- Nets coach Jacque Vaughn plans to use more drop coverage this season, which could mean a larger role for backup center Day’Ron Sharpe, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The change in philosophy, plus having another big man on the court, could solve Brooklyn’s long-standing problems with rebounding. “When we switch 1-through-5 … it wasn’t so much Nic (Claxton) or I was getting cooked every play,” Sharpe said. “It was more so we’re out on the perimeter, they’re shooting the ball, the other guys (are) down there getting the rebounds. So, personally, I like to drop better. I like getting boards, I like being physical. And I don’t like when I feel like my matchup is killing me, either. So at the end of the day, I feel like it’s going to help us a lot.”
- After spending last season with the Lakers, Lonnie Walker will face his former team Monday night as he tries to earn a spot in the Nets‘ rotation, Lewis adds in a separate story. Vaughn said he wants to see Walker attack the rim and stretch the floor with his outside shooting.
- With a healthy Ben Simmons joining Spencer Dinwiddie in the backcourt, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn believes he can find ways to get the best out of that duo, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. “I’m trying to think how can we use this as an advantage for us? Spencer can handle the basketball, he can shoot off the basketball. There’s history to that,” Vaughn said. “And there’s history to Ben creating shots for guys, because he plays with the pace. Really like not too many people can match that pace. And so can we use that to advantage to get easy baskets? When you’re scouting us, who’s going to bring it up? It’s not gonna be the same person every single time.”
- Mikal Bridges has become the leader of the Nets and he’s thrilled with having that responsibility, Lewis writes in a separate story. “It’s a new role. Personally I think I can fulfill it and succeed in it with who I am as a person,” he said. “I’m willing to take every bullet, take the blame for losing: I’m ready for all that. Personally, I think I’m ready, but we’ll see. Who wouldn’t want this? Who wouldn’t want this type of pressure, this type of expectations? If you really love the game and really want to be the best you can be, you’d want this …where you’re the main guy and everything’s on your shoulders.”
Raptors forward Pascal Siakam can become a free agent after the 2023/24 season, but that hasn’t seemed to impact his approach to the season, Josh Lewenberg of TSN writes. Siakam has been a professional during training camp, Lewenberg says, smiling and joking with teammates and getting in extra reps with the coaching staff.
Siakam’s name came up in trade talks this summer, cementing his uncertain future with the franchise, and team president Masai Ujiri confirmed that the two sides hadn’t discussed an extension.
“We do believe in Pascal,” Ujiri said. “[But] we believe that a lot of our players didn’t play the right way last year and we want to see them play the right way. I said that we were selfish; I’m not running away from that. We were selfish and we did not play the right way. So, let us see it when we play the right way.”
It seemed as though Siakam pushed back in a subsequent comment, Lewenberg writes.
“I’ll speak for me, personally, I’ve never been a selfish player in my life,” Siakam said. “I’ve always played the game the right way and that’s from the first time I started playing basketball. I’ve always been a team player.”
The Raptors finished last season 41-41, ending as the No. 9 seed and losing to the Bulls in the play-in tournament. Despite last season’s disappointment and unsettled contract business, Siakam is ready for the upcoming season under new coach Darko Rajakovic, according to Lewenberg.
“At the end of the day, I think what makes me special is I’m a hooper,” Siakam said. “When people work out in the summer and they do one-on-one workouts, I want to play basketball because I want to be able to understand the game, play off of guys and not just do drills and be a robot. That’s my strength as a player. So I’m definitely not worried about that. I know that my abilities on a basketball court will always prevail in any situation I’m put in.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets are counting on Dennis Smith Jr. being a different player than the last time he was in New York with the Knicks, Dan Martin of the New York Post writes. Smith was sent to the G League during his stint with the Knicks and averaged 5.5 points per game in the year after he was sent there. Now, Smith is one of the more impressive defensive guards in the league and both Martin and Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily note his importance to Brooklyn and explore his evolution. “The biggest thing for me was just checking the ego,” Smith said. “I checked the ego and just learned how to shift my mental into being able to fit whatever role I needed to play and finding a way to stay in it. It’s paying off for me, I’m in a really good spot now.“
- Nets play-maker Ben Simmons has had an eventful past two years since being named an All-Star for three years in a row in Philadelphia. Since being traded to Brooklyn at the deadline in ’21/22, Simmons has appeared in just 42 games, all coming last season, averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists in those contests. Plenty of eyes are on Simmons this year and, as explored in a separate story by Martin, coach Jacque Vaughn said the early results for the 6’10” guard are encouraging. “I think what we’ve seen is his ability to push the basketball and do it over and over again; play with an extreme amount of pace; get to the rim [and] play with force,” Vaughn said. “All the things we were asking and I was searching for last year.“
- While Jrue Holiday is a major addition for the Celtics, Steve Bulpett of Heavy Sports argues that the loss of Robert Williams is bigger than it seems. Williams’ injury history makes it easier to have moved on from him, Bulpett writes, but he’s a fantastic rim protector and lob threat and Boston’s rotation of bigs doesn’t have an easy replacement on the roster.
