- Trail Blazers guard Rodney Hood suffered a knee injury on Saturday but he didn’t sustain any structural damage, Jason Quick of The Athletic reports. The team’s medical staff determined that Hood has a bone bruise. Hood re-signed with Portland this offseason on a two-year, $11.7MM contract. Veteran center Pau Gasol, who joined Portland on a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract, has ramped up his workouts as he continues rehab from offseason foot surgery. Gasol did a series of shooting drills after a shootaround last week.
Free agent big man Joakim Noah suffered an injury over the summer, but has recovered and is working out again, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who tweets that Noah is looking to sign with a contending team.
Noah, 34, appeared in only seven games for the Knicks in 2017/18, but rejuvenated his career last season in Memphis after being bought out by New York. In 42 contests with the Grizzlies, the veteran center averaged 7.1 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 2.1 APG in just 16.5 minutes per game.
After hitting free agency again this summer, Noah didn’t land with an NBA team right away and was reportedly recruited by the New Zealand Breakers, R.J. Hampton‘s team in the National Basketball League.
Opting to remain stateside, Noah had an “impressive” workout for the Lakers in August, but was passed over for Dwight Howard. While a report in September suggested that Noah would work out for L.A.’s other team, that Clippers audition was allegedly cancelled, a hint that he may have been dealing with an injury at that time.
NBA teams generally aren’t looking to shake up their rosters this early in the season, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Noah get a chance with a contender at some point, especially if injuries start to pile up around the league.
For instance, although Jason Quick of The Athletic tweets that the Trail Blazers likely won’t add a 15th man for now, since they remain optimistic about Pau Gasol‘s recovery, the Blazers are one team that could consider adding a big man like Noah, with Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins both on the shelf.
NOVEMBER 4: Caupain has officially signed with Hapoel Holon, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando passes along.
NOVEMBER 2: Israel may be the next stop for Troy Caupain, who was waived by the Trail Blazers before the start of the season, relays Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Caupain is reportedly in talks with Hapoel Holon, according to a report from Walla Sport of Israel.
A 6’4″ guard out of Cincinnati, Caupain spent last season as a two-way player with the Magic. He got into just four NBA games, but averaged 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 49 games for Lakeland in the G League. The 23-year-old signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Portland in September, but wasn’t able to earn a roster spot.
Caupain’s teammates with Hapoel Holon would include Malachi Richardson, who played briefly for the Raptors last season.
Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins will undergo surgery to repair a dislocated left shoulder, tweets Jason Quick of The Athletic.
The third-year center/power forward was checked by multiple doctors, and Collins and his representatives were given the choice of surgery or rehabilitation, Quick adds (Twitter link). A timeline for his return will be set after the operation.
Collins suffered the injury in Sunday’s game and underwent an MRI on Monday. He said after the game that his shoulder “popped back in cleanly.”
Collins moved into the starting center role this season and averaged 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds through the first three games. Portland picked up his 2020/21 team option in September, and he will be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer.
The Suns currently have the NBA’s youngest roster, according to the NBA’s official roster survey. The league’s data shows that the average age of a Suns player this season is just 24.49 years. On the other end of the spectrum, the Rockets have the league’s oldest roster, with an average age of 30.24.
[RELATED: Oldest, Youngest Players On NBA Rosters For 2019/20]
Houston also has the NBA’s oldest roster in terms of years of experience — the average Rocket has played in the NBA for 8.93 seasons. The Celtics beat out Phoenix for the league’s least experienced roster, at an average of 2.73 seasons per player.
The NBA’s full roster survey, which includes every player on a standard contract (ie. not two-way players), is packed with interesting data, including the official heights and weights for every player, as well as each player sorted by jersey number and by home country. It’s worth checking out in full, but here are the rest of the league’s findings on the youngest and oldest NBA rosters:
Youngest rosters by average age:
- Phoenix Suns (24.49)
- Chicago Bulls (24.83)
- Golden State Warriors (24.87)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (24.91)
- New York Knicks (24.98)
Least experienced rosters by average seasons of NBA experience:
- Boston Celtics (2.73)
- Phoenix Suns (2.80)
- Chicago Bulls (3.07)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (3.40)
- Indiana Pacers (3.53)
Oldest rosters by average age:
- Houston Rockets (30.24)
- Los Angeles Lakers (29.07)
- Milwaukee Bucks (28.73)
- Dallas Mavericks (27.40)
- Utah Jazz (27.08)
Most experienced rosters by average seasons of NBA experience:
- Houston Rockets (8.93)
- Los Angeles Lakers (8.07)
- Milwaukee Bucks (7.07)
- San Antonio Spurs (5.67)
- Portland Trail Blazers (5.57)
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2019 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2019/20 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Portland Trail Blazers.
