- Magic forward Gary Clark hopes his defensive skills and rebounding will allow him to stick with the club, as he told David Yapkowitz of Basketball Insiders. Clark signed a 10-day contract after getting waived by the Rockets. “Just bringing some energy and knocking down shots. Being versatile defensively, being able to switch on multiple guys if need be, and use my athleticism,” Clark said. “Knocking down shots is one thing, but my activity on the glass on both ends has been solid.”
- Sixers coach Brett Brown is pleased that 2017 No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz has revived his career with the Magic after his struggles in Philadelphia, Rich Hofmann of The Athletic tweets. “From a human standpoint, with complete sincerity, you’re happy for him,” Brown said. “It’s a journey that none of us could have imagined and good for him. Like he didn’t blink, he kept moving forward and I wish him well.”
- With Michael Carter-Williams still battling a shoulder injury and fellow point guard D.J. Augustin out for at least the next three or four weeks with a knee issue, Magic head coach Steve Clifford said he’d speak to president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman about whether or not the team will make a roster move, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Orlando has a full 15-man roster, but Gary Clark is on a 10-day contract.
The Magic will be without their primary backup point guard for at least the next few weeks, announcing on Thursday night in a press release that D.J. Augustin has been diagnosed with left knee bone irritation after undergoing an MRI.
Augustin will be re-evaluated in about three or four weeks, according to the Magic, who say that the veteran’s return will depend on how he responds to treatment.
It’s a tough turn of events for the Magic, who have had to deal with an increasing number of injuries in recent weeks. With forwards Jonathan Isaac and Al-Farouq Aminu on the shelf with long-term ailments, the club signed Gary Clark to a 10-day contract earlier this week, parting ways with point guard Josh Magette, since it seemed at the time as if Augustin was good to go.
However, Augustin’s knee pain returned and his injury now may sideline him until next month’s All-Star break. While Markelle Fultz has been a pleasant surprise for Orlando this season, enjoying one of the best games of his career on Wednesday, he’s the team’s only healthy point guard at the moment, as Michael Carter-Williams continues to be nagged by a shoulder injury.
The Magic would only qualify for a hardship exception – allowing them to add a 16th man – if Carter-Williams still projects to miss at least two more weeks after Augustin sits for a third consecutive game on Saturday. So the team may have to make do with its current roster and wait for MCW and Augustin to get healthy.
Augustin, whose numbers are down this season after an impressive 2018/19 campaign, will be looking to finish the season strong once he returns from his knee injury, as the Magic make a playoff push and he prepares for unrestricted free agency.
- One day after they ended point guard Josh Magette‘s 10-day contract, the Magic find themselves without D.J. Augustin (knee) and Michael Carter-Williams (shoulder) for Wednesday’s game vs. the Lakers. Asked about that roster decision, head coach Steve Clifford admitted that the return of Augustin’s knee soreness “caught us totally off-guard,” tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Magette 10-day deal would’ve run through January 20 if it hadn’t been terminated early.
The Magic have made a change at the back of their roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed forward Gary Clark to a 10-day contract, waiving guard Josh Magette to create room on their 15-man squad.
The timing of the move is interesting, as Magette signed a 10-day deal of his own on Saturday and had seven days left on it. He’ll still get his full 10-day salary ($81,678) despite his stint in Orlando being cut short.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors’ 10-Day Contract Tracker]
While it’s unclear why the Magic moved on early from Magette, who had spent most of the season on a two-way deal, the team may have felt it had to move quickly to lock up Clark. Perhaps he had a two-way contract offer on the table from another team and had to make a decision on it by Wednesday’s two-way signing deadline.
Clark became a free agent last week when he was waived by the Rockets before his 2019/20 salary became guaranteed. After emerging as a rotation player as a rookie in Houston last season, the 25-year-old saw his minutes reduced down the stretch in 2018/19 and didn’t have a major role in ’19/20 either. In total, he appeared in 69 games for the Rockets over two seasons, averaging 3.2 PPG and 2.3 RPG with a .348/.312/.929 shooting line in 12.4 minutes per contest.
Clark’s new 10-day contract will run through January 23, giving him a chance to be active for up to five games with the Magic. He’ll help provide frontcourt depth with Jonathan Isaac and Al-Farouq Aminu on the shelf.
The Magic have signed Josh Magette to a 10-day contract and Vic Law to a two-way deal, the team announced on Twitter.
Magette had been playing on a two-way contract that he signed with Orlando in July. He has appeared in eight NBA games this season and is averaging 1.5 PPG in 4.8 minutes per night. The 30-year-old point guard posted a 19.0/4.7/9.3 line in 14 games with the Magic’s G League affiliate in Lakeland. He got into 18 games with the Hawks as a two-way player during the 2017/18 season.
With Magette’s two-way spot freed up, the Magic added Law, a 24-year-old forward out of Northwestern. Law, who was in training camp with Orlando and was waived prior to the start of the season, has impressed team officials with a strong season in Lakeland, where he’s averaging 18.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per night.
