Southeast Notes: Anthony, Houstan, Daniels, Rozier

Magic guard Cole Anthony returned to action on Tuesday after missing seven games with a left big toe strain. He was upgraded from questionable to available prior to their contest against San Antonio, the team’s PR department tweets.

Anthony has appeared in 61 games this season, averaging 9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He’s in the first year of a three-year, $39.1MM contract.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Caleb Houstan received rotation minutes over the past six Magic games in Anthony’s absence. The highlight of that stretch for Houstan was an 18-point outing against Sacramento on Saturday. “He’s always consistent, no matter if he’s playing or not playing, if he’s in or out of the rotation,” Paolo Banchero told Beede. “He’s always showing up, getting his work in. Every time he shoots it, it has a pretty good chance of going in.” Orlando holds a $2,187,699 club option on his contract for next season, which must be exercised by the end of June.
  • Hawks defensive ace Dyson Daniels, just named Defensive Player of the Month in the Eastern Conference, is pleased with the chemistry on the team. “I think we have really good pieces on this team, and pieces that work well together,” Daniels told Sportskeeda’s Grant Afseth. “Obviously, (Trae Young is) our guy, the motor of the team. We try to look after him, set him screens, get him open, and he does the same for us. He’s a really good passer.”
  • Terry Rozier had dropped out of the Heat’s rotation until Monday, when he played 33 minutes against Washington with a host of players missing the contest. Rozier contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. Rozier, who has one year left on his contract, admits it’s best a rough season for him. “It’s never easy for a competitor, especially me,” he said, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “You work so hard and then it just becomes unfortunate with the situation. But you just try to stay positive through it all, and give grace and still be thankful that I’m in this position. You try to keep working hard, waiting for my name to be called again.”

Bucks Co-Owner: No Mandate To Get Under Second Apron

Bucks co-owner Wes Edens is adamant that there was no mandate by ownership to get under the second tax apron for financial reasons prior to the trade deadline, he told Eric Nehm of The Athletic.

“No. No. Not at all. None of that,” he told Nehm.

Milwaukee dealt longtime forward Khris Middleton, 2024 first-round pick AJ JohnsonDelon Wright, a 2028 first-round pick swap, and cash in exchange for Kyle KuzmaJericho Sims, and a pair of second-rounders in a four-team trade in February. That transaction moved Milwaukee under that second, more punitive, apron. Edens did admit that being under the second apron has its benefits.

“For the first time, they’ve included both financial penalties and sporting penalties and so you do not want to be in the second apron if you can avoid it,” he said. “We have come out of our pockets to put the best team we can on the field and spent a lot of money doing so and have a championship to show for it and a lot of wins. But we always want more. The moves we made at the deadline were basketball moves. And the financial was a part of it, in the consideration of the second apron, but I think that (GM) Jon Horst and his organization did and recommended what they thought would be best for the basketball team and I think that they did a great job.”

Here’s more from Nehm’s interview with Edens:

  • On Damian Lillard‘s blood clotting issue and whether the Bucks can still make a deep playoff run: “You’ve seen us have some good results. The last couple of weeks have not been what we wanted, but it’s a long season, and I’m optimistic that with Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and his leadership and the other players that we’ve got, we’ve got a strong core and so let’s let’s play with it. The one thing I learned in this sport is that nobody feels sorry for you. Everyone’s had a deal with their injuries and maybe we’ve had more than our share (with) some of the stars these last three, four years. But I’m optimistic this team can make a real run of it, so let’s see.”
  • On the death of Junior Bridgeman and what will happen with his 10 percent stake in the franchise: “He made a difference to a tremendous number of people. … I’m sorry for us as owners and for the Bucks organization and the fans that he was not able to be an owner longer. I presume (the Bridgeman estate must work through his affairs). He clearly wasn’t expecting to pass and they still have a lot of stuff to sort through, their … significant assets and whatnot. So, they’ll work through that.
  • On bringing an All-Star Weekend to the city: “With respect to Milwaukee, I think we have a deserving venue. As they add more hotel rooms in the city here — that’s a big part of it — can you stage this? I would be a huge fan and would be honored if there was a game here. Next year, they’re headed back to L.A. and it’s probably a little bit more kind, weather-wise, in the middle of winter than Milwaukee but that’s OK. There have been cold-weather venues that have done really well in Chicago, and in Toronto and other places. So we’ll see.”

