- Nerlens Noel‘s lack of playing time doesn’t mean there’s a rift between him and Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Noel has played just eight minutes over the last three games but he can work his way back in the rotation by playing hard-nosed basketball, Sefko continues. Noel will get a chance to rejoin the rotation in the near future, Sefko predicts.
Even if Dallas honors its perceived obligation to Dirk Nowitzki and continues to feature him at the five, there are plenty of minutes available to Nerlens Noel behind him. One of the problems, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer writes, is that the Mavs have one of the most imbalanced rosters in the NBA with a whopping seven centers on the payroll.
While Noel is, on paper, the best option to slot in behind Nowitzki, he hasn’t earned the trust of head coach Rick Carlisle. Suddenly, the 23-year-old long-term Mavs building block that was allegedly offered a four-year, $70MM contract in the summer is watching Salah Mejri take his minutes.
Tjarks spoke with Carlisle about Noel, gaining insight into why the Mavs haven’t made more of an effort to develop the big man in his first full season with the franchise. Noel’s defensive inefficiencies and struggles to fill the exact role requested of him have contributed to the current standstill.
- In another article about Nerlens Noel‘s role with the Mavs, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes that the big man isn’t on a specifically short leash. “There’s no doghouse here,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “There just isn’t. It’s pretty simple. You compete and if you earn minutes, you get minutes. You got to compete. And our guys have to have an edge. No one’s given anything. That’s how we have to do things. The situation is we have a lot of tough opponents, record’s not good right now. Competing is what it’s all about.“
LeBron James offered an assessment of the Knicks’ draft strategy after Saturday’s game in Dallas, relays Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Mavericks rookie Dennis Smith Jr. impressed James with 21 points, five rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. The Cavaliers star told reporters after the game that Smith “should be a Knick,” indicating that New York should have taken him instead of Frank Ntilikina, who was selected one pick earlier.
“He’s an unbelievable talent [with] athleticism,” said James. “He’s very poised to be his age, can shoot the ball, penetrate. He’s only going to get better and better with the opportunity that he’s getting here. Dallas got a good one. I’ve been knowing that. I’ve been with him for so long now. I’ve been knowing his talent level.”
James is sure to be asked to expand on those comments when the Cavaliers visit Madison Square Garden Monday. MacMahon suggests the statements were part of a long-running feud with former Knicks president Phil Jackson, who angered James last year by using the word “posse” to describe his associates. The Knicks came to Ntilikina’s defense, with Enes Kanter tweeting, “Nope!! We love what we got…Thanks!!!”
There’s more this morning out of New York:
- The Knicks received a better draft grade from Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein, who told Howie Kussoy of The New York Post that the organization made the right decision in 2015 when it passed on him to select Kristaps Porzingis. Cauley-Stein was labeled as the best defensive big man in the draft and had a pre-draft workout for the Knicks. The team opted for Porzingis at No. 4, and Cauley-Stein went to Sacramento two picks later. “I thought I had a pretty good chance of coming here, but they ended up picking the right guy,” Cauley-Stein said. “This league’s all about situations. I went to a situation where I’m playing behind the best center in the league [DeMarcus Cousins], or I could’ve gone to somewhere where they don’t have a guy, and now you’re the guy, and you’re getting all the touches. That helps a lot.”
- Coach Jeff Hornacek has wanted Courtney Lee to shoot more often since he signed with the team in the summer of 2016, Kussoy writes in a separate story. The 10-year veteran posted a 20-point performance Saturday night and is making a case to be the team’s second option. “He shot the shots he was supposed to,” Hornacek said. “He didn’t need to be wide open. He’s a great shooter. He can shoot it with guys in his face. That helps spread the court.”
- Hornacek is an overlooked factor in the Knicks’ 7-5 start, according to Ian Begley of ESPN. He has the team sharing the ball, improving from 23rd to seventh in assist ratio, and working together on defense. “I think he’s done a great job,” said Jarrett Jack, who became a starter after New York lost its first three games. “I know for me, as someone who always has to be a kind of extension of the coach, me and him have been able to kind to develop a relationship where I can kind of read what he wants on the court and I can kind of relay it to the guys.”
- Blame team owner Mark Cuban for the current state of the Mavs, Matt Mosley of The Dallas Morning News writes. The team’s decision to go after big fish free agents has left them lacking a core capable of carrying the team to a better record.
The Mavericks have been the NBA’s worst team so far, with their 2-10 record placing them at the top of our 2017/18 Reverse Standings. However, owner Mark Cuban believes his club is capable of bouncing back from its slow start, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News writes.
