Community Shootaround

Two point guards who squared off in the last three NBA Finals suddenly face health problems heading into this year’s playoffs.

Stephen Curry was diagnosed with a Grade 2 MCL sprain that was revealed in an MRI performed today on his left knee. Curry suffered the injury in Friday’s game, which marked his return to the court after missing two weeks with a tweaked right ankle. The Warriors announced that he will be re-evaluated in three weeks, which coincides with the start of the playoffs.

In Boston, Kyrie Irving is sidelined after undergoing a surgical procedure today on his left knee. The operation was described as minimally invasive and was performed to remove a tension wire that was inserted when he fractured his patella during the 2015 NBA Finals. Doctors say Irving should be able to resume basketball activities in three to six weeks, which doesn’t necessarily mean he will be cleared to play at that point.

Both teams are locked pretty solidly into second place in their respective conferences, so today’s injury news shouldn’t affect the regular season standings. However, both become more vulnerable in a first-round matchup if Curry and Irving can’t play.

The bottom of the West remains jumbled with the fourth-place Thunder and 10th-place Clippers separated by only four games in the loss column. Realistically, there are seven teams that could face Golden State in the first round, with each presenting a different challenge.

Things are a little more settled in the East, where the Bucks, Heat, Wizards or Pacers seem most likely to land in the seventh seed. Any of those teams could throw a scare into the Celtics, who will also be without Marcus Smart for about six more weeks after surgery to fix a torn ligament in his right thumb and Daniel Theis, who had season-ending surgery for a torn meniscus.

Our question for today is whether the Warriors or Celtics are now in danger of a first-round upset without their floor leaders. A lot depends on the eventual matchups, but do you see either team suffering an early playoff exit? Please jump into the comments section below and give us your feedback.

A year ago, when the regular season ended, Hoops Rumors readers made their picks for the three All-NBA teams for the 2016/17 season. Those selections matched the eventual results very closely, with 12 of our readers’ 15 picks matching the official All-NBA squads, including all five first-teamers.

We’ll do that again for the 2017/18 season next month, but before we formally place our votes, we want to check in on the All-NBA race at one particularly competitive position. No matter which six guards are selected to this year’s All-NBA teams, some deserving candidates are going to be left on the outside looking in.

James Harden (Rockets) is the heavy favorite to win this year’s MVP award, which should make him a lock for the All-NBA first team. However, it’s not clear who will join him. Russell Westbrook (Thunder) earned a spot on the 2017’s first team, and has been nearly as effective this season, averaging 25.3 PPG, 10.2 APG, and 9.6 RPG with an improved FG% (.448). But given how much competition he’ll have, Westbrook may not be a lock for the second – or even the third – All-NBA team, let alone the first.

DeMar DeRozan (Raptors) has been the best player on the Eastern Conference’s best team. But his numbers (23.6 PPG, 5.1 APG, 4.0 RPG, .463/.322/.826 shooting) haven’t necessarily been better than Victor Oladipo‘s (23.5 PPG, 4.2 APG, 5.3 RPG, 2.2 SPG, .471/.368/.804 shooting), and you could make the case that the job Oladipo has done to lead the Pacers to a 40-29 mark is as impressive as what DeRozan has done in Toronto, given the lack of star power on Indiana’s roster.

Damian Lillard‘s Trail Blazers suddenly look like one of the NBA’s four or five best teams, and Lillard’s play has been a huge reason for that, making it hard to leave him off the All-NBA list. Kyrie Irving (Celtics) fits that bill too — he has been everything Boston hoped for this season, leading the team to a probable No. 2 seed in the East despite playing without Gordon Hayward for the entire year.

Stephen Curry (Warriors) and Chris Paul (Rockets) have each missed a little time with injuries and play alongside superstar teammates, which may cost them a few votes,  but they’ve been outstanding in the 50 games they’ve played. Houston is 43-7 with Paul in its lineup, and Curry has shot a blistering 42.4% on nearly 10 three-point attempts per game.

We’ve already listed eight worthy candidates for All-NBA slots, and haven’t even mentioned Kyle Lowry (Raptors), Bradley Beal (Wizards), Klay Thompson (Warriors), or Jimmy Butler (Timberwolves), who has played 80% of his minutes at shooting guard this season, according to Basketball-Reference’s data.

What do you think? Which six players would make up your All-NBA backcourts right now? What would have to happen during the season’s final month to change your picks?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Our focus at Hoops Rumors is always on the NBA, but the rest of the basketball world will be concentrating on the college game for the next few weeks. Casual fans of the NCAA may be getting their first look at some of the top players who have been filling up mock drafts throughout the winter.

