- Despite only being in his ninth NBA season, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was ranked the 24th-best player in the league history by The Athletic. Speaking to Eric Nehm of The Athletic as part of the feature, Antetokounmpo said he hopes he’s not even at the halfway point of his career. “I want to play 20 years,” he said. “Hopefully, I can play all 20 of those years with the Bucks.”
Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine will both miss the Bulls‘ upcoming three-game road trip so they can receive treatment for knee injuries, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. Coach Billy Donovan updated their conditions in a media session before tonight’s game, saying the team’s first treatment plan for Ball’s knee was unsuccessful.
Ball, who was sent back to Chicago before Monday’s contest in Memphis, had his diagnosis changed from soreness in the knee to a bone contusion. Donovan said a timetable for his return won’t be set until the medical staff sees how he responds to the new treatments, adding that doctors haven’t considered the possibility of surgery yet.
“I think the biggest thing right now is what are the steps that we can do to get him back and get him healthy,” Donovan said. “I haven’t gotten into any detail with them (doctors) about that other than, hey, we’ll try this treatment, we’ll try this therapy, see how it goes, and then whatever the next step is that will be. But I haven’t been told what any next steps are gonna be.”
LaVine, who hasn’t played since leaving last Wednesday’s game in the first quarter, is responding to therapy for pain in his left knee, Donovan added. There’s no timeline for LaVine’s return either, but Donovan said he has been shooting free throws and doing strength training.
There’s more injury news to pass along:
- Suns forward Abdel Nader is making progress after missing the last 28 games with an injury to his right knee, but it will be a while before he can play again, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “He’s starting to ramp up,” coach Monty Williams said. “He hasn’t done any 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on-3. So he’s still a ways away.”
- Spurs center Zach Collins is getting closer to making his season debut after playing in the G League Monday, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News (Twitter link). Collins expects to play another G League game Friday, and coach Gregg Popovich said there’s not a definite time when he’ll be called up.
- The Bucks haven’t set a timetable for center Brook Lopez to return after having back surgery in early December, tweets Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We felt positive when we had the surgery,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “All the reports coming out of it, the hopes and the expectations. So nothing’s changed, nothing’s new. … This is all kind of to some degree what we expected, planned and we’ll continue to monitor and see how he progresses.”
- Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. missed his seventh straight game tonight with soreness in his left hamstring, but acting head coach Jesse Mermuys said he’s “very close” to returning, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel.
Veteran Pistons big man Trey Lyles appears to be maximizing his time with his new team, writes James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Edwards takes a look at how Lyles, a former lottery pick out of Kentucky, has reinvented himself as a role player with a lottery-bound Detroit club. Lyles discussed his struggles with mental health during his early NBA tenure.
“My first couple years, if my confidence was down, I’d be out there and wouldn’t shoot the ball,” Lyles said. “Over the years, I’ve tried to improve my mental ability to bounce back… I’ve done a lot of work in the offseason on my mental state of mind. Just being confident in who I am as a player is huge.”
Lyles signed a two-year, $5.1MM contract with the club during the 2021 offseason, and has spent most of his on-court time at center.
“[Therapy] has helped me out a lot,” Lyles, still just 26, reflected. “I have a tendency to get in my head. I just want to go out and use my muscle memory. Therapy has helped me in a variety of ways.”
Lyles is averaging 9.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.2 APG across 39 games with the Pistons thus far.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Injured center Kelly Olynyk is excited to return to the court for the Pistons soon, writes Rod Beard of the Detroit News. An MCL sprain has limited Olynyk to just 10 healthy games with his new team. The 6’11” big man has returned to basketball activities during the last few weeks and expects to rejoin the Pistons on the hardwood at some point during the team’s current four-game road trip. “It’s a long process and you can’t cheat any of the steps,” Olynyk said, per Beard. “You just miss it. You miss competing, miss being with the team, all that kind of stuff, especially in today’s world.”
- Bucks center Brook Lopez has resumed on-court workouts at Milwaukee’s practice facility, writes Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Lopez, 33, has been recovering from a back surgery that has limited him to just a single game of availability this season for the reigning champs.
