NBA G League

Warriors Notes: Curry, Hinson, Post, Green

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said on Sunday that he’s hopeful Stephen Curry will rejoin the team at some point during their lengthy road trip, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets.

Curry suffered a pelvic contusion while taking a hard fall on Thursday against Toronto. He missed Saturday’s 124-115 loss in Atlanta and will be reevaluated on Monday.

The Warriors’ road trip will continue with games in Miami on Tuesday, New Orleans on Friday and San Antonio next Sunday. They’ll wrap up the road swing with games in Memphis and Los Angeles against the Lakers.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), the expectation is that Curry will join the Warriors in Miami, though his status for Tuesday’s game will depend on how he responds to treatment.

We have more on the Warriors:

  • Blake Hinson has thrived with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA G League, according to Spencer Davies of RG.org. Hinson went undrafted last year and had a two-way contract with the Lakers before being waived in September. The 25-year-old wing then joined the Warriors in training camp on an Exhibit 10 deal and was waived again before joining Santa Cruz in October. Hinson, who is averaging 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, praises the Warriors’ development program. “They’ll sacrifice a little bit of winning to get your player development correct — but they’re not gonna do it for long. I appreciate this program for being lenient with me early, and I’m reaping the benefits of it now,” he said.
  • Quinten Post has become an integral part of the rotation and has become a candidate for All-Rookie consideration. Post anticipated he’d spend most of his rookie year in the G League after getting drafted late in the second round last year, he told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. “I was focused on winning the G League at that point,” he said. “I was even thinking I hope I stay in the league. I hope the Warriors want to have me stick around. Playing wasn’t even something I was thinking about because I was focused on the G League. That’s crazy how fast it went after that.” He’s averaging 8.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per night.
  • Even without Curry, the Warriors were mad at themselves for losing to the Hawks on Saturday, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. “Bad loss. It’s a terrible loss. Eleven games left with everything to play for, you shouldn’t have a loss like this,” Draymond Green said.

Mavericks’ Davis, Lively, Gafford To Practice In NBAGL

The Mavericks assigned a trio of injured big men to their G League affiliate on Friday, announcing (via Twitter) that Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford will be heading to the Texas Legends.

According to Dallas-based NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter links), Davis will be going through his second round of 5-on-5 practice with the Legends, while Lively and Gafford are expected to start with a 3-on-3 session.

Davis first practiced with Dallas’ affiliate team on Monday, though head coach Jason Kidd later cautioned that the star forward/center had to clear additional hurdles before he’s able to play again. Davis has been out since February 8, when he sustained a left adductor strain in his Mavericks debut.

Second-year center Lively is recovering from a right ankle stress fracture that has kept him on the shelf since January 14. He has been doing individual on-court work in recent weeks.

Gafford was set to be reevaluated today after suffering a Grade 3 MCL sprain in his right knee on February 10. Evidently that examination went well, as Gafford will be practicing today for the first time in nearly six weeks.

Stein reported a couple weeks ago that Davis and Lively were on track to be healthy before the end of the season, though it wasn’t clear if they’d actually play again in 2024/25. A subsequent report stated there have been no indications the Mavs plan to shut down any of Davis, Lively or Gafford while they remain in postseason contention.

Amid a devastating wave of injuries, the Mavericks have dropped four straight and 11 of their past 13 games. At 33-37, Dallas is currently the No. 11 seed in the West. The Mavs have the same record as Phoenix, but the Suns control the head-to-head tiebreaker and thus the No. 10 seed.

Wizards’ Saddiq Bey To Practice With G League Affiliate

Forward Saddiq Bey has been out of action since March 10, 2024, when he tore the ACL in his left knee as a member of the Hawks. As a free agent last July, the 25-year-old signed a three-year, $20MM ($1MM in incentives) contract with the Wizards.

A little more than a year after his initial injury, Bey appears to be nearing his 2024/25 season debut. Sources tell Josh Robbins of The Athletic that Bey will practice with the Capital City Go-Go — the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate — on Friday and Saturday (Twitter link).

According to Robbins, Washington’s goal is for Bey to play in some NBA games in April. The Wizards have a total of seven games on their schedule next month, including one on April 13, the final day of the regular season.

