- Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has revealed that star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is still grappling with a “significant” plantar fascia tear, tweets Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman. “It’s not something that you should really mess around with,” Daigneault said. “If we got aggressive with him, it could compromise him long term, which makes no sense for us for a player that is as important to our franchise as he is.” Gilgeous-Alexander has been sidelined since March with the injury.
The 2020/21 NBA regular season will come to an end on May 16. That means that there are just 14 days left in the season, and just four more days left to sign a player to a 10-day contract. As of this Friday (May 7), a 10-day deal would technically cover the remainder of the season.
With the playoffs around the corner, it makes sense that the number of active 10-day contracts around the NBA has been on the decline. The number of league-wide roster openings is also dwindling.
Here are the 10-day contracts that are currently active:
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Charlie Brown Jr. (runs through May 4)
- Orlando Magic: Ignas Brazdeikis (runs through May 11)
- Brooklyn Nets: Mike James (runs through May 12)
Of those three players, Brown is the only one who will technically be eligible to sign another 10-day contract when his current pact expires.
Meanwhile, with players like Austin Rivers, Mfiondu Kabengele, Anthony Tolliver, Yogi Ferrell, and Freddie Gillespie signing rest-of-season contracts within the last several days, more and more teams now have full 15-man rosters and may be done making roster moves this season.
The following teams still have at least one open spot on their 15-man squads:
- Golden State Warriors (2)
- Miami Heat
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- New York Knicks
- Portland Trail Blazers
- San Antonio Spurs
- Washington Wizards
In addition to these clubs, the Nets, Magic, and Thunder would each have a roster opening if they don’t retain the players on 10-day contracts noted above. The Knicks just opened their 15th roster spot on Sunday night, when Jared Harper‘s 10-day deal expired.
While many of these teams figure to fill their rosters before the regular season ends – either with a developmental prospect or one more veteran for postseason depth – the Warriors are the only club here that must add at least one more player. Teams are only permitted to dip below 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time. Since Golden State was carrying Gary Payton II on a 10-day deal up until last Thursday, they’ll have until next Thursday (May 13) to re-add a 14th man.
The following teams also have an open two-way contract slot, which they may or may not fill during the season’s final two weeks:
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Phoenix Suns
- Toronto Raptors
With the Thunder now officially eliminated from play-in tournament contention, the rebuilding team appears open to developing some of its less-heralded young prospects. According to head coach Mark Daigneault, 6’6″ second-year shooting guard Charlie Brown Jr. will start and receive significant run while on a 10-day deal with the club, tweets Cameron Jourdan of the Oklahoman.
Brown inked a two-way deal with the Hawks after going undrafted out of St. Joseph’s for the 2019/20 season. So far with the Thunder, he’s averaging 16.0 MPG across three games.
- Charlie Brown Jr. is looking to make the most of his 10-day audition with the Thunder, a team he worked out for prior to the 2019 draft, as Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman details. Meanwhile, in a separate story, Mussatto writes about Gabriel Deck‘s “welcome to the NBA” moment during his debut on Thursday — the Argentinian forward was matched up with Zion Williamson during his first few minutes in the NBA.
Since the NBA’s 10-day signing window for the 2020/21 season officially opened in February, a total of 54 separate 10-day deals have been finalized. Many of those signings have be completed since the trade deadline passed a month ago — 36 10-day contracts have been signed in April alone.
With so much action on the 10-day market, we’re taking a little time today to check in on the 10-day deals that are still active, exploring which of those players are eligible for additional 10-day contracts and which teams are still shuttling players in and out of their back-end roster spots.
Here, with the help of our 10-day tracker and our roster counts page, are the players on active 10-day deals:
Players on their first 10-day contracts:
- Los Angeles Clippers: Yogi Ferrell (runs through 4/28)
- Denver Nuggets: Austin Rivers (runs through 4/29)
- Brooklyn Nets: Mike James (runs through 5/2)
- New York Knicks: Jared Harper (runs through 5/2)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Charlie Brown (runs through 5/4)
These players will all be eligible for a second 10-day contract once their current deals expire. In the case of Brown, it’s possible the Thunder would just sign him to a rest-of-season deal if they’re comfortable keeping him around, since a second 10-day deal would run through at least May 14. The regular season ends on May 16.
