Moses Brown Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Claxton, Raptors, Knicks, Towns

October 30th, 2024 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Following up on the NBA’s announcement that the Sixers were fined $100K for violating the league’s player participation policy, Sam Amick and Joe Vardon of The Athletic attempt to parse the somewhat vague language of the NBA’s statement, which said the team was penalized not for resting Joel Embiid but for “public statements inconsistent with Embiid’s health status.”

One league source told The Athletic duo that Embiid didn’t re-injure his surgically repaired left knee during the Olympics, but that there were concerns about the stability of the knee and the possible risk of further damage if he had played last week. In other words, the big man is dealing with a legitimate knee issue despite the team’s insistence that there were no offseason setbacks.

One significant factor in the league’s decision to fine the Sixers was the team’s messaging that the playoffs were a top priority and that the regular season wasn’t, per Amick and Vardon. Sixers president Daryl Morey, head coach Nick Nurse, and Embiid all spoke publicly this fall about their plan to rest the star center frequently – including in back-to-back sets – in order to ensure he’s ready to go for the postseason.

We have more from around the Atlantic:

Nets center Nic Claxton, who is still ramping up his conditioning after missing the entire preseason with a hamstring injury, will sit out Wednesday’s game against Memphis, the second of a back-to-back set, writes Ted Holmund of The New York Post. Claxton hasn’t experienced any setbacks, according to head coach Jordi Fernandez. “It’s basically part of the return to play with his minutes, back-to-back, being cautious with his body and this was part of the plan,” Fernandez said. “So he did a great job. He played those, those extra minutes at 26 (on Tuesday vs. Denver). Right now, we need a good rest and recovery, and then we’ll take the next step. So again, very, very happy with him.”
After officially announcing their training camp roster on Monday, the Raptors 905 – Toronto’s G League affiliate – made a trade to acquire Charlie Brown Jr.‘s returning rights, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. The deal sent the rights to Marques Bolden and three future G League draft picks, including a 2025 first-rounder, to the Osceola Magic in exchange for Brown, who was cut by Charlotte earlier this month.
The Westchester Knicks (New York’s G League affiliate) also announced their training camp roster this week. The squad has no shortage of players with NBA experience, including forwards T.J. Warren, Chuma Okeke, and Matt Ryan, guard Landry Shamet (who is rehabbing a dislocated shoulder), and center Moses Brown.
The Knicks essentially never ran plays on offense for big men Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein over the past couple seasons, so they’re still trying to figure out how best to get new center Karl-Anthony Towns involved on that end of the court. Peter Botte of The New York Post takes a look at those efforts.

Knicks Sign, Waive Moses Brown

October 10th, 2024 at 6:45pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 10: Brown has been waived by the Knicks, according to a release from the team (Twitter link).

OCTOBER 9: The Knicks have signed free agent center Moses Brown to an Exhibit 10 contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Brown, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on Sunday, hasn’t stuck with an NBA team for more than a single season since making his debut in 2019, but he has racked up 150 regular season appearances in stints with the Trail Blazers, Thunder, Mavericks, Cavaliers, Clippers, Nets, and Trail Blazers. He holds career averages of 5.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.

Brown spent the 2023/24 campaign under contract with the Blazers, appearing in 22 games for the team and posting averages of 3.4 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 9.1 MPG. He also put up 15.8 PPG and 10.5 RPG in six appearances (24.4 MPG) for the Rip City Remix, Portland’s G League affiliate.

Brown is ineligible for a two-way contract, so the Knicks likely intend to waive him before the season begins and then have him join the Westchester Knicks in the NBAGL. If he were to spend at least 60 days with Westchester, he’d be able to earn an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $77.5K on top of his standard G League salary.

New York had a full 21-man roster before signing Brown, so the team needed to make a corresponding move to open up a spot for him. The Knicks announced (via Twitter) that they’ve waived Boo Buie, who recently signed an Exhibit 10 contract of his own and is likely ticketed for Westchester.

