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Shaedon Sharpe Intends To Participate In 2023 Dunk Contest

January 5th, 2023 at 10:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Trail Blazers rookie shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe is set to partake in the 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Sharpe has made 29 dunks thus far this season, tweets Clutch Points.

Portland selected the 6’6″ swingman out of Kentucky with the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft. The 19-year-old has emerged as an exciting athletic addition off the bench for the Trail Blazers. Through 36 games this season, he is averaging 7.9 PPG on .477/.348/.625 shooting splits, along with 2.5 RPG, in 19.7 MPG.

All-Star Weekend will tip off on February 17 this year in Salt Lake City. The dunk contest will be one of three events during the weekend’s Saturday night slate on February 18, along with the Skills Challenge and the 3-Point Contest.

Northwest Notes: Edwards, Gay, Green, Watson

January 5th, 2023 at 8:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

As the Timberwolves deal with injuries and disappointing box scores alike, it has become clear that 21-year-old shooting guard Anthony Edwards should be the one to lead them, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

“All leaders have one thing in common,” head coach Chris Finch said. “People follow them.”

Krawczynski notes that Edwards is not without flaw, citing the swingman’s at-times questionable shot profile and occasional defensive gaffes. But over the past 10 contests, Edwards has emerged as the Wolves’ most reliable healthy player, averaging 28.1 PPG on 54.7% field goal shooting, 8.0 RPG, 5.6 APG, and 1.5 SPG.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Although veteran Jazz power forward Rudy Gay has been putting up modest numbers for Utah, he has been a huge contributor beyond the traditional stats. The 6’8″ forward is helping the club achieve a net rating of +12.9 when he’s on the court, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. Todd notes that Gay has a strong connection with first-year Jazz head coach Will Hardy, who counts on the veteran’s leadership to help the team’s younger players.
The fractured left hand of Nuggets reserve power forward Jeff Green has been improving, reports Harrison Wind of DNR Sports (Twitter link). According nto Wind, Green has been wearing a protective glove on the hand in recent pregame shootarounds. Wind adds that Green is expected to have his hand reassessed in two weeks.
According to Wind (via Twitter), rookie Nuggets shooting guard Peyton Watson will miss the next few weeks with a strained left adductor. Denver has liked what it has seen out of Watson while he’s spent time with the team’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, per Wind.

Sixers Notes: Harris, Embiid, Thybulle, Playoffs

January 5th, 2023 at 7:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Though starting Sixers power forward Tobias Harris may want an extension from Philadelphia, it would behoove the team to keep him on his current deal to maximize its flexibility, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com opines in a new mailbag. Harris will be a free agent in the summer of 2024.

Neubeck notes that moving on from Harris for a better player would probably necessitate also including the rookie scale contract of impressive shooting guard Tyrese Maxey. Neubeck opines that the team should hold off on an extension unless it comes at a discount.

Elsewhere in the mailbag, Neubeck also discusses the possibility of the Sixers having a quiet trade deadline as they start to gel, closing lineups, and more.

There’s more out of the City of Brotherly Love:

All-NBA center Joel Embiid will be shelved for the Sixers’ next game, Friday against the Bulls, due to left foot soreness, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Pompey notes that this will mark Embiid’s second straight absence with the ailment.
Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers recently explained his decision to prioritize playing swingman Matisse Thybulle over Danuel House for the Sixers, Pompey writes in a recent article. “I just think Matisse is playing terrific defense,” Rivers said. “And it’s really helped us. He’s staying aggressive… overall, he’s been fantastic for us.”
Following a rocky start to their 2022/23 season, the Sixers have been coming on strong of late. The team currently boasts a 23-14 record this year, and is just 2.5 games behind the Celtics for the Eastern Conference’s top seed. But another year of regular season achievement is no longer the end game. The goal now must be making it beyond the second round of the playoffs, Pompey opines in a separate piece. Philadelphia’s opening night starting five of James Harden, Maxey, Harris, P.J. Tucker and Embiid has only been fully available eight times thus far, as Pompey notes. Whenever Embiid returns, Pompey believes the club will be able to fully assess its roster needs ahead of the February 9 trade deadline.

Spurs’ Devin Vassell Will Have Left Knee Scoped

January 5th, 2023 at 5:19pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Spurs guard Devin Vassell is set to have his injured left knee scoped, the team has announced in a press statement.

The third-year guard sat out San Antonio’s 117-114 loss to the Knicks Wednesday with knee soreness, and has missed three of the team’s last four games due to the issue. Head coach Gregg Popovich had previously claimed the injury would make Vassell’s status day-to-day.

