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Southwest Notes: Davis, Mavs, Rockets, Fox

February 7th, 2025 at 7:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Star big man Anthony Davis is on track to return from his abdominal strain and make his Mavericks debut on Saturday, having been officially listed as probable to play in Dallas vs. the Rockets.

As Tim MacMahon of ESPN details, it’s expected to be a charged environment in Dallas, where a protest is planned from fans angry about the decision to trade away franchise player Luka Doncic. Davis said on Friday that he “can’t control” how fans will react, but that he understands why they’re upset about the trade.

“Obviously it’s a business, and I get who Luka was to this franchise, to the city,” Davis said. “I’m never going to downplay that — just how I know what I meant to the city of L.A. So I’m not surprised by the fans’ reaction and the city’s reaction, but it’s my job to come in and play basketball and do what I’m supposed to do and give the fans hope and reassurance on why [general manager] Nico [Harrison] brought me here.

“…I understand who Luka is and what he’s able to do and what he’s already done for our game. He’s a phenomenal player, going to be one of the best to ever play the game of basketball. But to have Nico trade for me just shows his belief in me and what I can do on the floor. It’s my job to produce every night and have Mavs nation believe that as well. So I’m excited for the challenge.”

While it’s no surprise that some Mavs fans have handled news of the Doncic/Davis trade poorly, “lines have been crossed,” according to MacMahon, who said during a TV appearance (Twitter video link) that Harrison has received threats and faced racial epithets.

Sources tell MacMahon that the team has beefed up security for Saturday’s contest and that Harrison – who has employed his own personal security – won’t be in his usual seat for the game.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said on Thursday that he envisions a starting lineup that features P.J. Washington at small forward and Davis at power forward alongside a center (Twitter link via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News). When Dereck Lively is healthy, he may be the team’s starting five, but until then, Daniel Gafford will likely get that assignment. Washington, who has missed the past three games due to right knee soreness and personal reasons, is off the injury report and should be available on Saturday.
Rockets officials expressed for months leading up to Thursday’s deadline that they planned to stick with their current roster making than making any major in-season deals and they stuck to that plan this week, as Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes. Reports have suggested Houston wants to see how its young core performs in the postseason before making any major roster decisions — head coach Ime Udoka reiterated that point on Thursday. “We like what we have,” Udoka said. “We’ve been doing OK and feel we can do a lot better. (We) want to continue to grow as a group, watch our young guys develop, play in big situations and see what we have.”
Citing team and league sources, Iko reports that the Rockets received calls this week on Jae’Sean Tate, Jock Landale, Aaron Holiday, and Steven Adams, all of whom are on expiring or pseudo-expiring contracts. However, Houston didn’t feel compelled to make any move that would compromise the team’s depth, according to Iko, who says Tate generated the most interest of those four players.
De’Aaron Fox‘s 24-point, 13-assist Spurs debut on Wednesday in a tight win over Atlanta provided a compelling case for the star guard’s fit in San Antonio, writes ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “Selfishly, as a coach, I think that’s probably about as complete of a game you’d hope for the first game,” acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. “You saw the potential. It’s tantalizing. He’s dynamic. He’s going to unlock a whole different element for our team.”

Lakers Notes: Doncic, Adams, Centers, Vincent, Kleber

February 4th, 2025 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers‘ shocking acquisition of Luka Doncic landed the team its next franchise player, but it left the roster with a hole at center in the short term, general manager Rob Pelinka acknowledged on Tuesday. As Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets, Pelinka mentioned versatility, mobility, and verticality as some of the traits the team is looking for as it peruses the trade market for a big man after sending Anthony Davis to Dallas.

“We know we have a need for a big,” Pelinka said, per Sam Amick of The Athletic. “The market for bigs right now, leading into the last two or three days of the trade deadline, is very dry. There’s just not a lot available. So maybe we’ll be able to do some stuff around the margins.

