NBA G League Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Hayes, Bulls, Dotson, Thanasis

March 1st, 2021 at 8:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons lottery pick Killian Hayes remains out indefinitely due to a hip injury but coach Dwane Casey said the rookie point guard is progressing, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “It’s been solid; it’s really going well,” Casey said. “He’s in the situation where he’s moving and shooting right now. Hopefully, (he returns) sometime in the next month — don’t hold me to it; I’m going by what the medical people are talking about.” Hayes suffered the labral tear seven games into the season.

We have more from the Central Division:

Bulls executive VP Arturas Karnisovas anticipates a tight market heading toward the March 25 trade deadline, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times tweets. He said there are very few sellers at the moment because most feel clubs like they’re still in the running for the postseason, including a couple of “delusional” teams.
The Bulls recalled guard Devon Dotson from the G League’s Canton Charge, the team tweets. Dotson was averaging 13 PPG and 5.6 APG in 10 games at Orlando’s “bubble” season. He’s on a two-way contract with Chicago.
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Lori Nickel details how Thanasis Antetokounmpo provides the Bucks with an energetic wing option for coach Mike Budenholzer. The league MVP’s older brother is averaging 2.3 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 9.0 MPG in 24 appearances this season.

G League Notes: Ezeli, Lin, Tyree, Postseason

March 1st, 2021 at 1:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA center Festus Ezeli, whose playing career was jeopardized by health issues, is joining the Westchester Knicks for the home stretch of the NBA G League season, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).

Ezeli, who appeared in 170 regular season games and 55 more playoff contests for the Warriors from 2012-16, hasn’t appeared in a game since the 2016 NBA Finals, as major knee and leg problems threatened to end his career. As Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle recently detailed, Ezeli hasn’t given up on making it back to the court — he’ll apparently get a chance to do so in the G League.

“I’ve put so much into this process, but this is my dream,” Ezeli told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link), confirming that he’s joining Westchester. “Chasing your dreams is worth every inch of the cost.”

Here’s more on the G League:

The G League is investigating a claim from Santa Cruz Warriors guard Jeremy Lin that he was called “coronavirus” during a game, as Nick Friedell of ESPN writes. In the Facebook post in which he made the allegation, Lin wrote that his generation of Asian Americans “is tired of being told that we don’t experience racism.”
Former Mississippi guard Breein Tyree, who was in camp with the Heat in December and was playing for the Raptors 905 in the G League bubble, suffered a torn ACL that will prematurely end his season, per Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link). Although he’s unable to play, Tyree is sticking with Toronto’s G League affiliate for the rest of the NBAGL bubble.
While it may seem like the NBA G League season just began, it’s already entering the final week of the regular season. The season will wrap up on March 6, with an eight-team, single-elimination tournament to follow from March 8-11. The G League Ignite, at 7-4, are currently tied for the No. 6 seed and will look to clinch a postseason spot this week.

Northwest Notes: Finch, Horford, Jerome, Lindsey

February 27th, 2021 at 1:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Taking over in midstream puts new Timberwolves coach Chris Finch in a difficult spot, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. Not only does he have to forge relationships with his players on the fly, Finch doesn’t have two of his best players available. Malik Beasley is serving a 12-game, league-imposed suspension and D’Angelo Russell is sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury. The fact that the front office passed over assistant David Vanterpool to hire Finch away from the Raptors adds to the awkwardness of the situation.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Thunder big man Al Horford is well aware that he could be dealt again to a contender, as he told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Horford’s contract runs through the 2022/23 season, though the final year is only partially guaranteed. “I think anything is possible,” Horford said of getting moved again. “But I’m not going to dwell on [any trade talk] too much.” Oklahoma City is in no hurry to deal Horford and sees value in keeping the veteran around, Mannix adds.
The Thunder recalled guard Ty Jerome from the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue, according to a team press release. Oklahoma City needed more depth in the backcourt due to a groin injury that will keep Hamidou Diallo sidelined through the weekend, coach Mark Daigneault said, per The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto (Twitter link). Jerome, a 2019 first-rounder, made an immediate impact, contributing nine points and seven assists in 22 minutes during the team’s victory over Atlanta on Friday.
Former Jazz forward Elijah Millsap has expressed doubt about an NBA investigation concerning his allegation that executive Dennis Lindsey made a racially-charged comment to him during an end-of-season meeting in 2015, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press reports. Millsap said Friday that he has not yet heard from any investigators and wonders if it will be carried out fairly. “I don’t feel he is a racist, but I do know what he said to me,” Millsap said. The investigation will include the sharing of detailed notes taken in the April 2015 meeting that was attended by Millsap and three Jazz officials, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Lindsey has denied the allegation.

