Tag: Wesley Matthews

Final free agent list: 5 targets who make sense for Philadelphia 76ers

Here is a final list of 5 targets who make sense for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency in 2022.

Free agency is set to begin on Thursday night and the Philadelphia 76ers still need to make some moves in order to clear enough space to sign who they want–i.e., P.J. Tucker–but now is the time to take one more list of players who fit what the Sixers want to do ad build around Joel Embiid and James Harden.

The Sixers need players who are not afraid to pull the trigger on an open 3-ball, can provide quality depth on the wings, and they also have to come on the cheap. Philadelphia will be working with a tight budget as they only have certain exceptions they can offer to free agents and the biggest one–the nontaxpayer mid-level exception–will likely be offered to Tucker.

Therefore, Sixers Wire has put together a list of five players who look like they can fit with the Sixers want to do in the 2022-23 season and help contend for a title.

Betting on Jrue Holiday, Draymond Green and others ahead of Friday’s Game 6s

The best player props ahead of Friday’s NBA Playoff games.

Both the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors find themselves in a position to close their series out with Game 6 wins at home on Friday. How they got to this position couldn’t have been more different.

Milwaukee, fresh off of a Game 4 giveaway in which the Celtics’ Al Horford dropped a 30 piece, stared a 3-2 hole in the eyes as they trailed in Game 5 by 14 during the fourth quarter. Then, Giannis dripped blood and took over (with help from others) to steal it right back from Boston.

The Warriors went into FedExForum with a chance to close the series in five, but proceeded to get absolutely embarrassed by the Ja Morant-less Grizzlies.

How will each team follow its Game 5 performance? We take a look at different player props that could shape Game 6.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook.

Nets vs. Bucks: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info

Here’s all you need to know ahead of Thursday’s Nets vs. Bucks game.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Detroit Pistons visit the Barclays Center to take on Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Nets are coming off a 130-123 win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.

The Nets trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half of their win over the Pistons. Kevin Durant scored 22 of his 41 points in the second half to lead Brooklyn to a victory.

As for the Bucks, they are coming off a 118-116 win over the Philadelphia 76ers that featured Giannis Antetokounmpo recording a game-saving block. He finished with 40 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists.

Here’s all you need to know ahead of Thursday’s Nets vs. Bucks game.

Explaining the NBA’s hardship exception and the free agents who signed as replacement players

Explaining what hardship exceptions and replacement players mean as COVID-19 protocols hit the NBA.

As the omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread, the NBA has required a large share of “replacement players” to fill in for the players who are in health and safety protocols. And so far, more than 100 players have reportedly entered the league’s health and safety protocols so far this month, per ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.

But how exactly do the “replacement players” work?

Essentially, the NBA’s hardship exception allows teams to exceed the 15-man roster limit if more than three players on the roster are each going to miss extended time due to illness or injury. Typically, teams weren’t allowed to apply for the hardship exception before Jan. 5.

But starting last season, the league changed the policy to allow earlier exceptions. And as of earlier this week, effective Dec. 19 until Jan. 19, the NBA is allowing teams to sign one replacement player for each player on their roster who tests positive for COVID-19.

While there are some big names (e.g. Isaiah Thomas, Lance Stephenson, CJ Miles) who have signed as replacement players, there are lots of promising young NBA hopefuls who are hoping to use this opportunity as a chance to stick around the league.

Not all of the players below were signed through hardship exceptions and some transactions (e.g. DeMarcus Cousins and Wesley Matthews to the Milwaukee Bucks) may have happened anyway during a normal season.

But below, based on the NBA’s transaction log and reporting from the league’s top insiders, you can find a live tracker of all the players who have signed new deals with NBA teams over the course of the past month.

5 available wings, forwards the Lakers could sign in free agency

The Los Angeles Lakers could use another veteran wing or forward. Here are five available names that make sense.

The Los Angeles Lakers seem to have their third point guard slot figured out with Rajon Rondo likely returning.

Rondo, who was traded by the L.A. Clippers to the Memphis Grizzlies in August, had his contract bought out by the franchise on Saturday, paving the way for his return to the Lakers.

Los Angeles had been in the market for weeks looking another point guard behind Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Nunn. That hole should be filled soon.

Though the Lakers have players Mac McClung and Chaundee Brown on training camp deals, it’s unclear if either will make the final roster since L.A. wants to keep the last spot open.

It’s possible, according to a report, the Lakers could add another veteran wing or forward to the team to round out the roster. Let’s look at five possible options:

LeBron James says Wesley Matthews deserves game ball for Game 3

LeBron James praised Wesley Matthews for his performance in the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 3 win.

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to struggle on 3-pointers, but during the Game 3 win over the Phoenix Suns, it was an unlikely hero who delivered clutch shots to build the lead.

After Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went down with a left quad contusion in the third quarter, head coach Frank Vogel brought Wesley Matthews off the bench to be the shooting guard.

Game 3 marked the most minutes Matthews played in the series, as his 18:28 minutes of game time surpassed the 12 minutes he played in Game 1 and the four minutes he appeared in for Game 2.

But the reason Matthews played a series-high in minutes came from his ability to hit perimeter shots.

The 34-year-old shooting guard scored eight points, and six of them derived from 3-pointers. In the fourth quarter, Matthews drilled two shots from deep to widen the gap between the two teams.

He ended the game shooting 2-of-4 from 3-point range, but in the two games prior, he went 0-of-5, making Game 3 his best outing.

LeBron James took notice of Matthews’ production and said he deserves the game ball for helping the Lakers win, via Ryan Ward of LakersNation:

With Caldwell-Pope’s status ahead of Game 4 in the air, Matthews demonstrated he could rise to the occasion in a crucial situation if Caldwell-Pope is unable to play.

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Lakers news: LeBron James gets score request granted by Spectrum

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James asked the team’s TV affiliate for more of the time and score on the game broadcast.

LeBron James is always going to keep you on your toes. That includes being the television affiliate of his basketball team. On Wednesday night, the fine folks at Spectrum SportsNet learned that lesson. During the first half of Wednesday night’s Bucks-Lakers game, James noticed the local Lakers broadcast was missing the time and score on the screen.

The problem clearly persisted long enough for James to say something on his Twitter page, tagging both the Spectrum SportsNet and Lakers accounts. While James was very polite in his wording, the tagging made it clear that somebody needed to get this figured out, network or team.

James was trying to be as polite as possible, however.

Spectrum, of course, was quick to respond and remedy the issue.

Not everyone can be on their best every day. Luckily for Spectrum SportsNet, the Lakers star player was at home rehabbing his injury and watching their broadcast to make sure they were doing things the right way.

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Lakers news: LeBron James injury likely dashes MVP hopes

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James looked to be the frontrunner for MVP before getting injured on Saturday afternoon.

LeBron James is upset enough about the prospect of not being available for his team and teammates. It is likely an extra wrinkle of frustration that in addition to being forced from L.A.’s Saturday afternoon loss to Atlanta, LeBron James may have also seen a potentially historic fifth MVP award slip through his fingertips, too.

If any betting houses were taking odds on MVP, those odds have closed now. While Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid and LeBron James have all seemingly taken turns as frontrunners for the award, perhaps the biggest feather in LeBron’s cap was his consistency and availability. Prior to Saturday’s injury, James had only missed one game of the Lakers season. Now he stands to miss several games with a high ankle sprain, the severity of which is still to be determined through an MRI.

High ankle sprains are notoriously difficult to return from, even if we are talking about LeBron James. James has done nothing but defy his age (HE’S 36!) this season but if he is out for even a couple of weeks, he could lose serious ground in the restructured MVP race to active contenders like Portland’s Damian Lillard, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Brooklyn’s James Harden.

If James is out for an extended period of time, and the Lakers fall in the standings as many suspect they will without James and Anthony Davis, the MVP will almost surely go to someone else.

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Free agency stock watch: Bruce Brown, LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony and more

As part of our ongoing series at HoopsHype, we are looking at whose free agency stock has gone up – and down – over the last several games.

Now that we’ve just about reached the All-Star break, NBA front offices are going to have some extra time without games to think about how they plan to move forward with their rosters.

Executives around the league always have tough decisions to make about who they plan to re-sign and who they plan to let walk during the offseason. But as the season progresses, it becomes a bit easier to evaluate who would be a good fit for their franchise and who might not be.

As part of our ongoing series at HoopsHype, we are looking at whose free agency stock has gone up – and down – over the last several games.

Lakers-Heat recap: Lakers offensive struggle continues in third loss in four games

The Los Angeles Lakers played a strong game defensively but their offense was stuck in park all game long.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a place they’ve rarely been over the last two seasons as they lost yet another home game and their third loss in the last four games, 96-94, against the Miami Heat. Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers in scoring on Satruday night while LeBron James finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

James struggled from the field, particularly from the 3-point line, going 1 for 8 from the 3-point line. The Heat deserve credit for their defense on LeBron all night, particularly on the final possession of the game when they double-teamed James and forced him to pass the ball to Alex Caruso for a potential game-winning 3-pointer. Caruso missed and the Heat escaped with a win after LeBron nearly stole the game from them.

The Lakers had a four-game losing streak last season before the NBA Bubble. While they would need to lose two more games in a row to match that, the way they’ve played offensively and the pieces they are missing don’t inspire much confidence. No matter what LeBron can do.