While the Wizards will likely bring the former first-round pick along slowly in the final stages of his recovery from a major injury, the fact that he’s progressed to this point is a good sign for his availability for next season. In 63 games with Atlanta in ’23/24, Bey averaged 13.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 32.7 minutes per contest, with a shooting slash line of .416/.316/.837.

At 15-53, the Wizards currently have the worst record in the NBA. If that stands for the remainder of the season, they will pick no worse than No. 5 overall in the 2025 draft.

Mavs Notes: Edwards, Martin, Smith, Davis, Hardy, Jones

Mavericks forward Kessler Edwards, who is on a two-way contract with the team, wasn’t expected to play a whole lot at the NBA level this season. However, due to all the injuries in Dallas, Edwards has been thrust into a key role in recent weeks.

The 24-year-old has started 13 of the club’s past 16 games, primarily at center, and has acquitted himself well as a small-ball five. In his past six outings, he has averaged 12.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game, with a shooting line of .558/.556/.900. According to Edwards, adjusting to a new role hasn’t been overwhelming.

“I think just IQ is the main thing—learning how to play not only with these guys, but within the certain role they have me in,” Edwards told Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda. “Just knowing what to do with the ball, how to play in different ways, and learning how to make the right decisions on the floor.”

As important as Edwards has become in Dallas, the clock is ticking on his ability to play at the NBA level. He’s just two games from reaching the limit of 50 active games for two-way players. Promoting him to the standard 15-man roster would make him eligible to play in every remaining game, including potential play-in contests, but that won’t be an option for the Mavericks until April 10 due to their hard-cap restrictions.

“Honestly, I try not to think about that too much,” Edwards said of his fast-approaching 50-game limit. “I’m just thankful for the games I’ve been able to play with this group. I’m just thankful for that opportunity.”

Here’s more on the Mavericks:

  • The Caleb Martin/Quentin Grimes trade hasn’t worked out so far for the Mavericks, as Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News details. Grimes has been playing some of the best basketball of his life in Philadelphia, while Martin has been limited to just five appearances for Dallas due to ongoing hip issues. According to Curtis, Martin is still trying to make an impact from the bench when he’s not available, calling attention to trends and defensive schemes. “I’ve always been the type that if I see something, I say something,” Martin said. “I just feel like that’s a way I can impact the game, whether I’m playing or not.”
  • Speaking to Grant Afseth for RG.org, former NBA first-round pick Zhaire Smith expressed gratitude for the opportunity he has gotten with the Texas Legends, noting that they’ve “welcomed me with open arms.” In addition to discussing his experience with the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Smith talked about scrimmaging alongside Mavs players rehabbing from injuries, including Anthony Davis. “I think we’re going to do it again sometime this week,” Smith said, indicating that another brief G League assignment could be in store for Davis.
  • The Mavs could have as many as 10 players available on Wednesday in Indiana. In addition to their seven healthy players, they’ve listed Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain), Kai Jones (left quad strain), and Brandon Williams (left hamstring tightness) as questionable to play. Marc Stein reported earlier this week that Hardy and Jones, both of whom have missed seven consecutive games, have a chance to return on Wednesday.
  • While this is just my speculation, it wouldn’t be a shock if the Mavericks hold Williams out of tonight’s game if both Hardy and Jones are able to suit up. That would allow the team to avoid using up another of Williams’ active games — he only has five remaining on his two-way contract.

Injury Notes: Washington, Ball, Thybulle, Kaminsky

Mavericks forward P.J. Washington is not listed on the injury report ahead of Sunday’s game vs. Philadelphia, so he appears on track to return after missing the past seven games with a right ankle sprain, tweets Christian Clark of The Athletic.

It’s certainly welcome news for Dallas, which has been absolutely devastated by injuries over the past several weeks. Even with Washington back, the Mavs will still be shorthanded, as Kyrie Irving (torn ACL), Olivier Maxence-Prosper (shoulder surgery), Dante Exum (broken hand), Anthony Davis (left adductor strain), Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture) and Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain) are out.

Jaden Hardy is doubtful for Sunday’s game as he continues to deal with a right ankle sprain, while Kai Jones (left quad strain) and Caleb Martin (left hip strain) are questionable. Brandon Williams, who is on a two-way deal, is probable with left hamstring tightness, per the league’s official injury report.

Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:

  • Bulls guard Lonzo Ball missed 15 games earlier in 2024/25 due to a right wrist injury. He reinjured the wrist at the end of February, causing him to miss the past seven games, and he’ll likely miss at least five more, as he didn’t travel with the team during its West Coast trip, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I haven’t heard anything about him being shut down,” head coach Billy Donovan said Saturday. “I think what he’s doing right now is just trying to get himself back to playing. Doctors aren’t saying, ‘Hey, listen, you gotta sit out.’ It’s just when he feels that he can do things on the court that he’s comfortable with. Like he can’t shoot right now, hasn’t been able to do that . . . passing and dribbling. Until that subsides, then he’ll be out, but I think he, in my conversations with him, it’s been everything to try to get back to playing. No one has said to me from above, ‘Hey, this goes on a little longer, we’re going to have him shut down.’ I have not heard that.”
  • Trail Blazers wing Matisse Thybulle underwent a procedure in October, just before the start of the regular season, to address inflammation in his right knee. It wasn’t supposed to sideline him for a significant period, but he sustained a bad right ankle sprain in late November during his ramp-up process, which set back his recovery. “I’ve talked to so many people about it now, and the overarching sentiment is that with ankle sprains this bad, sometimes it’s better to just break it than to sprain it,” Thybulle said, per Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “Because the recovery time with all the ligaments that were torn takes so long. With a bone, it can just heal back up and it’s just as strong. It was a whole process. And then to have it happen in conjunction with a different injury … You start with the knee, and then hurt the ankle as bad as I did, and have those things be married as one giant injury to be dealt with. It made it quite the process.” Thybulle was technically active for the first time this season on Wednesday vs. New York, but he didn’t end up playing. Head coach Chauncey Billups said the two-time All-Defensive member’s role is up in the air for the final 15 games of ’24/25, according to Highkin.
  • Former NBA big man Frank Kaminsky, who spent training camp with Phoenix last fall before being cut, will miss the remainder of the NBA G League season, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Kaminsky, who had been playing for the Raptors 905 until recently, is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

And-Ones: Flagg, 2025 Draft, Hayes, Kaminsky, Records, RoY

Duke forward Cooper Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2025 draft, sustained a left ankle injury after corralling a rebound and landing on an opponent’s foot in the first half on Thursday vs. Georgia Tech (YouTube link via ESPN).

Flagg was eventually helped to the locker room with the assistance of teammates, and while he was later ruled out for the remainder of the contest, he was at least able to return to the bench to cheer on the comeback victory.

He sprained his ankle,” head coach Jon Scheyer said (Twitter link via Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com). “X-rays were negative, which is great. We just have to understand there’s going to be swelling and to see how he recovers and how he goes from there.”

In their latest 2025 mock draft for ESPN.com, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) unsurprisingly have Flagg going first overall (to Washington). Two other Blue Devils — center Khaman Maluach and wing Kon Knueppel — also go in the lottery, coming off the board with back-to-back picks (seventh and eighth overall, respectively).

UConn’s Liam McNeeley is the final lottery pick of ESPN’s mock, going 14th to Atlanta (via Sacramento), while South East Melbourne forward Malique Lewis is the last player selected at No. 59 (Cleveland). Lewis, who spent last season in the G League with the Mexico City Capitanes, grew up in Trinidad and Tobago.

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

  • Killian Hayes has rejoined the Long Island Nets following a 10-day contract with Brooklyn, the G League team announced today in a press release. The former lottery pick averaged 9.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds in six games with Brooklyn from February 20 – March 1. He has spent most of ’24/25 with Long Island.
  • Veteran NBA big man Frank Kaminsky is no longer on the Raptors 905 roster, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, who points out (via Twitter) that the former Wisconsin star has been battling a knee injury and recently announced he and his wife are expecting a child. Kaminsky, who spent last season in Serbia, last played in the NBA with Houston in ’22/23. The 31-year-old appeared in 23 regular season games with Toronto’s NBAGL affiliate in ’24/25, averaging 12.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 4.1 APG on .483/.349/.769 shooting in 26.8 MPG.
  • ESPN’s Brian Windhorst takes a look at some of the NBA’s most unbreakable records. Some records are season-long (Wilt Chamberlain for multiple statistics in ’61/62), some are career-long (Moses Malone‘s 6,731 offensive rebounds), and some are for a single game.
  • Zach Harper of The Athletic checks in on the underwhelming Rookie of the Year race. Harper currently has Grizzlies wing Jaylen Wells as his top choice for the award, followed by Spurs guard Stephon Castle and Wells’ teammate Zach Edey.

