Pistons Rumors

Dunn, Ellis Among Impact Role Players Ineligible For All-Defense Consideration

March 17th, 2025 at 3:47pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Tony Allen‘s jersey retirement ceremony in Memphis, John Hollinger of The Athletic revisits Allen’s six All-Defensive seasons for the Grizzlies and notes that the veteran guard wouldn’t have made All-Defense in five of those six years if the NBA’s current 65-game rule had been in place.

The 65-game rule doesn’t simply require players to appear in at least 65 games to earn end-of-season award consideration — it requires them to reach the 20-minute threshold in at least 63 games and to play 15 or more minutes in two others.

Allen came up short of 65 total games in three of his six All-Defensive seasons and had fewer than 63 games of 20-plus minutes in two additional seasons, despite making more than 65 appearances in each of those two years. His résumé isn’t unique among All-Defensive honorees. As Hollinger points out, the entire All-Defense second team in 2021/22 would have fallen short of the 65-game requirement.

With defensive standouts like Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis on track to play fewer than 65 games this season, there could be some spots on this year’s All-Defensive teams up for grabs for less obvious candidates. But a few of the league’s most impactful defensive role players are already ineligible for award consideration.

Hollinger singles out Clippers guard Kris Dunn as a prime example. Dunn leads the NBA in defensive box plus-minus and ranks second in the league in steal percentage, behind Dyson Daniels. He also ranks third among qualified players in deflections per 36 minutes and has been a driving force behind a Clippers defense that has the third-best defensive rating in the NBA.

Dunn has also played in 60 games this season, putting him on pace to exceed the 65-game minimum, but he has played 20-plus minutes in just 44 of those contests. With only 14 games left in the Clippers’ season, Dunn will fall short of the games-played requirement for award consideration, despite a strong case for All-Defense.

Kings guard Keon Ellis is in the same boat, Hollinger observes. Another player with high marks in categories like defensive box plus-minus, steal percentage, and deflections per 36 minutes, Ellis has appeared in 64 games but reached the 20-minute mark in only 41 of them, so he won’t reach the required minimum either.

Cason Wallace, one of the Thunder‘s best defenders, will need to play 20-plus minutes in 10 of the team’s final 14 games to qualify for award consideration. Rockets wing Amen Thompson, currently sidelined due to an ankle sprain, is still seven 20-minute games shy of the required minimum.

Pistons big man Jalen Duren recently argued that his frontcourt mate Isaiah Stewart deserves a spot on an All-Defensive team, and Fred Katz of The Athletic agreed. However, Stewart has long been ineligible for consideration — he has logged at least 20 minutes in just 24 of his 62 outings this season.

The 65-game rule currently only applies to certain awards. A player doesn’t have to meet the criteria in order to qualify for Rookie of the Year, an All-Rookie team, or Sixth Man of the Year.

In Hollinger’s view, All-Defense should get the same treatment, with the 65-game rule either relaxed or eliminated, since players who receive All-Defensive consideration often play much different roles than players who get votes for awards like MVP and All-NBA.

What do you think? Should the requirements of the 65-game rule apply for All-Defensive candidates? Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your two cents.

Sixers Notes: Hood-Schifino, Reed, Bona, George, Embiid

March 17th, 2025 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Considering their lottery situation, the Sixers really didn’t need a win Sunday afternoon in Dallas, but that didn’t matter to Jalen Hood-Schifino or the other players trying to prove themselves at the NBA level, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Hood-Schifino, who signed a two-way contract on March 1, came off the bench to sink five three-pointers and score 19 points in 23 minutes. He also hit a pair of foul shots with four seconds left that put the game out of reach.

“For me, just focusing on my breath and saying calm, and knowing if I get those two free throws, the game is over,” Hood-Schifino said. “So for me, it was about relaxing and knocking those shots down.”

