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Injury Notes: Giannis, Butler, Bulls, Pelicans/Kings

April 19th, 2024 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

After Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday that the Bucks are preparing to be without Giannis Antetokounmpo for the start of their first round series against Indiana, Shams Charania of The Athletic confirmed on Thursday on Stadium’s Playoff Preview show (Twitter video link) that the star forward’s status “is still in doubt” for the series.

“He has been rehabbing daily with that strained calf, getting treatment,” Charania said. “He has had even some stationary workouts on the court, but he is doubtful to start the series. I’m told this injury could be anywhere from two to four weeks, potentially. We know his superhuman ability, but that clearly puts his status for this series in jeopardy.

“The Bucks (and) Giannis have to have some level of caution in being careful with this calf injury. Already this season, Giannis has had Achilles tendinitis, a hamstring injury as well, and now this calf strain. The last thing (they) would want is for him to get back, rush on the floor with a calf injury, not being 100% and then potentially tweaking that or leading to even worse injuries.”

Crucially, Charania didn’t clarify whether or not the two-to-four-week timeline he cited applies retroactively — Antetokounmpo has been sidelined since April 9 as a result of the injury, so he has already been out for 10 days. Assuming the projected recovery timeline described by Charania began on the date of the injury, the two-time MVP still has a chance to play at some point in round one.

Here are a few more injury-related updates from around the NBA:

  • Jimmy Butler‘s agent Bernie Lee took exception with Thursday’s reports that his client would miss several weeks as a result of his knee injury, suggesting that they were premature, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relays (via Twitter). “We’re going to see the doctor later today,” Lee said on Thursday afternoon, “and it just blows my mind that somebody that wasn’t in the arena has somehow come up with a medical timeline of something that literally four of us, one is the person that got hurt, and me, the person that has conversations with everything, that everything gets filtered through. We don’t even know and now we’re having to live in someone else’s created reality of you know something that I didn’t know.” The Heat subsequently confirmed that Butler had sustained an MCL sprain, though the team didn’t offer any sort of timeline beyond ruling him out for Friday’s play-in game. MCL sprains are typically multi-week injuries.
  • Bulls role players Alex Caruso (left ankle sprain), Ayo Dosunmu (right quad contusion), and Andre Drummond (left ankle sprain) have all been listed as questionable for Friday’s play-in game vs. Miami. Dosunmu and Drummond, who were also both listed as questionable for Tuesday’s contest, seem like relatively safe bets to play, while Caruso is expected to be a game-time decision.
  • There are no surprises on the Pelicans/Kings injury report for Friday, though the absences on each side are notable. Zion Williamson (left hamstring strain) is the only New Orleans player sidelined, while Sacramento is missing Malik Monk (right knee sprain) and Kevin Huerter (left shoulder surgery).
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NBAGL All-League, Defensive, Rookie Teams Announced

April 18th, 2024 at 4:27pm CST by Rory Maher

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:

All-NBA G League Second Team:

All-NBA G League Third Team:

G League All-Defensive Team:

G League All-Rookie Team:

* Denotes two-way contract

^ Denotes standard contract

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Dosunmu, Drummond Active For Play-In Game

April 17th, 2024 at 8:55pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu, who has been dealing with a bruised quad, was cleared to play and is in the starting lineup for tonight’s game with Atlanta, tweets KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Reserve center Andre Drummond, who is recovering from a sprained left ankle, is also active (Twitter link).
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Poll: Who Will Win Wednesday’s Play-In Games?

April 17th, 2024 at 7:11am CST by Luke Adams

When we polled Hoops Rumors readers on Tuesday’s play-in games 24 hours ago, nearly half the respondents predicted victories for both the Lakers and Warriors, with roughly 36.7% forecasting a Pelicans win and only about 13.9% picking both the Lakers and Kings.

But that latter scenario is the one that played out, as the Lakers escaped New Orleans with a narrow victory to secure the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed, while the Kings got some level of revenge for last year’s first-round playoff exit by dispatching Golden State in the No. 9 vs. 10 game.

The Pelicans will now host the Kings in Friday’s do-or-die play-in game for the West’s No. 8 seed, but in the meantime, we have a pair of Eastern Conference play-in games on tap for Wednesday night.

In the early game, the No. 8 Heat will visit Philadelphia and battle the No. 7 Sixers for the right to claim the seventh seed and a first-round matchup with New York.

The stakes are high — while either team would be a significant favorite at home in a play-in game on Friday, losing tonight would result in a best-case scenario of a first-round date with the Celtics, who had the NBA’s best record for nearly the entire season. The Sixers and Heat would presumably rather take their chances with the Knicks.

