Inside Hoops – Page 243 – NBA Blog

Cleveland Cavaliers sign Justin Anderson and Luke Kornet to 10-day contracts

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed forward Justin Anderson and center Luke Kornet to 10-day contracts via the NBA’s hardship exception, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Anderson (6-6, 230) has appeared in 11 games (all starts) this season for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the NBA G League affiliate of the Indiana Pacers, averaging 14.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.0 steals in 33.8 minutes per contest. Anderson, who was an All-NBA G League Third Team selection in 2020, has also played five NBA seasons from 2015-2020 with Dallas, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Brooklyn. Over 226 career NBA games (24 starts), he holds career averages of 5.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13.1 minutes. Additionally, Anderson has played in 15 career postseason contests and was drafted No. 21 overall in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Mavericks.

Kornet (7-2, 250) has appeared in 10 games (all starts) this season for the Maine Celtics, the NBA G League affiliate of the Boston Celtics, averaging 11.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.7 blocks in 27.4 minutes per contest. Kornet, who was an All-NBA G League Third Team selection in 2018, has also played four NBA seasons from 2017-2021 with New York, Chicago and Boston, including last season (2020-21), appearing in 31 games with the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics. Over 133 career NBA games (35 starts), he holds career averages of 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 15.2 minutes. Additionally, Kornet played in two postseason contests for Boston last season.

Orlando Magic sign Tim Frazier and Freddie Gillespie to 10-day contracts

The Orlando Magic have signed free agent guard Tim Frazier and free agent forward Freddie Gillespie to 10-day contracts, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today.

Both players were signed via hardship exceptions by the NBA.

Orlando currently has five players (Mo Bamba, Ignas Brazdeikis, R.J. Hampton, Terrence Ross and Moritz Wagner) placed in the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.

Frazier (6’1”, 170, 11/1/90) played in five games last season (2020-21) with Memphis, averaging 1.6 ppg., 3.2 apg. and 1.6 rpg. in 12.4 minpg.

Undrafted by an NBA franchise, Frazier has played in 277 career NBA regular season games (81 starts) with Philadelphia, Portland, New Orleans, Washington, Milwaukee, Detroit and Memphis, averaging 5.0 ppg., 4.0 apg. and 2.3 rpg. in 17.6 minpg. He has also appeared in 49 career NBA G League regular season games (47 starts), all with Maine, averaging 15.9 ppg., 9.5 apg., 7.4 rpg. and 1.61 stlpg. in 34.7 minpg., while shooting .370 (51-138) from three-point range and .803 (191-238) from the free throw line. Frazier was named the 2014-15 NBA G League Most Valuable Player and NBA G League Rookie of the Year.

Frazier played in 135 career games (113 starts) at Penn State University from 2009-14, averaging 11.4 ppg., 4.7 apg., 3.9 rpg. and 1.45 stlpg. in 30.6 minpg. He finished his collegiate career as the Nittany Lions’ all-time leader in assists with 641. Frazier was named to both the All-Big Ten First Team in Big Ten All-Defensive Team in 2011-12, while leading the conference in assists during both the 2011-12 and 2013-14 campaigns.

Frazier will wear #8 with the Orlando Magic.

Gillespie (6’9”, 245, 6/14/97) has played in all 12 games (11 starts) this season with Memphis of the NBA G League, averaging 11.4 ppg., 12.2 rpg., 1.0 apg., 2.75 blkpg. and 1.17 stlpg. in 33.2 minpg. At the time of his signing, he leads the team in rebounding (T-2nd in NBA G League) and leads the entire NBA G League in blocked shots.

Last season, Gillespie played in 20 games (two starts) during his rookie campaign with Toronto, averaging 5.6 ppg., 4.9 rpg. and 1.00 blkpg. in 19.6 minpg., while shooting .524 (44-84) from the floor. He has also appeared in 27 career NBA G League regular season games (26 starts), all with Memphis, averaging 10.9 ppg., 11.3 rpg., 1.4 apg., 2.48 blkpg. and 1.22 stlpg. in 30.2 minpg., while shooting .563 (130-231) from the floor.

