Goran Dragic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Injury Updates: Oladipo, Morris, Nets, Brooks, Hampton

February 25th, 2022 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

Heat guard Victor Oladipo (knee) and forward Markieff Morris (neck) traveled with the team to New York, but won’t play in Friday’s game vs. the Knicks and still don’t have timelines for their respective returns, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

“They were able to do a lot (in Thursday’s practice),” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, per Chiang. “I’m not going to give you all the details. There’s nothing that’s imminent right now. This is all just part of the process. But it was good to have the entire group here at practice and getting after it, and getting a little bit of the rust off by competing and try to get ready for the stretch run.”

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

Nets head coach Steve Nash said it’s possible Kevin Durant (knee) and/or Goran Dragic could play as soon as Saturday, but said it’s more likely to happen at some point next week, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Nash expressed optimism that both players will be active beginning either Monday vs. Toronto, Tuesday in Toronto, or Thursday vs. Miami.
Dillon Brooks‘ recovery from a left ankle injury is “progressing well,” per Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins (Twitter link via Grizzly Bear Blues). A previous report stated that Brooks is expected to be back at some point in early March, and that timeline hasn’t changed.
Magic guard R.J. Hampton had been expected to return to action on Friday night after missing 14 games due to an MCL sprain and bone bruise in his left knee. However, Hampton sprained his left ankle during Friday’s shootaround and is now questionable to play, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel.

Nets Notes: Dragic, Durant, Simmons, D. Green

February 24th, 2022 at 10:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Goran Dragic didn’t intend to sit out most of the season, but he said there was no defined role for him with the Raptors, according to a Sportsnet.ca story. Dragic, who chose the Nets after receiving interest from several teams following his buyout with the Spurs, spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time since signing with Brooklyn.

“It’s been a unique situation this year for me, unfortunately couldn’t get along in Toronto, they said they wanted to go young, they didn’t see me to be a part of that team,” Dragic said. “We talked and they said we’re going to trade you, we agreed I go home to be with my family until everything got resolved.”

The Raptors acquired Dragic in the offseason trade that sent Kyle Lowry to the Heat, but he was never in their long-term plans. He played just five games before taking a leave of absence in November. The Nets will play in Toronto next week, and Dragic is looking forward to returning to the city.

“(I have) no hard feelings towards them, wish them all the best … we play against them twice in next couple of weeks so should be interesting,” he said.

There’s more from Brooklyn:

Nets players were heavily involved in recruiting Dragic once his buyout became official, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons and others sent text messages to Dragic urging him to join them in Brooklyn. Dragic said the Nets were among six contenders that tried to sign him.
Although Dragic has been training during his absence, coach Steve Nash doesn’t plan to use him in tonight’s game against the Celtics, according to Alex Schiffer of The Athletic (Twitter link). Nash said Dragic needs to practice with the team a few times, but he doesn’t expect his debut to be far off. Nash added that he expects Durant to be ready before Simmons, but there are no definite dates for either to begin playing again.
Simmons’ first game back in Philadelphia is scheduled for March 10, but Sixers guard Danny Green doesn’t expect to see him on the court, writes Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice. On his “Inside the Green Room” podcast, Green said Andre Drummond and Seth Curry, who were also traded to Brooklyn, “weren’t on the most cordial terms” with Simmons when they were all together in Philadelphia. Green added that his reaction to Simmons will be determined by his actions if he does play March 10. “I understand you have a mental health issue, I understand you don’t want to play where you want to — whatever it is, you did what you needed to do to make better for you in your life. That’s cool,” Green said. “Do I think you could have handled it better? For sure, because we had nothing against you as teammates, still have nothing against you. But it all depends on how that game goes, how he interacts in that game, how well he plays or how cleanly or non-cleanly he or us plays against each other, is going to determine how we shake hands.”

Nets Notes: Irving, Dragic, Nash, Harris

February 23rd, 2022 at 12:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets and point guard Kyrie Irving got some promising news today, as New York City mayor Eric Adams told reporters that he “can’t wait” to phase out the city’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements for indoor spaces.

Irving has been unable to play home games all season long due to the local regulations that apply to unvaccinated athletes, but the mayor’s comments today suggest those regulations could be adjusted in the coming weeks.

“I’m not going to get ahead of the science,” Adams said (video link via The Glue Guys). “… They gave us benchmarks. We’re going to follow those benchmarks. But I look forward to the next few weeks going through a real transformation. … We’re moving in the right direction. We’re going to do it in a safe way.”

For now, New York City’s vaccine mandate remains unchanged, so Irving will be ineligible to suit up when the Nets host Boston on Thursday night. But if the city plans to phase out the mandate within the next several weeks, that bodes well for Kyrie’s chances of suiting up in the postseason, which begins in mid-April.