Both teams have some injuries to deal with entering Wednesday’s game. The 76ers will be missing De’Anthony Melton (back) and Robert Covington (knee), while the Heat will be without Josh Richardson (shoulder) and Terry Rozier (neck).

Sixers center Joel Embiid is listed on the injury report as questionable due to left knee injury recovery, but there’s no doubt he’ll suit up — whether or not he’ll be anywhere near 100% is an open question. Embiid has only played five games since returning from knee surgery, and while he scored at least 30 points in three of those outings, his knee seemed to be bothering him on Friday, forcing him to sit out Sunday’s regular season finale.

If Embiid looks like himself, it bodes well for the Sixers, who have a +10.3 net rating in the big man’s 1,309 minutes on the court this season and went 31-8 in the games he played.

On the other hand, the Heat showed last spring that they’re extremely comfortable playing as a lower seed on the road with their backs against the wall, though it’s worth noting that the Miami team that made it to the NBA Finals did lose its first play-in game. The Heat, whose 24-17 road record this season ranked second among Eastern teams, are currently listed as five-point underdogs, per BetOnline.ag.

In the late game, the No. 9 Bulls are three-point favorites at home against the No. 10 Hawks. It has been an up-and-down season for both teams, who haven’t given us much reason to believe that a deep playoff run is in the cards.

The Bulls had the NBA’s 19th-best offensive rating and 22nd-best defensive rating this season for an overall net rating of -1.7 (20th). They also have a lengthy injury report. Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball, Patrick Williams, and Onuralp Bitim are out due to season-ending injuries, while Julian Phillips (right midfoot sprain) remains unavailable and Andre Drummond (left ankle sprain) and Ayo Dosunmu (right quad contusion) are considered questionable to suit up.

Still, Chicago will have DeMar DeRozan, Coby White, and Nikola Vucevic available to provide offensive firepower, while defensive ace Alex Caruso attempts to slow down Atlanta’s star backcourt.

Like Embiid in Philadelphia, Hawks leading scorer Trae Young only recently returned from a lengthy injury absence, appearing in the team’s final three regular season games after missing the previous 23 due to hand surgery. If he’s not in peak form, more offensive responsibilities will fall to fellow guards Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

The Hawks had the NBA’s 12th-best offense this season but ranked just 27th on defense and finished behind the Bulls in overall net rating, with a -2.0 mark (No. 21). They also have some key injury absences of their own, with Jalen Johnson (right ankle sprain), Onyeka Okongwu (left big toe sprain), and Saddiq Bey (torn ACL) all sidelined.

Given that the two teams look relatively evenly matched, it’s possible home-court advantage could be the difference for the Bulls. The Hawks went just 15-26 on the road this season.

We want to know what you think. Will it be the Sixers or Heat clinching their playoff berth today? Will it be the end of the road for the Bulls or the Hawks?

Make your Eastern Conference play-in picks in the poll below, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!

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Bulls’ Onuralp Bitim Has Detached Retina, Out For Postseason

April 16th, 2024 at 1:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Onuralp Bitim‘s rookie season is over, according to the Bulls, who announced today in a press release that the Turkish wing will be unavailable for the rest of the postseason.

Bitim has been diagnosed with a detached retina in his right eye and will require season-ending surgery to address the injury, per the team.

Bitim just completed his first NBA season after playing professionally for several years in Turkey. He made the All-EuroCup Second Team for Bursaspor last season, averaging 18.1 points and 3.2 assists in 18 EuroCup contests, before agreeing to come stateside to join the Bulls.

The 25-year-old began the season on a two-way contract but was promoted to Chicago’s standard roster in February and began to see some action at the NBA level around that time.

After making his NBA debut on February 22, Bitim ultimately appeared in 22 total games for Chicago, averaging 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .381/.273/.800.

While he had a few impressive games in the second half, Bitim likely wouldn’t have seen much – if any – action for the Bulls in the postseason. Of course, Chicago’s postseason run may not extend beyond Wednesday, since the team faces a win-or-go-home play-in game vs. the Hawks.

Bitim’s contract features non-guaranteed minimum salaries for the next two seasons beyond this one, so Chicago will have the option of bringing him back at a team-friendly rate.