Blazers’ Brown To Miss At Least Six Weeks After Wrist Surgery

January 10th, 2024 at 7:09pm CST by Rory Maher

JANUARY 10: Brown had successful surgery on Tuesday and will be reevaluated in six weeks, the Trail Blazers announced (via Twitter).

JANUARY 8: Trail Blazers center Moses Brown has been diagnosed with a non-displaced scaphoid fracture in his left wrist, which will require surgery this week, the team announced in a press release. A return timeline will be determined post-surgery, per the team.

A 7’2″ big man who played one season of collegiate ball at UCLA, Brown signed a one-year, partially guaranteed contract with Portland back in August. While it’s obviously unfortunate for Brown that he’s out indefinitely, the good news is his salary became fully guaranteed after he remained on the roster past Sunday’s deadline — he’ll earn the full veteran’s minimum ($2,165,000) for a player with his level of experience.

Brown returning to Portland in the offseason was actually a reunion, as the 24-year-old spent his rookie season with the Blazers on a two-way deal. He has bounced around a good deal during his five seasons, having also played for the Thunder, Mavericks, Cavaliers, Clippers and Nets.

In total, Brown has averaged 5.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per night over 137 career regular season games. He has appeared in nine games for Portland in 2023/24 and played 82 total minutes.

According to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link), it’s “within the realm of possibility” that Brown could still be released despite his contract becoming guaranteed, depending on how long he might be out or if the team needs to cut a player to complete a trade.

In other Blazers roster news, Highkin expects center Duop Reath to have his two-way deal converted to a standard deal at some point in the next two weeks. The Blazers have until January 20 to reach the 14-man roster limit after waiving Skylar Mays and Ish Wainright on Saturday.

Trail Blazers Convert Justin Minaya To Two-Way Deal; Waive Two Others

October 20th, 2023 at 6:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:35pm: Minaya has officially been converted to a two-way deal, according to NBA.com’s transactions log, while Conditt and Butler have been waived.

3:57pm: Small forward Justin Minaya has agreed to a two-way contract with the Trail Blazers, agent Jared Mucha tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 24-year-old finished last season with Portland on a hardship 10-day contract and appeared in four games. He re-signed with the Blazers in early October.

Sources tell Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report that John Butler will be waived to open a two-way slot for Minaya (Twitter link). The 20-year-old center re-signed with Portland in July after spending last season on a two-way deal. He appeared in 19 games, averaging 2.4 PPG and 0.9 RPG in limited minutes.

The team’s other two-way spots belong to Ibou Badji and Skylar Mays.

Highkin also reports that George Conditt, who has an Exhibit 10 contract, will be waived today and is expected to wind up with the Rip City Remix, the organization’s new G League affiliate (Twitter link).

Highkin hears that Moses Brown is likely to make the team, so the battle for the final roster spot appears to be between Duop Reath and Kevin Knox (Twitter link).

Northwest Notes: Edwards, Sarr, Waters, Brown, Watson, Key

August 24th, 2023 at 2:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Anthony Edwards has become the breakout star for USA Basketball this summer. For the Timberwolves to take the next step, Edwards needs to be their unquestioned leader, Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune opines. While he has remained deferential to Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, Edwards will be the player the Timberwolves turn to when they need a basket or a lift this upcoming season.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The two-way contracts signed by Thunder big man Olivier Sarr and wing Lindy Waters both cover only the 2023/24 season, Hoops Rumors has learned. Sarr and Waters will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2024, assuming they finish the season on those deals.
Moses Brown has a partial guarantee of $250K in the one-year contract he signed with the Trail Blazers this week, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets. Brown’s guarantee increases to $500K if he’s on the opening night roster and would become fully guaranteed on the league-wide date in January. Brown’s contract is for the veteran’s minimum, so he’ll receive $2.165MM as a four-year veteran if he remains on the roster after the January deadline.
Forward Peyton Watson‘s development will be a key component to the Nuggets’ season, Harrison Wind of TheDNVR.com opines. Watson needs to emerge as a reliable reserve with the free agent loss of Jeff Green to the Rockets. Another potential factor for the second unit is two-way player Braxton Key, a defense-oriented wing that the organization believes could emerge as a reliable option.

