PJ Dozier will start the season with the Timberwolves’ NBA G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Minnesota waived Dozier, who was on an Exhibit 10 contract, on Saturday as the team pared its roster to the 15-man limit. The former Denver wing tore his ACL last December and didn’t appear in any preseason games prior to being waived. Iowa’s opener is in two weeks.
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- The Nuggets lost in their opener and Jamal Murray had only 12 points and one assist in 26 minutes but he was just thrilled to be in action again after missing all of last season while rehabbing an ACL tear, Mike Singer of the Denver Post writes. “I know I’m smiling,” he said. “We lost. I’ve never smiled in a loss before.”
- Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard signed a two-year, super max extension over the summer and former teammate CJ McCollum believes Lillard wants to establish a lasting legacy in Portland, as he told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. “I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s been so committed to being in Portland to break all the records, show his loyalty to win, and to continue to try and build a lasting legacy,” McCollum said. “I think he’s done all those things. People will say what they want about him, but he really works on his game, and he really cares about the game of basketball.”
- Collin Sexton had 20 points in his Jazz debut after his final season in Cleveland was cut short by a knee injury. Utah surprised Denver in the opener and Sexton feels his new teammates will continue to open some eyes, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic. “We’ve heard a lot about what we are supposed to be,” said Sexton, who received a four-year, $72MM contract in the sign-and-trade transaction. “But, we all have a lot to prove and we all want to embrace the role of being the underdog. We want to come out and surprise some people.”
- Rudy Gobert said it will be “weird” to face his former Jazz teammates on Friday, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. “It’s all love for me,” the Timberwolves center said. “You know, I want to see these guys succeed and I’m sure they want to see me succeed, too.”
Utah’s biggest issue right now is having so many guards, most of whom dont defend, all playing together, but their 4/5 spots are pretty deep
Conley & Sexton are both very good defenders. Utah’s guards were the strength of their team on Wednesday, esp the 2 GA Boys (Collin/Malik). I’d look for them to eventually trade Clarkson & get NAW & THT more pt but they’re definitely deeper at guard than 4/5
Conley and THT defend, especially Conley. Beasley is inconsistent on that end, b/c he has shown in the past he can defend. I should have said they have too many smaller guards that need the ball in their hands playing together
All of their guards can play off the ball & looked rly good together Wednesday night. It’s pretty obv that Collin is the guy you’re trying to criticize. You’re far from the only person sleeping on him. If you think he can’t defend or is too small or needs to be the lead guard then you’re 0-3.
You always do this. You hang on 1 or 2 words and decide it invalidates anything someone is saying, and make judgments that arent even in the statement…
I’m saying lineups with Conley, Clarkson, Sexton, Beasley, NAW is tough when you’re combining 2-3 of those guys most of the time, and I especially think Clarkson needs to be moved, as he should have been the main player they looked to move, before moving Mitchell and Bogdanovic
Nah they did it in the exact right order tbh. Trading Gobert 1st when they still had their full team together gave them max leverage & they got a huge haul. The fact that they had traded Rudy alr lessened their leverage in Spida trade talks & while they successfully hid his trade demands & tried to act like they might ride w/ him, they weren’t able to get the mega haul they were looking for from NYK & had to go with Cleveland (still obv a sweet return on investment). Trading Clarkson 1st would have weakened their leverage even more in talks for Spida & Rudy. They now can showcase Clarkson, Rudy Gay & Conley for trades to contenders at the deadline or earlier while apparently NAW & THT are gonna battle it out for that last rotation guard spot. Malik is their backup 3. We just saw Conley/Sexton dominate Murray/Bones on Wednesday. Add pure scorer Clarkson to that mix & whoevers playin better bw THT & NAW & u got yourself a backcourt that can lead you to some home Ws in SLC. Obv none of those guys are all-stars & the Jazz def aint makin playoffs but that’s the strength of their team & Conley/Sexton esp get it done on both sides of the court
Conley is 1 of the best 2 way guards in the league, so it’s not surprising for him to slow down Murray, especially coming back, and Denver’s guards, outside of Murray and Bruce Brown arent great. I also dont agree with Denver’s rotation…
I think Denver should be going with Murray, Brown/Braun/Reed, KCP, Gordon, Jokic…or if they need to start Porter jr, use Brown at the 2, and then bring KCP as a 3 and D wing off the bench, and rely on Bones, Jeff Green, and Davon Reed/Braun for scoring off the bench. I just think Porter would be more consistent as the instant offense there
Dozier will be back in the league soon if he’s healthy.