Gillespie played in 56 career games (41 starts) during two seasons (2018-20) at Baylor University, averaging 7.6 ppg., 6.9 rpg. and 1.68 blkpg. in 23.7 minpg., while shooting .582 (171-294) from the field. He was named Big 12 Most Improved Player in 2019-20, as well as earning All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Big 12 Defensive Team honors. Gillespie began his collegiate career at Carleton College, a NCAA Division III school located in Northfield, Minnesota.

Gillespie will wear #44 with the Orlando Magic.

Jayson Tatum and Karl-Anthony Towns named NBA Players of the Week

Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week and Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Dec. 13-19.

It is the first time this season – and the fifth time in Tatum’s career – that he has received the conference’s weekly award.

Tatum produced a team-best 31.3 points on 50.0% shooting (36.1% 3-PT, 86.7% FT), 7.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 38.8 minutes over three home games – including two Boston wins – against Milwaukee, Golden State, and New York. He registered at least 25 points and 5+ rebounds in each of the three contests, including a season-high 42 points on 16-of-25 shooting (7-13 3-PT) in Boston’s 117-103 victory over the Bucks on Dec. 13.

In 30 games this season (all starts), Tatum has averaged 26.2 points (42.3% FG, 33.2% 3-PT, 81.9% FT), a career-high 8.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 36.5 minutes. He has tallied at least 20 points in all nine games played in the month of December, averaging 30.6 points on 48.7% shooting (36.6% 3-PT), 8.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists during that stretch.

This is the fifth time in his career that Towns has won the weekly award (Nov. 20, 2017, April 11, 2016, Mar. 13, 2017 and Oct. 28, 2019). Towns joins Kevin Garnett (15 times) as the only players in Timberwolves history to win the league’s weekly award five or more times.

Towns is the only player in the NBA this season to average 20+ ppg while shooting 50% or better from the field and 40% or better from three. Following the 3-0 week by the Timberwolves, he ranks 12th in the NBA in scoring (24.4 ppg) and tied for 17th in rebounds (9.0 rpg).

The 7-0 center has helped the Timberwolves climb back to .500 on the season, moving to 15-15 after Sunday night’s 111-105 win over the Dallas Mavericks, tied for the second-best 30-game start for the Wolves since 2006-07.

In the Dec. 15 124-107 victory at Denver, Towns scored 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting, while adding four rebounds, four assists and three steals, marking his seventh 30+ point game of the season and extending his franchise record to 85 career games with 30 or more points. With his three-pointer with 6:40 left in the third quarter against the Nuggets, Towns eclipsed 10,000 career points, joining Garnett as the only players in Timberwolves history to score 10,000+ points. He additionally became the first player from the 2015 draft class to notch 10,000 career points.

On Dec. 17 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Towns tallied his 12th 20+ point/10+ rebound game of the season (218th career), finishing with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Since he entered the league in 2015-16, no other player has registered more 20/10 games.

Towns finished the week on Dec. 19 against the Mavericks, leading the way for the Wolves with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists, accounting for his 24th 20+ point game of the season (292nd career). He shot 11-of-13 from the charity stripe, marking a season-high for free throws made and was his third game of the season tallying 10+ free throws. The stat line also marked Towns’ seventh game of the season with 20+ points/5+ rebounds/5+ assists.

Celtics sign C.J. Miles to a 10-day contract

The Boston Celtics have signed 15-year NBA veteran C.J. Miles to a 10-day contract.

Originally selected by Utah in the second round (34th overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft, Miles, 34, has averaged 9.6 points on 41.1% shooting (35.8% 3-PT, 80.9% FT), 2.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 20.4 minutes in 848 career NBA games (303 starts) with the Jazz, Cleveland, Indiana, Toronto, Memphis, and Washington.

Miles (G/F) has averaged at least 10.0 points in six of his 15 NBA seasons, including four straight double-digit scoring years from 2014-15 to 2017-18. The Dallas, TX native last played in the NBA in 2019-20, when he produced 6.4 points over 10 games with the Wizards.

