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NBA Announces February Schedule Shifts, Moves Four Game Dates

January 28th, 2021 at 7:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has announced several adjustments to its upcoming February schedule, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Four games will be moved up in the NBA’s schedule. The start times of 16 games have been affected thus far, to accommodate for same-day RT-PCR molecular test results for the novel coronavirus.

The Celtics–Raptors game initially penciled in for February 12 will be moved up one day to February 11. The Celtics’ next contest, hosting the Pistons, will move up from February 14 to February 12.

Finally, Boston’s trip to D.C. for a game against the Wizards – which had been expected to transpire in the second half of the 2020/21 season – has been moved up to an afternoon Valentine’s Day time slot. A Pistons home bout against the Pelicans that had been set for the second half of the compressed year has now also been moved up to February 14.

Fred Katz of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that, with their rescheduled Celtics game now moved, the Wizards are now set to play 16 games, with five back-to-backs, for the month of February. The club was severely hamstrung by COVID-19 health and safety protocols this month, resulting in six postponements.

Johnson Carving Out Role

January 26th, 2021 at 7:23pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Former lottery pick Stanley Johnson has reinvented himself as a versatile rotation swingman for the Raptors, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic. The 24-year-old Johnson is averaging 16.1 MPG for Toronto this season.

Murphy notes that Johnson’s willingness to adjust to a role-player position with the Raptors could significantly extend his NBA career. The former lottery pick will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

VanVleet Gets Team USA Invite

January 25th, 2021 at 8:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Raptors guard Fred VanVleet is among the 60 players who received an invite from USA Basketball to compete for a spot on this summer’s Olympic team, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star reports. It will be the first time the 26-year-old VanVleet has been included in a USA senior team player pool. Teammate Kyle Lowry also received an invite, Smith adds.

Wizards Sign Alex Len To One-Year Deal

January 23rd, 2021 at 10:57am CST by Luke Adams

JANUARY 23: The Wizards have made it official, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed Len.

JANUARY 22: Free agent center Alex Len, who cleared waivers on Thursday after being released by the Raptors on Tuesday, has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Wizards, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Charania, Len had multiple suitors and chose the Wizards in part because of the clear path to playing time in D.C. — starting center Thomas Bryant tore his ACL earlier this month and will miss the rest of the season, while Anzejs Pasecniks was released this past weekend, leaving Robin Lopez as the only true center on the active roster.

The fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Len signed a one-year, $2.26MM contract with the Raptors in November, but didn’t see much action in his brief stint with the team. The 2.3 points and 10.9 minutes per game he averaged in seven contests with Toronto would’ve been his lowest marks since his rookie season.

Len has been more productive in recent years. He averaged a career-best 11.1 PPG in 77 games (20.1 MPG) with Atlanta in 2018/19, then posted 8.0 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 55 games (17.6 MPG) in part-time roles for the Hawks and Kings last season.

Having waived Pasecniks a few days ago, the Wizards had an open spot on their 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required to make room for Len.

The big man will earn a prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum on his new deal with Washington, notes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). If the signing is officially completed today, Len would earn a $1,712,648 salary and the Wizards would take on a $1,276,472 cap hit.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Atlantic Division

January 22nd, 2021 at 9:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Throughout the season, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this off-season. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. This week, we take a look at players from the Atlantic Division:

Chris Boucher, Raptors, 28, PF/C (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $13.5MM deal in 2020

Boucher has a non-guaranteed $7MM salary for next season. The Raptors will have to decide in August whether to retain him. Right now, that decision is a no-brainer. Boucher has been one of the league’s top reserves, averaging 15.6 PPG and 6.6 RPG in 23.8 MPG through 14 games. He ranks third in the league in blocks (2.4) despite his second-unit status. He’s even developed a 3-point shot (48.1%). It will difficult for Boucher to sustain this pace but he’s doing more than enough to convince the front office to prevent him from entering free agency.

Dennis Smith Jr., Knicks, 23, PG (Down) – Signed to a four-year, $17.2MM deal in 2017

New coach Tom Thibodeau talked up Smith during training camp, saying “he’s gotten better and better.” That talk quickly died down. Smith has been a non-factor this season, in part because of a quad injury. There’s doesn’t seem to be any path to playing time with Immanuel Quickley establishing himself as one of the league’s top rookies. It’s been a steady decline for Smith, who started 69 games in his rookie year with Dallas and averaged 15.2 PPG. New York would have to extend a qualifying offer of $7MM+ to retain him. That’s not happening.

Furkan Korkmaz, Sixers, 23, SF/SG (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $3.4MM deal in 2019

An unrestricted free agent after the season, Korkmaz was sidelined by an adductor strain late last month. He just returned to action on Wednesday, scoring seven points in 20 minutes against the Celtics. He made just two of nine field-goal attempts on Friday. As a second-unit player, Korkmaz must reestablish himself as a steady 3-point threat to hold onto his rotation spot under new coach Doc Rivers. He made 40.2% of his shots beyond the arc last season when his role expanded. He needs to get back into a 3-point rhythm quickly or risk becoming a spectator the second half of the season.

