- In an Insider-only story, Kevin Pelton of ESPN looked into which teams have been hit the hardest by the health and safety protocols this year, concluding that the Cavaliers, Sixers, and Bucks have lost more WARP (wins above replacement player) than any other clubs so far. Zach Kram of The Ringer explored the other side of the health and safety equation, examining how the players signed using hardship exceptions have performed and how they’re affecting the NBA.
One of the few players not affected by a stint in the NBA’s health and safety protocols last month, Bulls guard Alex Caruso has now entered the protocols, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Caruso, who has missed Chicago’s last six games due to a sprained foot, appeared to be nearing a return. If he contracted COVID-19, his return will obviously be delayed, but it will give his foot more time to get back to 100%.
Here are more protocol-related updates from across the league:
- Hawks big man John Collins has exited the COVID-19 protocols and is expected to meet the team in Los Angeles, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Atlanta faces the Lakers in L.A. on Friday and the Clippers on Saturday. Meanwhile, hardship addition Cameron Oliver has entered the protocols for Atlanta, tweets Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Unless he returned a false positive or inconclusive test result, Oliver almost certainly won’t clear the protocols before his deal expires on Friday night.
- Bucks guard George Hill is the latest Milwaukee player to enter the health and safety protocols, tweets Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The team now has a league-high six players in the protocols, though Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Jordan Nwora, and Semi Ojeleye are being listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. Toronto, which suggests they’re on the verge of exiting.
- Nuggets guard Monte Morris confirmed on his Twitter account that he’s out of the health and safety protocols and prepared to return to action. Morris is still listed as questionable for Wednesday’s contest vs. Utah, but it sound like he expects to play.
- Sixers head coach Doc Rivers is out of the protocols and will resume his duties on Wednesday vs. Orlando, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Thunder rookie Jeremiah Robinson-Earl has cleared the protocols and is being listed as available for Wednesday’s game in Minnesota, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City no longer has any players in the protocols.
- Our health and safety protocols tracker, which is updated multiple times daily, can be found right here.
JANUARY 5: Key’s 10-day contract with the Sixers is now official, according to the team (Twitter link). It will run through January 14, covering Philadelphia’s next five games.
JANUARY 4: The Sixers are set to call up forward Braxton Key using a 10-day hardship exception deal, per Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice. Key is currently playing with Philadelphia’s NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
Neubeck adds that Key, 24, could suit up for the Sixers as early as Wednesday against the Magic, provided he clears the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
The 6’8″ forward went undrafted out of Virginia, with whom he won the 2019 NCAA title, in 2020. He first signed with the Blue Coats during the 2020/21 season. Key is averaging 13.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.9 SPG and 1.2 BPG across 15 games with Delaware this year.
The Sixers currently have five players still in the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, though point guard Myles Powell could be available in time for the team’s Orlando game.
Shooting guard Charlie Brown Jr. is the only other player on the Philadelphia roster currently signed to a 10-day hardship exception contract.
Knicks center Nerlens Noel has cleared the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, per New York’s PR team (Twitter link). Noel entered the protocols in late December.
The 6’11” big man has only appeared in 17 contests, starting 10, for New York so far this season. The 27-year-old out of Kentucky is averaging 3.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.5 BPG and 1.1 SPG across 23.1 MPG. Knee injuries kept Noel absent for much of the start of the 2021/22 season. He signed a lucrative three-year, $32MM contract with the Knicks during the offseason.
Here are a few more protocol-related updates:
- Hornets power forward P.J. Washington and shooting guard Scottie Lewis, signed to a two-way contract, have exited the league’s coronavirus health and safety protocols, the club’s PR team has announced (via Twitter). Charlotte adds that both players are questionable to play on Wednesday’s game against Detroit.
- Pacers guards Jeremy Lamb and Malcolm Brogdon have cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols but will not play in tonight’s game and are uncertain to suit up for tomorrow’s contest, per James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star.
- Jazz forward Joe Ingles has become Utah’s first player to enter the league’s COVID-19 protocols this season, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
- Sixers big man Paul Reed has entered the league’s coronavirus protocols and will be unavailable to play against the Magic on Wednesday, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Pompey adds (Twitter link) that three of the Sixers’ other four players currently in COVID-19 protocols have already been ruled out for the game, with only Myles Powell seeing his status upgraded to questionable.
- Bucks guards Grayson Allen and Pat Connaughton have entered the league’s COVID-19 protocols, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (via Twitter). Nehm adds that Milwaukee forwards Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Jordan Nwora and Semi Ojeleye, all still in protocols themselves, have seen their statuses upgraded to questionable ahead of the team’s Wednesday matchup against the Raptors.
- Kings big man Chimezie Metu is now in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, reports Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.
Sixers big man Joel Embiid has been named December’s Player of the Month for the Eastern Conference, while Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has earned the honor for the Western Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
It was a healthy month for Embiid, who appeared in all but one of Philadelphia’s 14 games in December and led the team to an 8-5 record in those contests — the 76ers were blown out by 35 points in the only game he missed. The star center averaged 29.2 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, and 1.3 BPG on .496/.391/.845 shooting in 34.5 minutes per game for the month.
Mitchell, meanwhile, appeared in 12 of Utah’s 14 December games, putting up 30.2 PPG, 5.0 APG, 3.2 RPG, and 1.2 SPG with a shooting line of .502/.377/.870 in 34.2 minutes per night. The Jazz had a 12-2 month, including 10-2 in games with Mitchell available.