- Nets center Nic Claxton, who is on an expiring $9.6MM contract, is embracing high expectations following a breakout fourth season, writes Dan Martin of The New York Post. Claxton averaged career highs in virtually every statistical category in 2022/23 and has put on muscle for ’23/24. “We have a lot of guys here that if we win collectively, they have things that they can prove,” Spencer Dinwiddie said Thursday. “The thing I’d love to see most is Nic get his $100 million (contract), because I’ve seen him come in the league.”
- While Claxton is looking to improve upon his already-strong performance from last season for the Nets, the fate of third-year guard Cam Thomas is much less certain, per NetsDaily.com. Head coach Jacque Vaughn says the team won’t be relying on isolation scoring this season, which is Thomas’ greatest strength. “He does have a skill of being able to play isolation basketball and get a bucket. That’s proven,” said Vaughn. “I don’t think we can play isolation basketball and win basketball games on a consistent basis. I think this team is built around the versatility and the depth of the team, and we’ll have to use all that, while also agreeing and notifying the rest of the group that there are some individuals who (are) going to have the basketball in their hands and they have a talent. (Thomas) has a talent that’s going to be used on both ends of the floor, and that’s what he’s going to be asked of.”
6:45pm: McGowens and Hankerson have been waived, according to the official transactions log at NBA.com. The Nets’ roster now stands at 18 players under contract.
9:29am: The Nets have signed a pair of free agent guards, adding Trey McGowens and Kameron Hankerson to their training camp roster, the team announced today.
While details of the two deals aren’t known, they’re almost certainly Exhibit 10 contracts, aimed at getting McGowens and Hankerson some bonus money (up to $75K) if they report to the Long Island Nets in the G League after being waived by Brooklyn.
Both McGowens and Hankerson played for Long Island last season.
McGowens, who went undrafted out of Nebraska in 2022, came off the bench in 23 regular season games for the NBAGL club, averaging 3.7 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 10.3 minutes per night. He’s the older brother of Hornets rookie Bryce McGowens.
Hankerson, appearing in 44 total regular season and Showcase Cup contests for Long Island, registered 6.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 16.3 MPG, with a shooting line of .431/.339/.857. He previously spent a couple seasons playing in Germany after going undrafted out of Green Bay in 2020.
Brooklyn now has 20 players under contract, one off the 21-man preseason limit.
The Nets‘ roster, as currently constructed, probably doesn’t have championship upside, but it also features plenty of veterans and isn’t meant to be a rebuilding lottery team. So what does that mean for the club’s expectations this season? The Nets may still be trying to figure that out, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
“I don’t think, as a group, we know our ceiling,” guard Spencer Dinwiddie said. “Knowing that we don’t have our (own first-round) picks, obviously we’re not going to tank. No team that’s trying to be competitive wants to be in the play-in, so I’d say by process of elimination, that’s where you want to start. As high as we can take it, we want to take it.
“… We’re young in terms of our depth, but the people that are going to play are 30, 27, 28. So we’re in a winning position, not necessarily, obviously, a championship position like we were with the superstars. So it’s somewhere in the middle,” Dinwiddie continued. “But we definitely have a lot of youth in terms of our depth, and I think it’s fun to build culture and watch guys grow.”
