Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Sixers sign Anthony Tolliver to 10-day contract

The Philadelphia 76ers have signed Anthony Tolliver to a 10-day contract.

Tolliver joins the 76ers after spending last season with Memphis, Sacramento and Portland. He saw action in 55 games (13 starts) between the three teams, averaging 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game. He posted season highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds on Jan. 13, 2020 vs. Charlotte while with the Trail Blazers.

All told, the Springfield, Missouri native has appeared in 719 career games (105 starts) with Portland, Sacramento, Memphis, Minnesota, Detroit, Phoenix, Charlotte, Atlanta, Golden State and San Antonio. He holds career averages of 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game, while shooting .415 from the field, .373 from three-point range and .771 from the free-throw line.

Undrafted in the 2007 NBA Draft following a four-year collegiate career at Creighton, Tolliver began his professional career with Cleveland during the 2007-08 preseason. In addition to his time in the NBA and NBA G League, Tolliver has played professionally in Germany and Turkey. As a senior at Creighton, he captured First Team All-MVC honors, averaging 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 blocks in 31.6 minutes per contest. Tolliver helped lead the Bluejays to a 22-11 record and an appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Tolliver will wear No. 43 for the 76ers.

Some fan attendance will be allowed at Wizards home games starting April 21

The Washington Wizards will welcome fans back to Capital One Arena for the first time this season on Wednesday, April 21, at 7:00 p.m. when the team hosts the Golden State Warriors.

Due to the very limited tickets to be made available (attendance will be limited to 2,100 fans, 10% of the venue’s capacity), priority for ticketing will be given to season ticket members, with information forthcoming on ticket availability for the general public. Fans are encouraged to visit https://www.nba.com/wizards/wizticketpresale to sign up for alerts and information regarding individual game ticket access.

The Wizards and Monumental Sports & Entertainment will welcome pre-selected frontline workers to the April 21 game in recognition of their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Extensive upgrades in safety protocol have been put in place in preparation for welcoming fans back to Capital One Arena, including health screening, mobile-only tickets, and seating pods. For more information, fans can visit www.monumentalsports.com/health-safety.

Pelicans sign James Nunnally, waive Will Magnay

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed forward James Nunnally to a two-way contract.

In a related move, the Pelicans waived two-way player Will Magnay.

Nunnally (6-7, 208) most recently played for the February 2021 USA Basketball Men’s AmeriCup Qualifying Team. He played in both games during the AmeriCup Qualifying February 2021 window, averaging 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 23.0 minutes per game.

Nunnally has played internationally in Greece, Puerto Rico, Spain, Israel, Italy, Turkey and China. Throughout his international career, Nunnally has shot better than 45% on more than 500 3-point attempts.

In 2019-20, he played for Fenerbahçe (Turkey) and the Shanghai Sharks (China). He helped Fenerbahçe to back-to-back EuroLeague Final Four appearances in 2016-17 and 2017-18, including winning the championship in 2017. Nunnally earned Italian League MVP honors following the 2015-16 season after averaging 18.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 40 games for Sidigas Avellino.

Undrafted in 2012 after his senior season at UC Santa Barbara, Nunnally has appeared in 28 career NBA games with Atlanta, Philadelphia, Minnesota and Houston.

Nunnally will wear #21 for the Pelicans.

New Orleans’ roster currently stands at 16 players.

Magic sign Robert Franks to 10-day contract

The Orlando Magic have signed free agent forward Robert Franks to a 10-day contract, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today.

Franks (6’7”, 255, 12/18/96) played in 14 games this season (12 starts) with Lakeland of the NBA G League, averaging 12.1 ppg., 6.6 rpg. and 1.5 apg. in 24.5 minpg., while shooting .508 (60-118) from the floor and .356 (21-59) from three-point range. He played and started in all three playoff outings, averaging 16.0 ppg., 8.0 rpg. and 1.0 apg. in 29.7 minpg., while shooting .581 (18-31) from the field and .563 (9-16) from three-point range. Franks helped Lakeland capture the 2020-21 NBA G League championship.

Prior to joining Lakeland, Franks signed as a free agent with Orlando on Nov. 27 and appeared in two preseason games with the Magic, recording five points and one steal in 10 minutes. He was waived on Dec. 19. During the 2019-20 campaign, Franks played in 36 games for both the Greensboro Swarm and Stockton Kings of the NBA G League, averaging 17.3 ppg. and 6.4 rpg. in 32.2 minpg.

Franks played in 110 career games (56 starts) during four seasons at Washington State University, averaging 12.2 ppg. and 4.7 rpg. in 23.7 minpg. As a senior in 2018-19, he averaged 21.6 ppg. and 7.2 rpg., while shooting 49.3 percent from the floor, 40.5 percent from three-point range and 84.8 percent from the free throw line, earning First Team All-Pac-12 honors.

