CJ McCollum Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Floundering Pelicans ‘Embarrassed’ After Latest Loss

November 28th, 2024 at 9:16am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans were blown out by the Raptors on Wednesday in Dejounte Murray‘s return from a fractured hand. Murray and his teammates left their home court humiliated with their season at a crossroads. Their fans turned on them during the 119-93 loss and Murray couldn’t blame them.

“If you’re not embarrassed and really mad about this, that’s a problem,” Murray said, per Brett Martel of the Associated Press. “It’s not really about the loss, (but) how we lost in front of our fans, Like, even the fans booing — I mean, what would you do if you was a fan paying your money? You want to come watch a competitive basketball game, especially from your home team. So, they got all the rights to say what they want, feel how they feel. They deserve a better game.”

Entering the season, the Pelicans looked like a contender with Murray, acquired in a trade with Atlanta, joining a lineup that included Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram, along with proven role players Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones and Jose Alvarado.

Injuries have left them scrambling the first two months of the season. They have lost six straight and 15 of their last 17. Williamson, Ingram, Murphy, Jones and Alvarado remain sidelined but Murray says the compete level must rise, no matter who is available. Toronto came into New Orleans winless on the road.

“When you’ve got guys in, guys out, guys in, guys out, it’s really tough,” said Murray, who finished with 14 points after missing his first seven field goal attempts. “But I think it’s not tough to compete. You can’t get punked. You can’t get pushed around. Tonight, it was just disgusting. We’ve got to compete. We’ve got to play harder, no matter who’s on the floor.”

It’s fair to wonder whether changes might be coming soon, either to the roster or the coaching staff. Head coach Willie Green knows a quick turnaround is needed if his team wants to get back in the postseason picture.

“Starting with me, we have to be better,” Green said, according to Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “That was a lack of competition. We allowed a team to come on our home floor and make us look soft. That’s what I told our group. That can’t happen.”

Toronto shot 49.5 percent from the field and had 38 assists on 47 made baskets.

“Either they got better overnight, or we’ve got to do a better job closing out and making it more difficult,” McCollum said. “It was a horrible showing. From top to bottom, we’ve all got to be better.”

New Orleans now heads out on a three-game road swing with stops in Memphis, New York and Atlanta.

Pelicans’ Dejounte Murray Plans To Return Wednesday

November 25th, 2024 at 11:55am CST by Rory Maher

Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray intends to return to action on Wednesday vs. Toronto, sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

Murray was the first of several Pelicans regulars to sustain an in-season injury, going down on opening night with a fractured left hand. The 28-year-old was the club’s most significant offseason addition, with the Pelicans sending Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., and a pair of future first-round picks to Atlanta as part of a package for an impact player they envisioned as their starting point guard.

Murray looked good in that role on October 23, nearly registering a triple-double (14 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds) in 30 minutes of action in the team’s season-opening win over the Bulls. However, he hasn’t played since then, and New Orleans has also seen Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, Herbert Jones, Jose Alvarado, and Jordan Hawkins sidelined with multi-week injuries.

The Pelicans have lost 13 of 15 games since winning their first two of the season. They’re running out of time to turn things around in a competitive Western Conference and are expected to be without Williamson and Alvarado for a while yet, but there are reinforcements coming in the backcourt.

While Murray is officially listed as out for Monday’s contest vs. Indiana (Twitter link), his backcourt mate McCollum is probable, indicating he’s likely to return after missing the past 13 games with a right adductor strain. Murray appears on track to rejoin him in the starting lineup two days later.

Brandon Ingram is questionable for Monday’s game with right calf soreness.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Mavs, Marshall, Spurs, Pelicans, McCollum

November 23rd, 2024 at 1:38pm CST by Luke Adams

After a late-game defensive breakdown resulted in a frustrating two-point loss in Utah last Thursday, the Mavericks immediately watched film and held a post-game meeting, with “accountability, effort and unselfishness” among the themes, writes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.

“We talked about a lot of things, and got a lot of things out in the open,” Mavericks forward P.J. Washington said, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic. “But the main thing is that we knew we were better than that, and that we had to be better going forward.”