Thunder’s Daigneault, Celtics’ Mazzulla Named Coaches Of The Month

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is the Western Conference’s Coach of the Month for March, with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla claiming the award for the Eastern Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

Daigneault’s Thunder and Mazzulla’s Celtics have been the NBA’s two hottest teams in recent weeks.

Oklahoma City won 15 of 16 games in March en route to clinching the No. 1 seed in the West entering this year’s playoffs. The Celtics had 14 wins in 15 games, putting some pressure on the top-seeded Cavaliers and ensuring they’ll finish the regular season with one of the league’s top three best records.

While he’s not considered one of the frontrunners for Coach of the Year, Daigneault has now been named Coach of the Month in the West three times this season. He and Ime Udoka of the Rockets, who has won the award twice, are the only two Western Conference coaches to earn the monthly honor in 2024/25.

Udoka joins Chris Finch (Timberwolves), Steve Kerr (Warriors), and Tyronn Lue (Clippers) as the other Coach of the Month nominees for March in the West, per the NBA (Twitter link).

Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers, who was named the East’s Coach of the Month twice this season, and Rick Carlisle of the Pacers, who won the award in January, are among this month’s Eastern Conference nominees, along with Billy Donovan (Bulls), Quin Synder (Hawks), and Darko Rajakovic (Raptors).

Grizzlies Rumors: Coaching Change, Morant, Jackson, Aldama, More

When Grizzlies head of basketball operations Zach Kleiman held a brief media session over the weekend to discuss his decision to fire head coach Taylor Jenkins, he said he believes the coaching change will give the team “clarity of direction.” As Ramona Shelburne, Tim MacMahon and Michael C. Wright write for ESPN.com, that was almost certainly a reference to an offensive system that was overhauled ahead of the season and has continued to undergo changes since then.

Jenkins had been tasked this season with overseeing and blending the competing visions of newcomers Tuomas Iisalo and Noah LaRoche, according to ESPN’s trio, who note that both assistant coaches received seven-figure salaries when they were hired. Memphis also reportedly paid a seven-figure buyout to Paris Basketball in order to secure Iisalo, whose system leaned on pick-and-roll schemes, pacing, offensive rebounding, and transition offense; LaRoche’s system prioritized spacing and relocations while mostly eschewing pick-and-rolls and dribble handoffs.

“They were going all-in on these new concepts,” one source told ESPN.

The fact that the Grizzlies were deferring so heavily to a pair of new assistants after overhauling Jenkins’ coaching staff signaled to others in the organization, including the players, that the head coach was on the hot seat entering the season.

“Players aren’t stupid,” another source told ESPN. “They know where this is heading when you fire five assistants after the season.”

The short-term returns on the offensive changes were positive, as the Grizzlies got off to a 35-16 start and led the NBA in scoring, pace, and offensive rebounding while ranking dead last in ball screens per game. However, as Shelburne, MacMahon, and Wright detail, opponents began adjusting to Memphis’ new system and star guard Ja Morant expressed frustration both publicly and privately about the way in which the ball had been taken out of his hands.

The Grizzlies began running significantly more ball screens and handoffs in March, but the decision to move on from both Jenkins and LaRoche suggests the Grizzlies felt there were too many cooks in the kitchen and wanted to give Iisalo – the new interim head coach – the opportunity to simplify the offense this spring.

Addressing the coaching change in an episode of ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast this week (YouTube link), MacMahon stated that the move was about “optimizing” Morant.