And-Ones: Ellis, Butler Jr., Stretch-Run Goals, Harper, Bailey

The Indiana Mad Ants, the Pacers’ NBA G League affiliate, acquired the rights to Boogie Ellis from the Stockton Kings in a three-team trade, Sacramento radio reporter Sean Cunningham tweets.

The rookie guard out of USC has made 19 G League appearances this season, including three starts. Ellis averaged 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 21.7 minutes per game for Stockton. He participated in Sacramento’s training camp after going undrafted but was waived before the start of the season.

The Mad Ants traded Kyle Mangas to the Austin Spurs, who dealt the returning player rights of Matt Lewis and their 2026 first-round pick to the Stockton Kings.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • In more G League news,  the Wisconsin Herd (Bucks) acquired the rights to John Butler Jr. from the Capital City Go-Go (Wizards), Milwaukee’s affiliate tweets. The Go-Go received a 2026 first round and 2026 second round pick and the rights to Darryl Morsell. Butler, who started his NBA career with Portland, had a two-way contract with Washington for part of last season. He also participated in Washington’s camp this season but was waived prior to the opener. Butler made 34 appearances, including 10 starts, with the Go-Go this season. He scored 12 points in his first outing with Washington’s affiliate.
  • What are the stretch-run goals for each NBA team the remainder of this season? The Athletic received input from its various beat writers on that topic. For Cleveland, it’s going for 70 wins. For the Knicks, it’s integrating Mitchell Robinson into the lineup. For Milwaukee, it’s getting home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
  • While Rutgers had a mediocre season, the Scarlet Knights have two of the premier lottery picks in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. ESPN’s Jeremy Woo polled NBA executives on the duo. Harper drew comparisons to All-Star Cade Cunningham, while Bailey was likened to Brandon Miller. Bailey might be the top offensive prospect in the draft and have the highest ceiling of any prospect, according to one executive.

And-Ones: Kerr, Traveling, Draft, Roberts

The Warriors rebounded on Monday from a Saturday loss to Philadelphia, getting back in the win column with a 119-101 victory in Charlotte. But head coach Steve Kerr had a bone to pick after the game, telling reporters that he believes NBA referees let far too many traveling violations go uncalled.

“I don’t understand why we are not teaching our officials to call travel in this league,” Kerr said, per Steve Reed of The Associated Press. “They do a great job and work their tails off and communicate well, but I see five or six travels a game that aren’t called.”

Kerr earned a technical foul in the third quarter on Monday for arguing with officials over what he believes what a travel by Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (video link). Officials let it go and the play resulted in a Warriors foul.

While Kerr was upset in that instance about a non-call that hurt the Warriors, he said his own team is just as guilty as any other, noting that when he watched film of the team’s loss to the Sixers, he noticed four Golden State travels that weren’t called.

“The entire game is based on footwork,” Kerr said. “We need enforce traveling violations and we are not doing it and I don’t understand why. … These (officials) are awesome. They do a great job, and they have a million things to watch, but footwork is the entire basis of the game and we need to call traveling. It will be a much better game if we clean it up.”

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

  • Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com (Insider link) have updated their list of this year’s top 100 draft prospects. Texas guard Tre Johnson (No. 11 to No. 5) and French center Joan Beringer (No. 24 to No. 13) are among the big risers in the lottery, while French point guard Nolan Traore has dropped from No. 7 to No. 15 and Israeli guard Ben Saraf has fallen from No. 13 to No. 21.
  • Just one year ago, Long Island Nets guard Terry Roberts was in the hospital on a ventilator after being shot in the upper chest by a stray bullet. Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required) takes an in-depth look at Roberts’ recovery and his road back to being a regular contributor this season for Brooklyn’s G League affiliate.
  • With less than six weeks in the 2024/25 regular season, several of ESPN’s NBA reporters pose 19 questions facing teams down the stretch as the playoff races in both conferences heat up. Among those questions: Do the Cavaliers have enough to beat the Celtics? How do the Bucks avoid another early playoff exit? Are the Grizzlies ready to take a step forward in the postseason? And what is the Warriors‘ ceiling?

