Storyline: Thomas Bryant Injury
3 rumors in this storyline
More Rumors in this Storyline
Fred Katz: Jordan McRae is out tonight with flu-like symptoms, the Wizards say. Thomas Bryant (hip) will play
Mike Bresnahan: Lakers PF/C Thomas Bryant sprained his left ankle at today’s summer-league practice. It’s unclear if he’ll be ready for Monday’s summer-League opener in Sacramento.
December 13, 2019 | 8:27 pm UTC Update
Logan Murdock: Steve Kerr on the the trade rumors surrounding D’Angelo Russell: “If there’s speculation that you’re going to be traded all the time, I don’t care how much money you make, I don’t care who you are that’s tough. “This season has been nowhere close to what he thought it would be.” pic.twitter.com/QCPAATKoTb
Josh Lewenberg: Ibaka (who went scoreless on 0-8 FG vs LAC) said his ankle isn’t quite 100% yet but won’t use that as an excuse. “The truth is I’ve been a little different since I got back but I’m going to get there. I’m a hard worker, you know that, and hard work is always going to pay off.”
Wes Goldberg: Eric Paschall (hip) will not play tonight against the Jazz.
Logan Murdock: Steve Kerr reasoned that Draymond Green earned the right to have rest days because he’s played five straight seasons into the Finals. So I asked if the same logic applies to him as a coach. His response: “The coach does not receive the same treatment unfortunately.” pic.twitter.com/I7y1sl7dpw
December 13, 2019 | 6:54 pm UTC Update
December 13, 2019 | 6:32 pm UTC Update
Shams Charania: The Portland Trail Blazers have applied for a disabled player exception worth $2.85M for the season-ending loss of Rodney Hood, sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium.
Christian Clark: JJ Redick on the TNT guys’ criticism of former teammate Joel Embiid: “Saw a headline on ESPN. Heard a little bit of dialogue last night. I had the game on mute because Webber was doing it.”
December 13, 2019 | 5:28 pm UTC Update
Will Guillory: JJ Redick when asked about possibility of being traded: “I don’t pay attention to that stuff. I’m all-in on the Pelicans. I’m all-in on this group. I think we can turn this around. That’s 100 percent my focus.”
Now 57, Van Gundy had a successful run as the Knicks head coach, going 248-172 over seven seasons, leading the Knicks to an NBA Finals appearance against the Spurs in 1998-99. Van Gundy was a guest on Mike Krzyzewski’s Basketball & Beyond with Coach K SiriusXM show, where he was asked about his tenure with the team.
“Yeah, and it comes back to I think that we had the right leadership,” Van Gundy told Krzyzewski. “(Former team president) Dave Checketts, who I’m sure you know. Great leader. And then we had unfortunately, at the end of my time there, we had a dilution of talent with the Knicks and it happened rapidly due to some just age, some injury. Patrick Ewing, one of the greatest all-time players, aged and got traded. Larry Johnson, a legendary UNLV player but just a terrific teammate and someone to coach who set an example every day, back injury. Then they traded for [Antonio] McDyess, he had a knee injury. Allan Houston had a knee injury. These are career-changing type of injuries.”
Van Gundy says that whatever direction the Knicks go in next, the key will be patience, as the team must give whoever is brought in the chance to grow as a leader. “It’s been constant change and unfortunately that amount of change has led to an inconsistency of philosophy, of belief, and I just think they have to settle and give whoever they pick next the opportunity to grow and evolve,” Van Gundy said. “So many of these projects where you’re trying to turn a franchise around, they’re submarined because of a lack of patience. Everybody says, ‘We’re all in to the rebuild,’ and ‘We’re going to be patient,’ and then halfway through they lose the stomach for it and think change is the answer.”
December 13, 2019 | 4:14 pm UTC Update
Joel Embiid declared Thursday morning that Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal were right: He needed to start looking to dominate games. He didn’t waste time taking their advice to heart. In a spectacular performance at TD Garden on Thursday night, Embiid had 38 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and a monstrous block of Daniel Theis in the final seconds, propelling his Philadelphia 76ers to a 115-109 victory over the Boston Celtics.
