Lakers hire David Fizdale and John Lucas III as assistant coaches, and add to training staff

The Los Angeles Lakers yesterday hired David Fizdale and John Lucas III as assistant coaches on Head Coach Frank Vogel’s staff, joining assistant coaches Phil Handy, Mike Penberthy, Miles Simon and Quinton Crawford.

The Lakers also hired Roger Sancho as Head Athletic Trainer and named Ed Streit as Head Strength & Conditioning Coach.

Fizdale returns to the bench after serving as head coach of the New York Knicks from 2018-20 and the Memphis Grizzlies from 2016-18. Prior to joining the Grizzlies for his first NBA head coaching assignment, Fizdale spent the previous eight seasons (2008-09 thru 2015-16) with the Miami Heat as an assistant coach. During his tenure in Miami, the Heat won back-to-back NBA Championships in 2012 and 2013, and more Playoff games (70) and series (15) than any other NBA team. The Los Angeles native was an assistant coach for one season in Golden State (2003-04) and for four seasons in Atlanta (2004-08).

Lucas III joins the Lakers after most recently serving as a player development coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2017-19. Prior to joining Minnesota, Lucas III enjoyed an eight-year NBA career for the Timberwolves, Pistons, Jazz, Raptors, Bulls and Rockets. He owns career averages of 4.7 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.5 assists in 12.1 minutes. Lucas III played collegiately at Baylor and Oklahoma State, averaging 14.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals and was named to the All-Big 12 First Team in 2004 and 2005.

Sancho most recently spent seven seasons with the Golden State Warriors, including the past five seasons as an assistant athletic trainer. Sancho began his time with the Warriors during the 2014-15 season as the head athletic trainer for the Santa Cruz Warriors. The Sulphur Springs, Texas native earned his bachelor’s degree in athletic training from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2012 and his master’s degree from Baylor in 2014.

Streit was named to his new role after serving as an assistant strength & conditioning coach for the team since the 2019-20 season. Prior to joining Los Angeles, Streit spent the 2018-19 season as the head strength and conditioning coach for Dayton’s men basketball and served in the same role during the 2017-18 season at the University of Connecticut. Streit also spent three-and-a-half years with the Chicago Bulls on their strength and conditioning staff.

Mavericks sign Frank Ntilikina

The Dallas Mavericks have signed free agent guard Frank Ntilikina.

Ntilikina (6-5, 200) was originally the eighth overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. After four seasons with the Knicks, he holds career averages of 5.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 19.5 minutes in 211 games (55 starts).

Per the Dallas Morning News, “on the first day of free agency, the Mavs struck quick, re-signing Tim Hardaway Jr. and Boban Marjanovic while also agreeing to deals with Sterling Brown and Reggie Bullock, another former Knicks guard.”

Born in Ixelles, Belgium, Ntilikina moved to France at the age of 3 years old. Prior to being drafted by New York, he began his professional career in 2015 with SIG Strasbourg of the French Pro A League. Ntilikina was named the league’s Best Young Player in both seasons he competed for Strasbourg.

Ntilikina (nee-lee-KEE-nah) recently competed with the French national team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo where he brought home a silver medal.

The addition now brings the Mavericks training camp roster to 20 players.

Timberwolves re-sign Jarred Vanderbilt Jordan and McLaughlin

The Minnesota Timberwolves yesterday re-signed forward Jarred Vanderbilt guard Jordan McLaughlin.

Vanderbilt, 22, set career-highs across the board last season including seeing action in 64 games (30 starts) for the Timberwolves, averaging 5.4 points on 60.6% shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 17.8 minutes per game.

The Kentucky product saw one of his best games of the 2020-21 season in Minnesota’s 119-111 victory over the Miami Heat on Apr. 16, when in 21:35 of action off the bench, Vanderbilt scored nine points and grabbed a career-high and game-high 14 rebounds, including nine rebounds in the fourth quarter. His 14 rebounds equaled the most by a Timberwolves reserve since Anthony Tolliver grabbed 15 rebounds vs. Boston on Mar. 27, 2011, at Target Center.

The 6-9 forward holds career averages of 4.1 points on 59.7% shooting and 4.3 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game with Denver and Minnesota.

Vanderbilt was originally drafted by the Orlando Magic with the 41st overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft.

McLaughlin, 25, wrapped up his second season with the Timberwolves, appearing in 51 games (two starts), averaging 5.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.0 steals in 18.4 minutes per game last season.

On Feb. 12 at Charlotte, he registered a career-high-tying four steals (Mar. 1, 2020, vs Dallas) in 22:15 minutes of play off the bench, becoming the 17th player in club history to have multiple games with 4+ steals off the bench. McLaughlin dished out a team-high seven assists off the bench on Jan. 20 vs Orlando while scoring six points, becoming the 14th Timberwolves players to have five or more games off the bench with at least seven assists.

The Pasadena, Calif. native played four seasons at the University of Southern California averaging 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 58 assists and 1.7 steals in 128 games.

Cavaliers re-sign Brodric Thomas to a two-way contract

The Cleveland Cavaliers have re-signed guard Brodric Thomas to a Two-Way contract, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced yesterday.

Thomas (6-5, 185), who signed his first Two-Way contract with the Cavaliers on February 24, 2021, played in 32 regular season games (one start) for Cleveland and Houston last season. He recently appeared in five games for the Cavaliers in the 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and averaged 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 25.7 minutes.

