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Atlantic Notes: Aldridge, Holden, Burrell, Simmons, Tucker

September 16th, 2022 at 8:41am CST by Dana Gauruder

Free agent big man LaMarcus Aldridge appears more likely to retire than to sign another contract, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix and Howard Beck said in the latest episode of The Crossover NBA Show (hat tip to NetsDaily).

Aldridge was productive in 47 games with the Nets last season, averaging 12.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 22.3 MPG. Aldridge went in retirement the previous season due to a heart condition but was cleared to play again by the league last fall.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, have named J.R. Holden as GM and Ronnie Burrell as head coach, according to a team press release. Holden spent the past three seasons as director of pro personnel for the Brooklyn Nets. Burrell rejoins the Nets organization after spending the 2019/20 season as an assistant coach with Long Island. Burrell was as an assistant coach with the College Park Skyhawks, the Atlanta Hawks’ affiliate, last season.
  • Ben Simmons could turn into the Nets’ version of Draymond Green, Ajayi Browne of NetsDaily.com notes. Putting Simmons at the center position could provide the most spacing possible for the Nets offensively due to his play-making skills. He’s also a defensive ace, finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year votes during the 2020/21 season.
  • After losing the conference semifinals to the Heat last season, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey felt P.J. Tucker would be a great fit if he could sign the veteran forward in free agency, Morey said in a podcast with Philadelphia TV sportscaster John Clark (hat tip to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson). “Just finished playing a series [against] P.J. Tucker. P.J. was able to really impact that series in a lot of ways with his toughness, with his high-level defense, with his energy on the floor, with his offensive rebounding,” Morey said. “And (Joel Embiid) correctly said, ‘Hey, we could use a guy like that.’”
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2022/23 NBA Over/Unders: Atlantic Division

September 14th, 2022 at 7:56am CST by Luke Adams

The 2022/23 NBA regular season will tip off next month, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and to continue an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites – including Bovada, BetOnline, and Betway – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2021/22, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’22/23?

We’ll keep our series going today with the Atlantic division…

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

Philadelphia 76ers

Toronto Raptors

New York Knicks

Previous voting results:

Central

  • Milwaukee Bucks (52.5 wins): Over (75.5%)
  • Cleveland Cavaliers (47.5 wins): Over (73.4%)
  • Chicago Bulls (44.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
  • Detroit Pistons (28.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
  • Indiana Pacers (23.5 wins): Under (62.8%)

Southeast

  • Miami Heat (50.5 wins): Under (56.6%)
  • Atlanta Hawks (46.5 wins): Over (53.6%)
  • Charlotte Hornets (36.5 wins): Under (63.0%)
  • Washington Wizards (35.5 wins): Under (50.8%)
  • Orlando Magic (26.5 wins): Over (55.3%)

Pacific

  • Golden State Warriors (53.5 wins): Over (69.2%)
  • Phoenix Suns (53.5 wins): Over (60.2%)
  • Los Angeles Clippers (52.5 wins): Over (58.0%)
  • Los Angeles Lakers (45.5 wins): Under (66.6%)
  • Sacramento Kings (34.5 wins): Over (62.0%)

Southwest

  • Memphis Grizzlies (49.5 wins): Over (68.7%)
  • Dallas Mavericks (48.5 wins): Over (63.7%)
  • New Orleans Pelicans (44.5 wins): Over (61.2%)
  • Houston Rockets (24.5 wins): Under (61.8%)
  • San Antonio Spurs (23.5 wins): Under (67.5%)
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Agent Says Joe Harris Is “100 Percent” After Ankle Surgeries

September 13th, 2022 at 12:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nets swingman Joe Harris is fully recovered after undergoing two surgeries on his left ankle and will be ready for the start of training camp, his agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Bartelstein confirmed that Harris has been medically cleared for 5-on-5 play.

“He’s doing great. He’s great,” Bartelstein said. “He’s 100 percent. He’s in a great place.”

Harris was limited to 14 games last season after injuring the ankle in mid-November. His first surgery was to remove a bone particle in the ankle, and he was projected to return within four to eight weeks. Brooklyn announced in March that he would need ligament reconstruction surgery and would miss the rest of the season.

The Nets’ three-point shooting suffered without Harris, who led the NBA in that category during the 2020/21 season by hitting 47.5% from beyond the arc. Lewis notes that Brooklyn had an effective field-goal percentage of .563 during the brief time that Harris played last season, but that number fell to .537 without him.

