- An MRI on rookie center Mohamed Bamba‘s sore foot showed no structural damage, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Magic coach Steve Clifford said Bamba is unlikely to play this weekend, Robbins adds. The sixth overall pick sat out against Utah on Wednesday.
- Clifford is inclined to keep rookie Isaiah Briscoe in the Magic’s rotation as the backup point guard, Robbins reports in another tweet. Briscoe has averaged 17.5 MPG in the last two games, contributing 5.5 PPG and 3.5 APG. The undrafted Kentucky product has displaced Jerian Grant, who had been backing up D.J. Augustin. Briscoe’s salary is non-guaranteed after this season, while Grant could be an unrestricted free agent if the club doesn’t extend a $3.76MM qualifying offer.
- New Orleans is another team that would move its first-round pick for immediate help, particularly at small forward, according to Deveney, who says the Pelicans have had some interest in Terrence Ross. As we’ve heard previously, the Magic have indicated they’d rather move Jonathon Simmons than Ross, but Ross would have more value. If Orlando keeps slipping further from the No. 8 seed in the East, the team might become more inclined to shop Ross.
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Here are Thursday’s NBA G League assignments and recalls from across the league:
- The Wolves recalled Keita Bates-Diop from their G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, announcing the news on social media today. Bates-Diop has averaged 17.8 points and 8.9 rebounds in 16 games with Iowa this season.
- The Wizards assigned rookie Troy Brown Jr. to the Capital City Go-Go, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. Brown Jr. has averaged 18 points per contest on 49% shooting with the Go-Go.
- The Jazz assigned then later recalled Grayson Allen to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to a tweet from their PR department. Allen will miss Friday’s game against the Lakers with an ankle injury.
- The Magic have recalled Melvin Frazier Jr. from the G League, announcing the move on social media. Frazier Jr. was drafted by Orlando with the No. 35 pick last June.
- The Warriors assigned Jacob Evans lll to the team’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, the club announced in a press release. Evans lll has appeared in 21 games with Golden State this season and was drafted 28th by the team last June.
Changes are coming to Ice Cube‘s BIG3 basketball league for the 2019 season, as the BIG3 announced today (via Twitter) that it will expand from eight teams to 12. According to Ice Cube (via Twitter), the first of those four new franchises – the Triplets – will be coached by longtime WNBA star Lisa Leslie.
In other BIG3 news, the league is lowering its age minimum from 30 years to 27 and will allow current NBA or international pros to participate. The BIG3 will also play games twice a week in 2019, appearing in a total of 18 cities.
In 2018, a team featuring longtime NBA players Corey Maggette, Glen Davis, Cuttino Mobley, and Quentin Richardson – and coached by Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman – won the BIG3 title.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- In an interesting piece for SI.com, Jake Fischer takes a closer look at the pros and cons of the NBA’s stretch provision from the perspective of players impacted by it.
- Within that same story, Fischer notes that veteran NBA center Spencer Hawes continues to seek another shot in the league. “I don’t want to go out getting cut,” said Hawes, who was waived by the Bucks in September 2017. “I know it’s a rare thing to kind of go out on your terms. But I still have a lot in the tank. I don’t want to look back and say I was done at 29 and just kind of gave up on it.”
- Teams that still have mid-level and bi-annual exceptions available will see those exceptions prorate daily by 1/177th starting today, ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out (via Twitter). For instance, the $8.641MM mid-level exception will decline in value by about $49K per day for the rest of the season. Proration won’t impact trade exceptions or disabled player exceptions.
- After some confusion on Wednesday, Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days confirms (via Twitter) that Orlando’s G League affiliate has waived rookie Justin Jackson following his season-ending injury. The Lakeland Magic have added Anthony Brown to replace Jackson, notes Johnson.
Justin Jackson, a second-round pick by Orlando who is spending the year with the Lakeland Magic on a G League contract, has suffered a season-ending injury, according to a tweet from the Lakeland team.
The Magic weren’t specific about exactly what happened to Jackson, but he had a torn labrum when he played at Maryland that forced him to miss much of the 2017/18 season and kept him out of summer league action. Jackson averaged 4.5 PPG and 3.8 RPG in 10 games while shooting 34% from the floor in his first G League season.
