Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Fultz, Haslem, Capela, Wizards

May 6th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Within the last two years, the Magic‘s medical staff has been tasked with helping Chuma Okeke, Jonathan Isaac, and Markelle Fultz rehab from ACL tears. As the player who suffered his injury most recently, Fultz is reassured by observing how the club’s staff has handled his teammates’ recoveries, he tells Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

“Seeing what my (team’s) medical staff has done with people who had ACL injuries, I know they have some experience with that,” Fultz said. “That also gives me a little bit of confidence going into it, and I have a little bit of a blueprint to see how it goes and how it feels. I have people to ask questions that are my peers, somebody who I can relate to, which also gives me a boost of confidence going into it knowing that they’ve come back stronger and better.”

Although Fultz won’t get back on the court until the 2021/22 season, he said his knee “feels amazing,” and he told Robbins that he can’t wait to suit up again for a Magic team that has shifted into rebuilding mode.

“It just puts another chip on my shoulder again, to come back and play for this organization and the city, and just give it my all,” the former No. 1 pick said. “(I want to) just show them the love that I have for the city and how thankful I am for the opportunities that they’ve given me.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

In what has become an annual tradition, Heat center Udonis Haslem said this week that he’s unsure whether or not he’ll play another year and that he plans to make that decision sometime after the season (Twitter link via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel). The big man, who will turn 41 next month, has signed one-year contracts with Miami for five consecutive years.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Hawks center Clint Capela passed the 1,757-minute threshold on Wednesday, making him eligible to earn a $500K bonus based on defensive rebound percentage. Capela needs that number to be higher than 30% to receive his bonus — it’s currently a league-best 34.4%, per Basketball-Reference.
Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington contends that a handful of GM Tommy Sheppard‘s roster moves – including drafting Rui Hachimura, trading for Russell Westbrook, and acquiring Daniel Gafford – have the Wizards on a positive trajectory.

Magic To Sign Admiral Schofield Via Hardship Exception

May 6th, 2021 at 10:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic intend to sign free agent forward Admiral Schofield, according to Josh Robbins and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Orlando has been granted a hardship exception, so the team won’t have to waive anyone to open up a spot on its 15-man roster for Schofield.

A team can receive a hardship exception when it has at least four players who have missed three or more games due to injury/illness and those players are expected to remain sidelined for another two weeks (or, in this case, through the end of the regular season). Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz have long been ruled out for the season, and the Magic have five other players who have missed at least three games and may not return before season’s end.

Schofield, 24, was selected with the 42nd overall pick in the 2019 draft, but lasted just one year with the Wizards. He was traded during the 2020 offseason to the Thunder, who subsequently waived him.

The former Tennessee standout signed a G League contract and was the first player selected in January’s NBAGL draft. He averaged a modest 10.1 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 14 games (26.2 MPG) for the Greensboro Swarm – Charlotte’s G League affiliate – and struggled with his shot, making only 38.2% of his attempts from the floor and 22.7% from beyond the three-point line.

Despite his inconsistent play at the Walt Disney World bubble, the Magic will take a flier on Schofield down the stretch. Robbins and Charania indicate he”ll receive a 10-day contract, which suggests the deal will be completed today — as of tomorrow, there will only be 10 days left in the regular season, so any standard contract signed after today would just be a rest-of-season arrangement.

Injury Notes: Ingram, Vucevic, LeBron, Magic

May 5th, 2021 at 9:16pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

An MRI has revealed that Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram suffered a left low-ankle sprain during the team’s 108-103 victory over the Warriors on Tuesday, the team has announced via Twitter. Ingram is set to miss Friday night’s contest against the Sixers and is considered day-to-day with the injury beyond that.

Losing Ingram, the club’s second-leading scorer behind All-Star forward Zion Williamson, could be a major blow for New Orleans as the team strives to qualify for the play-in tournament in a crowded Western Conference field. With a 30-36 record, the Pelicans currently sit just two games behind the Spurs for a shot at the play-in tournament in the West this season.

There’s more injury news from around the league:

Bulls All-Star center Nikola Vučević (adductor) was able to fully participate in a team practice today, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Head coach Billy Donovan commented that the sharp-shooting big man, who has missed the club’s last two games, “looked fine.”
Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James will miss at least the next two games and potentially more as he grapples with fresh, sharp pain in his sprained ankle, Dave McMenamin told Rachel Nichols and Richard Jefferson on ESPN’s The Jump (Twitter video link). A source informed McMenamin that James is “focusing on the big picture” right now. “Does ‘big picture’ mean two more games missed? I’m not so sure,” McMenamin said. “He is clearly prioritizing using every bit of time he can to… get back for the playoffs.”
Magic head coach Steve Clifford has indicated that five injured players could miss the rest of the 2020/21 NBA season, tweets Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. Point guard Michael Carter-Williams and power forward Chuma Okeke are both sidelined with ankle sprains. Wing James Ennis is unavailable with a sore calf. Injury-prone forward Otto Porter Jr., who has played in just 28 games this season for the Magic and Bulls, is struggling with foot pain. Swingman Terrence Ross has been felled by back spasms. “I don’t even know what the time frame [is],” Clifford conceded. “If you look at the schedule now, it’s seven games, I think it’d be 12 days, and I’m not sure even if any of those guys are that close, to be honest with you.”

