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Central Notes: Pistons, Bucks, Cavs, Collet, Haliburton

October 9th, 2024 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Pistons owner Tom Gores is pleased with the way that new president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon identified three-point shooting and veteran leadership as priorities in his first summer on the job and made moves to address those areas, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Langdon and the Pistons’ front office signed Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, and Paul Reed as free agents and traded for Tim Hardaway Jr.

“The core of the way we thought is we have this young group of players that need to be developed and also need to be complemented with the right players,” Gores said. “I feel really good about the veterans we’ve added. Tobias, who I’ve known for a long time, we have Beasley and Hardaway and Reed that’s come in. I feel very good about the offseason with the veterans.

“We knew these young men were good, they have a lot of potential. All of them. You see (Jaden) Ivey‘s really coming along well. But all of that said, we needed to complement them with the right thing so they could grow properly. I’m pretty excited. That’s how we approached it. We have a core that we believe in and we’ve got the veterans added in.”

The other major move that Gores signed off on during Langdon’s first offseason was the decision to part ways with Monty Williams even though the veteran head coach had five years left on the lucrative contract he signed with Detroit a year ago. Gores has no regrets about approving that coaching change after seeing the way J.B. Bickerstaff has handled the job so far.

“I think J.B.’s doing an incredible job communicating with the players and getting us organized,” Gores said. “I feel good. Everybody knows we have a lot of work to do, but we turned the page and we’re ready to go.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers shared some positive health updates on Tuesday, telling reporters – including Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – that Gary Trent Jr. will be “fine” after hyperextending his left elbow and may even play on Thursday and that Khris Middleton, who is recovering from surgeries on both ankles, could suit up for a game or two before the end of the preseason.
Bucks newcomer Taurean Prince spoke this week about the role he expects to play in Milwaukee, expressing that he believes his ability to play power forward “can serve the team very, very well.” Eric Nehm of The Athletic has the details.
Vincent Collet, the former head coach of the French men’s basketball national team, is reuniting with Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson, according to reporting from L’Equipe (hat tip to Eurohoops). After Atkinson worked under Collet as an assistant coach for the French team over the summer, Collet will reportedly serve as a consultant for Atkinson and the Cavs this season.
Speaking to James Boyd of The Athletic, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton discussed what he learned from his summer experience with Team USA and explained why he’s so excited about the continuity Indiana has established heading into the 2024/25 season. “We have the same coaching staff, let alone the same group of guys,” Haliburton said. “So, this is really refreshing, really exciting, because it’s less about teaching and more of the detail work and complex stuff and getting to those (stages) quicker. That’s been so refreshing and so fun for me, and I think that’s gonna make us so good moving forward.”

NBA GMs High On Thunder’s Offseason Moves, Celtics’ Title Chances

October 8th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder made the best roster moves during the 2024 offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. Within his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 37% of his respondents picked Oklahoma City as having the best summer, with the Sixers coming in second place at 33%. The Knicks got 20% of the vote share, while no other club received more than a single vote.

It was one of many favorable outcomes in the survey for the Thunder, who were overwhelmingly selected as the team with the best young core — 60% of GMs selected OKC, compared to 20% for the second-place Magic.

New Thunder guard Alex Caruso was chosen by general managers as the most underrated offseason acquisition, receiving 23% of that vote share, while last year’s Most Valuable Player runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was picked as this year’s MVP favorite (40%), narrowly edging Mavericks star Luka Doncic (30%).