“That was a primary motivator for this decision,” MacMahon said (hat tip to RealGM). “There has been noise about Ja being unhappy all season long. There has been noise about, ‘Hey, you know, could Memphis look to move Ja this summer?’ More so, ‘Could Ja look to get out of Memphis this summer? Could Ja look to to force a trade, or at least request a trade? And would Memphis shop him this summer?’ There’s been a lot of that.

“I was texting with a GM after (the coaching change) happened and he said, ‘I would have told you I thought they were definitely going to (shop Morant). Ja was out on them. They won games without him. They have to be sustainable.’ And he said, ‘This is a move that goes in the face of that.’ Basically this is a, ‘Hey Ja, you’re still our guy. Everything we do is going to be based on what’s best for you. What optimizes you.’ They got away from that for a lot of this season and they’re leaning back hard into it.”

Besides the concerns about the offense, there was also a belief in Memphis that Jenkins had lost the locker room and that players – including Morant – were tuning out the team’s longtime head coach, ESPN’s trio reports. One rival Western Conference player told ESPN that the Grizzlies had “lost all of (their) swagger,” while a team source added, “You could just tell no one was on the same page.”

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

  • Kleiman publicly shot down trade speculation involving Morant last month, and the steps the team is taking to “optimize” him show those comments weren’t just lip service. However, there are still doubts around the NBA about whether the star point guard can lead a team to a title, according to Shelburne, MacMahon, and Wright. “Does he sell tickets? Yes,” one rival GM told ESPN. “Is he a top-25 player when healthy? Yes. Can he win multiple series as the best player? No. Not sure most years you can win even one. Plus he is always hurt.”
  • The Grizzlies are “committed” to extending Jaren Jackson Jr. and re-signing restricted free agent Santi Aldama this offseason, sources tell ESPN.
  • Within ESPN’s report, Shelburne, MacMahon, and Wright cite sources who say Draymond Green came close to signing with Memphis when he reached free agency in 2023. That isn’t new information, but a source close to Green insists the longtime Warrior wasn’t just using the Grizzlies as leverage, telling ESPN that he came “very” close to ending up in Memphis via a lucrative sign-and-trade deal. As ESPN’s trio details, the Grizzlies believed Green’s “experience, basketball intelligence and toughness” was just what they needed as they lost Dillon Brooks and dealt with the aftermath of Morant’s suspensions for off-court behavior.
  • After failing to land Green, Memphis added Marcus Smart instead, but that acquisition didn’t work out as planned due in large part to Smart’s recurring injury issues — he was traded away in a salary-dump deal last month. Since missing out on Green and losing Brooks, the club has also attempted to acquire Mikal Bridges and Dorian Finney-Smith, sources confirm to ESPN, but was unable to land either player.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Coby White Earn Player Of The Month Honors

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Bulls guard Coby White have been named the NBA’s Players of the Month for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Gilgeous-Alexander continued to bolster his Most Valuable Player case in March by averaging an eye-popping 34.7 points per game on a scorching-hot .517/.413/.929 shooting line across 14 contests. The Thunder won 13 of those 14 games, with Gilgeous-Alexander also contributing 7.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 block per night.

The Oklahoma City star has now been named the West’s Player of the Month three times this season, having also won the award for October/November and December. He’s the only player in either conference to have been recognized as a Player of the Month more than once in 2024/25.

Gilgeous-Alexander beat out fellow nominees Deni Avdija, Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Alperen Sengun, James Harden, and Ivica Zubac to claim the Western Conference award, per the NBA (Twitter link).

As for White, he has taken his game to another level since the Bulls traded leading scorer Zach LaVine to Sacramento ahead of the trade deadline. In 15 March games, the sixth-year guard put up 27.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 3.7 APG with a .495/.379/.878 shooting line, leading Chicago to a 9-6 record.

White was named Player of the Week for the Eastern Conference on both March 17 and March 24, becoming the first player this season to earn that honor in consecutive weeks.

The other nominees for Player of the Month in the East were Paolo Banchero, Quentin Grimes, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young, Knicks teammates OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, and Pacers teammates Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam.