San Antonio indicates that Vassell is set to go under the knife on January 11 in New York, with Dr. Riley J. Williams scheduled to operate on the pesky joint.

Through 29 games thus far in 2022/23, the 6’5″ wing is averaging a career-high 19.4 PPG on .445/.404/793 shooting splits. He is also chipping in 4.0 RPG, 3.6 APG and 1.2 SPG as the second-leading scorer for the 12-26 Spurs.

Though a recovery timeline has yet to be established, losing Vassell for any extended period will hamper the on-court product for San Antonio. Given that the Spurs have appeared open to trying their lottery luck this summer, the club may ultimately not mind a lengthy absence for one of its biggest contributors.

Reserve wing Romeo Langford started in Vassell’s stead last night against New York, and could be in line for a major uptick in minutes and touches as Vassell recuperates.

Hornets’ Kelly Oubre Undergoes Surgery On Hand

January 5th, 2023 at 5:15pm CST by Luke Adams

JANUARY 5: Oubre underwent a successful surgery on the torn ligament in his left hand, the Hornets have announced in a press release.

JANUARY 3: Hornets forward Kelly Oubre will undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Oubre is expected to be sidelined for approximately four-to-six weeks while recovering from the procedure, sources tell Charania.

Oubre appeared in each of the Hornets’ first 34 games of the season before missing three of the last four. However, according to Charania, the 27-year-old has been dealing with the hand injury since the first week of the season and has been attempting to play through the pain.

Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer wrote over the weekend that the Hornets were trying to come up with a plan for how to treat the injury, which was being referred to as a sprain. Head coach Steve Clifford said Oubre was “really sore” and “definitely needs time.” It sounds like Hornets doctors ultimately determined that surgery, rather than rest and treatment, will be the best path forward for Oubre.

Despite battling the injury, Oubre is averaging a career-high 20.2 points per game through 35 games (32.6 MPG) for Charlotte this season. His shooting percentage of 42.1% from the floor and 30.8% on three-pointers all well below his career marks though, which is perhaps an indication that the hand has been bothering him.

Oubre, earning $12.6MM this season, is in a contract year and had been considered a possible trade candidate if the Hornets decide to sell. The recovery timeline provided by Charania should put the forward on track to return sometime around the February 9 deadline, so he could still draw interest from teams looking for another piece in the wing.

Although Oubre’s absence is an unfortunate break for Charlotte, the club is healthier now than it has been for much of the season, with LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, and Terry Rozier all available after missing time earlier in 2022/23. Point guard Dennis Smith Jr. also returned to action on Monday following an 18-game absence due to an ankle injury.

Bradley Beal Out At Least One Week With Hamstring Strain

January 5th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Rory Maher

An MRI has revealed that Bradley Beal has a low-grade left hamstring strain, the Wizards announced in a press release. He will miss Washington’s next three games and will be reevaluated in one week.

Beal missed six games last month with a low-grade right hamstring strain, returned for five games, and then injured the hamstring on his other leg. He missed three games with left hamstring soreness, but aggravated it when he returned to action in Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee.

“I tried to make a few accelerations, and (it) kind of prevented me from doing that,” Beal told reporters. “It’s frustrating because I didn’t have that the last 48 hours. Nobody wants to play more than me. But I’ve just got to be smart about it.”

Through 24 games (33.6 MPG), Beal is averaging 22.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 5.2 APG and 1.0 SPG on .525/.340/.861 shooting. With Beal sidelined, players like Corey Kispert and Delon Wright could receive more minutes.

The Wizards are currently 17-22, the No. 11 seed in the East, but they only trail the Bulls by a half-game for the final play-in spot.

Pistons’ Bagley To Miss At Least Six Weeks After Hand Surgery

January 5th, 2023 at 3:45pm CST by Luke Adams

JANUARY 5, 3:45pm: Bagley underwent successful surgery on Thursday and will be reevaluated in six weeks, per the Pistons.

JANUARY 3, 7:09pm: Bagley has his two broken fingers on his right hand and will likely need surgery, Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports tweets. Bagley is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks.

JANUARY 3, 1:57pm: Pistons big man Marvin Bagley III will miss “extended time” after sustaining a right hand injury, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Wojnarowski, Bagley is undergoing additional evaluation to determine next steps, so a recovery timeline has yet to be established.