Harris is one of five Nets who will be coming off surgery when training camp opens, along with Seth Curry, Ben Simmons, T.J. Warren and Edmond Sumner.

There was a report in July that Brooklyn wanted to unload Harris’ contract, which pays him $38.6MM over the next two seasons, in trade talks with the Lakers involving Kyrie Irving. However, Lewis hears that the team had always planned to keep him.

“I know he’s someone they value at the highest level,” Bartelstein said. “There’s no question about that.”

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Stephen Curry Would Have Supported Kevin Durant Trade

September 12th, 2022 at 9:50am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant is still in Brooklyn after his trade request dominated the news for most of the summer. No one was willing to meet the Nets‘ high asking price, but Stephen Curry tells Matt Sullivan of Rolling Stone that he would have gladly welcomed Durant back to the Warriors.

Golden State was believed to be in a strong position to bid for Durant because of the team’s collection of young talent and draft assets. Curry revealed that there was “a conversation internally” involving Warriors management and selected players about pursuing a trade, and he was completely on board.

“I was never hesitant,” Curry said. “The idea of playing with KD and knowing who he is as a person, from our history in those three years, I think KD’s a really good dude. I think he is misunderstood. I think he has had certain things happen in his life that hurt his ability to trust people around him, in a sense of making him feel safe at all times. So all of those things, I understand, having played with him and gotten to know him. I love that dude.

“And if you said, ‘Oh, KD’s coming back, and we’re gonna play with him,’ I had so much fun playing with him those three years, I’d be like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ Then you have to think: What does that actually mean? What does it look like? You tell me I’m playing with [Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Draymond Green], I’m like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ There’s all types of emotion and things that happen to the league. And if anybody’s saying that you wouldn’t entertain that conversation — no disrespect to anybody on our team — but you don’t know how things work. But you also understand, like, if we run this thing back, I’ve got complete confidence in my team that we can win it again, as constructed.

“So, all those things were true. And it started with me wanting to play with KD at the beginning. Yeah, it’s about winning, it’s about having fun, playing the game of basketball. And that was part of the reaction of, like, ‘Yeah, it’d be amazing.’ What does that actually mean?”

The Warriors were extremely successful during Durant’s three years with the franchise, winning two NBA titles and losing in the 2019 Finals amid bad luck with injuries. He averaged 25.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists over those three seasons and was named Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018.

However, Durant was heavily criticized for his 2016 free agency decision to join Warriors, who were coming off a record-setting regular season and a seven-game loss in the NBA Finals. There were also outward signs of unhappiness, especially in his final year in the Bay Area. Durant ultimately made the decision to head to Brooklyn when he became a free agent again after the 2018/19 season.

One of Durant’s current Nets teammates is Seth Curry, who said he talked to his brother about the possibility of Durant returning to Golden State.

“For him to even be entertaining the thought of having KD back on the team kind of speaks to his character,” Seth told Rolling Stone in July. “Who knows? I might be in the trade with him.”

Sullivan also recounts a conversation that Stephen Curry had with Snoop Dogg regarding what Curry viewed as Durant’s unrealistic expectations of how much talent a team would have remaining after trading for him. Curry concluded that under the circumstances, Durant’s best move was to stay with Brooklyn.

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Atlantic Notes: Simmons, Nets, Sixers

September 11th, 2022 at 3:13pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After missing the entire 2021/22 season due to a trade demand holdout and a subsequent major back injury, pricey Nets star Ben Simmons has become the centerpiece of fan expectations heading into ’22/23, writes Net Income of NetsDaily.

Beyond some official workout imagery from Brooklyn’s social media team and appearances at Summer League in Las Vegas and supporting WNBA Barclays Center neighbors the New York Liberty, the 6’11” Simmons has been relatively quiet this offseason. On October 3, fans will presumably get a chance to see Simmons play his first healthy game for his new team, facing off against his old team, the Sixers, in a preseason contest.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • After an intense offseason where it looked at times like Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving would force their way out of town, Net Income of NetsDaily wonders if the team’s drama-filled summer will spill into training camp or the rapidly-approaching 2022/23 regular season. Net Income notes that “it appears” neither star has practiced with teammates at HSS Training Center during the offseason.
  • After a productive summer, the Sixers are hoping to advance beyond the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2001, writes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype in a 2022/23 season preview. Gozlan notes that the team took pains to shore up its depths. Highlights of Philadelphia’s offseason include adding two former Rockets-era teammates of All-Star point guard James Harden in veteran power forward P.J. Tucker and small forward Danuel House, trading for reserve guard De’Anthony Melton, and signing 2020 Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell and reigning G League MVP Trevelin Queen. Gozlan writes that the club could have the depth to capture the conference’s top seed this season, and that ascendant shooting guard Tyrese Maxey could emerge as an All-Star during his third NBA season. Everything of course revolves around the continued success 2022 MVP runner-up Joel Embiid, one of the best centers in the league. Gozlan notes that pick-and-rolls between Embiid and Harden could help the club help power the team’s offense.
  • In case you missed it, Rory Maher of Hoops Rumors wondered on Friday in a Community Shootaround whether the Knicks would be able to make the play-in tournament in 2023. Let us know what you think!
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Suns GM: “Brooklyn Wanted To Keep Kevin Durant in Brooklyn”

