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COVID-19 Updates: Mavs, B. Boston, Cacok, Lakers, C. Thomas

December 29th, 2021 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have placed center Boban Marjanovic and guard Brandon Knight – who signed a hardship deal last week – in the health and safety protocols, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Marjanovic and Knight are the sixth and seventh Dallas players currently in the protocols.

As we noted earlier today, the Mavericks reportedly reached an agreement to sign Isaiah Thomas, who will be the team’s seventh replacement player. If Dallas had just five players in the protocols, the team wouldn’t be able to make another hardship signing, so the fact that Marjanovic and Knight are now in the protocols helps explain the Thomas deal.

Here are a few more COVID-related updates from around the league:

  • Clippers rookie Brandon Boston Jr. has entered the health and safety protocols, the team announced today. Boston had been playing an increased role as of late with the Clippers shorthanded, averaging 19.6 MPG in 13 games this month.
  • Spurs two-way big man Devontae Cacok has joined teammate Dejounte Murray in the COVID-19 protocols, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). They’re the only two San Antonio players affected for now.
  • Lakers guards Austin Reaves and Kent Bazemore have cleared the protocols, tweets Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group. They won’t be with the team in Memphis tonight, but should be available by Friday’s home game vs. Portland.
  • Nets rookie guard Cam Thomas has exited the protocols and is available, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
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Mavs Add Sterling Brown, Re-Sign Boban Marjanović

August 9th, 2021 at 6:14pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 9: The signings of both Brown and Marjanović are now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log. Marjanović’s new contract with Dallas is worth $7MM over two years, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

AUGUST 2: The Mavericks are set to make a pair of bench signings as free agency begins in earnest.

As had been rumored, the Mavericks are opting to bring back center Boban Marjanović this summer. Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets that Dallas will be re-signing the reserve big man.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN reports (via Twitter) that the 7’4″ Marjanović will be signed to a one-year deal with the Mavericks, his third full season with the team. Dallas initially signed the big man to a two-year, $7MM deal in the 2019 offseason. The club will thus have the 32-year-old’s full Bird rights next summer, following three full seasons of service.

Marjanović made a big impact in limited this season, averaging 4.7 PPG and 3.9 RPG in just 8.2 MPG across 33 contests.

Charania also reports (via Twitter) that the Mavericks will also be signing a new addition, free agent guard Sterling Brown. Brown, 26, was most recently a reserve contributor for another Texas club, the Rockets, for the duration of the 2020/21 season.

Brown averaged 8.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 1.4 APG in 51 games for the rebuilding Rockets, with a solid shooting line of .448/.423/.806.

Brown’s agent Mark Bartelstein has indicated that the 6’5″ vet will sign a two-year, $6.2MM contract with the club, per Marc Stein of Substack (via Twitter). There is no word as to whether both seasons will be guaranteed in the deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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Stein’s Latest: Lakers, Thomas, Holmes, Portis, More

August 2nd, 2021 at 1:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

Dwight Howard appears to be a strong candidate to rejoin the Lakers, who are also interested in veteran shooters Patty Mills and Wayne Ellington, according to Marc Stein of Substack. L.A. is looking for low-cost options to fill out its roster after the trade that brought Russell Westbrook from the Wizards, and Howard, Mills and Ellington may be willing to accept minimal deals for the chance to play for a title contender.

Given their financial position, the Lakers could have trouble holding onto Alex Caruso, Stein adds. The fourth-year guard has been effective in a bench role during his time in Los Angeles, and many teams are expected to pursue him.

There’s more from Stein:

  • The Celtics are interested in bringing back Isaiah Thomas, who was an All-Star in Boston before being sent out in the Kyrie Irving trade. New president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is a strong supporter of Thomas, who played three games for the Pelicans last season.
  • The Kings are expected to give center Richaun Holmes an offer in the four-year, $50MM range. However, he may do better on the open market after back-to-back strong seasons in Sacramento.
  • Several teams would like to add Bobby Portis, but there’s a belief around the league that he will stay with the Bucks despite their limited resources to re-sign him.
  • The Mavericks are virtually certain to keep center Boban Marjanović, who is a close friend of Luka Doncic.
  • There were some pre-draft trade rumors involving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Thunder still see him as a franchise cornerstone and plan to use their draft capital to build around him. Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to receive a maximum extension on his rookie contract this summer, which would pay him $168MM over five years.
  • John Collins was the top target for the Spurs, who will have about $40MM to spend, but now that he’s expected to stay in Atlanta, San Antonio may shift to restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen.
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Free Agency Rumors: Batum, Iguodala, Melo, Boban

August 1st, 2021 at 3:21pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers forward Nicolas Batum will not be wanting for suitors this offseason after a bounce-back performance with Los Angeles in 2020/21. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link) that, in addition to the Clippers, other playoff-caliber teams are interested in the versatile player’s services, including the Heat, Warriors and Pacers.

