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Central Notes: LaVine, Donovan, Bey, Nesmith, Stewart

November 20th, 2022 at 8:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bulls star Zach LaVine, who re-signed with the team this summer, let off some steam after getting benched in the late going of a loss to Orlando on Friday.

Donovan said on Sunday that LaVine and the the team’s other top players must live up to a standard to maintain their minutes, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago relays.

“There’s a lot he can do to get into the game. If the scoring isn’t there for whatever reason, we’ve got to have a group standard,” Donovan said. “And it wasn’t all about him. Clearly the whole group in the first half, (the Magic) scored 66 points and then we gave up 42 in the second half. That game was two halves. With the way the game was going, you get caught as a coach thinking, ‘We’ve got to do something different here.’ Sometimes those decisions work and sometimes they don’t.”

LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic need to get into a rhythm early in order for the Bulls to be effective, Donovan told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times and other media members.

“We’re never going to be as good as we can be as a team until those three guys really drive the opening part of the game. … Those three guys are important to our team, and if we’re working around them . . . I don’t know if we can ever get where we need to get to.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Saddiq Bey has his streak of 152 consecutive games played — the second-longest in the league — snapped when the Pistons forward sat out against Sacramento on Sunday. Bey tried to push through his ankle sprain and keep the streak alive, Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press tweets. However, he was ruled out during warmups.
Aaron Nesmith scored a season-high 19 points for the Pacers on Saturday and forward Jalen Smith said his teammate was due for a big offensive game, he told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “We all know what Aaron can do,” Smith said. “Aaron’s one of the best shooters on the team, arguably one of the best shooters in the NBA in my opinion. We knew that he was due for a breakout game some time soon. We kept telling him to keep trusting himself, keep shooting. It’s going to fall sometime soon. It can’t be off all the time.”
Longtime Bucks scout Ron Stewart passed away unexpectedly on Friday, the team tweets. Stewart scouted pro and college players for Milwaukee after previously serving as the head women’s basketball coach at Western Michigan.

Zach LaVine Frustrated By Late-Game Benching

November 19th, 2022 at 8:54am CST by Luke Adams

Bulls star Zach LaVine was on the bench for the final three minutes and 43 seconds of the team’s 108-107 loss to Orlando on Friday and was “obviously frustrated” when he spoke to reporters after the game about the decision, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

LaVine had scored just four points on 1-of-14 shooting in his first 25 minutes and was a team-worst minus-19 on the night. When head coach Billy Donovan replaced him with Ayo Dosunmu, the Bulls were down 101-97. The team subsequently went on a 10-2 run before ultimately losing the game on a Jalen Suggs three-pointer with five seconds remaining.

“That’s Billy’s decision. He gotta lay with it,” LaVine said, per Johnson. “Do I agree with it? No. I think I can go out there and still be me even if I miss some shots. But that’s his decision. He has to stand on it.

“I’ve missed a lot of shots, man. But I’ve had a lot of games where I played terrible and in four to five minutes, I can get 15, 16 points. I just wasn’t able to shoot the next shot.”

In addition to his struggles on offense, LaVine looked “a step slow” on defense, according to Johnson. The two-time All-Star said he wasn’t sure whether he’d talk to Donovan to seek out an explanation for the decision, but the Bulls’ head coach offered one voluntarily during his own postgame media session.

“He had a tough night shooting and I thought that group really fought their way back into the game,” Donovan said, referring to the five-man unit of Dosunmu, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso, and Javonte Green. “I played DeMar the whole second half. He seemed like he was fine physically. I came back to Zach and it was one of those games for him. He just didn’t have a great game. Great players, it happens. He cares deeply about the team. He just wasn’t playing well.

“… I’m sure he’s really disappointed. He’s a really, really competitive guy. I love working with him every day. He’s about the team. I know how much he puts into it and how much it means to him,” Donovan continued, adding that he wasn’t worried about the move having any long-term ramifications.