As Lewis writes, claiming a top-six spot is a reasonable goal for the Nets, but the team will need to take a step forward in order to achieve that goal. Brooklyn went just 13-15 after the trade deadline — that pace wouldn’t have been good enough to qualify for the play-in tournament.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- After arriving in Colorado on Tuesday evening, Sixers guard James Harden is participating in practice with the team on Wednesday, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (story via Tim Bontemps of ESPN). Harden, who continues to seek a trade, skipped media day in Camden on Monday and the first day of training camp at Colorado State University on Tuesday.
- Veteran forward Otto Porter Jr., who was sidelined for most of last season due to a toe injury, was a full participant in the Raptors‘ first practice this week, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. According to Lewenberg, the hope is that Porter, who underwent surgery in January and continued to rehab the injury during the summer, will be available to open the season.
- While it’s unrealistic to expect him to match Fred VanVleet‘s production and replace his leadership, the Raptors are bullish on what Dennis Schröder can do this season after signing a two-year, $25MM+ deal with the team. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca and Lewenberg of TSN.ca note that Schröder’s big summer – including a World Cup gold medal – is a reason for optimism and take a look at the early impression he has made in Toronto.
Ben Simmons spent the offseason trying to show Nets coach Jacque Vaughn and his staff that he’s physically and mentally ready to be the team’s point guard, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports writes. Simmons believes he can regain the All-Star form he displayed in Philadelphia before things went sour.
“Show him that I want to play at this level and be the point guard and do these things,” Simmons said, adding “I think that comes with, we speak about it, is grace. When you put that work in, you really get grace from the surrounding people. Your teammates, your coaches and staff.”
We have more from the New York teams:
- Nets big man Nic Claxton believes his hopes for the Defensive Player of the Year award ended last season when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were dealt, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “I went from being top three in the Defensive Player of the Year to an end of the season, nothing at all. KD and Kyrie, when they left, it’s like my name just fell off the map. It makes my blood boil,” Claxton said with a laugh. “I was robbed of [an All-]Defensive team [spot], not even saying Defensive Player of the Year. It definitely is motivating. It’s an even bigger chip on my shoulder, and I’m ready to be there for my team to prove to everybody, proving myself who I am as a defender and as a player in this league.”
- The Knicks didn’t add any star power so improvement will generally have to come from within, Jalen Brunson told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “It’s pretty much the same group, but we’ve got to continue to find ways to get better,” Brunson said. “It may be the little things, little mental edges, just concentration on the little things. Just our chemistry is going to get a lot better from knowing each other for a year now.”
- One of the big questions looming over the Knicks in training camp is whether they’ll reach a rookie scale extension agreement with Immanuel Quickley. The reserve guard brushed aside questions about it on media day on Monday, according to Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “Whatever happens, happens because it’s all up to my agent and the Knicks at that point,” he said, adding “I feel like I can be better. I feel like I can be a lot better. I feel like there’s a lot of untapped potential that I have in my game. And I’m going to do everything I can, like I’ve always done, to reach that.” A recent report indicated there’s optimism an agreement will be reached.
The Heat and Clippers are believed to be the other teams that were seriously in the mix for Jrue Holiday before the Trail Blazers accepted the Celtics’ offer for the All-Defensive guard, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during the latest episode of his Hoop Collective podcast.
“I’m not sure exactly where are the offers were at the end for the Blazers before they decided on the Celtics’ offer, but based on my conversations, my feel was there was at least three teams who were making significant bids.” Windhorst said, according to RealGM. “… The teams I really think were there in the end were the Celtics, Heat and the Clippers.
“The reason I think those three teams were there because I think those were the three teams Jrue Holiday was really focused on at some point being able to sign a longer-term contract (with). And that message kind of went out in recent days. Other teams made offers but it was sort of a three-team, aggressive race at the end. Only the Blazers know exactly what the offers were.”
The Clippers came close to acquiring Malcolm Brogdon back in June, so it will be interesting to see if they make any effort to re-engage the Trail Blazers in talks for Brogdon after missing out on Holiday.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Nick Young is resuming his playing career overseas, having signed with the Macau Black Bears of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), according to the team (Instagram link; hat tip to Sportando). A former first-round pick, Young has appeared in 720 regular season NBA games, but has been out of the league since being waived by Denver in 2018.