Southeast Notes: Okogie, McClung, Ware, Robinson, Mitchell

Hornets forward Josh Okogie has begun individual on-court workouts as he continues to rehab a left hamstring strain, the team’s PR department tweets. He will be reevaluated in two weeks.

Okogie has been sidelined since late January. He had given Charlotte a boost after being acquired earlier that month, averaging 10 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.4 assists in 21.3 minutes per game over seven appearances.

Okogie was traded from Phoenix to Charlotte as part of the Nick Richards deal. A rotation regular with Phoenix for two-and-a-half seasons, Okogie played 25 games with the Suns this season. He’s in the first year of a two-year, $16MM contract, which includes a non-guaranteed salary of $7.75MM next season.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Three-time dunk contest winner Mac McClung suffered a broken right thumb while playing for the NBA G League’s Osceola Magic on Sunday, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. McClung, who is averaging 21.1 points in the G League while on a two-way contract with the Magic, plans to play through the injury, according to Charania.
  • Heat rookie big man Kel’el Ware was sidelined on Monday against the Wizards due to a sprained left knee. It’s the first game he has missed with an injury or illness since sitting out the Heat’s Dec. 2 loss to the Celtics due to right foot tendinitis, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. Ware was benched for virtually all of the fourth quarter in an overtime loss to the Knicks on Sunday, then played three-plus minutes in OT. “Every game I sit back, I watch it, I try to learn from it and see where I can get better,” Ware said. “So it’s a developmental process.” Ware underwent an MRI on his knee, which showed no structural damage, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets.
  • Duncan Robinson had a combined 44 points and 11 assists in two Heat victories prior to being held to 10 points and five assists in 32 minutes on Sunday. Robinson can become a free agent this upcoming summer by terminating next season’s $19.9MM salary by June 29. If Robinson opts in for 2025/26, the Heat could make him a free agent by waiving him by July 8 — in that scenario Miami would only be on the hook for $9.9MM. However, Robinson’s strong play may make that a difficult choice, Chiang notes. “He’s really improved in all aspects,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.
  • Heat guard Davion Mitchell has been receiving heavy minutes in nine appearances since being acquired in the Jimmy Butler blockbuster. Mitchell has averaged 10.1 points, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 53.9 percent from the field in 33.1 minutes per game. “We want to encourage him to continue to be more aggressive,” Spoelstra said, per Chiang. “I think he still can be a guy who can generate some easy opportunities when he touches the paint. He’s a very willing passer, he wants to get guys involved, he wants to get our main guys the ball almost to a fault. We’ll clean that all up. But I like his game when he’s assertive because he has the right intentions to move the ball.”

Remix’s Isaac Nogues To Enter 2025 NBA Draft

Spanish guard Isaac Nogues, who has been playing in the G League this season with Portland’s affiliate, the Rip City Remix, is submitting the paperwork necessary to enter the 2025 NBA draft, he tells Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

As Fischer observes, it’s rare for a player to declare for the draft in the middle of a season, but evidently the 21-year-old feels confident about his chances of being selected. He’s not currently listed on ESPN’s latest big board (Insider link), which ranks the top 100 prospects ahead of June’s draft.

According to Fischer, Nogues is known as a defensive specialist — he recently set an NBAGL record by recording 10 steals in a game.

I can defend a lot of positions,” Nogues told Fischer. “Not only the point guard. Not only the best player. I can defend all 48 minutes of the game. I can give 100% of my energy on defense. This really helps any team.”

The 6’5″ guard has appeared in 33 combined games with the Remix in 2024/25, averaging 2.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 18.9 minutes per contest. He has attempted just 1.8 field goals per night, with a shooting line of .458/.294/.474, and he acknowledges his game is a work in progress on that end of the floor.

My offensive skills, I will improve,” he insists. “I am improving.”