- Star Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis has been medically cleared to participate in non-contact defensive work and 5-on-0 play for the first time this season, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Porzingis will start practicing and travel with the team during the club’s upcoming road trip to Phoenix and L0s Angeles to open up the regular season, though he won’t play until January.
Veteran guard Courtney Lee has been waived by the Mavericks, head coach Rick Carlisle told Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
The move trims the Mavs’ roster to the 15-player opening-day limit, plus two others on two-way contracts. While Dallas will monitor roster cuts by other teams, it’s unlikely the team will make another move, Caplan adds.
Lee was signed on a training camp deal on December 11 but was a longshot to make the final roster. He played for the Mavericks last season but was not a consistent rotation presence. Lee appeared in just 24 games, averaging 4.5 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 0.8 SPG in 14.4 MPG.
He didn’t participate in the restart due to a calf injury.
The 35-year-old out of Western Kentucky was an effective three-and-D perimeter player in his prime. Prior to Dallas, he played for the Magic, Nets, Rockets, Celtics, Grizzlies, Hornets, and Knicks across a 12-year NBA career.
The Mavericks have cut a pair of their training camp invitees, issuing a press release today announcing that forwards Freddie Gillespie and Devonte Patterson have been waived.
Both players are rookies who signed with Dallas after going undrafted last month. Gillespie played his college ball at Baylor, while Patterson came out of Prairie View. They saw limited action during the Mavericks’ preseason games.
Typically, Gillespie and Patterson would probably be on track to join the Texas Legends as G League affiliate players, but if Dallas’ NBAGL team doesn’t participate in the proposed bubble this season, that won’t be an option for the duo.
The Mavericks are now carrying 18 players and will have to make one more cut to set their roster for the regular season. Courtney Lee, who is on a non-guaranteed deal, is expected to be the odd man out.
The NBA’s general managers liked the Lakers‘ offseason moves and are bullish on the team’s chances to repeat as champions in 2020/21, as John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes in his annual survey of the league’s GMs.
An impressive 81% of the responding general managers picked the Lakers to win the championship in 2021, which is the third-highest percentage any team has received since Schuhmann began conducting his annual GM survey 19 years ago. The Clippers ranked second at 11%, while the Nets and Heat received one vote apiece.
Meanwhile, the Lakers (37%) beat out the Suns (22%) and Thunder (15%) in the voting for best offseason roster moves. The Hawks, Bucks, and Sixers each received two votes, while the Trail Blazers got one too.
Here are a few more of the interesting responses from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:
- The Suns‘ acquisition of Chris Paul (44%) and the Bucks‘ trade for Jrue Holiday (33%) were voted the moves that will have the biggest impact this season. The Clippers‘ signing of Serge Ibaka (15%), the Pelicans‘ deal for Steven Adams (11%), and the Trail Blazers‘ trade for Robert Covington (11%) were the front-runners for the most underrated offseason player acquisition. Gordon Hayward‘s $120MM contract with the Hornets (54%) was voted the most surprising offseason move.
- While NBA GMs view Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (39%) as the favorite to win Rookie of the Year over Warriors big man James Wiseman (29%), Wiseman received the most votes (36%) among this year’s rookies to be the best player in five years, followed by Ball (25%). Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton, meanwhile, was voted the biggest steal in the 2020 draft (43%).
- Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic were the top choices as the player GMs would want to start a franchise with today. They each received 43% of the vote, with Lakers stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James and Pelicans youngster Zion Williamson also picking up votes.
- Speaking of Williamson, he helped the Pelicans receive the nod for the team with the most promising young core (41%). The Grizzlies (22%), Hawks (11%), Celtics (11%), and Nuggets (11%) also got multiple votes.
- The Mavericks achieved their offseason goals of improving their defense and gaining more future cap flexibility, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who surprisingly projects the club to finish with the second-best record in the Western Conference (47-25).
- Mavericks rookie shooting guard Nate Hinton had a solid preseason debut for this Dallas, writes Dwain Price of Mavs.com. The former University of Houston guard scored eight points, pulled down eight rebounds, and logged four assists. “It’s more spacing on the court (than on the collegiate level), so there’s more opportunities to get into the paint and just make plays and just be a ball player,” Hinton said. “I work hard, and just being around guys like Luka (Doncic) and the vets, and Tim Hardaway and all those guys in practice kind of makes it easier and makes it better for me to play and watch to see how the pace of the game is.”
For the time being, only five teams – the Jazz, Pelicans, Magic, Rockets, and Grizzlies – are continuing with their plans to have some fans in arenas when the regular season begins, sources tell David Aldridge of The Athletic.
The Mavericks and Heat each confirmed today that they won’t have fans for their preseason games, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Miami also won’t host fans for its Christmas Day game, as Chiang notes.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The NBA intends to administer a daily point-of-care, rapid coronavirus testing system for the 2020/21 season, according to Shams Charania and Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter links). Those tests would return results within 30 minutes in teams’ home markets and within 90 minutes on the road. In the event of invalid results, the player would undergo another rapid test at least 30 minutes after the first one and could participate in team activities while awaiting the result, sources tell The Athletic.