Embiid beat out fellow nominees Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Darius Garland, Kyle Lowry, and Fred VanVleet in the East. The other Western nominees were Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Twitter link).
The NBA also announced the Rookies of the Month for December today, with Magic forward Franz Wagner and Thunder guard Josh Giddey earning the honors in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, respectively.
Wagner’s Magic went just 3-11 in December, but he solidified his position as a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate, averaging 19.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 3.1 APG on .476/.404/.889 shooting in 34.0 MPG. Giddey, who won his second straight Rookie of the Month award, missed five games, including the Thunder’s 73-point loss to Memphis. In the 10 games he played, Oklahoma City went 6-4 and he averaged 11.8 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 6.7 APG.
The Sixers have added Charlie Brown Jr. on a 10-day contract via the hardship exception after another prominent player entered health and safety protocols, Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice tweets. Philadelphia confirmed the signing in a team press release.
Starting guard Tyrese Maxey will miss Monday’s game against Houston due to those restrictions, joining Matisse Thybulle and two others.
Brown was signed to a 10-day contract by the Mavericks but it wasn’t renewed. He made three brief appearances with Dallas.
Brown had been playing with the NBAGL’s Delaware Blue Coats before the wave of COVID positives around the league. He also appeared in a total of 19 games with the Hawks in 2019/20 and the Thunder in 2020/21.
A Philadelphia native, Brown played his college basketball at Saint Joseph’s, where he averaged 19.0 PPG in his final season with the Hawks.
Sixers wing Danny Green cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Sunday, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, Jaden Springer and Matisse Thybulle are both in the protocols now, joining two-way player Myles Powell.
In the latest injury report for the Sixers’ Monday game vs. Houston, Powell and Springer are both listed as out, while Thybulle is considered questionable. That suggests that the team is likely waiting for the results of Thybulle’s latest COVID-19 test before determining whether or not he’ll be available.
Here are more protocol-related updates from around the NBA:
- Dennis Schröder and Bruno Fernando returned to action for the Celtics on Sunday after a stint in the health and safety protocols. Jayson Tatum has exited the protocols, but remained sidelined for Sunday’s game — he’s expected to return on Wednesday, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
- On the Lakers‘ Sunday injury report, Rajon Rondo was listed as out due to return to competition reconditioning. Rondo had been in the COVID-19 protocols since December 26, which presumably delayed the official completion of the trade sending him to Cleveland. Now that he has cleared the protocols, the Cavaliers and Lakers should soon officially announce that deal.
- Robert Covington, Trendon Watford, and Keljin Blevins are no longer in the health and safety protocols for the Trail Blazers, per the injury report.
- Knicks center Jericho Sims remained out of action on Sunday, but he was listed on the injury report as taking part in return to competition conditioning, so he has exited the protocols.
- McKinley Wright (Timberwolves), Jarrett Culver (Grizzlies), and Jay Scrubb (Clippers) are among the other players who have recently cleared the COVID-19 protocols, according to the league’s injury report.
- Our full health and safety protocols tracker can be found right here.
- The Sixers appear to be ready to overcome adversity and compete for a championship, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines. Philadelphia remains firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff picture despite dealing with a series of injuries, COVID-19 cases, and Ben Simmons‘ absence. The team’s ceiling could increase significantly if Simmons returns or is traded for quality pieces.
- Within his look at some of this season’s top trade candidates, John Hollinger of The Athletic says the “consensus opinion” around the NBA is that the Sixers will likely move Ben Simmons before the February 10 deadline, despite having insisted they’re comfortable with the standoff dragging into the offseason.
The league continues to be battered by players entering and exiting the health and safety protocols. If any of the players entering the protocols registered a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, they’ll remain sidelined for at least six days or until they can return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.
Here are the latest updates from around the NBA:
- Bradley Beal, Anthony Gill, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have exited the protocols and are active Thursday night for the Wizards, but Spencer Dinwiddie has entered the protocols, as reported by Shams Charania and Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (all four Twitter links).
- Anfernee Simons and Brandon Williams have entered the protocols for the Trail Blazers, while Dennis Smith Jr. and Ben McLemore have exited and rejoined the team, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
- The Heat‘s outbreak continues, as Duncan Robinson and Marcus Garrett have entered the protocols, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets.
- DeJon Jarreau has entered the protocols for the Rockets, as reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
- Shake Milton has exited the protocols and is active Thursday night for the Sixers, according to Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Head coach Doc Rivers isn’t the only coach affected, as “several coaches,” including Sam Cassell and Brian Adams, are also in the protocols, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets.
- Others entering protocols: Isaiah Thomas, who just signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks Wednesday, Ivica Zubac of the Clippers, and Xavier Tillman of the Grizzlies, per the three teams’ PR departments (all Twitter links).
- Others exiting protocols: Trevor Ariza for the Lakers, Lou Williams for the Hawks, and Ed Davis for the Cavaliers, according to Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter), and Chris Kirschner and Kelsey Russo of The Athletic (Twitter links). Neemias Queta has cleared the protocols for the Kings, a source tells Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (via Twitter). Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe has also exited the protocols, Brian Lewis of The New York Post tweets.