Suns forward Kelly Oubre underwent surgery on his torn meniscus in his right knee earlier today, as expected. In addition to confirming that report, the club issued an updated timeline for Oubre’s recovery, announcing he’ll be re-evaluated in four weeks, as ESPN relays.
Oubre, who was acquired mid-season last year in a trade with the Wizards, was having a career year with the Suns this season. He’s averaging 18.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
The timing of Oubre’s re-evaluation would leave about two weeks left in the season, so it’s possible we won’t see him return to the court this spring, especially if the Suns have fallen entirely out of the race for the eighth seed by that point.
11:59am: The Pistons have issued a press release confirming that Rose has been diagnosed with a grade two right ankle sprain. He’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks, according to the team.
11:07am: An MRI on Derrick Rose‘s sprained right ankle came back negative, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. However, sources tell Haynes that the Pistons will be cautious with Rose’s injury and that he’ll be reassessed in “a few weeks.”
Rose, who received interest from contenders at the trade deadline, has a second year on his contract with Detroit, so the Pistons will want to make sure he’s as healthy as possible heading into the offseason — the former MVP will either play a key role on next year’s team or be a valuable trade chip this summer. Rose is expected to make a full recovery from his ankle injury, Haynes notes.
As the Pistons consider handing the reins to their young players for the rest of the season, they’re also keeping an eye on Jordan McRae, according to Haynes. Released by the Nuggets on Sunday night, McRae is expected to be claimed off waivers by the Suns on Wednesday.
However, based on Haynes’ report, it sounds like Detroit is mulling a waiver claim of its own. Because they trail Phoenix in the NBA standings, the Pistons would have the higher priority and would be awarded McRae if both teams submit a claim.
If the Pistons were to place a claim on McRae, no corresponding roster move would be necessary, since they have room on their 15-man roster.
After failing to become long-term building blocks in Phoenix, former Suns lottery picks Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender have reunited in Golden State. Bender is only on a 10-day contract for now, but Chriss thinks his former and current frontcourt mate is fitting in nicely with the Warriors, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic details.
“I think it’s a good fit for him, especially being around people who believe in you and help you grow,” Chriss said. “I think that’s all he needs.”
Bender’s 10-day contract with the Warriors will expire on Tuesday night, at which time Golden State will have the option of signing him to a second 10-day deal before having to make a decision on a rest-of-season commitment. Bender, who is simply looking to prove he still belongs in the NBA, hopes he’s making a good impression.
“I take it day-by-day,” Bender recently said, per Rankin. “I think there’s always options, but with this team, take it day-by-day and see what happens. Obviously, a great place to be, like I said. Great organization. I’m looking forward to the opportunity, but like I said, take it day-by-day and see what happens.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
Although the Kings have missed Richaun Holmes over the last two months, they could actually have a logjam at center soon, writes James Ham of NBC Sports California. Holmes is reportedly nearing a return, but Harry Giles and Alex Len have played well up front for Sacramento as of late, so it’ll be interesting to see how the team divvies up playing time down the stretch.
Despite the fact that Anthony Tolliver was waived by the Kings over the weekend, he and Kent Bazemore helped get the team out of its lowest point of the season in January, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. The two recently-acquired veterans told their new teammates in a team meeting that they were better than their record showed. “We were very vocal about the potential here,” Tolliver said. “Coming from Portland and seeing how we played there, and seeing how these guys played here, even though they were losing a lot of games at that point, we were like, ‘You guys are not that far away from winning.'” Sacramento is 11-5 since that motivational pep talk.
With a comfortable hold on the top seed in the West, the Lakers are using the final stretch of the season to experiment a little with lineups, says Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. That included starting Alex Caruso when Danny Green missed Saturday’s game with a minor hip injury.
Even though he’s not the All-Star and borderline MVP candidate that Luka Doncic is, Deandre Ayton is on an impressive run for the Suns, averaging 20.9 PPG and 12.4 RPG in his last 19 games. Greg Moore of The Arizona Republic makes the case that it wasn’t a mistake for Phoenix to select Ayton first overall in 2018, two spots ahead of Doncic.
