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The Trail Blazers have signed guard Shaquille Harrison to a 10-day contract.
Harrison, 29, played in 32 games (all starts) for the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League, recording averages of 13.6 points (49.3% FG, 70.7% FT), 6.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 2.1 steals and 32.5 minutes during the 2022-23 season.
A Tulsa alum, Harrison spent two seasons with the Northern Arizona Suns (2016-2018) and played for the Delaware Blue Coats during the 2021-22 season.
The Trail Blazers have signed guard Skylar Mays to a 10-day contract.
Mays, 25, has played in 29 games (14 starts) for the Mexico City Capitanes and Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League during the 2022-23 season, accruing averages of 14.1 points (43.1% FG, 88.2% FT), 3.7 rebounds, 5.1 assist, 0.7 steals and 27.6 minutes.
Originally selected with the 50th overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, Mays has appeared in 61 career games (five starts) and averaged 3.3 points (46.9% FG, 33.8% 3-pt, 88.2% FT), 1.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 8.0 minutes per game for the Hawks.
The Charlotte Hornets have signed forward Xavier Sneed to a 10-day contract.
Sneed averaged 12.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 31.2 minutes per game across 32 contests (all starts) with the Greensboro Swarm this season. The veteran wing scored a career-high 30 points in a Greensboro Swarm win over the Windy City Bulls on Feb. 5, 2023 and totaled 20 or more points nine times this season. He made his NBA debut last season, appearing in nine games with Memphis and Utah.
He also played 15 games (14 starts) in 2021-22 with the Salt Lake City Stars and the Swarm, averaging 15.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 31.6 minutes per game. In 13 games (10 starts) with the Swarm in 2020-21, Sneed posted 8.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.9 steals in 23.3 minutes per game.
The Utah Jazz have signed forward Luka Šamanić to a 10-day contract.
Šamanić (6-10, 227, Croatia) joins the Jazz having most recently played for the Maine Celtics of the NBA G League, where he appeared in 27 games (all starts), averaging 22.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 29.4 minutes per contest. The 23-year-old has two years of NBA experience with the San Antonio Spurs (2019-21), where he appeared in 36 games (five starts), averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per contest.
Drafted in the first round (19th overall pick) of the 2019 NBA Draft by San Antonio, Šamanić has additional professional experience with Union Olimpija of the Adriatic League (2018-19) and the FC Barcelona II and FC Barcelona U18 squads from 2016-18.
The Brooklyn Nets have signed center Moses Brown to a second 10-day contract.
Brown (7’2″, 245) signed his first 10-day contract with the Nets on March 17 and played four minutes in his lone appearance on March 26 at Orlando. Prior to joining Brooklyn, the fourth-year pro previously played for Portland, Oklahoma City, Cleveland, Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers. In 127 career games (39 starts), Brown holds averages of 5.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per contest on 57.1 percent shooting from the field. The 23-year-old has also played in 50 career games (19 starts) across four seasons in the NBA G League, including five total games (four starts) this season for the Ontario Clippers and Westchester Knicks. Brown holds career NBA G League averages of 15.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 22.0 minutes per game.
A Queens, N.Y., native, Brown attended Archbishop Molloy High School and became the first player from the school to be named a McDonald’s All-American since Kenny Anderson in 1989. He played one collegiate season (2018-19) at UCLA, where he was named a PAC-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention and a semifinalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. Brown went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft and later signed with the Portland Trail Blazers.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram has been named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for games played March 20-26.
Ingram led New Orleans to a 3-0 week, recording averages of 31.3 points, 10.0 assists, and 6.3 rebounds in 33.0 minutes per game, while shooting .525 from the field, .462 from deep, and 1.000 from the foul stripe. Among Western Conference players with winning records on the week, Ingram ranked first in points and assists per contest.
Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown has been named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, the NBA announced today. Brown earns his third career nod and this award marks the 67th overall honor for a Celtics player in franchise history. Brown joins Derrick White (2/12) and Jayson Tatum (10/23) as the third player to receive the recognition this season. The last team to have three players earn a weekly honor in a single season was Toronto (2019-20).
Brown led the Celtics to a 3-0 week with wins over San Antonio (137-93), Indiana (120-95), and Sacramento (132-109), while averaging 31.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 34.6 minutes per game. Brown was the only player in the Eastern Conference to average at least 30 points while shooting better than 55.0 percent from the field and 39.0 percent from three-point range.
Via Cleveland.com:
Where were you in 1998?
That year has become rooted in Cavs history — an inescapable smudge that no one could erase. It was the last time the organization made the playoffs without LeBron James — the multi-time franchise savior whose presence single-handedly controlled the team’s destiny. With him, Cleveland was a pillar of stability and prosperity. Without him, rubble.
Until Sunday night.
The Cavs crushed Houston, 108-91, ending a five-year playoff drought and clinching a berth without LeBron for the first time in more than two decades. It’s their fourth straight win and sixth in the last seven games. The victory also pulls the Cavs closer to third-seeded Philadelphia who had an abundance of breathing room a few days ago.
“You want to appreciate every step along the way and it’s definitely a blessing,” All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell said. “I don’t want to downplay the moment. But in the same token, and I told the guys in there, this is what you come to expect. You made your first one, appreciate it, enjoy it, celebrate it for the city, for the organization, for your individual guys who have made it, but at the same token like, three seed is in play. That’s the goal. That’s the focus. We should come to a point now where that’s what is expected of us — making the playoffs and continuously pushing forward.”
LeBron James made his return to action today, but the results for the Lakers weren’t good. Via the LA Times:
Yet Sunday, the surprise return, in part, translated into a turnover-riddled mess with no real purpose in a 118-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Players inside the Lakers’ locker room didn’t find out James would be back until after his pregame workout Sunday, the type of addition that does so much good long term while throwing the short term into a bit of chaos.
He came off the bench for just the second time in his career, joining the Lakers for their final eight games of the season.
In his return, James scored 19 points. Troy Brown Jr. and Malik Beasley each had 18, while Dennis Schroder contributed 17 and Austin Reaves 13.
Anthony Davis scored 15 points and shot six for eight from the field — Beasley, Brown, James, Reaves and Schroder all attempting more shots.
The Lakers turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 34 Chicago points.
The New York Knicks have signed guard DaQuan Jeffries to a contract.
Jeffries, 6-5, 222-pounds, averaged 21.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists over 33.3 minutes in 21 games (all starts) for the Westchester Knicks. In 15 games (all starts) during the 2022 AT&T Winter Showcase, he averaged 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 32.9 minutes. New York signed him to a 10-day contract on Mar. 5 and then to a second 10-day contract on Mar. 16.
The Edmond, OK-native holds career averages of 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds over 13.7 minutes in 47 games (five starts) over three seasons with Sacramento, Houston and Memphis. He appeared in five games for New York’s Summer League entry in July, averaging 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists over 21.7 minutes in five games in Las Vegas, NV.