NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
The Dallas Mavericks on Saturday requested waivers on forward/center Josh McRoberts.
McRoberts (6-10, 240) was acquired by the Mavericks on July 7, 2017, along with a second round pick and cash considerations, from the Miami Heat in exchange for center A.J. Hammons.
The 10-year career veteran saw action in two games for the Mavericks this season after spending the first 37 games of the season on the inactive list while rehabbing a left foot injury.
The good news is, Isaiah Thomas played well in his debut for the Lakers. The bad news is, the squad still lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 130-123. Of course, the Lakers are not a playoff contender and are focused on the future, in which case losing can also be a good thing. Anyway, here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting:
In his first half wearing purple and gold, Thomas played 14 minutes, scored 16 points and hit four three-pointers with four assists. Bounced around the court, playing with joy and scoring better than he ever did in Cleveland.
He was, as fellow Cleveland export Channing Frye promised he would be, the old Isaiah Thomas…
The Lakers brought Thomas off the bench in his first game since being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he scored 22 points on seven of 12 shooting, making four of eight three-point attempts. Brandon Ingram also scored 22 points and Julius Randle, a Dallas native, led the Lakers with 26 points. Randle also had eight rebounds and seven assists.
The Memphis Grizzlies waived forward/center Brandan Wright today.
According to a report from Yahoo Sports, if he clears waivers Wright intends to sign with the Rockets. That’s a great addition to the bench of an already potent team.
Wright (6-10, 235) appeared in 67 games (eight starts) over three seasons (2015-18) with the Grizzlies and averaged 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.3 minutes. Selected with the eighth overall pick of the 2007 NBA Draft following his collegiate career at the University of North Carolina, the 30-year-old has appeared in 427 regular season games (62 starts) over 10 NBA seasons and has averaged 7.0 points and 3.6 rebounds in 16.2 minutes for the Golden State Warriors, New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies’ roster now stands at 16 players.
Nothing’s shocking here, but Isaiah Thomas began his Lakers career as a reserve, coming off the bench. Won’t be surprising if this continues for the time being. But after some time passes, say two weeks or so, if he’s playing well and clearly deserves to start, it’s unclear who should start alongside him. Lonzo Ball and Thomas together? Interesting combo, because of the two Thomas is more of a shooting guard then Ball is. We’ll see. On all of this, here’s ESPN.com reporting:
Lakers coach Luke Walton confirmed Saturday afternoon to reporters that he did not plan to make any changes to his starting lineup. Walton and Thomas had dinner together in Dallas on Friday and discussed expectations and roles, sources told ESPN…
The plan is for Thomas to eventually work himself into position to join the starting five, according to sources.
A 2017 All-NBA second team performer who continues to work himself back into form after a hip injury, Thomas also didn’t start his first game with the Cleveland Cavaliers when they hosted the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 2.
— ESPN.com
The New Orleans Pelicans have waived guards Mike James and Rashad Vaughn.
James, 6-1, 189, who was originally signed to a two-way contract by the Pelicans on January 14, appeared in four games with New Orleans, totaling four points and six assists in 18 minutes.
Vaughn, 6-6, 202, who was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for forward Dante Cunningham on February 8, did not appear in any games for New Orleans.
New Orleans’ roster currently stands at 15, including one two-way player (Charles Cooke).
The Sacramento Kings are 17-36 this season through Thursday’s games, which is the third worst record in the NBA. They’re all about the future, not the present. As for recent trades involving the Kings and their larger meaning, here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting:
The two most important assets the Kings acquired at Thursday’s trade deadline were Miami’s second-round draft pick in 2020 and the little more than $3 million cash.
That’s because the deals weren’t about immediate improvement. Instead, the Kings are keeping the focus on the future, and they believe trading George Hill, Malachi Richardson and waiving Georgios Papagiannis makes that possible…
Of the three players received in the deal, only guard Iman Shumpert figures to be around after this season, because he has an $11 million player option for 2018-19. Bruno Caboclo is in the last year of his deal and Joe Johnson is seeking a buyout, a request the Kings are likely to fulfill.
The NBA continues to do more for teams in regard to scheduling fewer back-to-back games than in the past. Warriors coach Steve Kerr, for one, says the effect has been clear, and positive. Here’s the the San Jose Mercury News reporting:
After playing in 17 sets of back-to-back games this year, the Warriors will play in 14. After playing as many as eight games in 13 days last season, the Warriors’ toughest stretch will entail playing five games in nine days. The NBA also spread out its schedule so there are more days in between games.
“The players are much more prepared to play in every game,” Kerr said. “I’ve only rested guys who are older and banged up. I haven’t felt a need to rest our guys who are in our prime. The league has done a great job with the schedule.”
Granted, the Warriors have still nursed long-term absences this season to Stephen Curry (combined 15 games), Kevin Durant (eight), Draymond Green (six) and Zaza Pachulia (right) for various injuries. But only Klay Thompson represents the Warriors’ lone core player to sit out for rest purposes. That happened only once.
The Knicks now have several young point guards. How will the minutes situation play out? Will be interesting to watch in the coming weeks. Here’s the New York Post reporting:
Knicks general manager Scott Perry said the addition of young point guard Emmanuel Mudiay is part of their “talent acquisition phase’’ and has no reflection on any disappointment with their struggling rookie lottery point guard Frank Ntilikina.
Thursday’s trade with the Nuggets for Mudiay, 21, a former lottery pick himself in 2015, gives the Knicks four point guards — including three lottery picks 25-and-under. Perry said the move would have been made regardless of Kristaps Porzingis’ catastrophic ACL tear that jeopardizes next season, too.
“A former lottery pick was available and he adds ingredients to our roster that can be very helpful,’’ Perry said in a Friday conference call to discuss the trade-deadline acquisition. “I envision them competing with one another and alongside one another. I’ve discussed the importance of adding more athleticism and ball-handling to the team. It will help each one of these guys. I’m excited how it manifests itself on the court. There’s some promising options.”
Blake Griffin’s Pistons play his former team, the Clippers, this evening. Here’s what Griffin said earlier in the day, per ESPN.com:
Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin downplayed any extra motivation in his first game facing the LA Clippers, telling ESPN just hours before tipoff Friday night that “they’re just another team we’re trying to beat.”
“I spent a lot of time with some of those guys in that locker room,” Griffin said ahead of the 7 p.m. ET tipoff in Auburn Hills, Michigan. “Shared some memories, some good, some bad. At the end of the day, we’re worried about our playoff position, we’re worried about keeping this ship moving forward.” …
Asked if he’s spoken to Clippers coach Doc Rivers since the deal went down, Griffin said “no” without elaborating.
The Atlanta Hawks waived guard/forward Marco Belinelli today.
Belinelli, in 52 games with the Hawks (one start) this season, averaged 11.4 points, 2.0 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 23.3 minutes (.410 FG%, .372 3FG%, .927 FT%), ranking fourth in the NBA in free throw percentage. He scored in double-figures 30 times (five 20-point outings).
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, “the Hawks held Belinelli, the veteran reserve shooting guard, out of Tuesday’s game against the Grizzlies and he did not travel with the team for Thursday’s game at the Magic as the team considered several trade options ahead of the NBA trade deadline.”
In 696 career contests (217 starts), he’s put up 9.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 23.1 minutes (.423 FG%, .377 3FG%, .840 FT%).
Belinelli was originally acquired from Charlotte on June 20, 2017 along with Miles Plumlee and a 2017 second round draft pick in exchange for Dwight Howard and a 2017 second round draft pick.