“The ramifications of him not being out there, to me, I was trying to do what was best for our team in that moment. That’s my job and my responsibility. I thought that was the best decision at the time. To me, I don’t look at it as anything else other than a one-off game. I know he wanted to be out there. There probably aren’t very many games in his career that he hasn’t been out there in those minutes. But that group was playing well.”

LaVine is coming off an eventful summer in which he underwent left knee surgery and also signed a five-year, maximum-salary contract worth approximately $215MM. He has missed a few games already this season as the Bulls manage his recovery from that surgery and has yet to fully hit his stride — his 20.7 points per game and 41.5% shooting percentage are his lowest marks since he averaged 16.7 PPG on 38.3% shooting in an injury-shortened 2017/18 season, his first year in Chicago.

Although LaVine wasn’t thrilled by having to watch the deciding moments of a close loss – the Bulls’ fourth in a row – from the sidelines, he said on Friday night that he’ll try to move past it.

“Obviously, I have to do a better job at the beginning of the game. I gotta make my shots,” LaVine said. “But you play a guy like me down the stretch. That’s what I do. Do I like the decision? No. Do I gotta live with it? Yeah and be ready to put my shoes on and play the next game.”

Injury Updates: Magic, Bulls, Celtics, Raptors, Heat, Hayward, More

November 18th, 2022 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic will be getting some reinforcements for Friday’s game in Chicago, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Veteran guard Gary Harris has been cleared to make his regular season debut following offseason arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, Price reports. Additionally, starting center Wendell Carter Jr. will be back in the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game due to a strained right plantar fascia.

Orlando’s opponents also got some good injury-related news on Friday. As Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago writes, Bulls guard Coby White (left quad contusion) and forward Patrick Williams (right ankle sprain) both said at Friday’s shootaround that they’ll be able to play against the Magic. White has missed the last eight games as a result of his injury; Williams sprained his ankle on Wednesday, but it appears the injury won’t cost him any games.

Here are several more injury updates from around the NBA:

As expected, Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon will be available on Friday vs. New Orleans after missing four games with a hamstring injury. However, the team announced that Marcus Smart (right ankle inflammation) will miss a second straight game (Twitter link).
The already shorthanded Raptors will be missing Gary Trent Jr. and Chris Boucher on Saturday vs. Atlanta due to non-COVID illnesses, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. However, Eric Koreen of The Athletic tweets that Dalano Banton‘s ankle sprain isn’t as serious as initially feared and Pascal Siakam (adductor strain) has resumed on-court activity. Another update on Siakam is expected in a week or so, Koreen adds.
Heat star Jimmy Butler (knee soreness) has been ruled out for Friday’s game against Washington and it’s possible that Bam Adebayo (knee contusion) won’t be available either, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Adebayo is currently listed as questionable.
Hornets forward Gordon Hayward, who has been on the shelf since November 2 due to a left shoulder contusion, has been upgraded from doubtful to questionable for Friday’s game vs. Cleveland, according to the team (Twitter link).
Pacers sharpshooter Chris Duarte isn’t expected to be available during the team’s upcoming four-game home stand, but could return from his ankle sprain at some point in the subsequent seven-game road trip, tweets Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. That trip begins on November 27 and runs through December 7.
Sixers guard Jaden Springer, currently assigned to the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League, will miss at least one week due to a right quadriceps strain, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com.

Central Notes: Crowder, Bucks, Lopez, Cavs, Duren, Bulls

November 18th, 2022 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

After reporting earlier in the week that the Suns appeared to be making real progress on trading Jae Crowder – perhaps in a three-team scenario – Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports was hesitant to offer many specific details in the latest episode of his Please Don’t Aggregate This podcast on Thursday, noting that he has yet to confirm the exact framework of the deals Phoenix is discussing. However, Fischer was able to identify a presumed frontrunner for Crowder.

“The only other thing I really feel comfortable sharing and confident sharing is that people around the situation have said that Milwaukee is the most likely team to land him,” Fischer said. “I can say that.”

As Fischer notes, he reported last week that the Bucks – who have long been identified as a possible suitor for Crowder – were gauging Grayson Allen‘s trade value around the league. So if Milwaukee does make a deal for Crowder, it seems likely that Allen would be an outgoing piece, either to Phoenix or to a third team.