Pacific Notes: Haliburton, Parker, Bowman, Smith

February 26th, 2021 at 6:30pm CST by Ben Stinar

Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton has gotten off to a fast off the bench during his rookie season, averaging 13.2 PPG and 5.4 APG. However, the young guard isn’t concerned about not being in the starting lineup (he’s started just two games this season), according to The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson.

Instead of worrying about his place in the lineup, he switched the subject of discussion to the new fad NBA Top Shot.

“Naw, I’ve been on NBA Top Shot all day,” Haliburton said, via Anderson. “… I’ve been trying to explain to my teammates why they should get into it. There are two things that a lot of us love and that’s money and basketball, so put them together and good things can happen.”

Here’s more around the Pacific Division:

Kings forward Jabari Parker was placed in the health and safety protocols prior to Thursday’s game against the Knicks, relays Jason Anderson of The Bee (Twitter link). It’s unclear when 2014’s second overall pick – who has only appeared in two games this season – may be cleared. He joins teammate Hassan Whiteside in the protocols.
The Clippers‘ G League affiliate (the Agua Caliente Clippers) has waived guard Ky Bowman after he suffered a season-ending injury (Twitter link via JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors). Last season, Bowman averaged 7.2 PPG in 45 games for the Warriors.
The Suns have recalled rookie forward Jalen Smith from the G League (Twitter link via Gina Mizell of Suns.com). Smith was the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft but has appeared in just eight NBA games. Since the Northern Arizona Suns aren’t in action this season, the rookie had been playing for the Agua Caliente Clippers, averaging 8.3 PPG and 4.7 RPG in six games (16.3 MPG).

Raptors Notes: Powell, Baynes, Lowry, Cumberland

February 26th, 2021 at 12:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

If the Raptors are buyers at the trade deadline, the contracts of Patrick McCaw, Aron Baynes, Stanley Johnson and Norman Powell are the ones most likely to be included in a deal for an impact player, according to The Athletic’s Eric Koreen. Powell, who holds an $11.6MM option on his contract for next season, and Kyle Lowry ($30.5MM expiring contract) are the players most likely to be traded if Toronto goes into sell mode. However, it’s likely that the team values Powell’s Bird rights to the point where it would take a very strong offer to part with the scoring wing, Koreen speculates.

We have more on the Raptors:

The success of smaller lineups could alter the front office’s approach to the trade market, Blake Murphy of The Athletic notes. The team has gotten positive results by using OG Anunoby as the de facto starting center and moving Baynes to the bench. That could result in expanding its options beyond an upgrade at center, rather than overpaying a potential trade partner for a big man.
Lowry deserves to finish out the season, if not his career, with the Raptors, Scott Stinson of The National Post opines. He’s been the only constant in the team’s sustained period of success and his days with the franchise shouldn’t end in pursuit of assets.
The club’s G League team, Raptors 905, has traded center Dewan Hernandez to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for guard Jarron Cumberland, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Raptors 905 is also receiving Stockton’s original second-round pick in the 2021/22 G League Draft via Canton. Hernandez, 24, played six games with Toronto last season. The undrafted Cumberland played four college seasons with Cincinnati.
In case you missed it, the Raptors have signed big man Donta Hall to a 10-day contract.

