- Tiago Splitter, an assistant coach on Ime Udoka‘s Rockets staff, will join the Brazilian national team’s staff as an assistant this summer, according to an announcement from the program (hat tip to Eurohoops). Brazil hasn’t secured a spot in the Olympics but will be looking to claim one of the four remaining openings by winning a six-team qualifying tournament in Latvia.
The Rockets made major changes to their roster during the 2023 offseason, bringing in top free agents like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks. However, general manage Rafael Stone‘s comments this week suggest the team anticipates a quieter summer this time around, with a focus on internal improvement rather than outside additions, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).
“I like my team,” Stone said. “So, I think potentially, we’re just bringing back everybody that we have. It doesn’t mean we won’t look at things, but I don’t think we’re sitting here today feeling like, ‘Oh we need to go get X’ at all.”
As Stone pointed out, the Rockets acquired injured center Steven Adams at the trade deadline and saw Alperen Sengun and Tari Eason go down with season-ending injuries of their own. Simply getting those three players on the court should go a long way toward fortifying the roster, which Stone described as “well-rounded” with “lots of talented players.”
The biggest decisions of the Rockets’ offseason might be whether to lock up Jalen Green and Sengun to long-term deals or to take a wait-and-see approach with those contract situations. Both players will be eligible for rookie scale extensions in July.
“The way the CBA is set up, you can extend — you don’t have to,” Stone said. “And you can always revisit next summer. We’ll have conversations, we’ll see what makes sense for us, what makes sense for them, and then both sides will end up making whatever decisions we make. But not feeling like it’s a burden or a crushing pressure or anything like that.”
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Houston will likely lose its own first-round pick to Oklahoma City, but controls a lottery selection via Brooklyn. Stone acknowledged that the team could explore trade possibilities with that first-rounder, given all the young players already on the roster, per Feigen. “We have to do the evaluation of the whole draft. One rule of thumb is, if you can get a really special player, you get him,” Stone said. “You can’t control the timing so anytime you can do it, you just do it. The flip side is we’re extraordinarily excited about our young guys now. There’s not an obvious source of minutes for anybody coming in. That applies equally well, maybe even more so, to a veteran coming in.”
- Despite missing the postseason this spring for the first time since 2020, Dillon Brooks has no regrets about his decision to sign a long-term contract with the Rockets as a free agent last summer, according to Feigen (subscription required). “I feel good about my choice,” Brooks said. “I want to grow with these guys. I want to get Houston back where it needs to be.”
- Another one of the Rockets’ 2023 free agent signees, Jock Landale expressed a similar sentiment to Brooks despite struggling for much of the season and not reclaiming a regular rotation role until March. “It was obviously rough early on. It was just about sticking with it and learning more about myself. No regrets at all,” Landale said, adding that he has made “lifelong friends” in Houston.
- The NBA didn’t make any sort of announcement regarding Alperen Sengun‘s end-of-season award eligibility, but John Hollinger of The Athletic hears that the Rockets center was listed on the ballots sent out to voters by the league. A potential Most Improved Player candidate, Sengun played in 63 games before suffering a leg injury that ended his season. Based on the language of the 65-game rule, he’s award-eligible if an independent doctor determined the injury would likely sideline him through May 31.
The NBA announced all of the major All-NBA G League teams on Thursday (All Twitter links found here), including the First Team, Second Team, Third Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Rookie team.
Several current and former NBA players are among the honorees. Here is the full list of winners for the 2023/24 season.