Mavericks sign Theo Pinson to a 10-day contract

The Dallas Mavericks have signed forward Theo Pinson to a 10-day contract under the COVID-related hardship allowance.

Pinson (6-5, 212) spent the past two seasons with the New York Knicks after signing with the Brooklyn Nets as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2018. Pinson spent the beginning of this season with the Maine Celtics of the NBA G League, where he was averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game across 12 appearances (all starts). Pinson played four years at the University of North Carolina prior to entering the NBA and helped the Tar Heels win the 2017 NCAA Championship.

Pinson will wear #1 for the Mavericks.

Wizards notes: Dec. 20, 2021

The Wizards this past week were out West for a four-game road trip which began in Denver on Monday, December 13. Washington returned home after defeating the Utah Jazz 109-103 on Saturday, December 18.

Washington leads the NBA in clutch game wins this season and now owns a 13-1 record in clutch situations after Saturday’s 109-103 win in Utah. Clutch games are defined as the last five minutes of a game in which the point differential is five or less.

Bradley Beal (2,600) passed Kevin Porter (2,593) for the fourth-most assists in franchise history with his seven-assist performance on Saturday night in Utah.

Deni Avdija has scored in double figures in three-consecutive games
for the first time in his career. Avdija is averaging 13.3 points, 5.3
rebounds and 2.3 assists in that span.

The NBA announced that Washington’s game at Brooklyn on Tuesday, December 21 has been postponed.

NBA: Sixers sign Myles Powell, waive Grant Riller

The Philadelphia 76ers have signed Myles Powell to a two-way contract.

In a related move, the team has waived Grant Riller.

Powell joins Philadelphia after appearing in 14 total G League games over the last two seasons with the Westchester Knicks. Last season, Powell appeared in 13 of the team’s 15 games, averaging 17.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.7 steals in 28.1 minutes per contest. He also ended the season ranked top-10 in the G League in three-point percentage at .446, finishing with the best mark of any player with at least 80 attempts from beyond the arc.

A Trenton, New Jersey native, Powell played collegiately at Seton Hall University where he was named the 2019-20 Big East Player of the Year as a senior, while finishing his college career as Seton Hall’s third all-time leading scorer. Over his four seasons as a Pirate, Powell appeared in 129 games (97 starts) with averages of 17.5 points, 3.3 boards, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals. In his final collegiate season, Powell led Seton Hall in scoring at 21.0 points per game, powering the Pirates to a 21-9 record and the Big East regular season title.

After going undrafted in 2020, Powell signed with the New York Knicks.

He will wear No. 5 with Philadelphia.

Per NBA rules, teams are permitted to have a maximum of two players under two-way contracts in addition to the players under standard NBA contracts. A two-way player for the 76ers will also be eligible to provide services to the team’s G League affiliate – the Delaware Blue Coats.

Health update on Trail Blazers center Cody Zeller

Trail Blazers center Cody Zeller is progressing in his return to the court after recent imaging revealed a small fracture of his right patella, the team announced today.

Zeller will continue his recovery protocol and increase his on-court activity. He will be re-evaluated next week.

In 24 games this season, Zeller is averaging 5.1 points (56.6% FG, 76.6% FT), 4.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 13.3 minutes per game.

Five more Cavs players added to NBA’s health and safety protocols

The following Cleveland Cavaliers players have entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols today: center Jarrett Allen, forwards Lamar Stevens and Dylan Windler and guards Denzel Valentine and RJ Nembhard. They join Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley, who entered the protocols previously. Further updates will be provided at the appropriate time.

NBA postpones five games between December 19-21 for coronavirus reasons

The next games for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers, as well as the next two games for the Brooklyn Nets, have been postponed by the NBA because of players and staff members entering the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols.

The following games are impacted:

Sunday, Dec. 19:
Denver at Brooklyn
Cleveland at Atlanta
New Orleans at Philadelphia

Monday, Dec. 20:
Orlando at Toronto

Tuesday, Dec. 21:
Washington at Brooklyn