Wizards center Thomas Bryant has been fined $45K for repeatedly making inappropriate contact with an official on Thursday, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Bryant, who received a technical foul as part of the incident, was aggressively attempting to confront Pistons forward Blake Griffin, who had committed a Flagrant Foul 1 against Bryant.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hornets’ prized offseason acquisition, forward Gordon Hayward, is hopeful he’ll play opening night despite a fractured right pinky finger, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Hayward tested out his injury on Friday with some shooting and ball-handling. He won’t play in the preseason finale on Saturday but believes he could return for the regular-season opener against the Cavaliers on Monday. “Certainly, I’m going to be doing everything I can to be ready for the opener,” Hayward said.
- The Hawks are still hopeful of getting a rookie scale extension done with forward John Collins by Monday’s deadline, Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. If a deal doesn’t get done, Collins will be a restricted free agent next offseason. Team owner Tony Ressler recently remarked that he would “love to see” Collins remains in Atlanta for years to come.
- Rookies Cole Anthony and Chuma Okeke provide the Magic with a potent offensive duo off the bench, Dan Savage of the team’s website writes. They combined for five 3-pointers in Orlando’s preseason game on Thursday. “We obviously need to have balance with the starting five and the bench,” Magic shooting guard Evan Fournier said. “They’re going to have a huge role to play, so hopefully the (young) guys can figure it out and help us win.” Okeke missed all of last season with a knee injury, while Anthony was chosen with the 15th pick in this year’s draft.
- There’s no upside to trading Terry Rozier this season, Bonnell opines in a separate article for The Observer. Though the Hornets selected LaMelo Ball in the draft, Rozier is a steady producer, a strong locker room presence and adds intangibles that rub off on other players. It would make more sense to deal Rozier next offseason for a draft pick or young veteran when he’ll be entering his walk year, Bonnell adds.
Where is the point in keep sayin’ add nauseum that they wanna keep JC in ATL… but clearly not offering him the right contract?
Look, it can’t be easier than that, he has earned the max, just give it to him & he will sign it, as he, unlike the team is actually very keen to stay!
Boy, if they mess up with JC, can’t see how Trae is gonna stay there, just pay the man the $ that he has earned!
I personally thought Tony Ressler would’ve been more out-spoken publicly as an owner than he is. He’s ultimately letting Schlenk handle these things which is the right move…but I was still hoping for a more passionate owner than what we’ve seen so far
I don’t think Collins is worth a maximum just yet. Moreover, why would the Hawks offer it to him right away? They should try with something similar to what Jaylen Brown got from the Celtics. In the worst-case scenario, he won’t accept and will become a RFA… and then the Hawks could decide whether to match if someone offers him max money.
If he shoots 40% from 3 again this year he’s worth it
Maxing guys is extremely tough tho. You don’t wanna lose him for nothing … but is a Trae+Collins nucleus a contender in 3-5 years? Possibly but it’s not a slam dunk either (no pun intended)
I mean look at players who get the max they are all star players who lead their franchise and most of them have a winning record or close to it. Collins isn’t a all star player and that’s in the east, he isn’t even the leader on his team and he hasn’t even had close to a winning season.
I’d find it hard to max him considering the lack of success. Yes he gets stats, shoots well and has potential but thats not resulting in wins.
I’d do what it says about offer him a lower offer with potential to get near max money if he improves like Jaylen Brown got and if he doesn’t accept then let him hit FA and see what teams offer and if it’s worth matching
I agree with Simmons guy, Collins is not an all star and not nearly an all nba player. He is inferior to Sabonis and Brown, why should he get a bigger contract than they did?
Hornets should just do Terry Rozier for Juilius Randle and a second round pick.
Hornets would then have Graham and Ball start together, Hayward and Randle at the forward spots and Zeller at centre. Hornets would be an entertaining team that can score easily and would probably surprisingly win a few more games.
The Knicks would get a solid starting Point Guard in Rozier who has the dog mentality that New York loves. He can score and shoot well, pass nicely and defend well. By trading Randle they also open up more playing time to the explosive Obi Toppin who looks great.
Would be a win win situation.
Or Alternatively a three team deal
Rozier to the Knicks
Randle to Indiana
and Myles Turner to Charlotte
With Indiana receiving 2 second round picks (1 each from New York and Charlotte).
Indiana could then line up Brogdan Oladipo Warren Randle Sabonis and have two extra picks. Plus in Free agency they would have Randles 20mil expiring deal to spend along with 7mil Doug McDermott, 3.5 TJ McConnell and 21m Oladipo.
Turner to Charlotte would be great as he’s only young still, blocks shots and opens up the spacing for Ball Hayward and Graham to exploit
I actually like that a lot and I’m not a huge fan if either guy. But Hayward’s D could cover some of Randle’s shortcomings, and Rozier – sad to say – is leagues better than any PG on NY’s roster
That’s it, Rozier would be a great pick up at point for the Knicks. He averaged something like 18-4-4, in his first year as a starter while sharing the position with Graham and also playing some good defence. We already know what he can do in crunch time with his time from the Celtics. His personality and everything suits the Knicks.
Randle on the other hand would come with a pack for the hornets, it opens up more minutes for Ball. Randles 20 mil expiring deal would come at the perfect time in a good FA class where they could possibly even get Lonzo Ball. Lol. Randle in the mean time isn’t exactly a bad player, he averaged 19.5-9.7-3. He can space the floor a little, shoots efficiently, has good athleticism and at 26 also would be decent for either the Hornets or Pacers