- Ahead of tonight’s ongoing tilt against the Thunder, Clippers power forward Patrick Patterson reminisced about his two injury-plagued years logged in Oklahoma City. In speaking with The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto, Patterson had a laundry list of causes for the Thunder’s underwhelming 2018/19 season. “I don’t think it was just one thing,” Patterson reflected. “Coaching staff, not everyone on the same page from the heads up top to the players on the bottom. Effort on the players’ part. Focus, playing together, playing good solid defense with communication. We missed a lot of shots.” Patterson’s candor on the team is refreshing to see. He continued, “It’s pretty much everyone that was within the organization’s fault.”
- On the other side of the trade that landed Patterson in Los Angeles, former Clippers teammates and coaches of Clipper-turned-Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave SGA rave reviews before tonight’s tipoff. The Oklahoman’s Maddie Lee reports that LA coach Doc Rivers had this to say about his former point guard: “He’s the greatest kid… I don’t know if I’ve had a more favorite young player, like, he’s the best.” Atlanta guard Tyrone Wallace also raved about his former running mate. “Everybody loved Shai,” Wallace said. “It was one of those things, I think a lot of fans were kind of upset (that he was traded).”
Here are Saturday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- The Hornets sent rookie Caleb Martin to their Greensboro affiliate, the team announced in a press release. He is averaging 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in two G League contests and has seen limited time in three games for Charlotte.
- The Thunder assigned Deonte Burton and Justin Patton to the Oklahoma City Blue, according to a release from the team. Burton is averaging 7.7 minutes in five games with the Thunder, while Patton has gotten into just one NBA game this season.
- The Magic assigned Melvin Frazier Jr. and Amile Jefferson to Lakeland for tonight’s game, the team tweeted.
- The Jazz assigned Nigel Williams-Goss to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to a tweet from the team.
- The Bucks recalled Dragan Bender from their Wisconsin affiliate after assigning him yesterday, the team announced in a press release. He is averaging 21.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in four G League games, but hasn’t played for the Bucks yet.
- The Spurs recalled Keldon Johnson from their Austin affiliate, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.
Here are Friday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- The Bucks have once again assigned power forward and former lottery pick Dragan Bender to the Wisconsin Herd, the team’s PR department tweets. Bender is averaging 20.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.3 APG and 1.3 BPG in 29.9 MPG while shooting 55.3% in three games with the Herd. He’ll play against Raptors 905 on Friday. Bender has yet to make his Bucks debut.
- The Jazz assigned rookie guard Miye Oni to the Salt Lake City Stars, the team’s PR department tweets. The former Yale guard made his NBA debut on Monday. This is his sixth assignment to the G League club.
- The Thunder assigned center Justin Patton to the Oklahoma City Blue for practice and then recalled him, according to a team press release. Patton has already played two games with the Blue, averaging 6.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.5 APG and 4.5 in 23.4 MPG. He’s appeared in one game with the Thunder this season.
Once the Trail Blazers make their deal with Carmelo Anthony official, only seven teams around the NBA will have open spots on their rosters. Six of those clubs have openings on their standard 15-man squads, while the seventh has an available two-way slot.
Typically, in the first half of an NBA season, some teams keep a roster spot open to retain flexibility and to avoid paying a player who hardly ever actually sees the court. However, whether it’s a result of an increased focus on player development or a steady stream of injuries league-wide, most clubs this season have taken advantage of all 17 roster spots (15 standard, two two-way) available to them.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), the six teams that haven’t signed a 15th man are all somewhat limited by their cap situations. Here are those six teams:
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors
- Miami Heat
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Orlando Magic
The Heat and Warriors literally can’t sign a 15th man unless they cut salary costs elsewhere, since they’re right up against the hard cap. The Thunder are already in the tax and – as Marks notes – the Cavaliers and Nuggets would go into the tax by signing one more player. The Magic wouldn’t technically become a projected taxpayer by adding a 15th man, but they’re close enough to that threshold that it makes sense for them to hold off until they really need to fill that spot.
There’s just one team that hasn’t used both of its two-way contract openings:
- Phoenix Suns
The Suns have their own G League affiliate, so it’s not clear why they haven’t yet taken advantage of that second two-way contract slot. The deadline for teams to sign players to two-way contracts is January 15 — it’s a pretty safe bet that Phoenix will sign a second two-way player by that point.
In total, 450 standard roster spots and 60 two-way slots are typically available during the NBA season, for a total of 510 players on 30 teams. Currently, 504 players are on standard contracts or two-way deals (the Nets are carrying an 18th man while Wilson Chandler serves his 25-game suspension), leaving few NBA job opportunities up for grabs unless teams start making cuts.
- The Thunder have recalled Justin Patton from the Oklahoma City Blue, according to a team press release. The injury-plagued third year center out of Creighton has also played just six minutes in one game this season, a 120-92 October 27th rout of the Warriors.
Knicks management has reportedly been put on notice with owner James Dolan expecting the front office to make “progress” in order for several members of the front office to keep their jobs. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News hears that if New York finds itself hiring a new head of basketball operations, the team’s wish list begins with Raptors team president Masai Ujiri and Thunder GM Sam Presti.
Dolan has long been a fan of Ujiri’s. The Wizards took a stab at prying the executive from Toronto this past offseason with no success. Perhaps Dolan believes the Knicks will have better luck.