Blazers Sign Moses Brown To One-Year Contract

August 22nd, 2023 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

AUGUST 22: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

AUGUST 21: Moses Brown has agreed to a partially guaranteed one-year contract with the Trail Blazers, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Brown has turned into a journeyman in his NBA career, which began in 2019, and it’s come full circle with his return to Portland. He played his first nine games with the Trail Blazers during the 2019/20 campaign.

He has also had stints with Oklahoma City, Dallas, Cleveland, the Los Angeles Clippers and, most recently, Brooklyn. He appeared in two games with the Nets after signing a pair of 10-day contracts last season. Brown logged 34 games with the Clippers last season before they waived him in mid-February.

The 7’2” Brown has averaged 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 12.4 minutes during his 128 career games.

With only 12 other players on guaranteed deals, the Trail Blazers have ample room to add Brown. He has a chance to be the main backup behind center Jusuf Nurkic. He’ll battle John Butler, who was re-signed to a two-way deal, for minutes off the bench, unless the Blazers add another big man.

David Duke Jr. Gets Standard Contract From Nets

April 7th, 2023 at 9:06am CST by Arthur Hill

9:25am: The move is official, the Nets announced (via Twitter).

9:06am: The Nets will convert David Duke Jr.‘s two-way contract to a standard deal, sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post. An official announcement is expected to be made later today.

The 23-year-old combo guard has appeared in 21 games in his second season with Brooklyn, averaging 3.1 points and 1.0 rebounds in 8.6 minutes per night. He emerged as a star in the G League, Lewis notes, finishing third in this year’s MVP voting.

Duke earned a two-way contract in 2021 after going undrafted out of Providence and got into 22 games last season. He had hoped to get a standard offer after a strong Summer League showing, according to Lewis, but he had to settle for another year on a two-way contract.

The Nets have a roster spot open after Moses Brown‘s second 10-day contract expired on Thursday. Brown played just six total minutes in two appearances with Brooklyn and wouldn’t have been eligible for the playoffs because the Knicks waived him past the March 1 cutoff point.

Nets Sign Moses Brown To Second 10-Day Contract

March 28th, 2023 at 8:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have brought back Moses Brown, announcing today that the center has signed a second 10-day contract with the club (Twitter link). Brown’s first 10-day deal expired overnight on Sunday.

Brown began this season on a two-way contract with the Clippers, appearing in 34 games as a backup center behind Ivica Zubac and averaging 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 8.5 minutes per night. He was in and out of the team’s rotation and slid further down the depth chart following L.A.’s trade-deadline acquisition of Mason Plumlee, eventually leading to his release when he reached the two-way limit of 50 active games.

Brown subsequently signed a two-way contract with the Knicks earlier this month, but was waived just four days later and made the move from one New York borough to another by signing a 10-day deal with Brooklyn.

During his first 10 days as a Net, Brown only appeared in one game, logging four minutes. Day’Ron Sharpe emerged as Jacque Vaughn‘s go-to backup center behind Nic Claxton during that time, so there was no real role available for Brown. However, it seems the team liked what it saw from the big man enough to bring him back for at least another week-and-a-half.

Brown’s second 10-day contract will run through April 6, covering Brooklyn’s next five games. If the Nets want to retain him beyond that, he’ll need to be signed for the rest of the season. However, it’s worth noting that because he was waived by New York this month, Brown isn’t playoff-eligible.

New York Notes: Sharpe, Bridges, Randle, Jeffries

March 28th, 2023 at 7:49am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets fortified their frontcourt depth this month by signing a pair of big men to 10-day contracts — Nerlens Noel got one, then the team brought in Moses Brown following the expiration of Noel’s deal. However, Noel wasn’t re-signed and Brown only played four minutes during his 10 days with Brooklyn, which concluded on Sunday night.

Rather than using Brown, the Nets have leaned recently on Day’Ron Sharpe as their backup center behind Nic Claxton, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Sharpe has responded admirably, averaging 10.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in just 15.8 minutes per game over his last four appearances.