“I would say, in terms of a big move for that position, it’s probably more realistic that that would be something that comes in the offseason. But Luka will be at the center of that, as we build for the long term.”

According to Amick, the Lakers have been in touch with the Rockets about big man Steven Adams, who is on an expiring $12.6MM contract. There’s no momentum toward an agreement, but the fact that Los Angeles is eyeing players like Adams reflects Pelinka’s comments about potentially targeting a stop-gap option for now and making a bigger move in the summer, Amick notes.

Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber, both of whom have $11MM cap hits this season and are under contract for one more year, are being shopped as the Lakers look for a center, per Amick. However, Kleber’s salary can’t be aggregated for matching purposes prior to Thursday’s deadline, which may rule out the possibility of acquiring a player like Clint Capela ($22.3MM), Amick adds.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Doncic, who has been out since Christmas Day due to a calf strain, will go through a 5-on-5 scrimmage on Wednesday and is considered day-to-day, with his return not far off, Pelinka told reporters on Tuesday (Twitter link via Buha). Shams Charania of ESPN said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link) that there’s optimism Doncic could make his Lakers debut on Saturday vs. Indiana.
Markieff Morris, one of the players who was traded from Dallas to L.A. along with Doncic, said the recent criticism about Doncic’s conditioning is “disrespectful,” according to Buha (Twitter link). Doncic, meanwhile, said those reports out of Dallas will serve as significant motivation for him going forward, tweets ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
The Lakers are incorporating Doncic’s sports performance team into their training staff, Pelinka said today (Twitter link via McMenamin). There has been reporting this week indicating that Doncic’s personal performance team was a source in frustration in Dallas due to poor communication between them and the Mavs.
The other new Laker, Kleber, said he’ll be reevaluated in eight weeks after recently undergoing surgery on his broken right foot (Twitter link via Buha). That assessment will determine whether or not he’s able to return to the court this season.

Southwest Notes: Sheppard, Adams, Williamson, Murray, Grimes

January 6th, 2025 at 5:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Reed Sheppard was touted as a strong Rookie of the Year candidate after the Rockets selected him with the No. 3 overall pick in last June’s draft. However, Sheppard has found it difficult to get into an offensive groove, averaging just 3.3 points and 1.2 assists in 11.6 minutes off the bench during his first 30 games. Now, Houston has assigned Sheppard to its NBA G League club, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the G League team tweets.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

After missing all of last season due to right knee surgery, Rockets center Steven Adams says his knee is “back to normal,” Ben Dubose of Rockets Wire relays. Adams has been playing limited minutes but racked up eight points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes against the Lakers on Sunday. “It’s back to normal,” he said. “It’s been progressing more and more. We’ve been keeping an eye on it, and my comfort with the team has just been progressing, as we planned.”
Zion Williamson is getting close to returning to action. Williamson participated in the Pelicans’ 5-on-5 practice on Monday and coach Willie Green stated “there’s a chance” he could suit up sometime this week, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. Williamson, who hasn’t played since Nov. 6 due to a left hamstring strain, is listed as questionable to play against Minnesota on Tuesday, according to the team’s injury report.
The Pelicans have posted back-to-back victories for the first time since the first two games of the season. They snapped a 15-game road losing streak on Sunday, beating the Wizards in Washington after beating them at home on Friday. Dejounte Murray notched his first triple-double since New Orleans acquired him in the offseason. “He’s keeping the game simple and making solid decisions and he’ll continue to build from there,” Green told Rod Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
In the short run, Mavericks guard Quentin Grimes has been thrust into the role of primary play-maker with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving sidelined by injuries. It’s an opportunity to prove Dallas can rely on him to provide offense as the team’s third play-maker, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News writes. “Big opportunity for me, for sure, knowing we’re not gonna have Luka for a while, and then Kyrie was out,” said Grimes, who delivered a season-high 26 points and six assists against Cleveland on Friday.