Raptors Add Donta Hall Via 10-Day Contract

February 26th, 2021 at 9:00am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

FEBRUARY 26: The Raptors have officially signed Hall, according to a team press release. He’ll be assigned to the G League, where the Raptors 905 have six days during his 10-day deal, tweets Blake Murphy of The Athletic.

FEBRUARY 25: Power forward/center Donta Hall, most recently with the G League Ignite, has agreed to sign a 10-day deal with the Raptors, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

After Hall went undrafted out of Alabama in 2019, he split limited time in his rookie NBA season with the Pistons and Nets. Across nine NBA contests, he averaged 4.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 0.7 BPG in 14.8 MPG.

Hall spent the majority of his rookie season with the Pistons’ G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive. He averaged 15.4 PPG, 10.6 RPG, and 1.4 BPG in 38 games (37 starts), while shooting 66.9% from the floor.

Across nine games with the Ignite in the NBAGL’s Orlando “bubble” this season, while averaging five fewer minutes than he did with the Grand Rapids Drive, Hall posted solid tallies of 8.9 PPG (on 61.4% shooting from the floor), 9.0 RPG, and 1.8 BPG.

Hall could prove valuable to his new club as an athletic, hyper-efficient center with legitimate bulk. Toronto could theoretically use the size of the Hall to help supplement forward Chris Boucher‘s minutes at the five in speedy lineups. Hall, 23, is listed at 232 pounds to Boucher’s 200.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Western Notes: Porzingis, Spurs, Hollins, Azubuike

February 23rd, 2021 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Having disputed a Bleacher Report story that indicated the Mavericks have gauged the trade market to get a sense of Kristaps Porzingis‘ value, team owner Mark Cuban also took exception to a specific part of Jake Fischer’s report.

Fischer cited one Western Conference executive who described Porzingis as looking like a “scarecrow” on defense and who added, “I’m not sure the guy can guard anybody.” That quote didn’t sit well with Cuban, who expressed his displeasure to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).

“We are not happy that there is a supposed ‘Western Conference exec’ ripping on one of our players,” Cuban said. “There is no trade discussion. I think they just used it as a way to put out there what they think of KP.”

Here’s more from around the West:

There’s no exact timeline for the return of the five Spurs players who are sidelined due to the health and safety protocols, head coach Gregg Popovich said on Monday night. “Each one is a little bit different,” Popovich said, per Tom Osborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). “It depends on the testing they do. So, I think a few more days, the quarantine period ends, but then there are a couple more days of more tests to see how it has affected them.”
Lakers assistant Lionel Hollins missed Monday’s game for personal reasons and isn’t traveling to Utah for Wednesday’s game either, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
The Jazz have recalled Udoka Azubuike from the G League, according to RealGM’s transactions log. The rookie center recently suffered a severe ankle sprain while playing for the Salt Lake City Stars and isn’t expected to be available anytime soon, so it seems he’ll move to the NBA squad while he continues his recovery.

Kai Sotto Not Rejoining G League Ignite

February 23rd, 2021 at 11:45am CST by Luke Adams

Kai Sotto, a 7’2″ center from the Philippines, will not return to the G League Ignite, as he and the team have mutually agreed to part ways, the club announced today in a press release.

Sotto was one of several young prospects who joined the Ignite, the NBAGL’s new select team, for its inaugural season in 2020/21. However, he didn’t end up appearing in any G League games, having left the Ignite in January to train with the Philippines National Team at the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in Qatar. That event was ultimately canceled, but Sotto won’t head back to the G League bubble at Walt Disney World for the home stretch of the NBAGL season.

“Kai and the team both understood the challenges for him to rejoin Ignite given the current international travel constraints, quarantine times and health and safety protocols,” NBA G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim said in a statement. “Kai will always be part of the extended Ignite family and we wish him continued success as he pursues his NBA dreams.”

A four-star recruit, Sotto arrived stateside in 2019 and joined The Skill Factory, a prep program based in Georgia. A handful of colleges were believed to be keeping an eye on the big man, including Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Auburn, and USC, but he opted to go pro, joining the Ignite as he pursued an eventual NBA career.