Pompey notes that while the Sixers snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 21 games, it wasn’t the best outcome for a team that will surrender its first-round pick to Oklahoma City if it falls outside the top six. Brooklyn also won on Sunday while Toronto lost, leaving Philadelphia with the sixth-worst record in the league, a half-game behind the Nets in the lottery standings and a half-game ahead of the Raptors.

“Listen, we are going to prepare this group to go out there and have some success,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Again, they played very well tonight. … Again, we just want to prepare them well and give them a chance to show what they can do and have some success.”

There’s more on the Sixers:

Pistons center Paul Reed, who was waived by Philadelphia in July, took a shot at his former team on social media Saturday night, posting, “They thought I was the problem,” Pompey adds. Asked to comment on Sunday, Nurse replied, “I don’t have a response. We certainly didn’t think Paul Reed was a problem.”
The Sixers’ list of inactive players for Sunday grew to 10 when center Adem Bona was declared out due to a sprained left ankle, Pompey tweets. There’s no word on how much time Bona is expected to miss.
The Sixers were counting on Paul George to lift them into title contention when he signed as a free agent last summer, but their best move might be to try to unload his hefty contract during the offseason, Pompey states in a separate story. The nine-time All-Star has been limited to 41 games this season and hasn’t played since March 4 because of groin and knee injuries. He’ll turn 35 in May and still has three years and $162.3MM left on his contract.
The Sixers won’t be able to make real progress until they move on from Joel Embiid, Pompey argues in another piece. He notes that Philadelphia’s front office keeps making personnel moves to build around Embiid, but the star center’s constant injuries prevent them from being effective. Pompey adds that with Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey using up virtually all the team’s cap space over the next several seasons, there’s little room to improve if they all remain on the roster.

Pistons’ Bickerstaff ‘Disgusted’ By Officiating In Loss To OKC

March 16th, 2025 at 4:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff ripped into the officiating crew on Saturday in his post-game media session following a six-point loss to the Thunder, as Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press writes. Bickerstaff told reporters that he was “extremely proud” about how his team competed, but was “disgusted” by the way the game was officiated.

“The level of disrespect was above and beyond,” the Pistons’ coach said (YouTube link). “They have a guy fall down and trip on his own teammate’s foot, they review us for a hostile act. They throw an elbow to our chest/neck area, I ask them to at least take a look at it. Just show us the respect to take a look at it. No one would take a look at it. The disrespect has gone on far enough and I’m not going to allow our guys to be treated the way they were treated tonight.”

During the sequence Bickerstaff was referring to, the referees reviewed a relatively mild Isaiah Stewart loose-ball foul to see if it constituted a “hostile act.” The infraction was eventually ruled a common foul, but the Pistons were hit with three technicals – two and an ejection for Cade Cunningham and one Dennis Schröder – following that replay review for arguing with the officiating crew.

Crew chief Brian Forte explained to a pool reporter after the game that Cunningham repeatedly used “profanity” toward an official, while Schröder was given a tech for “continuous complaining” after the Pistons had received a team warning.

Bickerstaff and Pistons wing Ausar Thompson were also hit with technical fouls earlier in the game.

“I tried to have a conversation with an official, the official is arguing with (Thunder head coach) Mark (Daigneault), I say his name one time and he screams at me and tells me that’s enough,” Bickerstaff said, per Sankofa. “We understand that we play a style of ball that’s physical, it’s on the edge. I coach my ass off in a passionate way, I’m into the game, our players are into the game. We understand that.

“But we deserve a level of respect because we’re competing our tails off and bringing something positive to this league. We’re growing young players, our young players are competing their tails off. The least that they can do is give us the same respect that everybody else in this league gets and get refereed the same that everybody in this league gets reffed,” Bickerstaff continued, repeatedly and forcefully slamming his hand on the table for emphasis. “And enough is enough of it. What you saw tonight was disgusting. It was a disgusting display of disrespect towards our guys and what we’re trying to do.”

