Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki will not make his season debut Saturday against the Rockets but he is inching closer to his return, Dwain Price of the team’s website reports. Nowitzki, who underwent ankle surgery during the spring and suffered a setback in September, participated in practice on Friday. “He’s doing well. You see him down there. He’s playing 3-on-3 and getting better all the time,” said coach Rick Carlisle, who assured the media he won’t play this weekend.
In other news around the Southwest Division:
- The addition of Joakim Noah has impacted several other Grizzlies players, as Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian notes in his latest mailbag. JaMychal Green, who becomes an unrestricted free agent, might be shopped if the franchise decides it won’t try to re-sign him. It also clouds the future of Ivan Rabb, a second-round pick in 2017, within the organization. Rabb has thrived in the G League but isn’t skilled enough or physical enough at the NBA level, Herrington opines. Noah’s presence should also reduce Marc Gasol‘s workload, Herrington adds.
- Rockets guard Eric Gordon admits this season has been a shock to the system for him and his teammates, as he told Kelly Iko of The Athletic. He also insinuated that coach Mike D’Antoni has made some mistakes with his personnel. “I’m just not having fun man,” Gordon said. “I’m just not. This (stinks). Even the times where I have good games. We’re just not using some guys the right way. Are we gonna make the right sacrifices? Do we have the right attitude? Last year was the best year I’ve ever had being a part of a team. We just never had a bad moment.”
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey blames himself for the Carmelo Anthony signing. Morey made the remarks during a Tom Haberstroh podcast (hat tip to Sportando). “It really is mostly on me, honestly,” Morey said. “I saw the fit there and really didn’t go the way I thought it would. He can still really help a team.”
Woah. . . Noah’s only played one meh game. . . which is the bigger question: why the wait to get him aboard? Delonta Davis was dumped a long time ago. Trying to repurpose the plateaued J.Green I guess.
One pretty good game since its been how long since he played. Guessing the delay was physicals and maybe even some conditioning. Also if Davis was that good he would be playing somewhere else right.
Noah is on fire!!! He was excellent, 10 out of 10, against NOLA. Maybe Knicks might miss him, the guy is still good, hopefully after having had a year off that will give him enough in the tank to last a bit longer in the league, he has been sooo good so far for Memphis.
Aye …. settle down it’s 2 games. He has looked good tho.
Watching Noah shoot gives insight as to where Markelle Fultz learned to shoot.
Daryl More: “He can still really help a team.”
Translated: Good gawd, somebody PLEASE trade for him…