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Hornets’ Nick Richards Out Indefinitely With Rib Fracture

November 5th, 2024 at 4:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hornets starting center Nick Richards will be sidelined for multiple weeks due to a right first rib cartilage fracture, the team announced in a press release.

An MRI revealed the extent of the injury. He suffered it during an on-court collision in the first half against the Celtics on Friday.

Richards will be evaluated on an every other week basis to monitor progress toward a return to basketball activities. The team will provide its next update on his status following its November 17 road trip.

Richards was averaging career highs in points (11.0), rebounds (10.0) and blocks (2.4) through five starts this season. He appeared in 67 games, including 51 starts, last season despite battling ankle and foot injuries. He averaged 9.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per night.

Richards in the second year of a three-year, $15MM contract.

The injury severely depletes Charlotte up front. There’s still no timetable for center Mark Williams, who is recovering from a strained tendon in his left foot.

Moussa Diabate‘s role will expand and the Hornets will also be forced to used smaller lineups with forwards Grant Williams and Taj Gibson manning the middle. Diabate, a 2022 second-round pick, is on a two-way contract.

Charlotte is off to a 2-5 start and will carry a three-game losing streak into its home game against Detroit on Wednesday.

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Hornets Notes: Simpson, Diabate, Green, Salaun

September 21st, 2024 at 6:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hornets will have a few roster questions to work out in training camp, but it appears two-way players KJ Simpson and Moussa Diabate are already destined to start the season in the G League. General manager Jeff Peterson addressed that topic at a recent press conference to announce the hiring of DJ Bakker as head coach of the Greensboro Swarm, according to Schuyler Callihan of Sports Illustrated.

“With KJ and Moussa specifically, safe assumption they’ll spend some time with Greensboro, and they’re excited about it,” Peterson said. “Every player that we bring into this organization, they just want to play, they want to compete, they want to get better. They want to maximize themselves and they know that at any time, this may be the best vehicle for them to do that. Really excited about their option to come to Greensboro and play and get better.”

Simpson, a 22-year-old point guard who played collegiately at Colorado, was taken with the 42nd pick in this year’s draft. Diabate, a 22-year-old center/power forward, has appeared in 33 games with the Clippers over the past two seasons. Charlotte’s other two-way slot remains open heading into camp.

There’s more on the Hornets:

  • Offseason addition Josh Green will likely be the choice to start alongside LaMelo Ball in the backcourt, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer writes in a mailbag column. Boone notes that Green, who was sent from Dallas to Charlotte in a six-team trade in July, brings flexibility to the lineup and can match up defensively with the opponent’s best guard, helping Ball stay out of foul trouble.
  • Tidjane Salaun was impressive during his brief Summer League appearance, but the 18-year-old will probably need time to develop into a rotation player, Boone states in the same piece. He suggests Salaun may see minutes initially as a defensive specialist before working his way into the rotation.
  • New head coach Charles Lee will have several decisions to make in camp, Boone adds. Along with Green, Tre Mann, Brandon Miller and Vasilije Micic are all competing for time in the backcourt, and the team doesn’t have a traditional power forward to back up Miles Bridges. That role will likely go to Grant Williams if other options don’t develop during the preseason.
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Checking In On Early 2024/25 Roster Battles

September 14th, 2024 at 11:03am CST by Tristan Tucker

Each year, a handful of teams prefer to bring in players to battle it out for the last remaining spots on a given roster. Let’s take a look at a few training camp battles that are already brewing ahead of October.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls have been busy in recent weeks, filling out their training camp roster with proven talent. The Bulls have 15 players on standard contracts, but Onuralp Bitim‘s deal is non-guaranteed. In addition, Chicago has two open two-way slots. The Bulls have four players — Talen Horton-Tucker, Kenneth Lofton Jr., E.J. Liddell and Marcus Domask — signed to training camp deals.

Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted to two-way contracts at any time. Horton-Tucker is the only player of that batch who is ineligible for a two-way contract, since he is at five years of NBA service. That gives the Bulls a handful of options for their opening night roster.

In essence, Bitim and Horton-Tucker seem to be battling it out for the Bulls’ 15th roster spot, while Lofton, Liddell and Domask all appear to be candidates for the team’s open two-way slots. Of course, if the Bulls opt to move on from Bitim on a standard deal, they could attempt to re-sign him to a two-way deal. They could also just carry 14 players on the standard roster to begin the year.

New York Knicks

As we detailed Saturday morning, Landry Shamet and Chuma Okeke appear to be battling for the Knicks’ 15th roster spot. Of course, there’s no guarantee that either player will make the roster, but each has a decent case to make the team.