Dyson Daniels, Draymond Green Named Defensive Players Of The Month

Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, who was named the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month for games played in October/November, has won the award for the second time this season, the NBA announced today (via Twitter). Daniels is the East’s Defensive Player of the Month for March.

Daniels, who has become a legitimate contender for Defensive Player of the Year in his first season as a Hawk, continued to wreak havoc on opposing offenses in March, leading the NBA in steals (3.3), deflections (5.4), and forced turnovers (3.1) per contest over the course of 14 games as Atlanta went 9-5.

Daniels is the second Eastern Conference player to be recognized with two Defensive Player of the Month awards this season, joining Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, who earned the honor in both December and February.

Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, Warriors forward Draymond Green was named the Defensive Player of the Month for March.

Green, who advocated for himself as a top DPOY candidate a couple weeks ago, backed up the claim with his performance on that end of the court in March. According to the NBA, Green ranked third in the West in steals (1.9) and contested shots (9.1) per game for the month, while Golden State had the fourth-best defensive rating in the league (109.7).

Five different players have been named Defensive Player of the Month in the West this season — Green joins Victor Wembanyama, Jaren Jackson Jr., Amen Thompson, and Toumani Camara as the honorees in the award’s inaugural season.

Mobley, Knicks forward OG Anunoby, and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes were also nominated for the Eastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month award for March, according to the NBA (Twitter link). The West’s other nominees were Camara, Clippers center Ivica Zubac, and Thunder wing Luguentz Dort.

Stephon Castle, Zaccharie Risacher Named Rookies Of The Month

Spurs guard Stephon Castle has been named the Western Conference’s Rookie of the Month for March, while Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher has won the award for the Eastern Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

Castle, who has emerged as the frontrunner to be named the 2024/25 Rookie of the Year, advanced his case by averaging 19.5 points, 4.8 assists, and 4.4 rebounds in 28.9 minutes per game across 17 outings in March. He posted a shooting line of .456/.302/.686 as the Spurs went 7-10 during that stretch.

As for Risacher, 2024’s No. 1 overall pick averaged 16.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 27.1 minutes per game in 14 March contests, including nine Hawks victories.

While Castle is the betting favorite, Risacher continued to make his own case for Rookie of the Year consideration by posting a strong .533/.393/.739 shooting line on the month for an Atlanta team headed for a play-in berth.

Through the first four months of the season, no player had won a Rookie of the Month award more than once in either conference, with Jaylen Wells, Yves Missi, Isaiah Collier, and Castle splitting the honors in the West while Jared McCain, Alex Sarr, Kel’el Ware, and Risacher did the same in the East. That makes Castle and Risacher the first repeat honorees of the season.

According to the league (Twitter link), Donovan Clingan, Zach Edey, Quinten Post, Kyle Filipowski, and Collier were also nominated for Rookie of the Month recognition in the Western Conference for March, while Matas Buzelis, Justin Edwards, Jamal Shead, Sarr, and Ware were the other nominees in the East.

Liam McNeeley To Enter 2025 NBA Draft

UConn forward Liam McNeeley is entering the 2025 NBA draft, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).

McNeeley, a 19-year-old coming off his freshman year, averaged 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 32.1 minutes per game across 27 outings (26 starts) for the Huskies. He was the Big East Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Big East third team.

Although McNeeley was viewed entering his college career as an efficient outside shooter, the 6’7″ forward made just 38.1% of his attempts from the floor and 31.7% of his three-pointers during his freshman season. However, Givony and fellow ESPN draft expert Jeremy Woo still have McNeeley ranked 14th overall on their top-100 list, projecting him as a potential lottery pick.

Givony and Woo say that the youngster’s “positional size, feel for the game, toughness, and versatility” continue to appeal to NBA teams, adding that he was probably given too much shot-creating responsibility on a team that lacked dynamic ball handlers.

Givony’s report doesn’t mention anything about McNeeley testing the draft waters while retaining his NCAA eligibility, so it sounds like his intention is to go pro.