Magic Sign Sindarius Thornwell To Two-Way Contract

May 4th, 2021 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have signed free agent guard Sindarius Thornwell to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. Devin Cannady has been waived in a corresponding roster move.

Thornwell, 26, spent his first two NBA seasons with the Clippers after being selected 48th overall in the 2017 draft. He later caught on with the Pelicans for the 2020 summer restart and spent much of the 2020/21 season with New Orleans as well, first on a non-guaranteed contract, then on a pair of 10-day deals. The Pels didn’t re-sign him after that, largely due to luxury tax concerns.

In 153 career games, Thornwell has averaged just 2.5 PPG and 1.3 RPG in 10.3 minutes per contest. However, his shooting percentages (.414 FG%, .348 3PT%) haven’t been too bad, and he’s considered a solid perimeter defender.

Cannady recently underwent season-ending ankle surgery and was on an expiring deal, so there was no real incentive for the Magic to keep him under contract for the rest of the 2020/21 season. I’d expect Orlando to consider him for either a new two-way deal or a spot on the team’s G League affiliate once he fully recovers from his ankle injury.

Southeast Notes: Wagner, Reddish, Hawks, Dragic

May 3rd, 2021 at 7:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Moritz Wagner has made an immediate impact with the Magic, Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel notes. Wagner signed a rest-of-the-season deal with Orlando last week and scored 24 points in a comeback win over Memphis on Saturday. Wagner was traded by Washington to Boston and then was waived before the Magic came calling.

“Getting waived isn’t fun, I’ll be honest with you,” Wagner said. “That’s totally different than getting traded. Emotionally and mentally, that’s something you’ve got to deal with and show resiliency and move on from that. So I take a lot of pride in the fact that I’m doing that, and kind of take it day by day.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Forward Cam Reddish might not realize his true potential with the Hawks, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic opines. Reddish could be part of a package to acquire a star player as the franchise aims to become a true title contender. Injuries have limited Reddish to 26 games in his second season and he didn’t shoot well prior to being sidelined in February. Reddish was the 10th overall pick in the 2019 draft.
The Hawks have been given approval to increase attendance for postseason games to 7,625 fans, approximately 45% of State Farm Arena’s full capacity, according to a team press release. The Hawks opened the season with no fans in attendance before increasing capacity to 1,300 fans on January 26 and 3,000 fans on March 13.
Goran Dragic appears to be peaking at the right time again for the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Dragic, who shined in the postseason last summer, has scored 18 points in two of his past three games. “I’m getting there, I’m getting there,” he said. “You know, still working on my confidence and everything. But the last few games, I feel awesome, my legs were there, I was running the ball more.”

Check-In On 10-Day Contracts, Open Roster Spots

May 3rd, 2021 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

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

Magic’s Steve Clifford Cleared To Return On Wednesday

May 3rd, 2021 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

Magic head coach Steve Clifford, who has been in the NBA’s health and safety protocols for over a week, has been cleared and is on track to coach the team on Wednesday vs. Boston, the team announced today (via Twitter).

We heard back on April 24 that Clifford had registered a positive test for COVID-19. However, he had just received his second vaccination shot and reportedly didn’t experience any symptoms following his diagnosis. Despite not feeling ill, Clifford had to clear the league’s protocols before being given the go-ahead to be around the Magic again.

Clifford has missed five games so far and also won’t be available for Monday’s game against the Pistons, since the team has already traveled to Detroit for that contest. He’ll be ready to go when the Magic return home to host the Celtics on Wednesday.

In Clifford’s absence, Tyrone Corbin temporarily took the reins as Orlando’s acting head coach. He has led the team to a 2-3 record so far, with wins over Cleveland and Memphis.

Examining 10 Interesting Facts About Ignas Brazdeikis

May 2nd, 2021 at 7:29pm CST by JD Shaw

Josh Cohen of NBA.com examines 10 interesting basketball facts about new Magic forward Ignas Brazdeikis, who signed a 10-day contract with the team on Sunday. Brazdeikis, the No. 47 pick in 2019, holds brief NBA experience with the Knicks and Sixers.

Magic Sign Ignas Brazdeikis To 10-Day Deal, Release Donta Hall

May 2nd, 2021 at 8:33am CST by Arthur Hill

9:39am: The Magic announced the Brazdeikis signing (via Twitter) and have released Hall from his 10-day contract a day before it would have expired.

8:33 am: Ignas Brazdeikis will sign a 10-day contract with the Magic, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

Brazdeikis, 22, started the season with the Knicks, but only played four games before being traded to the Sixers in March. He got into one game for Philadelphia, but was waived last month to open a roster spot.

In two NBA seasons, Brazdeikis has played a total of 14 games, averaging 1.4 points in 4.9 minutes per night. Most of his action has come in the G League, where he averaged 20.9 PPG and 8.1 RPG in two seasons with Westchester.

Orlando has a full roster, with Donta Hall‘s second 10-day contract expiring later today, so it appears Hall won’t be signed for the rest of the season. The 23-year-old big man got into eight games for the Magic, averaging 3.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per night.

Steve Clifford "Feels Great" As He Waits To Return

May 1st, 2021 at 6:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

Magic head coach Steve Clifford continues to be sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19, but acting coach Tyrone Corbin said Clifford “feels great,” tweets Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel. Corbin said Clifford is still not showing any symptoms of the virus and his oxygen numbers remain good.