Western Notes: Adams, Whitmore, Lakers, Thunder

November 8th, 2024 at 9:20pm CST by Luke Adams

After missing all of last season due to knee surgery, Steven Adams has been active for just four of the Rockets‘ first nine games this season, including his return to Oklahoma City on Friday. The veteran center is fully on board with not playing every game, recognizing that his recovery from last year’s surgery is an ongoing process that needs to be handled carefully, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

“As you progress, you feel a slightly bit better,” Adams said. “It’s natural for you to think that you could just go and do whatever you want. But that’s not the case because we have this new confidence because then it would create a pretty serious setback. So, just being able to be real about it and just obviously lean on the advice and the overall process that we put in place and really just relying on that.”

Entering Friday’s game, Adams had averaged just 12.3 minutes per game across three appearances, well shy of his career average of 26.8 MPG. The big man likely won’t approach that mark this season, but he could see his role expand to some extent if he makes it through the first few weeks of the season with no health-related setbacks. So far, so good on that front.

“I feel good,” Adams said ahead of Friday’s matchup with the Thunder, per Feigen. “It’s fun to be out there, good to get some reps with the boys.”

We have more from around the Western Conference:

In a separate story for The Houston Chronicle, Feigen writes that the Rockets view Cam Whitmore‘s assignment to the G League not as a demotion but as an indication that they’re serious about his development. “When we send a player to (the Rio Grande Valley Vipers), it’s precisely because we value them and the playing time they’ll get down there,” general manager Rafael Stone said, noting that the Vipers run the same system the Rockets do. “We very much look at it as an opportunity.” Whitmore played NBA rotation minutes for much of his rookie season, but the return of Tari Eason and the addition of Reed Sheppard has made playing time harder to come by for the second-year guard this fall.
The Lakers made a change to their lineup on Friday, with Cam Reddish taking D’Angelo Russell‘s spot in the starting five. According to Spectrum SportsNet sideline reporter Mike Trudell (Twitter link), head coach JJ Redick said he liked the idea of having Reddish’s defense in the starting lineup and Russell’s offense off the bench, but he made it clear it may not be a permanent change and isn’t an indictment of D-Lo.
Jalen Williams is the Thunder player who stands to benefit the most from Isaiah Hartenstein‘s eventual debut, contends Rylan Stiles of SI.com. Stiles suggests that having an effective screen-setter and pick-and-roll partner like Hartenstein to play alongside should help elevate Williams’ game when he’s running the offense during Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s minutes on the bench. Hartenstein continues to recover after fracturing his left hand during the preseason.

Rockets Notes: Adams, Sengun, Green, VanVleet

October 30th, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

Twenty-one months after suffering a PCL sprain in his right knee that required surgery, Steven Adams was back on the court Monday night making his debut with the Rockets, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

Adams, who sat out all of last season due to concerns about the stability of the knee, was traded in February from Memphis to Houston. He missed the first three games of this season because of a calf strain, along with the medical staff’s emphasis on protecting the knee, so he was relieved to be playing again.

“It was just good to be back. It’s been a long journey,” he said. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s just fun to be out there with the boys, especially on a new team. Getting traded mid-injury, mid-rehab, it’s just good to actually play with the team, it just hits a bit differently when you speak to your team when you’re playing.”

Feigen notes that even though Adams only played 14 minutes, he totaled 16 screen assist points to take the league lead in that category. That’s one of the ways that the veteran center can contribute to the team, even though his playing time will be restricted for a while. He’s currently limited to five-minute stints and a maximum of 15 minutes per game.

“Typically with surgeries that’s why they call it a two-year process, because physically you’ll heal in the first year. The second year is the mental part, getting the connection back,” Adams said. “So it’s just that mental part now, but then also the mental part of the game: flow, timing, reading the body language, stuff like that.”

