Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Reggie Jackson still recovering from ankle sprain

Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson is entering the next stage of his rehabilitation this week in preparation for a return from a Grade 3 right ankle sprain suffered Tuesday, December 26 vs. Indiana.

Jackson has been cleared to begin light running, shooting and continued ankle strengthening exercises. The Detroit Pistons medical staff will monitor progress throughout the week in anticipation of beginning an escalation process towards resuming normal basketball activities.

No timeframe has been set for a return to practice or game action.

Knicks and Joakim Noah will not reunite anytime soon

The Knicks have barely used well-paid center Joakim Noah this season. Currently, the two sides are taking a break from each other. Which isn’t really an ideal situation. How will it resolve? Tough to say, because Noah has a lot more Knicks money coming to him. Here’s NY Newsday with the latest:

Jeff Hornacek wouldn’t comment on reports that he pushed Joakim Noah during their heated exchange last month in Denver. But Hornacek gave the strongest indications yet that Noah won’t be back with the Knicks.

“I think that is the plan,” Hornacek said following practice Tuesday night.

That was the expected outcome when the Knicks sent Noah away after he and Hornacek got into it at a practice Jan. 24 in Denver. Noah was upset that he played less than five minutes the night before in a lopsided loss to the Warriors when the Knicks were without Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle O’Quinn.

“That’s something that happened three weeks ago, four weeks ago,” Hornacek said. “We handled that thing with Jo. It’s not finalized because he’s still on the roster. We’ve dealt with that situation.

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Magic sign Rashad Vaughn to 10-day contract

The Magic today signed guard Rashad Vaughn to a 10-day contract.

The 6’6”, 210-pound Vaughn, born 8/16/96, has played in a combined 23 games this season with both Mthe Bucks and Nets, averaging 2.6 points in 7.7 minutes per game. He was traded by Milwaukee to Brooklyn, along with a second round draft pick, in exchange for Tyler Zeller on Feb. 5. Vaughn was then traded by the Nets to New Orleans in exchange for Dante Cunningham on Feb. 8. He was waived by the Pelicans on Feb. 10.

Originally selected in the first round (17th overall) of the 2015 NBA Draft by Milwaukee, Vaughn has appeared in 134 career NBA regular season games (eight starts) with Milwaukee and Brooklyn, averaging 3.1 ppg. and 1.1 rpg. in 12.2 minpg. Prior to his NBA career, he spent one season at UNLV (2014-15), averaging 17.8 ppg., 4.8 rpg. and 1.6 apg. in 32.3 minpg., while shooting .383 (54-141) from three-point range. Vaughn was named 2014-15 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, as well as Honorable Mention All-MWC.

The Magic’s roster now stands at 16 players.

Vaughn will wear #20 with Orlando.

Koby Altman impressive in reshaping of Cavs

There was no shortage of shock and surprise when Koby Altman, the 35-year-old, first-time GM of the Cavs, reshaped the team’s roster with three major trades on Feb. 8.

It was Altman and his staff who targeted Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance of the Lakers, George Hill of the Kings and Rodney Hood of the Jazz. There was no directive from owner Dan Gilbert, no plea from James, no nudging from Lue, to go and get those players, specifically.

Everyone was wrong about Altman. Everyone.

“I think Koby did a heck of a job of understanding what our team needed,” James said this week, after the rejuvenated Cavs — to use an Altman word — beat Oklahoma City, 120-112.

“It just wasn’t working out for us, and he felt like, obviously you guys saw his quotes, he made the changes that he felt best fits our team,” James continued.

The Cavs enter the All-Star break as the talk of the NBA. They’ve won four straight, tore up half their roster and are being discussed again as a legitimate contender while playing with a renewed sense of energy since Hill, Clarkson, Nance and Hood arrived.

— Cleveland.com

Pistons season has been a roller coaster

This has been a wild Pistons season, first with stretches of success and also plenty of losing, then a huge trade for Blake Griffin, and to make sense of some of this, here’s Michigan Live reporting:

Said forward Anthony Tolliver: “All the years I’ve played in this league this team has been a little bit more roller coaster as far as high highs and low lows.”

The Pistons reached the All-Star break at 28-29, 1 1/2 games behind the Miami Heat for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

It’s not where they hoped to be following a promising 14-6 start. But they’ve had issues offensively, have lacked intensity on defense on too many nights, have lost too often to bad teams and haven’t capitalized enough at home (19-12). Losing point guard Reggie Jackson to an ankle injury on Dec. 26 also has hurt.

