Dallas Mavericks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Burke's Up And Down 2020, Porzingis Eyeing January Return

December 29th, 2020 at 7:03pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks reserve point guard Trey Burke has dealt with a variety of ups and downs in 2020, writes Dwain Price of Mavericks.com. Burke’s year had an ignominious start when the Sixers waived him before the coronavirus pandemic caused a 2019/20 season pause.

Burke was then dealt a blow when he contracted the COVID-19 before the 2019/20 NBA season restart. “Everyone knows about the corona situation – me coming down with corona and getting through that and getting to Orlando and helping the team produce,” Burke said. His subsequent performance in the Orlando restart for the Mavericks earned him a three-year, $9.45MM deal in the 2020 offseason.

Center Kristaps Porzingis took part in his first full-contact Mavericks team practice since an October right knee lateral meniscus surgery, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Head coach Rick Carlisle expects that Porzingis will likely return to the court for Dallas in January. “Sometime in the next couple of weeks isn’t far-fetched,” Carlisle said.

Dwight Powell Fully Recovered From Achilles Tendon Surgery

December 26th, 2020 at 7:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is excited to have center/power forward Dwight Powell available again after he underwent Achilles tendon surgery in January, tweets Dwain Price of Mavs.com. Powell played a combined 41 minutes in Dallas’ first two games. “I just know that for a 6’10” guy that went through that situation he’s done a remarkable job with rehab and all those kinds of things,” Carlisle said. “He’s an amazing guy.”

Cauley-Stein Could See Increase In Playing Time

December 25th, 2020 at 8:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks big man Willie Cauley-Stein could see an uptick in minutes as Dwight Powell is eased back into the rotation from an Achilles injury, according to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. Cauley-Stein played well in a six-minute stint during the team’s opener. Cauley-Stein signed a two-year, $8.2MM contract with a team option at the beginning of the month.
Off-season acquisitions Josh Richardson and James Johnson were identified as two players that would fit well with Mavericks star Luka Doncic, Caplan writes in a separate story. Richardson filled a need for a 3-and-D wing player who could also handle the ball while Johnson provides a measure of toughness.

Community Shootaround: Christmas Day Games

December 25th, 2020 at 8:30am CST by Luke Adams

When the 2019/20 NBA season ended in October, it didn’t seem likely that we’d see another NBA game played until some time in the new year, perhaps even as late as February or March. But the league accelerated its plans for the 2020/21 regular season in the fall, ensuring that an annual tradition was preserved: the five-game Christmas Day slate.

Today’s schedule is as follows:

New Orleans Pelicans at Miami Heat (11:00am central time)
Golden State Warriors at Milwaukee Bucks (1:30pm CT)
Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics (4:00pm CT)
Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers (7:00pm CT)
Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets (9:30pm CT)

A couple of these matchups look even more tantalizing today than they did a week ago. The Pelicans, for instance, looked awfully impressive in their opening-night game against Toronto on Wednesday and will be going up against the defending Eastern champion Heat, who are hungry for their first win of the season.

A Stephen Curry/Giannis Antetokounmpo showdown between the Warriors and Bucks will be followed by a matchup of two potential Eastern Conference contenders who looked great on opening night, the Nets and Celtics.

Luka Doncic and the Mavericks and LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers will all be looking for their first win of the season in the evening.

And the night is capped off with a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Semifinals, with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and the Clippers visiting Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the Nuggets.

Which game are you most looking forward to watch today? Which five teams are you picking to win the Christmas Day games? Use the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts and make your predictions!

Southwest Notes: Bledsoe, Spurs, Caboclo, Richardson

December 23rd, 2020 at 10:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Though new Pelicans starting point guard Eric Bledsoe faces a tall task in replacing fan favorite guard Jrue Holiday, he still will prove a dependable starter for a New Orleans team with a good chance to at least qualify for a play-in game, as William Guillory of the Athletic details.

“The same role (Holiday) had here, I’m kind of in. But at the same time, I’ve still got to play my game,” Bledsoe said. “(My role is) defense, helping guys get better … trying to be a leader and going out there to help them win games.”

