- The Raptors’ confidence is growing after wins over the Suns and Nuggets, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. “We’re relentless,” said Pascal Siakam, “and we just want to continue to compete and get better as a team.” Winners of three straight games, Toronto now owns the seventh-best record in the East at 37-30, trailing Cleveland by one game for sixth place.
- Fred VanVleet‘s shooting is much needed for the Raptors, but his value extends beyond that, Eric Koreen of the Athletic writes. “(VanVleet) makes it easier,” Scottie Barnes said. “It opens up a lot more space. He’s a general out there on the floor. So it helps us all when he’s out there on the floor with driving lanes being more open. When he’s there, his presence is just really big for our team.”
Several of the NBA teams that had open roster spots following the trade deadline have since filled them, either with free agent signings, such as DeMarcus Cousins (Nuggets) and DeAndre Jordan (Sixers), or with promoted two-way players, like Caleb Martin (Heat) and Daishen Nix (Rockets).
However, there are still a number of clubs around the league with openings available, either on their standard 15-man roster or among their two-way contract slots.
Here, with the help of our roster counts page, is a look at the teams that have open roster spots as of March 10:
Teams with open 15-man roster spots:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics (2) *
- Charlotte Hornets *
- Cleveland Cavaliers *
- Detroit Pistons
- Indiana Pacers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans *
- Orlando Magic
- Toronto Raptors *
- Utah Jazz
* The teams marked with an asterisk each technically have full rosters as of today, but are carrying at least one player on a 10-day contract. We’re considering those roster spots “open” because those 10-day deals will soon expire.
Despite a series of signings since last month’s trade deadline, there are still 12 NBA teams that aren’t carrying 15 players on full-season standard contracts. However, four of those clubs have filled their open roster spot(s) with 10-day signings, and a fifth will join that group when the Cavaliers complete their reported 10-day deal with Moses Brown.
The Celtics are one team to watch here. When the second 10-day contracts for Malik Fitts and Kelan Martin expire next Monday night, Boston will either have to sign at least one of them to a rest-of-season contract or add another player within the next two weeks in order to get back to the league-mandated minimum of 14 players on standard deals.
Teams with open two-way spots:
- Houston Rockets
- Phoenix Suns
- Sacramento Kings
Following the trade deadline, five teams had open two-way contract slots. Four of those teams have since filled them — the Suns are the only holdout, having not carried a second two-way player since they released Chandler Hutchison in early January.
The Rockets have had an open two-way slot since they promoted Nix to the 15-man roster nearly a month ago, while the Kings‘ opening has existed since they waived Louis King on February 17.
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet told Kayla Grey of TSN Sports (Twitter link) that he would return Wednesday at San Antonio, saying he’s feeling good. Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports later confirmed VanVleet’s return to action (via Twitter). He finished with 26 points and six boards in Toronto’s 119-104 win.
The All-Star point guard had missed the past five games with a right knee contusion, which he’s been dealing with since before the All-Star break. VanVleet is averaging 21.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 6.9 APG and 1.6 SPG on .415/.398/.876 (.568 true) shooting this season. He leads the league in minutes played at 38.2 per contest.
The Raptors have gone 5-7 in VanVleet’s absence this season, including 2-3 over the past five games. Toronto is currently 35-30, the No. 7 seed in the East.
Here are some more injury-related updates from around the NBA:
- Knicks rookie Quentin Grimes suffered a partially dislocated right knee on February 25, but he’s staring to ramp up towards a return to the court, as Marc Berman of The New York Post relays. “He’s moving around, he’s getting closer, coming along nicely,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s a phenomenal worker, and you gotta give him a lot of credit. He’s a fierce competitor. [Contact] will be the next step, but [he is] doing everything else. So far there’s no issues.” A source tells Berman the Knicks will be cautious with Grimes, but Berman speculates the guard could return in about 10 days given his progress.