The Pistons return to practice on Wednesday and host the Boston Celtics next Friday (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit). With 15 of their final 25 games on the road, reaching the playoffs for only the second time in nine years will be a challenge.

Klay Thompson wants to stick with Warriors

Klay Thompson’s desires have not changed.

The four-time All-Star does not want to leave the Warriors when he becomes a free agent.

“Playing for one team your whole career is definitely special,” Klay recently told Mark Medina of the Bay Area News Group (read the full story here). “Only so many guys have done it in professional sports, so it’ll be a goal of mine. Hopefully it all works out.

“Anything I can do to stay with the Warriors is first and foremost. God willing, it happens. If not, I don’t even think about that.”

— NBC Sports Bay Area

Lou Williams was aiming for All-Star team, not Skills Challenge

Lou Williams essentially accepted a consolation prize from the NBA to participate in the Skills Challenge during All-Star weekend at Staples Center.

His stated goal had been to represent the Clippers in the All-Star game Sunday at Staples Center, but Williams was not chosen as one of the Western Conference reserves — to his and his coaching staff’s dismay.

Instead, Williams will lace up his sneakers for the event that will take place Saturday night, his enthusiasm still high for being asked to be in the Skills Challenge along with seven other players.

Williams admitted it would have been much nicer to display his skills in the big event Sunday.

— LA Times

Lakers should have Lonzo Ball back right after All-Star break

The 23-32 Lakers, now with Isaiah Thomas in uniform, look forward to getting Lonzo Ball back as soon as possible. How much they’ll actually play together remains to be seen, but that’s a whole other discussion. Step one is just to get Lonzo back in action. Which reportedly should happen right after the All-Star break. Here’s the Daily Breeze reporting:

As Josh Hart ran off the Pelicans home court on Wednesday morning, he stopped in front of Lonzo Ball, who was chatting with reporters, to tease the point guard about when he would return to the court.

“First game back after All-Star, man,” Ball responded. “I’ll be there.”

Ruled out earlier this week for Wednesday’s contest at New Orleans and Thursday’s game in Minnesota, Ball said he “definitely” expects to play on Feb. 23 against Dallas, 42 days after spraining his left MCL in an overtime win against the Mavericks.

While Ball has progressed to full contact practices, the Lakers will not practice until next Wednesday, by which time Ball expects to be free of the soreness that has persisted.

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Steve Kerr brushes off criticism after turning coaching huddles over to players

Steve Kerr trusts his players. Especially when the Warriors are going against a team they should definitely be able to beat. He recently allowed players to essentially act as coaches during timeouts/huddles. There’s no reason to think he did so to disrespect the opponent. Still, it drew reactions in all directions. Here’s the SF Chronicle reporting:

After turning his team huddles over to players in Monday night’s rout of the Suns, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr drew plenty of criticism. Some viewed Kerr’s approach as disrespectful to Phoenix. Others saw it as demeaning to the coaching profession.

“I heard some things,” Kerr said of such backlash after shoot-around Wednesday. “I don’t care.”

During each huddle Monday, Kerr handed his clipboard to a player and turned away as the team discussed the game plan. It was Kerr’s way of empowering a group that has struggled to focus in recent weeks. Sensing that his players had tuned him out, Kerr figured it was time to let someone else give orders.

The change in approach helped pave the way for Golden State’s most lopsided win ever over the Suns. However, many weren’t so pleased with Kerr’s tactic.

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No Heat playing restrictions for Dwyane Wade

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting on the Heat, who recently welcomed Dwyane Wade back and currently have no plans on restricting his play in regard to back-to-backs:

After being put into a “maintenance” program with the Miami Heat during his previous tenure with the team, Dwyane Wade said no such contingencies have been discussed for this reunion tour.

That had Wade again in the rotation in Wednesday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers on the second night of a back-to-back set, after playing 21 minutes in Tuesday night’s loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Wade had been held out of games in four of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ back-to-back sets earlier this season before his recent buyout…

The Heat have three remaining back-to-back sets, with coach Erik Spoelstra saying Wednesday a maintenance plan has not been discussed since Wade’s signing.

“Not right now,” Spoelstra said, “no.”

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