The Suns intend to put a waiver claim on guard Jordan McRae, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
McRae and the Nuggets reached a buyout agreement on Sunday, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reporting that Phoenix would likely be his destination.
McRae, 28, started the season with Washington and was traded to Denver last month. He averaged 12.8 points in 29 games with the Wizards, shooting 42% from the floor and 38% from 3-point range.
The Suns have lost three straight games and currently own the third-worst record in the Western Conference at 24-37. McRae previously spent time with Phoenix back in 2016, signing two 10-day contracts with the organization.
Because McRae is on a minimum-salary contract, the Suns can use the minimum salary exception to place a claim on him. Doing so will give the team his Early Bird rights at season’s end, and won’t cost any extra money, since Phoenix will only have to pay the prorated salary left on his deal. The Nuggets, meanwhile, will get to remove McRae’s cap hit from their books entirely, giving them some extra flexibility below the tax line.
Jordan McRae has reached a buyout agreement with the Nuggets, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who adds that the Suns are his “likely destination.”
McRae has barely played in Denver since being acquired from the Wizards at the trade deadline. He appeared in four games, averaging 2.3 points and 8.0 minutes of playing time. He put up a career-best 12.8 PPG in 29 games with Washington before the deal.
Mike Singer of The Denver Post speculates (via Twitter) that the Nuggets are releasing McRae more as a favor to him than for any other reason. The team already had an open spot on its roster, so it didn’t need to create another one. McRae simply didn’t have a role in Denver.
Phoenix also has an opening on its roster after waiving Tyler Johnson and electing not to sign Jonah Bolden to a second 10-day contract, notes Gina Mizell of The Athletic (Twitter link). If the Suns are planning to sign McRae, they have the option of claiming him off waivers to obtain his Early Bird rights, adds ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
If the Suns do decide to claim McRae, his cap hit would no longer be included on Denver’s books and a buyout agreement wouldn’t be necessary — Phoenix would simply absorb his minimum-salary contract.
Today marks the final day that players can be waived and still be eligible for the postseason with their new team.
Sunday is March 1, which is the last day that a player can be waived and retain his postseason eligibility for a new team. Although we haven’t heard many buyout rumors this week – beyond a small update on Evan Turner – it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a couple more veterans hit the waiver wire by Sunday night and become free agents next week.
Any team can sign a free agent between now and the end of the season, but teams with open roster spots have a cleaner path to doing so. And those teams are worth keeping an eye on in the coming weeks, since even if no appealing targets emerge on the buyout market, those roster spots will likely be filled at some point.
During the regular season, there are benefits to carrying 14 – or even 13 – players for long stretches, particularly for healthy teams with luxury-tax concerns. But when the postseason rolls around, there’s little downside to filling the entire roster, even if it just means adding a 15th man during the final week (or day) of the season.
With that in mind, here are the teams in the top eight in each conference that still have at least one open spot on their 15-man rosters and seem likely to sign a player between now and April 15:
Playoff teams with an open roster spot:
Denver Nuggets
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis Grizzlies *
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Rockets are only on this list due to a technicality — Jeff Green‘s 10-day contract expired last night and he hasn’t yet officially signed his rest-of-season deal with the team. Once he does, Houston will have a full 15-man roster.
The other teams are worth keeping an eye on though. I’d guess the Thunder will save their 15th roster spot for two-way player Luguentz Dort, but the Nuggets and Clippers don’t have obvious internal candidates for promotions, so they could target a veteran free agent if they want to add a little more depth.
* As for the Grizzlies, they technically have a full 15-man roster for the time being, but Jarrod Uthoff is on a 10-day contract, so he could be replaced after it expires next weekend.