All-NBA G League First Team:
- Mac McClung, G, Osceola Magic (McClung was NBAGL MVP)
- Alondes Williams, G, Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat‘s affiliate) *
- Jason Preston, G, Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz‘s affiliate) *
- Kenneth Lofton, F/C, Salt Lake City Stars ^
- Oscar Tshiebwe, C, Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers‘ affiliate) *
All-NBA G League Second Team:
- Trevelin Queen, G, Osceola Magic *
- Mason Jones, G, Stockton Kings *
- Malcolm Hill, G/F, Birmingham Squadron (Pelicans‘ affiliate) *
- Justin Champagnie, F, Capital City Go-Go (Wizards‘ affiliate) *
- Darius Bazley, F/C, Salt Lake City Stars ^
All-NBA G League Third Team:
- JD Davison, G, Maine Celtics *
- Ethan Thompson, G/F, Mexico City Capitanes
- Adama Sanogo, C, Windy City Bulls *
- Jahmi’us Ramsey, G, Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder‘s affiliate)
- Elfrid Payton, G, Indiana Mad Ants
G League All-Defensive Team:
- Shaquille Harrison, G, South Bay Lakers (Harrison was NBAGL Defensive Player of the Year)
- Kylor Kelley, C, Maine Celtics
- Nate Hinton, G, Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets‘ affiliate) *
- Trhae Mitchell, G, Rio Grande Valley Vipers
- Darius Bazley
G League All-Rookie Team:
- Oscar Tshiebwe (Tshiebwe was NBAGL Rookie of the Year)
- Adama Sanogo
- Jordan Miller, G/F, Ontario Clippers *
- Terquavion Smith, G, Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers‘ affiliate) *
- Kendric Davis, G, Santa Cruz Warriors
* Denotes two-way contract
^ Denotes standard contract
Rockets general manager Rafael Stone and assistant GM Eli Witus signed multiyear contract extensions with the franchise earlier this season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The deals were agreed to in January, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).
Stone and Witus were promoted to their current basketball operations roles back in 2020 when longtime head of basketball operations Daryl Morey left the Rockets. The revamped front office immediately faced trade requests from veteran stars Russell Westbrook and James Harden and launched a full-fledged rebuild after having made eight consecutive playoff appearances.
That rebuild began to pay dividends this season, as third-year center Alperen Sengun enjoyed a breakout year while third-year guard Jalen Green had a big second half. Other young players, including rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore, as well as second-year big man Jabari Smith, showed promise in regular roles for Houston.
Additionally, free agent additions like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks fit in well with the Rockets, and new head coach Ime Udoka led the team to a 41-41 record following three straight seasons between 17 and 22 wins.
All of those positive developments were factors in ownership’s decision to extend both Stone and Witus, according to Wojnarowski.
“It became clear that the Rockets had executed our plan to draft and develop young potential cornerstones for the franchise, stabilized the team with veterans that translated to winning games and found our coach for the present and future,” Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said, per Feigen. “We wanted to show them as well as the public we’re excited with the direction the Rockets were going.”
The Rockets are projected to control at least one lottery pick this June, and Sengun and Green will become extension-eligible in July, so Stone, Witus, and the rest of the front office will have plenty of big decisions to make in the coming months.
The Rockets’ 2023/24 season, their first under new head coach Ime Udoka, is now in the books. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle breaks down how the team showed plenty of promise en route to a 41-41 finish, diminished slightly by the lack of a playoff or play-in berth. The Rockets finished as the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference.
“Happy wouldn’t be the word,” Udoka said. “We are disappointed we didn’t meet our goal. When you are a few games behind, you think of all the tough … games we’ve given away, we understand where we could have been. The goal always was to make the playoffs and the play-in and have that experience for our guys.”
Center Alperen Sengun and shooting guard Jalen Green, who both enjoyed breakout seasons this year, are both set to be extension-eligible when the new league year begins in July.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans head coach Willie Green‘s contract was reportedly extended last year, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Sources inform Clark that New Orleans also extended the contracts of New Orleans executive executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin and general manager Trajan Langdon. Green, a former journeyman NBA guard as a player, is in his third season with New Orleans and boasts a 127-119 record with the club so far. He has led the Pelicans to three consecutive postseason appearances, though the team was eliminated in the play-in tournament a year ago.
- The Pelicans struggled to do much of anything against the Lakers in a critical season finale matchup on Sunday, as Rod Walker of NOLA.com details. In falling 124-108 to Los Angeles, New Orleans fell into the play-in tournament with a 49-33 record — the Pels are the West’s No. 7 seed and have a rematch on tap with the eighth-seeded Lakers on Tuesday.
- Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich suggested that he expects return to coach probable Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama for his second season, writes Tom Orbsorn of The San Antonio Express-News. The 75-year-old Popovich inked a five-year deal worth upwards of $80MM to stick with San Antonio last summer. “He made it very clear day one he cares about his guys as people first,” Wembanyama said. “He is there to poke on us sometimes or to correct us. But the way my teammates and I have responded to all the advice it’s just been great and the dynamic is very good.”