“We needed to stop playing ‘I’ basketball and we needed to play ‘we’ basketball,” center Dereck Lively added, per Curtis. “That’s what we’ve been doing these past couple of games and it’s been working.”

As Lively points out, the Mavericks have turned things around since falling to 5-7 with that loss in Utah. The team will take a four-game winning streak into Miami on Sunday, having registered a pair of comfortable home victories over San Antonio and New Orleans along with two impressive road wins in Oklahoma City and Denver in the past week. While that loss to the Jazz has cost the Mavs a few spots in the tightly congested Western Conference standings, Washington is happy that something good came out of it.

“In a way I’m kind of glad that it happened,” he said. “Because you never want to lose like that. We all knew that we were capable of doing a lot of things better. We needed to be accountable to each other. So, that’s why we kind of talked about it right after the game.”

We have more from around the Southwest:

Mavericks forward Naji Marshall helped seal Friday’s win over Denver, playing clutch minutes in the fourth quarter with Klay Thompson on the bench, notes Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda spoke to Marshall about adjusting to a new team this fall after spending four years in New Orleans and talked to some of Marshall’s new teammates about the impact the newcomer has had so far. “This is the most talented team I’ve been on,” Marshall told Afseth. “The coaches are great, the front office is amazing, and the training staff is incredible. I really have no complaints.”
Devin Vassell (sore left knee) will be unavailable for a fourth straight game on Saturday, but it appears Victor Wembanyama (bruised right knee) will make his return after missing the past three contests. After initially listing both players as questionable, the Spurs have ruled out Vassell and upgraded Wembanyama to probable, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News.
The Pelicans have lost 13 of 15 games since opening the season with back-to-back wins and now hold a 4-13 record. However, Zion Williamson remains optimistic that the team has time to turn things around, especially once more key players – including Zion himself – return from injuries. “We know the position we are in right now,” Williamson said, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “It’s not a good one at the moment. We come in the gym every day in good spirits. We are going to figure it out.”
One injured Pelicans player who appears to be nearing a return? CJ McCollum. The veteran guard has been on the shelf since October 29 due to a thigh injury, but told reporters that he went through a contact practice on Saturday and hopes to suit up on Monday vs. Indiana (Twitter link via Will Guillory of The Athletic).

Pelicans Notes: Green, Rotation, Potential Trades, Lakers Pick, McCollum, Hawkins

November 21st, 2024 at 9:16pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Pelicans, who had hoped to reach or surpass the 50-win mark this season, are spiraling due to injuries. At 4-12, there’s been some outside speculation that head coach Willie Green‘s job could be in jeopardy, William Guillory of The Athletic writes. However, Guillory doesn’t believe Green is in danger of losing his position, given that the team’s current starters include Brandon Boston Jr., Javonte Green and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl — Green wasn’t on the team until late August, while Boston was added the day before the regular season tipped off.

Even though those players have had some nice individual moments, it’s important to consider that Zion Williamson, Herbert Jones, CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray — most of the starting lineup — have all missed extensive time. Key rotation pieces like Trey Murphy, Jordan Hawkins and Jose Alvarado have also suffered injuries.

While the injuries are a large part of the Pelicans’ slow start, Guillory opines that Green could still be making some improvements as the schedule wears on. New Orleans has struggled in close games this year. However, Guillory doesn’t believe that any one person should be shouldering the blame, including the medical staff.

We have more from the Pelicans:

