Ronald Dupree

Central Notes: Mitchell, Niang, LeVert, White, Dupree, Cunningham

If the Cavaliers clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday, they’ll do it without Donovan Mitchell. The star guard is listed as out against the Bulls due to an ankle sprain, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com tweets. Mitchell was injured on Sunday when he stepped on Keon Ellis’s foot during a loss to the Kings.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • The trade that sent Georges Niang and Caris LeVert from the Cavaliers to the Hawks came as somewhat of a surprise to both players, Jake Fischer reports in a column for The Stein Line. The deal only moved forward when the Hawks dropped their original asking price of multiple first-round picks for forward De’Andre Hunter. “It takes anybody by surprise until it happens, right?” Niang told said. “You’re like, ‘Nah, that’s not gonna be me.’ And then when it happens, after it I’m like, ‘It kinda makes sense.’ The money, shortening the rotation to kind of have one guy replace two, it kinda all made sense. But it took some time to digest it. I think All-Star break was perfect for that.”
  • The Bulls won’t have Coby White available for the matchup with Cleveland. White is being rested in the first game of a back-to-back, the Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman tweets. Chicago faces Miami on Wednesday.
  • Bucks front office executive Ronald Dupree is returning to alma mater LSU as the GM of the men’s basketball program, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. Dupree spent eight years in the Bucks front office.
  • Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham is back in action after missing two weeks of action due to a calf contusion. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the fact that his team has already clinched a first-round berth will help his star get fully healthy for the playoffs. “We’ve got some time, so that’s a good thing. It’s not something that we have to rush into,” he said. “The play-in week will be good for us also because we can take advantage of the conditioning without games to plan for … we’re in a great spot.” He’s getting better but we just want to make sure he’s right … he knows what it takes for his body to be where it needs to be and we trust him.”

D-League Moves: Jordan, Dupree, Greene

We had a pair of trades go down in the D-League today with several notable players changing teams. Let's take a look..

  • The D-Fenders have acquired center Jerome Jordan from the Reno Bighorns in exchange for forward Ronald Dupree and guard Orien Greene, according to Trevor Wong of the Lakers (on Twitter).  Jordan appeared in 21 games for the Knicks last season.
  • The Idaho Stampede, the D-League affiliate of the Trail Blazers, announced that they have acquired JaJuan Johnson via trade with the Canton Charge.  Johnson, 24, has been widely regarded as one of the D-League's top talents in 2012/13 but is considered to be a project.  The 6'10" forward was taken by the Nets with the 27th overall pick in the 2011 draft before being shipped to the Celtics for the rights to MarShon Brooks.

Grizzlies Waive Dupree, Jordan, Murray

The Grizzlies have let go of Ronald Dupree, Jerome Jordan and Ronald "Flip" Murray, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, clearing the last of the team's non-guaranteed contracts from the books. Memphis is down to 13 players, which is the minimum it can carry.

Dupree, 31, has played in parts of six NBA regular seasons, but spent last year playing overseas in Italy and Argentina. He averaged 3.5 points in 13.1 minutes over six preseason games this year. Jordan has been linked to teams in China while still in camp this month, so he could be headed overseas after appearing in 21 games last season for the Knicks. The 33-year-old Murray is a veteran of eight NBA seasons, but hasn't played in the league since 2009/10. He played three games in the D-League last year, an unconventional destination for a player of his age.

Grizzlies To Sign Ronald Dupree

The Grizzlies have reached an agreement on a one-year contract with free agent Ronald Dupree, according to agent Mark Bartelstein (Twitter link via ESPN.com's Marc Stein). Terms of the deal aren't known, but I'd guess it's a non-guaranteed invite to training camp.

Dupree, 31, has appeared in 157 games for five teams over the course of his six-year NBA career. However, since playing in a handful of games for the Pistons and SuperSonics in 2007/08, the 6'7" forward has appeared in just three games, for the Raptors in 2010/11. Dupree, who played for the 2004/05 Pistons that fell to the Spurs in the NBA Finals, has averaged 3.5 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 11.2 MPG in his career.

Dupree will be the 15th player under contract for the Grizzlies, though only 13 of those deals are guaranteed. Dupree and D.J. Kennedy figure to be among the players with a chance to earn one of the final two roster spots, if Memphis heads into the season with a full 15-man roster.