- Speaking to Alex Molina of Eurohoops following his move to FC Barcelona, former No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker said he believes the NBA is getting “watered down” because so many teams are trying to tank for draft picks each season, and expressed dismay that players like Dwight Howard, DeMarcus Cousins, and John Wall can’t find NBA homes.
- ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) has updated his mock draft for 2024, moving USC guard Isaiah Collier up to No. 2 and Perth Wildcats big man Alexandre Sarr up to No. 4. While Ron Holland of the G League Ignite is still considered the early favorite to be next year’s No. 1 pick, Givony says Sarr has done enough to join the small group of prospects with a legitimate case for the top spot in the 2024 draft.
- With a series of holes in its programming schedule this winter due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes, ABC will air NBA games on every Wednesday night in January, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. That slate of games will includes matchups between the Pelicans and Warriors, Mavericks and Lakers, and Suns and Nets, among others.
- Kurt Helin of NBC Sports believes that Jason Kidd (Mavericks), Steve Clifford (Hornets), and Billy Donovan (Bulls) are three head coaches who will be on the hot seat this season.
For the first time in a few years, the Nets will enter a new season with relatively modest expectations, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, who notes that the new-look roster probably doesn’t have championship upside. On the plus side though, it looks like it should be a relatively drama-free fall in Brooklyn, and team owner Joe Tsai is enthusiastic about the current group.
“I would say I’m excited,” Tsai told Lewis when asked about the upcoming year. “I’m excited about the season because we have a group of guys that are excited to be in Brooklyn. Yeah, that’s what I see now.”
With stars like Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving no longer in Brooklyn, the Nets sound eager to embrace an underdog spirit as they look to instill a culture of grit and competitiveness, Lewis writes in a separate New York Post story. As Lewis observes, the team has a number of players who will be fighting to earn a roster spot, an increased role, and/or their next contract.
“That was maybe our No. 1 priority when we set out to do this,” general manager Sean Marks said. “We wanted to acquire guys — and keep guys — that have a chip on their shoulder, something to prove.”
Here’s more on the Nets:
- Cameron Johnson, who received a lucrative new four-year contract from Brooklyn in July, won’t be available when training camp begins this week, tweets Lewis. Johnson suffered a mild left hamstring strain during a workout last week and isn’t ready to resume full basketball activities.
- Asked today about the rumors that the Nets were one of the teams in on the Damian Lillard sweepstakes, Marks said that the front office will always “look under every stone” but indicated the club was never seriously in the mix for the star guard. “There’s no substance there,” he said, according to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com (Twitter link).
- First-round pick Dariq Whitehead, who underwent a second foot surgery this spring, said on Monday that he’s not taking contact or doing any 5-on-5 work yet, but he’s been doing some running and is glad he had that follow-up procedure. “I don’t have to finally second-guess if my foot is going to be good or not for the season, knowing that it’s finally at that point where I don’t have to worry about and I can just go out there and play,” Whitehead said, per Lewis (Twitter links).
- In a pair of stories for The New York Post, Lewis shares his Nets training camp primer and digs into what it will mean for the club’s backcourt to have Ben Simmons playing point guard (subscription required). Simmons’ health status will be the key storyline to watch this fall, according to Lewis, who also identifies Dennis Smith Jr. as Brooklyn’s most intriguing new addition.
Multiple reporters have cited sources who said the Trail Blazers hadn’t discussed a Damian Lillard trade with the Heat — Lillard’s preferred landing spot — since July.
According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, the last dialogue the two sides had was a phone call at Summer League between Blazers GM Joe Cronin and Heat GM Andy Elisburg. Miami wanted to set up an in-person meeting in Las Vegas to have further discussions, but it never transpired, per Haynes.
“How this summer played out behind the scenes definitely left a sour taste in my mouth,” Lillard told Haynes. “But it doesn’t change the amazing experiences I’ve had with the Trail Blazers and this city. I’ll always cherish this place. This is my home. I’ll always live here regardless.”
The situation became acrimonious almost immediately, as the Blazers felt Lillard’s trade request had put them at a negotiating disadvantage, while Miami believed Portland was acting out of emotion instead of understanding the league is a business, Haynes writes.
Following a lengthy period of inactivity, Aaron Goodwin, Lillard’s agent, suggested that Cronin meet with Lillard in the event that the longtime star returned to the team.
As Haynes details, at the meeting on September 5, Lillard expressed his disappointment with the situation and wondered why there hadn’t been any communication between Portland and Miami. He didn’t want to be traded anywhere else and noted that he’d been willing to sacrifice for the team.
Specifically, Haynes cites sources who say the Blazers asked Lillard to sit out the final 10 games of last season to boost Portland’s lottery odds. Lillard was told a top pick would improve the front office’s chances of trading it for a win-now veteran. Lillard reluctantly agreed, with the team citing a “calf injury.” Portland ultimately kept the pick and selected Scoot Henderson No. 3 overall.
According to Haynes, Cronin told Lillard at the September 5 meeting that he planned to extract every possible asset from the Heat if he had to deal with them. Realizing that was unrealistic, Lillard responded by saying if he couldn’t land in Miami, he’d prefer to rescind his trade request and return to Portland.
Cronin told Lillard he couldn’t come back, which “shocked” the 33-year-old, sources tell Haynes. Lillard was “discouraged” that he couldn’t return to the Blazers, but he also didn’t want to be somewhere he wasn’t wanted, so he ended the meeting.
Shortly thereafter, the Blazers — who were frustrated with their offers at that point — refused to communicate with Lillard and Goodwin for almost three weeks. Portland didn’t want Goodwin meddling in trade talks, which is how the team rationalized the decision, per Haynes.
With Cronin refusing to talk, Goodwin came up with a contingency plan, letting both Milwaukee and Brooklyn know Lillard would be interested in joining those two teams. Haynes is now the third to report that information regarding the Bucks and Nets.
The NBA actually got involved on September 23 because of the contentious communication breakdown, Haynes writes. Cronin agreed to have dialogue with Goodwin at that point, and a few days later Lillard was traded to the Bucks.
Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted he has mixed emotions about the trade, he told Haynes.
“It’s a bittersweet day for the city of Milwaukee,” Antetkounmpo said. “You get Dame, who is a great player, but you lose a great guy. Jrue (Holiday) took us to the promised land. I’m 10 years in now. I know it’s a business. At the end of the day, Jrue will alway be be my brother for life. He’s one of the best human beings I’ve been around. But we’ve got to focus on the goal to win the championship. Dame wants this. He’s hungry to win, and he’s going to push us. I’m very happy to have him on our team.”
Haynes’ story for Bleacher Report has more details and quotes and is worth reading in full.
Here are some more notes related to the three-team blockbuster:
- In a series of Twitter posts, Lillard sent a heartfelt thank you and goodbye to Blazers fans, teammates, coaches, employees, the media, and more. In conclusion, he wrote, “As this chapter of my life ends, I look back and realize how special it was. Even in this moment I feel sad that we never accomplished what I so badly wanted to. I don’t cry much, but I know my love for you is real because I am for sure dropping some tears right now. Rip City you know my heart and where I stand because I’ve stood there for over a decade so to have to move off my square hurts my heart. … I do believe a day will come where I put on a Blazers uniform on again, and hopefully by then I’ll be forgiven for breaking your hearts along with my own.”
- Center Deandre Ayton, who was sent to Portland in the deal, also sent a thank you message to the Suns (via Twitter).
- Only Lillard and Holiday will be required to report and pass physicals as part of the deal, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links), who adds that Holiday can’t be traded until both players pass their physicals. The Blazers owe the Bulls a top-14 protected first-rounder through 2028, and if it conveys that summer, Portland’s ’28 first-round pick swap with Milwaukee will be voided, Marks reports.
- The Blazers generated an $8.8MM traded player exception in the deal, while the Suns got a $1.1MM TPE, per Marks.
- In another tweet, Marks notes that Holiday can’t be aggregated with other salaries for two months, though he can be traded on his own (or with one or more players if his salary isn’t aggregated with theirs).
- While multiple reports have now said Goodwin reached out to Brooklyn, NetsDaily.com hears the Nets were never interested and only discussed Lillard with Portland one time, in July. The Nets simply didn’t believe Lillard could turn them into a contender and were wary of his age and long-term contract, per NetsDaily.
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype explores what’s next following the deal, while Sam Vecenie of The Athletic evaluates the trade for the Bucks, Blazers and Suns.