Shamet is a proven three-point shooter while Okeke is a versatile forward who is a previous 16th overall pick. The Knicks will likely assess in training camp what their biggest need is and keep the player who best fits that niche heading into the year.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers have a handful of players on non-guaranteed or partially contracts heading into the season. However, previous reporting seems to indicate that the team’s final roster spot will come down to either Kendall Brown or Cole Swider.

Brown is an athletic forward who was the 48th overall pick in the 2022 draft. He has spent the last two seasons with the Pacers but has also appeared in just 21 total games. Meanwhile, the Pacers signed Swider to a training camp contract this offseason that doesn’t include Exhibit 10 language. Swider is a known three-point shooter who spent last season with the Heat and helped Miami to a summer league championship this offseason.

James Wiseman and James Johnson each have partially guaranteed salaries with the Pacers.

The others

Other teams across the league are poised to either carry just 14 players on standard deals to begin the year or already have their 15-man rosters determined. However, some of those teams have unsettled two-way roster slots.

The Heat have their standard roster filled out, but summer standout Isaiah Stevens is on an Exhibit 10 deal. It seems like Stevens will battle Dru Smith — who currently holds a two-way deal — outright for that spot.

The Hornets have Moussa Diabate and KJ Simpson on two-way deals but have another spot open. Keyontae Johnson could be an option for that spot. Charlotte also has a potential opening on the 15-man roster, with four players signed to Exhibit 10 deals and another agreed to.

The Wizards also have an open two-way slot. Washington signed Leaky Black, Kira Lewis and Jaylen Nowell to Exhibit 10 contracts, but only Black is eligible for a two-way deal. The Wizards also have 15 players on guaranteed contracts, with Jared Butler and his non-guaranteed deal possibly on the outside looking in unless they make a trade.

The Clippers have RayJ Dennis, Kai Jones and Elijah Harkless signed to Exhibit 10 deals. The team also has an agreement with Kevon Harris for another such spot. With only Jordan Miller and Trentyn Flowers on two-way contracts, all of Dennis, Jones, Harkless and Harris are eligible for the team’s third.

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Hornets Sign Moussa Diabate To Two-Way Contract

July 31st, 2024 at 5:33pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 31: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

JULY 29: The Hornets and free agent big man Moussa Diabate have agreed to terms on a two-way contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Diabate, 22, was the 43rd overall pick of the 2022 draft out of Michigan. The 6’10” French center has spent his first two professional seasons on two-way contracts with the Clippers, appearing in 33 total NBA games during that time.

Diabate’s contributions at the NBA level have been modest — he has averaged just 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per game for Los Angeles. However, he has been a regular starter for the Ontario Clippers in the G League during those two seasons. In 2023/24, he averaged 15.5 PPG, 10.2 RPG, and 1.9 BPG in 19 Showcase Cup and regular season NBAGL games (30.0 MPG).

The Clippers opted not to tender Diabate a qualifying offer in June, so he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, clearing the way for him to sign freely with any NBA team.

Diabate will fill the third two-way slot in Charlotte. The Hornets are currently carrying Leaky Black and 2024 second-round pick KJ Simpson on two-way deals.

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Western Notes: Edey, Canada, Spurs, Castle, Clippers

June 30th, 2024 at 10:45pm CST by Rory Maher

The Grizzlies selected back-to-back college Player of the Year Zach Edey with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 draft. The 7’4″ center, who is from Toronto, was on the preliminary roster for the Canadian national team, but he decided to withdraw from consideration for the 12-man roster ahead of the team’s training camp as it prepares for the Olympics in Paris next month, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Edey will be prioritizing his development with Memphis ahead of his rookie NBA season.

“Representing Canada in the Olympics remains a lifelong dream of mine, but for now, I look forward to being the team’s biggest fan from this side of the Atlantic,” Edey said as part of a larger statement (Twitter link via Grange).

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

  • The Spurs intend to sign future Hall of Famer Chris Paul to a one-year, $11MM+ contract once he clears waivers. That one-year agreement isn’t a coincidence, according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News, who hears the team is prioritizing short-term contracts to maximize financial flexibility for the 2025 offseason (Twitter link). The list of free agents for next year can be found here. Of course, it’s possible the Spurs may be more focused on trade possibilities in 2025 than free agency, as they control several future first-round picks.
  • Spurs No. 4 overall pick Stephon Castle is thrilled to team up with reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN. “Just the thought of playing with him, of course it circulates in your mind, but it really doesn’t feel real until it becomes reality,” Castle said. “So I mean, just to know that that’s going to be my future teammate now, I’m just really excited for what our future looks like.” Castle won a championship with UConn in his lone collegiate season.
  • With Mason Plumlee heading to Phoenix and Daniel Theis, Moussa Diabate and Kai Jones all unrestricted free agents, the Clippers are looking for a new backup big man, per Law Murray of The Athletic. The Clips expect to work out a new deal with Jones and there’s a chance Diabate could be back too, Murray says, but neither player has a proven track record in the NBA.
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QO Decisions: Jazz, Okeke, Pacers, Krejci, Celtics, More

June 29th, 2024 at 8:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz declined to issue qualifying offers to guard Kira Lewis or center Micah Potter ahead of Saturday’s deadline, reports Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links). As a result, both players will be unrestricted free agents this summer rather than restricted.

