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Knicks Waive Wayne Selden

January 3rd, 2022 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have placed veteran shooting guard Wayne Selden on waivers, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The team needed to open up a roster spot in order to complete its acquisition of Denzel Valentine and Selden was the most expendable player on the roster, since his minimum-salary contract isn’t fully guaranteed.

Selden, 27, has appeared in a total of 127 NBA games since making his debut in 2017, but only three of those appearances came this season. He had five points on 1-of-4 shooting in 19 total minutes for the Knicks in 2021/22.

Selden would’ve earned a $1,729,217 salary if he had remained under contract for the entire season. Because he’s being released now, he’ll instead make a prorated minimum of $785,104, which is also the amount that will apply to New York’s team salary. If Selden is claimed on waivers, he’d be back on track to earn his full salary and he’d be removed entirely from the Knicks’ cap, but that’s probably a long shot.

With a newly-opened roster spot, the Knicks are free to officially finalize their three-team trade with the Cavaliers and Lakers to acquire Valentine. Like Selden, Valentine doesn’t have a fully guaranteed salary, so the club will need to decide this week whether or not to keep him around beyond Friday’s salary guarantee deadline. New York is unlikely to hang onto Valentine for the season, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

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Ryan Arcidiacono Signs 10-Day Deal With Knicks

January 3rd, 2022 at 11:24am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JANUARY 3: The Knicks have officially signed Arcidiacono to his 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release.

JANUARY 2: Former Bulls point guard Ryan Arcidiacono is set to join the Knicks on a 10-day hardship exception deal and could stick around for the rest of the season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

After going undrafted out of Villanova in 2016, the 6’3″ guard played with San Antonio’s NBA G League club, the Austin Spurs, during the 2016/17 season. He inked a two-way deal with the Bulls in 2017, and saw that converted to a standard contract with Chicago ahead of the 2018/19 season.

Arcidiacono played four total seasons in Chicago before the Bulls ultimately let him walk in free agency during the summer of 2021. The 27-year-old holds career NBA averages of 4.8 PPG, 2.2 APG, 2.0 RPG, and 0.6 SPG. He had most recently been playing with the Boston Celtics’ NBAGL affiliate, the Maine Celtics.

The Knicks are missing five players due to the health and safety protocols, but their need for a point guard is a result of injury absences. Derrick Rose continues to recover from an ankle surgery he underwent in late December and Kemba Walker sits for at least one night of back-to-back contests.

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Cavs’ Rondo Acquisition Now Three-Team Trade Involving Knicks

January 3rd, 2022 at 10:29am CST by Luke Adams

10:29am: Along with Valentine, the Knicks are acquiring $1.1MM in cash in the deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links), who says New York will give up the draft rights to Louis Labeyrie and will acquire the draft rights to two other players, though none of them are expected to ever play in the NBA.

While we still need some gaps filled in here, I suspect it’s the Lakers – not the Cavs – sending the cash to New York and acquiring Labeyrie’s rights.

New York will decide soon on whether to waive Valentine or have him remain on the roster, Woj adds. As noted below, the Knicks will have to cut a player – likely Selden – in order to complete the deal.

10:20am: The trade sending Rajon Rondo from the Lakers to the Cavaliers, which hasn’t yet been officially finalized, is being expanded to include a third team, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, the Cavs will send Denzel Valentine to the Knicks rather than to the Lakers.

With Rondo going from Los Angeles to Cleveland and Valentine headed from Cleveland to New York, the Knicks will presumably need to send something to the Lakers to complete the deal.

The Lakers may also send a small extra asset to New York to incentivize the Knicks to take on Valentine, whom L.A. reportedly intended to waive. If the Lakers don’t have to acquire a player in the three-team swap, their tax savings will be greater than if they’d cut Valentine and been on the hook for his partially guaranteed cap hit.

Meanwhile, if the Knicks aren’t sending a player out in the deal, they’ll have to waive someone in order to acquire Valentine, whether or not they plan to keep him. Wayne Selden, whose salary isn’t fully guaranteed, is New York’s most likely candidate to be cut.

With a number of details still unclear, we’ll await more info for further clarity. But it sounds like the trade could be officially completed as soon as today.

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COVID-19 Updates: Sixers, Celtics, Rondo, Blazers, More

January 3rd, 2022 at 8:28am CST by Luke Adams

Sixers wing Danny Green cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Sunday, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, Jaden Springer and Matisse Thybulle are both in the protocols now, joining two-way player Myles Powell.

In the latest injury report for the Sixers’ Monday game vs. Houston, Powell and Springer are both listed as out, while Thybulle is considered questionable. That suggests that the team is likely waiting for the results of Thybulle’s latest COVID-19 test before determining whether or not he’ll be available.