Once the Pelicans get healthier, they’ll have some key rotation decisions to make. Rookie Yves Missi has been a bright spot this season and should be under consideration for the starting center spot when the team is healthy, Guillory suggests in the same mailbag. Still, Green might opt to close some games with Robinson-Earl or Jones (when he’s healthy) for spacing purposes. Guillory also sees Boston continuing to see some minutes when the team is closer to 100%. The fourth-year swingman has been impressive, averaging 12.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game on a two-way contract.
While there still isn’t much smoke regarding a potential Brandon Ingram trade despite his pending unrestricted free agent status, Guillory expects any potential trade involving Ingram to bring back a starting-caliber center. Still, Guillory writes that it doesn’t make much sense to move assets when the team is far from playoff contention at the moment.
In light of Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht exploding for 37 points, it’s easy to wonder if the Pelicans regret giving up that pick. The Pelicans had the rights to Los Angeles’s No. 17 overall pick (used on Knecht), but chose to defer the selection to a 2025 unprotected first-rounder. Guillory points out that adding another first-round salary would’ve been difficult, given the Pelicans’ current financial situation, and that punting on the selection and hoping the Lakers would have a rough season seemed like a better idea than taking another swing in an uncertain class. The Lakers are 10-4 and third in the Western Conference, so it looks like that first-round pick may end up being worse than No. 17.
McCollum was upgraded to doubtful on the Pelicans’ latest injury report, according to Guillory (Twitter link). Hawkins was also upgraded to questionable for Friday’s game. It looks like both players will return from injury in the coming days, which lines up with recent reporting.
In case you missed it, Elfrid Payton, signed to a contract on Wednesday, played well in his debut with the Pelicans.

Western Notes: Durant, Beal, Rockets, Giannis, Marshall, Pelicans

November 20th, 2024 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s optimism that Kevin Durant will be able to return from his left calf strain at some point next week, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter video link), who suggests the Suns star could be back on the court as soon as Tuesday for an NBA Cup matchup with the Lakers.

There’s also optimism that Bradley Beal, who is dealing with a left calf strain of his own, will be able to return at some point next week, says Charania.

After taking on the Knicks on Wednesday in Phoenix, the Suns will have five days off before facing the Lakers, so if Durant can make it back for that Tuesday game, he’ll only be sidelined for one more contest. That would be great news for the Suns, who got off to an 8-1 start with Durant in the lineup and have gone 1-5 since he went down.

Here are a few more notes from around the Western Conference:

The Rockets aren’t interested in breaking up their core to acquire Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). The report is presumably a response to Marc Stein saying that rival teams are keeping an eye on Houston as a possible Antetokounmpo suitor should he become available. However, given that Giannis isn’t actually available and Houston’s “core” isn’t precisely defined, it reads less like the Rockets are taking a hard-line position they’ll stick to in hypothetical negotiations down the road and more like they simply want to express how highly they value their young players.
Mavericks forward Naji Marshall admitted he was “a little bit excited” to play the Pelicans on Tuesday, since it was his first time since entering the NBA that he got a chance to face a former team, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Marshall, who had 15 points and three steals as Dallas secured a blowout win, said he has enjoyed seeing several former teammates who arrived in New Orleans around the same time as him secure contract extensions. “It’s crazy to see how it panned out,” Marshall said, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “Herb (Jones) is somebody. Jose (Alvarado). Trey (Murphy). Me. It’s a blessing. It’s something you dream about literally. When we were kids, wondering if we were going to be here or not. To see it all pan out and go in our favor is amazing.”
Reinforcements should be coming soon for the injury-plagued Pelicans, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic, who says CJ McCollum could be back as soon as this Friday, with Jones and Jordan Hawkins to follow in the coming weeks. There’s hope that the team will be mostly healthy early next month, Guillory writes, though Alvarado’s and Zion Williamson‘s absences will likely extend beyond that. As Guillory details, if and when the Pelicans get back to full strength, the pressure will be on head coach Willie Green to get the team back into playoff contention.

Southwest Notes: Wembanyama, Doncic, McCollum, Missi

November 18th, 2024 at 7:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs have officially listed Victor Wembanyama as doubtful for Tuesday night’s game against the Thunder due to a bruised knee, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. San Antonio had indicated after practice the star center would be listed as questionable, according to Orsborn.

Wembanyama sat out Saturday’s loss at Dallas after suffering the injury in a collision with the Lakers’ Anthony Davis on Friday night. The reigning Rookie of the Year is averaging 22.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.7 blocks in his second season.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic is listed as questionable to play against the Pelicans on Tuesday due to a right knee contusion, Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal tweets. Doncic logged a season-low 28 minutes against the Spurs on Saturday.
Pelicans guard CJ McCollum practiced on Monday but didn’t go through any contact drills, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets. McCollum hasn’t played since Oct. 29 due to a thigh injury. He has already been ruled out for Tuesday’s game.
Could Yves Missi be the answer for the Pelicans at center? William Guillory of The Athletic explores this question. The 21st overall pick in this year’s draft has posted double digits in rebounds in three of the last four games and has shown versatility on defense. Missi has also proved to be a quick learner. “It’s great for him to get these minutes and these experiences early in the season. It’s going to pay off huge for him as we progress throughout the year,” coach Willie Green said. “We expect this is going to pay off for him in the long run.”

