Timberwolves sign Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose isn’t done with basketball just yet.

The Minnesota Timberwolves signed Rose, a former league MVP, on Thursday.

Rose, a 6-3 guard, appeared in 16 games (seven starts) with Cleveland this season, averaging 9.8 points, 1.8 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game. He was traded to Utah in a three-team deal on Feb. 8 before being waived by the Jazz on Feb. 10. A three-time All-Star, Rose has averaged 19.2 points on 45.1% shooting and 5.8 assists in 486 games over nine seasons. His best season came in 2010-11, when under Tom Thibodeau he became the youngest player to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award after averaging 25.0 points and 7.7 assists, while leading the Chicago Bulls to the best record in the NBA and the Eastern Conference Finals.

Magic sign Rodney Purvis to 10-day contract

The Orlando Magic signed guard Rodney Purvis to a 10-day contract today.

Purvis (6’4”, 205, 2/14/94) has played and started in 37 games this season for the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s NBA G League affiliate, averaging 20.5 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 3.5 apg. and 1.35 stlpg. in 38.5 minpg. As of March 7, he ranks eighth in the NBA G League in points per game and second in minutes per game. He has led the team in scoring 17 times and in assists 10 times. The first-year player out of Connecticut has reached double figures in 34 games and has scored 30 points four times, including a season-high 40 points on Dec. 21, 2017 at Westchester.

Purvis was recently selected to participate in the USA World Cup Qualifying Team training camp Feb. 15-20 and the G League International Challenge on Feb 18. After training camp, Purvis was then selected to the 12-man team for the USA’s World Cup Qualifying first round, second-window games, including Cuba on Feb. 23 and Puerto Rico on Feb. 26 in Santa Cruz, Calif., where he averaged 13 ppg. in 23.0 minpg., while shooting 50 percent from the field. The FIBA World Cup Qualifying games are being used to qualify 31 of the 32 nations that will compete in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Purvis played in 137 career games (100 starts) during four years at both North Carolina State (2012-13) and the University of Connecticut (2014-17), averaging 11.6 ppg., 3.0 rpg. and 1.8 apg. in 29.1 minpg. Last season, he appeared in 33 games (32 starts), averaging 13.8 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 2.5 apg. and 1.03 stlpg. in 36.9 minpg. As a sophomore (2014-15), Purvis led the Huskies in scoring during the postseason, averaging 17.8 ppg., and was named to the 2015 American Athletic Conference’s All-Tournament Team.

Purvis will wear No. 15 with Orlando.

The Magic roster now stands at 17 players.

Another injury for Jordan Bell

Things are pretty awesome for the Warriors. They’re behind the Rockets in league standings, but only by a little. That aside, things can always be even more awesome. One such way is if injuries would stop striking supporting cast member Jordan Bell. Here’s the latest from the San Jose Mercury News:

Jordan Bell stood on his knees and pounded his fist on the floor. A certain four-letter word that can’t be written here ran through his mind over and over again.

“That’s all I was thinking,” Bell said. “I was just mad.”

Bell had just sustained a sprained right ankle after blocking a shot by Brooklyn Nets’ forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 13.7 seconds left in the third quarter. He landed awkwardly on Hollis-Jefferson’s foot, then collapsed to the ground in pain. He eventually limped off of the court and did not return in the Warriors’ 114-101 win over the Nets on Tuesday.

The X-Rays were negative and the Warriors called the injury a “mild sprain.”

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Win over Heat was key for Wizards

We’ve reached the part of the year where for many NBA teams, each win matters. The postseason isn’t here yet, but it’s still a pivotal moment for squads whose destiny may revolve around whether they qualify for the postseason or reach the lottery and possibly land a higher draft pick. As for teams that surely expect to reach the postseason, every win against an opponent in their conference with a similar record matters greatly. Here’s NBC Sports Washington with the latest on the Wizards:

The Wizards earned themselves a much-needed breather amid a hectic Eastern Conference playoff race on Tuesday night.

By beating the Miami Heat, Washington snapped their season-long three-game losing streak. It has been a tough few days with losses to the Warriors, Raptors and Pacers, but the Wizards are finally back in the win column.

With the win, the Wizards took a 2-1 lead on the Heat in their season series. They will play for a fourth and final time on Saturday. If the Wizards win that game, they will own the playoff tiebreaker for seeding purposes.

The Wizards moved to 37-28 on the season and 11-6 since John Wall went down with a left knee injury.

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Grizzlies sign Xavier Rathan-Mayes to 10-day contract

The Grizzlies signed guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes (X-avier RUH-tan Mays) to a 10-day contract today, as a Call-Up from the NBA G League’s Westchester Knicks.

Rathan-Mayes (6-4, 208) has appeared in 39 games (37 starts) for Westchester and has averaged 16.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2.10 steals in 35.7 minutes with 14 double-doubles and three triple-doubles. The 23-year-old Canadian native went undrafted in the 2017 NBA Draft following his junior year at Florida State University, where he was a 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference All-Defensive Team selection.

Bucks sign Shabazz Muhammad

The Bucks signed Shabazz Muhammad today.

Muhammad appeared in 32 games (two starts) with the Minnesota Timberwolves this season and averaged 3.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game before being waived on March 1. The 25-year-old has spent his entire NBA career with the Timberwolves after being selected by Minnesota with the 14th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft out of UCLA. In 267 games (16 starts) over five seasons with the Timberwolves, Muhammad averaged 9.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 47.0 percent from the field.

Muhammad will wear No. 15 for the Bucks.

Milwaukee’s roster now stands at 17 players.

Hawks sign Antonius Cleveland to second 10-day contract

The Hawks signed guard Antonius Cleveland to a second 10-day contract today.

Earlier this season, Cleveland was on a two-way contract with Dallas, appearing in 13 games with the Mavericks. In seven NBA G League games this season (six with the Santa Cruz Warriors and one with the Texas Legends), he’s averaged 13.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals in 26.6 minutes (.547 FG%, .500 3FG%, .826 FT%).

Clippers sign Sean Kilpatrick to 10-day contract

The L.A. Clippers today signed guard Sean Kilpatrick to a 10-day contract.

Kilpatrick, 28, has appeared in 39 games this season for the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 4.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 9.9 minutes. The 6’4”, 210-pound guard has appeared in 144 career games (24 starts) across four NBA seasons with Minnesota, Denver, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee, holding averages of 10.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 19.7 minutes. A four-year player out of Cincinnati, Kilpatrick was named to the AP All-American First Team in his senior season.

Pistons need serious rally to make playoffs

The Pistons got off to a nice start to the season, began to fade, traded for Blake Griffin, but have kept fading, and are now four games behind the Heat for the 8th spot in the Eastern conference. Detroit needs a serious rally starting fairly immediately if qualifying for the playoffs is something they aim to achieve this year. Here’s the Detroit News reporting after tonight’s results:

The result could be the death knell for the Pistons season: a 105-96 loss to the Heat on Saturday night at American Airlines Arena.

The loss is the second straight and eighth in the last 10 for the Pistons (29-34), who fell four games behind the Heat for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 19 games remaining.

Blake Griffin had his best game since the trade to the Pistons, with 31 points, four rebounds and six assists and Andre Drummond added 22 points and 18 rebounds. Reggie Bullock was the only other Piston in double figures with 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Pistons needed more.

More defense. More scoring. More fight.

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