Presti has been with Oklahoma City for 12 seasons and he has arguably the most unique resume of any GM in the league. He drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden to build a true contender and after each player left has molded a different team, ranging from contender to mid-tier playoff team to one in a rebuild again.
Bondy also mentions Trajan Langdon – who helped the Nets turn their franchise around before moving onto the Pelicans – and Kiki Vandeweghe – who currently works in the league office – as potential targets. Bondy hears that Vandeweghe would have interest in the job.
Chris Paul was sent to the Thunder this offseason and the move doesn’t seem to sit well with him. The point guard recently sat down with Kevin Hart and the comedian asked Paul if any trade he’s been involved in has felt like he was “stabbed in the back” — CP3’s response was noteworthy.
“Absolutely,” Paul said of having the feeling of being stabbed in the back (via Dan Feldman of NBC Sports). “This last situation was one of them. The GM there in Houston, he don’t owe me nothing. You know what I mean? He may tell me one thing but do another thing. But you just understand that that’s what it is.”
Back in June, GM Daryl Morey told the media that he would not trade Paul and ended up dealing him and a pair of first-rounders to OKC for Russell Westbrook this summer. Paul has been traded three times in his career (four if you include the Lakers veto).
Zach Collins hasn’t given up on playing this season, Casey Holdahl of the team’s website tweets. “For sure, it’s very realistic,” Collins told Holdahl. However, the Trail Blazers big man faces a long rehab after undergoing shoulder surgery last week. He’s expected to miss at least four months, which leaves only about a month before the end of the regular season in a best-case scenario.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- Anthony Davis is playing through right shoulder pain, an injury he suffered on a missed dunk attempt two weeks ago, Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays. “There’s really never a play I don’t feel it,” Davis said. He hasn’t missed any games due to the injury and that will continue as long as he doesn’t aggravate it, according to Mark Medina of USA Today. “If he can be out there, he’s going to be out there,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s going to play through pain. We just got to make sure that it’s being done intelligently.”
- Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard is content to stay the course with the Trail Blazers rather than joining forces with superstars in other organizations, as he explained to Medina in a separate story. Lillard signed a four-year, $196MM extension during the summer. “I just feel like there’s always a reward at the end. When you do things the right way and you do the work, you’re going to get the results,” Lillard said. “I really believe that. We’ve gotten the results. Even after failures, we come back and answer to it. We’re staying the course. That’s worth it to me.”
- Clippers adviser Jerry West rubber-stamped the Paul George blockbuster with the Thunder and explained why to Sam Amick of The Athletic. The Clippers gave up five first-rounders, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari. “Everybody talks about all the draft picks we gave away. Well, we did give a lot of draft picks away. But two of them were not ours – period, OK?” West said. Giving up the young point guard was the hard part but worth it in West’s mind. “I think Shai is going to be an All-Star player in this league for a long time, and he’ll keep getting better. But we have two finished products right in the prime of their careers (in Kawhi Leonard and George) – or just getting in the prime of their careers,” he said.
Alec Burks doesn’t regret joining the Warriors despite their injury woes, Anthony Slater of The Athletic reports. He originally committed to the Thunder in free agency, then shifted gears when their two stars were traded. Burks signed a one-year deal with Golden State.
“I committed here for other reasons besides playing with those great players. I like the culture. I like (Warriors head coach) Steve (Kerr),” he said. “I like (GM) Bob (Myers). That’s what sold me at first. And I like the people right here that’s playing, that’s healthy. We’ll eventually get those guys back. … I’m glad where I’m at. I’m proud I made a good decision.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard was blindsided by the league revealing the nature of his knee injury while fining the team $50K for making conflicting statements about his health, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN relays. According to the league statement, Leonard is dealing with a patella tendon issue in his left knee. “I mean it was shocking, but it doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I’m not a guy that reads the media anyway. We’re going to manage it the best way we can to keep me healthy and that’s the most important thing, me being healthy moving forward.”
- The way the Clippers handled the Leonard load management controversy may have been sloppy but it showed that the organization has his back, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic opine. The Clippers are trying to follow the Raptors’ blueprint to success, which includes giving Leonard a number of nights off.
- Dwight Howard has emerged a legitimate candidate for the Sixth Man award, Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype writes. Not only has Howard been a force with the Lakers’ second unit, he’s also blended surprisingly well with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, according to statistical measures, Kalbrosky adds. Howard, working on a non-guaranteed contract, is averaging 6.7 PPG, 7.9 RPG and 2.1 BPG in 21.7 MPG.
- Kings center Harry Giles was medically cleared to play just prior to the team’s game against the Hawks on Friday, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee reports. Giles had been sidelined by left knee soreness. Giles, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season since the team declined its 2020/21 option on him, scored four points in eight minutes during his season debut.
Here are Wednesday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- With Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier both dealing with injuries, the Timberwolves recalled rookie point guard Jaylen Nowell from their affiliate in Iowa, the team announced in a press release. Nowell, the 43rd pick in this year’s draft, hasn’t gotten into a game yet.
- The Jazz recalled Dante Exum and Miye Oni from their Salt Lake City affiliate, according to a tweet from the team. Exum, who is still recovering from knee surgery in March, was assigned and recalled in the same day so he could practice with the G League team. Oni, a second-round pick, was on his third assignment of the season.
- The Thunder assigned center Justin Patton to their Oklahoma City affiliate, the team announced. The first-round pick in 2017 has gotten into one game this season and played six minutes.