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The Indiana Pacers today announced that they have signed guard Lance Stephenson to a second 10-day contract.
The Pacers previously signed Stephenson to a 10-day contract on January 14.
The Pacers are 17-30 this season, which is the 13th best record in the Eastern conference.
Their leading scorers so far in 2021-22 are Domantas Sabonis at 19.0 ppg, Malcolm Brogdon at 18.5 ppg, and Caris LeVert at 18.4 ppg.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Grayson Allen has been suspended one game without pay for having made unnecessary and excessive contact against Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso, resulting in substantial injury to Caruso, it was announced today by Byron Spruell, President, League Operations.
The incident, for which Allen was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter of the Bucks’ 94-90 win over the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 21 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Allen will serve his suspension on Wednesday, Jan. 26 when the Bucks face the Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, OH.
The Long Island Nets, the NBA G League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets, have acquired center Thon Maker from the available player pool. In a related move, Long Island requested waivers on forward Chris Walker.
Maker (7’0”, 221) has appeared in 263 career NBA games (65 starts) across five seasons with Milwaukee (2016-19), Detroit (2018-20) and Cleveland (2020-21), recording averages of 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per game. Most recently, he spent the 2021-22 season overseas in the Israeli Basketball Premier League with Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club, where he averaged 3.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per contest over six games. The South Sudan native was selected by Milwaukee with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. He earned Gatorade Virginia Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors after his sophomore season in high school at Carlisle School in Martinsville, Va., before transferring to Athlete Institute in Ontario, Canada.
Walker was selected by Long Island with the 20th pick in the second round of the 2021 NBA G League Draft. In 11 games with the Nets this season, Walker averaged 1.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 6.5 minutes per contest.
New Orleans Pelicans guard Didi Louzada has been diagnosed with a torn medial meniscus in his left knee.
The injury occurred during the second quarter of the G League Birmingham Squadron’s game against the South Bay Lakers on Friday, January 21.
A date for surgery has not yet been determined.
Louzada will be out indefinitely and his return-to-play status will be updated appropriately.
The Detroit Pistons have signed Cassius Stanley to a third 10-day contract using the COVID-related hardship allowance.
Stanley, 6-5, 190, signed his original 10-day contract with the Pistons on Dec. 25 and his second 10-day contract on January 8. He’s averaged 6.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 20.3 minutes in seven games (one start) with Detroit.
Stanley has appeared in 13 games (two starts) this season with the Motor City Cruise, the NBA G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, and is averaging 11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 24.4 minutes per game.
Stanley has one year of prior NBA experience with the Indiana Pacers (2020-21), posting clips of 1.5 points and 0.8 rebounds in 3.9 minutes over 24 games. The Los Angeles native played one year at Duke University and was the 54th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
He will wear No. 14 for the Pistons.
The Denver Nuggets have signed center DeMarcus Cousins to a 10-day contract, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
Cousins, 6-10, 270, has appeared in 17 games (five starts) for the Milwaukee Bucks this season, averaging 9.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 46.6% from the field in 16.9 minutes per game. Cousins scored 10+ points in six games and posted two double-doubles in his stint with Milwaukee.
The 10-year NBA veteran has played in 623 career games (559 starts) with Sacramento, New Orleans, Golden State, Houston, Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee, holding career averages of 20.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks in 30.6 minutes per game. Cousins has reached the playoffs twice, in 2019 and 2021, appearing in 15 games (five starts), averaging 7.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 12.7 minutes.
The fifth overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, Cousins was selected to four all-star games as a member of the Sacramento Kings (2015-17) and New Orleans Pelicans (2018). He was also named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2015 and 2016 and he was a gold medal winner for the United States in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, as well as the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Cousins will wear #4 for the Nuggets.
The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed forward Mamadi Diakite to a 10-day contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
Diakite (6-9, 218) has appeared in four games for the Thunder this season and averaged 3.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game.
The Miami Heat have re-signed forward Chris Silva to a 10-day contract using the COVID-Related Hardship Allowance.
Silva, who was recently signed to a 10-day contract by the HEAT on December 31 and to a second 10-day contract on January 10, has appeared in seven games with Miami this season averaging 3.4 points and 3.7 rebounds in 9.0 minutes of action while shooting 61.5 percent from the field and 80 percent from the foul line. Earlier this season he appeared in one game with the Minnesota Timberwolves and 12 G League games with the Iowa Wolves where he averaged 15.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.00 steals and 26.1 minutes while shooting 57.3 percent from the field, leading the team in blocks and free throws made while finishing second in rebounds and field goals made.
The Bulls are having a fantastic season, but they could soon face a temporary setback. Via the ESPN.com:
Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball may need arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for a meniscus tear, and a decision on the procedure is expected to come this week, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The scope would sideline Ball for four to six weeks, sources said.
The Bulls and Ball’s agent — Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul — are discussing options with doctors, but the procedure looms if a recent change in nonsurgical treatment won’t allow Ball to play through what’s described as a slight meniscus tear, sources said.
The Bulls are 28-15 this season, which is the best record in the Eastern conference.
Their leading scorers so far in 2021-22 are DeMar DeRozan at 25.7 ppg, Zach LaVine at 24.9 ppg, and Nikola Vucevic at 16.3 ppg.
Ball this season is averaging 13.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 5.1 apg.
The Denver Nuggets have acquired guard Bryn Forbes in a three-team trade with the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics. Boston receives forward Bol Bol and guard P.J. Dozier from Denver while San Antonio receives forward Juancho Hernangomez and cash considerations from Boston and a protected 2028 second round pick and cash considerations from Denver.
Forbes, 6-2, 205, has appeared in 40 games (one start) for San Antonio this season, averaging 9.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting .417 from three-point range in 16.9 minutes per game. The six-year NBA veteran spent the first four years of his career with the Spurs before spending the 2020-21 season as a member of the NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks before returning to San Antonio prior to the 2021-22 season. He has appeared in 371 career games (166 starts) for San Antonio and Milwaukee, averaging 9.1 shoots and shooting .413 from beyond the arc.
The Lansing, MI native has proven to be one of the most consistent deep threats in the NBA, ranking third in three-point field goal percentage over the last four seasons among players with 1,000-plus attempts (trailing only Joe Harris and Seth Curry). He has appeared in 37 career playoff games (seven starts), including 20 during Milwaukee’s championship run, averaging 6.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 16.5 minutes. The 28-year-old went undrafted out of Michigan State University in 2016 but signed a multiyear contract with San Antonio prior to his rookie season.
Forbes will wear #6 for the Nuggets.
Bol, 22, 7-2, was drafted by Miami with the 44th overall pick in the 2019 draft and was acquired by Denver in a draft night trade. In three seasons with the Nuggets, Bol appeared in 53 games (two starts), averaging 2.7 points and 1.2 rebounds, while shooting 47.8% from the field in 6.2 minutes per game.
Dozier, 6-6, 205, appeared in 97 games (six starts) for Denver over the last three seasons, averaging 6.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 19.0 minutes per game. He originally went undrafted in the 2017 NBA Draft after spending two years at the University of South Carolina. He signed as a two-way player with Oklahoma City in 2017-18 and signed as a two-way player with Boston for the 2018-19 season. He signed a two-way deal with Denver prior to the 2019-20 season before having his contract converted to a full NBA contract in June 2020.
Hernangómez, 6-9/215, has appeared in 18 games for the Celtics this season. Originally selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Nuggets, Hernangómez has played for three teams in his six-year career. A native of Spain, he holds career averages of 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.7 minutes over 275 games.