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Rockets Notes: Cousins, Oladipo, Croom, Porter

February 23rd, 2021 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The DeMarcus Cousins era in Houston formally came to an end on Tuesday, as the Rockets announced they’ve officially waived the veteran center.

Explaining the decision to release Cousins, general manager Rafael Stone said they’ve been “talking to him about this for a little while” and decided the time was right to allow him to pursue a new opportunity (link via Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston). Stone added that Houston opted to guarantee Cousins’ full-season salary before parting ways with him because the team appreciated his work ethic and felt “that was the best way we could think of to say thank you.”

For John Wall, who played college ball with Cousins at Kentucky, teaming up with the veteran center in the NBA was something he’d looked forward to for a while, and he expressed some disappointment that it didn’t work out as they might’ve hoped.

“Getting to play with him again was what we always wanted in the NBA,” Wall said, per Berman. “It didn’t last as long as we thought it would. The decision that was made is out of my hands. It’s up to the front office, whatever they feel is best for our team going forward.

“I think with his time here he did a hell of a job,” Wall continued. “I think he showed he could come back and play in this league, coming off of injuries. Hopefully he can get another job somewhere very soon…getting back to where he wants to be in this league.”

Here’s more on the Rockets:

Victor Oladipo (right foot strain) suffered a slight setback when he stepped on teammate Rodions Kurucs‘ foot during a practice, preventing him from returning to action on Monday, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Head coach Stephen Silas said he remains hopeful that Oladipo will be back “sooner rather than later.”
Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, who reported last month that the Rockets are looking to hire an executive in an assistant general manager-type role, identifies former Timberwolves executive Noah Croom as a candidate being considered for that position.
Kevin Porter has yet to make his Rockets debut since being acquired from Cleveland a month ago, but his new team has a vision for how it will use him, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. The Rockets, who plan to have Porter finish the G League season at the Walt Disney World bubble, expect to have him eventually assume a point guard role on the second unit, per Iko.

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Hayward, Wall, Beal, Vucevic

February 17th, 2021 at 8:38am CST by Luke Adams

Originally scheduled to play Chicago on Wednesday and Denver on Friday, the Hornets will instead be off until at least Saturday as a result of coronavirus contact tracing. In addition to having two games postponed, the team faces a number of additional restrictions until the contact tracing process – and further testing – is completed.

As was the case earlier in the pandemic, the Hornets are currently limited to having one player on court in their practice facility, and players didn’t have access to the locker room areas. The club will continue to be restricted to individual player workouts through at least Thursday (Twitter links).

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

The Hornets raised eyebrows in November by signing Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $120MM deal that paid him like an All-Star, but the veteran forward has made good on that contract so far by playing like an All-Star, says Jared Dubin of FiveThirtyEight.
After returning to D.C. to face the Wizards this week, Rockets point guard John Wall said he’s done discussing the trade that sent him to Houston, but hopes he’s remembered in Washington for his community work off the court and not just his play on the court. Royce Young of ESPN has the story and the quotes from Wall, who added that he was disappointed not to be able to play in front of Wizards fans in his return.
Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today takes a closer look at how the Wizards made a clear choice to make Bradley Beal the face of their franchise when they traded Wall last fall.
As part of the 10-18 Magic, he’s not receiving much national attention, but veteran center Nikola Vucevic is enjoying perhaps the best season of his career, as Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype writes. The 30-year-old remains under contract with Orlando through 2022/23.

John Wall Was “Shocked” By Trade To Houston

February 14th, 2021 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

John Wall is speaking out about his former team before his return to Washington Monday night. In a lengthy interview with Fred Katz of The Athletic, Wall said he had planned to retire with the Wizards and was “shocked” to find out that he had been traded to Houston in December.

“I felt like I deserved the honesty and respect because I’ve been there for 10 years. I’ve been through the bad times,” Wall said. “… I never turned my back on the organization. I played through damn near every injury that a lot of people wouldn’t have played through. I played through broken hands in the playoffs. I think I did everything I could and gave everything I had, heart and soul to the organization on and off the court.

“Then everybody kept telling me, ‘No, it’s not true. Don’t believe it. Don’t believe it.’ And I’m like, I know Houston probably called them first. But it’s part of the business. Why wouldn’t you call if somebody wants to be traded? You know what I mean? And it’s not nothing, just having conversations. And that’s all I wanted. If you’re having conversations, that’s cool, I get it. Nobody could ever tell me the truth about it.”

Wall didn’t single out anyone in the front office who he thought was being dishonest, but he did explain how he learned his time in Washington was about to end. On the night before the deal was announced, Wall received a two-word text message from Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard that read, “PLEASE CALL.” Rumors of a Wizards-Rockets trade had been circulating for about two weeks, so Wall knew what Sheppard was going to say.