- Appearing on the Burns and Gambo radio show, Suns general manager James Jones said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Frank Kaminsky return before the regular season ends, John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix tweets. Kaminsky suffered a stress reaction in his right knee in November which later required surgery. He was set to be reevaluated at the beginning of March, so presumably that evaluation yielded positive results. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- Heat swingman Caleb Martin suffered a left knee injury in Wednesday’s 111-90 loss to Phoenix, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter links). Martin left the game early alongside Miami’s orthopedic specialist and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest. Martin is having a nice season for the Heat, averaging 9.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .520/.396/.756 shooting through 51 games (23.1 MPG). He was promoted from a two-way contract to a standard deal last month.
- Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Brook Lopez will travel with the team for the upcoming West Coast road trip. Lopez was cleared for full contact five-on-five practices last Friday. “We’ll just continue to evaluate and see how he’s doing with the 5-on-5 and he’s making good progress and just hope that continues,” Budenholzer said, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Lopez has played just one game this season after suffering a bulging disc in his lower back which required surgery, but it appears he’s getting close to returning for the defending champs.
- The Raptors’ loss to the Cavaliers on Sunday makes it seem almost inevitable that Toronto will wind up in the play-in tournament, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Canada writes. The defeat dropped Toronto three games behind Cleveland, which sits in sixth place in the East and also holds a tiebreaker advantage over the Raptors.
Raptors point guard Malachi Flynn is out indefinitely after suffering a strained left hamstring, the team announced. The injury occurred during Toronto’s 103-97 loss to Orlando Friday night. He had a season-high 20 points and tied a season high with eight assists in the game.
It’s a very unfortunate setback for the second-year guard, who’s had arguably the best four-game stretch of his young career filling in for injured All-Star Fred VanVleet. In Flynn’s past four games, all starts, he averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game on .571/.500/.556 shooting. Remarkably, he only had one turnover across the four contests, good for a 22/1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Flynn, 23, was the 29th overall pick of the 2020 draft. He has struggled to crack Toronto’s rotation this season, but coach Nick Nurse recently praised his effort and gave Flynn significant playing time — 35.6 minutes per night — in VanVleet’s absence.
Strangely, Flynn had previously been listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Cleveland, but now he’s out indefinitely, Michael Grange of Sportsnet observes (via Twitter). As Grange notes, it’s terrible timing for both the player and the team, as the Raptors have an extremely difficult schedule coming up, with eight of their next nine games on the road, mostly against teams vying for the playoffs.
With Flynn and VanVleet both sidelined, rookie Dalano Banton and the newly-signed Armoni Brooks could get extended playing time for the Raptors, currently 34-29, seventh in the East.
10:14am: Toronto has signed Brooks and released Wilson, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. The Raptors will likely continue to fill that 15th roster spot – which Brooks now occupies – with 10-day signings unless they decide to convert Justin Champagnie‘s two-way contract, Lewenberg adds (Twitter link).
9:16am: Former Rockets guard Armoni Brooks will sign a 10-day deal with the Raptors, tweets Blake Murphy of Sports.net.ca.
Murphy adds that D.J. Wilson might be let go early from his 10-day contract to make room for Brooks. Wilson hurt his knee on Monday in the only game he played after signing his third 10-day agreement with Toronto. That deal is set to expire on Wednesday.
Brooks, 23, was waived by Houston last month to accommodate a three-for-one deal with the Celtics at the trade deadline. A long-distance shooting specialist, he averaged 6.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game for the Rockets this season, but connected at just 30% from three-point range. He signed with Houston as a two-way player last year and was converted to a standard contract in October.
Brooks had been playing for the College Park Skyhawks in the G League, and there was a report last week that the Rockets had interest in bringing him back.
If Brooks signs before tonight’s contest at Cleveland, he will be eligible for five games during the 10-day deal. Toronto’s next game after that isn’t until Wednesday.
The Raptors must address their perimeter shooting this offseason, Eric Koreen of The Athletic argues. Gary Trent‘s shooting slump and injuries to Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby have exposed the lack of natural shooters on the roster. Toronto ought to focus on finding another shooter or two in free agency or the draft, Koreen says. The Raptors currently rank 13th in 3-point shooting.
Raptors backup point guard Malachi Flynn has stepped up in the absence of All-Star Fred VanVleet, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet. Flynn had an outstanding game on Monday against the Nets, putting up 18 points on 11 shots with four rebounds, five assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 34 minutes. He finished a game-high plus-42.