Signings:
- Standard contracts:
- Rodney Hood: Two years, $11.72MM. Second-year player option. Re-signed using taxpayer mid-level exception.
- Mario Hezonja: Two years, $3.71MM. Second-year player option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Pau Gasol: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Anthony Tolliver: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Two-way contracts:
- Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Moses Brown: One year, minimum salary (Converted to two-way contract).
- Keljin Blevins: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- Troy Caupain: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
- London Perrantes: One year, minimum salary (Waived).
Trades:
- Acquired Kent Bazemore from the Hawks in exchange for Evan Turner.
- Acquired Hassan Whiteside in a three-team trade with the Heat, Sixers, and Clippers in exchange for Meyers Leonard (to Heat) and Maurice Harkless (to Clippers).
- Acquired the draft rights to Bojan Dubljevic from the Timberwolves in exchange for Jake Layman (sign-and-trade).
Draft picks:
- 1-25: Nassir Little — Signed to rookie contract.
Contract extensions:
- Damian Lillard: Four years, 35% maximum salary (super-max). Projected value of $196MM. Designated veteran extension. Starts in 2021/22; runs through 2024/25.
- CJ McCollum: Three years, $100MM. Starts in 2021/22; runs through 2023/24.
Departing players:
- Al-Farouq Aminu
- Seth Curry
- Maurice Harkless
- Enes Kanter
- Jake Layman
- Meyers Leonard
- Evan Turner
Other offseason news:
- Signed head coach Terry Stotts to a contract extension through 2021/22.
- Signed president of basketball operations Neil Olshey to a contract extension through 2024.
- Lost associate head coach David Vanterpool to Timberwolves; promoted Nate Tibbetts to associate head coach.
- Exercised 2020/21 rookie scale options on Zach Collins, Anfernee Simons.
Salary cap situation:
- Remained over the cap.
- Over the tax line by approximately $12.38MM; projected tax bill of about $22.2MM.
- Carrying approximately $145.01MM in salary.
- Two traded player exceptions available; largest TPE ($1.79MM) expires 7/8/20.
Story of the summer:
The Trail Blazers exceeded expectations in a big way in 2018/19, winning 53 games and making the Western Conference Finals after oddsmakers gave them a preseason over/under forecast of 42.5 wins.
Still, while Portland’s two playoff series victories produced some memorable moments, including a Damian Lillard dagger that will show up in highlight packages for years, the team’s season eventually ended the same way it did in 2018, on the wrong end of a frustrating four-game sweep by a conference rival.
That run to the Western Conference Finals at least quieted chatter about whether Lillard and CJ McCollum have to be split up. The Blazers further quieted that speculation by signing both star guards to massive new contract extensions during the offseason, locking up McCollum through 2024 and Lillard through 2025.
Even though the Blazers were willing to double down on their backcourt duo, it still seemed as if this roster was missing the piece that would help get it over the top and get it into the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, the Portland entered the offseason projected to be a taxpaying team and lacking the resources necessary to bring back all the team’s key free agents, forcing president of basketball operations Neil Olshey to get creative.
Olshey and the front office managed to bring back Rodney Hood, but lost several other notable free agents, including Al-Farouq Aminu, Seth Curry, Jake Layman, and Enes Kanter. Needing a big man to replace Kanter and injured center Jusuf Nurkic in the middle, Olshey surrendered two more players from last year’s roster – Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard – in a trade for Hassan Whiteside.
After a few more low-cost free agent signings and trades, the Blazers had set their roster, but questions remain. Besides Lillard and McCollum, six of Portland’s next eight most-used players from last year’s team are gone, and one of the two that’s still around – Nurkic – probably won’t play until sometime in 2020. In addition to to all that roster turnover, the Blazers sacrificed much of their depth on their wing when they lost Aminu, Curry, Harkless, Layman, and Evan Turner.
The Blazers have a strong culture and may be evolving into one of those teams like San Antonio that becomes perennially underrated. But at this point, this year’s squad doesn’t look like an upgrade over last year’s.
Whiteside was an interesting addition for the Blazers, who view the big man as the sort of rebounder and rim protector who will help stabilize the frontcourt until Nurkic returns.- Although Zach Collins underwent an MRI on his injured shoulder earlier this week, the Trail Blazers have yet to reveal the results or announce a timeline for his return to action, writes Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com. The recovery process from a dislocated shoulder is generally measured in weeks rather than days, so it’s probably safe to assume Collins will be out for a little while.
- The Trail Blazers could use a scoring forward, according to Windhorst, who thinks the Thunder‘s Danilo Gallinari is a more realistic target than Kevin Love. Gallinari’s expiring contract would make more sense, given Portland’s long-term cap outlook.
[SOURCE LINK]
- The Trail Blazers could use a scoring forward, according to Windhorst, who thinks the Thunder‘s Danilo Gallinari is a more realistic target than Kevin Love. Gallinari’s expiring contract would make more sense, given Portland’s long-term cap outlook.
A disabled player exception can be granted when an NBA team has a player go down with an injury deemed to be season-ending. The exception gives the club some additional spending flexibility, functioning almost as a cross between a traded player exception and a mid-level exception.
We go into more detail on who qualifies for disabled player exceptions and how exactly they work in our glossary entry on the subject. But essentially, a DPE gives a team the opportunity to add an injury replacement by either signing a player to a one-year contract, trading for a player in the final year of his contract, or placing a waiver claim on a player in the final year of his contract.
Because the rules related to disable player exceptions are somewhat restrictive and the exceptions themselves often aren’t worth a lot, they often simply expire without being used. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on which disabled player exceptions have been granted, just in case.
We’ll use this space to break down the teams with DPEs available for the 2019/20 league year, updating it as the season progresses. Teams have until January 15 to apply for a disabled player exception and until March 10 to actually use them.
Teams that have been granted disabled player exceptions:
- Detroit Pistons: $9,258,000 (Blake Griffin) (story)
- Orlando Magic: $4,629,000 (Al-Farouq Aminu) (story)
Washington Wizards: $4,365,079 (C.J. Miles) (story)- Used to acquire Shabazz Napier.
- New Orleans Pelicans: $3,625,000 (Darius Miller) (story)
- Portland Trail Blazers: $2,859,000 (Rodney Hood) (story)
Los Angeles Lakers: $1,750,000 (DeMarcus Cousins) (story)- Used to sign Markieff Morris.
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $1,017,900 (Dylan Windler) (story)
- Brooklyn Nets: $839,427 (David Nwaba) (story)
Many of the teams that have been granted disabled player exceptions have full 15-man rosters, so they would have to open up a roster spot in order to use their DPEs.
So far, only the Lakers and Wizards have used their disabled player exceptions. Now that the trade deadline has passed, the remaining exceptions are less likely to be used, since teams like the Pistons, Magic, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, and Nets are unlikely to be in the market for free agents who require more than minimum-salary investments.
Teams/players ineligible for disabled player exceptions:
- Orlando Magic (Jonathan Isaac) (story)
- Washington Wizards (John Wall) (story)
The Wizards applied for a disabled player exception for Wall during the first week of the 2019/20 league year. Word that the NBA had denied that request didn’t surface until October, but the league’s decision makes sense. After all, Wall underwent Achilles surgery all the way back in February.
In order for a DPE to be approved, the injured player must be considered substantially more likely than not to be sidelined through June 15 of that league year. Recovery from Achilles surgery is generally viewed as an 11-15 month process, whereas June 15 would’ve been more than 16 months since Wall underwent that procedure.
The Magic are in the same boat with Isaac. His knee injury apparently isn’t serious enough that the NBA is willing to count on him being sidelined through June 15, so Orlando’s DPE request was denied.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins suffered a dislocated left shoulder against the Mavericks on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Collins will undergo an MRI on the injured shoulder on Monday, Wojnarowski notes.
The former lottery pick exited the game in the fourth quarter due to the injury, finishing with 10 points and three rebounds in 24 minutes. He stated after the game that his shoulder “popped back in cleanly,” something that could be a good sign for Blazers fans, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
Collins, 21, is in his third season with Portland. He appeared in 77 games with the team last year, averaging 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 17.6 minutes per contest. He’s started in each of his three games this season.