Here’s more from around the Central:

After missing most of last season due to a back injury, Bucks center Brook Lopez is healthy and making a significant impact on the defensive end this season, according to Nekias Duncan of BasketballNews.com, who argues that the big man should be in the early Defensive Player of the Year conversation. Lopez is on an expiring contract and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
Logan Murdock of The Ringer takes a look at the Cavaliers‘ recent slump and their efforts to become a title contender without LeBron James for the first time in the 21st century. “I think for all of us, everyone is preaching championship,” Cavs wing Caris LeVert told Murdock. “I’ve been around a lot of teams, and it’s a long season. A lot of things happen within the season. So I think for us, just staying focused on the day-to-day, getting the most of each day, trying to maximize our potential each and every day will take care of all the rest of the stuff.”
Pistons center Jalen Duren is the NBA’s youngest player and the only one who was born after LeBron James made his NBA debut in 2003, but his teammates and coaches have been impressed with his maturity, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.com. “He don’t feel 18. He’s not built like he’s 18,” Isaiah Stewart said of Duren, who turns 19 on Friday. “He’s built like a grown man. He’s very mature for his age.”
In a pair of stories for The Chicago Sun-Times, Joe Cowley considers what’s next for the enigmatic Coby White once he gets healthy and wonders if some lineup changes are in store for the struggling Bulls.

Bulls Notes: Dosunmu, Markkanen, Williams, Ball, White

November 17th, 2022 at 5:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Second-year Bulls point guard Ayo Dosunmu wants his head coach Billy Donovan to hold nothing back in his approach, and Donovan has delivered, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. Mayberry notes that Donovan is generally more conversant with younger Chicago players than he is with the team’s vets.

“He just wants me to reach my full potential,” Dosunmu said of Donovan. “He tells me a lot. He’s always coaching with tough love. I love that because that’s making me become a better player. I want to soak up as much information as I can to try to get better every game. Coach does that. He’s always on me when I do things positive and negative. And I think at the end of the day that’s going to make me become a better player and help our team become a better team.”

In his second NBA season, the 6’5″ guard out of Illinois is averaging 11.7 PPG on .488/.353/.923 shooting splits. He is also chipping in 3.8 RPG, 3.2 APG and 0.8 SPG.

There’s more out of the Windy City:

Seven-foot Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, drafted by the Bulls with the No. 7 pick in 2017 out of Arizona, has enjoyed a breakout run with an upstart 10-5 Utah club thus far. Chicago can learn a lot from Markkanen’s growth into a fringe All-Star talent, especially with regards to the way the team handles raw third-year forward Patrick Williams, opines K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
Although the Bulls are clearly missing the three-point marksmanship and perimeter defense of injured starting point guard Lonzo Ball, the team’s bigger problems will remain even after he returns, Johnson writes in a separate piece. The Bulls lack reliable volume three-point shooters and solid two-way players, which is part of the reason Chicago has is off to a middling 6-9 start this season.
Young Bulls role players Williams and Coby White are listed as questionable to play on Friday against a beatable 4-11 Magic team, reports Rob Schafer of NBC Sports Chicago. White’s status actually represents an improvement, as he has missed the last eight Chicago contests with a left quad contusion. Williams sprained his right ankle late in the Bulls’ 124-110 loss to the Pelicans on Wednesday.

And-Ones: Wembanyama, 2023 Draft, Best Trade Assets, More

November 17th, 2022 at 9:18am CST by Luke Adams

Victor Wembanyama led France to a pair of blowout victories in this month’s World Cup qualifiers, scoring 39 total points in 48 minutes as the French team beat Lithuania by 25 points and Bosnia and Herzegovina by 36. The performances on the international stage were the latest reminder why Wembanyama is ranked atop every draft expert’s big board for 2023.

That list of draft experts includes Jonathan Givony of ESPN, who unveiled his full top-100 list for the 2023 NBA draft on Thursday, with the usual suspects (Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson) leading the way.