Injury Notes: Knicks, Hawks, Pelicans, DeRozan, Carter

November 15th, 2024 at 10:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns was ruled out of Friday’s win vs. Brooklyn after initially being listed as questionable, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Towns sustained a left knee contusion after bumping into Zach LaVine on Wednesday.

Backup guard Miles McBride was also downgraded from questionable to out on Friday due to an illness. McBride has been battling knee soreness as well, Bondy adds.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau provided another injury update on Precious Achiuwa prior to Friday’s contest. As Bondy notes, Achiuwa is nearing the four-week mark on his hamstring strain, which has prevented him from suiting up in 2024/25. Thibodeau said on Wednesday that Achiuwa still hasn’t been cleared for practice.

“He’s reevaluated every day,” Thibodeau said. “So yes, he has been reevaluated. The depth of it, I’m not sure. I know they’ve increased his activity. I think that part is good. With the hamstring, we just want to make sure it’s not a problem that will linger.”

Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:

A trio of injured guards — Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring), Kobe Bufkin (shoulder) and Vit Krejci (adductor) — were assigned to the Hawks‘ G League affiliate on Friday to get some practice reps in, tweets Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. All three players are expected to travel with Atlanta for the team’s upcoming four-game road trip, which begins on Sunday in Portland and ends on Friday in Chicago, so there’s a chance they could return next week.
The Pelicans finally received some good injury news on Friday, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, who tweets that CJ McCollum has progressed to playing 5-on-5 and is getting close to returning from a right adductor strain. However, the news wasn’t all positive, as second-year guard Jordan Hawkins (low back strain) and defensive stalwart Herbert Jones (right shoulder) have not yet been cleared for contact work.
Kings forward DeMar DeRozan missed his first game of the season on Friday vs. Minnesota due to lower back tightness, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. DeRozan exited Wednesday’s game with the injury, was unable to practice on Thursday (Twitter link via James Ham of The Kings Beat), and also did not participate in Friday’s shootaround, per Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL (Twitter link).
Magic big man Wendell Carter Jr. missed his seventh straight game on Friday due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Head coach Jamahl Mosley said Orlando’s starting center has been receiving treatment and is “progressing,” albeit “slowly,” according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). “(Carter’s) been on the bike. He’s doing some spot shooting,” Mosley said.

Pelicans’ Jones, McCollum Out Multiple Weeks With Injuries

November 1st, 2024 at 1:14pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans announced in a press release (Twitter link) that forward Herbert Jones has sustained a right shoulder strain and small low-grade partial thickness tear in his rotator cuff. Jones will be out at least two-to-four weeks, according to the team.

New Orleans also announced that guard CJ McCollum has been diagnosed with a right adductor strain and is expected to miss approximately two-to-three weeks. Both players were sidelined for Wednesday’s loss to Golden State.

It’s a tough blow for the Pelicans, who are now down three starters and a key reserve a little over a week into the 2024/25 season — Dejounte Murray is out three-to-five more weeks with a broken hand, while fourth-year wing Trey Murphy is recovering from a hamstring strain. Murphy, who suffered his injury in training camp and has yet to make his season debut, will be reevaluated next week.

A former second-round pick (No. 35 overall in 2021), Jones has been a valuable role player for the Pelicans, earning a spot on the All-Defensive First Team in 2023/24. He’s under contract through ’26/27.

McCollum, 33, is one of the team’s best shooters and has averaged at least 20 points per game in each of the past nine seasons. He’ll earn $33.33MM this season, followed by $30.67MM in ’25/26.

The Pelicans have dealt with a litany of injuries to key rotation players in recent seasons, and unfortunately they will be shorthanded once again to open ’24/25. Jordan Hawkins, Jose Alvarado, Javonte Green, Jamal Cain, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Brandon Boston are all candidates for more playing time.