The Thunder also received a handful of votes from the league’s GMs as the team that will win the 2025 NBA Finals, but at 13%, they finished a distant second to the Celtics, who earned a whopping 83% of the vote. Besides those two clubs, only the Mavericks (3%) received a vote to become this season’s champions.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

New Sixers forward Paul George got 60% of the vote as the offseason acquisition who will have the biggest impact in 2024/25, followed by new Knicks Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns at 13% apiece. The Towns trade, meanwhile, was named the most surprising offseason move, eking out George leaving Los Angeles for Philadelphia (27% to 23%).
Unsurprisingly, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama was the overwhelming choice (77%) for which player the GMs would most want to start a franchise with. Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic each earned three votes in that category, while Doncic got one.
The league’s general managers are high on No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard — the Rockets‘ guard is their pick to win the Rookie of the Year award (50%) ahead of betting favorite Zach Edey of the Grizzlies (30%). Sheppard also comfortably received the largest vote share (43%) when the GMs were asked which rookie will be the best player in five years. Spurs guard Stephon Castle (17%) and Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (13%) were the runners-up in that category.
There was no consensus among the GMs on which 2024 draftee was the biggest steal. Wizards guard Carlton Carrington, Kings guard Devin Carter, Pacers wing Johnny Furphy, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon, and Thunder guard Nikola Topic each received three votes to lead the way.
Among newly hired head coaches, Mike Budenholzer of the Suns is the one GMs feel will have the biggest impact on his new club. Budenholzer received 40% of the vote, beating out Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons (20% apiece). Meanwhile, Spurs guard Chris Paul (30%) and Raptors guard Garrett Temple (20%) are the active players that GMs feel would make the best head coaches down the road.
Asked what they’d change about the NBA, 20% of GMs said the rules related to the tax aprons, trades, and roster construction are too restrictive and/or should be “indexed to (a) team’s market,” per Schuhmann, making it the top response.

Pistons Sign Aaron Estrada To Exhibit 10 Contract

October 7th, 2024 at 10:36am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have officially signed undrafted rookie free agent Aaron Estrada to an Exhibit 10 contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). The move brings Detroit’s roster to the maximum allowable 21 players.

The move had been long anticipated, with the agreement between the two sides initially reported in June shortly after the draft. Estrada subsequently appeared in five games for the Pistons’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, averaging 5.6 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 13.4 minutes per contest.

Estrada bounced around from school to school over the course of his five-year college career, playing for St. Peter’s, Oregon, Hofstra (for two seasons), and Alabama. In his final year of NCAA eligibility in 2023/24, the 6’4″ guard averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 30.9 minutes per game across 37 starts for the Crimson Tide.

While he made just 44.9% of his field goal attempts and 31.3% of his three-pointers as a super-senior in ’23/24, Estrada’s rates were 46.5% and 34.4%, respectively, in his first four college seasons. He also knocked down 86.3% of his career free throws.

While it’s possible that Estrada could have his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal before the season begins, the fact that Detroit is bringing him in well after the start of training camps signals that he may not get a chance to compete for that open spot. The more likely outcome is that he’ll join the Motor City Cruise – the Pistons’ G League team – as an affiliate player and will earn an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $77.5K as long as he spends at least 60 days with the Cruise.

Pistons Notes: Beasley, Klintman, Point Guards

October 6th, 2024 at 1:47pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New floor-spacing Pistons shooting guard Malik Beasley has been a critical addition to Detroit’s revamped three-point shooting attack, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

Last year, Detroit ranked 29th in made three-pointers, 27th in attempts, and 26th in conversion rate. Beasley — along with fellow veterans Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. — was brought in expressly to address that issue this year.

Across 79 contests as the Bucks’ (mostly) starting shooting guard last year, Beasley was an elite high-volume, long-range sniper. He averaged 11.3 points per game on .443/.413/.714 shooting splits, with 6.9 of his 9.1 nightly field goal attempts coming from the beyond the arc.

“We’re more talking about the type of [three-point] shots that we’re trying to create and how we’re going to create them,” new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of how he plans to approach his fresh optionality from beyond the arc. “Right now, the emphasis is on we want to create as many feet-set, catch-and-shoot threes as we can and then what do we have to do before that to get to those shots. That’s where we’re at right now.”

There’s more out of Detroit:

Rookie Pistons combo forward Bobi Klintman missed a team practice late last week with a calf contusion, reports Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Klintman will miss a few days as a precaution, Sankofa adds. Detroit selected Klintman out of Wake Forest with the No. 37 overall pick this summer.
Detroit is looking to share ball-handling duties when starting point guard Cade Cunningham is on the bench, Sankofa writes in a story for The Free Press. Without another traditional point guard currently on the team, Bickerstaff is looking to spread the wealth and build the confidence of his other players as passers and play-makers. “We may not have guys who are historically initiators, but we’ve got guys that can handle the ball and make plays and use their intelligence,” Bickerstaff said. “You’re going to see, from us, a ton of guys that have the ball in their hands and are making decisions. We may not have a primary ball-handler all the time, but we can split it up and make ourselves a little more difficult to guard.” Combo guards Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser are among the players who figure to see minutes in that role.
In case you missed it, the Pistons are looking to transition veteran big man Isaiah Stewart back to his preferred role of center for most of his minutes. Stewart had spent more time at power forward in recent years.

Eastern Notes: Stewart, Raptors, Dick, Lillard, Martin

October 4th, 2024 at 11:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons‘ usage of Isaiah Stewart in recent years – and the players they’ve put around him – reflected the fact that they viewed him as a power forward rather than a center. Detroit used a lottery pick on center Jalen Duren in 2022 and encouraged Stewart to shoot more from outside. While the big man has gamely accepted that role, making a career-best 1.5 three-pointers per game last season on 38.3% shooting, he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm this week about playing more at the five, his preferred position, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.

“(New head coach) J.B. (Bickerstaff) loves my physicality and me playing strong down low, like in my early years in the league with my offensive rebounding and stuff like that,” Stewart said. “I spent a lot of time this offseason at the five and I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to getting back down in the paint, banging and doing what I do because at the end of the day, that’s what I love to do. That’s who I am.

“Playing the four, that was something that I had to work on and add to my game because I was being asked of it. Now I’m happy I get to play some five.”

As Sankofa explains, there are a few factors contributing to the Pistons’ desire to have Stewart spend more time at center this season. The arrival of power forward Tobias Harris is one. Stewart also has the ability to make more of an impact as a rebounder and rim protector if he’s spending more time in the paint.

As excited as he is about spending more time at center, the 23-year-old stressed that he’s willing to play wherever the team needs him.

“I don’t mind at all playing the four, because it’s something I can do,” Stewart said. “I can knock down the 3-point shot, I can space the floor, but we all know it’s something that’s new to me. … The four, it ain’t nothing wrong with it. But me, I love to bang. I love to be physical. I love to set the tone. I love to set great screens for my teammates. I like playing the five. But I don’t mind at all playing the four. I can do both.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

While Bruce Brown would’ve been an option to start at shooting guard for the Raptors if he were healthy, Michael Grange of Sportsnet views second-year sharpshooter Gradey Dick as the most logical candidate for that spot. As Grange outlines, besides looking like a good fit for spacing purposes, Dick is Toronto’s most recent lottery pick and has the potential to raise the club’s long-term ceiling if he develops into a reliable starter.
In interviews with Alex Squadron of SLAM and Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports, Bucks point guard Damian Lillard spoke about why he’s optimistic about the upcoming season in Milwaukee after going through what he called the “toughest year of my life” on both a personal and professional level last season. “I think a lot of times people talk about revenge seasons, it’s like they’re going out for blood with everybody else,” Lillard told Rohlin. “But I think it’s the revenge of something I need to go take back for me, not for anybody else. I know what went into last season. And I know what goes into me being my best. That’s all I’m focusing on.”
Hornets forward Cody Martin sustained a laceration on his thumb and sprained his right wrist while attempting to block a shot at the rim in training camp, the team announced today (via Twitter). It doesn’t sound like either injury is considered serious – he’s listed as day-to-day – but Martin has been ruled out of Charlotte’s preseason opener.

Eight Teams Who Could Emulate Hornets As Trade Facilitators

October 4th, 2024 at 9:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The new rules in place this season for NBA teams operating above either tax apron dictate that those clubs are prohibited - in most cases - from taking back more salary than they send out in a trade.

That restriction will make it difficult for two teams operating above the apron to make a trade with one another, but the Knicks and Timberwolves provided a blueprint with this week's Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster for one way it can happen -- find a third team to take on some extra salary.

In the Towns trade, the Hornets acquired approximately $6.8MM in salary from the Knicks without trading away any themselves, which allowed both Minnesota and New York to send out more salary than they took back in the deal. Charlotte received three second-round picks - two from the Knicks and one from the Wolves - for their troubles.

That's not the only way for two apron teams to trade with one another, but it's the most straightforward path, particularly in bigger deals like the Towns one. With that in mind, it's worth considering which teams around the NBA are the best candidates to be the next Hornets, acting as facilitators in deals involving two clubs facing apron-related restrictions.

There are essentially three characteristics that make a team an ideal candidate to be a third-party facilitator in this sort of trade:

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Central Notes: Rondo, Tyson, Okoro, Jerome, Duren, White

October 3rd, 2024 at 9:12pm CST by Tristan Tucker

When Rajon Rondo got married this summer, his first NBA coach Doc Rivers was one of the attendees, Baxter Holmes of ESPN writes. Rivers motivated and encouraged Rondo to get into the coaching sphere this season.

That’s exactly what Rondo is doing, as he’s serving as a guest coach for the Bucks during training camp. According to Holmes, Rondo will remain with the Bucks through the rest of the season in an unspecified role. Rondo has said he “absolutely” hopes to be a head coach some day.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into coaching,” Rondo said. “You just can’t say, I’m going to be a coach, and then everything works out and that’s how it happens. So certain personalities have to mesh, [and there’s] a lot of sacrifice. There are certain things that I’m learning. The morning meetings, the amount of hours you’re spending watching film, it’s a lot.”

Rondo declined to say whether he received any other offers from teams. However, it was reported in June that he was high on the list of preferred staff members for new Lakers coach J.J. Redick.

We have more from the Central Division:

Cavaliers rookie Jaylon Tyson — the No. 20 overall pick this year — is making a strong first impression in training camp so far, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “Our rook has impressed me,” Max Strus said. “He plays basketball the right way. He’s mature in the way he carries himself. He’s not out here asking for the ball or trying to do too much. He’s just trying to get in where he fits in. As a rookie, that’s not easy to do always. It’s impressive to see that. It’s refreshing to have a rookie come in and do that.” All three Cavs players who were asked for their immediate standout named Tyson, who has shown a little bit of everything, including rebounding, defense, and shooting. While Cleveland has a deep rotation, there’s a chance Tyson will make an impact right away.
Isaac Okoro admitted that he considered taking the Cavaliers‘ one-year, $11.8MM qualifying offer in order to hit unrestricted free agency next year. He eventually signed a three-year contract that includes $33MM in guaranteed money. “In my head I was like, ‘Nah, I think Cleveland wants me and I want to be here.’ I wanted to be here,” Okoro said. Fedor writes in a separate piece that head coach Kenny Atkinson is considering an expanded role for Okoro, who will be expected to screen more often and diversify his game.
In the same piece, members of the Cavaliers continue to point to Ty Jerome as a standout player in camp, per Fedor. “Ty has been one of the best players in camp in my opinion,” Darius Garland said. Jerome could be a surprise member of the rotation due to the fact that he was previously coached by Atkinson in Golden State and the front office likes him.
Jalen Duren served as an effective rim-runner and shot-blocker during his first two seasons as a member of the Pistons. However, according to Omari Sankofa II of Detroit Free Press, Detroit is hoping to unlock other aspects of Duren’s game — namely his play-making. He has been working on those skills in camp, and with just three true play-makers on the roster, Duren might be leaned on sooner rather than later. “I think we’re going to let him play with the ball some,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Whether he defensively rebounds the ball and has the ability to bring it up the floor some, whether he catches it on the elbow and we play split action and he can make those reads. So I think just trying to diversify where he touches it, and then we’ll keep building from there.“
DeMar DeRozan left the Bulls for the Kings this offseason, but he’s still giving advice to Most Improved Player runner-up Coby White, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. White is aiming to limit the number of off nights he has as a scorer after breaking through last year. “It’s got to be an every night thing. … I’ve got to build on this,” White said. “That’s what I talked to DeMar a lot about, how he prepares for every moment.“