Here are more protocol-related updates from around the NBA:

  • Dennis Schröder and Bruno Fernando returned to action for the Celtics on Sunday after a stint in the health and safety protocols. Jayson Tatum has exited the protocols, but remained sidelined for Sunday’s game — he’s expected to return on Wednesday, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
  • On the Lakers‘ Sunday injury report, Rajon Rondo was listed as out due to return to competition reconditioning. Rondo had been in the COVID-19 protocols since December 26, which presumably delayed the official completion of the trade sending him to Cleveland. Now that he has cleared the protocols, the Cavaliers and Lakers should soon officially announce that deal.
  • Robert Covington, Trendon Watford, and Keljin Blevins are no longer in the health and safety protocols for the Trail Blazers, per the injury report.
  • Knicks center Jericho Sims remained out of action on Sunday, but he was listed on the injury report as taking part in return to competition conditioning, so he has exited the protocols.
  • McKinley Wright (Timberwolves), Jarrett Culver (Grizzlies), and Jay Scrubb (Clippers) are among the other players who have recently cleared the COVID-19 protocols, according to the league’s injury report.
  • Our full health and safety protocols tracker can be found right here.
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Knicks Notes: Toppin, Walker, McBride, Protocols

January 1st, 2022 at 7:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks fans have been calling for Obi Toppin to get more playing time, but he put up disappointing numbers Friday in his first career start, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Replacing Julius Randle, who is in health and safety protocols, Toppin scored just five points in 27 minutes in a loss at Oklahoma City.

“The second unit, those guys play well together,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The big part of it is (Toppin) running the floor. When you have Alec (Burks), Derrick (Rose) and (Immanuel) Quickley throwing the ball ahead and getting those easy buckets, it gets you into a rhythm and easy scores. It’s his first game starting. You have to be ready to go. That intensity, you can’t ease into the game. You (have) got to go.’’

Toppin has shown improvement in his second NBA season, with his averages of 8.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game roughly doubling what he did as a rookie. He has been part of a bench unit that has frequently outplayed the team’s starting five, and he believes he can succeed as a starter if given more time.

“This is the first time all of us have played together on the court, the stating five,’’ Toppin said. “We had to find a rhythm. With everything going on, with new people starting, new people coming off the bench, we all haven’t played with each other a lot.’’

There’s more on the Knicks:

  • Kemba Walker was a late scratch for Friday’s game after experiencing pain in his left knee, Berman adds in a separate story. Berman notes that the decision to hold Walker out was made during pre-game and it comes after he played both ends of a back-to-back this week. “He started his warm-up, and then he stopped,” said Thibodeau, who isn’t sure how long Walker might be sidelined. “And then (trainer) Anthony (Goenaga) was looking at him and just felt, let’s get him examined, and then we’ll go from there.’’
  • The loss of Walker led to the first career start for rookie Miles McBride, who learned of the assignment about an hour before game time, Berman notes in another piece. “I wanted to step up and do the best I could,’’ said McBride, who exited the protocols earlier this week. “I’m still trying to get in a rhythm. The whole team is — with guys going down. It just happened like that. I couldn’t do a lot of thinking or reacting. I had to go with the flow.’’ 
  • The Knicks currently have two starters and three assistant coaches in the health and safety protocols, and Thibodeau tells Steve Popper of Newsday that the team is doing its best to adjust. “There’s nothing you can do other than follow the guidelines,” he said. “You want everyone to be healthy. You want them to be safe. That’s your first concern. Forget the basketball part of it, take care of it yourself.”
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COVID-19 Updates: Doncic, SGA, Robinson, Hawks, Nuggets, More

January 1st, 2022 at 5:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks star Luka Doncic has cleared the league’s health and safety protocols, sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Doncic, who hasn’t played since December 10, missed a combined 10 games due to a left ankle injury and his time in the protocols. He’s expected to meet his teammates in Oklahoma City and may return to the court on Sunday.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber may also be able to exit the protocols in time for Sunday’s game, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Dallas, which has five other players still in protocols, managed to go 5-5 without Doncic and is holding onto eighth place in the Western Conference.

Here are more updates on players entering and exiting the protocols:

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Knicks Re-Sign Damyean Dotson, Matt Mooney

December 31st, 2021 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

After their initial 10-day hardship contracts expired overnight, Damyean Dotson and Matt Mooney have each signed a second 10-day deal with the Knicks, according to NBA.com’s official transactions log.

Neither Dotson nor Mooney played much during their first 10 days with New York. Dotson got into two games and logged 21 total minutes, while Mooney only made a brief cameo on Christmas Day. However, the two shooting guards provided the Knicks with some depth while they dealt with a minor COVID-19 outbreak.

New York still has four players in the health and safety protocols and Danuel House is the only other player currently on a 10-day deal with the team, so Dotson and Mooney will stick around a little longer.