The Hornets have added Lakers assistant Jordan Ott and former Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse to their list of head coaching candidates, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Ott has been with the Lakers since Darvin Ham brought him in as an assistant in September 2022. He was previously on the Nets’ staff.
Stackhouse was hired by the Commodores in 2019 and fired last month. The former All-Star guard has also been an assistant with the Raptors and Grizzlies and was also the head coach of the G League 905 Raptors.
Rockets assistant Royal Ivey will also be interviewed, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen. Ivey was also a Nets assistant for three seasons before joining coach Ime Udoka with the Rockets this season. Ivey has also been an assistant with the Thunder and Knicks.
Denver’s David Adelman, Boston’s Charles Lee, Sacramento’s Jordi Fernandez, the Clippers’ Jay Larranaga, Phoenix’s Kevin Young and Kings G League coach Lindsey Harding have also been identified as candidates to be interviewed for Charlotte’s position. Steve Clifford announced prior to the end of the season that he’d be stepping down.
- The Rockets’ win over the Trail Blazers on Friday proved to be a nice payday for forward Jae’Sean Tate. He gained a $500K bonus due to his team winning 40 games this season, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.
Confirming prior reporting from Forbes, Marc Stein (Substack link) cites sources who say that Mark Cuban‘s sale agreement with Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont stipulates that the Mavericks‘ new majority owners have the option to buy an additional 20% of the franchise in four years.
For the time being, Cuban has retained control of 27% of the team and reportedly still maintains a voice in the personnel decisions, though he’s no longer the final decision-maker. However, if Adelson and Dumont exercise that option a few years from now, the extra shares would come out of Cuban’s stake in the team, reducing his holdings to below 10%.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Luka Doncic likely won’t finish higher than second in MVP voting this season, but the fact that he’s legitimately in the conversation is more important to the Mavericks than him actually winning the award, opines Tim Cato of The Athletic. As Cato explains, this version of Doncic raises Dallas’ ceiling and makes the team a bona fide contender.
- Alperen Sengun (ankle/knee) won’t return for either of the Rockets‘ final two games of the season, Kelly Iko of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter). Sengun is a candidate for this year’s Most Improved Player award, but because he only appeared in 63 games, an independent doctor would need to rule that his injury is likely to sideline him through at least May 31 in order for him to be eligible for award consideration.
- Although New Orleans has yet to clinch its playoff spot, the team looks better than it has in years and is on track to win the most games it has in a season since being rebranded as the Pelicans in 2013. James Herbert of CBS Sports checks in on the Pelicans to get a sense of why this year’s team is more dangerous than the one we’ve seen in recent seasons, as well as what the next steps are for the franchise.
- Victor Wembanyama has been everything the Spurs hoped he’d be in his first year in the NBA and figures to only get better going forward, but will San Antonio be able to build a contender around the young star? Isaac Levy-Rubinett of The Ringer explores that question, considering the players the Spurs already have on their roster, their draft assets, and a potential trade target.
The Grizzlies will be without 13 of their 15 standard contract players when they take on the Lakers on Friday (Twitter link via Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Damichael Cole), epitomizing an injury-mired and disappointing season.
Memphis dealt with long-term injuries to almost everyone on its roster and continues to cycle through 10-day contract hardship players to see what sticks. Two-way players have started over 50 combined games for the team that has seen an NBA-record 33 individual players suit up this year.
That leaves the Grizzlies, a team that is widely expected to be a playoff contender at full health, in a unique position this offseason. Players like GG Jackson and Vince Williams proved themselves as valuable young rotation pieces, while others like Jake LaRavia and Lamar Stevens are shouldering big minutes down the stretch. But with the likes of Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart and Desmond Bane set to return from injury next season, the Grizzlies will have crucial decisions to make.
Cole writes about the Grizzlies’ wing rotation logjam, noting that if you factor in Yuta Watanabe (player option), Ziaire Williams and John Konchar, the Grizzlies have nine wing players to account for next season. Some sort of movement on the roster, either by way of trade or waiver, would need to take place to balance the rotation.
