- Prior to Friday’s overtime victory over the Wolves in Minnesota, the Kings held a players-only meeting that lasted about 35 minutes, per Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. It was the first time the team held such a meeting since Mike Brown became head coach in 2022/23. “We had a team meeting to talk about (how) we have to take this s–t seriously because we got 23 games left now,” Malik Monk said after Friday’s game. “The coaches are going to say what they’re going to say, but we’re out they’re playing. We knew we had to come together and outwork somebody.” Monk finished with a season-high 39 points, including 35 after halftime, and Brown was “thrilled” that the players took accountability for their up-and-down play, Biderman adds.
Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins will miss his second straight game on Thursday vs. New York due to personal reasons, with Anthony Slater of The Athletic describing the absence as a “family matter.” It’s unclear when Wiggins will return to the lineup, though head coach Steve Kerr said the team expects him back at some point.
“Don’t know,” Kerr said of a return timeline. “We’ll obviously respect Andrew’s wishes for this to remain private. Personal reasons.”
As Slater notes, Wiggins missed the final 25 games of the 2022/23 season due to personal reasons, returning just before the postseason began.
Here are a few more notes from the Pacific Division:
- The Suns have an open roster spot. Veterans Mike Muscala (Pistons) and Patty Mills (Hawks) were recently waived by their former clubs, with Muscala reaching a buyout agreement. Would Phoenix be interested in either of those players? John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 says the answer is no (Twitter links). The Suns are much more likely to convert Saben Lee‘s two-way contract to a standard deal, according to Gambadoro, who says (via Twitter) the odds of that happening are “very high.” It’s worth noting that Lee, who was the 38th pick of the 2020 draft, is in his fourth NBA season — he will not be eligible for two-way contracts in 2024/25 and beyond.
- After building an early lead on Wednesday against the Nuggets, the Kings wound up being blown out in Denver without star point guard De’Aaron Fox, writes Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. Fox, who sustained a left knee contusion in Monday’s loss to Miami, went through the team’s shootaround yesterday morning and his pregame shooting routine prior to being ruled out, which seemingly indicates the injury is relatively minor.
- According to Biderman, guard Kevin Huerter was frustrated with his lack of playing time following Wednesday’s game, in which he played just 18 minutes. “I don’t know if I could put my finger on one (thing),” Huerter said of the Kings being outscored by 35 points over the second and third quarters. “I wish I was out there to help us more though.” Huerter declined to expand on those comments, but Biderman points out that the 25-year-old is playing a career-low 25.2 minutes per game and briefly lost his starting job in December before reclaiming it.
- After missing the previous 14 games with a right ankle sprain, Lakers wing Cam Reddish returned to action in Wednesday’s win over the Clippers, per Khobi Price of The Southern Califnornia News Group. The former lottery pick played 20 minutes and supplanted second-year guard/forward Max Christie in the rotation, Price adds.
- Swingman Chris Duarte, who was dealing with a sprained right ankle earlier this month, logged 20 minutes Thursday in the Kings‘ first game after the All-Star break. Duarte talked about staying focused even though playing time has been elusive in his first season with Sacramento (video link from James Ham of Kings Beat).
- Head coach Mike Brown has continually stressed that the Kings need to improve their defense to have a shot at postseason success, Anderson writes for The Sacramento Bee. After being ranked No. 25 in defensive rating last season, Sacramento is currently No. 19 in that category this season. However, the offense — which was ranked No. 1 in the league in 2022/23 — has slipped to No. 14. “We know we’ve got to improve the offense back closer to what it was last year,” GM Monte McNair said after the trade deadline. “If we do that, I think we can make some noise, but we’ve got some work to do because the West is tough 1 to 12 or 13 this year and every game is going to be a dogfight.” Anderson considers whether the team’s coach and top front office executive are on the same page when it comes to the balance of offense and defense.
- Mike Brown isn’t backing down from publicly criticizing officials, even though he’s already been fined by the league for it. The Kings coach was upset about a number of officiating decisions during the team’s loss to Phoenix on Tuesday, including what he felt was a foul by Devin Booker that wasn’t called in the final minute. “I don’t know, man. You fight so hard and then you just feel like it’s just not fair down the stretch,” Brown said to Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee and other media members. “That no-call — I’m going to be interested to see the 2-minute report, because if they say that’s not a foul on Booker, I’m really lost.” Brown was fined $50K last month by the league for comments about the officiating.