“Sometimes you have to tap into that competitive nature,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Sometimes you can not appreciate the situation that you’re in. It might not look like the way you want it to look on your timing. Sometimes you need a little nudge, and Day’Ron has responded extremely well by having another big on the roster.”

Following the expiration of Brown’s 10-day deal, the Nets have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so they’re in position to bring back Noel or Brown or to add someone new before the end of the regular season. Noel would be playoff-eligible but Brown wouldn’t be, since he has been waived since March 1.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:

After attempting 1.9 free throws per game during his four-and-a-half years in Phoenix, Nets forward Mikal Bridges is getting to the foul line 6.7 times per game in Brooklyn. He credited Suns stars Devin Booker and Chris Paul for helping him grow and expand that part of his game during his first few years in the NBA, Lewis writes for The New York Post. “Just trying to get to the line, just trying to be aggressive. That’s just a big thing,” Bridges said. “Coming from Phoenix, watching a lot of and being right there with a lot of Book and CP3 and how they draw fouls, I’ve learned a lot.”
Prior to Monday’s blowout win over Houston, Knicks forward Julius Randle had received technical fouls in three consecutive games, all losses. While Randle acknowledged he needs to do a better job of keeping his frustration in check, he doesn’t believe his outbursts adversely impact his standing as a team leader, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. “Name a perfect leader,” Randle said. “Name a perfect human being.”
The Knicks used a portion of their room exception when they signed DaQuan Jeffries to a two-year contract, Hoops Rumors has learned. A rest-of-season minimum salary for Jeffries would have paid him $163,977, but New York opted to give him $300K for the remainder of the season using the room exception. The swingman’s new deal includes a non-guaranteed minimum salary ($2.07MM) for 2023/24.

Nets Notes: B. Brown, J. Green, Simmons, M. Brown, Bridges

March 20th, 2023 at 8:49am CST by Arthur Hill

Two former Nets who returned to Brooklyn Sunday as members of the Nuggets weren’t surprised to see the end of the Kevin Durant–Kyrie Irving era, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Bruce Brown, who spent two seasons with the Nets before signing with Denver last summer, said there were issues behind the scenes that went beyond the turmoil the public saw.

“Once the summer (trade request from Durant occurred), it could happen. They started off playing really well, and then when the Ky situation came about you knew they were going to move him,” Brown said. “So, end of an era.”

Lewis points out that the “Ky situation” could refer to his contentious contract talks last June, his online promotion of an antisemitic film or his trade demand in February after being dissatisfied with the team’s extension offer. Jeff Green, who played for Brooklyn in 2020/21, also indicated that there were forces pulling the team apart.

“I don’t know if I’m surprised,” Green said. “But at the end of the day, we realize that it as a business. It was stuff that both sides couldn’t really control, and it ran its course.”

There’s more on the Nets:

Continued soreness in his left knee and back caused Ben Simmons to miss his 13th straight game Sunday, and coach Jacque Vaughn isn’t sure if he’ll be able to return before the season ends, Lewis states in the same story. “Not really a timeline or update,” Vaughn said of Simmons, who has only been available for 42 games. “Again, what I can give you is no setback which is good and he continues to progress on court.”
Moses Brown wasn’t used in his first game since joining the Nets, but Vaughn promised he’ll get a chance to play before his 10-day contract expires, Lewis adds. “(We) still have Day’Ron (Sharpe) and his ability to play for us,” Vaughn said. “But the way I coach, at some point you will see Moses and we’ll see him during the stretch of the next 10 days for sure.”
Mikal Bridges, who has emerged as a star since being acquired in the Durant trade, blamed himself for Sunday’s loss, saying his defensive effort wasn’t up to par, Lewis notes in another New York Post story. “Personally I take a lot of blame, because I was just poor on the defensive end,” Bridges said. “Obviously I was missing shots early, but that comes with the game. Just missing, that’s just part of it; but I can control playing defense. So that’s what messed me up right now, and that’s on me. I’ve just got to be more locked in on that side of the ball.”