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Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama Expected To Miss Rest Of Season

February 20th, 2025 at 11:49am CST by Rory Maher

All-Star center Victor Wembanyama has been diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2024/25 season, the Spurs announced in a press release (Twitter link).

According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), a deep vein thrombosis is a form of blood clot. San Antonio believes Wembanyama’s health scare is an “isolated condition,” Charania adds.

The Spurs are optimistic that Wembanyama will be fully recovered by the start of the 2025/26 campaign, a team source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News confirms that reporting, writing (via Bluesky) that the Spurs are “not worried” about Wembanyama’s long-term health. Wembanyama’s condition is not considered as serious as the blood clot issue that effectively ended Chris Bosh‘s career, according to Finger.

In their statement, the Spurs said that the issue was discovered after Wembanyama returned to San Antonio following Sunday’s All-Star game in San Francisco. NBA insider Chris Haynes hears (via Twitter) that the team was informed of Wembanyama’s condition today.

On Wednesday, the Spurs had listed Wembanyama as doubtful to suit up for Thursday’s contest vs. Phoenix due to an illness (ESPN.com story via MacMahon). The game will take place at the Moody Center in Austin, and Wembanyama was not present for shootaround this morning, per Finger (Bluesky link).

As Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com tweets, a deep vein thrombosis “is a clot that develops in one of the major veins of the body, usually in the lower extremity.” Brandon Ingram went through a similar issue while with the Lakers back in ’18/19, causing him to miss the final 19 games of that season.

A source tells Sam Amick of The Athletic that Wembanyama has had low energy of late (Twitter link). When he was still experiencing low energy at All-Star weekend and his two-day vacation after the break, he underwent testing which revealed a DVT. Amick and Tom Orsborn of The Express-News are the latest reporters to confirm the Spurs are optimistic about Wembanyama’s long-term prognosis (Twitter link).

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), Wembanyama will no longer be eligible for major postseason awards due to the 65-game rule. The league’s reigning Rookie of the Year was the odds-on favorite to win his first Defensive Player of the Year award after finishing as the runner-up in ’23/24.

Obviously, this is terrible news for anyone who follows the sport, but particularly for Wembanyama, one of the NBA’s premier young players. Still, it’s at least encouraging that the Spurs seem confident that the issue was caught early and that 2023’s No. 1 overall pick will be ready to play again to open ’25/26.

In 46 games during his second season, Wembanyama averaged 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals and a league-high 3.8 blocks in 33.2 minutes per contest. His shooting slash line was .476/.353/.836, with nearly half of the Frenchman’s field goal attempts coming from behind the three-point line.

Wembanyama’s absence will certainly decrease San Antonio’s odds of making a postseason push, but that’s obviously a secondary concern compared to his health. The Spurs have been a funk of late, going just 5-13 over their past 18 games. They’re currently 23-29, 3.5 games behind Golden State for the final play-in spot in the West.

Mavs Sign Moses Brown To 10-Day Contract

February 20th, 2025 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

February 20: Brown’s 10-day contract with the Mavericks is now official, the team confirmed in a press release (Twitter link).

February 19: The Mavericks are planning to sign center Moses Brown to a 10-day contract, his agent Ryan Davis tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

NBA insider Marc Stein, who first reported that Dallas intended to sign a center to a 10-day deal and identified Brown as a candidate, says the big man will audition for the team today and could officially sign as soon as this afternoon if all goes according to plan (Twitter links).

The Mavericks are in desperate need of frontcourt depth, with Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively, and Daniel Gafford all still facing extended injury absences and Dwight Powell having been sidelined for over a month with a hip strain.

However, the Mavs also facing an extremely restrictive hard-cap situation, so their decision to sign Brown to a 10-day contract now is notable.

As we detailed over the weekend, the Mavs only have $171,120 in breathing room below their hard cap; Brown will carry a cap hit of $119,972. Once Brown’s contract expires, Dallas will only have $51,148 in hard-cap room and will have to wait until April 10 to re-add a 15th man.

Brown, 25, has the ability to step in and provide the Mavs with rotation minutes right away. He has appeared in 159 regular season games for seven NBA teams since making his debut in 2019.

