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Lakers’ Wood To Be Reevaluated In Two Weeks; LeBron To Miss Thursday’s Game

February 21st, 2024 at 9:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

9:34pm: The Lakers are optimistic that Wood’s injury is relatively minor and that he won’t miss more than a couple weeks, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link).

7:15pm: Lakers backup big man Christian Wood has been diagnosed with swelling in his left knee and will be reevaluated in about two weeks, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

Wood has appeared in 50 of the team’s first 56 games and was able to play 16 minutes last Wednesday in L.A.’s final game before the All-Star break. He’s averaging 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per night in his first season with the Lakers.

The team is listing LeBron James as out for Thursday’s game with Golden State due to the peroneal tendinopathy in his left ankle that has been affecting him for a while. He also missed last Wednesday’s contest and sat out the second half of Sunday’s All-Star Game.

James has been receiving treatment on the ankle this week, but it hasn’t responded well enough for him to take the court. Thursday will mark the eighth game he has missed this season, and it comes at a crucial time as the Warriors are just a game-and-a-half behind L.A. in the Western Conference play-in race.

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Sixers Notes: Lowry, Batum, Melton, Embiid, Covington

February 21st, 2024 at 8:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

Philadelphia native Kyle Lowry wasn’t hoping to play for the Sixers earlier in his career, but he feels ready now, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Lowry, who had his first practice with his new team on Wednesday and is expected to be ready for Thursday’s game, explained why he didn’t try to join the Sixers before now.

“You never want to play at home because there’s so much going on. It’s a hard place to play when you go back home,” Lowry said. “But at the end of the day, it’s a dream come true, because I’m actually being able to play in front of my friends and family and people I cheered [for] as a Sixers fan growing up. Now, I’m prepared to do it. When you’re younger, you’re not really prepared to do it. But at this in my time in my career, I’m prepared to do it.”

Coach Nick Nurse told Bontemps that Lowry looked sharp at practice and is already familiar with much of the system after their time together in Toronto. The 37-year-old point guard said he understands his duties, which are to get the most out of Tyrese Maxey and provide some veteran wisdom as the team prepares for the playoffs.

“My job is to do everything I can to make this team and this organization better,” Lowry stated. “No matter what the role is, what the minutes are, what the situation is. My job is to be a professional and help Tyrese get better, help this team get better, help coach get better and help everybody get better.”

There’s more from Philadelphia:

  • The Sixers’ injury situation appears to be improving, Bontemps adds. Nicolas Batum, who has been sidelined since last month with a strained left hamstring, is listed as questionable for Thursday, and De’Anthony Melton, who’s dealing with a back issue, is expected to return soon. “There were two or three starters, sometimes four starters, not playing, so we certainly need some of those starting guys back,” Nurse said.
  • The team remains optimistic that Joel Embiid will be able to return from his meniscus injury before the end of the regular season, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said on NBA Today (Twitter link from Philly Sixers Galaxy). “They don’t want to put any time frame on it until he starts ramping up,” Shelburne said, “but I’m told he went to practice [yesterday], he got there early to see how everything was in the morning … his enthusiasm is there.”
  • Robert Covington hopes to be able to increase his on-court activities during the next two to three weeks, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He’s suffering from a bone bruise in his left knee and will be reevaluated in 10-to-14 days, Pompey adds.
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Central Notes: Giannis, Gallinari, Pistons, Haliburton

February 21st, 2024 at 5:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said former coach Adrian Griffin was “figuring things out” before the team fired him last month, but he’s enjoying the security of having Doc Rivers in charge, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Antetokounmpo felt like he had to become a more vocal locker room leader earlier in the season with a first-time head coach running the team. That responsibility has eased, and Antetokounmpo expressed full confidence in Rivers’ ability to get the team ready for the postseason.

“We have to keep on evolving. We don’t have to change our identity,” he said. “Of course, we gotta be stronger. We gotta be tougher. I have to play better. I have to see the game better. But we have to keep on evolving. We have to add coach Doc’s philosophy with what has been working and hopefully can create a great mix for the next 25 games that we have and compete in the playoffs.”

Another major difference for Milwaukee will be the presence of Damian Lillard, a supreme scorer with the ability to take over playoff games. Antetokounmpo and Lillard had discussions about the direction of the season while they were in Indianapolis for All-Star Weekend, Nehm adds.