Here’s more on the Nets:

While Goran Dragic is looking forward to playing alongside stars like Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, and Irving, his decision to sign with the Nets was ultimately influenced by his relationship with head coach Steve Nash, who assured Dragic he’d be an important part of the team, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. “If it wasn’t for Nash, Dragic would be either with the Bucks or Clippers,” a source told Scotto.
A source tells Scotto that the Nets and Joe Harris will likely make a decision on whether or not the forward needs a second ankle surgery after seeing how things go this week with his recovery process.
His roster doesn’t look like he expected it to when the season began, but general manager Sean Marks hasn’t adjusted his expectations for the Nets, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “Championship. That’s it,” Marks said to a group of season-ticket holders. “I’d be doing 17 players and another 60 staff members over there a massive disservice if I said anything other than that, because that’s what we’re all here for.”

Nets Sign Goran Dragic, Waive Jevon Carter

February 22nd, 2022 at 10:24am CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 22: The Nets have officially signed Dragic and waived Carter, the team announced in a press release.

Dragic’s rest-of-season contract will pay him $728,742 and will have a cap hit of $460,463. Since Brooklyn is well over the tax line, the club’s end-of-season tax bill will further increase as a result of the signing.

FEBRUARY 21: After being bought out by the Spurs last week, point guard Goran Dragic has made a decision on his next team, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Dragic will sign with the Nets.

Dragic, who was traded from Toronto to San Antonio at this month’s deadline, had reportedly been considering a handful of suitors, including the Bucks, Warriors, Bulls, Lakers, and Clippers.

Dallas, where Dragic would’ve had the opportunity to team up with fellow Slovenian Luka Doncic, had also been considered a potential landing spot earlier in the season. However, the Mavericks weren’t said to be in the mix for him following his buyout, having acquired another point guard (Spencer Dinwiddie) at the trade deadline.

In Brooklyn, Dragic should get the opportunity to share point guard duties with Patty Mills. Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons, of course, will be in the mix as well, but Irving is ineligible for home games as long as New York City’s vaccine mandate remains in place and it’s unclear when Simmons will make his Nets debut.

The move to Brooklyn will also give Dragic an opportunity to reunite with head coach Steve Nash, who played in Phoenix when Dragic first entered the NBA as a Sun. Marc Stein reported on Sunday that Nash was very involved in the process of recruiting his former teammate.

Dragic averaged 13.4 PPG, 4.4 APG, and 3.4 RPG on .432/.373/.828 shooting in 50 games (26.7 MPG) for the Heat in 2020/21. However, he appeared in just five games for the Raptors this season after being sent to Toronto as part of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade. He hasn’t played since November, having taken a personal leave of absence from the Raptors up until he was traded to San Antonio.

The Nets have a full 15-man roster and will have to waive a player in order to officially sign Dragic. That player will be guard Jevon Carter, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The team will have the option of stretching Carter’s guaranteed $3.925MM salary for 2022/23 across three seasons. His current $3.65MM salary will remain on the ’21/22 cap.

Brooklyn used its full mid-level exception to sign Mills in the offseason and doesn’t have its bi-annual exception available, so Dragic will sign a minimum-salary contract with the club. The exact value of his deal will depend on when he officially signs, but the 35-year-old will earn $15,182 per day.

Texas Notes: Green, Rockets, Schröder, Luka, Dragic

February 20th, 2022 at 1:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After a relatively lackluster showing in a relatively lackluster AT&T Slam Dunk Contest this weekend, Rockets rookie shooting guard Jalen Green is hoping to get another crack at the competition in the years to come, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“I for sure need a run-back,” Green said. “I messed up.”

In one of the stranger moments of the evening, Green handed Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas, a judge for the contest, a necklace holding a cell phone displaying an NFT, then went on to botch his first eight dunk attempts before finally converting his ninth look, a slick windmill whose impact had been diluted, given that he failed to convert it earlier. Green was quickly eliminated.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

The rebuilding Rockets boast several solid prospects, to the point that the NBA has taken notice, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Rookies Green, Alperen Sengun and Jae’Sean Tate all were honored with selections to the Rising Stars Game on Friday at All-Star Weekend, and Green made an aforementioned (ill-fated) appearance in the Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday. “We are having a difficult season,” Sengun said. “We lost a bunch of games. I’ve learned how to stay focused during those lost games. I got a lot of experience.” At 15-43, the Rockets aren’t on track to qualify for the playoffs this season.
New Rockets reserve point guard Dennis Schröder is bringing his veteran experience and playoff pedigree to bear for a developing young Houston club, opines Kelly Iko of The Athletic. With John Wall inactive, Schröder has helped the Rockets with his speed and his defensive assertiveness, according to Houston head coach Stephen Silas. “(Schröder) adds to our depth, our guard rotation,” the head coach said. “There was actually a point [during the Rockets’ 124-121 loss to the Suns on Thursday that] I tried to take him out of the game, and he was like, ‘Just leave me in, let me see if we can get back into it.’ I like that competitiveness about him.”
Mavericks All-Star point guard Luka Doncic confirmed that he would enjoy playing with his countryman Goran Dragic, currently a free agent garnering plenty of buzz on the buyout market, but said he’s not pressing the Dallas front office to make a deal with the veteran point guard, writes Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.

Stein’s Latest: Rivers, Dragic, Harris, R. Lopez, Dinwiddie, Bertans

February 20th, 2022 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers have confidence in coach Doc Rivers to lead the team to a title now that James Harden has been paired up with Joel Embiid, a source tells Marc Stein (Substack link). Philadelphia hasn’t won an NBA championship in 39 years and Rivers has a recent history of playoff disappointments, but team officials believe he can oversee the new partnership.

Shortly after the trade with the Nets was completed, Stein heard rumors that the Sixers might be considering Mike D’Antoni, who coached Harden for four years in Houston. D’Antoni is currently serving as a coaching advisor to the Pelicans after spending last season with Harden as an assistant in Brooklyn.

However, Stein’s source insists that Rivers’ job is safe, saying he gained admiration from ownership and the front office with the way he guided the team through the distractions caused by Ben Simmons‘ absence.

Stein offers more inside information from around the league:

Goran Dragic met with the Nets on Friday as he considers his next team following a buyout with the Spurs. Coach Steve Nash served as a mentor when Dragic entered the NBA with the Suns and has been the team’s lead recruiter for the free agent guard. Along with Brooklyn, Stein cites the Bucks, Bulls, Warriors and Clippers as the top suitors for Dragic. He’s been “really open-minded” to the offers from each team, a source tells Stein.
Magic veterans Gary Harris and Robin Lopez haven’t pushed for buyouts so far, according to Stein’s sources, who add that Harris may want to stay in Orlando in hopes of re-signing during the offseason. There was talk that Lopez might join his brother in Milwaukee after a buyout, Stein states, but the recent additions of Greg Monroe and Serge Ibaka may have quelled the Bucks‘ interest (though Monroe’s most recent 10-day contract has expired). Golden State may need another center for the playoffs, and Stein sees Lopez as a potential “home run” for the Warriors if he becomes available.
Small guarantees for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans in the final year of their contracts motivated the Mavericks to acquire them in last week’s trade for Kristaps Porzingis. Dinwiddie has just a $10MM guarantee on his $18.9MM salary for 2023/24, while Bertans carries a $5MM guarantee on his $16MM salary for 2024/25. Dallas is hoping those limited guarantees will make both contracts easier to trade.

Bucks “Aggressive” In Pursuit Of Goran Dragic

February 18th, 2022 at 8:07pm CST by Rory Maher

Appearing on NBA Today (video link), ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Bucks have been “aggressive” in their pursuit of Goran Dragic, who reached a buyout agreement with the Spurs on Tuesday.

Dragic has been spending the week speaking to interested teams, and Wojnarowski calls the Bucks the “foremost” team on Dragic’s list. The defending champions find themselves with a hole in the backcourt after trading Donte DiVincenzo to the Kings and losing Pat Connaughton for approximately four weeks after surgery to repair his broken right ring finger.

Milwaukee’s brass, including GM Jon Horst and head coach Mike Budenholzer, has been pitching Dragic on the opportunity to play meaningful minutes and a “pretty significant role,” says Wojnarowski.

However, he notes that the Bulls, Clippers, Nets, and Lakers remain interested in the former All-Star guard. Woj thinks Dragic is getting closer to making a decision on his next team.

Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein tweets that the Warriors are also in the mix for Dragic, but notably did not include the Lakers on his list of teams vying for Dragic’s services.

Texas Notes: Porzingis, Popovich, Dragic, Nix

February 16th, 2022 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks decided to trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Wizards last week because they determined he couldn’t be an effective second star with Luka Doncic, Tim Cato of The Athletic states in a discussion of the deal. Porzingis was in his third season in Dallas, and all three had been disrupted by injuries, leading to concerns about whether he would ever be reliable to stay on the court. The Mavs are 13-9 in the games he has missed this season, so the front office felt it was safe to move on from his contract.

Cato is skeptical about Dallas’ return in the deal, although he says Spencer Dinwiddie will be a welcome addition for a team that has trouble driving to the basket and the Mavericks believe Davis Bertans is a better defender than his reputation would suggest. They plan to use him in larger lineups where his lack of rebounding will be less important.

There’s more NBA news from Texas:

The Spurs are focused on making the play-in tournament and reaching the playoffs, even though their 22-36 record indicates that they might be better off maximizing their first-round draft pick, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News. Dejounte Murray and Devin Vassell both talked last weekend about the importance of getting to the postseason, and coach Gregg Popovich repeated that message on Monday. “If you put yourself in the situation, more as a coach than any other position in the organization, besides players, you can’t go to your team and ask them to lose,” Popovich said. “You can’t do that. It’s an impossibility for all of the logical reasons you can think of on your own. So, you go play your best, you keep teaching, you keep doing what you do. And if you lose and wind up with a high draft pick, well, you accept it and you are glad you got a high draft pick. But it can’t be because you didn’t push them or teach them or demand from them.”
Goran Dragic gave up $819,835 in his buyout agreement with the Spurs, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. The amount is equal to a 54-day minimum-salary contract for Dragic, so he’ll make up roughly all that money once he signs with a new team.
The Rockets used part of their mid-level exception to sign rookie guard Daishen Nix to a four-year contract, according to Smith (Twitter link). Nix will make $612K for the rest of this season and $1,563,518 in 2022/23. The final two years of the deal are non-guaranteed at $1,836,096 and $1,988,598, and the last season is also a team option.

Spurs Buy Out Goran Dragic

February 15th, 2022 at 9:53am CST by Luke Adams

9:53am: The Spurs have officially waived Dragic (Twitter link via Paul Garcia of Project Spurs). As noted below, he’ll clear waivers and become a free agent on Thursday.

8:30am: The Spurs and point guard Goran Dragic have reached a buyout agreement, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Assuming Dragic is officially released today and clears waivers – which is a near-certainty due to his $19.4MM cap hit – he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday. At that point, he’d be free to sign with any team except the Raptors — NBA rules prohibit a team from re-signing a player it traded earlier in the league year if that player is cut by his new team.

Charania doesn’t identify any specific suitors for Dragic, but says “a slew” of teams are expected to pursue the playoff-tested veteran.

Previously, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski named the Bucks, Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, Bulls, and Nets as clubs expected to show interest in Dragic. Wojnarowski later said that Milwaukee, in particular, is expected to aggressively pursue the 35-year-old.

The Mavericks were viewed at one point as a potential frontrunner for Dragic, but acquired Spencer Dinwiddie at the trade deadline and are no longer believed to be in the market for a point guard. General manager Nico Harrison said last week that he thinks Dallas’ roster is “set.”

The Heat, meanwhile, are no longer ineligible to reacquire Dragic, since he was traded for a second time after Miami moved him in August. The guard has been working out in Miami for much of the season and the Heat have two open roster spots, so a reunion seems plausible, even though the club wasn’t mentioned by Wojnarowski over the weekend as a likely suitor.

Dragic averaged 13.4 PPG, 4.4 APG, and 3.4 RPG on .432/.373/.828 shooting in 50 games (26.7 MPG) for the Heat in 2020/21. However, he appeared in just five games for the Raptors this season after being sent to Toronto as part of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade.

Dragic hasn’t played since November, having taken a personal leave of absence from the Raptors up until he was traded to San Antonio at last week’s deadline.

Pat Connaughton Out At Least Four Weeks After Hand Surgery

February 14th, 2022 at 5:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

FEBRUARY 14: Connaughton had surgery in New York on Monday to repair the fractured fourth metacarpal on his right hand, according to a Bucks press release. He’s expected to be sidelined for approximately four weeks.

FEBRUARY 13: Bucks reserve shooting guard Pat Connaughton is set to treat the fractured fourth metacarpal (ring finger) in his right hand with a surgical procedure, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Woj adds that the Bucks expect to have Connaughton back on the court in time for the conclusion of the 2021/22 NBA regular season.

We wrote earlier in the week about the injury, which occurred during Thursday’s loss to Phoenix, just hours after the Bucks relieved themselves of some guard depth. The club shipped out guards Donte DiVincenzo and Rodney Hood, along with forward Semi Ojeleye, in a four-team deal that netted Milwaukee former Clippers center Serge Ibaka.

The 6’5″ Connaughton, a key contributor to the Bucks’ 2021 title team, has enjoyed his best season as a pro with the 35-22 squad in 2021/22. Through 54 games, he’s averaging 10.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.2 APG and 0.9 SPG, on shooting splits of .467/.407/.811.

Led by All-Star power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, All-Star wing Khris Middleton, and All-Defensive Team point guard Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee is currently the fourth seed in a crowded Eastern Conference. The Bucks may need to lean on their deep-bench reserves as the regular season’s stretch run kicks into high gear following the All-Star break.

The Bucks also have multiple open roster spots following the trade deadline, so adding another guard to the roster will be an option. Wojnarowski, who previously identified Milwaukee as one of Goran Dragic‘s potential suitors, says the team is expected to aggressively pursue the point guard once he finalizes a buyout agreement with San Antonio (Twitter link).