Outside of a brief stint with the Pacers in November and December, the former UCLA standout has spent the current season with the Westchester Knicks in the G League. He has appeared in 26 games for New York’s affiliate, averaging 15.9 points, 14.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 29.2 minutes per contest.

No corresponding roster move will be required for the Mavs, who are currently carrying 14 players on standard contracts.

Bucks’ Bobby Portis Jr. Suspended 25 Games By NBA

February 20th, 2025 at 9:50am CST by Dana Gauruder

Bucks big man Bobby Portis Jr. has been suspended 25 games without pay for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Portis tested positive for Tramadol. According to Drugs.com, Tramadol “is an opioid agonist that may be used to treat moderate to moderately severe chronic pain in adults.”

Portis’ suspension will begin with tonight’s game between the Bucks and Clippers. Milwaukee played 53 games prior to the All-Star break, which means Portis won’t be eligible to return until April 8, when the team hosts Minnesota.

Milwaukee is 29-24 and in no danger of dropping out of the postseason picture. However, with the team emerging from the break with the fifth-best record in the Eastern Conference, Portis’ suspension could impact whether it holds onto a top-six spot and an automatic berth into the first round.

Portis is one of the league’s top reserves. This season, he’s averaging 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25.2 minutes per game. He’s come off the bench in 39 on 46 games played.

According to Portis’ agent Mark Bartelstein, Portis took the drug by accident.

“I am devastated for Bobby right now because he made an honest mistake and the ramifications of it are incredibly significant,” Bartelstein told ESPN’s Shams Charania. “Bobby unintentional took a pain medication called Tramadol, thinking he was taking a pain medication called Toradol.

“Toradol is an approved pain medication that he has used previously and the teams and players use for pain and inflammation at times. Tramadol, however, is not an approved pain medication and was just recently added to the banned substance list this past spring. The Tramadol pill came from an assistant of his, with a valid prescription f0r the painkiller, which he mistakenly told Bobby was Toradol.”

Portis and Bucks general manager Jon Horst also issued statements via a team press release. Portis was apologetic for his “honest mistake” and Horst said that the team will accept the suspension.

“I was dealing with an elbow injury and using an NBA-approved medication for pain and inflammation,” Portis said. “During that time, I made an honest mistake and took a pain-reducing anti-inflammatory pill that is not approved. I feel horrible and recognize that I’m responsible for what I put in my body. From the bottom of my heart, I want to apologize to the Bucks organization, my teammates, coaches, family, and fans. I give everything I have on the court and will terribly miss playing games for the Bucks during this time. I will continue to work hard and be ready for our long playoff run. Thank you for your support. I appreciate it more than you know.”

“This is a very difficult set of circumstances for Bobby and our team,” Horst said. “He and the Bucks organization respect the NBA/NBAPA Anti-Drug Program and will accept what’s been handed down. But we 100% support Bobby. Together we will take this opportunity to grow and will have a better and stronger Bobby and Milwaukee Bucks team. He’s an integral part of who we are, a huge member of the Milwaukee community, and we look forward to his return.”

With Portis often serving as the backup center to Brook Lopez, recently acquired big man Jericho Sims could have a significant role the remainder of the season. Taurean Prince, who was projected to lose his starting role with the trade acquisition of Kyle Kuzma, will also likely absorb some of Portis’ minutes.

Portis is in the third year of a four-year, $48.6MM contract. He holds a $13,445,754 option on his contract for next season.

The Bucks will be able to move Portis to the suspended list after he serves the first five games of the suspension, which would open up a spot on the club’s 15-man roster until he’s reactivated.

Nets Sign Hayes, Promote Martin, Waive Bogdanovic

February 20th, 2025 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 20: The Nets have officially signed Hayes and promoted Martin while waiving Bogdanovic, the team announced today. Martin’s contract is a multi-year deal, per the Nets.

FEBRUARY 19: The Nets are finalizing an agreement with G League guard Killian Hayes, who will sign a 10-day contract with the team, agent Yann Balikouzou tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The Nets have an open spot on their 15-man roster but are also promoting Tyrese Martin from his two-way deal to a standard contract, so a second opening will be necessary. According to Charania (Twitter link), Brooklyn is creating that extra opening by waiving forward Bojan Bogdanovic.

