NBA Player News

Vucevic (illness) is out for Friday's game against the Hornets, Will Gottlieb of AllCHGO.com reports.

Vucevic will miss a game for the first time this season, and his absence means Chicago will probably rely on Jalen Smith to play the bulk of minutes at center. Vucevic has been one of the Bulls' best players in recent weeks, averaging 21.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game across his last 10 contests. If the illness isn't a long-term thing, then he should be in contention to suit up for Monday's game at Toronto.

The Pacers acquired Bryant from the Heat on Friday in exchange for a future second-round pick swap, Shams Charania of ESPN reports.

Bryant had been an irregular part of Miami's rotation this season with Kevin Love and Kel'el Ware on hand to fill backup center minutes behind Bam Adebayo, but Bryant will help address a need in Indiana. The Pacers have already lost their top two backup options at center -- Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) and James Wiseman (Achilles) -- to season-ending injuries, so Bryant could have a clear path to serving as Myles Turner's primary understudy. His primary competition will come from Obi Toppin and Enrique Freeman, both of whom are undersized for the center spot and better suited for power forward.

Williams is listed as questionable for Friday's game against the Spurs due to reconditioning.

Williams was previously listed on the injury report with a concussion, though he has presumably cleared league protocols and remains a game-time decision as he works his way back to playing form. The big man has missed six consecutive outings, and he'll likely operate under a minutes restriction if he's able to return to game action Friday.

Reath (back) is listed as questionable for Friday's game versus the Spurs.

Reath has been upgraded from doubtful to questionable Friday due to a lower back strain. Even if Reath is upgraded to available, he is only averaging 6.4 minutes across 13 appearances this season.

Queta recorded four points (2-3 FG), two rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal across 18 minutes during Thursday's 123-99 victory over Detroit.

The big man saw significant playing time off the bench while serving as the primary backup to Kristaps Porzingis on Thursday. Queta has appeared in three consecutive outings following a DNP-CD on Dec. 4, during which he has averaged 3.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks across 15.7 minutes per contest.

Coach Jason Kidd said Kleber (illness) didn't participate in Friday's practice, Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Kleber is in jeopardy of missing his third consecutive outing due to an illness, but Dallas' official injury report won't drop until Saturday afternoon. The veteran big man can be considered questionable at best for Sunday's game against the Wizards until the team provides an update on his status. Over his last five appearances, Kleber has averaged 0.6 points and 3.0 rebounds across 21.4 minutes per game.

Reed closed with four points (2-6 FG, 0-2 3Pt), three assists, two steals and one block in 15 minutes during Thursday's 123-99 loss to the Celtics.

With Jalen Duren (wrist) sidelined, the 25-year-old worked his way into the rotation behind Isaiah Stewart. Reed tied his season-high mark in minutes Thursday, though he shouldn't see much playing time when Duren returns. Reed has averaged 4.8 points and 1.9 rebounds across 10.3 minutes per game in 12 regular-season appearances.

The Jazz recalled Filipowski from the G League's Salt Lake City Stars on Friday.

Filipowski joined the G League club for Tuesday's 115-113 loss to the San Diego Clippers, finishing with eight points (2-8 FG, 0-4 3Pt, 2-2 FT), four rebounds, one assist and one steal across 18 minutes. The rookie second-round pick will rejoin the Jazz ahead of Friday's game against the Suns but may be in store for a small backup role in the frontcourt.

Sabonis notched 32 points (11-15 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 9-9 FT), 20 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 34 minutes during Thursday's 111-109 victory over the Pelicans.

De'Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan had excellent performances Thursday, but there's no question Sabonis carried the Kings to what ended up being a closer-than-expected win. The star big man recorded his fifth double-double in six outings in December. He's averaging 23.7 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game since the beginning of the month. This was also the first 30-point, 20-rebound performance from any player in the current NBA season.

Adebayo ended Thursday's 114-104 victory over the Raptors with 21 points (8-17 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 4-6 FT), 16 rebounds, five assists and one block in 35 minutes.

Tyler Herro led the Heat in scoring Thursday, but there's no question Adebayo stood out due to his impressive two-way play in this comfortable victory. The star big man has recorded four double-doubles in a row while dishing out at least five assists in each of those contests. Furthermore, Adebayo has seven double-doubles and one triple-double across his past 10 games, averaging 16.1 points, 11.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game in that span.