Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
Here are Sunday’s assignments and recalls from across the NBA G League:
Here are Saturday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
Sunday is March 1, which is the last day that a player can be waived and retain his postseason eligibility for a new team. Although we haven’t heard many buyout rumors this week – beyond a small update on Evan Turner – it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a couple more veterans hit the waiver wire by Sunday night and become free agents next week.
Any team can sign a free agent between now and the end of the season, but teams with open roster spots have a cleaner path to doing so. And those teams are worth keeping an eye on in the coming weeks, since even if no appealing targets emerge on the buyout market, those roster spots will likely be filled at some point.
During the regular season, there are benefits to carrying 14 – or even 13 – players for long stretches, particularly for healthy teams with luxury-tax concerns. But when the postseason rolls around, there’s little downside to filling the entire roster, even if it just means adding a 15th man during the final week (or day) of the season.
With that in mind, here are the teams in the top eight in each conference that still have at least one open spot on their 15-man rosters and seem likely to sign a player between now and April 15:
Playoff teams with an open roster spot:
The Rockets are only on this list due to a technicality — Jeff Green‘s 10-day contract expired last night and he hasn’t yet officially signed his rest-of-season deal with the team. Once he does, Houston will have a full 15-man roster.
The other teams are worth keeping an eye on though. I’d guess the Thunder will save their 15th roster spot for two-way player Luguentz Dort, but the Nuggets and Clippers don’t have obvious internal candidates for promotions, so they could target a veteran free agent if they want to add a little more depth.
* As for the Grizzlies, they technically have a full 15-man roster for the time being, but Jarrod Uthoff is on a 10-day contract, so he could be replaced after it expires next weekend.
Playoff contenders with at least one open roster spot:
Of the teams within five games of a playoff spot, these are the ones with roster openings. The Trail Blazers have tax concerns and may not add a 15th man, but the Suns and Spurs are candidates to do so. Phoenix, in particular, is reportedly keeping an eye on the free agent market in the wake of Kelly Oubre‘s knee injury.
For a full breakdown of the current NBA roster counts, be sure to check out our tracker.
As we’ve noted a few times leading up to this Sunday’s deadline, March 1 is the final day in an NBA season that a player can be waived and retain his playoff eligibility for a new club. Any player released after March 1 can still sign with another NBA team once he clears waivers, but he wouldn’t be able to participate in the postseason with his new team.
The playoff-eligibility rules are fairly clear for players on standard NBA contracts, but how exactly do they work for players on two-way contracts? Let’s take a closer look…
1. Players on two-way contracts aren’t eligible for the postseason.
We’ll start with the simplest rule — a player on a two-way contract can’t play for his team in the postseason, even if he hasn’t used up his full allotment of 45 NBA days. A two-way player can travel and practice with the team during the playoffs, but has to remain on the inactive list during games.
2. Two-way players waived after March 1 aren’t eligible to play in the postseason for a new team.
The same waiver rules that apply to players on standard NBA contracts apply to players on two-way deals when it comes to playoff eligibility. If a player on a two-way contract is waived after this Sunday, but before the end of the regular season, he won’t be eligible to join another team for the postseason.
Although these first two rules significantly restrict the ability of two-way players to participate in the playoffs, it’s still possible for a player who is on a two-way contract next week to play in the postseason.
3. A player on a two-way contract who has his contract turned into a standard NBA deal by his current team any time up until the last day of the regular season can play in the postseason for that team.
Rookie wing Luguentz Dort, who has started the last 15 games for the Thunder, is the most obvious example this season of a two-way player who has contributed to his team’s success and could have a role in the playoffs.
If the Thunder want to ensure they’ll have Dort available for the postseason, they could unilaterally convert his two-way deal into a standard, one-year NBA contract or negotiate a standard, multiyear pact anytime between now and the end of the regular season. As long as a two-way player gets moved to the 15-man roster on or before the last day of the regular season, he’s eligible to participate in the playoffs.
Oklahoma City is in a pretty good position to make this move with Dort. The team has an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no one would have to be released to make room. The Thunder also have a portion of their mid-level exception available, so they could potentially negotiate a contract of up to three years with the first-year swingman if he’s open to it.
Moving Dort to the 15-man roster would increase the Thunder’s projected tax bill, which may dissuade them from promoting him sooner rather than later. But if OKC were to make a move near the very end of the season, the effect on the club’s cap and tax bill would be minimal. If the Thunder want Dort available in the postseason, they have a clear path to making it happen.
[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Although these eligibility rules for two-way players shouldn’t create any problems for most of the league’s 30 teams, the Thunder represent at least one team that has a decision to make before season’s end. In order to make a player on a two-way contract available for the postseason, a club will have to convert that player to a standard NBA deal by April 15.
For more information on how two-way contracts work, be sure to check out our full glossary entry.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The trade rumors that surrounded Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari throughout the 2019 offseason and at the start of the ’19/20 season died down to some extent as the team moved into playoff position. However, Oklahoma City appeared to come close to sending Gallinari to Miami at the trade deadline, with reports suggesting that failed extension talks between the veteran and the Heat playing a large role in scuttling the deal.
Moving from OKC to Miami would have meant leaving one playoff team for another, but Gallinari still was glad to stick with the Thunder, as he said during an appearance on the Daily Thunder Podcast.
“I really wanted to stay to stay here,” he said. “[It would be] tough to leave such a great atmosphere, great teammates, a group that is winning… I wanted to stay.”
Gallinari is on an expiring contract and projects to be one of the best free agents available this summer. Still, with so little league-wide cap room available, there’s a chance that Gallinari’s Bird rights will put the Thunder in the driver’s seat to hang onto the Italian forward. He suggested during his Daily Thunder appearance that he’d welcome that outcome.
“I hope so,” he said when asked if re-signing with the Thunder is in play. “It’s not the time now to talk with the team. But in the summer, it’s going to be interesting for me… Definitely, it could be a great option for me to stay here.”
Here’s more out of OKC:
In an interview with Georgios Kyriakidis of TalkBasket, former Thunder guard Alex Abrines says he hasn’t given up on a potential return to the NBA.
Abrines returned to Spain after being released and signed with Barcelona in July. He picked up a high-profile teammate in former NBA forward Nikola Mirotic, and the team is cruising through the EuroLeague with a 19-6 record.
“I think I needed a change, although I had some great times in Oklahoma,” Abrines said. “After what happened with my depression, it was tough. I needed a change, to come back home and I think FC Barcelona was the best team. I knew the club, I have friends in Barcelona and it’s pretty close to my hometown. I needed a change of air.”
Abrines describes European basketball as more intense than the NBA because the schedule is shorter and each game is more important. He also “missed playing for so many trophies,” with the King’s Cup, the Spanish League title and the Euroleague all at stake, rather than just the NBA championship.
Still, Abrines enjoyed the chance to compete against the best players in the world and would consider an NBA return in 2021 once he hits free agency again. He signed with Barcelona for two years, along with a third-year option.
“I haven’t closed the door on the NBA,” he said. “Right now, I’m focused on FC Barcelona. I’ve got one more year with them, but you never know what’s going to happen in the future. If I got the chance to go back, maybe I would take it. But it’s not an answer that I have right now.”