September 11th, 2022 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Suns general manager James Jones doesn’t believe the Nets were ever serious about moving Kevin Durant after his trade request in late June. In an interview with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, Jones said Brooklyn set its asking price on Durant so high that no team would be willing to meet it.

Durant reportedly named Phoenix and Miami as his preferred destinations when he first asked to be traded, and there was massive speculation that the Suns were the favorites to land him because they had what the Nets reportedly wanted: young talent and multiple first-round picks. However, Jones doubts that Brooklyn’s front office made a legitimate effort to part with its star.

“Cause Brooklyn wanted to keep Kevin Durant in Brooklyn,” Jones responded when asked why a trade didn’t happen. “And that’s why he’s in Brooklyn and not on some other team, but as far as with us, I get it. It’s always a great topic of discussion, but the one thing people forget is that when you’re talking about trades, or any player acquisition, the team that has the player has to be willing to move the player. And so if they’re not moving the player, which they didn’t, it’s just conversation and it’s great discussion. Great interest for the NBA fan base and the team fan base.”

Jones added that trade talks with the Nets never progressed past the initial stage. He said every team in the league probably made a call to Brooklyn to see what it would take to get Durant, but there was no “in-depth discussion” between the Suns and Nets.

Jones addressed a few other topics in the interview:

Dealing with Mikal Bridges after he was prominently mentioned in Durant trade rumors:

“Mikal’s watching and he’s watching reports and third parties report about him. I get it. Being a player on both sides of it, I truly understand it, but it’s a testament to Mikal’s ability. He’s a really good player. So I would assume any time someone is linked to us, a good player is linked to us, that our good players will be brought up by someone. It’s the nature of it, but I think speaking to Mikal, he understands the business. He understands he’s put himself in a position to be regarded as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Any discussion around great players, I would assume he’d be one of the first guy’s names that’s going to be thrown out there.”

The status of extension talks with Cameron Johnson:

“We’re having discussions. Cam is a big part of what we do. Really excited for the progress he’s shown over the last few years, especially last year. I think he’s primed to take some steps forward. We’re excited about this team, and we’re excited about the guys on this team one through 16. He’s definitely someone we’re going to need to take another step if we want to continue to progress and grow as a group.”

Possible roster moves before the start of training camp:

 “Always in evaluation mode. Always looking. Right now, we’re at 16 guys (14 standard, two two-way). There’s a chance I may add a couple more guys for training camp, but I think we’re close to the end of where we’ll be as far as our training camp roster goes.”

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New York Notes: Nets, Sumner, Lustgarten, Barkley, Wesley

September 10th, 2022 at 10:16am CST by Dana Gauruder

A fast start to the regular season would release a lot of the tension and uneasiness surrounding the Nets as they head into training camp, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes.

Media day will be much anticipated, as Kevin Durant will be asked why he wanted Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks fired, and the latter duo will have to discuss how they plan to coexist with the player who tried to oust them. They did already meet in Los Angeles to discuss the situation.

However, if things don’t go well during a rugged early schedule, issues created by Durant’s previous trade request and others regarding Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons could resurface, as Lewis observes.

We have more on the New York teams:

  • The Nets’ Edmond Sumner is excited about his progress from a ruptured Achilles that sidelined him last season when he was with the Pacers. He has apparently gone full speed in five-on-five scrimmages. He feels he can provide versatility to the club, as he told Chris Carrino on a podcast (hat tip to NetsDaily). “I feel I can do a lot of stuff, play off the ball, if you want me to play multiple positions. guard multiple positions,” he said. “I feel I can be a jack of all trades.” Sumner signed a two-year contract that is partially guaranteed in the first year and non-guaranteed in the second year.
  • Andrew Lustgarten is stepping down as CEO and president of MSG Sports, the parent of the Knicks and Rangers, according to Sportico.com. Lustgarten will stay on as MSG Sports CEO through the end of the year, when he will transition to the board. David Hopkinson, an executive vice president at MSG Sports, has been promoted to president and COO.
  • TNT analyst Charles Barkley said in Sirius XM interview (hat tip to Ian Begley of SNY.TV) that he spoke with Knicks executive William Wesley about why they didn’t complete a deal for Donovan Mitchell. Wesley told Barkley that the Jazz asked for too much.“They wanted my wife, my kids…. We wanted the deal, obviously,” Wesley told Barkley. “But he said they wanted my wife, they wanted my kids, they wanted my grandkids. They were just trying to rip somebody off.”
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Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Raptors, Celtics, Sumner

September 8th, 2022 at 8:19pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Knicks are hoping to rebound from a disappointing 2021/22 NBA season, with a $104MM new lead guard on the roster in Jalen Brunson. Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News assesses the club’s roster, projecting starters and the likely first names off the bench.

Bondy also notes that, in terms of potential future deals, 2019 lottery pick Cam Reddish, acquired in a midseason trade with the Hawks, seems to want to move on. “It’s clear Cam has no place there,” a source close to the 6’8″ small forward told the Daily News. Bondy writes that the big question mark in the team’s starting lineup is at the shooting guard position, where the battle for suiting up as Brunson’s new backcourt mate looks to be between Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Following a return to the playoffs in 2021/22, the Raptors will be looking to build off their 48-34 season. Eric Koreen of The Athletic identifies paths to improvement for Toronto, including All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam‘s pull-up three-pointers, second-year forward Scottie Barnes‘s defense on the wing, and swingman OG Anunoby‘s scoring in isolation.
  • The Celtics returned to the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years last season. Jared Weiss of The Athletic examines ways in which head coach Ime Udoka could look to preserve the health of injury-prone starting center Robert Williams and 36-year-old starting power forward Al Horford, including giving more minutes to reserve Luke Kornet.
  • New Nets wing Edmond Sumner has cleared an injury recovery hurdle, he announced in a tweet. The nature of the step Sumner took was not clarified. “Hit a big milestone today!” Sumner wrote in part. “Been patiently waiting to get up and down. Been grinding and trusting this process not rushing it.” Sumner signed with Brooklyn on a veteran’s minimum deal this offseason, after missing all of 2021/22 with a torn left Achilles tendon.
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Markieff Morris Contract Details

September 8th, 2022 at 5:44am CST by Luke Adams

Markieff Morris‘ one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Nets is non-guaranteed for now, but the veteran forward will receive a partial guarantee worth $500K if he isn’t waived on or before the first day of the regular season, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Morris’ partial guarantee would increase to $1MM if he hasn’t been cut by December 10. He would lock in his full $2,905,581 minimum salary (only $1,836,090 counts against the Nets’ cap) after the league-wide guarantee date in January, assuming he remains under contract.

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Celtics Notes: Brogdon, Smart, Durant, White

September 7th, 2022 at 10:46am CST by Luke Adams

New Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon is comfortable with the idea of playing a sixth man role for his new team as Marcus Smart retains the starting point guard job. As Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes, Brogdon is also confident that the two guards will complement one another well when they share the floor.

“I think we have different strengths,” Brogdon said. “He’s an All-Defensive player and Defensive Player of the Year, and he’s incredible in that facet, but I also think he contributes offensively. You’ve seen his game grow and seen him be able to knock down shots and create for his teammates.

“And we both can play on and off the ball. That’s the beauty of us. We’re smart, we have high IQs, and we’re unselfish, so I think it’s going to work well.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

  • Although they were once viewed as a serious suitor for Kevin Durant, the Celtics never came “remotely close” to actually acquiring the former MVP, according to Himmelsbach, who heard from league sources that the Nets never pushed particularly hard to trade Durant.
  • Jared Weiss of The Athletic considers possible trade options the Celtics could explore with Danilo Gallinari expected to miss most or all of the 2022/23 season, suggesting that Derrick White could potentially become a trade chip if Brogdon is healthy and effective. However, Weiss notes that Gallinari was more of a luxury than a necessity, meaning the team won’t feel urgency to go out and acquire a replacement.
  • In his latest mailbag, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston discusses Sam Hauser‘s role, the battle for back-end roster spots, and expectations for Payton Pritchard, among other Celtics-related topics.
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