It appears that for the third straight season, the No. 1 pick won’t be in the tournament. Scouts say Slovenian star Luka Doncic has an NBA-ready game, and he may be the safest choice in June. However, there will be plenty of lottery picks on display when the tourney kicks off this week.

Here are a few names to consider when filling out your brackets:

• DeAndre Ayton, Arizona — The seven-footer is second behind Doncic in the latest mock draft compiled by Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Ayton brings a major presence on both ends of the court and is averaging 19.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. The Wildcats are in the Pac 12 finals tonight and appear to be headed for a top four seed.
• Marvin Bagley III, Duke — Bagley is another imposing inside presence who may be able to succeed at center or power forward in the NBA. He is averaging 21.1 points and 11.5 rebounds per night while shooting better than 60% from the field for a Blue Devils team that will also be among the top seeds.
• Mo Bamba, Texas — This year’s draft is rich in big men, and Bamba may be the most imposing of them all, at least on defense. He averaged 3.7 blocks per game this year to go with 12.9 points and 10.4 rebounds. The Longhorns were a second-round loser in the Big 12 tournament, but appear to be safe for an NCAA bid.
• Jaren Jackson, Michigan State — Another intimidating big man, Jackson blocked 3.2 shots per game while scoring 11.3 points and pulling down 5.8 rebounds. He shoots nearly 40% from 3-point range, a quality that teams are looking for in a modern center.
• Michael Porter Jr., Missouri — Porter was one of the top recruits in the nation last summer and may have had a shot at being the top pick if not for a back injury that wiped out nearly his entire season. He returned for the SEC Tournament and could have an even greater presence once the NCAAs begin.
• The nation’s top two point guards could both have nervous waits tomorrow as the field of 68 is unveiled. Collin Sexton‘s Alabama team may have secured a late bid by beating Auburn on Friday, while Trae Young‘s Oklahoma team is on the bubble after a second-half slump.

We want to get your input. Which players are you most looking forward to watching under the March Madness spotlight? Jump into the comments section below and give us your feedback.

After our Community Shootaround discussion on Tuesday focused on coaches who could be out of work this spring, it only seems fair to highlight the coaches on the opposite end of the spectrum today. There are several NBA head coaches who are not only safe to keep their jobs next season, but also deserve Coach of the Year consideration for the work they’ve done this season.

A handful of NBA.com analysts discussed the top Coach of the Year candidates today, and each of those five writers identified Raptors head coach Dwane Casey as a top contender for the award. Toronto had won at least 48 games for four consecutive years coming into 2017/18, so it’s not as if the team’s success has come out of nowhere. But after losing key players like P.J. Tucker, Cory Joseph, and Patrick Patterson in the offseason, the Raptors were considered likely to take a step back this year. Instead, an overhauled offensive system and a young, dangerous bench have the team on pace to win a franchise-record 60 games.

Casey isn’t the only coach who was named as a top candidate for Coach of the Year by multiple NBA.com writers. Steve Aschburner, Tas Melas, and Sekou Smith all praised the job Nate McMillan has done in Indiana this season — viewed by many as a probable lottery team or a borderline playoff club at best, the 37-27 Pacers are currently in position to claim home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Another coach of a top Eastern Conference club earned mentions from several NBA.com writers, including John Schuhmann: Celtics head coach Brad Stevens doesn’t necessarily have his team exceeding preseason expectations, but those expectations were adjusted significantly after Gordon Hayward went down with a season-ending ankle injury in his first game as a Celtic. The C’s have hardly missed a beat since that injury, posting a 45-20 record and contending for the No. 1 seed in the East.

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, Clippers coach Doc Rivers, and Sixers coach Brett Brown were also named by NBA.com’s panel as Coach of the Year contenders.

Steve Kerr is worth mentioning too, since his Warriors may very well end up with the NBA’s best record again. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is a perennial candidate — San Antonio has struggled recently, but the team remains 10 games above .500 despite being without Kawhi Leonard for almost the entire season. And let’s not forget Terry Stotts, who has the 39-26 Trail Blazers holding the No. 3 seed in the West.

What do you think? Who’s your current pick for the NBA’s Coach of the Year award for the 2017/18 season? Jump into the comment section below to weigh in!

The NBA’s head coaching carousel was unusually quiet last spring, when all 30 teams stuck with their incumbent coaches at the end of the 2016/17 season. That won’t be the case this year, however.

Already, three teams have made in-season coaching changes, and the Suns, Grizzlies, and Bucks are each expected to conduct a more expansive search for a permanent head coach at season’s end. Those three clubs are unlikely to be the only ones in the market for someone new.

Although there have been no reports confirming that the Knicks will replace Jeff Hornacek this offseason, it has been a subject of frequent speculation for New York writers, with multiple reporters suggesting that Hornacek’s time with the Knicks may be nearing an end.