The No. 7 overall pick of the 2020 draft, Hayes appeared in 210 games for the Pistons from 2020-24 but has been out of the NBA after being cut by Detroit last February. He averaged 8.1 points, 5.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 26.1 minutes per game as a Piston and struggled with his shot, making just 38.2% of his attempts from the floor, including 27.7% of his three-point tries.

The French point guard signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Nets in the offseason, but he sustained a hip injury which caused him to miss all of Brooklyn’s preseason games and was subsequently waived prior to the 2024/25 campaign.

Since getting healthy, Hayes has been playing for the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate. In 28 total games for the NBAGL squad, he has averaged 16.8 points, 7.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.3 steals in 33.9 minutes per contest, posting a shooting line of .467/.351/.692.

While some European-born prospects head back overseas when they can’t secure an NBA contract, Hayes viewed the G League as his best route back into the league and recently referred to an NBA return as his “only goal.” The 23-year-old will achieve that goal for at least 10 days — once that contract expires, the Nets would have the option of signing him to a second 10-day deal before having to make a decision on whether or not to retain him for the rest of the season.

Hayes will earn $128,603 on his 10-day deal with Brooklyn, while the team takes on a cap hit of $119,972.

Word broke earlier today that Bogdanovic would be undergoing season-ending surgery on his foot. Since he’s on an expiring contract and almost certainly wasn’t in the Nets’ plans beyond this season, he was a clear-cut candidate to be waived if and when the team needed a roster spot.

Mark Williams Discusses Rescinded Lakers Trade

February 19th, 2025 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Hornets center Mark Williams appears likely to be available on Wednesday for the first time since Charlotte agreed to trade him to the Lakers earlier this month.

Williams remained a Hornet after Los Angeles voided that trade due to concerns about the big man’s physical, but he wasn’t active for the team’s last three games before the All-Star break. He’s listed as probable to play tonight against the club that decided not to trade for him: the Lakers.

“Can’t write it any other way right?” Williams said, per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “NBA script. It’s just what it is.”

Ahead of his return to Charlotte’s lineup, Williams spoke about the experience of getting traded from Charlotte to L.A. and then finding out two days later that he wouldn’t be changing teams after all.

“I mean, it’s crazy,” Williams said. “Your mind has to shift from you got traded, you’ve got to go to L.A. and then you’ve got to shift back from you’re not going to L.A. So, it’s definitely different. It’s a lot on your mind and you’ve got to take what life gives and make the most of every opportunity you’ve got.”

Williams missed most of last season while recovering from a back injury and had his 2024/25 debut delayed by a foot issue, but he has appeared in 23 of the Hornets’ 28 games since he returned to action on Dec. 3, including the final three before the trade deadline. So he was surprised to learn that the trade sending him to the Lakers fell through due to concerns about his health, Boone writes.

“My agent told me,” Williams said. “I didn’t think I had failed my physical. That didn’t even cross my mind. The night I got traded I played hella minutes. I didn’t think in any world that was possible. Since I’ve been back since the start of the year, I’ve played games with a lot of minutes. I feel like every injury I’ve had has been well-documented and I’ve recovered and been 100% since.

“So, I don’t know what went into that decision. I think that’s up to them.”

While Williams is still recovering from the shock of the trade-deadline drama, he said he’s “excited” to be back with the only NBA franchise he has ever played for, and head coach Charles Lee referred to the big man’s reintegration as “seamless.”

During the time between when they agreed to trade Williams to Los Angeles and when the Lakers rescinded the deal, the Hornets traded for Jusuf Nurkic and promoted Moussa Diabate from his two-way contract to the standard roster. It has created a crowded frontcourt in Charlotte, even after last month’s trade of Nick Richards, but Williams isn’t worried about that.

“I think each one of us brings something different,” Williams said. “I don’t see that as a negative thing. I just see it as another piece of the puzzle that we are able to have. So, I think it will be just good for us.”

The Hornets aren’t in contention for a playoff spot, but Williams has a goal for the rest of the season in the wake of the aborted trade.

“I think the biggest thing for me is showing I’m healthy,” he said. “Like I said, I didn’t think there was a world (where) I’d fail a physical. So, I’m just excited to play.”