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DeRozan Tops League In Minutes; Dosunmu, Drummond Uncertain For Play-In

April 15th, 2024 at 11:06am CST by Arthur Hill
  • Thirty-four-year-old DeMar DeRozan finished the season as the NBA’s leader in minutes, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. The Bulls swingman was on the court for 2,988 minutes, his highest total in a decade, as he became the first player over age 30 to league the league in that category since LeBron James did it six years ago. “And he doesn’t miss practice. He doesn’t miss shootaround,” Coby White said of DeRozan. “He’s early to everything. Those are the things I notice. He’s always on time. He’s always one of the first ones there. You know how some guys can be. And for him, it’s just his professionalism day in and day out never changes.”
  • The Bulls have some injury concerns heading into Wednesday’s play-in game, notes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Ayo Dosunmu has a bruised quad and Andre Drummond is dealing with a sprained left ankle, and neither is certain to play against Atlanta. ‘‘Ayo is having issues with the running and the starting and the sprinting and the stopping,’’ coach Billy Donovan said. ‘‘There’s been some discomfort there for him. He has to get over that hurdle. I think there is hope he can clear those hurdles.’’
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Donovan: Not Built For Deep Playoff Run

April 14th, 2024 at 9:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hawks, who will face the Bulls in the play-in tournament on Tuesday, could have promoted two-way player Vit Krejci to a standard contract and made him eligible for the postseason. They chose not to do so, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Lauren Williams reports.

  • As for the Bulls, coach Billy Donovan admits the season didn’t play out the way the organization hoped, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago relays. The Bulls finished with an offensive rating of 114, which ranked 20th, Johnson notes, while their top-five defense from last season dropped to No. 22, having allowed 115.7 points per 100 possessions. “Organizationally, is this where we want to be going forward? No, we want to be in a situation where you’re making deep playoff runs. We’re not that right now,” Donovan said. “But I give our guys a lot of credit for fighting and competing and giving ourselves an opportunity to advance.”
  • The combination of Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby has been dazzling, Zach Braziller of the New York Post notes. The Knicks are 19-2 when both have played. Entering Sunday’s game, an overtime win over the Bulls, the team had a net rating of +24.7 and an offensive rating of 125.8 spanning 599 minutes when the duo shared the court. Brunson poured in 40 points on Sunday while Anunoby added 11. They also combined for 11 assists and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who enter the postseason as a No. 2 seed.
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Eastern Conference’s Top Six, Play-In Tournament Set For 2024

April 14th, 2024 at 3:23pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

It came down to a blown DeMar DeRozan overtime buzzer beater attempt, but the Knicks finally clinched the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed by winning a nationally broadcast ESPN clash against the Bulls this afternoon.

Earlier in the day, several other East playoff and play-in clubs wrapped up their 2023/24 regular seasons, thus cementing the conference’s top 10 heading into the postseason. Six teams won between 47 and 50 games, with three clubs sporting identical 47-35 records.

Obviously the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds will be determined by the play-in tournament, which will tip off mid-week. That will thus dictate the 1-8 and 2-7 matchups of the first round.

Here is the finalized order of the Eastern Conference’s top 10 for the 2024 postseason:

  1. Boston Celtics (64-18)
  2. New York Knicks (50-32)
  3. Milwaukee Bucks (49-33)
  4. Cleveland Cavaliers (48-34)
  5. Orlando Magic (47-35)
  6. Indiana Pacers (47-35)
  7. Philadelphia 76ers (47-35)
  8. Miami Heat (46-36)
  9. Chicago Bulls (39-43)
  10. Atlanta Hawks (36-46)

Two matchups are now locked in, while two are yet to be determined.

The No. 3 Bucks will square off against the No. 6 Pacers. Indiana owns a 4-1 season record against Milwaukee (they faced off during the semifinals of this year’s inaugural in-season tournament). Milwaukee’s two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out the team’s final three games of the regular season due to a left calf strain, and his status for the beginning of the playoffs is unclear.

The No. 4 Cavaliers will play the No. 5 Orlando Magic. Those two teams have split their season series, 2-2.

Per the NBA, here is the breakdown of this year’s Eastern Conference play-in tournament schedule, slated to start this Wednesday, April 17 via ESPN:

  • No. 7 Philadelphia will host No. 8 Miami at 6 p.m. CT. The victor will advance as the No. 7 seed to play the Knicks, who will be without All-Star power forward Julius Randle for the duration of the playoffs.
  • No. 9 Chicago will host No. 10 Atlanta at 8:30 p.m. CT. The winner will advance to play whichever team loses the 7-8 matchup.
  • The loser of the Sixers/Heat matchup will host the winner of Bulls/Hawks on Friday, April 19. That contest’s winner will move on to play the Celtics as the East’s No. 8 seed.