Like Hornacek’s Knicks, the Nuggets and Pistons are in danger of missing the postseason this year, which wouldn’t bode well for the job security of either Michael Malone or Stan Van Gundy — based on the current standings and their respective track records, Malone is probably safer than Van Gundy for now. Doc Rivers‘ Clippers are also battling for a postseason spot and could miss out. If that happens, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Rivers follow Chris Paul and Blake Griffin out of town.

Among probable lottery-bound teams, Frank Vogel (Magic), Dave Joerger (Kings), Fred Hoiberg (Bulls), Steve Clifford (Hornets), Mike Budenholzer (Hawks), and Luke Walton (Lakers) aren’t 100% locks to return, though most of them should — particularly since a few of those clubs weren’t expecting to make the playoffs this season anyway.

While most coaches for playoff teams should be safe, the actual results of the postseason could change the equation. For instance, if the Cavaliers are upset in the first round, that would almost certainly kick off a debate about Tyronn Lue‘s job status.

What do you think? Which head coaches will be replaced this season? Which coaches should be replaced? And which candidates for head coaching jobs do you think should be most coveted this spring when teams are making new hires?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

NBA scouts expect the 2018 draft class to feature about five to seven elite prospects, and ’18 will also be the last year that the NBA’s current lottery format will be in effect. As a result, we could be subjected to one of the most widespread late-season tanking efforts in league history, multiple league executives tell Tim MacMahon and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

While most of the teams vying for lottery positioning at the bottom of the NBA standings won’t publicly acknowledge they’d prefer to lose, prioritizing the development of young players is one obvious way to tank in a politically correct manner. Resting veterans and being extra-cautious with minor injuries are other passive tanking strategies.

According to MacMahon and Windhorst, executives around the NBA also believe some teams are engaging in a more “active” form of tanking, which involves “reverse analytics.” Rather than relying on data to determine optimal lineups for winning games, teams may be doing just the opposite, providing coaches with lineups that would perform poorly in certain matchups.

In any form, tanking is a bad look for the NBA, and the fact that so many teams have begun doing so in earnest this early in the 2017/18 season is worrisome.

It’s possible that the minor tweaks the league made to the lottery system will help matters — starting in 2019, the top four spots in the draft will be up for grabs in the lottery, rather than just the top three, and the very worst teams will have a reduced chance of landing one of those top picks.

For instance, under the current format, the worst club in the NBA has a 25% chance to land the No. 1 pick and a 64% chance to get a top-three pick. That team also won’t fall further than No. 4. In the new system, that same team would have a 14% chance at No. 1, a 40% chance at a top-three pick, and could fall all the way to No. 5.

The new system may discourage tanking to some extent, but Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders believes that modest lottery reform of that nature isn’t enough — the league needs to overhaul the lottery system entirely, Hamilton argues.

What do you think? What can the NBA do to discourage the widespread tanking efforts we’re seeing in 2017/18? Will the new format solve the problem, or is it merely a band-aid solution for an issue that requires a more significant overhaul?

Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!

As we noted earlier this afternoon, we could see a second wave of buyouts completed across the NBA this week, with a March 1 deadline looming. Players waived after Thursday won’t be playoff-eligible if they sign with another NBA team before the end of the season.

In our earlier story, we identified Jarrett Jack, Arron Afflalo, Shabazz Muhammad, Trevor Booker, and Joakim Noah as buyout candidates, but they’re not the only ones out there. Corey Brewer, Vince Carter, Brook Lopez, and Nerlens Noel are among the veterans on expiring contracts who may not fit into their respective teams’ future plans.

Players on expiring contracts make the strongest buyout candidates, since it’s much easier for a non-playoff team to eat some or all of a salary that doesn’t extend into 2018/19. A multiyear contract complicates matters — teams are sometimes willing to turn future cap hits into dead money by cutting a player with a long-term salary, but most clubs would prefer to wait to see if that player can eventually be traded.

As such, we shouldn’t necessarily expect to see veterans like Tyson Chandler, Jared Dudley, Zach Randolph, Garrett Temple, or Justin Holiday released this week. Even though they may see their roles reduced in the final weeks of the 2017/18 season, ceding minutes to younger players, they’re all under contract through next year, so there’s no urgency for their teams to part ways with them yet.

With Ersan Ilyasova‘s release today kicking off this potential second wave of buyouts, we want to hear your thoughts on which players should follow Ilyasova to the free agent market. Which players should be pushing the hardest for buyouts, and which teams should be most willing to accommodate them? Which playoff teams do you think could use a specific player or two to provide a boost to their roster down the stretch?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh in!