There’s more from Houston:

Alperen Sengun doesn’t mind the increased expectations that come along with a new contract, Feigen states in a separate story. Sengun agreed to a five-year, $185MM extension shortly before the deadline on October 21. “That’s a good pressure,” he said. “That’s a pressure the stars can take it, you know. That’s what I’m going to go through the rest of my life. I’m one of the best players in the league. I have to get used to it. I have to take that pressure all the time. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable. It makes me feel great.”
Coach Ime Udoka singled out Jalen Green‘s decision making after he scored 36 points in Monday’s win at San Antonio, Feigen adds in another piece. Green only had two assists, but Udoka said he did a great job of reading the defense. “He’s been phenomenal all year as far as that,” Udoka said. “I think he really grew toward the end of last year. Now it looks like he’s getting whatever he wants, whether it’s for himself or others. Some of those that he used to miss at times and kind of rush into a crowd, over-penetrate, he’s (now) making the right reads.”
Fred VanVleet had a verbal confrontation with Jeremy Sochan after the game (Twitter video link). VanVleet refused to comment on the exchange, per Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire, but it appears to have been prompted by a derogatory comment Sochan made about Houston when asked about the rivalry between the two teams.

Southwest Notes: Alvarado, Pelicans, Morant, Edey, Adams, Rockets

October 26th, 2024 at 11:59am CST by Luke Adams

With Dejounte Murray sidelined for at least four-to-six weeks, the Pelicans will be counting on recently extended guard Jose Alvarado to move up the depth chart and take on a bigger role this fall, writes Rod Walker of NOLA.com.

“Jose’s gotta step up big time for us,” head coach Willie Green said. “We all love Jose and we know he brings it night in and night out and we know he’s going to step right up to the plate and get it done for us.”

Alvarado played 13 minutes on Friday in New Orleans’ first game without Murray and contributed four assists and three steals, but also went scoreless and committed four turnovers. He’ll likely see more minutes in the days and weeks to come, but the Pelicans leaned more heavily on guards CJ McCollum (40 minutes) and Jordan Hawkins (29 minutes) to complete a comeback win over Portland on Friday.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

After missing most of last season due to a shoulder injury, Ja Morant looks fully healthy this fall, but only played 28 minutes in Wednesday’s opener and 24 on Friday. Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins, noting that Morant sat out three of five preseason games, said the team is still getting its star point guard up to full speed during a stretch of six games in nine days, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’re working with him and the medical team about how we want to deploy him over this stretch right now,” Jenkins said. “Obviously he was out for a portion of preseason, so getting his game legs and conditioning right.”
At the conclusion of the Grizzlies‘ loss to the Rockets on Friday, rookie Zach Edey met Steven Adams at halfcourt and spent more than two minutes talking to the former Grizzlies center. Edey, referring to the conversation as “big man stuff,” declined to go into specifics after the game, but said he welcomed the opportunity to get some advice from a player whose game he admires. “That’s somebody I’ve been watching for a while,” Edey said, according to Cole. “So everything he’s telling me, I’m listening to.”
The combination of Amen Thompson and Tari Eason on the second unit helped provide the shut-down defense the Rockets needed to pull away from Memphis in the second half of Friday’s game. As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle details, the defensive potential of that Thompson/Eason duo off the bench is something that excites the team. “We always talk about what we can do defensively and how we’re going to be special if we’re locked in,” Eason said. “We just gave each other that look and talked with (head coach) Ime (Udoka) and knew we had to turn it up a notch.” Houston outscored the Grizzlies 25-11 in the 7:20 the two wings played together in the second half.

Rockets Notes: Green, Sengun, Thompson, Sheppard, Adams

October 25th, 2024 at 11:46am CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets‘ decision to give contract extensions to Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun was made after two of their future targets in free agency came off the market this summer, Brian Windhorst of ESPN states in an article co-written with Tim Bontemps. When the Cavaliers‘ Donovan Mitchell and the Celtics‘ Derrick White both reached extensions with their teams, Houston’s front office began to abandon its plan to save cap room for the 2025 free agency sweepstakes, sources tell Windhorst.