The first round of the playoffs will officially tip off on Saturday, April 20.

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Carter Stays Professional Amid Difficult Season

April 14th, 2024 at 9:34am CST by Rory Maher
  • While Jevon Carter‘s first NBA season in his hometown hasn’t gone the way he envisioned when he signed with the Bulls in free agency, he has been a positive voice in the locker room and has stayed professional even when he hasn’t been part of the rotation, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “I’ve been here before,” Carter said. “This is my sixth year in the league. Every year, I’ve had to prove myself. But I never lose that confidence. I work too hard.”
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Central Notes: Mitchell, Sanogo, Bulls, Sasser, Green

April 13th, 2024 at 8:22am CST by Tristan Tucker

Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell is looking like he’s regained his All-Star form over the past two games after a rough combination of injuries and off-nights following Valentine’s Day, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon writes. Mitchell appeared in just nine games since the mid-point of February and averaged 16.9 points per contest on 37.8% shooting, well below his season averages of 26.6 PPG and 46.2%.

His return to form began on Wednesday against the Grizzlies when Mitchell shot 52.9% from the field (9-of-17), his highest mark since Feb. 27. According to Vardon, Mitchell’s knee injury sapped him of the ability to get by defenders and get to the rim since mid-February, but he moved around much better against Memphis and he was more vocal and animated than he had been in recent weeks. For what it’s worth, coach J.B. Bickerstaff expects Mitchell to fully get back into form before the postseason begins.

“To me, there is no doubt that he’ll get there,” Bickerstaff said. “We’ve got three games in almost 14 days, so he has an opportunity to do some really good work on his body, on the court. We know who Donovan is and what he is capable of.”

Mitchell followed his game against Memphis with a 33-point outing against the Pacers that saw him record five assists and four steals, the latter of which matched his season-best mark. As a result of the win, Cleveland clinched a playoff berth and a top-four seed. During the nine games Mitchell struggled, the Cavs went 4-5. In the two wins this week, Mitchell scored a combined 62 points, three m0re than he had in his previous four games combined.

“The biggest thing for me is just to continue to build my confidence back up in my body,” Mitchell said after Wednesday’s game. “The biggest cure for this is rest. I don’t have time for that. … I consider myself a pretty mentally strong person, so just being able to find ways to adapt to the situation. I felt really good tonight, and just continue to build on that.”

We have more from the Central Division:

  • The Bulls clinched home-court advantage in next week’s play-in game against the Hawks, and coach Billy Donovan said he’d consult with the players and medical staff for their final two regular-season games, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Much of the Bulls’ rotation went on to not play on Friday against the Wizards as they manage injuries. As a result, several of Chicago’s end-of-roster pieces got extended playing time. Two-way center Adama Sanogo became just the second rookie this season to post a 20-point, 20-rebound game, joining Victor Wembanyama. “I don’t think I got here by chance,” Sanogo said, per The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry (Twitter link). “I got here because these guys believe in me. These guys think I can have a chance. I’ve got to show that, too, that I can do this.” Other role players like Javonte Green (24 points), Jevon Carter (12 assists) and Henri Drell (23 minutes, career-nine points) also had big nights.
  • The Bulls started the season at 5-14 but have since gone 33-28 despite injuries to Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams, prompting Donovan to acknowledge how far the team has come, Johnson writes in the same NBC Sports Chicago story. “I’m happy for these guys,” Donovan said. “I think sometimes when you just look in the moment of where you’re at, sometimes you don’t get a chance to look at where you started. I’ve said before: It was a rough start for us. And I really appreciate the guys in that locker room sticking together, fighting, not quitting, not making excuses or pointing fingers and trying to rally and pull together and play better.“
  • Rookie guard Marcus Sasser has been a bright spot in a nightmarish Pistons season that has resulted in the franchise’s worst win percentage of all time. Sasser has appeared in 70 games, starting 10, and averaged 8.1 points and 3.3 assists while making 37.3% of his three-point shots. The Houston product reflected on his rookie year, saying he wants to get mentally stronger for next season, per The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III (Twitter link). “It’s definitely a big jump, but that’s what makes this job fun,” Sasser said. “It’s not for everybody“
  • Bucks guard A.J. Green departed Wednesday’s game against the Magic in the second quarter with a left ankle injury. The Bucks announced that he underwent an MRI on Thursday which revealed a left ankle sprain; he was ruled out for at least the team’s final two regular season games (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Eric Nehm). Green has averaged 4.5 points in 11.0 minutes per night while shooting 40.8% from three.
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