“I am his biggest fan,” Antetokounmpo said. “Good or bad, I ride with Dame until the f—ing end. I ride with Dame. Like I’ve been saying this over and over again. This. Is. His. Team. Down the stretch, he’s going to get the ball. There’s nothing else that we will do. I don’t know how else to put it. I don’t know what else to say. But at the end of the day, he has to believe it too.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

  • Coach Billy Donovan talked to Danilo Gallinari about joining the Bulls before he opted to sign with Milwaukee, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Donovan, who coached Gallinari during the 2019/20 season in Oklahoma City, said the veteran forward was looking for a situation with a greater opportunity for playing time.
  • Pistons coach Monty Williams said winning as many games as possible will be the priority for the rest of the season, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “I’m not going to be throwing certain combinations on the floor just to see how they look,” Williams said. “We’re done with that … we’ll be competing.”
  • Tyrese Haliburton had been listed as questionable with a hamstring issue for every game since January 30, but he’s not on the Pacers‘ injury report for Thursday’s contest with Detroit, tweets Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Aaron Nesmith will miss the game with a sprained right ankle, while Jalen Smith is questionable due to back spasms.
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Pistons Waive Malcolm Cazalon

February 21st, 2024 at 4:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons have created a two-way roster opening by waiving Malcolm Cazalon, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The 6’6″ shooting guard signed with Detroit last summer after going undrafted. He appeared in just one NBA game back in November and averaged only 9.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 14 regular season contests with the G League’s Motor City Drive.

Cazalon, 22, started his professional career in his native France in 2018, playing for JL Bourg, before moving on to teams in Belgium and Serbia. He originally declared for the NBA draft in 2022 before withdrawing his name and deciding to wait a year.

March 4 is the deadline to sign players to two-way contracts, so the Pistons will likely make a move before then.

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Knicks Notes: Randle, Anunoby, Robinson, Hartenstein, More

February 21st, 2024 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said on Tuesday that Julius Randle continues to make “good, steady progress” in his recovery from a dislocated right shoulder, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv. One day later, speaking publicly on Wednesday for the first time since suffering the injury, Randle told reporters that he’s feeling “better and stronger” than he was earlier in the month, according to Peter Botte of The New York Post.

However, neither Thibodeau nor Randle indicated that the possibility of season-ending surgery is off the table.

“I mean, we’ll see. There’s still necessary steps. It’s a process to everything. I have to weigh out everything ultimately and decide from there,” Randle said. “But right now I’m just focused on trying to avoid (surgery), obviously, and get back on the court as soon as I can.”

Even if Randle is able to return to action this season without undergoing surgery, it’s unclear if he’ll be able to avoid a procedure on the shoulder in the offseason, Botte writes.

“I’ve heard many different opinions. Both, so we’ll see,” Randle said when asked about that scenario. “I like how I feel today as far as getting better, feeling stronger, progressing to where I need to be, as far as getting on the court.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

  • While Randle’s recovery timeline remains very much up in the air, another injured Knicks forward – OG Anunoby – said on Tuesday that he “for sure” expects to return before the end of the regular season and be available for the playoffs, according to Botte. Anunoby, who underwent a procedure on his right elbow a couple weeks ago, is expected to be reevaluated around March 1 and to resume on-court activities not longer after that, a league source tells Fred Katz of The Athletic.
  • Within that same Athletic story, Katz says center Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) is on track to resume on-court work not long after the All-Star break, though it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll return this season. Katz adds that big man Isaiah Hartenstein doesn’t view the Achilles injury he has been nursing as a serious issue.
  • Hartenstein, Donte DiVincenzo (hamstring), and Bojan Bogdanovic (calf) all returned to practice on Tuesday and went through a second day of workouts on Wednesday, according to Thibodeau, who said that all three players remain on track to return on Thursday (Twitter link via Steve Popper of Newsday).
  • During a Boardroom.tv discussion (YouTube link) between Kevin Durant and longtime business partner Rich Kleiman, the duo confirmed that Kleiman badly wanted Durant to sign with the Knicks as a free agent in 2019, when the star forward instead chose to join the Nets.
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Nets Sign Jaylen Martin To Two-Way Contract

February 21st, 2024 at 3:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

FEBRUARY 21: The Nets have officially signed Martin to a two-way contract, according to an announcement from the team (Twitter link).