Guillory expects Bledsoe, a two-time All-Defensive Team selection who relies on a killer first step to score, to help lead a supercharged backcourt alongside Lonzo Ball. That tandem scored a combined 34 points on a 10-of-21 shooting from the floor tonight in a 113-99 defeat of the Raptors.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

Ahead of the Spurs‘ 2020/21 season, John Hollinger of the Athletic previewed the club’s outlook. Hollinger notes that 30-something veterans LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay could control the ball for extended stretches of possessions, though the advanced age and short-term contracts of most of those players are increasingly at odds with the timeline for the team’s younger prospects.
Rockets big man Bruno Caboclo agreed to push back the deadline for his 2020/21 salary to become fully guaranteed to February 27, 2021 (the league-wide deadline), according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). It had previously been scheduled to become guaranteed today.
Now on his third team in three seasons, new Mavericks swingman Josh Richardson will be expected to guard the opposing team’s toughest perimeter players, according to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. Richardson has the length and speed to convincingly defend several positions.

Richardson Plans To Become Free Agent Next Summer

December 22nd, 2020 at 7:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks guard Josh Richardson plans to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times. Richardson is eligible to sign an extension at any point this season but apparently doesn’t plan to take that path (Twitter links). The Sixers dealt Richardson to Dallas last month along with second-round pick Tyler Bey for Seth Curry. Richardson holds an $11.6MM option for the 2021/22 season, the final year of his current contract.

2020/21 NBA Over/Unders: Southwest Division

December 21st, 2020 at 9:22am CST by Luke Adams

The 2020/21 NBA regular season will get underway on Tuesday, so it’s time to get serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign.

With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, 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.

Of course, there are plenty of wild cards to take into account this season. For one, teams are scheduled to play 72 games instead of 82, so if you’re picking a team to win 41 games, you’re not just expecting them to be a .500 club — you’re projecting them to finish 10 games above .500. For each team’s over/under below, we’ve noted the record they’d have to achieve to finish “over” their projection, as a reminder.

It’s also worth noting that the coronavirus pandemic could cause some games to be canceled in 2020/21. We don’t want you to have to take possible cancellations into account when making your picks though, so don’t let that stop you from taking the “over.” If a team has a couple games canceled, we’ll adjust their over/under figure downward, so you’re essentially just projecting that team’s winning percentage.

We’ll wrap things up by heading to the Southwest…

Dallas Mavericks

2019/20 record: 43-32
Over/under for 2020/21: 43.5 wins (44-28)
Major offseason moves:
- Added: Josh Richardson, James Johnson, Wesley Iwundu, Josh Green, Tyrell Terry
- Lost: Seth Curry, Delon Wright, Justin Jackson, J.J. Barea, Courtney Lee, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Mavericks poll.

New Orleans Pelicans

2019/20 record: 30-42
Over/under for 2020/21: 36.5 wins (37-35)
Major offseason moves:
- Added: Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, Wenyen Gabriel, Kira Lewis Jr., Willy Hernangomez, Sindarius Thornwell
- Lost: Jrue Holiday, Derrick Favors, E’Twaun Moore, Jahlil Okafor, Darius Miller, Frank Jackson, Kenrich Williams

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Pelicans poll.

Houston Rockets

2019/20 record: 44-28
Over/under for 2020/21: 35.5 wins (36-36)
Major offseason moves:
- Added: John Wall, Christian Wood, DeMarcus Cousins, Sterling Brown, Jae’Sean Tate, KJ Martin
- Lost: Russell Westbrook, Robert Covington, Austin Rivers, DeMarre Carroll, Jeff Green, Thabo Sefolosha, Tyson Chandler

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Rockets poll.

Memphis Grizzlies

2019/20 record: 34-39
Over/under for 2020/21: 32.5 wins (33-39)
Major offseason moves:
- Added: Desmond Bane, Xavier Tillman
- Lost: Josh Jackson, Anthony Tolliver, Marko Guduric

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Grizzlies poll.