The Rockets called him a few minutes later, and the next day he was on a plane to Houston.

The deal surprised Wall because he said the Wizards had shown so much support while injuries sidelined him for nearly two full seasons. He spent much of the fall working out in Los Angeles, and the team had made public and private statements about how much he had done to bounce back from surgeries to remove bone spurs from his left heel and to fix a ruptured Achilles.

Wall was returning to Washington from Los Angeles when the first report surfaced that the Wizards were talking to the Rockets about a swap involving Russell Westbrook.

“Somebody hit me and was like, ‘You know you’re on the trade block with Russell Westbrook.’ I’m like, ‘Ain’t no way I’m on the trade block,’” he said. “You know what I mean? I haven’t played in (two) years. And I was like, I know it’s part of the business. I said all I ever wanted from the start was honesty. You know what I mean? Just tell me the truth, what it was. I can deal with it.”

Wall said after the trade became official, one of his first phone calls was to Bradley Beal, his backcourt partner for eight years. Wall described the conversation as “emotional” and said both of them were crying. After a night of “trying to clear my mind,” Wall visited the practice facility to say goodbye to teammates and staff members, then headed to Texas.

Wall still watches all the Wizards’ games and cast an All-Star vote Saturday for Beal. He said his biggest regret about being traded is that he and Beal never got a chance to show they can still be successful together.

“The number one goal is, you didn’t give me the opportunity for me and Brad to run it back, like y’all said we (would),” Wall said. “That was (my) and our ultimate goal. It was, ‘OK, we’re gonna give it one more shot.’ If it’s just one year or two years, we were gonna give it one more shot just to see. … And it’s just crazy we never got to do that. I don’t think they wanted to do that. I think they moved forward and did whatever they wanted, which is cool. But that was the most frustrating thing than anything. Like, to have an opportunity to run it back with my brother and playing with the guy, the level he’s on now.”

Texas Notes: White, Kleber, Rockets, Mavericks Arena

February 9th, 2021 at 7:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After Spurs guard Derrick White returned on January 30 from his second major toe injury since August, he quickly returned to the impressive level he had been displaying during last summer’s restart in Orlando, according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.

The Spurs have been the beneficiaries of White’s improvement. The club is 3-2 since White’s return, as of this writing, and has won three games in a row. At 14-10, San Antonio is the No. 5 seed in a crowded Western Conference field.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

Despite having recovered from a bout with COVID-19, Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber continues to adjust to life on an NBA court, according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News. “I still feel slow,” Kleber said.
The Rockets will be using a strict load management-style maintenance plan for their three core guards for the indefinite future, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston’s starting back court tandem of John Wall and Victor Oladipo, plus sixth man Eric Gordon, will all sit for at least one game in the team’s upcoming back-to-back sets. “It’s something we’ve talked about the last three weeks or so, four weeks maybe,” head coach Stephen Silas said of the plan. “With John and Vic being primary ballhandlers, that makes it a little harder. Now, you add Eric to the mix [of players sitting], it makes it really hard.”
The Mavericks brought 1,500 first responder fans back into their home arena, the American Airlines Center, for the first time this season during a 127-122 victory over the Timberwolves yesterday, according to Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “The atmosphere was obviously better,” Dallas wing Tim Hardaway Jr. said. The fans were socially distanced within the 19,200-capacity arena.

Rockets Notes: Cousins, Wood, Wall, Nwaba

February 6th, 2021 at 5:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

DeMarcus Cousins showed flashes of his All-Star days when Christian Wood missed three games with a sprained right ankle in January. He’ll get a much longer chance to prove he can still be effective as a starter now that Wood is sidelined with a more severe injury, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

Wood has been listed as week to week after spraining the ankle again Thursday in Memphis. Until he returns, the under-sized Rockets will rely heavily on Cousins, who is the only other true center on the roster. Pressed into starting duty last month, the four-time All-Star averaged 17.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.

“Obviously, that helped me with my confidence going through this season,” he said. “I mean, it’s unfortunate what happened to C-Wood. I’m going to come in and do my job. That’s really all I can do, play my part and help us get another W in the win column.”

There’s more from Houston:

The Rockets aren’t offering a firm estimate of how much time Wood might miss, so Kelly Iko of The Athletic talked to Dr. Rajpal Brar, a physical therapist and sports scientist at 3cB Performance. “Really hard to tell severity just based on video,” Brar said. “However, if the Rockets are saying it’s a weekly eval, it’s my inclination that it’s a Grade 2 tear without any fracture (the fact he walked off was a very good indicator of the latter). Grade 2 is typically 2-3 weeks. Grade 3 is 4-6.”
John Wall has claimed leadership of the Rockets since James Harden was traded to Brooklyn last month, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston. “I feel like I’m the franchise guy now that James has left,” Wall said. “You very rarely get the opportunity to be a franchise (guy) in two different cities and two different teams. … I feel like that’s my job, to be the leader of this team.”
David Nwaba is listed as questionable for tonight against the Spurs, and the Rockets are optimistic that he’s close to returning after missing the past three games with a sprained left ankle, Feigen adds in a separate story. “He has been doing his treatment, has been working on it,” coach Stephen Silas said. “… He’s definitely moving in the right direction.”