Orlando picked up Jackson’s rights in a draft-night trade with the Nuggets, moving down from No. 41 to No. 43 and acquiring a 2019 second-round pick in the deal.
- Point guard remains the most problematic spot for the Magic, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic details. While Orlando hasn’t fallen out of the playoff race in the East yet, the club may require a trade in order to fortify its bench and avoid slipping from contention, writes Robbins. It remains to be seen whether the Magic will be buyers or sellers at the deadline.
- Magic center Timofey Mozgov underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure in his right knee, the team announced on social media. Mozgov had the surgery on Friday in Miami, with his return to basketball activity dictated on how he responds to treatment. Mosgov has yet to play a single game with Orlando this season.
- Magic coach Steve Clifford praised Aaron Gordon for his solid play in recent games, as relayed by Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel.“I think he’s playing at an incredibly high level and some nights he’s not getting as many shots, but I think it’s because he’s really locked in on just making the right play and making plays for his teammates and things like that,” Clifford said of Gordon. “I think his defense and his rebounding have been terrific and I think he’s in a stretch of games here where he’s just playing really well.”
Here are Friday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Grizzlies recalled rookie guard Jevon Carter and big man Ivan Rabb from the Memphis Hustle, the team’s PR department tweets. Carter has appeared in 13 games with the Hustle, averaging 17.8 PPG and 5.5 APG in 33.0 MPG. Rabb has played five games with the Hustle and posted averages of 23.4 PPG and 10.2 RPG in 36.7 MPG.
- The Trail Blazers transferred guard Wade Baldwin IV to the Texas Legends, according to a team press release. Baldwin has appeared in 13 games with the Trail Blazers but averaged just 5.5 MPG in those outings. He saw action in 17 games with the Legends last season. He joins forward Caleb Swanigan, who was transferred to the Legends on December 31st.
- The Timberwolves assigned rookie forward Keita Bates-Diop to the Iowa Wolves, the team’s PR department tweets. The second-round selection has already played 13 G League games, posting averages of 17.5 PPG and 9.0 RPG in 35.7 MPG.
- The Hornets recalled forward Dwayne Bacon, the re-assigned him to the Greensboro Swarm, according to team press releases. That allowed Bacon, who has appeared in 18 games with the Hornets this season, to play for the Swarm against the Lakeland Magic on Friday. He’s averaged 21.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 3.2 APG in six G League appearances.
- The Pacers recalled forward Ike Anigbogu from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, according to a team press release. In 14 games with the Mad Ants, Anigbogu posted averages of 11.6 PPG and 10.1 RPG in 29.3 MPG.
Wizards restricted free agent Tomas Satoransky has been thrust into the spotlight with John Wall opting for season-ending heel surgery, Chase Hughes on NBC Sports Washington notes. Satoransky takes over the starting point guard spot with Wall sidelined, with Chasson Randle, Ron Baker and Troy Brown Jr. in reserve. Coach Scott Brooks believes Satoransky can handle the pressure. “He’s ready for this,” Brooks said. “Tomas is going to get a great opportunity. He’s going to be more comfortable as the games go by.” Washington will need to make Satoransky a qualifying offer of $3.9MM to prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Wizards assistant coach Kristi Toliver is being paid like an intern due to NBA rules, Howard Megdal of the New York Times reports. Since Toliver plays with the Mystics, who are also owned by Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, the league determined that Toliver’s compensation must come out of the $50K allocated to each team to pay WNBA players for off-season work. Much of that had already been promised to Mystics and WNBA star Elena Delle Donne, so Toliver is only making $10K.
- The Magic will aggressively pursue a point guard in free agency, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets. Orlando has been using journeyman D.J. Augustin as its starter this season with Jerian Grant as the primary backup.
- The Hornets will likely bring back Dwayne Bacon with Jeremy Lamb injured, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets. Lamb suffered a right hamstring strain on Monday. Bacon was assigned the team’s G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, on Sunday. Bacon, a second-year swingman, has appeared in 17 games with the Hornets, averaging 5.5 PPG in 12.4 MPG.
- The Magic sent Melvin Frazier to their affiliate in Lakeland, the team announced on Twitter. This is the fifth G League trip of the year for Frazier, who has played just three games for Orlando.