Warriors Sign Kevin Knox To 10-Day Contract

February 19th, 2025 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

February 19: Knox has officially signed his 10-day contract, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. It’ll run through next Friday, covering the Warriors’ next four games.

February 14: The Warriors intend to fill one of the open spots on their roster by signing forward Kevin Knox, sources tell Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Slater, Knox is expected to sign a 10-day contract, with the deal on track to be finalized next week coming out of the All-Star break.

The ninth overall pick in the 2018 draft, Knox has six years of NBA experience under his belt, but hasn’t been in the league since being waived by Golden State in October. He appeared in 31 games for the Pistons last season, scoring 7.2 points in 18.1 minutes per night on .462/.330/.909 shooting.

The veteran forward has spent the 2024/25 season in the G League with the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 21.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 32.6 minutes per game across 28 total NBAGL appearances for Golden State’s affiliate. He has posted a shooting line of .495/.389/.759.

The Warriors currently have three open spots on their 15-man roster and will have to fill two of them by February 20 in order to get back to the required minimum of 14 players on standard contracts — teams are only allowed to dip below that minimum for up to 14 consecutive days and 28 total days in a season.

However, Golden State only has about $1.37MM in wiggle room below its hard cap, so the team will be careful about how it uses that remaining room below the first apron for the rest of the season. Simply signing three players to rest-of-season contracts isn’t an option at this point due to that restriction.

A 10-day deal for Knox will carry a cap hit of $119,972. If the Warriors complete a pair of 10-day signings next Thursday, they would have the option of going another 14 days with just 12 players under contract after those two 10-day deals expire.

Grizzlies’ Kleiman: We’re Not Trading Ja Morant

February 19th, 2025 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

As we relayed on Tuesday, Howard Beck of The Ringer said during a live episode of The Real Ones podcast over the weekend that a team executive told him it’s worth keeping an eye on Grizzlies guard Ja Morant as a possible trade candidate this offseason.

When he shared that tidbit, Beck provided plenty of caveats, making it clear he wasn’t expecting Morant to be on the move this summer. And when we passed it along, I described it as something that seemed like wishful thinking from a rival executive rather than a likely scenario.

Still, it’s gained enough traction on social media in recent days that Grizzlies head of basketball operations Zach Kleiman addressed it directly when asked for comment by Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link).

“I can’t blame other ‘executives’ for fantasizing about us trading Ja,” Kleiman said. “But it’s just that — fantasy. We are not trading Ja.

“Continue to underestimate Ja, this team and this city, and we will let our performance on the floor speak for itself. I’m not going to give this nonsense further oxygen and look forward to getting back to basketball.”

The Grizzlies’ roster will be getting more expensive this offseason with Jaren Jackson Jr. up for lucrative contract extension and a new deal required for restricted free agent Santi Aldama. But the team remains well positioned to retain its core of Morant, Jackson, and Desmond Bane for the long term due to a lack of significant financial commitments around them.

Memphis has especially benefited from locking up several rotation-caliber players to minimum-salary contracts that run through 2027 or 2028, with Vince Williams, Scotty Pippen Jr., GG Jackson, and Jaylen Wells among the players who fit that bill.

It’s worth noting that Morant made some poor off-court decisions earlier in his career, which resulted in a pair of suspensions (including a 25-gamer) in 2023. His production has also declined this season compared to where it was before those suspensions and a shoulder injury that cost him most of 2023/24. He’s averaging 20.7 points and 7.4 assists per game on .447/.321/.810 shooting in 32 outings in ’24/25.

Still, Morant has stayed out of trouble off the court for the last two seasons and his dip in production can be explained at least in part by the careful manner in which the Grizzlies are deploying him — his 28.8 minutes per night are a career low, and the team has a top-five offense without having to rely on its star point guard to post the kind of scoring numbers he did a few seasons ago (27.4 PPG in 2021/22; 26.2 PPG in ’22/23).

In the wake of this month’s shocking Luka Doncic trade, rival executives won’t be inclined to assume that any player is off limits. However, as Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian tweets, Morant is 25 years old, is under contract for three more years beyond this season, and is on a team that ranks second in the West at 36-18, making him the type of player a small-market team typically builds around. By all accounts, it sounds as if that’s still the plan in Memphis.