The Thunder made 17-of-22 free throw attempts on the night, compared to 9-of-13 for the Pistons — that disparity made the difference in a game that Oklahoma City won by a score of 113-107.

Asked in his own post-game media session about Bickerstaff’s comments, Daigneault said he advised his team before tip-off that the officiating crew, based on the Thunder’s research and referee analytics, was unlikely to call a ton of fouls.

“That referee crew was the loosest whistle coming into the game that we’ve seen all season, in terms of how little they call,” he said (Twitter video link via Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman). “So we knew, we told the guys before the game, ‘This is going to be a physical game because it’s Detroit and they’re not going to call very much.’ That bore out, I thought, with the amount of physicality they allowed in the game. I thought our guys did a great job of not getting distracted by anything.”

While the NBA hasn’t made an announcement yet, Bickerstaff seems likely to face a fine for publicly calling out the officials.

Pistons Notes: Thompson, Stewart, Ivey, Bickerstaff

March 15th, 2025 at 6:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons‘ defense had an off night in Thursday’s loss to Washington, so it was odd that Ausar Thompson didn’t get more playing time, writes Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. While Detroit was giving up 129 points to the worst team in the East, Thompson was limited to 19 minutes and saw just two seconds of action in the fourth quarter.

Patterson notes that Thompson was effective when he was on the court, finishing with 10 points, four rebounds, an assist and a block. He swatted away a three-point attempt by the Wizards’ 7’0″ rookie Alex Sarr.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff only took three questions after the loss and didn’t explain Thompson’s reduced playing time, Patterson adds. However, he did address it before Saturday’s game, telling reporters, “It was my decision down the stretch … nothing that he did. He’ll definitely get an opportunity to play more tonight.” (Twitter link from Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press)

There’s more from Detroit:

Following the embarrassing loss, several players talked about the need to stay focused every night, per Coty M. Davis of The Detroit News. They understand that each game is important as they try to move into fourth place and secure home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs. “Pretty much everybody (spoke up). We knew we didn’t do our job tonight. We knew we didn’t handle business, so everybody was disappointed,” Isaiah Stewart said. “I would just say it’s a lesson for us. We want to hang our hat on playing Detroit basketball every night and being consistent with that. We just didn’t do that tonight, and hopefully, we learn from that.”
In a separate story, Jaden Ivey talks to Davis about the collision in a New Year’s Day game that resulted in his broken fibula. Orlando’s Cole Anthony made contact with Ivey’s left leg while diving for the ball, effectively ending Ivey’s season. The Pistons announced on Thursday that the next update on Ivey’s condition will be four weeks away. “I’ve watched the clip; it’s just a basketball play,” Ivey said. “You are diving on the floor and playing hard for your team; I get it. I am not too over the situation of how I got hurt. But I am just taking things day by day.”
Pistons players are crediting Bickerstaff’s increased expectations for helping them quickly develop into a successful team, Patterson adds in another story for The Athletic. Bickerstaff was brought in to turn things around after a 14-win season. “Obviously, we’ve had a lot of changes, from front office to different personnel and lineups,” Jalen Duren said. “But I think overall, I want to give credit to J.B. and what he’s brought to the team in terms of a seriousness and an approach to the game, if that makes sense. He kind of keeps us on track and lets us know how, since day one, we’re not just out here to do this. We’re trying to make some noise, we’re trying to become a better team and he’s carried that all season. He’s the guy who’s set the tone for the culture.”

Southeast Notes: Bogdanovic, Wizards, Poole, Joseph, Houstan

March 15th, 2025 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Before being traded from the Hawks to the Clippers at last month’s deadline, Bogdan Bogdanovic had changed teams once before in his NBA career, having initially signed with Atlanta in 2020 after three years in Sacramento. However, last month’s trade represented the first in-season move for the veteran guard, who said it has been a more challenging adjustment period and that he was “nervous” returning to Atlanta to face his old team on Friday, per Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“This, in-season (move) is really tough,” Bogdanovic said. “And as much as I told you I was ready, I wasn’t ready. As you can see it at the beginning, the way I played and just the way I felt. So how the time goes, everything, it’s getting better.”