After being waived by the Hornets ahead of the 2020/21 season, Batum became a highly valuable 3-and-D addition on the Clippers roster, even moving into the starting lineup as the club’s power forward ahead of the much-pricier Marcus Morris for much of the season, before Morris’ play turned a corner and he eventually reclaimed the gig.

Batum logged 27.4 MPG on a Clippers team that broke through the Western Conference Finals for the first time in its history. He averaged 8.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.0 SPG, and 0.6 BPG. The 32-year-old posted a shooting line of .464/.404/.828.

Here are more free agency rumors from around the NBA:

  • Veteran Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony could reunite with the Knicks this summer, per ESPN’s Jordan Schultz (via Twitter). Anthony, who made six All-Star appearances during his previous stint in New York, averaged 13.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 1.5 APG on .421/.409/.890 shooting splits as a reserve with Portland across 69 games in the 2020/21 season. Schultz notes that Knicks team president Leon Rose has a good rapport with Anthony, having served as the probable Hall-of-Famer’s longtime agent before moving into his current front office role with New York.
  • After Miami opted to decline his $15MM player option for the 2021/22 season, veteran forward Andre Iguodala is now an unrestricted free agent once again and the Warriors are expected to chat with the 37-year-old about a possible reunion, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Jordan Schultz of ESPN reports (Twitter link) that the new-look Lakers are also eyeballing Iguodala as a savvy veteran contributor. Given Iguodala’s advanced age and on-court performance of late, it seems likely he’ll have to settle for significantly less than his $15MM player option for the season.
  • The Mavericks expect to be able to re-sign reserve big man Boban Marjanović this summer, reports Marc Stein (via Twitter). The Mavericks first signed the 7’4″ center in free agency during the 2019 offseason, on a two-year, $7MM deal. The 32-year-old averaged just 8.2 MPG as a backup big with a playoff Dallas team this year, but in that brief time he produced (in a per-minute sense), averaging 4.7 PPG and 3.9 RPG.
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Rosters Announced For Olympic Qualifying Tournaments

June 28th, 2021 at 9:16am CST by Luke Adams

Four qualifying tournaments to determine the final four teams in the men’s basketball pool at the Tokyo Olympics are set to tip off on Tuesday. In advance of the Olympic qualifiers, the 24 teams involved have officially set their 12-man rosters, according to a press release from FIBA.

More than two dozen current NBA players are participating in the tournament, and 11 of the 24 teams competing for Olympic spots have at least one current NBA players on their respective rosters. Of those clubs, Team Canada has the biggest contingent of NBA players — eight of the 12 players on Nick Nurse‘s squad finished the season on an NBA roster. Turkey is next with four NBA players.

The four qualifying tournaments will take place in Serbia, Lithuania, Croatia, and Canada. Only the winner of each six-team group will advance to Tokyo. Those four winners will join Japan, Nigeria, Argentina, Iran, France, Spain, Australia, and the U.S. in the 12-team Olympic tournament.

The teams that move onto the Olympics may tweak their rosters for Tokyo, depending on the availability of certain players. For instance, if Greece were to win its qualifying tournament, perhaps Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo – who remains active in the playoffs for now – would make an effort to join the team in Tokyo next month.

Here are the NBA players on the OQT rosters:

Belgrade, Serbia

Kaunas, Lithuania

Split, Croatia

Victoria, Canada

There are also many former NBA players among the 24 rosters, including Mario Hezonja (Croatia), Milos Teodosic (Serbia), Jan Vesely (Czech Republic), Timofey Mozgov (Russia), and Anthony Bennett (Canada).

To view the full rosters, be sure to visit FIBA’s official site and click through to each team from there.

