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COVID-19 Updates: Oubre, Casey, Satoransky, Garuba, More

January 10th, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

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.
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Pelicans Sign Gary Clark To Two-Way Deal, Waive Jared Harper

January 9th, 2022 at 4:18pm CST by JD Shaw

The Pelicans have signed forward Gary Clark to a two-way contract, the team announced in a press release. To create space, the club waived two-way guard Jared Harper.

Clark was previously on a non-guaranteed deal with New Orleans, averaging 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in eight games (11.9 MPG). The team waived him on Friday before his contract became fully guaranteed.

Prior to signing with the Pelicans, Clark was playing for Mexico City Capitanes in the G League. The 27-year-old went undrafted in 2018 and holds experience with Houston, Orlando, Denver and Philadelphia.

Harper, 24, only appeared in two games for the Pelicans this season, averaging 3.5 points in five minutes per contest. He’s also averaging 21.7 points and 5.1 assists per outing in the G League this year.

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Southwest Notes: Valanciunas, Pelicans, Brooks, G. Green

January 8th, 2022 at 8:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

Raptors fans may not recognize Jonas Valanciunas‘ game on Sunday when the Pelicans center plays in Toronto for the first time in more than three years, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN. Valanciunas, who was traded midway through the Raptors’ championship season, has improved as an outside shooter since then and has made a career-high 37 three-pointers in less than half a season.

“These days, the NBA has changed and you’ve gotta be versatile and you’ve gotta be able to shoot the ball,” Valanciunas said. “I want to play in this league as long as I can and to help me do that, it’s adding the three-point shot.”

After being traded to New Orleans in the offseason, Valanciunas has become a centerpiece of the team’s offense, averaging a career-best 18.6 points per game along with 11.9 rebounds. He said his improvement as a scorer began when Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, who was an assistant at the time, worked with him during summer visits to Lithuania.

“Honestly, it started with Nick, he helped me develop this,” Valanciunas said. “He was the first guy who pushed me to do that, and I hope I’m going to use that against him on Sunday.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • The Pelicans could use another outside shooter to make a run at the play-in tournament, and William Guillory of The Athletic identifies a few targets ahead of the February 10 trade deadline. He proposes deals involving the Hawks’ Cam Reddish, the Kings’ Buddy Hield, the Magic’s Terrence Ross and the Thunder’s Mike Muscala and Kenrich Williams.
  • Grizzlies swingman Dillon Brooks suffered a left ankle injury in the second quarter of today’s game with the Clippers, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Brooks had to be helped off the court after getting fouled on a drive to the basket and wasn’t able to shoot his free throws before leaving. The team’s second-leading scorer at 19.3 PPG, Brooks just returned Thursday from health and safety protocols. He also missed time at the start of the season with a fractured left hand.
  • Gerald Green, who stepped away from his role as assistant coach with the Rockets to become a player again, has signed with Houston’s G League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26.“It’s a great opportunity,” Green said. “The Vipers being affiliated with the Rockets, me being affiliated with the Rockets, it’s like a perfect match.”
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Pelicans Waive Gary Clark

January 7th, 2022 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

4:05pm: The Pelicans have officially waived Clark, the club confirmed in a press release.

3:34pm: The Pelicans will waive forward Gary Clark before his full-season salary becomes guaranteed, reports ESPN’s Andrew Lopez (Twitter link).

Clark, 27, signed with New Orleans in early December when the team moved Didi Louzada to the suspended list, freeing up an open spot on the 15-man roster. Louzada’s 25-game suspension is due to end next week, meaning the Pelicans would’ve needed to release Clark at that point anyway in order to reactivate Louzada. Making the move a few days early allows New Orleans to avoid being on the hook for the remainder of Clark’s minimum salary.

In eight games as a Pelican, Clark averaged 3.6 PPG and 2.8 RPG on .429/.474/.500 shooting (11.9 MPG). He should generate some interest as a candidate for a 10-day contract once he clears waivers.

The Pelicans will be on the hook for a prorated portion of Clark’s minimum salary, which works out to $377,645.

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Zion Williamson Continuing Rehab Away From Pelicans

January 7th, 2022 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams
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Pelicans Not Retaining Justin James

January 5th, 2022 at 10:47am CST by Luke Adams
  • The Pelicans don’t plan to re-sign Justin James, whose 10-day contract expired overnight, sources tell Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link). With the team getting healthier, there wasn’t an immediate need to retain James, Lopez explains.
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And-Ones: Tolliver, Millsap, Bezhanishvili, Hernandez

January 3rd, 2022 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Veteran forward Anthony Tolliver signed a 10-day contract with the Pelicans under the hardship exception the day after Christmas. However, Tolliver tested positive for COVID-19 and the contract was voided. He has now cleared protocols and is eligible to be signed immediately, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. Tolliver played for the Sixers last season.

