine of 10 shots from the field, committed just one turnover and harassed Jayson Tatum into a poor shooting game. His outstanding performance came one night after going scoreless in 32 minutes against the Warriors.

“Coming from college to the NBA, there’s a lot of adjustments that I knew I had to make,” Dosunmu said. “And I knew that one of the adjustments was going from night to night and understanding that it’s a ‘what have you done for me lately’ league. And it’s so many games that you can’t get too high and never get too low. That was my challenge. (Friday), I had a tough night. I didn’t play to my standards. But I knew we had another chance today to get better. So I just wanted to come out there and try to establish that mentality.”

There’s more from Chicago:

Saturday’s game also featured a surprising contribution from hardship addition Malcolm Hill, notes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. Hill, who signed with the team on Friday, played 18 minutes and was on the court as the game was being decided in the closing minutes. He shot just 1-of-5 from the field, but made enough plays to impress coach Billy Donovan. “He’s been here for a day-and-a-half,” Donovan said, “and he did a good job defensively.”
In a separate story, Schaefer identifies three potential trades to fix the hole at power forward created by the loss of Patrick Williams, Javonte Green and Derrick Jones. Jerami Grant of the Pistons might be an option, Schaefer states, but only if Chicago is willing to part with Williams. Schaefer sees Grant as an ideal fit with the starting lineup and points out that he has prior experience with Donovan in Oklahoma City and executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas in Denver. The Kings‘ Harrison Barnes and the Clippers‘ Nicolas Batum may also be options, according to Schaefer.
Chicago guard Alex Caruso, who is the only Bulls player currently in health and safety protocols, isn’t expected to return until Wednesday, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Xavier Moon Showing He Belongs With Clippers

January 16th, 2022 at 8:42pm CST by JD Shaw

Clippers guard Xavier Moon is showing he belongs on the team, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register writes. As Hoops Rumors first reported, Los Angeles signed Moon to a third 10-day hardship deal last week, choosing to keep him after his impressive play. “I love his pace, he knows how to play … to come to a team like this and perform the way he has, it shows he’s a good player and that he’s definitely making a case that he belongs,” head coach Tyronn Lue said. “So it’s just good to see. He has a skill set and he just needed an opportunity and the opportunity we’ve given him, he’s definitely taking advantage of it.”

Clippers Sign Xavier Moon To Third 10-Day Contract

January 14th, 2022 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

12:11pm: The Clippers have officially signed Moon to a new 10-day contract, the team announced. It’ll run through Janaury 23, covering the team’s next five games.

11:53am: The Clippers intend to sign swingman Xavier Moon to a third 10-day contract, agent Stacey Leawood tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link). Moon’s second 10-day deal with Los Angeles expired overnight.

A player isn’t permitted to sign three traditional 10-day contracts with the same team in a single season, but that rule doesn’t apply to 10-day signings completed using COVID-related hardship exceptions. Moon is on track to join Davon Reed (Nuggets) and Marquese Chriss (Mavericks) as players who have signed three 10-day hardship deals with the same team this season.

Moon appeared in six games during his first 20 days with the Clippers, averaging 5.5 PPG, 1.7 APG, and 1.5 RPG in 13.8 MPG. He spent a little time in the health and safety protocols during his most recent deal, but looked good on Thursday night, registering 10 points and four assists on 3-of-4 shooting in 15 minutes vs. New Orleans.

The Clippers still have Luke Kennard and Justise Winslow in the COVID-19 protocols, making them eligible for two hardship signings. Moon will rejoin Wenyen Gabriel, who is on a 10-day contract that runs through next Thursday.

Moon will earn $53,176 on his newest 10-day contract, but that money won’t be applied to team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Clippers Rumors: Leonard, George, Morris, Ibaka, Winslow

January 12th, 2022 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

In the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto said the Clippers remain focused on being competitive when Paul George and Kawhi Leonard get back on the floor.