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Free Agent Stock Watch: Southwest Division

April 2nd, 2021 at 5:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Throughout the season, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this off-season. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. This week, we take a look at players from the Southwest Division:

Justise Winslow, Grizzlies, 24, SF/PF (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $39MM extension in 2019

The Grizzlies waited a long time to see what they had in Winslow after acquiring him from the Heat last February. The 25-year-old was injured when he was traded and never returned to action last season. During the summer restart in Orlando, he suffered a left hip displacement, which also caused him to miss the first 25 games this season.

Winslow appeared in 16 games off the bench since returning to action and hasn’t provided much punch, averaging 7.1 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a woeful PER of 5.28. He’s currently sidelined by a sore thigh. The team holds a $13MM option on his contract for next season and Winslow, whose career seemed to be taking off two seasons ago as a point forward, will be hunting for another fresh start this summer.

Gorgui Dieng, Spurs, 31, PF/C (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $1MM deal in 2021

The Grizzlies couldn’t find a trade for Dieng because his contract was too big but after he cleared waivers, he reportedly had at least eight teams interested in signing him. The Spurs, who had just reached a buyout with LaMarcus Aldridge, won him over with a recruiting pitch. Dieng’s popularity as a free agent last week bodes well for him this summer, though he’s currently sidelined by a sore shoulder. Minnesota overpaid him for him in 2017 (four-year, $62.8MM). Dieng’s next contract will probably be closer to veteran’s minimum numbers but he’s still valued as a quality second-unit big.

Boban Marjanovic, Mavericks, 32, C (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $7MM deal in 2019

Boban still has enough star power to land a Goldfish cracker commercial. In another era, Marjanovic might have been one of the game’s biggest draws. Alas, there’s little use for a slow-footed 7’4’’ center the way the game is played today. Marjanovic can still dominate in spurts against certain opponents but those opportunities are few and far between. The gentle giant is always fun to watch when he gets a chance to play but he’s only seen spot duty in 22 games. Hopefully, Dallas or another team will give him at least a minimum deal this summer so he can make a few more commercials with his pal Tobias Harris.

Avery Bradley, Rockets, 30, PG, (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $11.6MM deal in 2020

Bradley started 44 games for the Lakers last season, then opted out of the restart and watched the team win the championship from afar. He declined a $5MM option to stay with the Lakers and signed a two-year deal with Miami to join its guard rotation. That didn’t go well, as Bradley has been injured most of the season. His salary was thrown into the Victor Oladipo trade and he now finds himself on one of the league’s worst teams. It’s hard to imagine that Houston will exercise its $5.9MM option on Bradley’s contract for next season, so he’ll be shopping his services again this summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Mavericks Sign Boban Marjanovic

July 23rd, 2019 at 7:41pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 23: The Mavericks have officially signed Marjanovic, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 3: The Mavericks will sign Boban Marjanovic, sources tell Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link). Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets that the deal will be for two years and $7MM.

Marjanovic, who is entering his age-31 season, averaged 7.3 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 58 games (11.7 MPG) last season, with his 7’3″ frame allowing him to dominate certain matchups while struggling in others.

Marjanovic was traded to the Sixers in the Tobias Harris deal at this past season’s trade deadline. Philadelphia owned his Bird rights but needed to renounce his cap hold ($13.3MM) in order to accommodate the Al Horford signing.

Dallas has been active thus far in free agency, reaching a four-year deal with Seth Curry and re-signing many of their own guys. Dallas is also rumored to be in the mix for veteran Danny Green.

The Mavs’ projected cap room (upwards of $23MM) may not be impacted by their deal with Marjanovic, since he could theoretically fit within their room exception, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter).

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Sixers Notes: Marjanovic, Butler, Harris, Workouts

June 5th, 2019 at 9:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Boban Marjanovic only spent a half season with the Sixers, but it was enough to make him want to stay. In an interview with the Serbian website Zurnal (translated by Stefan Djordjevic of EuroHoops), Marjanovic said his preference in free agency is to remain in Philadelphia.

“ I don’t know what will happen. … I should, almost 90 percent, stay in Philadelphia but that’s not known yet, just speculation,” he said. “It was nice for me there, so why not.”

The Sixers became Marjanovic’s fourth team in four NBA seasons when the Clippers traded him there in February. He averaged career highs of 8.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 22 games after the deal.