Southeast Notes: MCW, Okeke, Hawks, Wall, Hornets

January 28th, 2021 at 9:57am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic will be without Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac for the rest of the season due to their torn ACLs, but the team is moving closer to getting some of its other injured players back on the court. According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link), head coach Steve Clifford said that veteran guard Michael Carter-Williams (foot) could return as soon as Friday after missing Orlando’s last 12 games.

Meanwhile, Clifford couldn’t provide exact timetables for when Magic forwards Chuma Okeke (knee) and Al-Farouq Aminu (knee) will play again, but did say that Okeke will likely be ready to go before Aminu is, Robbins adds.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

After winning 24, 29, and 20 games in the last three seasons, the Hawks are in playoffs-or-bust mode this season, prompting Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer to consider whether the team is finally on the other side of its rebuild. As Tjarks notes, Atlanta has barely gotten anything out of its veteran free agent additions so far, so the emergence of De’Andre Hunter as a capable running mate for Trae Young has been huge.
Rockets guard John Wall, who suggested earlier this week that he was disappointed by how the Wizards handled his exit from the franchise, got a chance on Tuesday night to show his old team what it’s missing, as Fred Katz of The Athletic writes. Wall had a team-high 24 points in 24 minutes en route to a 107-88 Houston win over Washington.
Hornets head coach James Borrego is still experimenting with his rotation to determine which lineups work best, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. “There is not going to be a set rotation for a bit,” Borrego said on Wednesday. The team sent five players to the G League this week, but Borrego still has 11 healthy players available on the NBA roster.

Western Notes: Williams, Pelicans, Wall, Thunder

January 26th, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After missing two Suns practices to attend to personal matters, head coach Monty Williams intends to coach Phoenix against the Thunder on Wednesday, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.

The 8-7 Suns will host the 7-9 Thunder in the first game of a back-to-back homestand.

“We have to make sure we keep our foot on the gas and not let up at all,” center Deandre Ayton said in discussing the Suns’ recent swoon, which has featured four losses in five games. “We definitely have some answers and we have to redeem ourselves.”

There’s more out of the Western Conference:

Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer considers next steps the Pelicans could take after their disappointing 5-10 start. New Orleans team president David Griffin is hopeful that star forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram will begin to develop defensively, and mentioned new head coach Stan Van Gundy‘s Dwight Howard-era Magic teams as a possible blueprint. “They played really big,” Griffin said. “They played big, skilled basketball. They weren’t like blitzkrieg fast, but they were super skilled and very big.”
Kelly Iko of The Athletic takes an in-depth look into the recovery of new Rockets starting point guard John Wall, who missed two calendar years of action during his time as a Wizard, due first to a left heel surgery and then a ruptured Achilles.
A revised Thunder bench unit sparked an intriguing victory against the Trail Blazers in Portland, as Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman details.

John Wall Opens Up About Being Traded By Wizards

January 26th, 2021 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

John Wall isn’t hiding his desire to prove something to the Wizards when he faces them tonight for the first time since being traded, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports. Wall, who spent 10 seasons in Washington before the December 2 deal that sent him to Houston, believes the organization lost confidence after injuries sidelined him for the past two years.

“Just seeing everybody that’s over there, a lot of people that’s on that side that probably didn’t believe I could come back to be the person I am. And probably some people that had a little say so into me being traded,” Wall said. “I feel like it was a whole process and it wasn’t just something that happened overnight. I think this was in the works. That’s my motivation. Who wouldn’t want to beat the team that traded them and felt like I was done?”

Wall has shown flashes of his old self during the first month of the season. He has played in eight of the Rockets‘ first 15 games and is averaging 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per night. He has also adopted a leadership role and was one of the team’s most vocal players when James Harden was forcing his way out of Houston.

Wall’s comments are from an in-depth interview with Chris Miller that NBC Sports Washington will air before tonight’s game. Wall admits he considers the contest to be personal.

“I feel like it is. I definitely feel so because, I know I had my say so and my responsibilities with what I did off the court and things I (did), but I owned up to those. I said my apologies and that’s the best I can do,” Wall said. “Nobody’s perfect. We all live and learn from our mistakes. I wish it would have never happened, but it happened, yes. I moved forward from it. My mindset was to come back and compete at a high level in the one jersey I only knew for 10 years.”

