Grizzlies swingman Danny Green is inching closer to making his season debut, tweets Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Green is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last May and has begun doing 5-on-5 work, according to Cole.
Participating in 5-on-5 scrimmages generally represents one of the last hurdles a player must clear in his rehab process before returning from a major injury, though it doesn’t necessarily mean Green’s return is imminent. Ricky Rubio and Jonathan Isaac, both coming off ACL tears, were cleared for 5-on-5 play in early December, and both players only returned to the court this week (Rubio in the NBA, Isaac in the G League).
Green has spoken about wanting to make it back before next February’s All-Star break and it sounds like he remains on track to meet that timeline.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Although Grizzlies swingman Desmond Bane has returned from a toe injury and is playing well, he doesn’t expect to be 100% for the rest of the season, Cole writes for The Commercial Appeal. “That’s something I’ll probably have to get taken care of in the offseason,” Bane said of his toe injury during an appearance on the Old Man and the Three podcast. “You never know how much you need to use your big toe until you can’t use it.”
- In a mailbag for The Athletic, Kelly Iko discusses several Rockets-related topics, including Stephen Silas‘ job security, Kevin Porter Jr.‘s future in Houston, and potential offseason veteran targets. Iko says he’d bet on Silas finishing the season with the Rockets and identifies Myles Turner as a player he thinks the team should prioritize as a free agent this summer.
- Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate, who played for the Sydney Kings in 2019/20, likes the idea of eventually finishing his professional career back in Australia. “Australia is by far one of my highlights,” Tate told The Ballers Magazine (link via NBL.com.au). “When I’m old and can barely get up and down there I would love to come back and just bee around the guys because the energy, the organization in Sydney – from top to bottom – was great.”
- The Spurs‘ home game vs. Golden State at the Alamodome on Friday night is on track to break the NBA record for largest single-game attendance. As of Thursday, the club had sold 64,387 tickets for Friday’s contest, according to a press release. The previous attendance record was 62,046 for a Bulls/Hawks game at the Georgia Dome on March 27, 1998.
Rockets and Spurs need to acquire Wemby, anything else would waste of time
5 months ago Rockets fans wanted to be a title contender in 2024. Turner is not enough
Expectation is too high
Go San Antonio ……. lot of people for a basketball game.
I think those rockets fans are naive. People need to remember that this is only year two of a complete rebuild. Teams don’t win titles with a bunch of 21/22 year olds. I think they need to just stay the course and continue developing their young talent, and while I think the 2024/25 season they can push for a playoff spot/play in game, to make a legitimate title run and have long term success, a more realistic expectation is 3-5 years from now. Now that can change of course with free agency and depending on how they draft, but to go from a complete rebuild to a title run in 5 or 6 seasons, that should be considered a success.