Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Jeremy Lin cuts basketball season in China short

Via the New York Post:

Jeremy Lin, who captivated New York in 2012 during his magical run with the Knicks, is leaving the Chinese Basketball Association, cutting his season with the Guangzhou Loong Lions short.

Lin now plans to come back to America, though he is leaving his basketball future open.

“After lots of consideration, I’ve decided to leave the CBA for this season,” Lin wrote in an Instagram post. “It wasn’t an easy decision. I still love the game of basketball and look forward to getting back to the court one day. As for now, I’m gonna go back to the US to rest and reset before I make a decision with my family for my next step.”

Bulls guard Alex Caruso set to return

Via the Chicago Tribune:

Guard Alex Caruso plans to return to the Chicago Bulls lineup in Friday’s game against the Detroit Pistons after missing three games due to concussion protocol and a shoulder injury.

Caruso suffered the pair of injuries in last Wednesday game against the Atlanta Hawks after attempting to dive parallel to the court to snatch a steal out of mid-air. Instead, he crashed directly into a Hawks player. Caruso described the moment as baffling in real-time — one second he thought he had secured a flying steal, the next he was flat on the hardwood with the entire right side of his body aching.

The Bulls are 15-19 this season, which is the 10th best record in the Eastern conference.

Their leading scorers so far in 2022-23 are DeMar DeRozan at 26.5 PPG, Zach LaVine at 22.2 PPG, and Nikola Vucevic at 16.7 PPG.

Raptors waive Justin Champagnie

Forward Justin Champagnie was waived by the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, the team confirmed.

In 39 games throughout the course of his tenure with the Raptors, Champagnie, a 6-foot-6, 202-pounder, averaged 2.2 rebounds, 1.9 rebounds, and 7.5 minutes. Twice he reached double digits, including a 14-point career best in January versus San Antonio. In the summer of 2021, Champagnie initially agreed to a two-way contract with Toronto.

Toronto’s roster currently has 14 players, and a pair of two-way players.

Injury update on Suns guard Devin Booker: Out at least four weeks

Per the Phoenix Suns:

Further evaluation has confirmed that Devin Booker has sustained a left groin strain. He will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

And via the Arizona Republic:

“You feel for Devin, but it’s the nature of our business,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “It’s the nature of a guy who puts in a lot of work and lays everything on the line, you’re going to run into this from time to time. I’m actually grateful that it wasn’t worse. He has a tissue injury. When you look around the league, see guys who play with that kind of drive and passion and play that hard, it could be worse.”

Booker sustained the injury in the first quarter Sunday after he only played four minutes of the Christmas game. He went back to Phoenix right after the game was over for further evaluation.

Nets beat Hawks, extend winning streak to 10 straight games

The Nets have won 10 games in a row. Tonight’s win, a tight 108-107 victory against a short-handed Atlanta Hawks team who were without Trae Young, Clint Capela and supporting cast players, was too close for comfort. But the win streak continues. Via the New York Daily News:

“[Winning 10 in a row] sounds good, especially since there’s just been an up and down vibe with our team the past few years,” Kevin Durant said postgame. “So it’s good to win a game and have some fun.”

The Hawks built a 15-point second-quarter lead in part due to Jacque Vaughn’s first truly confusing move since taking Steve Nash’s post as head coach in Brooklyn. His rotations have traditionally been tight, even tighter when it comes to the two superstars: Durant normally plays the entire first quarter, while Kyrie Irving traditionally sits the final few minutes of the first to lead the reserves in the second quarter while Durant gets a rest.

On Wednesday, Vaughn veered from the norm. He played both Irving and Durant the entire opening period — and sat both of Brooklyn’s stars to start the second quarter.

Of course the Hawks went on a run and built a lead five points shy of 20. Vaughn had a lineup of Patty Mills, Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Yuta Watanabe and T.J. Warren on the floor until taking a timeout at the 5:25 mark of the second quarter.

Via the New York Post:

Kyrie Irving had a team-high 28 points while Kevin Durant added 26. The pair combined to double Hawks star Dejounte Murray — who had 24 — into the fateful, final miss at the buzzer, preserving the rally.

“They’re playing great basketball and as I said to the team, they’re hot as a firecracker,” Atlanta coach Nate McMillan had warned. “They have of course, Kyrie and Durant that are elite players; but the supporting cast is playing really good basketball, shooting the ball extremely well from the floor.