“The team is great, the players are talented,” Marjanovic added. “I think we had a chance to be the team playing the Finals this year but we had that bad luck of conceding the last-second basket. The city lives for basketball and sports in general. They have hockey, baseball, football, they follow everything, everything is organized until the very end and everybody knows who and what you are. Wherever you appear, everybody recognizes you because they follow all of it. A very nice experience.”

There’s more news from Philadelphia:

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Free Agent Stock Watch 2019: Atlantic Division

March 10th, 2019 at 8:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Every week, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents next offseason. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. This week, we turn our attention to the Atlantic Division:

Terry Rozier, Celtics, 24, PG (Up) – Signed to a four-year, $8.8MM deal in 2015
Rozier has struggled most of the season after his breakout performances in last season’s playoffs, when he averaged 16.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 5.7 APG while subbing for an injured Kyrie Irving. So why is his stock up? Irving’s commitment to the organization is shaky at best, which makes restricted free agent Rozier a major insurance policy. Rozier would clearly benefit from becoming a starter in Boston or elsewhere. He has averaged 14.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 5.7 APG the last six games in which Irving missed and he played. He rarely turns the ball over, which makes any coach happy.

Ed Davis, Nets, 29, PF (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $4.45MM deal in 2018
Davis consistently stays in a team’s rotation by knowing his role and his limitations. He’s told to rebound and play defense and he does those well. Davis is averaging a career-high 8.5 RPG while playing pretty much the same minutes he logged for Portland the previous three seasons. He sports a strong 1.7 Defensive Box Plus/Minus rating, according to Basketball-Reference. He’ll continue to find work as a second-unit fixture who doesn’t mind letting his teammates do all the scoring.

Mario Hezonja, Knicks, 24, SF (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $6.5MM deal in 2018
Hezonja had a second chance to shed the label of ‘bust’ by signing with the rebuilding Knicks after three forgettable seasons with Orlando. Perhaps his label should now read ‘colossal bust.’ Hezonja is destined to go down as one of the worst top-five picks in the last two decades. In 46 games, Hezonja has averaged 7.6 PPG on 39.7% shooting and 3.7 RPG while compiling more turnovers than assists. He hasn’t played since mid-February due to a knee injury or coach’s decision. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Croatian native spends the remainder of his career in Europe.

Boban Marjanovic, 76ers, 30, C (Down) — Signed to a three-year, $21MM deal in 2016
Marjanovic has been sidelined recently by a knee injury. He’s been highly productive and always entertaining when he plays. The 7’3″ center is a throwback to another era when slow-footed giants were more prevalent in the league. Marjanovic is impossible to stop when he gets the ball down low but his lack of mobility make it tough to play him for long stretches. The happy-go-lucky Marjanovic is a fan and locker-room favorite who might get a short-term deal as a third-string backup but it’s doubtful he’ll receive another three-year offer.

Danny Green, Raptors, 31, SG (Up)– Signed to a four-year, $40MM deal in 2015
Green was the ‘other’ starter in the blockbuster Spurs-Raptors trade this offseason. Green isn’t an All-Star talent like Kawhi Leonard or DeMar DeRozan, but he’s a solid NBA starter on one of the top teams in the league. He gained that status in San Antonio and nothing’s changed north of the border. Green has taken two-thirds of his shots from beyond the arc and made 43.3%, his best long-distance average since the 2011/12 season. His Defensive Box Plus/Minus rating has dropped this year but he’s still a plus 1.2. Green’s 3-point shooting alone will guarantee him a nice payday this summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Sixers May Look To Add Backup Center

March 5th, 2019 at 5:14pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers are running out of healthy big men and if it appears that Boban Marjanovic won’t return soon, the team will likely explore options for adding a center to the roster, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Joel Embiid came out of the All-Star break with knee soreness and was expected to miss about a week. Those three games have now turned into six, with Embiid sitting out against the Magic tonight.

“He just doesn’t feel like he’s ready to go,” coach Brett Brown said of Embiid. “He really does feel restricted with some of his movements, there’s a little bit of soreness, I think, still.”

Brown added that he doesn’t have a timeline on Marjanovic. Jonah Bolden and Amir Johnson are both nursing ailments and didn’t practice on Tuesday, leaving. Justin Patton, who came to Philadelphia in the Jimmy Butler deal, as the only fully healthy center on the team.

The Sixers don’t currently have an open roster spot, but could create an opening by waiving a player like free-agent-to-be Furkan Korkmaz, who is currently injured and didn’t have much of a role when he was healthy.

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