Givony’s initial list features Overtime Elite’s Amen Thompson at No. 3, Arkansas’ Nick Smith Jr. at No. 4, and Villanova’s Cam Whitmore at No. 5. Keyonte George, Ausar Thompson, Dillon Mitchell, Kel’el Ware, and Brandon Miller round out his top 10.

In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Givony also shared his impressions on this year’s Champions Classic, evaluating Duke’s Kyle Filipowski as a lottery prospect and taking a closer look at Gradey Dick‘s strong start to the season for Kansas.

Which NBA teams have the best collection of trade assets? Yossi Gozlan and the staff at HoopsHype rank the Thunder, Pelicans, and the Grizzlies as the top three due to their impressive mix of young talent and future draft picks. On the other end of the spectrum, the Wizards are considered the team with the least valuable trade assets.
Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today takes a look at nine players who are making an impact this season after changing teams in the summer, starting with Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland, while Frank Urbina of HoopsHype singles out nine players who appear to be taking a major leap forward, including Lauri Markkanen and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
In his latest look around the NBA, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer considers whether the Warriors and Bulls will have to turn to the trade market this season, explores Joel Embiid‘s ongoing evolution, and highlights some of the league’s most impressive three-point shooters.
John Hollinger of The Athletic breaks out the “panic meter” to determine how concerned we should be about some would-be contenders who are off to slow starts. Hollinger isn’t too worried about the Sixers and Clippers, but has serious reservations about the Timberwolves, Nets, and Lakers, with the Heat and Warriors falling in the middle.

Bulls Notes: Terry, Donovan, White, Slow Start

November 14th, 2022 at 10:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

First-round pick Dalen Terry has made only eight cameo appearances for the Bulls this season. He was grateful to get a G League assignment with the Windy City Bulls, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago writes.

Terry got a chance to play extensive minutes in two games over the weekend before being recalled.

“It was a great experience. It felt good to go against somebody besides the imagination in my head,” Terry said. “There’s no better way to get back into game shape than going down and playing some games.”

We have more on the Bulls:

The Nuggets jumped all over Chicago on Sunday, grabbing a 62-47 halftime lead en route to a 23-point victory. Bulls coach Billy Donovan called the first-half performance inexcusable, according to Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun Times. ‘‘We had three days in terms of no games, so we should have been an extremely fresh basketball team,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘There’s always some form of adversity that hits the game, and we have to be better at thriving in that.’’
Coby White has missed the last seven games due to a quad injury and he didn’t practice on Monday. It’s unlikely he’ll practice on Tuesday either, Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago tweets.
The Bulls are off to a slow start mainly because executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas chose a path of continuity with a roster full of players with significant injury histories, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times opines.

Ayo Dosunmu Worked To Improve Three-Point Shot

November 12th, 2022 at 5:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

Last season’s frustrating playoff performance inspired Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu to improve his game during the offseason, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The Bucks swarmed DeMar DeRozan during their first-round series and dared Chicago’s other players to beat them from the outside. No one could deliver, as the Bulls shot just 28.3% from three-point range for the series and Dosunmu was 3-of-13. “I always want to get better,” said Dosunmu, who’s connecting at 38.3% on three-pointers this season. “So far I’ve prepared myself being shot-ready at all times. I try to take all the open shots. I try to get downhill, play to my strengths, playmake. But when the three is open, I’ve really been focusing on that.”

Bulls Notes: Vucevic, Roster, Drummond, White

November 11th, 2022 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Bulls center Nikola Vucevic was fined $15K by the NBA for making an “obscene gesture” during the first quarter of the team’s Wednesday loss to New Orleans, the league announced today (via Twitter). After being whistled for a traveling violation, Vucevic briefly flipped a middle finger in the direction of the stands (video link).

“I figured I would (get fined). It was just in the moment,” Vucevic said on Friday, per Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. “I got called for a travel. I heard somebody in the stands say something. It wasn’t really towards anybody. It was just frustration.