“They’re playing a lot of guys, they have a lot of dangerous guys that are playing off of those guys. So they’re playing, I think they’re becoming the team that a lot of people thought they would be. And right now they’re playing the hottest team.”

Pistons sign Jared Rhoden to a two-way contract, waive Braxton Key

The Detroit Pistons have signed guard Jared Rhoden to a two-way contract.

And in a related move, Detroit waived two-way forward Braxton Key.

Rhoden, 6-6, 210, most recently played for the College Park Skyhawks, the NBA’s G League affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks. In 16 games (four starts), he averaged 13.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 54.7% from the field and 51.4% from 3-point range.

Rhoden, a Baldwin, NY native, played four years, collegiately, at Seton Hall University. In 122 career games (72 starts), he averaged 10.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists for the Pirates. In 31 games as a senior, he averaged 15.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 33.1 minutes per game, garnering 2022 All-Big East First Team honors. Rhoden left the program as one of only 12 players to record 1,200 points and 600 rebounds in school history.

Keys was signed to a two-way contract on April 3, 2022, following a 10-day stint with the Pistons. He’s appeared in 12 games with Detroit, averaging 6.8 points and 4.1 rebounds.

76ers sign Louis King to a two-way contract, waive Saben Lee

The Philadelphia 76ers have signed Louis King to a two-way contract.

And in a related move, the team has waived Saben Lee.

King joins the 76ers organization after most recently appearing in 18 NBA G League games this season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, where he averaged 20.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals, making him one of 15 G League players with such averages.

Prior to Rio Grande Valley, King spent time with the Sacramento Kings as a two-way player where he averaged 18.3 points while shooting .412 from three-point range in six G League games.

King, a Jersey City, New Jersey native played his high school career at Hudson Catholic before attending the University of Oregon.

Signed to a two-way deal by the Detroit Pistons as an undrafted free agent in 2019, King has averaged 4.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 26 career NBA games.

King will wear No. 7 with the 76ers.

Mavericks sign AJ Lawson to a two-way contract

The Dallas Mavericks have signed guard AJ Lawson to a two-way contract.

And in a related move, the Mavericks have also requested waivers on two-way guard Tyler Dorsey.

Lawson (6-6, 224) joins Dallas after beginning the season with the G League’s College Park Skyhawks and Iowa Wolves, where he averaged 19.9 points (.527 FG%), 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 33.5 minutes in 13 total games (all starts). Lawson also made his NBA debut while on a Two-Way contract for the Timberwolves in 2022-23 and recorded two points (1-1 FG) and one board in 2 minutes at Orlando on Nov. 16.

The 22-year-old started all five games for the Mavericks at the 2022 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, averaging a team-high 15.6 points (.519 FG%, .500 3FG%, .846 FT%), 6.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 29.6 minutes. He signed a Two-Way deal with Minnesota on July 26 before being waived by the franchise on Oct. 14 and joining the Skyhawks for the start of the 2022-23 season. Lawson signed another Two-Way contract with the Timberwolves on Nov. 15 but was again waived by the club on Dec. 7 and returned to College Park.

After going undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, Lawson signed with College Park on Sept. 22, 2021, and averaged 11.8 points (.481 FG%), 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 31.8 minutes in 33 games (26 starts) for the Skyhawks during the 2021-22 campaign. The Toronto native later signed with the Guelph Nighthawks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League on April 26, 2022, and averaged 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 30.5 minutes in 10 games (all starts) for the club.

Lawson was a three-year player at the University of South Carolina, where he totaled 1,153 points, 325 rebounds, 167 assists and 101 steals in 81 games (80 starts) for the Gamecocks. He earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors in 2018-19 (13.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.1 spg) and Second Team All-SEC accolades as a junior in 2020-21 (16.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.5 spg).

Lawson will wear No. 9 for the Mavericks.

Dorsey (6-5, 183) signed a Two-Way deal with Dallas on July 23 and appeared in three games with the Mavericks. He recorded nine points (4-4 FG, 1-1 3FG) and two boards in his Mavericks debut against Memphis on Oct. 22.

Dorsey also saw action in 16 games (all starts) for the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, the Texas Legends, and averaged 24.2 points (4th in the G League), 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 32.5 minutes while shooting 45.6% (115-252 FG) from the field, 45.7% (58-127 3FG) from beyond the arc and 84.0% (63-75 FT) from the foul line.