The undrafted guard from Truman State also played in the NBA G League in 2020-21, where he was named to the All-NBA G League Second Team and to the NBA G League All-Rookie Team. In six games with the Cleveland Charge (then Canton Charge), the Cavaliers’ exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team, Thomas averaged 21.3 points on .462 shooting from the field, including .462 (24-52) from three-point range, 6.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.17 steals and 1.17 blocks in 33.8 minutes. Prior to his stint with the Charge, Thomas appeared in eight games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and averaged 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.62 steals and 1.12 blocks in 33.3 minutes.

OKC Thunder sign Paul Watson Jr. to a two-way contract

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed forward Paul Watson Jr. to a Two-Way Contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Watson Jr. (6-6, 210) has appeared in 37 games (two starts) and averaged 3.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 10.4 minutes as a member of the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors.

During the 2019-20 season, Watson Jr. appeared in 30 G League games (all starts) for the Raptors 905 and averaged 19.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 35.3 minutes per game.

Grizzlies waive Marc Gasol

The Memphis Grizzlies have waived center Marc Gasol.

Nothing is official, but this could be the end of Gasol’s NBA career. Per the Memphis Commercial Appeal on September 10, “Gasol has not publicly announced any decisions on his future. If Memphis does becomes his final NBA stop, it brings his career full circle after the Lakers traded his draft rights in 2008 in a deal involving older brother Pau.”

Gasol was acquired by the Grizzlies from the Los Angeles Lakers with a 2024 second round draft pick for the draft rights to center Wang Zhelin (57th overall in 2016) on Sept. 10.

Gasol (7-1, 255) holds regular season career averages of 14.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 32.2 minutes in 891 games (866 starts) over 13 seasons with the Grizzlies, Raptors and Lakers. During his 11 seasons in Memphis (2008-19), Gasol was a three-time NBA All-Star (2012, 2015, 2017), a two-time All-NBA selection (First Team in 2014-15, Second Team in 2012-13), and the 2012-13 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The Barcelona, Spain, native led the Grizzlies to seven consecutive playoff appearances (2011-17), including a trip to the 2013 Western Conference Finals.

Celtics trade Kris Dunn and Carsen Edwards to Grizzlies for Juancho Hernangomez

The Boston Celtics have acquired forward Juancho Hernangómez in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies for guards Kris Dunn and Carsen Edwards, and the right to swap second round draft picks in 2026, the team announced today.

Hernangómez, 25, holds career averages of 5.7 points on 43.0% shooting (35.1% 3-PT, 69.3% FT), 3.5 rebounds, and 16.4 minutes in 257 games (57 starts) with Denver and Minnesota. The five-year pro was originally selected by the Nuggets with the 15th overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft.

In 52 games with the Timberwolves in 2020-21, Hernangómez produced a career-high 7.2 points on 43.5% shooting (32.7% 3-PT) to go along with 3.9 rebounds, and 17.3 minutes. He reached the 20-point mark twice, including a season-high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting (5-8 3-PT) at Denver on Jan. 5, and scored at least 15 points on seven occasions.

Edwards played in 68 games over two seasons with the Celtics after being selected in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2019 NBA Draft, averaging 3.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 9.2 minutes. Dunn was acquired by Boston as part of a three-team deal earlier this offseason on Aug. 7.

As part of the transaction, Memphis will own the right to swap a 2026 second round draft pick (the better of Miami’s or Dallas’s) with Boston’s 2026 second round draft pick.

Miami Heat sign Caleb Martin to a two-way contract

The Miami Heat have signed Caleb Martin to a two-way contract.

Per the Miami Herald, “Martin joins undrafted Kansas rookie guard Marcus Garrett as the two Heat players with two-way contracts. Teams can carry up to two players on two-way deals, and those players can be on their NBA team’s active list for as many as 50 regular-season games. Garrett is a former Naismith Defensive Player of the Year with a developing offensive game.”

And per the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “because of where the Heat stand against the NBA luxury tax, they are expected to go with only 14 players under standard contract when their regular season opens Oct. 21 at FTX Arena against the Milwaukee Bucks: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Dewayne Dedmon, Markieff Morris, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Victor Oladipo, KZ Okpala, Udonis Haslem and Omer Yurtseven.”

Martin appeared in 53 games (three starts) with the Charlotte Hornets last season and averaged 5.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 15.4 minutes. He scored in double-figures six times, including a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double vs. the Lakers on April 13. He split the previous season between the Hornets and their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, starting in all 28 games he appeared in for the Swarm and averaged 21.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.61 steals and 36.9 minutes while shooting 47 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range. He led the team in three-point field goals made and finished second in points, scoring average and field goals made.

Martin helped lead Nevada to a 29-4 record and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2019 as a senior after appearing in 34 games (33 starts) averaging 19.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.44 steals and 34.1 minutes while leading the team in points, scoring average, steals, field goals made, three-point field goals made and free throws made.

Cedric Ceballos remains in hospital dealing with serious COVID-19 issues

A popular former NBA player has been in an intense battle with COVID-19. Via ESPN.com:

Former NBA All-Star and Slam Dunk Contest champion Cedric Ceballos tweeted Monday that he’d been moved out of isolation and was “COVID-19 free” but was still in the intensive care unit and dealing with several things relating to the virus.

Thanking those wishing him well in recent days, Ceballos said that while he is out of isolation, he still is unable to “breathe, walk or function” on his own yet.