Ben Gordon will not be able to help a team in the playoffs this season. (USATSI)
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Buyout season is technically over, even though NBA players can still be waived through the end of the season. But any player who had waivers requested on him by his team after March 1 is ineligible for postseason play, as per the collective bargaining agreement. Any veteran looking to find a new team after the trade deadline is officially out of luck as of Sunday, including Ben Gordon.
A day after the last possible playoff eligibility, the Charlotte Bobcats announced they've requested waivers on guard Ben Gordon, who is in the last year of his contract. From the Bobcats:
Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has requested waivers on guard Ben Gordon. The Bobcats roster now stands at 14 players.
“With the recent acquisition of additional backcourt depth to our roster, we believe this is in the best interests of both parties,” Higgins said. “We want to thank Ben for his contributions over the past two seasons and wish him the best as he moves on in his career.”
This move can be viewed to be a bit cold by the Bobcats. They certainly knew before Sunday whether they would want to keep Gordon on their roster for the rest of the season. And yet they waited until after the eligibility deadline to waive him. This isn't the first time something like this has happened but for someone like Gordon who may be looking to get back to the playoffs, it's certainly frustrating.
Had he stayed on the Bobcats, he would get to be on a postseason roster anyway. The 27-31 Bobcats are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference, 4½ games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Gordon has only played in 19 games this season, averaging 5.2 points in 14.7 minutes of action.
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Doc Rivers says Danny Granger ‘ideally’ would be a starter, but he has to mark him as active first
Danny Granger was set to make his debut for the Clippers on Saturday, after signing with L.A. following a trade from the Pacers and a buyout from the Sixers.
But a mistake by Doc Rivers when submitting his lineup inadvertently left Granger off of the game’s active roster.
From the Associated Press (via Basketball Insiders):
A day after formally joining the Clippers, the former All-Star planned to be in uniform when Los Angeles hosted the New Orleans Pelicans. Granger went through warmups at Staples Center before being informed he wasn’t eligible. …
Rivers said Granger would “ideally” be a starter for the Clippers because of his height and the flexibility to bring Matt Barnes off the bench as an energetic scorer. Rivers also likes Granger’s familiarity with most of Los Angeles’ defensive concepts, which are similar to the Pacers’ ideas.
“The whole key is how quickly we can get him acclimated, how quickly we can figure out what he does well,” Rivers said. “And he’s still coming back from the injury, so even though he’s back, he still needs more time and minutes.”
The lineup switch would place Granger in ahead of Barnes, who has earned that role with his play and has started in 19 of his 42 appearances for the Clippers this season.
It remains to be seen, however, what exactly Granger will be able to contribute to a team that was already humming along just fine without him. Granger averaged only 8.3 points in 22.5 minutes per game for Indiana this season off the bench, but perhaps a return to the starting lineup, where he has essentially been a fixture for his entire NBA career before injury, will help him more quickly return to somewhere near his customary level of production.
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