Wall’s is likely referring to an offseason video of him at a party where he allegedly displayed gang signs.

“I just wish I would have known up front and not have to beat around the bush to figure things out,” he continued. “That’s just my motivation there. They thought I was done. Basically, that’s how I feel. This is my opportunity to show them that I’m not done. But the most important thing for me is get the win. I don’t care how many numbers I have, it’s about getting the win. That’s the most important thing because if I get 40 and then we lose, the trade don’t look as bad from their aspect because they beat us that one game they did play us. So my ultimate goal is to try to get a win for my team.”

Wall adds that he would have appreciated more honesty from the Wizards heading into the deal, which sent him and and a protected first-round pick to Houston in exchange for Russell Westbrook. Hughes notes that rumors of the trade began a week before it happened, and that it was the first time in his career that Wall’s name has been floated in trade talks.

“Most importantly, all I really wanted from the start of all of it was just to be told the truth,” Wall said. “That’s the most important thing and what made it so hard for me to understand what was going on because I wasn’t told the truth. I understand it’s a business and things go on and people move on and you get traded, organizations in different ways. When I heard the rumors, I called and asked are these true or are these something not to worry about? From that day forward, all I heard was ‘no, those rumors aren’t true, don’t worry about it.’ In all reality, it was true.”

Rockets Notes: Cousins, Wall, Porter, Draft Pick

January 24th, 2021 at 9:58am CST by Arthur Hill

After putting up his best numbers in several years Saturday night, DeMarcus Cousins admitted there were times when he wasn’t sure he would ever play again, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Cousins, who has suffered three major injuries in the past four years, had 28 points, 17 rebounds and five assists as the short-handed Rockets won in Dallas.

“It’s just proof that the work is working,” he said. “The work, the time, the effort, those days I didn’t want to get up and do it, the days I thought I was wasting my time, the dog days I thought it was over for me — all of those thoughts at some point flashed in my mind. I would be lying if I didn’t have those moments, but just continue to believe in myself.”

Cousins didn’t play at all last season because of a torn ACL and was limited to 30 games with the Warriors in 2018/19 after tearing his quadriceps. He came to Houston on a non-guaranteed veteran’s minimum contract, but hasn’t looked like a former All-Star, shooting just 26.3% from the field before last night.

“I told him it’s a process,” said Rockets guard John Wall. “I mean, I know it’s difficult from being that franchise guy and always being the guy that was dominant and having the game the way you want it to be, and now he has to accept the role of coming off the bench.”

There’s more from Houston:

Wall returned ahead of schedule Saturday after missing five games with soreness in his left knee, notes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Coming off a two-year absence, the veteran guard doesn’t want to get the reputation of being susceptible to injuries. “It was frustrating because I deal with so much, people say, ‘He’s injury prone,’” Wall said. “I got kneed. You have inflammation, you can’t control that. There was nothing I can do.”
The Rockets plan to be cautious with Kevin Porter Jr., who was acquired Friday in a trade with the Cavaliers, MacMahon tweets. Porter’s talent is obvious, but he fell out of favor in Cleveland because of off-the-court issues. “I wouldn’t anticipate him playing in an NBA game relatively soon,” coach Stephen Silas said. Houston added Porter with the $1.62MM trade exception it created last February by sending Gerald Green to Denver, confirms Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
The Rockets placed heavy protections on the 2024 second-round pick they sent to the Cavaliers in the deal, but it was originally unprotected when they acquired it from Golden State, Marks tweets. Cleveland will only receive the pick if it falls in the 56-to-60 range. Otherwise it’ll remain with Houston.

Injury/Illness Updates: Herro, Pritchard, Wall, Wood, Porter Jr.

January 22nd, 2021 at 9:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Heat guard Tyler Herro returned to Miami on Friday for the remainder of the team’s four-game trip, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Herro seemed ready to return to action after practicing on Thursday but woke up Friday with more neck soreness. He has missed four consecutive games and will also be absent from Miami’s two-game set in Brooklyn against the Nets on Saturday and Monday.

We have more injury updates:

Celtics rookie guard Payton Pritchard suffered a right knee sprain against the Sixers on Friday and did not return, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Pritchard was injured during a “friendly fire” incident when Jaylen Brown fell on his leg. Coach Brad Stevens said afterward that Pritchard would undergo testing in the next day or two.
The Rockets are hopeful that John Wall and Christian Wood will be back in uniform on Tuesday for the team’s home game against Washington, Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire relays. Wall missed his fifth straight game on Friday due to knee soreness, while Wood didn’t make the trip to Detroit due to an ankle sprain.
Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. returned to action on Friday after a 10-game absence, according to ESPN’s news feed. Porter had been sidelined due to the league’s healthy and safety protocols.