Players on their second 10-day contracts:
- Toronto Raptors: Freddie Gillespie (runs through 4/27)
- Portland Trail Blazers: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (runs through 4/27)
- Golden State Warriors: Gary Payton II (runs through 4/28)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Mfiondu Kabengele (runs through 4/30)
- Orlando Magic: Robert Franks (runs through 5/1)
- Update: Franks’ 10-day deal has been terminated early by the Magic.
- Philadelphia 76ers: Anthony Tolliver (runs through 5/1)
- Orlando Magic: Donta Hall (runs through 5/2)
These players won’t be eligible for a new 10-day contract when their current deals expire, since a player can’t sign three 10-day deals with the same team in a single season. It’s a safe bet that some of these players will receive rest-of-season contracts though — I’d be shocked if the Raptors let Gillespie get away, for instance.
Any team here that opts not to re-sign a player to a rest-of-season contract would open up a roster spot, which could be used on another 10-day trial before the regular season ends. Golden State and Portland are carrying just 14 players at the moment, so they’d have each two open roster spots if they don’t re-sign Payton and Hollis-Jefferson, respectively.
There are a handful of other teams that could still take advantage of the 10-day contract before the end of the season. The Heat, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs, and Wizards all have at least one open roster spot.
The Heat and Pelicans are right up against the luxury tax line and may be done with 10-days for the season, preferring rest-of-season commitments if and when they fill their roster openings. The Wolves, Spurs, and Wizards may end up going that route too, but for now they’re still decent candidates for 10-day signings.
The Kings, meanwhile, had Damian Jones on a pair of 10-day contracts before his second deal expired on Monday night. Head coach Luke Walton spoke positively about Jones’ contributions to the team, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee relays (via Twitter), so the veteran center could end up getting a rest-of-season contract. If so, Sacramento would have a full roster and would likely be done with 10-days for the season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Shooting guard Charlie Brown Jr. has inked a 10-day deal with the Thunder, according to an official team press release.
Brown, 24, went undrafted out of Saint Joseph’s in 2019, and began his NBA life as a two-way player for the Hawks for the 2019/20 season. Though he played sparingly for Atlanta (appearing in just 40 minutes across 10 games), Brown had a more robust output for Atlanta’s G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. Over 29 games, he averaged 17.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.0 APG, and 1.52 SPG across 33.2 MPG.
Earlier this season, Brown signed a training camp contract with the Timberwolves, but was cut before playing any regular season games for Minnesota.
The 6’6″ second-year wing most recently suited up in 13 games for Minnesota’s G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, during the 2021 NBAGL “bubble” season in Orlando, averaging 12.5 PPG (on 44.7% field goal shooting), 5.5 RPG, 1.9 APG and 1.69 SPG across 30.0 MPG. Brown was among several Iowa Wolves players to be suspended for two games after violating the G League’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols while in Orlando.
The Thunder had an open spot on their 15-man roster after Justin Robinson‘s second 10-day deal with the team expired.
- Gabriel Deck has arrived in Oklahoma City and is ready to begin his NBA career once he passes protocols, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. The EuroLeague standout signed a four-year contract with the Thunder on April 12. Coach Mark Daigneault said he would “try to get him right in the mix as fast as possible.”
During a wide-ranging conversation with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Suns point guard Chris Paul spoke about the presentation the Thunder made to him back in 2019 when they first acquired him from Houston.
As Paul explains, and as Amick has heard from sources, Oklahoma City presented CP3 with a comprehensive plan for how the team aimed to reduce his minutes and keep him healthy after he had dealt with multiple injuries as a Rocket. Although Paul listened to and appreciated the pitch, he wasn’t on board with the Thunder’s proposed approach, having made his own changes to his body, his routine, and his diet that he hoped would allow him to stay healthy without requiring a “load management” plan.
“At the end of the PowerPoint presentation, I said, ‘You know, I appreciate y’all coming out here, but one thing I just realized is y’all don’t know me. I don’t do premeditated rest and all this,'” Paul told Amick. “… They were looking out for me (because) they probably felt I was injury prone coming from Houston, you know? They were like, ‘You’ve played 56 games the past couple years,’ you know? I had already told them about the changes and all the stuff I made. But I get it. They hadn’t seen it.”
Paul ended up missing just two games during his year with the Thunder and raved about the organization on his way out. According to Amick, when Oklahoma City shopped the All-Star point guard last fall, the club was willing to send him somewhere he wanted to go, even if it meant taking a little less in return. Sources tell The Athletic that the Sixers believed they gained some traction on a possible deal, but Paul didn’t reciprocate Philadelphia’s interest and the Suns ultimately won out.
