Heat To Receive Second-Rounder From Hornets To Resolve Rozier Dispute
The Heat will receive a 2026 second-round pick from the Hornets as additional compensation for the Terry Rozier trade made in January 2024, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. The pick will be the most favorable of the Warriors’ or the Nuggets’ second-rounder this June, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel tweets. The pick will almost certainly be the one Golden State owes Charlotte.
A dispute between the Southeast Division clubs arose due to Rozier’s alleged involvement in an illegal betting scheme. Rozier has been on indefinite leave all season after being arrested in October on federal charges related to illegal gambling.
The Heat were reportedly unaware of the unusual betting activity — or the NBA’s investigation — tied to Rozier (he was a member of the Hornets at the time) when they traded for him in January 2024, several months after the incident took place.
This past December, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he was “sympathetic” to Miami’s plight and was seeking a resolution.
“This is an unprecedented situation,” Silver said. “And I think I’m incredibly sympathetic to the Heat and to their fans. But I think we’re going to try to work something through, work this out with them. … But this is an unfortunate circumstance. But sometimes there’s these unique events and maybe sometimes they require unique solutions. So we’ll be looking at this with the Heat and the other teams in the league and see if there’s any satisfactory relief.”
Miami still owes Charlotte a future first-round pick from that deal — it will be top-14 protected in 2027, and if it does not convey, the Heat will send the Hornets an unprotected first-rounder in 2028.
Rozier was originally placed on unpaid leave shortly after the federal charges were lodged. He later won an arbitration case, allowing him to collect his full $26.6MM salary. While Rozier remains on Miami’s roster, there’s still a possibility he could be waived before the end of the regular season.
Bulls Notes: Tanking Decisions, Giddey, LaVine, DeRozan
The Bulls lost to the NBA’s worst team Sunday night in Sacramento, but it’s still not clear that they’re committed to a tanking strategy, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required). The team has gone 2-11 since shaking up its roster at the trade deadline and has plummeted to 12th place in the East. However, Poe points out that puzzling lineup decisions are still being made for a team with incentive to tank.
Jalen Smith returned to the court on Sunday after missing the previous five games with a calf strain. Poe notes that the Bulls refuse to shut down Smith even though he has been in and out of the lineup over the past month. Young guard Rob Dillingham, who was acquired from Minnesota at the deadline, only saw 15 minutes against the Kings, while 30-year-old Guerschon Yabusele, who will be a free agent when the season ends, remains in the starting lineup.
Poe blames executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas for getting “queasy” any time the organization faces a major decision. She states that just as Karnisovas is hesitant to pull the trigger on trading a player, he’s also reluctant to fully commit to a tanking strategy, even when it’s obviously in the team’s best interest.
“Everything I’ve gotten here from the front office, from ownership is that we need to do the best job you can to go out there and compete and to try to win,” coach Billy Donovan said last month. “I believe in that. … That’s kind of the mentality that we have here inside the organization. We’ve always tried to keep the integrity of that anytime we go out and compete.”
There’s more on the Bulls:
- In a separate story, Poe questions why the organization is so reckless with Josh Giddey after giving him a four-year extension last summer and making him part of the foundation for the future. She notes that Giddey was reinserted into Tuesday’s loss against Oklahoma City after limping off the court with a rolled ankle a few minutes earlier. He’s also dealing with a lingering hamstring issue that’s supposed to limit his playing time to about 30 minutes per night, but Donovan doesn’t always adhere to that. Poe questions why the Bulls are taking any chances with Giddey when there’s nothing left to play for.
- The new additions to the Bulls’ roster are still getting used to the extreme up-tempo pace that Donovan prefers, observes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscription required). It was effective in Thursday’s win at Phoenix, but didn’t work as well on Sunday. “The biggest issue I think was the fact that a lot of those guys were coming from situations where they were not playing at all,” Donovan said. “Like Yabusele wasn’t playing, Nick (Richards) wasn’t playing, Rob (Dillingham) wasn’t playing, so I think the pace has been a little different. We went through some of that with Tre (Jones), Zach (Collins) and Kevin Huerter last year.”
- Donovan has fond memories of former Bulls players Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, who both missed Sunday’s game, Cowley adds in another piece. “Listen, I love both those two guys. I think those guys know how I feel about them,” Donovan said. “They were totally professional, and listen when you’re dealing with high-level players like that you are not always going to see eye-to-eye on stuff, but I appreciated the conversation and the intent on their part was to really try and win. That was important to those two guys. I don’t know all the reasons it didn’t work out (here).”
Central Notes: Pistons, Harden, Dieng, McConnell
The Pistons aren’t panicking even though their comfortable lead atop the East has eroded after their worst week of the season, writes Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. Detroit suffered its fourth straight loss Sunday in Miami and is now just 2 1/2 games ahead of Boston in the race for the No. 1 seed.