Playoff contenders with at least one open roster spot:
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Of the teams within five games of a playoff spot, these are the ones with roster openings. The Trail Blazers have tax concerns and may not add a 15th man, but the Suns and Spurs are candidates to do so. Phoenix, in particular, is reportedly keeping an eye on the free agent market in the wake of Kelly Oubre‘s knee injury.
For a full breakdown of the current NBA roster counts, be sure to check out our tracker.
After moving to two games above .500 for the first time this season heading into the All-Star break, the Grizzlies lost four consecutive games on a post-All-Star road trip and now hold a 28-30 record. They still have the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, according to Tankathon.com, and they’re missing two of their most important rotation players, as Jaren Jackson and Brandon Clarke are both sidelined with injuries.
It all points to a team that looks vulnerable to losing its hold on the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Especially since there are five challengers within 4.5 games of Memphis in the standings, ready to make a run at that eighth seed.
So far though, none of those challengers has gotten on the sort of run that really closes the gap with the Grizzlies. The closest current threats are the Trail Blazers (26-34) and Pelicans (25-33), who are each three games back of the No. 8 spot.
Portland lost its star player, Damian Lillard, to a groin injury at an inopportune time, and has dropped five of its last six games, but the All-Star guard could be back by early next week and the Blazers have the NBA’s third-easiest schedule the rest of the way, per Tankathon. Lillard is probably the best player on any of the six teams competing for the No. 8 slot, so if he gets on another hot streak like the one he was riding before his injury, it’s possible he’ll shoot the Blazers into the playoffs.
New Orleans is a more popular playoff pick, however, in large part because the team has looked rejuvenated since getting No. 1 pick Zion Williamson into its lineup. Adding Williamson to a group that already features Jrue Holiday and Brandon Ingram gives the Pelicans the most dangerous “Big Three” of any of the playoff competitors, and their schedule is the league’s second-easiest down the stretch, according to Tankathon. Still, it’s worth noting that the Pelicans are a modest 7-6 when Zion plays, so it’s not as if his return has transformed them into a contender overnight.
While one of those three teams is probably the best bet to earn the West’s final playoff spot, there are a few other teams not far behind. The Spurs (24-33) have a disastrous 10-20 record on the road, but will play 14 of their final 25 games at home and have the league’s sixth-lightest schedule in terms of opponents’ winning percentage. Gregg Popovich‘s squad won’t let its 22-year playoff streak end without a fight.
The Kings (24-34) and Suns (24-35) also still have an outside shot at a playoff berth if they can get hot. Injuries have hit Sacramento hard, with Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley missing for much of the season and De’Aaron Fox now battling an abdominal issue. But they’ve played much better in the last month than they did in the first half, winning nine of their last 14 games. And their end-of-season schedule is favorable — it’s the ninth-easiest, per Tankathon, with 14 of 24 games at home.
Phoenix, meanwhile, will badly miss Kelly Oubre, who had been averaging nearly 19 PPG before going down with a torn meniscus. The Suns are said to be considering free agency options to help replace Oubre, a signal that they haven’t given up on the playoff chase. If they want to stay in the hunt, they’ll need to play well in their next five games, all at home. After that, they finish with 12 of 18 on the road, against a pretty challenging slate of opponents.
What do you think? Will the Grizzlies hang onto the No. 8 seed? Will the rising Pelicans grab it from them? Will last year’s Western Conference finalists, the Trail Blazers, get back into the postseason? Will the Spurs extend their playoff streak to 23 years? Or can the upstart Kings or Suns make an end-of-season run for No. 8?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
February 27th, 2020 at 6:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder
The Suns are looking at potential buyout candidates or free-agent additions to replace injured Kelly Oubre, according to an ESPN report. The starting forward has been diagnosed with torn meniscus in his right knee and could miss the remainder of the season. Oubre had been enjoying a breakout year, averaging 18.7 PPG and 6.4 RPG. Phoenix is still on the fringes of the postseason race, trailing the eighth-place Grizzlies by 4 1/2 games for the final playoff spot.