The Pistons are going nowhere fast this season, and Andre Drummond can opt out of his contract this summer. It will cost Detroit a ton of money to keep him. Naturally, this leads to trade speculation.
Drummond, who has spent his entire eight-year career with the organization, did not hesitate when asked why he would like to stay in Detroit.
“I’m not a quitter, for one,” Drummond said after scoring 14 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in Saturday’s 111-104 win over the Golden State Warriors. “I was never brought up to be a quitter. If I start somewhere, I try to finish there, try to complete the mission, which is to win a championship here. It will never be me that wants to go anywhere … I love being here. I would love to play here the rest of my career.”
The Pistons are 13-23 this season. Drummond is putting up big stats, but Blake Griffin is having a very disappointing season, guards Derrick Rose and Luke Kennard are getting buckets, but there isn’t much else to write home about. The team has tough decisions to make. A rebuild is clearly necessary, and whether it should include Drummond on a massive new contract or not is up for debate.
Saturday night, the Brooklyn Nets signed guard Chris Chiozza to a two-way contract.
Chiozza (5’11”, 176) joins Brooklyn from the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League. In 10 games (nine starts) this season for the Go-Go, he averaged 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.6 steals in 31.1 minutes per contest. Chiozza signed a two-way contract with the Washington Wizards earlier this season on Oct. 21, and appeared in 10 games for the Wizards, averaging 2.7 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals in 12.3 minutes per game. During the 2018-19 season, Chiozza was signed to a 10-day contract with the Houston Rockets on Feb. 22 and was later signed for the remainder of the season by the Rockets on March 23. He appeared in seven games for Houston, averaging 0.9 points in 4.6 minutes per game. Over two NBA G League seasons with Rio Grande Valley (2018-19) and Capital City (2018-20), the 24-year-old has appeared in 57 games (55 starts) and holds career averages of 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.1 steals in 33.1 minutes per game.
The Tennessee native played four collegiate seasons (2014-18) at the University of Florida. In 139 career games (65 starts), he averaged 7.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.4 steals in 25.1 minutes per contest. Following his senior season, the Gators’ all-time assists leader (571) was named to the All-SEC First Team after appearing in 34 games (32 starts) and averaging 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals in 32.0 minutes per game.
Late Saturday night, the Washington Wizards waived forward Johnathan Williams, who had reached the 10-day limit on the team’s injury hardship exception.
Williams appeared in six games for the Wizards (four starts), averaging 5.5 points and 6.3 rebounds.
There are now 16 players on the Wizards roster, plus two-way players Garrison Mathews and Anzejs Pasecniks.
The Wizards are 11-24 this season. They’re being led in scoring by shooting guard Bradley Beal at 27.8 points per game, and have seven other players averaging double-digit points. And have one of the league’s most efficient offenses, despite playing without point guard John Wall this season. But their defense is one of the league’s worst.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. will miss around 1-2 weeks of action due to continued left knee soreness that he’s experienced since missing December 23 Cavs game against the Hawks.
Nance underwent imaging and evaluation at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health by the Cavaliers medical staff today. He will now undergo a period of treatment and rehabilitation and his return to play will be updated as appropriate.
An active member of the team’s rotation this season, Nance has come off the bench for 26 of his 31 games played, and in 24.3 minutes per outing is averaging 8.0 points and 7.0 rebounds.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have converted the Two-Way contract of forward Tyler Cook into a standard NBA contract.
Cook, listed at 6-foot-9, 255 pounds, was claimed off waivers by the Cavaliers as a Two-Way player on Oct. 19. He has played in six games for Cleveland this season. He has also played in 15 games (four starts) with the Cavaliers’ G League team, the Canton Charge, for whom he averaged 12.6 points on .602 shooting from the field and 6.1 rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game.
Cook played college basketball at the University of Iowa, putting up modest stats. He went undrafted in 2019. But has worked hard and gotten himself a real deal, and must now continue to step up in the hope of solidifying his place in the NBA.
The Cavs have a 10-24 record, but have won first of their last ten games. They’re being led in scoring this season by Collin Sexton (18.1 PPG), Kevin Love (16.6 PPG) and Tristan Thompson (12.6 PPG).
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has brought back one of its most important players of recent years, forward James Nunnally, until the end of the season, the club announced Friday. Nunnally (2.01 meters, 29 years old) arrives from China, where he played with the Shanghai Sharks. In China, Nunnally averaged 22.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Nunnally has played for teams in Greece, Spain, Turkey, Italy and China.
Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, who suffered a hyperextended left knee early first quarter during Orlando’s 122-101 road win January 1 against the Wizards, on Jan. 1, underwent an MRI yesterday which revealed a posterior lateral corner injury and a medial bone contusion.
Isaac will be re-evaluated in 8-10 weeks.
The team says that operative and non-operative treatments will be considered and his return to the court will depend on how he responds to treatment and rehabilitation.