“It’s the NBA, right? And you look at the season, it’s long,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Everybody goes through difficult times or goes through a little bit of a rut. And we just found ours right now. And again, we’ve got plenty of time left to do what we got to do. Boston, obviously, is a good team. But we’re not concerned about Boston. Our biggest concern is making sure we’re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can.”
Cade Cunningham returned after sitting out Saturday’s loss to Brooklyn with a left quad contusion, but his 26 points and 10 assists weren’t enough to get the Pistons back in the win column. Reynolds points out that the schedule has been challenging recently – with three of the four losses coming against Cleveland, San Antonio and Miami – which is among the reasons the team isn’t overreacting to a tough stretch.
“Obviously, it’s probably our biggest dose of adversity all year,” Tobias Harris said. “We’ll be fine. Keep our head high and just (move) on to the next. But along this way, along this journey, let’s figure out ways that we can be better as a group.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Sunday’s home loss to Boston was a discouraging outcome for a Cavaliers team that’s trying to build a new identity after trading for James Harden, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com observes in a subscriber-only story. The Celtics were dominant for most of the afternoon and are looming as a tough matchup for the Cavs if they meet in the playoffs. “I told everybody, that’s the standard right there,” Harden said. “Me being in my 10th or 11th game here, that’s the level that we’ve gotta get to, Boston. Once we get there, because I know we’re good enough, we will get there, then we’ll be a much better team.”
- Ousmane Dieng did some intensive studying after being traded to the Bucks last month and was able to learn the playbook in two or three days, per Lori Nickel of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (subscription required). Dieng had been stuck on the bench for most of his career in Oklahoma City, but he’s been much more productive since the deal. “When you play the right way, you can play with anybody, or any team,” he said. “I just feel like I play the right way.”
- Pacers coach Rick Carlisle expressed concern about T.J. McConnell, who was forced out of Sunday’s game with soreness in his right hamstring, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
Raptors Notes: Barrett, Fultz, Murray-Boyles, Jackson-Davis
RJ Barrett returned from a long injury-related layoff in late January, but the Raptors forward is just starting to get back to normal, writes Michael Grange of SportsNet. After scoring a season-high 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting in Sunday’s win over Dallas, Barrett said the lingering pain in his knee has calmed down and he’s beginning to get his conditioning back.
“That’s why a couple of weeks ago it didn’t look great,” he added. “Just got to continue to work through it.”
Barrett has been far more efficient over the last six games, averaging 21.7 points and six rebounds while connecting at 56.7% from the floor and 46.7% beyond the arc. Grange notes that he was attacking the basket repeatedly on Sunday, getting a dunk and a layup on off-ball cuts.
“I think we know what he’s capable of, we’ve seen it the last two-and-a-half years,” Scottie Barnes said. “He’s able to score the ball and help us out in that area and in different ways. Once he gets his stuff going, he’s pretty hard to guard, especially going downhill (to the rim), for himself and kicking the ball out.”
There’s more from Toronto:
- Markelle Fultz, who was recently claimed off waivers by Raptors 905, had four points and five assists in his first game with the G League club on Sunday. Sources tell Grange that Fultz was given the opportunity as an audition for Toronto’s open roster spot, which it will be looking to fill starting March 15. Grange states that nothing has been promised to Fultz, but the former No. 1 overall pick could turn out to be a good low-cost addition late in the season.
- Collin Murray-Boyles has been ruled out for the upcoming road trip to Houston and New Orleans due to an in injured left thumb, Grange adds. Trayce Jackson-Davis won’t play on Tuesday after dislocating his left middle finger while dunking in the lay-up line. “I hit my finger on the rim perfectly (to dislocate it),” he said. “And I looked down (at his suddenly crooked finger) and almost started laughing.”
- The Raptors’ poor record against the league’s best teams is a concern as they battle for playoff position, notes John Chidley-Hill of The Canadian Press. They’re just 1-12 at home this season when facing an opponent with a better record and have lost 14 of their last 15 games against top-10 teams. “We’ve got to figure out our fourth-quarter execution, exactly what we want to go to,” Brandon Ingram said. “I think every time we play a good team, they know exactly what they want to go to in the fourth quarter, and they do it over again and over again. The good thing is we’re in the games, but we’ve got to figure out how to finish the game.”
Lakers Notes: Reaves, Defense, Ayton, Hayes
Austin Reaves is starting to look like the player he was early in the season, which could make the Lakers far more dangerous as the playoffs near, writes Melissa Rohlin of The California Post. Reaves’s scoring has been down since he returned from a strained left calf in early February, but he was aggressively looking for his shot in Sunday’s win over New York. He wound up with 25 points, marking just the third time he has reached the 20-point mark in the past 15 games.