FEBRUARY 13: Vezenkov has been diagnosed with a grade 3 sprain in his right ankle and will be reevaluated in four-to-six weeks, according to an announcement from the Kings.
FEBRUARY 11: Kings rookie forward Sasha Vezenkov re-aggravated a right ankle sprain this weekend and will miss several weeks of action, per Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
As Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscriber link) writes, Vezenkov had just rejoined his Sacramento teammates after being sidelined for two weeks due to a sprain in the same ankle.
Vezenkov missed seven games total with that initial ailment, then injured the ankle again in a Saturday practice ahead of today’s ongoing Thunder game, a source informs Anderson.
The 28-year-old reserve, who is the reigning EuroLeague MVP thanks to his efforts with Olympiacos, joined the Kings on a three-year, $20MM deal as a free agent last summer.
In 12.6 minutes per game thus far this season, Vezenkov has averaged 5.6 points on .448/.380/.769 shooting, along with 2.5 rebounds per game. Anderson notes that the forward has been an inconsistent part of Sacramento’s lineups.
A number of free agent signings have been finalized in the days since last Thursday’s trade deadline, but there are still many teams around the NBA with one or more open spots on their respective rosters.
For clubs with just a single standard or two-way opening, there’s not necessarily any urgency to fill those spots, especially ahead of the All-Star break. But the clock is ticking for teams who have two or more openings on their standard rosters to make a move, since clubs are only permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time.
With the help of our roster count tracker, here’s where things stand for all 30 teams around the NBA as of Tuesday afternoon. As a reminder, teams are typically permitted to carry up to 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
(Note: Teams marked with an asterisk have a player on a 10-day contract.)
Teams with multiple open roster spots
- Brooklyn Nets
- Note: One of the Nets’ roster openings is a two-way slot.
- Golden State Warriors
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Note: Both of the Bucks’ roster openings are two-way slots.
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- New York Knicks *
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Phoenix Suns
The Warriors, Timberwolves, and Pelicans are all currently carrying 13 players on standard, full-season contracts, with all three of their two-way slots filled. That means they’ll have to add a 14th man at some point in the not-too-distant future to adhere to the NBA’s minimum roster requirements.
Golden State and Minnesota made trades on February 8 that dropped them below 14 players, so those two teams have until Feb. 22 to add a player. New Orleans’ deadline is coming a little earlier, since the club dipped to 13 when Malcolm Hill‘s 10-day contract expired on Feb. 6.
No roster moves are required for the Nets and Bucks, as both teams have at least 14 players on standard contracts, with one or more two-way openings. I’d expect Brooklyn and Milwaukee to fill those two-way slots before the two-way signing deadline in early March, though they don’t necessarily have to.
The Knicks and Sixers currently only have 12 players on standard, full-season contracts. New York also has Taj Gibson on a 10-day deal, while Philadelphia is poised to sign Kyle Lowry to a rest-of-season contract. Both teams will need to make at least one more roster move by Feb. 22 after dipping down to 12 players on trade deadline day last Thursday.
As for the Suns, they’re currently carrying just 13 players on standard contracts, but it sounds like they’ve already lined up a deal with a 14th man — a report earlier today indicated that they’re preparing to sign Thaddeus Young.
Teams with one open roster spot
- Boston Celtics
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Cleveland Cavaliers *
- Dallas Mavericks
- Indiana Pacers
- Miami Heat
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
One of the 14 players on the Cavaliers‘ standard roster is Zhaire Smith, who is on a 10-day deal. Once his contract expires next week, the Cavs will have to either re-sign him or add another 14th man — and they’ll have to do it right away.
In addition to being prohibited from carrying fewer than 14 players on standard deals for more than two weeks at a time, NBA teams are limited to 28 days of carrying fewer than 14 players over the course of a season. The Cavs have already reached that 28-day limit, having carried just 13 players from January 4-18 and again from January 28 until February 11.
The rest of these teams have 14-man standard rosters with no two-way openings, meaning there’s no urgency for them to make any moves, though they’ll likely fill those open roster slots at some point between now and the end of the season in April.