Bogdanovic, who said he didn’t know where the visitors’ locker room was when he entered the arena ahead of Friday’s game, scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in a win over the Hawks on Friday. He also got to match up on a few possessions with Trae Young and admitted that going up against his friend and former teammate took some getting used to.

“I won’t lie to you, there’s one situation, I gave him a high-five on the floor,” Bogdanovic said. “But you see the face, and it’s like ‘Let’s go.’ But it’s just a normal reaction, as I said. Yeah, it was weird. It was weird to play against them, but it’s business at the end of the day. And I wish them all the best, honestly. They’re great group of guys. I know how hard they are working, and they had a good run. They’re gonna have a good run.”

We have more from around the Southeast:

The Pistons‘ impressive turnaround this season should serve as an inspiration for the Wizards as they make their way through a slow rebuilding process, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Washington may not have its future franchise cornerstone on the roster yet like Detroit did with Cade Cunningham, Robbins acknowledges, but the Pistons’ success this season shows the importance of having the right head coach in place and how a few smart veteran additions can help unlock the potential of a club’s young players.
Speaking to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Wizards guard Jordan Poole said he believes the team’s “ceiling is high” and that there’s already “a lot of talented guys” on the roster. “The ball is rolling. Snowball effect right now,” he said. “It’ll take a little bit, but we got the right group, the right setup. We’re in a really good situation right now. We’re playing some fun basketball. It’s something going to be more competitive, better as we go.” Poole also discussed a number of other topics, including what he’s learning from Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart and why he has felt more comfortable this season than he did during his first year in D.C.
Veteran Magic point guard Cory Joseph has made his first three starts of the season in the past two weeks and played a season-high 30 minutes in Thursday’s win over New Orleans, earning praise from head coach Jamahl Mosley, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel relays (via Twitter). “His poise and his ability to get guys in the right spot,” Mosley said when asked what has stood out about Joseph’s performance. “And then defensively picking up full-court. The energy that he brings as a veteran, you can’t say enough about his positive spirit, his positive energy.” Orlando holds a minimum-salary team option on Joseph for 2025/26.
Like Joseph, Magic forward Caleb Houstan has a minimum-salary team option on his contract for next season and was lauded this week by Mosley for stepping up after being out of the rotation for much of the year. Houstan scored 18 points in 26 minutes in Friday’s loss to Minnesota. “I say this with no hesitation. He might be one of the hardest workers I’ve seen,” Mosley, according to Beede. “This kid is in early, stays late, comes back, works on his shot. … He is determined. He is focused. He’s a pro. He stays ready no matter if his number is called for two minutes or 22 minutes.”

Injury Notes: Mavericks, Doncic, Lonzo, Ivey

March 14th, 2025 at 6:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks will once again have just nine players available on Friday in Houston. Forward P.J. Washington, who is dealing with a right ankle sprain, was originally listed as questionable, but he has been ruled out and will miss a seventh consecutive game, according to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Head coach Jason Kidd explained that with the Mavericks scheduled to play an early-afternoon game against Philadelphia on Sunday, Washington was unlikely to be available for that contest if he plays tonight. So, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning relays (via Twitter), the decision was made to hold the forward out of Friday’s game, but it sounds like he should be ready to return in a couple days.

There has been no indication that any other injured Maverick is on the verge of being activated. Kidd did say that Anthony Davis (adductor strain) “continues to trend in the right direction,” but there’s no timeline for his return, tweets Townsend.

Besides only having nine players available, Kidd is also limited in how much he can use several of those players. Dante Exum is on a minutes limit of about 20-to-25 per game, while Dwight Powell, Caleb Martin, and Brandon Williams all remain on minutes restrictions too, per Townsend (Twitter link).