“Obviously not my proudest moment. I wish I hadn’t done it. But I knew as soon as I did it, there was a good chance somebody caught it. Obviously, I have to do better and make sure I don’t do that again. Just not a great moment. I apologize to the fans and everybody for it. I’ll learn from it.”

Here’s more on the Bulls:

Vucevic is in a contract year and knows he’s unlikely to receive an extension this season, telling K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago that “the front office kind of wants to see how everything goes this season before they make decisions.” The uncertainty might’ve stressed Vucevic out a few years ago, but now that his career earnings are in the nine figures, he’s not worrying about his next contract. “Obviously, when you have an extension, you have security. But one good thing about not having one is you still have options to do what you feel like is best for you and your family,” he said. “I’m not in a position where it’s like a pressing thing for me, where my whole life depends on it. I don’t have to worry about when I get my next contract, how big it’s going to be. I’ve set myself up for a nice life, post-career. That’s why I have more peace of mind now than maybe I had the first time when I was heading into (unrestricted free agency).”
According to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, some people around the NBA were surprised that the Bulls didn’t make any significant moves to try to upgrade their rotation in the offseason. Head coach Billy Donovan explained that injuries last season to Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams, among others, meant the Bulls never got a good look at their full roster. “I really felt after sitting down and talking to the front office that the hard part was we never saw our team really whole together for a long period of time,” Donovan told Bulpett. “I think the feeling was, you know what, like, hopefully we can get healthy and we can see what this group looks like.”
Andre Drummond‘s injured shoulder responded well after he returned to action on Wednesday and he should be good moving forward, tweets Schaefer. As for Coby White, he’s still dealing with swelling and a limited range of motion in his injured quad. White has made progress, but isn’t practicing yet, according to Donovan.

Northwest Notes: Hart, Wolves, KCP, Markkanen, Conley

November 10th, 2022 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers faced some criticism last winter for not receiving more in return when they traded CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. to New Orleans, but they certainly haven’t been disappointed by what they’ve gotten from Josh Hart, one of the key pieces in that deal.

A full-time starter this season for the 7-3 Blazers, Hart is attempting just 6.8 shots per 36 minutes in the early part of this season, by far a career low. But he’s filling up the box score by averaging 8.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, all of which are career bests, and is earning praise from his teammates, as Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian details.

“His last name is the perfect last name for him,” Damian Lillard said. “He rebounds like he is seven feet, he’s always in the passing lanes, he’s physical, playing hard, passionate, cares about winning. He doesn’t care about shots.”

While Hart admits that he wouldn’t mind a greater role on offense, he said he’s OK with taking a back seat to Lillard, Jerami Grant, and other teammates if that’s what’s best for the club.

“When you want to win, you’ve got to sacrifice,” Hart said, per Fentress. “I would love to be out there shooting 10, 12, 13 shots per game, and doing stuff like that. But at the end of the day, if you want to win, guys are going to have to sacrifice. Guys have to play different roles to help the team.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

It’s officially time to start worrying about the Timberwolves, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. The Wolves, who lost on Wednesday to a Suns squad missing Chris Paul and Cameron Johnson, have shown “no energy, no drive, and no heart” this season, Krawczynski writes, pointing out that the team has trailed by at least 18 points in six of its seven losses. “It’s just the sign of a team that’s lacking a little bit of confidence and purpose right now,” head coach Chris Finch said.
Acquired in an offseason trade, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been an ideal fit as a three-and-D piece for the Nuggets, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports, who says head coach Michael Malone has given Caldwell-Pope the freedom to deviate from the team’s defensive game plan when he sees fit.
Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, who is thriving in his new home in Utah, sat down with Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link) to discuss his trade from Cleveland, his goal of making an All-Star team, and why things didn’t work out with the Bulls, among other topics.
The presence of veteran point guard Mike Conley has been one important reason why so many of the Jazz‘s newly acquired players are fitting in seamlessly this season, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “I’ve played with some good point guards, but nothing like Mike,” Markkanen said on Wednesday. “He’s a really smart player and knows not just when to pass ball, but he delivers on target.”