“I think the messaging to him has just been to be himself,” coach JJ Redick said. “And I think sometimes when you miss time and there’s circumstances going on with the team that you can kind of be a little passive. … We want him to be aggressive. Every time he gets the ball, we want him to be aggressive and have a mentality to touch the paint.”
Reaves played like an All-Star as the season began, looking worthy of the five-year, $241MM contract that he’ll be eligible to collect this summer (if he declines his $14.9MM player option, as expected). If he can return to that level, the Lakers will be in position to challenge anyone in the West.
“Have fun,” he explained to reporters about his approach to the Sunday afternoon contest. “Woke up, early game, I was tired when I got here. I just told myself to have fun. I don’t feel like I’ve played bad, I just haven’t made a lot of shots. I feel like I’ve done a lot of other things well. Just continuing to play the game the right way, and I feel like good will come to good.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- With LeBron James sidelined by elbow and foot issues, the Lakers turned up their defense in Sunday’s blowout win, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Defense has frequently been an issue for L.A. throughout the season, but the team was in top form against New York, holding the league’s third most efficient offense to 42.7% from the field and forcing 19 turnovers. Redick singled out Reaves, Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart for their willingness to take charges. “That’s a sacrificial play,” Redick said. “You got to put your body on the line. Our guys have been motivated to do that all year.”
- Deandre Ayton‘s up-and-down play has been an issue, but the Lakers haven’t lost confidence in him, McMenamin tweets. He played 20 minutes on Sunday after sitting out most of the past two games with knee soreness. “We’re hopeful and optimistic that we’re going to get a consistent version of him down the stretch of the season,” Redick said.
- In a subscriber-only story, Benjamin Royer of The Orange County Register examines the connection that Doncic has formed with Jaxson Hayes and looks at how getting him easy baskets can unlock the rest of the Lakers’ offense.
Northwest Notes: Gobert, Sensabaugh, McCain, Wallace
Rudy Gobert has won four Defensive Player of the Year awards, and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch believes he should capture the trophy again, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter links).
“I think he’s far and away the leader for Defensive Player of the Year,” Finch said.
The oddsmakers disagree. Victor Wembanyama is currently the heavy favorite to win the award, with Chet Holmgren second in the betting. Finch laid out his case for Gobert.
“His iso defense has been the top or near the top all year long,” Finch said. “He drives our defense. The on/off numbers for us speak volumes to his importance. … He takes our defense to a whole ‘nother level. There’s nothing he can’t do defensively.”
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Jazz wing Brice Sensabaugh knows his future is still up in the air, despite his recent performances. The 2023 first-round pick averaged 15.6 points per game last month and had a 17-point game against Milwaukee on Saturday. However, defense and turnovers have been issues for him. “I have to keep searching for those catch-and-shoot opportunities,” he told Kevin Reynolds of the Salt Lake Tribune. “I want to improve everything except my shooting, to be honest. But like I said, shooting has to be the driving force.” Sensabaugh has one more year on his contract at a $4.86MM salary before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency in 2027.
- Jared McCain admits he was blindsided by the trade that sent him from the Sixers to the Thunder. He thought he could be a long-term fit with Philadelphia, James Herbert of CBS Sports writes. “I definitely thought it could work,” McCain said. “Long-term, I definitely think it could work. I loved playing with them. It was really fun. And I’m going to miss it, too. So I think there was definitely potential there, but they made the best decision for what they thought it was and we’ve just gotta live with it and kind of move on.” McCain has thrived since the trade, averaging 11.7 points in 19.0 minutes per game through 13 appearances with Oklahoma City.
- Thunder guard Cason Wallace has made a strong case for being selected to the All-Defensive Team, according to Sports Illustrated’s Rylan Stiles, who uses advanced analytics to display Wallace’s prowess this season.
Thunder’s Ajay Mitchell Set To Return After 20-Game Absence
The defending champion Thunder will get one of their key reserves back on Monday.
Ajay Mitchell will suit up for Oklahoma City’s game against Denver, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweets. Mitchell has missed the last 20 games due to an abdominal strain and sprained ankle. The 6’4″ shooting guard, who hasn’t played since Jan. 21, is no longer listed on the team’s injury report.
The 2024 second-round pick established a rotation role prior to the injuries. In 43 appearances, including nine starts, Mitchell averaged 14.1 points, 3.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 26.3 minutes per game. He was also a defensive factor, averaging 1.4 steals per night, and was shooting a solid 48.7 percent from the field (35 percent on three-point tries).
With Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Alex Caruso and the trade-deadline addition of Jared McCain, the Thunder already had impressive depth at the guard and wing spots. Mitchell will probably play fewer minutes than he did earlier in the season, though he proved to be a reliable backup for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after appearing in just 36 games as a rookie.