Lewis, the 13th overall pick in the 2020 draft, didn’t establish himself as a rotation player during three-and-a-half seasons in New Orleans. He was traded from the Pelicans to the Pacers to the Raptors to the Jazz during the 2023/24 season, and played a limited role in Utah after arriving from Toronto as a salary-matching piece in the deal involving Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji. His qualifying offer would have been worth $7.74MM, so it comes as no surprise that it wasn’t tendered.

Potter also played sparingly for the Jazz last season while on a two-way contract, though he has shown some promise in the G League and is part of the U.S. Select Team that will scrimmage with Team USA ahead of the Olympics. His qualifying offer would’ve been for a partially guaranteed minimum-salary deal. According to Jones, a return to Utah is possible, though Potter may receive interest from other teams.

The only Jazz player eligible for restricted free agency who received a qualifying offer is guard Johnny Juzang, Jones reports (Twitter link). Since he has finished each of the past two seasons on a two-way contract with Utah, Juzang wasn’t eligible for another two-way qualifying offer, so his QO is for a partially guaranteed one-year minimum deal.

Here are more qualifying offer updates from around the NBA:

  • Former Magic first-round pick Chuma Okeke didn’t receive a qualifying offer that would’ve been worth about $7.4MM and will become an unrestricted free agent, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Okeke, 25, has played good defense since entering the league in 2020, but hasn’t contributed much offensively, averaging 6.3 points per game on .383/.318/.789 shooting in 189 career contests (20.3 MPG).
  • The Pacers have tendered qualifying offers to Obi Toppin ($7.74MM), Oscar Tshiebwe (two-way), and Quenton Jackson (two-way), according to a pair of stories from Tony East of SI.com. All three players will now be restricted free agents.
  • The Hawks have issued a two-way qualifying offer to guard Vit Krejci, making him a restricted free agent, a league source tells Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Krejci is a candidate to negotiate a standard contract with Atlanta after finishing the 2023/24 season as a rotation player. He could also sign an offer sheet with another team, but the Hawks would have the right to match it.
  • After declining Neemias Queta‘s team option for 2023/24, the Celtics tendered him a qualifying offer, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Two-way player Drew Peterson also got a qualifying offer from Boston, but JD Davison didn’t, Smith adds. Queta’s QO will be worth approximately $2.37MM, while Peterson’s will be for another two-way contract.
  • The following players also received two-way qualifying offers, according to Smith: Lakers big man Colin Castleton (Twitter link), Bulls forward Adama Sanogo (Twitter link), Spurs wing David Duke (Twitter link), and former Warriors guard Nico Mannion (Twitter link), whose RFA rights continue to held by Golden State as he continues his career overseas. San Antonio issued a $2.7MM qualifying offer to big man Sandro Mamukelashvili too, making him a restricted free agent, tweets Smith.
  • The Clippers opted not to extend qualifying offers to two-way players Xavier Moon and Moussa Diabate, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter links). The door isn’t closed on a new deal for either player, but it sounds like they’ll explore their options as unrestricted free agents, per Murray. The qualifying offers for Moon and Diabate would have been partially guaranteed minimum-salary offers, since they were ineligible for another two-way QO.
  • Neither Nate Hinton nor Jermaine Samuels received a two-way qualifying offer from the Rockets, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Both players will be unrestricted free agents.
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L.A. Notes: Harden, Clippers, Diabate, Lakers, Ham

January 5th, 2024 at 11:01am CST by Luke Adams

After losing their first six games following the acquisition of James Harden, the Clippers have since won 18 of 23, including the last four in a row, to improve their record to 21-12. With the team firing on all cylinders, it hasn’t been lost on Harden that the critics who were decrying his fit in early November have been quiet as of late.

“Fit is great, I knew that from the beginning and it’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be a part of this,” Harden said, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. “Obviously it didn’t start off well. It gave people so much to talk about in a negative way, and now those people that were talking are nowhere to be found. Like, literally nowhere to be found. Which, we knew that was going to happen.”

Viewed as a title threat when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George teamed up in Los Angeles in 2019, the Clippers have won just three playoff series in the past four seasons as Leonard and George  both dealt with injuries. But with the two forwards healthy this season and Harden bringing a new element to the roster, they’re looking like a legitimate contender again.

Asked by Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports what winning a championship would mean for his legacy, Harden said it would be “very important.”