Injury Notes: Bane, Smart, Banchero, LaVine, Towns, More

October 31st, 2024 at 5:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies‘ injury list continues to grow, as the club has ruled out Desmond Bane (right oblique strain) and Marcus Smart (right ankle sprain) for Thursday’s contest vs. Milwaukee after they sustained injuries in the first game of their back-to-back set on Wednesday against Brooklyn (Twitter link).

Head coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters, including Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link), that both players underwent imaging on Thursday, but that the team is still waiting to get the results and to speak to doctors about the severity of the injuries.

As Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes tweets, oblique strains like the one Bane suffered typically cost players multiple games — the average time missed with an oblique strain, according to Stotts’ injury database, is 11.6 days (4.2 games).

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Magic forward Paolo Banchero is off to a hot start this season, averaging 29.0 points and 8.8 rebounds in his first five games, but he may not be able to suit up on Friday in a postseason rematch. According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), Banchero has been diagnosed with a right abdominal strain and is listed as questionable to play vs. Cleveland.
Further testing confirmed that Zach LaVine has sustained a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network, who tweets that the Bulls guard is considered questionable to play against Brooklyn on Friday.
On the heels of his best game of the season, Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns is being listed as questionable for Friday’s game in Detroit due to a sprained left wrist.
Pelicans forward Herbert Jones (right shoulder strain) and guard CJ McCollum (right adductor soreness) will be reevaluated on Friday in New Orleans, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link), but the duo has already been ruled out for tomorrow’s game vs. Indiana, the club announced in a press release.
Thunder forward Kenrich Williams, who underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his knee in September, is making progress toward a return. He was assigned to the Oklahoma City Blue on Wednesday to practice with the Thunder’s G League affiliate, according to the team.

Southwest Notes: Wembanyama Vs. Holmgren, Pelicans, McCollum, H. Jones, Huff

October 30th, 2024 at 8:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

Two of the league’s best young big men will square off tonight as the Thunder host the Spurs, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Victor Wembanyama was a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year honors last season, with Chet Holmgren getting all but one second-place vote. Even their teammates are excited about their first meeting of the new season.

“Two big guys going at it,” Zach Collins said. “You don’t really see that too much anymore, so it is fun to watch. Kind of has a very old-school feel to it, two bigs going at it, two heavyweights, and it seems like both of those guys like that matchup and they take it personal.”

The duo faced off three times last season, putting up similar numbers as OKC won twice. Wembanyama averaged 20.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.7 blocks and 1.0 steals in their head-to-head matchups, while Holmgren countered with 16.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.0 steals. San Antonio’s victory came in February on a night when Wembanyama all but locked up the ROY vote, Orsborn notes. He posted 28 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and two steals, then punctuated the win by screaming an expletive into a house microphone.

“It’s fun to be a part of and it’s good to see Vic have that motivation going against (Holmgren) and trying to get that upper hand,” Collins added.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Coach Willie Green wants the Pelicans to shoot at least 40 three-pointers per game, but the team isn’t coming close to that mark, per Christian Clark of NOLA. New Orleans was just 9-of-22 from beyond the arc in Tuesday’s loss at Golden State, with the absence of Trey Murphy contributing to the shortage of three-point attempts. Clark observes that the offense hasn’t really lived up to expectations since CJ McCollum was acquired to team with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. The Pelicans added another play-maker by trading for Dejounte Murray this summer, but he suffered a fracture in his left hand in the season opener.
McCollum will undergo an MRI tonight to determine what’s causing right adductor/hip soreness, according to Andrew Lopez (Twitter link). The Pelicans expect to have an update on Thursday. Herbert Jones had medical imaging done on his right shoulder Tuesday night, Lopez adds. The results were negative and he’s considered day-to-day.
Jay Huff‘s new four-year contract with the Grizzlies includes a prorated minimum salary for the rest of the season, a source tells cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Huff is set to receive $2.4MM in 2025/26 and $2.7MM with a $379,382 guarantee in 2026/27. Memphis will have a $3MM team option with a $427,323 guarantee for 2027/28. Gozlan notes that the Grizzlies are now $1.8MM below the tax line and have $8.6MM left in their non-taxpayer mid-level exception.