- Injured Bulls reserve combo guard Alex Caruso has proven in his absence how valuable he is to the club, posits Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago’s defense ranks 24th during the team’s last 13 games without Caruso. The 27-year-old out of Texas A&M, one of the Bulls’ best defenders, is expected to rejoin the club at some point this week.
The Bucks received good news today, as veteran George Hill and head coach Mike Budenholzer have both cleared the health and safety protocols, Eric Nehm of The Athletic reports (Twitter links).
However, the team did place one more player in the protocols: Langston Galloway. Galloway’s 10-day contract expires on Sunday night, so it’s possible he’ll no longer be a Buck by the time he exits the protocols.
Here are more COVID-related updates from around the NBA:
- Pacers forward T.J. Warren has exited the protocols, James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star tweets. Unfortunately, Warren is still sidelined as he recovers from foot surgery.
- Pistons guard Frank Jackson has exited the protocols but needs to wait a couple days to recondition. He might return Sunday against the Suns, Rod Beard of The Detroit News tweets.
- Robert Woodard has entered the protocols for the Kings, according to James Ham of ESPN 1320 (Twitter link).
- Heat forward Markieff Morris has exited the protocols but needs time to recondition, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
- Two-way rookie Ish Wainright has exited the protocols for the Suns, but is listed as questionable for Friday’s contest against Indiana due to reconditioning, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (via Twitter).
- Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson has entered the protocols, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
- Marcus Smart of the Celtics is listed as questionable for Friday’s game against Philadelphia due to the protocols, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). Based on his status, Smart may have returned an inconclusive test, so we’ll have to wait for an update to see if he’ll actually be sidelined or not.
The Bucks have signed G League guard Lindell Wigginton to a two-way contract, the team announced in a press release. Two-way guard Javonte Smart has been waived to make room on the roster.
Wigginton, 23, has been playing for Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, averaging 17.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 17 games. This is his third season in the G League.
After going undrafted in 2019, Wigginton signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Timberwolves and participated in Minnesota’s training camp. He has yet to play in an NBA game.
Smart, an undrafted rookie out of LSU, signed a two-way deal with the Bucks in late November after being waived by the Heat in training camp. He appeared in 13 games, averaging 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per night.
Jazz center Hassan Whiteside has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter). Utah’s frontcourt depth is extremely depleted; in addition to Whiteside, Rudy Gobert, Rudy Gay, and Udoka Azubuike are all in the protocols, while 10-day hardship signee Norvel Pelle is out Wednesday against Cleveland with a non-COVID illness, Walden tweets. Whiteside is now the sixth Jazz player currently in the protocols.
Here are more COVID-related updates from around the NBA:
- Grizzlies center Steven Adams is listed as questionable with a non-COVID illness for Thursday’s contest against Minnesota, Memphis’ PR department tweets, so he has cleared the protocols.
- The Nuggets received two pieces of good news, as Will Barton has exited the COVID-19 protocols and Markus Howard, who was supposed to be sidelined at least six weeks with a sprained knee, is listed as questionable for Thursday’s contest against Portland, per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link). Howard has missed the past four weeks.
- The news out of Charlotte is a mixed bag, as Vernon Carey Jr. has cleared the protocols, but rookie big man Kai Jones has entered for the Hornets, per the team’s PR department (Twitter links).
- Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell have cleared the protocols for the Spurs and are available Wednesday night against Houston, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News tweets.
- Bucks guard Grayson Allen said he was fortunate to have an asymptomatic case of COVID-19 and will be available Thursday against the Warriors, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Allen also mentioned that the time away helped him recover from the flu.
- Rockets guard Armoni Brooks has cleared the health and safety protocols and is available Wednesday against the Spurs, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Former lottery pick Kris Dunn has signed an NBA G League contract, Mark Stein tweets. That puts the combo guard in a position to be acquired by a G League franchise this week.
Dunn appeared in just four games last season with Atlanta after undergoing ankle surgery. Dunn was traded multiple times during the offseason, finally landing in Memphis. The Grizzlies waived him at the end of training camp and he’s been seeking another opportunity since that point.
Several other former NBA players have also gone the G League route:
- Terrance Ferguson has also signed a G League contract, according to Stein (Twitter link). Ferguson, who played for the Thunder and Sixers over the last four seasons, played three games in Greece this season, then returned to the U.S. to explore another NBA opportunity.