The new priority became working out extensions with Green and Sengun before Monday’s deadline, and both agreed to unique deals that are below the maximum they could have received. Green’s three-year extension starts at $33.3MM next season, and Windhorst hears that it could be combined with draft assets as the basis for a superstar trade next summer.

Sources also tell Windhorst that the Rockets have informed rival teams they don’t plan to make a major deal during the season, but they could be much more active once the offseason arrives.

Other executives around the league complimented the Rockets for convincing Sengun to accept a below-max deal, according to Bontemps, even though they had to give him a player option in the fifth year.

There’s more from Houston;

Coach Ime Udoka’s preference to play at a faster pace may require more minutes for Amen Thompson, observes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. The lack of fast-break opportunities was among the things that bothered Udoka about Wednesday’s season-opening loss to Charlotte. “We didn’t get stops,” he said. “We didn’t get out and run. Just as poorly as we played in transition, offensive rebounding was the same thing. Nineteen in the first half and only two second-chance points in the second. Dominated us on the glass there.” Iko points out that Thompson was part of five of the team’s six fastest two-man combinations last season.
Lottery pick Reed Sheppard is quickly adapting to life in the NBA, per Brian Barefield of Rockets Wire. Sheppard has a clearly defined role on a team that needs to improve its outside shooting. “It is easy when everyone knows how to play basketball the right way,” he said. “We have been playing with each other for a couple of months now, so being able to get in the gym every day and continue to get to know each other by learning more offense and defense with each other. We are just figuring out how each other plays, and it has been really fun. I feel like our chemistry gets better every day.”
Steven Adams was a game-time decision on Wednesday, but he has already been ruled out of Friday’s contest against Memphis due to a calf strain and recovery from the knee injury that forced him to miss all of last season, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

Injury Notes: Pelicans, Kings, Raptors, Adams, Collier

October 24th, 2024 at 3:20pm CST by Rory Maher

He technically wasn’t injured, but Pelicans star Zion Williamson sat out Wednesday’s season-opening victory over Chicago due to an illness. There’s optimism Willliamson will be ready for Friday’s contest in Portland after he practiced on Thursday, according to Rod Walker of The Times-Picayune (Twitter links).

“Looks like he’s good to go,” head coach Willie Green said.

In a press release (Twitter link), the Pelicans also provided injury updates on Trey Murphy (right hamstring strain) and Dejounte Murray, who fractured his left hand last night.

The team said Murray is out indefinitely, with further updates to come when appropriate, while Murphy has made good progress in his recovery and will begin conditioning work. Murphy, who signed a four-year, $112MM rookie scale extension earlier this week, will be reevaluated in two weeks.

Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:

Kevin Huerter (shoulder surgery) and Trey Lyles (left groin strain) missed the entire preseason for the Kings, but both veterans were full practice participants on Tuesday and Wednesday and will be active for Thursday’s season opener vs. Minnesota, writes James Ham of The Kings Beat. Neither player will be on a minutes restriction, according to head coach Mike Brown, who confirmed Huerter will start at shooting guard.
Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley sustained a pelvic contusion in Wednesday’s loss to Cleveland and did not practice on Thursday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Both Quickley and RJ Barrett (shoulder) are doubtful for Friday’s contest vs. Philadelphia, while Kelly Olynyk (back), Ja’Kobe Walter (shoulder) and Bruce Brown (knee) remain out (Twitter link via Lewenberg).
Rockets center Steven Adams, who missed all of last season with a right knee injury, was initially listed as questionable for Wednesday’s loss to Charlotte due to knee injury recovery and a left calf strain and wound up sitting out. Head coach Ime Udoka referred to Adams as “day-to-day, game-to-game” on Thursday afternoon, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Jazz rookie Isaiah Collier (right hamstring strain) has been cleared for on-court work, but he’ll miss at least 10 more days, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, the team announced (Twitter link via Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune). The former USC guard was the No. 29 overall pick of June’s draft.