Here are a few more injury-related notes from across the NBA:

Already missing LeBron James, the Lakers will be without their other star on Friday in Denver. They’ve ruled out Luka Doncic, who is managing a left calf issue as well as a right ankle sprain, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. The Lakers have lost three games in a row and will face long odds to snap that streak on Friday with their top two players inactive.
Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, who has been sidelined for the past six games due to a sprained right wrist, told his teammates before they embarked on a six-game road trip that he’d see them “on the second half of the trip,” tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network. It’s unclear whether that means Ball expects to return to action by then or if he’ll just meet up with the team at that point — either way, it sounds like he’ll be out for at least three more games.
Despite being ruled out for at least four more weeks on Thursday, Pistons guard Jaden Ivey hasn’t given up on the idea of returning to action this spring, as Eric Woodyard of ESPN relays. As the No. 6 seed in the East, Detroit is well-positioned to make the playoffs, so the team should continue playing beyond the end of the regular season for the first time since 2019, giving Ivey more time to recover. “It’s definitely motivating. I want to be out there so bad,” he said. “And I’m putting in the work to get back so just seeing those guys go out there and compete hard, that’s all I want to do is compete and play the game of basketball so it’s definitely encouraging and exciting to see.”

Jaden Ivey Ruled Out For Remainder Of Regular Season

March 13th, 2025 at 10:53am CST by Dana Gauruder

Any hope that Pistons starting guard Jaden Ivey would return prior to the end of the regular season was almost certainly dashed by the latest medical update provided by the club.

Ivey’s rehabilitation from a broken fibula has progressed to “weight-bearing strengthening exercises, running progression activity and stationary shooting,” the team’s PR department tweets. The next update regarding his rehab will be updated in four weeks. The regular season ends in four-and-a-half weeks, on April 13.

As of the previous update, issued on Feb. 6, Ivey had transitioned to a walking boot and had begun light weight-bearing activity.

While there may a window for Ivey’s return if the Pistons advance deep into the playoffs, it seems safe to assume his regular season, at least, is over. Ivey underwent surgery on Jan. 2 after Magic guard Cole Anthony fell on his left leg the previous night while the two guards were battling for a loose ball.

The No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Ivey had been enjoying his best season as a pro so far in ’24/25, establishing new career highs in points (17.6) and rebounds (4.1) per game, as well as field goal percentage (46.0%) and three-point percentage (40.9%). He started all 30 games he played, averaging 29.9 minutes per night.

Detroit has already picked up its $10.1MM option on Ivey’s contract for next season. He’s eligible for a rookie scale extension during the offseason — it remains to be seen how the injury might impact those future negotiations.

Former NBA Center Oliver Miller Dies At 54

March 12th, 2025 at 8:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Longtime NBA center Oliver Miller has sadly passed away at just 54, according to the National Basketball Retired Players Association (Twitter link).

No official cause of death has been revealed, but Miller tweeted late last month that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Miller was selected with the No. 22 overall pick out of Arkansas by the Suns in 1992. As a rookie, he became a critical bench player during MVP Charles Barkley‘s inaugural season in Phoenix, when the club advanced to the 1993 NBA Finals. The team lost in six games to Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen‘s Bulls, who were capping off their first three-peat.

Across a nine-season NBA career, Miller suited up for the Pistons, Raptors, Mavericks, and Kings before returning to Phoenix for the 1999/2000 season. In his 493 career NBA regular season appearances (193 starts), the 6’9″ pro recorded averages of 7.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

Between 2000-03, Miller enjoyed non-NBA pro stints in Greece, Poland, Puerto Rico, and China, along with the USBL and then-D League stateside.

Miller returned to the NBA, briefly, for the 2003/04 season, where he suited up for the Western Conference Finals-bound Timberwolves. He intermittently hopped around the D League and USBL from 2004-10 before calling it a career.

Hoops Rumors sends its deepest condolences to Miller’s family and friends.