- Guard Jodie Meeks has joined the Raptors 905, Toronto’s affiliate. Meeks hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since logging 51 seconds of action for the Raptors in Game 3 of the 2019 NBA Finals, but has over 500 regular season appearances under his belt.
- Marcus Thornton has been acquired by the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ affiliate. Thornton has played 483 NBA games, making previous stops with New Orleans, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Boston, Phoenix, Houston and Washington during his career. He last played with the Pistons’ G League affiliate during the 2018/19 season.
- Jason Thompson‘s G League rights have been acquired by the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks’ affiliate, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Thompson, 35, last played in the NBA during the 2015/16 season, splitting time between Golden State and Toronto.
Hornets forward Kelly Oubre has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the team announced today (via Twitter). Oubre will miss the team’s Monday night game vs. Milwaukee and will likely be sidelined longer than that unless he registered a false positive or inconclusive test. There are now two Charlotte players in the protocols, with Oubre joining Vernon Carey.
Here are more protocol-related updates from around the NBA:
- Pistons head coach Dwane Casey has entered the protocols and will be replaced in the short term by assistant Rex Kalamian, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Half of the NBA’s 30 head coaches have now been placed in the protocols at some point this season.
- Pelicans guard Tomas Satoransky has cleared the health and safety protocols and was back with the team today, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).
- Rockets rookie Usman Garuba has exited the COVID-19 protocols and is no longer listed on the team’s injury report, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
- Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe and Heat two-way player Marcus Garrett are among the other players who have cleared the protocols, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, respectively (Twitter links).
- The Bucks are listing Pat Connaughton as questionable to play on Monday night and he posted an emoji of a plane today on Twitter, strongly signaling that he has exited the protocols and is flying to meet the team in Charlotte, as Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes (via Twitter). Whether or not Connaughton is available tonight, it sounds like he’s no longer in the protocols.
Two head coaches may clear health and safety protocols in time for their teams’ next games. Michael Malone traveled with the Nuggets to Oklahoma City and expects to be on the sidelines Sunday, tweets Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Malone missed four games while in the protocols, and acting coach Popeye Jones compiled a 2-2 record.
Darvin Ham, who is serving as acting head coach for the Bucks, is hoping Mike Budenholzer will be ready to return for Monday’s game at Charlotte, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Nehm suggests that Budenholzer still needs to return multiple negative tests before being cleared.
Here are more updates on COVID-19 and the health and safety protocols:
- Hawks head coach Nate McMillan remains in the protocols, but assistant Chris Jent has been cleared and will serve as acting head coach for Sunday’s game against the Clippers, tweets Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Bucks guard Jrue Holiday tested out of the protocols, tweets Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. However, Holiday sat out tonight’s game because of pain in his left ankle.
- Mavericks center Boban Marjanovic has cleared the protocols, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
- Heat guard Gabe Vincent is out of the protocols, but isn’t with the team for tonight’s game in Phoenix, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Marcus Garrett is the only Miami player remaining in the protocols.
- Suns forward Abdel Nader has also cleared the protocols, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Nader is recovering from a knee injury and will have to go through reconditioning before he can play again.
- Follow our Health And Safety Protocols Tracker for a complete list of how the virus is affecting the league.
5:33pm: The Bucks have officially signed Dowtin, the team announced in a press release.
1:22pm: The Bucks intend to sign free agent guard Jeff Dowtin to a 10-day contract using a hardship exception, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Dowtin will be Milwaukee’s third 10-day hardship addition, joining Luke Kornet and Langston Galloway.
Dowtin, 24, began the season on a two-way contract with the Warriors and appeared briefly in four games for the team. However, he was waived last weekend in order to open up a two-way slot for Quinndary Weatherspoon.
A G League regular since going undrafted out of Rhode Island in 2020, Dowtin was a member of the Lakeland Magic team that won the NBAGL’s bubble season in 2020/21 and also started 12 games for the Santa Cruz Warriors this season, averaging 17.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 5.1 APG in 35.3 minutes per contest.
The Bucks currently have four players – Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, George Hill, and Jrue Holiday – in the health and safety protocols, which is why they qualify for another hardship exception. As a result, Dowtin’s 10-day salary ($53,176) won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes.