Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

COVID-19 Updates: Caruso, Hill, Collins, Morris, Rivers, More

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.

COVID-19 Updates: Wizards, Billups, Thunder, Hornets, Raptors, More

The Wizards now have five players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to head coach Wes Unseld Jr., who told reporters today that Anthony Gill and Thomas Bryant are the latest players to enter the protocols (Twitter link via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington).

Bryant is coming off an ACL tear and has yet to play this season, so being in the protocols won’t affect his availability. However, Gill will no longer be an option in the short term for the Wizards after appearing in eight of the team’s last 11 games.

Here are more COVID-19 updates from around the NBA:

  • Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has entered the COVID-19 protocols, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links), who reports that assistant Scott Brooks is expected to become Portland’s acting head coach as long as Billups is unavailable.
  • Aleksej Pokusevski and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of the Thunder have entered the health and safety protocols, according to the team (Twitter link via Wojnarowski). Aaron Wiggins also briefly entered the protocols, but has since been listed as available, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City now has four players in the protocols.
  • The Hornets announced some good news and some bad news on Monday. While Cody Martin has exited the protocols and has been cleared to play on Monday vs. Houston, rookie Scottie Lewis is now in the protocols, according to the team (Twitter link).
  • Three Raptors players – Pascal Siakam, Khem Birch, and Gary Trent Jr. – have exited the protocols and are listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game vs. Philadelphia as they go through a reconditioning period, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Toronto still has seven players in the protocols, but may finally be trending in the right direction.
  • Celtics forward Grant Williams boarded a flight to Minnesota earlier today and expects to play tonight vs. the Wolves, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). Williams has been in the health and safety protocols since December 17.
  • Although Ziaire Williams remains on the shelf due to an ankle sprain, he’s no longer listed in the protocols in the Grizzlieslatest injury report, suggesting he has been cleared.

Northwest Notes: Barton, Green, Robinson-Earl, Muscala, Brown

In an Instagram video, ESPN’s Bobby Marks broke down two of the Nuggets’ contracts, clarifying that Will Barton is on a descending two-year deal, with $30MM fully guaranteed. He’ll receive $15.6MM in year one and $14.37MM in year two. Keith Smith of Spotrac adds that Barton’s deal includes $1MM in unlikely bonuses in each of the two years.

Marks also outlined Nuggets’ forward Jeff Green‘s new contract, which is a two-year, $9MM pact with $1MM in bonuses. Green will have a player option in year two, as had been previously reported. Marks notes that Green had been on minimum-salary contracts for several seasons, so this contract represents a big win for him and his agent.

We have more news from around the Northwest Division:

  • While the general terms of the Thunder’s No. 32 pick Jeremiah Robinson-Earl have been previously reported, Keith Smith provides a breakdown of the exact amount of Robinson-Earl’s four-year deal. The ex-Villanova Wildcat will receive two years at $2MM, fully guaranteed, followed by $1.9MM non-guaranteed in year three, and a non-guaranteed team option of $1.98MM in year four. OKC signed Robinson-Earl using part of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms via tweet that Mike Muscala‘s contract with the Thunder is for $7MM over two years, and adds that the second year is a team option. This will be the third straight season in OKC for the 30-year-old center
  • Scotto also clarifies the terms of Greg Brown III’s deal with the Trail Blazers. The 43rd pick, for whom the Blazers traded a 2026 second-round pick and cash considerations, will receive a three-year, $4.3MM (minimum-salary) deal, with the first two years fully guaranteed. The final year of the contract will be non-guaranteed. The signing used Portland’s mid-level exception.

Contract Details: Noel, Dekker, Robinson-Earl, Joseph

Nerlens Noel‘s three-year deal with the Knicks – reported last week to be worth $32MM – actually has a lower base value than expected, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who said in an Instagram video that the deal starts at $8.8MM.

Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets the year-by-year breakdown of Noel’s contract, which has a third-year team option and is worth $27.72MM in total. The agreement includes $4MM in total unlikely incentives, says Smith. If the Knicks center doesn’t earn any of those incentives and doesn’t have his third-year option picked up, he’d end up earning a little over $18MM for two seasons.

Here are a few more new contract details from around the NBA:

  • Sam Dekker‘s one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Raptors features a partial guarantee worth $350K, according to Smith (Twitter link). Dekker’s salary will become fully guaranteed if he makes Toronto’s regular season roster.
  • Jeremiah Robinson-Earl‘s four-year contract with the Thunder includes fully guaranteed salaries of $2MM apiece in the first two seasons, followed by a non-guaranteed third year and a fourth-year team option, per Marks (Instagram video). It’s the same structure Oklahoma City used a year ago to sign another early second-round pick, Theo Maledon.
  • The Pistons completed the signing of Cory Joseph – which became official on Tuesday – using the room exception after using up their cap space, according to Marks (Instagram video). Joseph got $10MM over two years, with a second-year player option.

Thunder Sign Jeremiah Robinson-Earl To Four-Year Deal

6:11pm: The Thunder’s deal with Robinson-Earl is now official, the club announced in a press release.


4:03pm: The Thunder and second-round pick Jeremiah Robinson-Earl have agreed to a four-year deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Charania reports that the agreement is worth $8MM, which is a big number for a player picked in the second round. A four-year, minimum-salary deal for Robinson-Earl would be worth approximately $6.3MM, so it sounds like he’ll earn more than the minimum in at least the first and second years of the deal. It’s unclear how many of the four years will be fully guaranteed.

Robinson-Earl, a 6’9″ forward, averaged 15.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 25 games (34.5 MPG) for Villanova as a sophomore in 2020/21, earning Big East co-Player of the Year honors.

