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Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet has been fined $30,000 for public criticism of the officiating, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.
VanVleet made his comments to the media following the Raptors’ 108-100 loss to the LA Clippers on Mar. 8 at Crypto.com Arena.
Via the Canadian Press:
The 29-year-old also singled out official Ben Taylor in his post-game remarks, which consisted of several expletives.
An MRI and evaluation from Pistons team doctors performed Tuesday on Pistons forward/center Isaiah Stewart revealed a left shoulder impingement. Stewart missed four games in January with shoulder soreness.
Treatment for the injury includes continued rehabilitation with re-evaluation set in 3-4 weeks. Further updates will be provided as appropriate.
The Milwaukee Bucks have signed Lindell Wigginton to a Two-Way contract.
A 6-1 guard, Wigginton has played in 35 games (18 starts) with the Wisconsin Herd this season and is averaging 18.6 points, 5.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. This is Wigginton’s second stint with the Bucks after he appeared in 19 games with the team last season while on a Two-Way contract. In those 19 games, the Iowa State product averaged 4.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 10.5 minutes of action.
After going undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft, Wigginton has played in 117 NBA G League games over the last four seasons, including 60 games (36 starts) with the Herd since 2020. The 24-year-old also played professionally in both Israel and Canada.
Milwaukee’s roster is now at 17 players.
Philadelphia 76ers two-way guard Mac McClung has been named NBA G League Player of the Week for games played Monday, Feb. 27 through Sunday, March 5.
The 2023 Slam Dunk champion averaged 28.7 points, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals in three games for the Delaware Blue Coats (3-0).
Per the Philadelphia Inquirer, “McClung, who has yet to play for the Sixers, signed his two-day contract with the Sixers on Feb. 14. The 24-year-old was last season’s G League rookie of the year.”
An MRI performed today revealed that Pistons guard Hamidou Diallo suffered a Grade-2 right ankle sprain in last night’s game vs. Portland.
The injury occurred at the 2:20 mark of the fourth quarter.
Diallo will be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks.
Portland Trail Blazers center Ibou Badji underwent left knee surgery Monday in Vancouver, WA.
The arthroscopic patellar chondroplasty and debridement was performed by Portland Trail Blazers Team Physician Evan Ellis, MD of Rebound Orthopedics.
The team expects that Badji will make a full recovery.
He will miss the next eight weeks.
The Brooklyn Nets have signed center Nerlens Noel to a 10-day contract.
Noel (6’11”, 220) began the 2022-23 season with the Detroit Pistons, where he played in 14 games (three starts) and posted averages of 2.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game. The nine-year NBA veteran has made previous stops in Philadelphia, Dallas, Oklahoma City and New York. In 464 career games (222 starts), Noel holds career averages of 7.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks in 22.1 minutes per contest while shooting 54.7 percent from the field. The 28-year-old has also appeared in 17 playoff games (two starts) across three career postseason appearances, recording averages of 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game.
A Massachusetts native, Noel played one collegiate season (2012-13) at the University of Kentucky, where he was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive. He was drafted sixth overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans and later traded to Philadelphia, where he earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors in 2015 as a member of the 76ers.
The Milwaukee Bucks have signed Goran Dragić.
A 6-3 guard, Dragić has played in 939 games (530 starts) over the past 15 seasons with Phoenix, Houston, Miami, Toronto, Brooklyn and Chicago and holds career NBA averages of 13.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per game. The 36-year-old began this season with the Bulls where he averaged 6.4 points, 2.7 assists and 1.4 rebounds in 15.4 minutes across 51 games before being waived on Feb. 28.
Originally selected with the 45th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Dragić has also seen action in 60 playoff games throughout his career and was a 2018 NBA All-Star with the Heat. A native of Slovenia, Dragić was named the league’s Most Improved Player and selected to the All-NBA Third Team following the 2013-14 season with the Suns.
Dragić will wear number 31 with the Bucks. Milwaukee’s roster is now at 16 players.
The Utah Jazz have signed guard Kris Dunn to a second 10-day contract.
Dunn (6-3, 205, Providence) has appeared in four games with the Jazz this season, averaging 12.0 points on 52.5 percent shooting, 4.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in 22.3 minutes per game. In his seventh NBA season, he owns career averages of 8.2 points, 4.2 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 249 games (129 starts) with Minnesota (2016-17), Chicago (2017-20), Atlanta (2020-21), Portland (2021-22), and Utah (2022-23).
Drafted in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Timberwolves, the New London, Conn., native was a four-year collegiate player at Providence, where he was twice named the Big East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year (2014-15 and 2015-16) and was a Consensus Second-Team All-America selection following the 2015-16 season.
The San Antonio Spurs they have claimed forward Sandro Mamukelashvili off waivers.
In addition, Mamukelashvili has been converted to a standard NBA contract and the team has waived Isaiah Roby.
Mamukelashvili, 6-10/240, most recently played with the Milwaukee Bucks on a two-way contract before being waived on March 1. This season, he appeared in 24 games with the Bucks, averaging 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds, also seeing action in 11 G League games with the Wisconsin Herd and posting averages of 19.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 30.6 minutes.
From Tbilisi, Georgia, Mamukelashvili was selected in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft (54th overall) by the Indiana Pacers before being traded to the Bucks on draft night. Prior to the NBA, he spent four years at Seton Hall (2017-21), where he earned 2021 Big East Co-Player of the Year. The former Pirate averaged 9.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 23.7 minutes in 104 career games.
Roby appeared in 42 games for the Spurs, averaging 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in 18.9 minutes after being claimed off waivers by San Antonio on July 5, 2022.
Mamukelashvili will wear No. 54 for the Silver and Black.
The Spurs roster now stands at 17 players.