Mavs’ Gafford Back In Action, Lively Close To Returning

Mavericks big man Daniel Gafford returned to action on Monday night against Brooklyn after missing 21 straight games due to a sprained knee and showed no signs of rust in his first game since February 10. In just under 19 minutes on the floor, Gafford racked up 17 points, seven rebounds, and a pair of assists.

It wasn’t all good news for Dallas, as the team dropped a very winnable game against a lottery-bound Nets team. Gafford also wasn’t entirely thrilled with his performance, though he said it felt good to be back in action, adding that he thought he improved over the course of the night.

“It was real important to me (to get back in the lineup). I’ve got a big heart for the game,” Gafford said, per Greg Riddle of The Dallas Morning News. “There were times when I was down, and the people around me kept me motivated. It was a bunch of mess-ups from me early on, but throughout the course of the game, it just started to feel kind of natural again.”

As dispiriting as the Mavericks’ loss was, it didn’t hurt them much in the play-in race, since Sacramento also lost on Monday. The Suns gained a half-game as a result of having the night off, but they have the NBA’s most difficult remaining schedule and will be without their top scorer for at least the next three games.

The 37-39 Mavs currently hold the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, with a half-game lead on the No. 10 Kings and a 1.5-game cushion on No. 11 Phoenix. And after getting Gafford back on Monday, they should have another key contributor available soon — big man Dereck Lively, sidelined since January 14 with a stress fracture in his ankle, was listed as questionable vs. Brooklyn before being ruled out. Head coach Jason Kidd said the second-year center is “trending” toward returning this week, according to Riddle.

Assuming they have Anthony Davis, Gafford, and Lively available during the home stretch of the regular season, the Mavericks figure to lean pretty heavily on lineups featuring multiple big men. As Christian Clark of The Athletic writes, Davis said after Monday’s loss that it was the first time he has been part of a two-big lineup for an entire game and that he still needs to get used to it. However, he and Gafford are both excited about the possibilities.

“It’s an advantage we have, having two bigs,” Davis said, according to Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “They’re going to switch or blitz and with his ability to jump and put pressure on the rim, it’s going to be open.”

“The thing that excites me is when it comes to certain parts of the game defensively, we are going to go through the roof,” Gafford added, per Clark. “Offensively, I need to be in the right spot at the right time. It makes my job easier. I just have to get better at guarding guys on the perimeter.”

NBA Announces Five Suspensions For Pistons/Timberwolves Altercation

Five players have been suspended following the altercation between the Pistons and Timberwolves that took place in Minnesota on Sunday, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Those suspensions are as follows:

All five players were ejected from Sunday’s game following an on-court incident that occurred midway through the second quarter.

Holland, who tried to swipe the ball away from Reid as he drove to the basket, was called for a foul and was immediately confronted by the Timberwolves big man, who yelled at the Pistons forward and repeatedly jabbed his finger at him. DiVincenzo quickly entered the mix and he and Holland shoved one another, leading to a scrum that spilled into the stands along the baseline.

As those three players fell into the stands, Sasser and Stewart entered the fray and shoved Reid and DiVincenzo, resulting in a “continued escalation” of the situation, per the NBA.

In addition to those five players, the game’s officials ejected Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Timberwolves assistant Pablo Prigioni. However, neither coach was mentioned in today’s announcement, so it appears they won’t face any additional discipline from the NBA.

According to the league, Stewart received an extra game due in part to his “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.” He’ll miss Wednesday’s game in Oklahoma City and Friday’s contest in Toronto, while his teammates Holland and Sasser will only have to sit out on Wednesday. Reid and DiVincenzo will serve their suspensions on Tuesday when the Wolves face the Nuggets in Denver.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Stewart’s two-game suspension will cost him $206,897, which represents 2/145ths of his $15MM salary for 2024/25. Holland ($46,812), Sasser ($15,834), Reid ($80,283), and DiVincenzo ($65,776) will lose 1/174th of their respective salaries for this season.