Daniel Theis, Celtics, 28, PF/C (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $10MM deal in 2019

Theis became increasingly important to the club last season, when he started 64 regular-season games and all 17 of its postseason contests in Orlando. His ability to guard pick-and-rolls and switch make him a key component in the Celtics’ defense. He’ll likely come off the bench with Kemba Walker back in action and Brad Stevens going with a smaller lineup. That didn’t faze Theis on Wednesday, as he racked up 23 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes against Philadelphia. He shouldn’t have any trouble getting a healthy raise in free agency this summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Workaholic Stanley Johnson Carving Out Rotation Role

January 20th, 2021 at 9:21pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

With the Raptors having finally established a consistent rotation, the team is rebounding from an ugly beginning to its season, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. Toronto is on a three-game win streak following a 2-8 start. “I think that we’re continuing to find out things about our team that are improving the team,” head coach Nick Nurse said yesterday. “Guys are comfortable with the guys that we’re putting out there and I think those guys have chipped in pretty considerably.
Hustling in practice has carved out a rotation role for Raptors reserve forward Stanley Johnson, per Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. “I think the important quality is that he’s maintained … a really strong work ethic day in and day out, which isn’t easy to do for somebody who’s been in the league for a while when you’re not hitting the court for really long stretches of time,” Nurse said. Johnson is averaging 14.7 MPG for Toronto in 11 contests.

Nearly Half Of NBA’s Teams Have Open Roster Spots

January 20th, 2021 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

After the NBA’s transactions wire remained relatively quiet for the first few weeks of the 2020/21 season, teams have begun making moves with a little more frequency as of late.

While one recent transaction – the four-team trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn – was clearly a higher-impact move than the rest, a number of clubs have made smaller changes to their rosters by waiving players this week. The Raptors and Wizards cut big men Alex Len and Anzejs Pasecniks from their 15-man rosters, while the Sixers opened up a two-way slot by releasing Dakota Mathias.

As a result, there are now 12 teams across the NBA that have at least one open 15-man roster spot. One of those teams – the Trail Blazers – also has an open two-way contract slot, as do two others, leaving just 16 clubs who are carrying the maximum of 17 players.

With so many clubs facing roster shortages recently and the NBA and NBPA discussing the possibility of adding a third two-way slot to rosters for the rest of the season, it’s a little surprising that more teams aren’t making use of all 17 available spots, but it will likely just be a matter of time before those many of those openings get filled.

Here’s the current breakdown of teams with open roster spots:

Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:

Brooklyn Nets
- Note: The Nets have three open roster spots and will need to fill at least two of them within two weeks of completing the Harden trade.
Charlotte Hornets
Los Angeles Clippers *
Los Angeles Lakers *
Milwaukee Bucks *
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes that the team can’t currently sign a 15th man due to the hard cap.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers

Nurse: McCaw Still Not Close To Returning

January 19th, 2021 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors guard Patrick McCaw hasn’t played at all this season as he continues to recover from knee surgery, and it doesn’t sound like he’s close to returning. Head coach Nick Nurse said on Monday that he hoped McCaw would be much further along by this point, but the recovery progress has been slow (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca).

Raptors Waive Alex Len

January 19th, 2021 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have waived veteran center Alex Len, the team announced today in a press release. The transaction opens up a spot on Toronto’s roster, leaving the club with 14 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.

The fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Len had only played in seven of the Raptors’ 13 games so far this season, and was averaging 2.3 PPG in 10.9 MPG — both marks were his lowest since his rookie season. With Chris Boucher enjoying a breakout year and Aron Baynes also in the mix, Len was third on the depth chart at center.

Although Len hadn’t been playing regular minutes for the Raptors as of late, it’s still a somewhat unexpected move, since he signed a guaranteed contract with the team in free agency less than two months ago.

The 27-year-old recently missed multiple games for personal reasons and was listed as out due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Monday, but there has been no indication that his release was related to his recent absence.

Len’s $2.258MM salary will remain on Toronto’s cap unless he’s claimed on waivers, which seems unlikely. Assuming he clears waivers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday afternoon and will be eligible to sign with any team.

The Raptors, meanwhile, won’t be required to fill their open roster spot, but could eventually use it to sign a veteran free agent, to accommodate a trade, or to promote two-way player Yuta Watanabe to the 15-man roster.

Boucher Can Still Improve On Defense During Breakout Season

January 17th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Raptors big man Chris Boucher has enjoyed a much-needed breakout season for Toronto, and he could get even better defensively, per Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. The versatile 6’9″ forward has played a lot of small ball center, but still needs to prepare to defend perimeter players, according to head coach Nick Nurse. “Got to get him used to all this switching because he’s going to be out there guarding primary ballhandlers a lot because they’re going to go set with their five-man a lot and if we’re switching it, he’ll end up guarding those guys,” Nurse said of Boucher. “And I think he’s got the speed and quickness and length to do it.” In 12 games for the Raptors, Boucher is averaging a career-best 15.7 PPG on 59.6% shooting from the field and 47.7% shooting from long range, to go along with 6.8 RPG and 2.5 BPG.