“It’s been like that. I always want to give myself a chance to win. I know how very difficult that is,” Harden said. “There’s only one team standing at the end of the year. So, I’ll continue to keep trying to do that.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

  • Clippers two-way center Moussa Diabate, who was hampered in December by a hip issue, appeared in his first NBA game in over a month on Monday, logging three garbage-time minutes in a victory over Miami. However, it sounds like he won’t play again for a while — the team announced that Diabate, who had six blocks in a G League game on Tuesday, is out due to a metacarpal fracture in his right hand, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. The club has yet to provide a recovery timeline.
  • With the Lakers slumping, Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group wonders why the team hasn’t turned to the lineups that were successful last season, including either Jarred Vanderbilt or Rui Hachimura alongside Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell. Injuries have been a problem, but the club hasn’t used either of those lineups even when everyone has been available — those two groups have played just three total minutes together in 2023/24, says Swanson.
  • While head coach Darvin Ham is clearly facing pressure to turn the Lakers‘ season around, a “high-ranking” team source disputed the idea that he’s on the verge of being fired, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. Amick adds that assistant Phil Handy is frequently brought up as the possible next man up if the Lakers do eventually decide to make an in-season coaching change.
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Moussa Diabate Signs Two-Way Deal With Clippers

July 17th, 2023 at 1:23pm CST by Rory Maher

Moussa Diabate is signing a two-way deal with the Clippers, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The move is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

A French big man who spent his lone college season at Michigan, Diabate spent his rookie season on a two-way deal with the Clippers after being selected 43rd overall in the 2022 draft. He received a qualifying offer last month, making him a restricted free agent.

As a rookie in 2022/23, Diabate appeared in 22 games with L.A., holding most averages of 2.7 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 8.9 MPG. He received much more playing time for the team’s G League affiliate, the Ontario Clippers, averaging 15.9 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 1.8 SPG and 1.1 BPG in 18 regular season games (32.6 MPG), earning a spot on the NBAGL All-Rookie Team for his efforts.

As our roster counts show, once Diabate’s signing is official, he will fill the first of the team’s three two-way slots. Jordan Miller, a second-round pick last month who remains unsigned, is a candidate for another.

The Clippers currently have 16 players on standard deals, with 15 of those contracts guaranteed. Jason Preston‘s non-guaranteed deal is set to be fully guaranteed tomorrow if he isn’t waived.

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Cameron Johnson, Coby White Among Players Receiving QOs

June 28th, 2023 at 7:28am CST by Luke Adams

A series of players have been issued qualifying offers by their respective teams, making them restricted free agents, according to RealGM’s official NBA transaction log.

Nets forward Cameron Johnson and Bulls guard Coby White are among the most notable QO recipients within the last couple days. Johnson’s qualifying offer is worth $8,486,620, while White’s is worth $7,744,600.

For many restricted free agents, qualifying offers essentially function as placeholders, giving the team the right of first refusal on the player as long as that QO remains on the table.

It’s also a one-year contract offer that the player is free to accept at any time, which is a more viable route for some RFAs than others — Johnson, for instance, looks like a safe bet to secure a lucrative multiyear deal, so it would be a major surprise if he simply accepted his $8.5MM qualifying offer.

Besides Johnson and White, here are some of the players who have received qualifying offers this week and are now restricted free agents, per RealGM:

The deadline for teams to issue qualifying offers is Thursday, so we’ll likely get many more updates on QOs being extended to players today and tomorrow.

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NBAGL Announces 2022/23 All-League Awards

April 13th, 2023 at 9:30pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA G League named the recipients of its All-League, All-Rookie, and All-Defensive teams on Thursday (all Twitter links found here). Many of the honorees are on standard NBA or two-way contracts.

Here’s the full list:

All-NBA G League First Team

All-NBA G League Second Team

All-NBA G League Third Team

NBAGL All-Defensive Team

NBAGL All-Rookie Team

  • Kenneth Lofton
  • Lester Quinones – Santa Cruz Warriors *
    • Note: Quinones placed second in ROY voting.
  • Darius Days
    • Note: Days placed third in ROY voting.
  • Jamaree Bouyea
  • Moussa Diabate

(^ denotes standard NBA contract)

(* denotes two-way contract)

(# Bouyea signed 10-day deals with the Heat and Wizards, but is now an NBA free agent)

Both Dunn and Samanic signed standard contracts with the Jazz, while Harrison signed with the Lakers at the very end of the season after playing with Portland on a 10-day deal. Duke and Lofton recently had their two-way contracts converted into standard deals.

Cooper, Chiozza and Anderson all hold NBA experience as well. Cooper spent 2021/22 — his rookie season — on a two-way deal with the Hawks; Chiozza has played for the Rockets, Nets and Warriors, and recently signed with a Spanish team; Anderson has appeared in 242 NBA games with six teams in as many seasons.

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