Undrafted, Franks originally signed a two-way contract with Charlotte and their NBA G League affiliate Greensboro before being acquired by Stockton, the Sacramento Kings G League affiliate.

Franks will wear #0 with the Orlando Magic.

Nets sign Alize Johnson to standard NBA contract

The Brooklyn Nets have signed forward Alize Johnson to a multi-year contract.

Johnson (6’7”, 212) originally signed a 10-day contract with Brooklyn on March 22 before signing a second 10-day on April 1. In six games with the Nets, Johnson has averaged 7.8 points on 65.7 percent shooting from the field to go along with 5.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 13.4 minutes per game. In his first game suiting up for Brooklyn on March 24 at Utah, Johnson registered team highs with 23 points and 15 rebounds to go with three assists and two steals in 33 minutes of action off the bench.

Prior to joining the Nets, Johnson played for the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League during the 2021 season. In 15 games (all starts) for the 905, the 24-year-old averaged a double-double with 16.6 points and 13.3 rebounds to go along with 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals in 32.1 minutes per game. Johnson, who ranked second overall in the NBA G League in rebounds per game, helped lead the Raptors 905 to the top seed in the 2021 NBA G League Playoffs with a 12-3 regular season record. Johnson was originally selected with the 50th overall pick in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. In 31 career games over two seasons (2018-20) with the Pacers, Johnson averaged 1.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 5.9 minutes per contest. He also spent time with Indiana’s NBA G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, over the two seasons and averaged 19.5 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 36.7 minutes in 50 total games (all starts).

The Pennsylvania native spent his junior and senior seasons (2016-18) playing collegiately at Missouri State, appearing in 66 games (all starts) and averaging 14.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 30.7 minutes per game. Johnson was named All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team after both campaigns. He began his collegiate career at Frank Phillips College in Texas before transferring to MSU.

Heat still determining scope of Victor Oladipo’s injury

The Heat are still trying to determine how bad the injury is to their new shooting guard, Victor Oladipo. Via the Sun Sentinel:

Coach Erik Spoelstra offered a limited update upon the Miami Heat’s Saturday arrival in Portland, Ore., on where the team stands with sidelined guard Victor Oladipo.

Oladipo was the lone Heat player not to make the trip for four-game trip that opens Sunday night against the Trail Blazers, after injuring his right knee in Thursday night’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at AmericanAirlines Arena.

“We’re still in information-gathering stage right now, so I don’t have a new update for you,” Spoelstra said. “But he’s not with us on this trip, and he won’t be here [Sunday], and that is what we were focused on today, who’s available in the gym today.”

Raptors sign center Khem Birch

The Toronto Raptors have signed center Khem Birch.

Birch, 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, averaged career highs of 5.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 19.8 minutes in 48 games (five starts) with the Orlando Magic this season. He shot .450 (94-209) from the floor and scored in double figures five times, which included three double-doubles.

A native of Montreal, Quebec, Birch is averaging 4.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 16.5 minutes in 188 career games (30 starts) during four seasons in Orlando (2017-21). After going undrafted in 2014, Birch played with Sioux Falls of the NBA G League (2014-15) and overseas in Turkey (2015-16) and Greece (2016-17) prior to signing with the Magic as a free agent in the summer of 2017.

Birch played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh (2011-12) and UNLV (2012-14) where he was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year back-to-back seasons. On the international stage, Birch represented Canada at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. He was also a member of Canada’s U-18 National Team that captured a bronze medal at the 2010 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship.

Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore reportedly finalizing deal to buy Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly being sold.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski via Twitter, “former Major Leaguer Alex Rodriguez and billionaire Marc Lore are finalizing a deal to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves from majority owner Glen Taylor, sources tell ESPN. Taylor will continue full control of team for two years before Rodriguez and Lore take over in 2023.”

Magic reportedly plan to add forward Robert Franks

The Magic will make a roster move soon. Via the Orlando Sentinel:

The Orlando Magic plan to sign free-agent forward Robert Franks to a 10-day contract, NBA sources confirmed Saturday to the Orlando Sentinel.

The Magic have one open roster spot after waiving center Khem Birch last week, but the team also is set to sign forward/center Donta Hall to a 10-day contract. NBA teams get 15 roster spots for players on regular NBA contracts, while players on two-way deals do not count toward that number. So to make room for both Franks and Hall, the Magic will have to release a player on a regular contract.

The Magic are 17-35 this season, which is the second worst record in the Eastern conference. They recently traded their most high-profile players, and are clearly now rebuilding.

Hawks guard Tony Snell out with ankle injury

Atlanta Hawks guard Tony Snell left during the third quarter of last night’s game against Chicago with a right ankle injury and did not return. An MRI taken this morning at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex confirmed a right ankle sprain and bone bruise. He will stay in Atlanta for rehabilitation, missing the Hawks’ two-game road trip to Charlotte and Tampa, and will be re-evaluated upon the team’s return.