“He played great,” said head coach Nick Nurse. “Malachi kept his head up, kept his head in it and when he’s had any opportunities, whether it’s first half, second half, garbage, whatever, he’s played with what I consider some IQ, some toughness, some organization and that’s what led us to that decision [to start Flynn] tonight.”
The second-year guard has struggled to crack the team’s rotation this season, but he’s finally getting the chance to show what he can do with VanVleet sidelined with a knee contusion that’s been bothering him since before the All-Star break.
“I think my main thing is just trying to be aggressive — not necessarily to score or to pass, just being aggressive and seeing what the defense gives you and just kind of reading them and then going off of that,” Flynn said, per Eric Koreen of The Athletic.
Flynn had another strong performance during Friday’s 103-97 loss to Orlando, notching 20 points, three rebounds, eight assists and zero turnovers in 39 minutes.
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- The Sixers dared to dream big and it’s paying off, according to Dan Devine of The Ringer. James Harden has created easier shots for the entire team, including MVP candidate Joel Embiid, and second-year guard Tyrese Maxey has been outstanding. The Sixers have won five straight (four with Harden) and hold a 39-23 record after defeating the Cavs 125-119 on Friday. Philadelphia has jumped up to the No. 2 seed in the East.
- Star Jayson Tatum has stepped up and become a vocal leader for the Celtics, per Taylor Snow of Celtics.com. “He has taken a step forward in that regard,” said Al Horford. “He is being more vocal. He’s letting us know what he’s thinking, how he’s feeling. For me, it gives me a lot of confidence, and it’s encouraging to know that he has my back. He’s obviously really trying to win, he’s trying to do things the right way … Seeing him that excited, that engaged, it’s a good sign for our group.”
- The Celtics remained patient with head coach Ime Udoka and now they’re reaping the rewards, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe writes. Udoka was recently named the Eastern Conference’s coach of the month for February after leading Boston to an 9-2 record. It’s taken time for the players to adjust to Udoka’s hard-line coaching style. “That’s what really matters, that they’re letting us coach them,” Udoka said, per Washburn. “They’re letting us push them and learning and growing throughout the season and kind of what we thought we’d have when we got healthy. Credit to them for allowing us to coach them hard. That’s what they asked for and they’ve been great with it.”
A best-case scenario for Ben Simmons‘ Nets debut would be within about two weeks, writes Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post. General manager Sean Marks said there’s “no real timetable” for Simmons, but indicated the team is hoping to get Simmons more fully involved in practices in about a week.
“Hopefully by the end of next week he’s getting more into the team environment,” Marks said during an appearance on YES Network. “And then we can really ramp up and start him getting into game shape.”
Sanchez suggests that Simmons could participate in a high-intensity workout for the first time next Saturday, noting that the Nets typically require players to go through three of those practices before they’re cleared to play. Sanchez speculates that the March 18 game vs. Portland or March 21 vs. Utah are possibilities for Simmons’ debut.
Here’s more on the Nets:
- The Nets will recoup an estimated $4.5MM in insurance money as a result of Joe Harris‘ season-ending injury, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). While that insurance money will provide a little financial relief for an ownership group projected to spend over $260MM in team salary and tax payments, it won’t affect Brooklyn’s end-of-season tax bill, Marks notes (via Twitter).
- During his YES Network appearance on Thursday, Marks suggested that the Nets are still hoping for some news soon on when New York City might lift its private sector vaccine mandate that prevents Kyrie Irving from playing in home games. “We’re waiting like everybody else to see how these mandates change, how they tweak,” Marks said, per NetsDaily. “Again, over the next 24-48 hours, hopefully, there’s some news for us as to what they may look like. And Kyrie can get back out here. Nobody wants to be on the court more than Kyrie.” As The New York Times outlines, NYC mayor Eric Adams confirmed today that the public Key to NYC vaccine mandate will be lifted on Monday, but that won’t affect Irving’s status.
- A source tells Ian Begley of SNY.tv that the possibility of the Nets facing the Raptors in the postseason was one reason James Harden was concerned earlier this season about Irving’s vaccine status. Toronto is the only other NBA city where Irving is currently ineligible to play due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19.