- Veteran forward Wilson Chandler is expected to leave Zhejiang Guangsha, his team in China, a source tells Sportando. Chandler, who finished the 2019/20 season with Brooklyn, signed to play in the Chinese Basketball Association in the fall. It’s unclear whether or not his reported exit is related to an NBA opportunity.
- ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz have published their first list of the top 100 prospects for the 2021 NBA draft. Oklahoma State point guard Cade Cunningham leads the way, followed by USC’s Evan Mobley and Jalen Green of the G League Ignite.
- Speaking of Green and the Ignite, they’re scheduled to scrimmage on December 15 and 17 against a group of veteran G Leaguers, according to Givony (all Twitter links). It’s unclear whether or not those games will be streamed, but NBA teams will get access to the film, according to Givony, who says Isaiah Briscoe, Tariq Owens, and Bryce Alford will be among the vets scrimmaging against the Ignite.
DECEMBER 11: The Mavs have officially signed Lee to his training camp deal, the team announced today in a press release. Dallas once again has a full 20-man camp roster.
DECEMBER 9: Veteran shooting guard Courtney Lee will return to the Mavericks as part of the club’s training camp roster, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (via Twitter).
The 6’5″ guard was not a consistent rotation presence for the Mavericks during the 2019/20 season. He appeared in just 24 games, averaging 4.5 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 0.8 SPG in 14.4 MPG.
The 35-year-old out of Western Kentucky was an effective three-and-D perimeter player in his prime, and prior to Dallas had stops with the Magic, Nets, Celtics, Grizzlies, Hornets, and Knicks across a 12-year NBA career.
Lee will face an uphill struggle to crack the 15-man squad after training camp. MacMahon notes that, though Lee will most likely not make the club’s opening night roster, the team thinks highly of his veteran locker room presence.
According to MacMahon (Twitter link), an injured calf caused Lee missed the 2019/20 season’s Orlando campus restart. A preseason opportunity with the Mavericks could double as a showcase for him to the rest of the league, even if he doesn’t stick with Dallas.
DECEMBER 10: The Mavericks have officially waived Barea, the team announced in a press release.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, general manager Donnie Nelson called it a “sad day in Mavs-ville,” referring to Barea as the longtime “heart and soul” of the club (Twitter link via Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News).
DECEMBER 9: Long-time Mavericks reserve point guard J.J. Barea will be waived by Dallas tomorrow, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
MacMahon reports that team owner Marc Cuban was aware the Mavericks would most likely release Barea after inking him to a one-year, $2.56MM veteran’s minimum contract last month, but desired to extend him an offer as a reward for the 5’10” Barea’s 11-year tenure with Dallas.
The 36-year-old Barea will now look for a new home in the league, per MacMahon. MacMahon also notes that Cuban hopes to find an organizational position for Barea once his playing career concludes. The Mavericks had 16 players on guaranteed contracts for their 15-man regular season roster, and waiving Barea made the most basketball sense, per Bobby Marks of ESPN (via Twitter).
Between the younger Jalen Brunson and Trey Burke, the Mavericks clearly felt secure enough in their backup point guard rotation behind All-Star lead ball handler Luka Dončić. Just last week, Rick Carlisle cited Barea’s locker room leadership as the club’s motivation to bring him back.
Last season for Dallas, Barea averaged 7.7 PPG and 3.9 APG in 15.5 MPG across 29 regular-season games. The 2019/20 season marked Barea’s return from a torn Achilles tendon incurred in January 2019.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Around the time that Mike D’Antoni and Daryl Morey departed the Rockets this fall, James Harden approached team management and ownership with a mandate to either build a championship team around him or trade him somewhere where he could win a ring, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
As Iko observes, this isn’t the first time that Harden has approached the Rockets with that sort of mandate. Sources tell The Athletic that the former MVP told the front office the same thing last year, which ultimately led to the Chris Paul/Russell Westbrook trade. That aligns with a 2019 report which suggested that Harden issued a “him or me” ultimatum to the club regarding Paul.
While it remains to be seen how the Harden situation will play out this time around, the fact that the Rockets were able to navigate a similar quagmire in 2019 helps explain why the team has confidence that it can once again sell the superstar guard on the outlook in Houston.
For more on the Harden situation, check out our roundup from earlier this morning. Here are a few more items from around the Southwest:
- Spurs forward Trey Lyles is entering a contract year and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2021, but he can envision himself in San Antonio beyond this season, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). “I am very comfortable here,” Lyles said. “It is the perfect situation for me, perfect situation for the player I am, the player I see myself being and becoming. I would love to be able to stay here long term.”
- The Texas Legends – the Mavericks‘ G League affiliate – are among the teams expected to opt out of the proposed G League bubble in Atlanta, sources tell JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).
- The Mavericks targeted James Johnson this offseason in large part because of his toughness, but he feels as if he can bring more than that to the team, as Dwain Price of Mavs.com writes. “I know what I can bring, I understand why they brought me here,” Johnson said. “I feel it was more than just the toughness and the black belt, but I’m able to play whatever role that’s thrown my way.”
- The trade kicker on Brandon Ingram‘s new five-year contract with the Pelicans is the maximum allowable 15%, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.