The injury occurred during the second quarter of the Pistons’ game in Portland on Friday night. Bagley was attempting to post up Blazers wing Keon Johnson and the two players got tangled up battling for position (video link). Bagley immediately grabbed his right hand in apparent pain and was seen grimacing and favoring the hand until he checked out of the game a couple possessions later. He didn’t return.

Bagley, 23, has been a regular rotation player for the Pistons this season after signing a new three-year contract with the team over the summer. In 25 appearances (13 starts), the former No. 2 overall pick has averaged 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per night.

With Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren starting alongside one another for the past few weeks, Bagley has been the first big man off the bench. In his absence, it’s possible that Nerlens Noel, who played six fourth-quarter minutes on Friday, could find his way into the rotation. The Pistons may also lean more heavily on smaller lineups, with reserve forwards like Saddiq Bey and Kevin Knox seeing additional playing time.

Celtics Trade Vonleh To Spurs; Spurs Waive Dieng, Vonleh

January 5th, 2023 at 3:18pm CST by Rory Maher

3:18pm: The trade is now official, per Boston. The Celtics acquired a future protected second-round pick from the Spurs to complete the deal.

The Spurs have waived both Dieng and Vonleh, as expected, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

1:08pm: The Celtics are trading big man Noah Vonleh and cash considerations to the Spurs, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Spurs are waiving center Gorgui Dieng to create a roster spot for Vonleh, who will also be waived, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

It’s a salary dump move for Boston, as Vonleh’s salary is non-guaranteed and would have become fully guaranteed if he remained under contract through Saturday. The Celtics will free up a roster spot and save $7.15MM toward their projected luxury tax bill, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The Celtics will also generate a small $1.16MM traded player exception, Marks notes (via Twitter). That’s the amount of guaranteed money owed to Vonleh.

The 27-year-old was a deep-bench reserve for Boston. In 23 games, he averaged just 7.4 minutes per contest. The ninth overall pick of the 2014 draft, Vonleh has played for eight different teams in as many NBA seasons. He played in China in 2021/22.

San Antonio has plenty of cap room available — $27.1MM, per Marks — to waive Dieng’s guaranteed salary without worrying about the financial implication. He was on a veteran’s minimum deal and rarely saw the court this season, appearing in just 13 games with averages of 4.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.0 APG in 11.6 MPG.

In fact, the Spurs are well below the salary cap “floor” of $111,290,000, so it was an easy decision for them from a financial standpoint — adding more money to the books just means they’ll be that much closer to the floor. If they don’t reach the threshold, the Spurs are obligated to make up the difference by distributing the shortfall to the players on their roster.

San Antonio will also open a roster spot with an eye toward flexibility ahead of the February 9 trade deadline. Since the Spurs still have so much cap room available, they’re likely to be involved in more minor trades that involve dumping salary.

The Spurs will have to send something back to Boston to make the trade official, tweets John Hollinger of The Athletic, likely something with little-to-no value, like a heavily protected second-round pick or the rights to a draft-and-stash player.

As Hollinger tweets, it’s possible that a couple more players with non-guaranteed contracts could be traded in advance of the January 7 deadline, with an eye on savings toward the luxury tax.

Celtics’ Marcus Smart Fined $35K By NBA

January 5th, 2023 at 3:06pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics guard Marcus Smart was fined $35K for “directing inappropriate language toward a game official,” the NBA announced (via Twitter).

Smart received a second technical foul and was ejected for the incident during Tuesday’s blowout loss in Oklahoma City.

The veteran guard is no stranger to fines, having been docked several times over the course of his nine-year career. The 28-year-old was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2014 draft and has spent his entire career with Boston.

Through 34 games (32.9 MPG) in 2022/23, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is averaging 11.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, a career-high 7.4 APG, and 1.3 SPG on .424/.333/.763 shooting splits. The Celtics are currently 26-12, the top record in the league.

Jae’Sean Tate To Return Thursday Following Lengthy Absence

January 5th, 2023 at 2:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate will return to action on Thursday against Utah, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). Tate will be on a minutes restriction, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link).

The 27-year-old has only appeared in three games thus far this season, having last played on October 30. He has been dealing with a right ankle injury, which was evidently quite cumbersome given his lengthy absence.

Tate re-signed with Houston on a three-year, $22.1MM deal as a restricted free agent in the offseason. In his first two NBA seasons, both with the Rockets, he averaged 11.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.1 SPG on .501/.310/.701 shooting in 148 games (135 starts, 27.7 MPG).

It will be interesting to see which players have their minutes reduced with Tate returning to the lineup — the Rockets have a lot of young forwards on their roster.