Teams with no open roster spots
- Atlanta Hawks
- Denver Nuggets
- Detroit Pistons *
- Houston Rockets
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Memphis Grizzlies *
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Orlando Magic
- Portland Trail Blazers *
- Sacramento Kings
- San Antonio Spurs
- Toronto Raptors *
Twelve of these 13 teams have full 18-man rosters, with 15 players signed to standard contracts and three to two-way deals. However, the Pistons, Trail Blazers, and especially the Raptors are worth monitoring here, since they all have players on 10-day contracts and can open up roster spots when those deals expire.
Detroit and Portland are each carrying a single player on a 10-day deal, while Toronto has two, meaning the Raptors will dip down to 13 players on standard contracts during the All-Star break. They’ll have up to two weeks to get back to 14.
The Grizzlies are actually carrying 19 players at the moment, with 16 players on standard contracts (15 full-season deals, plus Jordan Goodwin on a 10-day) because they’ve been granted a hardship exception due to all the injured players they’re missing.
Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak will leave his post to become an organizational advisor to the franchise, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The search for a replacement will begin immediately, and new owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin are expected to hire someone before the end of the regular season, Wojnarowski adds. Sources tell ESPN that Kupchak will continue his current duties until his successor is named.
Wojnarowski hears that several current general managers will be among the targets of the search, including the Sixers’ Elton Brand, the Pelicans’ Trajan Langdon, the Cavaliers’ Mike Gansey and the Clippers’ Trent Redden. Sources tell Woj that some assistant GMs will be considered too, such as the Nets’ Jeff Peterson, the Wizards’ Travis Schlenk and the Kings’ Wes Wilcox, all of whom worked for the Hawks when Schnall was a minority owner in Atlanta.
Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer also lists Bucks assistant GM Milt Newton and Knicks assistant GM Frank Zanin as potential candidates.
Schnall and Plotkin began plotting a new course after purchasing a majority interest in the Hornets in August, Wojnarowski states. They are focused on rebuilding around a young roster as the team parted with veterans such as Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington in recent trades. Plans are also in the works for a $275MM arena renovation and a $60MM practice facility.
Kupchak will leave behind a mixed record during his time with the Hornets, Boone observes. He was able to fix the cap situation and make the team competitive after taking over as general manager in 2018, but his signature move — the signing of Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $120MM contract in 2020 despite a history of injuries — didn’t pay off as Kupchak had hoped. Hayward was traded this week to Oklahoma City for a modest return.
Drafting LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller may leave the Hornets with a brighter future, but Boone notes that Kupchak had his share of draft misses, including in 2021 when Charlotte selected James Bouknight, Kai Jones and Scottie Lewis, who are no longer with the team.
Many NBA observers expected the Kings to make a big move before the trade deadline. Instead, they basically stood pat, only accommodating a minor salary dump deal.
General manager Monte McNair explained that in a market with more buyers than sellers, the price tags for doing business were very high. Plus, the new CBA has made teams, including the Kings, more cautious about approaching tax aprons, according to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.
8:53pm: Jones’ two-way deal is official, the Kings announced (Twitter link via James Ham of The Kings Beat). A league source tells Ham that Jones’ contract covers two years (Twitter link).
4:21pm: The Kings are signing free agent guard Mason Jones to a two-way contract, agent Ross Aroyo tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Jones, who went undrafted out of Arkansas in 2020, has appeared in 36 total NBA games with the Rockets, 76ers and Lakers, averaging 5.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.7 minutes, with a career shooting line of .428/.357/.658. His last NBA stint came back in 2021/22 with Los Angeles.
Jones played for the NBA G League’s Mexico City Capitanes last season and had a brief stint playing in Turkey earlier in 2023/24. As Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL notes (via Twitter), the 25-year-old has been suiting up for Sacramento’s NBAGL affiliate in Stockton since December.
In 13 regular season games with Stockton this season, Jones has averaged 12.8 points, 6.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 27.9 minutes, with a scorching hot shooting line of .576/.522/.737. He’s an accomplished performer at the G League level, having earned a spot on the All-NBAGL First Team back in ’21/22 with the South Bay Lakers.
The Kings had an open two-way spot after promoting Keon Ellis to a standard deal, so no corresponding roster move will be necessary to add Jones.