Robinson-Earl was selected with the 32nd pick in the draft by the Knicks on behalf of the Thunder. Oklahoma City paid a significant price to move up two spots to nab the 20-year-old, sending New York the 34th and 36th overall picks in the deal.

Although the Thunder could open up a huge chunk of cap room by renouncing their various cap exceptions, it looks like they intend to operate as an over-the-cap team for the time being, which means Robinson-Earl will be signed using a portion of the club’s mid-level exception.

Knicks Trade Robinson-Earl To Thunder For Jokubaitis, McBride

JULY 30: The trade is now official, the Knicks announced in a press release.


JULY 29: The Knicks will send the No. 32 pick to the Thunder for the Nos. 34 and 36 selections, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Shams Charania of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that the Knicks will be choosing Villanova forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl with the No. 32 pick, and he will then be rerouted to Oklahoma City.

The Knicks drafted sharpshooting 6’4″ Žalgiris guard Rokas Jokubaitis with the No. 34 pick and 6’2″ West Virginia point guard Miles McBride with the No. 36 selection.

New York also has the No. 58 pick still upcoming in tonight’s draft. Marc Berman of the New York Post tweets that the club could be making further deals before the night is through.

In the first round, the Knicks selected Houston shooting guard Quentin Grimes with the No. 25 pick after sending their No. 21 pick, Tennessee wing Keon Johnson, to the Clippers in exchange for the No. 25 selection and a future second-rounder. Earlier, the Knicks flipped the No. 19 pick to the Hornets for a protected 2022 first-round pick.

Robinson-Earl, 20, was the 2020/21 Big East Player of the Year, and averaged 15.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 2.2 APG across his 25 contests as a sophomore at Villanova.

Eastern Draft Notes: Hawks, Sixers, Cavaliers, Hornets

Tennessee guard Jaden Springer and Oregon guard Chris Duarte are expected to work out for the Hawks shortly before the draft, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets. Duarte is ranked No. 23 on ESPN’s Best Available list, though he’s expected by some outlets to go higher, and Springer is rated No. 27. Atlanta holds the No. 20 pick.

We have more draft news involving Eastern Conference teams:

Northwest Notes: Lillard, Blazers, Hernangomez, Nuggets

While it doesn’t look at this point like the Trail Blazers will seriously explore Damian Lillard trades this offseason, that doesn’t mean they’re not getting calls about their All-NBA point guard. Front office sources tell Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer that the Heat, Kings, Knicks, Rockets, and Sixers have been the most aggressive suitors for Lillard as of late.

With no Lillard trade request imminent, the Blazers are more likely to pursue upgrades around the star guard, though O’Connor notes that the team’s trade assets are somewhat limited. Portland doesn’t have any draft picks this year and rival teams aren’t particularly high on young players like Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little, according to O’Connor. The club’s best bet for a deal that reshapes the roster and increases its ceiling might involve CJ McCollum and Ben Simmons, O’Connor adds.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Eastern Notes: Sexton, Knicks, Heat, Hawks, Raptors

Following up on Shams Charania’s report that the Knicks have been the most aggressive trade suitor for Collin Sexton so far, Marc Berman of The New York Post confirms that the team has the Cavaliers guard on its trade radar.

According to Berman, the Knicks would’ve picked Sexton over Kevin Knox in the 2018 draft if he had slipped to No. 9 instead of being selected at No. 8. Berman adds that Knicks forward Obi Toppin, who played his college ball at Dayton, may be a player the Cavs would target in a trade.

A source tells Berman that the Knicks – who hold the 19th and 21st overall picks – are open to trading out of the first round entirely in order to acquire an “established player.” Sexton has certainly established himself as a talented scorer, having averaged 24.5 points per game in 2020/21, though it’s unclear if New York would be willing to offer both of its first-round picks in a package for him.

Here’s more from around the East:

Charania’s Latest: Collins, Rockets, E. Gordon, I. Todd, More

John Collins‘ playoff averages of 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game (in 32.0 MPG) don’t jump off the page. However, people around the NBA believe the Hawks big man bolstered his case for a maximum-salary type investment this offseason with his postseason performance, says Shams Charania of The Athletic. Collins played a key role in Atlanta winning two series as an underdog and getting to within two games of the NBA Finals.

Since Collins will be a restricted free agent, the Hawks will have the ability to either sign Collins to a new deal themselves or match any offer sheet he signs with another team. Still, the club has projected reluctance to go all the way up to max for the 23-year-old, so a rival suitor could put pressure on Atlanta’s ownership and front office by presenting an aggressive four-year offer. The Mavericks, Heat, Spurs, and Timberwolves are among the teams expected to display interest, sources tell Charania.

Here’s more from Charania:

  • The Rockets have been actively exploring ways to move up from No. 2 and acquire the Pistons‘ No. 1 pick, sources tell Charania. A report last week suggested Houston has been “fixated” on Cade Cunningham, the top prospect in this year’s draft class, while multiple reports have stated that Detroit likes Jalen Green and Evan Mobley, so it’s possible the two teams could be motivated to work something out.
  • The Rockets have also been discussing veteran guard Eric Gordon in trade scenarios, according to Charania. Gordon, who still has two guaranteed years left on his contract, would be a better fit on a win-now team than a rebuilding Houston squad.
  • Isaiah Todd, who played for the G League Ignite in 2020/21, is canceling draft workouts with teams late in the first round, including the Jazz, and is focusing on teams with lottery picks, says Charania. That seems awfully optimistic for a prospect ranked 47th overall on ESPN’s big board.
  • Villanova’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl has been impressing teams, including the Pelicans, during the pre-draft process, per Charania. Robinson-Earl ranks 60th on ESPN’s board.