Rockets Notes: Sengun, Adams, Green, Trades

October 9th, 2024 at 5:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rockets centers Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams could join forces to serve as one of the NBA’s top center tandems in 2024/25, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Backup big man Jock Landale may also compete for minutes at the five, but as long as Sengun and Adams stay healthy, it seems likely that either the rising star or the longtime starter will be on the court most of the time.

“We’re pretty bloody solid,” Adams said. “The boys here are pretty good. That’s more on paper. We haven’t played a game. It doesn’t matter how it looks on paper. Whoever is the most connected is going to be the most deep team.”

As Feigen notes, the Rockets as a franchise have a long history of Hall of Fame big men to their credit. Feigen notes that Sengun was approaching possible All-Star status during his 2023/24 breakthrough season and has room to get better this year.

There’s more out of Houston:

Suiting up for his first game in almost seven months, Sengun displayed the kind of growth Houston insiders and fans have no doubt been hoping for, writes Feigen in a separate story. Sengun appears to have added catch-and-shoot triples to his arsenal. During the team’s 122-113 preseason defeat against the Jazz, he showed off a speed and activity level heretofore unseen in his play, Feigen observes.
Rockets shooting guard Jalen Green thrived last year after Sengun went down in March with an ankle injury. Feigen writes in another article for The Chronicle that Houston believes his late-season surge is sustainable over the long run. Green credits film sessions with Rockets coaches, which kicked off last December, for helping him realize how to hone his game best. “I think it will make it a lot easier to pick up where I left off,” Green said. “It’s more about what I have do: play defense, rebound. Like I’ve been saying, being able to contribute to the team besides just scoring.”
The Rockets boast plenty of young assets, future draft picks, and veterans on solid-but-movable contracts. Houston could be the league’s most intriguing trade team this season, opines Michael Pina of The Ringer. Pina notes that the Rockets could go in any number of directions — they may look to package some young pieces for a franchise-changing deal or could swap out some veterans for more youth and draft equity.

Texas Notes: Klay, Doncic, Adams, Rockets

September 29th, 2024 at 4:14pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban recently spoke with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast (Twitter link) about a variety of topics, including Klay Thompson‘s to depart the Warriors for Dallas in free agency.

“Klay Thompson’s got a lot to prove,” Cuban said. “Klay was ready for a move. All the grief he got last year – particularly the way it ended. So the timing was right.”

Thompson agreed to a three-year, $50MM deal with Dallas as part of a six-team sign-and-trade.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

Five-time All-NBA Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has had a busier-than-normal offseason in 2024. Since guiding Dallas to its first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years, Doncic suited up for the Slovenian national team for the 2024 Olympic qualifiers, but was eliminated by Greece before making the cut. Doncic subsequently remained in his homeland to prep prior to the Mavericks’ own training camp, as Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal details at his Substack (subscription required).
Veteran Rockets center Steven Adams didn’t suit up for Houston last season while recovering from a right knee surgery he underwent while he was a member of the Grizzlies. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle explores how the 31-year-old will be deployed in Ime Udoka‘s system in 2024/25. As Feigen writes, Alperen Sengun enjoyed a breakout run last year and seems likely to preserve his starting spot, and he and Adams likely won’t play together often. Still, Adams – who is on an expiring $12.6MM salary – could earn increased playing time in certain matchups.
The Rockets finished with a solid 41-41 record, but in a talented Western Conference it wasn’t enough to even make the play-in tournament. Instead, Houston finished with the West’s No. 11 seed. As Feigen writes in another story for The Chronicle, team owner Tilman Fertitta hasn’t clearly expressed what would constitute a successful season for the club in 2024/25, declaring that he has “high expectations” but not explicitly stating that he expects a playoff berth.