“I still think we can turn this around,” Cuban said. “We’ve been in 1-9 stretches during various parts of various seasons in the past, so it’s not like we haven’t been here before. It’s just that you never want to start the season like that.”
Dallas’ slow start this season is reminiscent of the first month of the team’s 2016/17 campaign. A year ago, the club opened by losing 17 of its first 21 games, and in the midst of that stretch, Cuban said publicly that the team had no interest in tanking. In May, Cuban admitted that the club did end up tanking near the end of the season, but he added an important caveat to that statement this week
“Not until we were eliminated,” Cuban said, in reference to last year’s tanking efforts. “And until we’re eliminated, we ain’t tanking [this year], either.”
While the Maveericks weren’t expecting to be a contender this season, there was some hope that they could improve upon last season’s 33-49 record. That’s still possible, but the team faces a serious uphill climb. And while president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson says it’s mostly a matter of the Mavs needing more out of their current players, he acknowledges that he’ll be keeping an eye out for potential roster changes, per Townsend.
“I think it’s too early in the game to make any broad, sweeping analyses,” Nelson said. “That being said, as you look across the board, do we have any glaring weaknesses? You can always upgrade. We’re all in the upgrade business.”
- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle continues to tinker with his lineup, starting Salah Mejri at center Saturday night instead of Nerlens Noel, relays Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “He always brings a lot of energy, a lot of fight,” Carlisle said of Mejri, who made his first start of the season. “He brings a certain combative personality to the game, which is something we need right now.” Noel, who is headed toward unrestricted free agency after accepting the team’s qualifying offer this summer, has been in and out of the starting lineup with six starts in 11 games.
- Through the Mavericks‘ first nine games, the team owns an abysmal 1-8 record. However, owner Mark Cuban feels the team is a lot better than the record indicates, Eddie Sefko of Dallas Morning News writes.
- Don’t expect the Mavs to instantly turn their season around once Seth Curry makes his 2017/18 debut but the sharp-shooting guard can help create space with his .432 career three-point shooting abilities, Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News writes in a question-and-answer feature with readers.
- Count Mavs owner Mark Cuban among those excited about Dennis Smith Jr. Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes that Cuban thinks the rookie guard needs to work on his shot but has the strength and attitude to thrive in the NBA.
The Mavericks may have a long-term need at center, but they don’t plan to pursue Jahlil Okafor, tweets Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Okafor wants to be bought out or traded after the Sixers declined to pick up his option for 2018/19. The Mavs “are not particularly interested in kicking the tires” on Okafor, according to Sefko.
- Mavericks guard J.J. Barea says the “crazy minutes” he played early last season contributed to a left calf muscle tear that bothered him throughout the season, Sefko relays in a full story. Barea is coming off his first summer since 2011 without international basketball and is playing just 23.3 minutes per game. His average was about 10 minutes higher during the first nine games of last season because of injuries in the Dallas backcourt.
Suns center Alex Len didn’t receive an offer sheet as a restricted free agent this summer but he’s pumping up his value during the early going, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. Len is averaging 10.2 PPG and 8.4 RPG and one scout told Bordow that Len could receive a four-year deal worth up to $15MM per season if he continues his strong play. Len signed his qualifying offer of $4.2MM in late September after his unsuccessful foray into restricted free agency.
In other news around the Western Conference:
- Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball told reporters that as a floor leader he prefers “to take the blame when we lose,” Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN relays. Ball committed five turnovers in a loss to the Jazz on Saturday. Ball also believes he needs to push the ball more efficiently, Youngmisuk adds. “More pace, run on makes — I feel like we are kind of walking up the ball too much,” Ball said. “And that is obviously my fault because I am the point guard so just got to push the pace a little better.”
- Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is considering lineup changes after his team got off to a 1-6 start, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports. “We’re looking at things all the time,” Carlisle told Sefko and other reporters.“If you’re asking about a change to the starting lineup or rotation, any and everything is in play at this point.”
- Pelicans and Saints owner Tom Benson was hospitalized Sunday night but is expected to return to his office by the end of the week, according to a statement released by a Saints spokesman. Benson felt weakness while attending the Saints game on Sunday, Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
- Tyson Chandler shrugs off the rumors that the Suns are trying to deal him, Bordow reports. The team is reportedly trying to package him in any deal involving disgruntled point man Eric Bledsoe. “Just like everybody else, I hear the rumblings,” he said. “I hear my name being involved in things and trade rumors but I’m at the point where I couldn’t care less.”