San Antonio Spurs

2019/20 record: 32-39
Over/under for 2020/21: 30.5 wins (31-41)
Major offseason moves:
- Added: Devin Vassell, Tre Jones
- Lost: Bryn Forbes, Marco Belinelli, Tyler Zeller, Chimezie Metu

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Spurs poll.

Previous voting results:

Atlantic:

Boston Celtics (45.5 wins): Over (66.3%)
Brooklyn Nets (45.5 wins): Over (58.6%)
Philadelphia 76ers (44.5 wins): Over (57.4%)
Toronto Raptors (42.5 wins): Over (54.7%)
New York Knicks (22.5 wins): Under (59.5%)

Northwest:

Denver Nuggets (44.5 wins): Over (69.7%)
Utah Jazz (42.5 wins): Over (59.9%)
Portland Trail Blazers (41.5 wins): Over (70.1%)
Minnesota Timberwolves (29.5 wins): Under (50.3%)
Oklahoma City Thunder (22.5 wins): Under (64.4%)

Central:

Milwaukee Bucks (51.5 wins): Over (73.7%)
Indiana Pacers (39.5 wins): Over (57.9%)
Chicago Bulls (29.5 wins): Under (61.6%)
Cleveland Cavaliers (23.5 wins): Under (68.5%)
Detroit Pistons (22.5 wins): Over (53.9%)

Pacific:

Los Angeles Lakers (48.5 wins): Over (79.1%)
Los Angeles Clippers (47.5 wins): Under (50.4%)
Phoenix Suns (40.5 wins): Over (51.0%)
Golden State Warriors (38.5 wins): Over (60.3%)
Sacramento Kings (29.5 wins): Under (60.7%)

Southeast:

Miami Heat (44.5 wins): Over (67.6%)
Atlanta Hawks (36.5 wins): Over (58.0%)
Washington Wizards (34.5 wins): Under (50.7%)
Orlando Magic (31.5 wins): Under (73.5%)
Charlotte Hornets (26.5 wins): Over (56.3%)

And-Ones: Dixon, G League, Owners, Rookie Transition Program

December 20th, 2020 at 6:49pm CST by JD Shaw

Former William & Mary guard Daniel Dixon has retired from professional basketball and will join the Hornets as a video coordinator and basketball operations assistant this season, he told Hoops Rumors.

Dixon holds NBA G League experience with Maine (Celtics), Northern Arizona (Suns) and Windy City (Bulls), spending four years in college before going undrafted in 2017. He also signed a contract in France during the summer of 2018.

At just 26 years old, Dixon joins a revamped Hornets franchise for the 2020/21 season. Charlotte drafted LaMelo Ball at No. 3 overall and signed Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $120MM deal this offseason, working to become competitive in the Eastern Conference. The team last made the postseason in 2016.

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz obtained footage of both G League Ignite scrimmages from last week, dissecting how each player performed against the veterans and what’s ahead for the team. The decision-makers within the G League curiously opted not to publicly live-stream the games or release any footage, though the pair of ESPN scribes managed to examine the pros and cons for top 2021 prospects such as Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Isaiah Todd.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic explores which team owners are the NBA’s best and worst, tallying opinions from various league insiders. Steve Ballmer (Clippers), Micky Arison (Heat) and Mark Cuban (Mavericks) ranked in the top three, while Vivek Ranadive (Kings), Robert Sarver (Suns) and James Dolan (Knicks) finished in the bottom three. Among the league insiders polled were front office members and agents from around the league.
Ben Pickman of Sports Illustrated takes a deep dive into the NBA’s rookie transition program, which, like many other things, has been complicated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “Things are all moving parts right now, but you just gotta kinda go on the fly and that’s all us rookies have been used to the whole time,” Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton explained. “We’ve been going on the fly since March. It’s just kinda a part of it.”

Kristaps Porzingis Cleared For Practice During Opening Road Trips

December 20th, 2020 at 1:38pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

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.

Mavs Release Guard Courtney Lee

December 19th, 2020 at 1:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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.