“While this certainly is disappointing news, there was no damage to his ACL, MCL and PCL ligaments,” said Orlando Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman. “All signs point to a complete recovery and this should not impact his future growth.”
According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Isaac injured his knee when he tried to convert a steal into a layup. Isaac’s knee buckled as he tried to slip past Wizards guard Bradley Beal and get to the basket. As Isaac tried to step across Beal and get into the lane, video showed the back of Isaac’s left leg catching Beal’s right leg.”
The 6-foot-10, 230-pound Isaac has played in 32 games this season for the Magic, starting all 32, and has been a bright-spot for the team, especially due to his defensive ability. His season average is 12.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, a team-high 2.44 blocks. and a team-high 1.56 steals. in 29.7 minutes per game.
Through yesterday’s games, Isaac has a higher total of blocks plus steals than any player in the league.
The Brooklyn Nets have waived guard/forward David Nwaba, who recently suffered a season-ending injury.
According to the New York Daily News, “Nwaba was ruled out for the season after tearing his Achilles in a Dec. 19 matchup against the San Antonio Spurs.”
Nwaba appeared in 20 games for Brooklyn this season, recording averages of 5.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 13.4 minutes per contest. He signed with the Nets on July 17, 2019.
More from the Daily News: “The Nets had a full roster and could only add a full-time replacement by waiving the injured Nwaba.”
The Wizards injury train continues to plow through the station (I don’t actually know what that means, but it does leave you, the reader, with a correct impression, that the Wizards have a lot of injuries, so for the fun of it let’s go with that), as talented rookie forward Rui Hachimura isn’t close to returning to action just yet. Here’s NBC Sports Washington reporting:
When Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura first went down with a groin injury and underwent a minor procedure, the team said he would miss at least five games before getting re-evaluated. He has since missed seven and now several more weeks can be tacked on to his return timeline.
Head coach Scott Brooks revealed that after the team’s practice on Tuesday, suggesting Hachimura would again be re-evaluated sometime in early- to mid-January. Hachimura, 21, has not only been held out games, he hasn’t been with the team.
Injuries have plagued the Wizards this season and it appears the start of the new year will not usher in good health.
Before the season started, the Wizards set into motion a cautious approach with injured players and applied for a disabled player exception for John Wall, who suffered an Achilles’ injury in February 2019. Only teams with a player who is expected to miss the season, as determined by a league-appointed doctor, can qualify for the exception. The NBA did not grant the exception. Still, almost 11 months after his surgery, Wall remains out and could sit the entire season.
Along with Bradley Beal scoring big and forward Davis Bertans showing big-time shooting ability, Hachimura turning out to be a talented rookie has been a bright spot for the Wizards this season. Hopefully he does return to action fairly soon.
After being outscored by 10 points in the first quarter, an incredibly short-handed Washington Wizards stepped up at home, outscored the Miami Heat 42-29 in the second quarter, and controlled the 4th quarter for a 123-105 win.
Inactive for the Wizards today were John Wall, Bradley Beal, Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant, Moritz Wagner, CJ Miles and Davis Bertans. Their starting lineup was Isaiah Thomas and Gary Payton II at guard, Troy Brown Jr. and Johnathan Williams at forward, and Ian Mahinmi at center.
Although seven players were inactive Monday night as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference came to play, the Wizards rolled past the Miami Heat, 123-105. And the final score doesn’t begin to tell the story of a bizarre yet delightful night.
The Wizards’ trio of Ian Mahinmi, Jordan McRae and rookie Garrison Mathews — the least likely Big Three — played like stars. Mahinmi made his first seven shots and scored a career-high 25 points. Mathews poured in 28 points — including a remarkable 20 in the second quarter alone — on 6-for-9 shooting overall and 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, by far the best night of his young professional career. And McRae finished with a season-high 29 points and eight assists, the most he has ever had.
Although Miami (24-9) had a healthy team led by Jimmy Butler, who finished with 27 points, and a large contingent of fans who periodically started “Let’s Go Heat!” chants, the Wizards (10-22) closed the decade with one of their most shocking wins of the season.
Mahinmi shot 10 for 11. And McRae shot 9 for 14, including 6 of 8 three-pointers, for his 29 points in 35 minutes off the bench.
After the game, Mahinmi had this to say: “It’s huge, it’s huge. This is part of building character. When you’re down and you have a lot of injuries and stuff going on and not going your way… To have the toughness of a young player to come out and step up, make big plays, be aggressive, make the right read, play good defense and give everything you have is huge. All of our young guys are taking tremendous advantage of their opportunity, so it’s good. There’s a lot of stuff not going our way, but I’m very proud of what everyone is doing: Isaac Bonga, Scho [Admiral Schofield], Gary [Gary Payton II], obviously Garrison [Mathews] tonight, Johnathan [Williams] and Troy [Brown Jr.]. It’s great.”
It was a magical day for D.C. If you’re a Wizards fan and don’t have New Year’s Eve plans, staying home and watching a replay of this game isn’t the worst way to bring in the new year.