Cole says that all signs point to the team picking up Kennard’s $14.7MM team option next season, but ponders whether the team could trade Ziaire Williams, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract. The Grizzlies have shown a tendency to trade players in the final years of their deals, like Steven Adams and Tyus Jones, as well as former first-rounders on rookie contracts, such as David Roddy.
The Athletic’s Kelly Iko and John Hollinger explore a similar topic, with Hollinger expressing that he expects Memphis to trade Kennard or decline his option in an effort to dodge the tax. The pair also discuss the fact that the Grizzlies hold a lottery pick and explore potential free agent options the team could look to sign.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Spurs big man Sandro Mamukelashvili is playing a prominent role in the rotation as of late, including starting two of San Antonio’s last three games. As Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes, Mamukelashvili has become something of a favorite for coach Gregg Popovich, who has played the Georgian forward 20 or more minutes in his last five games. He has been on a rebounding tear over that stretch, pulling down 9.8 boards per contest, including a career-high 16 on Tuesday. “He’s like a perpetual motion kind of thing,” Popovich said. “He’s moving all the time, with or without the ball. Sometimes I think he doesn’t know exactly why, but I love his movement and his IQ. He knows how to play.” Mamukelashvili will be eligible for restricted free agency after the season.
- After a disappointing start to the season, Spurs center Zach Collins is determined to finish the year in a strong fashion, according to Tom Orsborn of San Antonio Express-News. Collins lost his starting job after 20 games during a shooting slump, but it looks like he has regained his form from beyond the arc as of late. He shot 42.9% from three in March and has made 33.3% of his outside attempts through five games in April, a big improvement from the 29.3% he shot from October to February. “He’s becoming a real pro, a consistent player who we know what we can get from night after night,” Popovich said. “He’s a good competitor. His skills are improving, his understanding of the game is improving, and he’s getting more confident.” Collins is under contract with San Antonio for two more seasons.
- Dillon Brooks has been thankful for his season with the Rockets but said he wants to be more like himself next season, writes Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen. According to Feigen, Brooks would like to be a more physical defender next year. “I don’t want to stir the pot too much, but I feel like the NBA restrained me from playing that type of game,” Brooks said. “But I’ve got to be on a ‘I don’t care’ mentality and just deal with what comes with it.“
Pressure is mounting on the Cavaliers, who have stumbled to an 11-16 record after the All-Star break after once sitting at 36-17, NBA insider Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack post. While an 18-2 record spanning through December and January improved coach J.B. Bickerstaff‘s standing within the organization, he may be on the hot seat following this disappointing stretch of games.
As Stein writes, Bickerstaff is still dealing with the fallout from losing to the Knicks in the first round of last year’s playoffs in just five games. Frustration is growing in Cleveland after last season’s playoffs and this season’s lackluster recent stretch, according to Stein.
The Cavaliers as a whole are feeling pressure, given the need to sign Donovan Mitchell to a contract extension this offseason. Mitchell is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract next year if there’s no extension and there’s a “growing belief” from rival teams that the Cavs might be forced to trade their superstar if the two sides can’t agree to an extension, Stein writes.
The Cavaliers paid a hefty price to bring in Mitchell in 2022, sending out Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, Collin Sexton and multiple first-round picks for the All-Star guard.
We have more from Stein:
- The Mavericks are 16-2 since they inserted Daniel Gafford and Derrick Jones Jr. into the starting lineup, and have officially secured their second 50-win season since Jason Kidd took over as head coach in 2021. An offseason extension for Kidd seems likely, according to Stein.
- Likewise, the Rockets‘ strong play in the second half of their season means general manager Rafael Stone may also earn a contract extension, Stein writes. The Rockets are hovering around the .500 mark after winning just 22 games last season. The Ime Udoka hiring and the additions of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks are among the reasons for Houston’s impressive season, which were all accomplished without sacrificing any of its core pieces. Still, future decisions regarding whether the team will continue to build around Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green or trade for a higher-profile star are percolating, per Stein.
- Bulls head coach Billy Donovan‘s name was thrown around in regard to the newly opened Kentucky coaching job, but Stein expressed skepticism about the chances of him moving back down to the college ranks, where he most notably coached at Florida from 1996-2015. It looks like Stein’s skepticism was warranted, as Kentucky is reportedly targeting BYU’s Mark Pope to be its next head coach, meaning Donovan will stay with the Bulls, tweets NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson.