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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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COVID Updates: Towns, Russell, Tucker, Hyland, Robinson, Bryant, Neto

January 3rd, 2022 at 6:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Players around the NBA continue to enter and exit the league’s health and safety protocols. Here’s the latest update:

  • Timberwolves stars Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell have exited the protocols but won’t play against the Clippers due to reconditioning, the team’s PR department tweets.
  • Heat forward P.J. Tucker has been upgraded to questionable to play on Monday against Golden State after exiting the protocols, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets.
  • Nuggets rookie Bones Hyland has exited the protocols and is expected to be available for Monday’s road game against Dallas, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets.
  • Knicks center Mitchell Robinson has cleared the protocols, the team’s PR department tweets.
  • Wizards center Thomas Bryant and guard Raul Neto have cleared the protocols, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. However, Tremont Waters, who is on a 10-day hardship contract, has entered the protocols, Robbins adds in a separate tweet.
  • Bucks forward Jordan Nwora has entered the protocols and will miss Monday’s game against Detroit, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets.
  • Rockets big man Usman Garuba has entered the protocols, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
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Knicks Waive Denzel Valentine

January 3rd, 2022 at 4:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

4:56pm: The Knicks have officially waived Valentine, the team tweets.

4:20pm: The Knicks are placing Denzel Valentine on waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Valentine was just acquired from Cleveland in a three-team deal but New York obviously had no plans to retain the five-year veteran guard.

The dead-money cap hit for waiving Valentine is $880,509. However, New York received $1.1MM from the Lakers in the trade, offsetting the move. Wayne Selden was also waived on Monday, so New York will now have an open spot on the 15-man roster.

Valentine appeared in 22 games off the bench for Cleveland, averaging 2.9 PPG in 9.3 MPG. Valentine, who played four seasons for Chicago, will now try to hook onto another team in free agency.

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Cavs, Lakers, Knicks Officially Complete Rajon Rondo Trade

January 3rd, 2022 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers, Lakers, and Knicks have officially completed the trade sending Rajon Rondo to Cleveland, the teams announced today in a series of press releases. The deal, which was first reported las Thursday and was expanded today to include New York, breaks down as follows:

  • Cavaliers acquire Rondo (from Lakers).
  • Knicks acquire Denzel Valentine (from Cavaliers), the draft rights to Wang Zhelin (from Lakers), the draft rights to Brad Newley (from Lakers), and $1.1MM in cash (from Lakers).
  • Lakers acquire the draft rights to Louis Labeyrie (from Knicks).

It’s a straightforward swap from Cleveland’s perspective — the Cavaliers simply acquired Rondo in exchange for Valentine. Both players are on minimum-salary contracts, but Rondo’s deal is guaranteed (Valentine’s isn’t) and he fills a greater need for a Cavs team that just lost veteran point guard Ricky Rubio for the season due to a torn ACL.

The Knicks waived Wayne Selden in order to make room on the 15-man room roster for Valentine. Both players are on non-guaranteed contracts, so if New York also cuts Valentine, the amount of money the team ended up paying to Selden and Valentine would work out to just over $800K, which is less than the $1.1MM in cash acquired from L.A.

The Knicks could also hang onto Valentine if they so choose, but that’s reportedly considered unlikely. Waiving him would open up the club’s 15th roster spot.

The Lakers, meanwhile, essentially decided to move on from Rondo and pay the Knicks a little money in order to reduce their end-of-season luxury tax bill and open up a roster spot. The exact amount of money Los Angeles saves will depend on how quickly that roster opening is filled, but the savings will exceed the $1.1MM the club sent to the Knicks. Stanley Johnson, who has played well on a 10-day contract, is a good candidate to become the team’s new 15th man.

The Lakers and Cavaliers will both create small traded player exceptions in the deal. L.A.’s will be worth about $1.67MM, while Cleveland’s will be worth approximately $858K.

This is the NBA’s first trade since October 6.

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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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