We have more news from the basketball world:

  • Former NBA guard Elijah Millsap has signed a NBA G League contract and is expected to join the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ affiliate, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Millsap, the brother of Brooklyn Nets veteran Paul Millsap, played 69 games in the NBA, though his last appearance came during the 2016/17 season.
  • Grand Rapids Gold forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili could be on the radar for a 10-day contract, Shaw tweets. He has averaged 16.4 PPG and 8.6 RPG in his last eight contests for the Nuggets’ affiliate.
  • Former Raptors center Dewan Hernandez has signed a G League contract and has been acquired by the Westchester Knicks, Shaw adds in another tweet. Hernandez played six NBA games during the 2019/20 season.
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NBA Reschedules 11 Postponed Games

January 3rd, 2022 at 7:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA has announced the rescheduling of the 11 games postponed in December due to COVID-19 issues, listing the changes in a press release.

Additionally, eight other scheduled games have been shifted to accommodate the postponements. A pair of others have been shifted to new starting times.

Most notably, Kyle Lowry‘s return to Toronto will take place two days earlier than anticipated, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN points out.

The Raptors will now host the Bulls on February 3 instead of the Heat. Lowry’s return will occur on Feb. 1 in Miami’s rescheduled visit. The game that Toronto was originally scheduled to play that day against the Hawks will now be played on January 31.

The first two makeups will occur next week — the Nets at the Trail Blazers on Monday, January 10 and the Pistons at the Bulls on Tues, Jan. 11.

“There’s no easy way to do this,” Nets coach Steve Nash said to Bontemps and other media members. “If we were expecting it to be a sweet little add to the schedule, and no blood drawn, that would be foolish.”

The other rescheduled dates are as follows:

  • New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers
    • Previous: Dec. 19
    • New: Jan. 25
  • Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets
    • Previous: Dec. 19
    • New: Jan. 26
  • Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls
    • Previous: Dec. 22
    • New: Jan. 26
  • Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors
    • Previous: Dec. 16
    • New: Feb. 3
  • Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs
    • Previous: Dec. 29
    • New: Feb. 3
  • Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets
    • Previous: Dec. 21
    • New: Feb. 17
  • Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors
    • Previous: Dec. 20
    • New: March 4
  • Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets
    • Previous: Dec. 30
    • New: March 7
  • Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks
    • Previous: Dec. 19
    • New: March 31
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COVID-19 Updates: Porzingis, SGA, Garland, Valanciunas, More

January 3rd, 2022 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and has been ruled out for Monday’s game vs. Denver, the team announced today (via Twitter).

The Mavericks got good news over the weekend, as Luka Doncic was cleared to play for the first time since December 10 and led the team to a win in Oklahoma City on Sunday. But now Porzingis is at risk of missing a few games due to the health and safety protocols, and he’s not the only Mav affected — the club still has four other players in the protocols too.

Here’s more COVID-related news from around the NBA:

  • Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is no longer in the health and safety protocols, acting head coach Mike Wilks said today (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman). Gilgeous-Alexander only entered the protocols on Saturday, so he may have registered a false positive test.
  • Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, who had been in the COVID-19 protocols since last Tuesday, was able to practice today, per head coach J.B. Bickerstaff (Twitter link via Kelsey Russo of The Athletic).
  • Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas has cleared the protocols and will be available for Monday’s game against Utah, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
  • Damion Lee and James Wiseman have exited the protocols for the Warriors, per the NBA’s injury report. Wiseman remains sidelined while he recovers from right knee surgery, but Lee is no longer on the injury report at all, and Golden State doesn’t have any players in the protocols.
  • After briefly clearing the protocols, Hornets forward P.J. Washington reentered them on Sunday, according to the team (Twitter link). He’ll miss Monday’s game vs. Washington (Twitter link).
  • Lonzo Ball and Alfonzo McKinnie of the Bulls have both exited the health and safety protocols and will be available to play on Monday vs. Orlando, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
  • Nets rookie Kessler Edwards is no longer in the COVID-19 protocols, according to the NBA’s injury report. Brooklyn was hit hard by an outbreak in December but currently has no players affected.
  • Lakers assistant David Fizdale, who briefly served as the club’s acting head coach during Frank Vogel‘s stint in the protocols, has now entered the protocols himself, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
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Tomas Satoransky Enters Protocols

January 2nd, 2022 at 4:55pm CST by JD Shaw
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