FEBRUARY 20: The Nets are signing swingman Jaylen Martin to a two-way deal, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. It’ll be a two-year contract, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

Martin has been playing for the Knicks’ NBA G League team in Westchester. 

The rookie signed a two-way contract with New York over the summer after going undrafted out of the Overtime Elite league, but he was waived before the 2023/24 season began. Martin signed another two-way deal with the Knicks in late November, then was cut again in December. He has yet to make his NBA debut.

Martin has averaged 15.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 27.9 minutes through 15 appearances with Westchester, including eight starts. Brooklyn had an open two-way spot, so the team won’t need to make a corresponding move.

Jalen Wilson and Keon Johnson are the Nets’ other two-way players. Brooklyn still has an opening on its 15-man roster, which Wilson has made a strong case for as of late.

New Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie coached Martin in the Overtime Elite program.

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Karlo Matkovic Joins Pelicans’ G League Team

February 21st, 2024 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Croatian big man Karlo Matkovic has joined the Birmingham Squadron, the Pelicans‘ G League team, according to the league’s official transaction log (hat tip to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype).

Matkovic was selected 52nd overall in the 2022 NBA draft by the Pelicans, who still control his NBA rights. He had remained overseas since that draft, spending this season with KK Cedevita Olimpija in Slovenia.

Matkovic, who will turn 23 in March, enjoyed a strong year with Olimpija, averaging 14.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 28.8 minutes per game across 15 EuroCup appearances. He also averaged 15.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 2.8 BPG in 17 ABA contests (28.4 MPG).

Word broke last month that Matkovic would be leaving his team in Slovenia to come stateside, but it wasn’t reported at that time whether he would be signing a standard NBA contract, a two-way deal, or a G League contract.

It turned out to be the latter, which means the Pelicans will retain the forward/center’s exclusive NBA rights going forward and will get a closer look at him in Birmingham without having him occupy one of the team’s 15 standard roster spots or three two-way slots. Depending how his rest-of-season audition goes, Matkovic could earn one of those 18 spots in New Orleans next season.

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Raptors Sign D.J. Carton To 10-Day Contract

February 21st, 2024 at 12:23pm CST by Luke Adams

12:23pm: Carton has officially signed his 10-day contract with the Raptors, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

9:21am: The Raptors are set to fill one of their open roster spots by signing guard D.J. Carton to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A pair of spots on Toronto’s standard 15-man roster opened up earlier this week when 10-day deals for Justise Winslow and Mouhamadou Gueye expired. The Raptors had up to two weeks to fill at least one of those openings, but it appears they won’t waste any time getting back to the NBA-mandated roster minimum.

Carton has spent his professional career in the G League since going undrafted out of Marquette in 2021. After one year with the Greensboro Swarm, he has spent the past two seasons with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s NBAGL affiliate.

In 29 games this season for Iowa, Carton has averaged 18.6 points, 5.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 35.4 minutes per contest, with a strong shooting line of .527/.395/.796.

Carton’s 10-day contract with Toronto will cover the team’s first five games after the All-Star break. He’ll earn a salary of $64,343 for his 10 days with the Raptors, who will still have one open roster spots after officially signing Carton.

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Nets Notes: Vaughn, Ollie, Marks, Bridges, Budenholzer

February 21st, 2024 at 11:45am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Nets general manager Sean Marks said there wasn’t a single event or game that made the team decide to fire head coach Jacque Vaughn. While some Brooklyn players expressed frustration following a December 27 loss in which the team sat several regulars, as well as after last Wednesday’s 50-point blowout loss in Boston, Marks pointed to a general lack of energy and effort when asked for specifics on what went into the decision to dismiss Vaughn.

“It’s about the level of compete,” Marks said. “We’re not going to be the most talented team in the league. I’m not an idiot. I totally understand that. But at the same time, this is a talented group of young men out there. And my expectations, and I think their expectations, should be to hold each other accountable to do the little things. The effort plays, the loose balls, the contested shots and so forth, diving on the floor.

“These are things that should be expected when you’re in a place that we’re at right now, where we’re clawing and grappling for every single thing we can. That’s what I would hope to see over these next 28 games, and that’s probably, to be quite frank, some things I haven’t seen. The level of effort and the level of compete has not always been there.”