The Thunder still have a lengthy injury report for their matchup with the Nuggets, beat writer Rylan Stiles tweets. Isaiah Hartenstein will miss his second straight game due to a calf injury and starting forward Jalen Williams remains out due to a hamstring strain. Caruso (hip) and Chet Holmgren (flu) are listed as questionable.
Eastern Notes: Bucks, Powell, Brunson, Johnson
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers shuffled his lineup and it worked on Saturday, as the team ended a four-game losing streak with a 113-99 win over Utah. Giannis Antetokounmpo was joined in the starting five by Ryan Rollins, Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma and Ousmane Dieng, Eric Nehm of The Athletic notes (Twitter links).
“I love the starters because of our size,” Rivers said. “I loved how we played the first seven minutes of the game. The ball just flew up the floor.”
Cam Thomas only saw six minutes of action off the bench, his lowest single-game total since joining the Bucks.
“Tonight wasn’t the night,” Rivers said. “And we’ve got a lot of guys that can play.”
Antetokounmpo sat out Sunday’s game against Orlando.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- While the Nets were pulling off a stunning comeback at Detroit on Saturday, Drake Powell was in the G League with the Long Island Nets. C.J. Holmes of the New York Daily News notes that over his last 17 NBA appearances, Powell has averaged just 5.2 points in 19.1 minutes per game, and his efficiency dropped to 35.4 percent from the field and 20.9 percent from deep. Powell was recalled by Brooklyn on Sunday, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets.
- Jalen Brunson‘s shooting numbers have dipped as of late, but the Knicks floor leader has become a high-volume and highly composed facilitator during that stretch, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post notes. Entering Sunday, Brunson had racked up three consecutive double-digit assist games. He had seven assists on Sunday against the Lakers but also committed seven turnovers. He has shot 36.2 percent from the field in five March games. “He’s taking what the defense is giving him,” coach Mike Brown said. “They’re switching, they’re blitzing, they’re trying to throw the kitchen sink at him. And he’s doing a great job of getting off [the ball and passing].”
- The Hawks won their sixth straight on Saturday, thanks to Jalen Johnson. He scored nine of his 35 points in the fourth quarter of a 125-116 win over Philadelphia. He added 10 rebounds and seven assists. “I think I’m always locked in,” he told Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Yeah, I’m always locked in. I mean, obviously, you get in when the momentum’s high, you’re on a run and stuff like that, emotions are running much higher than they are at the beginning of the game. So maybe the emotions piece of it looks locked in more.”
Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey To Miss At Least Two Games
Sixers star guard Tyrese Maxey will miss at least the team’s next two games, The Athletic’s Tony Jones tweets.
Maxey was diagnosed with a sprain of the right fifth finger. He’ll be reevaluated after the Sixers play at Cleveland on Monday and host Memphis on Tuesday.
It’s relatively good news regarding Maxey, who suffered the injury during a collision with teammate Adem Bona late in Saturday’s game against Atlanta. There were concerns that he might have done more damage to the finger, which would have sidelined him for a much longer period.
The Sixers are in a spirited battle for the sixth playoff spot in the East, which would advance them to the first round and allow them to avoid battling for the seventh or eighth seed in the play-in tournament.
Maxey, who’s coming off his second All-Star appearance, is in the midst of his best season. He’s posting career highs with 28.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 46% from the field and 37.2% from three-point range. He’s also leading the league in minutes at 38.3 per night and has been a steady presence for a team that’s been plagued by injuries and other issues throughout the season.
Patty Mills Signs With La Laguna Tenerife
Patty Mills has signed a rest-of-season contract with La Laguna Tenerife, the team announced in a press release (hat tip to Sportando).
Mills is a 16-year NBA veteran who holds career averages of 8.7 points, 2.2 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 921 games (19.9 minutes per contest). The 6’2″ guard is known for his energy, off-ball movement and three-point shooting, having converted 38.5% of his outside looks during his career.
Outside of his extensive experience with the Australian national team, this will be the first international stint for Mills. The 37-year-old was unable to find a suitable NBA contract last summer and has been out of the league this season, last suiting up for the Clippers in 2024/25.
It’s been a while since Mills was a rotation regular, as he hasn’t appeared in more than 40 games or averaged more than 14.2 MPG since the 2021/22 campaign with Brooklyn. He made 29 combined appearances with Utah and Los Angeles last season, averaging 3.8 PPG in 11.1 MPG.
Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews reported a month ago that Mills was exploring his options in Europe. La Laguna Tenerife, also known as CB Canarias, competes domestically in the Liga ACB, the top league in Spain, and in Europe in the FIBA Champions League.
Mills was hired by the University of Hawai’i as the general manager of the men’s basketball program last June. He has lived in Hawai’i during the offseason for the past decade.