2025’s Most Valuable Traded Second-Round Picks

March 12th, 2025 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Fans of lottery-bound NBA teams will be keeping a close on the bottom of the league’s standings down the stretch because of the effect that “race” will have on the draft order and lottery odds for the 2025 first round.

However, it’s not just the first round of the draft that’s worth keeping an eye on. Those reverse standings will also dictate the order of the draft’s second round, and an early second-round pick can be nearly as valuable as a first-rounder.

Here are a few of the traded 2025 draft picks that will land near the top of the second round:

From: Washington Wizards
To: Boston Celtics
Current projection: No. 31

The Celtics are the defending champions and one of the biggest threats to win the NBA’s 2025 championship. They also have the league’s third-highest payroll. Teams in that position are generally running a draft-pick deficit, having gone all-in to fortify their roster, but that’s not the case in Boston, where the Celtics control their own first-rounder (currently projected to be No. 28) along with this Wizards second-rounder that could be the best day-two selection in this year’s draft.

The Wizards originally traded swap rights to their 2025 second-round pick during the 2021 offseason as part of the five-team blockbuster that netted them Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, among others.

Those swap rights changed hands a few times and eventually got tied up with a handful of other swaps. The Celtics acquired them in the 2023 offseason from the Pistons as part of a deal that saw them down six spots in the draft from No. 25 to No. 31 (Detroit used the 25th pick on Marcus Sasser).

Boston will technically receive the most favorable of four second-round picks (Washington’s, Golden State’s, Dallas’, and Detroit’s), but there’s no chance that won’t be the Wizards’ selection.

From: Utah Jazz
To: Minnesota Timberwolves
Current projection: No. 32

While the Lakers made a run to the Western Conference Finals later that season, it’s hard to argue that the Timberwolves didn’t ultimately get the best of the three-team 2023 deadline deal with Los Angeles and Utah that saw them land Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, two players who continue to play major roles in Minnesota.

As part of that three-team trade, which allowed the Jazz to acquire the Lakers’ top-four protected 2027 first-round pick, Minnesota received multiple second-round picks from Utah, including this year’s selection.

Like the Celtics, the Timberwolves have one of the NBA’s highest payrolls, so this extra second-round pick should come in handy for an organization looking to keep its tax bill in check next season — drafting a player in the second round and signing him to a rookie-minimum contract (or something close to it) is the most effective way for a team to limit the cap/tax impact of a roster spot.

From: New Orleans Pelicans
To: Charlotte Hornets
Current projection: No. 34

It has been a long, winding road for this second-round pick, which was – sort of – first sent to Memphis in a three-team 2021 trade. That deal, which also included Charlotte, saw New Orleans acquire Jonas Valanciunas, Devonte’ Graham, and the draft rights to Trey Murphy.

The Pelicans actually included the Lakers’ top-10 protected 2022 first-round pick in that trade, but because it landed in its protected range in ’22 (eighth overall), New Orleans instead owed the Grizzlies a pair of second-rounders, one of which was this 2025 selection.

From there, the Grizzlies traded the Pelicans’ 2025 second-rounder to the Suns in 2023 as part of a package for pick swaps; Phoenix flipped it to the Spurs a few days later as part of a Cameron Payne salary dump; and San Antonio brought it full circle by sending it to Charlotte in a salary dump of Graham during the 2024 offseason.

At the time of that last trade between the Spurs and Hornets, Graham was in the final season of the four-year contract he received as part of the sign-and-trade agreement that sent him from Charlotte to New Orleans in the original 2021 deal. The Hornets traded away Graham and didn’t get the 2025 Pelicans pick in that initial transaction, but ultimately ended up with both last summer (they subsequently waived Graham).

Of course, when the Spurs attached this pick to Graham’s contract to get out of his modest $2.85MM partial guarantee, they couldn’t have known things would go so bad in New Orleans that this pick would land in the mid-30s. Their loss will be the Hornets’ gain. Charlotte also controls its own second-rounder and is currently on track to pick at both 33 and 34.