Afterward, Sixers coach Brett Brown wanted to let the Hall of Famers know that, if they get tired of their TV careers, he has a job waiting for them. “I’d like to hire them as motivational coaches,” Brown told ESPN with a huge grin.
“For them to say that I have the potential to be the best player in the world, and I haven’t shown that, and I should let it be shown, that says a lot,” Embiid said afterward. “They’ve been there, they’ve done it, they’re Hall of Famers, so it just shows me I have to play harder and like I can.”
“I actually called Shaq yesterday,” Embiid said. “He thought I was mad at him. I was like, ‘No, I understand what he was saying.’ “I’ve had a bad year so far. I’ve been kinda frustrated, just because you’re not seeing the teamwork and you try to fit in with your new teammates. Just be aggressive … just go out there and just dominate. “Whatever they said, I think it was good for me.”
Dave McMenamin: Kyle Kuzma (left ankle) remains out for the Heat game. Frank Vogel said Kuzma underwent a precautionary MRI which confirmed the ankle sprain. Vogel said Kuzma hasn’t been able to “get over the hump” with the ankle injury and the team wants to give him as much time needed to heal
Almost nobody behind “Uncut Gems,” the Adam Sandler/Kevin Garnett drama steeped in NBA lore that opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles (and nationwide on Christmas), wanted the movie to have anything to do with Garnett and the Boston Celtics — unless it somehow involved the Celtics’ humiliation. Josh and Benny Safdie, the writer-director brothers, are diehard fans of the New York Knicks — which naturally means they hate the Celtics. “I hated Boston,” Josh Safdie told ESPN this week. “I hated KG.”
They moved on to Joel Embiid, but working around the schedule of an active player proved impossible. The studio gave them a list of retired players. They met with a few, including Chris Bosh, Josh Safdie said. Garnett’s name was on the list, too. They cringed. They agreed to meet with Garnett anyway. Garnett’s representatives told them they would have an hour. The meeting lasted three hours. Garnett regaled them with stories. He was different in person than he was on television and in media interviews.
“Acting is preparation, just like anything else,” Garnett told the group in New York. “I didn’t want to fail them. They took a risk on me. When I showed up to set, I was ready. It took me back to, ‘OK, it’s Rasheed Wallace tonight. It’s Tim Duncan tonight’ — watching film. I took those same things coming in here.” “He took his lines very seriously,” Josh Safdie told ESPN. “He added a lot of flair, too. He improvised a bit, but he stuck mostly to the script.”
Vincent Ellis: NBA commissioner Adam Silver pulled aside #Mavs owner Mark Cuban and #Pistons owner Tom Gores at halftime last night to update them on the condition of former NBA commissioner David Stern. The group performed a short prayer. Stern underwent emergency brain surgery Thursday.
December 13, 2019 | 2:06 pm UTC Update
Chris Mannix: Miami’s Dion Waiters has been suspended without pay for “his failure to adhere to team policies, violation of team rules and continued insubordination,” per team. Waiters eligible to return after Heat play Utah on December 23rd.
As Carmelo Anthony’s basketball journey wandered beyond the bright lights of New York City, the 35-year-old forward said he would’ve been okay rejoining the Denver Nuggets. “I was open to it,” a reflective Anthony said Thursday of his options over the past few years. “We talked about it. People in my circle were like, ‘Go back to Denver.’ If it was that easy I probably would’ve done it. A lot of things came into play when it comes to that, kind of out of my control at that time, the timing was off. Similar to Portland, the timing has always just been off. All of the sudden that window of opportunity was there.”
After missing the FIBA Basketball World Cup due to a knee injury, Nicolò Melli is ready to return to wear Italy’s National Team jersey in next June’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Melli is now playing in the NBA with the New Orleans Pelicans. “I confirmed to the Federation my availability for the OQT. It will depend on my physical conditions. I have missed summers with Italy only when I was injured. I gave my availability. It will depend on my body” Melli said, as reported by Backdoor Podcast.
December 13, 2019 | 9:23 am UTC Update
Jeff Teague still available?
As well as Teague has played from a scoring standpoint of late, it is no secret that his fit with a system that is predicated on ball movement and shooting open 3s is problematic. The Timberwolves made it known throughout the league last summer that Teague was available for trade and that remains the case right now, league sources said.