Dotson will earn $102,831 over the course of his 10-day contract, while Mooney will make $85,578. Neither figure will count toward team salary for cap or tax purposes.

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Julius Randle, Three Pacers Enter COVID-19 Protocols

December 30th, 2021 at 12:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks power forward Julius Randle has entered the health and safety protocols and will miss Friday’s game vs. Oklahoma City, the team announced today (via Twitter). If Randle registered a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, he’ll remain sidelined for at least six days or until he can return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Randle logged 26 minutes in the Knicks’ win in Detroit on Wednesday night after playing over 37 minutes on Tuesday in Minnesota, so his teammates and recent opponents will likely be monitoring for symptoms of their own in the coming days.

Here are a few more COVID-related updates from around the league:

  • After placing Jeremy Lamb in the health and safety protocols on Wednesday, the Pacers have had three more players enter the protocols today, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Malcolm Brogdon, Chris Duarte, and Isaiah Jackson are joining Lamb. Indiana had avoided a COVID-19 outbreak so far this month, but it may be catching up to the team now.
  • Bucks forward Semi Ojeleye has entered the protocols, tweets Wojnarowski. Milwaukee had multiple players in the protocols earlier in the month, but Ojeleye is the team’s lone player affected for now.
  • Timberwolves forward Jarred Vanderbilt has exited the COVID-19 protocols and should be available on Friday vs. Utah, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). Minnesota is down to just three players in the protocols, though Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell are two of those three.
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Knicks Notes: Walker, McBride, Rose, Barrett, Toppin

December 30th, 2021 at 8:28am CST by Rory Maher

Reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Kemba Walker‘s banishment from the Knicks‘ rotation may have been a blessing in disguise, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic. Walker admits he wasn’t aggressive enough at times to start the season.

“I just have a tendency of kind of not wanting to step on toes,” Walker said. “I think that’s what I did early on. I was here and I wasn’t being as aggressive, I think, as I could have been. But I think being out and seeing how the game has been flowing and going put me in a different mindset.”

Walker and the rest of the team’s starters struggled mightily in Wednesday’s 94-85 victory over the depleted Pistons, as the Knicks were carried once again by the bench group, all of whom finished with a plus/minus of at least plus-27. Walker had two points, two rebounds, two assists and three turnovers in 20 minutes.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

  • Prior to Wednesday’s game, Marc Berman of The New York Post suggested that rookie Miles McBride may face a diminished role, given Walker’s strong recent play. However, that wasn’t the case against Detroit — in his first game back from the COVID-19 protocols, McBride logged 25 minutes in the team’s victory, leading the team in plus/minus at plus-39 while Walker struggled.
  • Head coach Tom Thibodeau says Derrick Rose is recovering well from ankle surgery and that he’s confident in the Knicks’ guard play, Berman writes in another article for The New York Post.
  • RJ Barrett is trying to regain his shooting stroke after a bout with COVID-19, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Barrett is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, and how he finishes the rest of the season could have a major impact on the size of his contract, Bondy opines.
  • It’s clear the Knicks need to give Obi Toppin a lot more minutes than he has received so far this season, even if those minutes eat into Julius Randle‘s playing time, Ian O’Connor of The New York Post contends. In Wednesday’s win over Detroit, Toppin was an incredible plus-36 in 22 minutes, while Randle was a minus-27 in 26 minutes.
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COVID-19 Roundup: Raptors, Kings, Thunder, Knicks

December 28th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The hits keep coming for the NBA. While some good news has arrived regarding the health status of a handful of players, several more have been sidelined in the league’s coronavirus protocols. Here are the newest developments concerning which players have entered or exited the health and safety protocols:

  • Raptors big man Precious Achiuwa and point guard Malachi Flynn have exited the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocols, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN. Lewenberg notes that power forward Pascal Siakam and wing Gary Trent Jr., who cleared protocols yesterday, have been listed as probable ahead of Toronto’s game against the Sixers this evening. Center Khem Birch, who also cleared protocols yesterday, remains questionable to play, as do Achiuwa and Flynn. Following this news, the total sum of Raptors players still in the league’s COVID-19 protocols has fallen to five.
  • Kings center Alex Len has exited the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, per James Ham of ESPN 1320 (via Twitter). Because the 7-footer has not played a game since December 15, Ham notes that Len remains questionable to play tonight against the Thunder.
  • Thunder center Derrick Favors is now in the league’s coronavirus protocols, reports Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. Favors is the sixth Oklahoma City player currently in COVID-19 protocols. Head coach Mark Daigneault also entered the protocols today.
  • The Knicks have announced (Twitter link) that little-used guard Wayne Selden has entered the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. The 6’5″ veteran wing has not been a part of the rotation this season for New York, having suited up for just three games thus far.
  • Keep tabs on all the NBA’s current coronavirus absences via our daily tracker.
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