From: Toronto Raptors
To: Detroit Pistons
Current projection: No. 35/36

The Raptors are tied in the standings with Brooklyn and have the league’s easiest remaining schedule, so it’s possible this pick could move from the mid-30s into the late-30s. It’ll still be a valuable asset for the Pistons, who will almost certainly lose their own first-round pick, making this their highest selection in the 2025 draft.

This Raptors pick was one of three second-rounders Detroit acquired from Dallas in last summer’s Tim Hardaway Jr./Quentin Grimes swap. The Mavericks had previously acquired it from the Spurs as part of the three-team sign-and-trade deal for Grant Williams in 2023. San Antonio, in turn, acquired it from Toronto in the Jakob Poeltl trade between the two teams earlier that year.

Given their spot near the bottom of the NBA’s standings, the Raptors would certainly prefer to still have their own second-round pick, but they’ll have a pretty favorable alternative — they control Portland’s second-rounder, which currently projects to be No. 40.

Central Notes: Thompson, Collins, Vucevic, Giddey

March 9th, 2025 at 4:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Second-year Pistons forward Ausar Thompson has established himself as a talented young defender, but he’s not satisfied with his development on either side of the ball, as he told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. Thompson’s growth has been one of the components of the club’s ascent to postseason contender this season. At 35-29, Detroit is currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“I feel like since I’ve played basketball, I’ve never wanted my man to score on me,” Thompson said. “Never have and never will. I definitely take it personally.”

Thompson, who was a finalist for February’s Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month award, noted that he has been putting in consistent shooting work with Pistons assistant coach Fred Vinson this season, and broke down the specific foci of their approach.

“I’m trying to shoot with more arc,” Thompson said. “I’m trying to stop misses from going left to right. I’m shooting it with confidence. We work on it every day.”

Thompson did acknowledge that opposing defenses don’t necessarily fear him just yet, instead giving him plenty of space on long-range jumpers. This year, the 22-year-old swingman is connecting on just 21.2% of his 0.8 attempts per game beyond the arc.

“They want to let me shoot,” Thompson said. “I feel like they don’t think they can guard me if they step up. That’s how I like to view it. So I’m going to keep going.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Whenever Bulls center Nikola Vucevic returns from a calf injury, reserve Zach Collins is hoping he can be employed in two-big lineups alongside Vucevic, notes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I always hope it happens,” Collins said this weekend. “I enjoy playing with another big guy on the court, whether it’s a four or five, being able to interchange.” Head coach Billy Donovan has at least expressed some interest in exploring a jumbo-sized Collins-Vucevic tandem at times. “It’s something I’ve thought about and talked about, but since the [All-Star] break, we just haven’t been whole,” Donovan said.
Although the 34-year-old Vucevic was ultimately not traded from Chicago this season, it could still happen this summer. Should the Bulls move on from the former All-Star, Cowley wonders if new acquisition Collins has shown enough to perhaps replace Vucevic as the team’s next starting five. The 6’11” big man has averaged 12.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks in his 10 games with Chicago. The Bulls have gone 4-6 in those bouts.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey, a restricted free agent this summer, helped power Chicago to a surprise 17-point comeback victory against Miami on Saturday, Cowley writes in another Sun-Times story. In the win, Giddey logged a 26-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double that included some clutch late buckets. “Guys being out has kind of made us shift lineups around, being able to guard multiple positions, play multiple positions offensively,” Giddey said. “Just being versatile and flexible to whatever is out there… Confidence is a big thing.”
In case you missed it, the Cavaliers‘ deadline trade to acquire forward De’Andre Hunter has given head coach Kenny Atkinson new flexibility in his closing lineups. Although Atkinson sometimes opts to play Hunter and bench starting center Jarrett Allen in these moments, Allen says he doesn’t mind.

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