Here are a few more highlights from Amick’s conversation with Paul, which is worth checking out in full if you’re an Athletic subscriber:
On how his time with the Rockets ended:
“(Then-Rockets general manager) Daryl Morey had just told me a couple weeks before that that he wouldn’t trade me, that he wouldn’t trade me (to Oklahoma City). I think a lot of guys in this league, you play for a while and you feel like the team at least owes you a conversation, you know what I mean? Like, of course they can do whatever they want to. You’re under contract, but just to have a conversation with you is respectful enough, I feel. So when that didn’t happen in Houston, it was what it was.”
On potential offseason free agency and whether he might finish his career with the Suns:
“I mean first and foremost, I love it here. I don’t know how many years I’ve got left. I don’t really think about that either. I feel too good.
“Seriously, this summer, I have no clue. As much as I’m involved in the union and stuff like that, I don’t know what anybody’s teams are, (what their) caps are, I don’t know none of that stuff. I just play.”
On possibly playing for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics:
“Yeah, I’m thinking about it. I’m thinking about it. I don’t know yet. I told (Team USA director) Jerry (Colangelo) I would get with him soon. I’d seen him the other day out here in Phoenix.”
It has been nearly a month since the NBA’s trade deadline passed, but we’ve still seen a flurry of transactional activity during the last four weeks, as teams have signed and waived players ahead of the postseason.
While some clubs have full rosters and seem unlikely to make any changes between now and the end of the regular season, that’s certainly not the case across the board.
With the help of our roster counts tracker, here’s our latest look at open roster spots around the league, as of April 22:
Teams with one or more open 15-man roster spots:
- Golden State Warriors
- Miami Heat
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans (2)
- New York Knicks
- Portland Trail Blazers
- San Antonio Spurs
The Heat, Timberwolves, Knicks, and Spurs each have 14 players on standard contracts and one opening on their 15-man rosters. They’re all good bets to sign a 15th man before the season ends, either for developmental purposes or for added postseason depth.
The Warriors and Trail Blazers have 13 players apiece on standard deals, one on a 10-day contract – Gary Payton II for Golden State and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for Portland – and one open spot. Hollis-Jefferson’s 10-day pact runs through next Tuesday, while Payton’s goes through Wednesday. Once those deals expire, the Warriors and Blazers will each have up to two weeks to get back to 14 players.
Since the NBA only allows teams to dip to 13 or fewer players for up to two weeks at a time, the Pelicans are very much on the clock. They’ve been at 13 players for the last nine days, since Isaiah Thomas‘ 10-day contract expired. The expectation is that New Orleans will sign draft-and-stash prospect Didi Louzada as a 14th man by early next week.
Teams whose 15-man rosters are full due to one or more 10-day contracts:
- Cleveland Cavaliers (Mfiondu Kabengele)
- Denver Nuggets (Austin Rivers)
- Los Angeles Clippers (DeMarcus Cousins; Yogi Ferrell)
- Memphis Grizzlies (Tim Frazier)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (Justin Robinson)
- Orlando Magic (Donta Hall; Robert Franks)
- Philadelphia 76ers (Anthony Tolliver)
- Sacramento Kings (Damian Jones)
- Toronto Raptors (Freddie Gillespie)
- Washington Wizards (Jordan Bell)
These 10 teams have full 15-man rosters as of today, but that might not last long. The dozen 10-day contracts listed here will begin expiring as soon as tonight (Hall), so if those players aren’t re-signed, the clubs will have roster openings.
The Nets will also fall into this group once they officially waive LaMarcus Aldridge and sign Mike James to a 10-day deal.
Teams with an open two-way contract slot:
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Phoenix Suns
- Toronto Raptors
The Suns have only carried a single two-way player all season long, so there’s no guarantee they’ll fill their second slot before the end of the regular season.
The other teams listed here are all better candidates to do so — Cleveland (Lamar Stevens) and Toronto (Yuta Watanabe) just recently promoted two-way players to their respective 15-man rosters, while Minnesota was carrying a pair of two-way players until waiving Ashton Hagans in February.
The Cavs reportedly intend to sign Jeremiah Martin to fill their two-way opening.
- Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on Wednesday that there’s still no update on the arrival of recently-signed forward Gabriel Deck, who is being held up visa issues. “Still working through it. Trying to get him here, trying to get him locked in,” Daigneault said (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman). “We’d like to certainly have him join us and see him play for as many games as possible.”