Chris Paul staying put?
After polling executives, the league-wide sense is that Paul will remain with the Thunder this season simply because of his enormous contract. While it’s theoretically possible that Paul could agree to turn down his $44 million player option for 2021-22 to grease the wheels on a potential trade, right now, that is the longest of long shots. Besides overcoming the idea of giving up 44 million buckaroos, Paul is also the president of the players’ union and it would be a bad look to set that precedent of turning down that amount of money to make it more palatable to a team.
As it stands now, the Heat aren’t expected to make a run at Paul, per multiple sources. They like their locker room chemistry and aren’t actively looking to shake it up. More importantly, Paul’s contract complicates Miami’s potential future. Paul will be 35 years old in May and is due $41.4 million next season and will be 37 when he’s due $44.2 million. A glamour market like Miami doesn’t need to make trades to acquire a star. Smaller markets like Utah, Charlotte and Portland do.
The belief across the league this summer was that Wiggins could be had for the right offer. Rosas did not acquire him in trade and did not sign him to the max contract extension. But the two have formed a strong relationship in the early going and Wiggins has also responded well to Saunders’ coaching when it comes to changing his shot profile. There is no indication that the team is looking to trade Wiggins right now. The team has been both privately and publicly encouraged by Wiggins’ willingness to embrace this new approach and the results that have come with it. Saunders is firmly in his corner and Rosas has forged a strong working relationship with him.
The big question will be what to do with DeRozan. He will be one of the top free agents in 2020 if he does not opt in. However, unless Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland or Memphis is willing to pay up, the market for the former All-Star could be dry. As one league executive told ESPN, “I like DeRozan as my third option, and those type of players are not earning near max-type money.”
It is difficult for Boston to cobble together enough salary to add a major piece without including one of its core players. Boston does have Daniel Theis ($5M), Enes Kanter ($4.8M), all its own first-rounders and additional picks from Milwaukee and Memphis, but that’s not enough money to target a player like the Spurs’ LaMarcus Aldridge or the Cavaliers’ Kevin Love — unless Boston is willing to put Marcus Smart or Gordon Hayward in a deal, which is unlikely to happen.
Sunday, of course, is the first day players who were acquired in the offseason are eligible to be traded, even though Neil Olshey, the team’s top executive, said this week there is nothing brewing. That hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from heating up, which has included one report saying Kevin Love would prefer a trade to Portland. That rumor apparently reached the eyes and ears of Whiteside, who during Tuesday’s game against New York was shouting during play to Anthony that “Kevin Love doesn’t rebound like that!” “And Kevin Love doesn’t block shots like that, either,” Whiteside said Thursday when asked about the Tuesday exchange. “The trade talk … it don’t enter my mind a lot. I was more just messing with Melo. I’m not thinking about it. If we are struggling on defense and you want to (trade him), I mean, good luck. Good luck with that.”
If not Lowry, then New Orleans Pelicans guard JJ Redick could be a target of the Heat. Despite going separate ways this summer, Redick and Butler grew close in Philadelphia as like-minded competitors and, per a source, to this day they maintain regular communication through a group chat forged in Philadelphia.
The Lee expiring contract along with Dallas’ collection of second-round picks could be enough to get the Grizzlies’ Andre Iguodala. The Warrior’ 2020 second-rounder is looking particularly valuable. Lee-for-Iguodala would work straight up, and two second-rounders might be the best Memphis gets.
Expect Waiters to be on the roster through the deadline, with Miami evaluating its options in the offseason. Waiters is owed more than $25 million the next two seasons, and Miami is not going to get an expiring contract for him without attaching a first-round pick. Even if the Heat had a first-rounder to trade, they shouldn’t do that.
Keep an eye also on Allonzo Trier. After averaging 23 MPG and 11 PPG in 2018-19, Trier has seen his minutes drop. The guard is on an expiring $3.5 million contract and will be a restricted free agent in June.
Besides Bogdanovic, keep an eye on former first-round picks Harry Giles ($2.6 million) and Caleb Swanigan ($2 million). After seeing their team options declined, both players are good buy-low candidates.