January is generally a month full of roster shuffling in the NBA. The opening of the 10-day contract period (January 5), the salary guarantee deadline (January 7), the two-way contract deadline (January 15), and the upcoming trade deadline (February 6) all incentivize teams to make changes to their rosters.
With those dates in mind, we’re taking a look today at which teams around the NBA still have openings on their 15-man rosters and which ones have a two-way contract slot available.
Listed below, with the help of our roster counts breakdown, are the teams that aren’t carrying full rosters.
Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors
- Note: The Warriors have two open roster spots.
- Houston Rockets
- Miami Heat
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Orlando Magic
- Portland Trail Blazers
Not carrying a full 15-man roster saves a team some money and gives that team the flexibility to add a player in a trade or on the buyout market. For most the teams listed above, the financial factor probably outweighs the roster-flexibility factor — the Warriors, Rockets, Heat, Thunder, and Trail Blazers are all in tax territory, while the Nuggets are close. Only the Magic don’t have immediate tax concerns.
It’s worth noting that because Golden State has two open roster spots, the team has a two-week window after waiving Marquese Chriss on Tuesday to get to the required minimum of 14 players. They’re expected to promote two-way player Damion Lee, which would open up a two-way contract slot.
Teams whose full 15-man rosters include at least one 10-day contract:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Brooklyn Nets
- Cleveland Cavaliers
Paul Watson is currently on a 10-day contract with the Hawks, while Justin Anderson has one with the Nets. Those deals will expire at the end of the day on January 15, so each team could open up a roster spot at that point by not re-signing Watson or Anderson to a second 10-day pact.
As for the Cavaliers, they have two players on 10-day contracts after re-signing Alfonzo McKinnie and Tyler Cook on Thursday. Those deals will run through January 18, at which time Cleveland could re-sign one or both players, or move forward with just 13 players for up to two weeks.
Teams with an open two-way contract slot:
- Phoenix Suns
The Suns have been the only NBA team carrying just one two-way player all season long. Phoenix has its own G League affiliate and two-way contracts don’t count against the cap at all, so the franchise’s motivation for not filling that spot remains unclear. While there’s no indication a move is imminent, it would be surprising if the Suns don’t sign a second two-way player before the January 15 deadline.
- “There is chatter coming from Orlando” related to forward Aaron Gordon, one executive tells Amick. However, a source with knowledge of the Warriors‘ activity gave Amick a hard “no” when asked specifically about the possibility of the Magic trading Gordon for D’Angelo Russell. Another source said a Russell deal is “unlikely” to happen this season, Amick adds.
[SOURCE LINK]
Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Pacers assigned Victor Oladipo to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for practice as part of his injury rehab, per the team (Twitter link). Oladipo is targeting a January 29 return to action.
- The Magic assigned swingman Melvin Frazier to the G League, according to the team (Twitter link). Frazier has bounced back and forth between the NBA and NBAGL this season, with 11 appearances for Orlando and three for Lakeland.
- After re-signing him to a 10-day contract today, the Cavaliers sent Tyler Cook to the Canton Charge, the team noted in a press release. We have more on Cook’s new deal right here.
- The Clippers assigned rookies Mfiondu Kabengele and Terance Mann to the G League, the club announced today. The Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario are in action on Thursday night and both Kabengele and Mann are in the starting lineup for L.A.’s affiliate.
- According to the G League’s assignment log, the Sixers sent Zhaire Smith to the Delaware Blue Coats today, while the Jazz assigned Miye Oni to the Salt Lake City Stars.
The Magic have applied for a pair of disabled player exceptions, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has requested DPEs for both Al-Farouq Aminu and Jonathan Isaac.
As we outline in our glossary entry on the disabled player exception, a team can apply for a DPE to replace a seriously injured player. In order for the exception to be granted, an NBA-designated physician must determine that the player is “substantially more likely than not” to be sidelined through at least June 15 of the current league year.
The Magic haven’t announced specific recovery timetables for Aminu and Isaac, simply ruling both players out indefinitely. The club said last Thursday that Isaac’s knee injury would be re-evaluated in eight-to-10 weeks and said yesterday that Aminu’s knee injury would be re-evaluated in 12 weeks.
If the NBA determines that both players are likely to be sidelined through June 15, the resulting disabled player exceptions would allow the Magic to sign replacement players for 50% of the injured players’ salaries. A DPE, which doesn’t give a team an extra roster spot, can also be used to acquire a player on an expiring contract via trade or waivers if his salary fits into the exception.
A disabled player exception for Aminu would be worth $4,629,000, while one for Isaac would be worth $2,903,220.
The Magic are far enough below the tax line that they could safely use one or both of those exceptions to make a play for a free agent. I wouldn’t expect Orlando to be a top choice for the highest-profile veterans on the buyout market this winter, so the club’s ability to offer well above the minimum could come in handy when recruiting those players.
The deadline to use a disabled player exception is March 10. The Wizards, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Nets all have DPEs available.