Nets Expected To Promote Tyrese Martin To Standard Contract

February 19th, 2025 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets are expected to finalize a new standard contract with shooting guard Tyrese Martin ahead of Thursday’s game vs. Cleveland, promoting him from his two-way deal to the team’s 15-man roster, sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link).

Martin, who will turn 26 next month, has been a fixture in Brooklyn’s rotation for most of this season, averaging 7.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 21.0 minutes per game across 36 contests (six starts). He has a shooting line of .391/.338/.719.

Although he has only made 36 appearances, Martin has been active for 50 of the Nets’ 54 games so far this season, reaching the limit for a player on a two-way contract. That means in order to play in any more games for Brooklyn during the season’s final two months, the former second-round pick will need to be elevated to the standard roster.

The Nets have had an open spot on their 15-man roster since buying out Ben Simmons shortly after this month’s trade deadline, so no corresponding move will be necessary in order to accommodate Martin’s promotion.

While the exact terms of the agreement aren’t known, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) reports that Martin will sign a multiyear contract. Brooklyn could dip into its mid-level exception if it wants to offer a deal longer than two years.

Once the promotion is official, the Nets will have a full 15-man roster but will open up a two-way slot. The deadline for teams to sign players to two-way contracts is March 4.

Nets’ Bojan Bogdanovic To Undergo Season-Ending Foot Surgery

February 19th, 2025 at 8:37am CST by Luke Adams

Nets forward Bojan Bogdanovic will undergo surgery on his foot, bringing his season to an end, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Bogdanovic has yet to play a game in 2024/25 after undergoing surgeries on his left foot and his left wrist last spring. He told reporters ahead of training camp in the fall that his wrist had healed but that his recovery from the procedure on his foot required more time.

While Charania doesn’t explicitly say which foot this latest procedure will address, his wording suggests that it will be that left one again, an indication that it didn’t heal as hoped following the initial surgery.

Bogdanovic, who will turn 36 in April, has enjoyed a long, productive NBA career, averaging 15.6 points per game on .460/.394/.859 shooting in 719 regular season games for the Nets, Wizards, Pacers, Jazz, Pistons, and Knicks since 2014.

If he had gotten healthy, the 6’7″ forward – who is on an expiring $19MM contract – would have been viewed as a potential buyout candidate for a lottery-bound Nets team. We can cross his name off that list now though, and it’s increasingly unclear whether he’ll even make it back to the NBA, given his age and his ongoing health issues.

The Nets already have one open spot on their 15-man roster, so there’s no need to make a move with Bogdanovic at this point, but if they do need to create a second opening on the roster before the end of the season, he’s an obvious choice to be waived.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Parts With Agents, Will Rep Himself

February 19th, 2025 at 7:50am CST by Luke Adams

Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has parted ways with his agents at Wasserman and will represent himself as he prepares to become extension-eligible this offseason, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter video link).

Gilgeous-Alexander had been represented by Thad Foucher and Joe Smith, per RealGM.

Having made All-NBA teams in both 2023 and 2024, Gilgeous-Alexander has met the performance criteria for a super-max contract and will become eligible to sign that extension with the Thunder this July.

The 2024 MVP runner-up still has two years left on his current deal and can’t exceed six years in total, so the maximum value of his extension would be a projected $293.4MM over four years, beginning in 2027/28.

That projection is based on the cap increasing by the maximum allowable 10% for each of the next three seasons, so it’s possible the final figure will come in a little lower — the deal would start at 35% of the ’27/28 cap and would include 8% raises.

Unlike with Luka Doncic in Dallas, there has been no indication that the Thunder aren’t prepared to put that full super-max offer on the table for Gilgeous-Alexander this summer, which means the negotiation should be fairly straightforward.

While he’ll serve as his own agent as he negotiates that contract with the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander will continue to be represented by Simon Gebrelul of Isla Management for marketing and off-court ventures, according to Haynes.

Gilgeous-Alexander is currently the betting favorite to be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season. The 26-year-old guard is averaging a league-leading 32.5 points per game on .523/.359/.897 shooting while also contributing 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.0 block per night for the 44-10 Thunder.

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