New interim head coach Kevin Ollie made that lack of energy and hustle a focus in his first practice with the club on Tuesday, as Bontemps details. Ollie pointed out that the Nets don’t recover enough loose balls or draw enough charges, referring to the team’s poor numbers in those categories as “losing basketball.”

“I got something called EGBs, which is energy generating behaviors, and it’s 17 behaviors of those things. And we went through the list extensively today,” Ollie said on Tuesday. “(They) have nothing to do with talent but everything to do with heart and will. And I think that’s what it comes down to.

“Remember, I played 15 years professionally, 13 years in this league, and never once (had) a coach call a play for me. I had to get it with grit. I had to get it with determination. I had to get it with a mindset that we’re going to get better each and every day. That’s how I coach, that’s what I’m going to demand. I want them to demand that from me, and that’s from day one.”

Here’s more on the Nets:

  • Marks is under contract beyond this season, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv, and the veteran Nets executive has a close relationship with team owner Joe Tsai. Marks told reporters on Tuesday that he has been given no indication Tsai won’t keep him around to run the team’s latest head coaching search this spring. “Joe and I have always been in complete partnership,” Marks said, per Bontemps. “And it doesn’t mean we always agree. I mean, you have to have good discussions and robust discussions, but Joe and I will make this decision, and he has given me no reason to believe that I won’t be able to make that decision.”
  • Still, Marks’ future with the Nets has been a subject of speculation around the NBA, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype said on the HoopsHype podcast with Brian Lewis of The New York Post. According to Scotto, in the event that Marks remains in Brooklyn, one possibility floated in league circles is a scenario in which the Nets promote assistant general manager Jeff Peterson to GM and give him more day-to-day responsibilities while Marks stays above him in the front office hierarchy.
  • Scotto and Lewis discussed many more Nets-related topics in the HoopsHype podcast, including the futures of players like Nic Claxton, Cam Thomas, and Ben Simmons in Brooklyn, Scotto also said there were rumblings that certain players – including Mikal Bridges and former Net Spencer Dinwiddie – weren’t thrilled by the fact that Vaughn’s offensive game plan focused so heavily on Simmons, who hasn’t been healthy for most of his time in Brooklyn.
  • Bridges said on Tuesday that he wants to remain in Brooklyn long-term, per Dan Martin of The New York Post. “I’m here now and want to stay here,” Bridges said. “And I’m going to keep grinding and getting to wherever we’ve got to get to win, and that’s why I’m here for.” The Nets turned away trade inquiries this season on Bridges and their goal is to ultimately acquire a star or two to play alongside him, per Scotto.
  • In a pair of stories for The New York Post, Mike Vaccaro wonders what it will take for the Nets to move on from Marks, while Zach Braziller identifies several potential candidates for Brooklyn’s permanent head coaching job. That list begins with Mike Budenholzer, whose name is “at the tip of everyone’s tongue” in discussing possible candidates, according to Scotto.
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Hoops Rumors’ 2024 NBA 10-Day Contract Tracker

February 21st, 2024 at 10:25am CST by Luke Adams

Since January 5, when NBA teams became eligible to sign players to standard 10-day deals, 21 of the contracts signed have been of the 10-day variety, and that number will only grow as the season nears an end. Hoops Rumors has created a database that allows you to keep on top of those deals, tracking every 10-day signing all season long.

Besides featuring all of this year’s 10-day contracts, our 10-Day Contract Tracker includes information on all 10-day contracts signed since the 2006/07 season. The search filters in the database make it easy to sort by team, player, and/or year. For instance, if you want to see all the 10-day contracts that the Kings have signed in the last 15-plus years, you can do so here. If you want to view Shaquille Harrison’s history of 10-day deals, that list is here.

You can also see whether a player and team signed a second 10-day contract, or if those short-term deals led to an agreement that covered the rest of the season. Additionally, our tracker notes which 10-day deals remain active, saving you from having to figure out whether a particular contract ends on Wednesday or Thursday.

A link to our 10-Day Contract Tracker can be found at any time in the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site. On our mobile site, you can find it on our “Features” page. We’ll be keeping it up to date for the rest of the season, so be sure to check back to keep tabs on the latest signings as they become official.

As our tracker shows, these are the 10-day deals currently active around the NBA:

Note: Reported 10-day deals for Justin Champagnie (Wizards) and D.J. Carton (Raptors) aren’t yet official, but will be added to our tracker once they are.

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