Given that this season didn’t exactly play out as he likely envisioned, it’s unclear whether Sotto still intends to enter the 2021 draft. If he does, he’ll be something of a mystery to NBA teams, who didn’t really get a chance to scout him at all this season.

Southwest Notes: Cousins, McDermott, Spurs, Pelicans

February 22nd, 2021 at 1:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the Rockets and DeMarcus Cousins intend to amicably part ways, it’s possible the veteran center hasn’t played his last game for the team yet. Addressing the Cousins situation on Sunday, head coach Stephen Silas said the 30-year-old was still at practice and that the plan was to have him continue to start at center as long as he remains on Houston’s roster, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

Cousins’ representatives and the Rockets are working on a potential trade or release that would get the big man to a team of his choosing. Other players in similar situations, like Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin, are being held out of action while their teams look to finalize a resolution, but Silas’ comments indicated the Rockets aren’t necessarily committed to that same approach.

Still, Cousins’ availability in the coming days will hinge in large part on his health. He has been ruled out for Monday’s game due to a sore right heel and it’s safe to assume the Rockets will be very cautious with the big man as they explore the trade market in search of a potential deal.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

With the Grizzlies‘ roster getting a little healthier, the team has sent two-way player Sean McDermott to the G League bubble, transferring him to the Memphis Hustle (Twitter link). McDermott has been a depth option on the wing for the Grizzlies this season, appearing in just eight games, so he’ll see more frequent playing time for the Hustle.
The Spurs also made a pair of G League transactions, announcing (via Twitter) that they’ve recalled guard Tre Jones and forward Luka Samanic from the Austin Spurs. Jones had been leading the G League with 9.7 assists per game, while Samanic ranked in the top six in the NBAGL in both PPG (21.8) and RPG (11.3).
The Pelicans continue to gradually increase the number of fans allowed at the Smoothie King Center, issuing a press release today confirming that capacity will increase to 2,700 as of Wednesday. New Orleans, whose previous capacity was 1,900 fans, hope to bump that number up to 4,000+ by season’s end.

Atlantic Notes: VanVleet, Nets, Drummond, Flynn

February 18th, 2021 at 7:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

In the absence of injured veteran point guard Kyle Lowry, Raptors guard Fred VanVleet has provided Toronto a glimpse of the next era of its core leadership, per Dave Feschuk of The Toronto Star. The 34-year-old Lowry has served as the longtime emotional center driving Toronto. He will be an unrestricted free agent when the season ends. The Raptors have posted an encouraging 16-2 record without Lowry over the past two seasons.

VanVleet has averaged 22.0 PPG and 7.1 APG across 15 Raptors games without Lowry during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, Feschuk goes on to note.

“Any time a guy goes down, it’s that next-man-up mentality that we have always had around here and something that I have tried to continue to do is just increase my level of play when he’s out,” VanVleet said of adjusting to the absence of his current Raptors backcourt mate. “I thought the entire team just picked it up a notch when he went down and that’s what you like to see.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

A strained left hamstring will continue to sideline Nets All-Star forward Kevin Durant as Brooklyn takes on the Lakers in a TNT bout tonight, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets that the other injured Nets All-Star, guard Kyrie Irving, will be returning to action for Brooklyn tonight. Irving missed the Nets’ latest game, a 128-124 thriller against the Suns on Tuesday night, due to a lower back injury.
Now that the Cavaliers have established they are officially benching center Andre Drummond ahead of a trade or possible buyout, the Knicks should consider adding the big man to their ranks via trade, argues Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman notes that New York considered trading for Drummond last season before he was ultimately shipped to Cleveland by the Pistons.
The Raptors are recalling rookie point guard Malachi Flynn from their G League affiliate, Raptors 905, per Blake Murphy of The Athletic (via Twitter). Murphy adds that Flynn is available to play for the club tonight (Twitter link) in its current contest against the Bucks.