However, despite a recent report stating that Leonard is ahead of schedule in his rehab from an ACL tear, Scotto has heard that some people within the organization believe the star forward is unlikely to return this season. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report echoes that sentiment, writing that there’s a “healthy dose of skepticism” around the NBA about Leonard playing in 2021/22.

“He’s always played things methodically and cautiously,” a source with knowledge of Leonard’s thinking told Fischer. “I knew he was ahead of schedule [in his rehab], but I wouldn’t bet on it. Kawhi is always focused on the long term. If they’re not in the playoff picture, I think the chances he comes back are slim to none.”

Fischer also shared an ominous update on George, writing that the Clippers are prepared for the possibility that the forward’s elbow injury will keep him sidelined far beyond the three-to-four week timeline the team initially announced for a reevaluation. It’s not out of the question that George’s injury could keep him out of action for the rest of the season, according to Fischer.

If the Clippers believe there’s a chance George and Leonard may both be unavailable for the rest of the season, there’s a reasonable chance they’ll pivot to becoming sellers at the deadline, Fischer adds.

Here’s more on the team from both Scotto and Fischer:

Following Leonard’s ACL tear in the 2021 playoffs, the Clippers’ front office broached the possibility of treating the 2021/22 season as more of a “gap year” before pushing again for a title in ’22/23, and owner Steve Ballmer was on board with that idea, Fischer says. The team didn’t initially go all-in on that plan, with head coach Tyronn Lue given no mandate to find minutes for young prospects, but George’s injury could push L.A. further in that direction.
Rival executives believe the Clippers will be willing to discuss many of their veteran players at the trade deadline, per Fischer. “They’re pretty much open for business for anyone except their main guys and Terance Mann. I think they really are fine falling out of the playoffs and regrouping for next year,” a Western Conference official told Bleacher Report. “I think they’re trying to shed the Marcus Morrises of the world, guys that have some value and maybe can replace them with younger talent, maybe cheaper [contracts], to free them to get someone else this summer.”
The Jazz would be a good fit for Morris, in Fischer’s view, but he cautions that the Clippers may be hesitant to send the veteran forward to a key Western Conference rival like Utah, since even if the Clips are sellers this season, the two teams could face one another again in the playoffs again as soon as next year.
Serge Ibaka and Justise Winslow are among the players the Clippers have received inquiries about, Scotto said on the HoopsHype podcast. Fischer suggests that Ibaka may be the top trade candidate on L.A.’s roster, since offloading his $9.7MM salary would save the team a ton of money on its year-end tax bill. The Thunder, one of the only teams that can accommodate a salary-dump trade without sending out a player, are a team to watch, per Fischer. The Clippers could incentivize them with cash and/or second-round picks.

And-Ones: Exceptions, Trade Market, Dunn, Ferguson, Roberts

January 11th, 2022 at 9:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams that still have money remaining on their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions saw those exceptions begin to prorate downward by 1/174th per day on Monday, January 10, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

For instance, if a team still had $5MM of its mid-level exception on Monday, that amount has now begun to decrease by $28,736 per day. The daily reduction for the rest of the season is always determined based on the amount of the exception left on January 10. So even if that hypothetical team with $5MM of its mid-level remaining decided to use $2MM of it today, the leftover amount would continue to decrease by $28,736 per day going forward.

Many teams have either already used their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions or don’t intend to. However, this may affect certain teams that want to pursue players on the buyout market or plan to convert players from two-way contracts to standard deals later in the season.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

In an Insider-only story for ESPN, Marks has shared his annual trade deadline guide, providing an in-depth look at what to watch for all 30 teams, including each club’s cap and tax situation, trade restrictions, and top trade candidates.
After signing NBA G League contracts, two former first-round picks have new teams. Guard Kris Dunn has joined the Clippers‘ affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, while Terrance Ferguson will be a member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets‘ affiliate (Twitter links via Marc Stein).
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic spoke to outgoing NBPA executive director Michele Roberts about her tenure with the players’ union, her retirement, the upcoming CBA negotiations between the league and the union, and several more topics. Tamika Tremaglio took the reins as the NBPA’s new executive director on Monday.