Pistons Notes: Veteran Additions, Cunningham, Goals, Reed

October 1st, 2024 at 10:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

New Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon used the team’s cap space to acquire veterans such as Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley to provide more balance to the roster. Third-year center Jalen Duren believes that was the right approach for an otherwise young team.

“Their voices have been huge for us,” Duren said, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “Those older vets, they’ve brought a sense of balance. Just hearing them talk, everybody wants to know what they have to say. Everybody cares about their opinions on things. I feel that’s been great for us.”

Fellow third-year lottery pick Jaden Ivey feels the same way.

“They’ve been amazing already,” Ivey said. “I’ve learned a lot already from Tobias, working with him, pick his brain from what he’s been through. Being in that playoff atmosphere for a long time, he knows what it’s like. … I’m looking forward to competing with those guys. They’re going to bring a lot to this team and, most importantly, that winning mindset is what we need and they’re going to bring it for us on this team.”

We have more on the Pistons:

While the veterans will lend their voices, Langdon expects Cade Cunningham to be the unquestioned leader of the group, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Cunningham signed a max five-year extension this offseason. “He wants to lead,” Langdon said. “I think that was a big thing for him and we’re fortunate he wants to be here as well. A young man of his caliber, both playing and as a young man who’s high-character, he embodies what we want to be as a franchise. The re-signing of him, we’re all very excited about. Seeing him progress every day in terms of his leadership and also his compete level, both sides of the floor. And then playing winning basketball and figuring out what that means night in and night out because hopefully we can stay in games.”
There are several rebuilding teams in the Eastern Conference — opening the door for a potential run for a play-in tournament slot — but Langdon isn’t focused on the team’s record this season, Sankofa adds. “I don’t think the goal for us is wins and losses,” he added. “Obviously we want to win as many games as possible but it’s putting a group together that establishes a Detroit Pistons identity. At some time of the season, we want to be able to say, and (head coach J.B. Bickerstaff) has reiterated to our guys, that this is Detroit Pistons basketball and when we walk into the arena, the other team knows exactly what we’re going to bring. And they better be ready for it because we’re going to come and compete every night.”
Don’t underestimate the addition of Paul Reed, Langlois writes. Reed was claimed off waivers from Philadelphia and could be a valuable backup big man. He’ll compete with Duren and Isaiah Stewart for playing time at center. “I know those guys are super strong, super physical, super athletic,” Reed said of Duren and Stewart. “I’ve got to match their energy. I feel they make my job a lot easier just because we have more bodies I can go bang with. It’s going to be super tough for the opposition. We know we have to protect the paint.” If Reed doesn’t claim a rotation spot, he may not last the season. His $7.7MM salary remains non-guaranteed until early January.

And-Ones: NBAGL Trades, Extension Candidates, Woj’s Replacement, More

October 1st, 2024 at 9:29am CST by Luke Adams

Toronto’s G League affiliate – the Raptors 905 – has made a pair of trades in recent days, including a four-team deal that sent Kennedy Chandler‘s returning rights to the 905, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). As we noted recently when the NBA’s Raptors signed and waived Chandler, their G League team still needed to acquire the guard’s rights in order to get him on the 905’s roster this fall.

That four-team trade also saw the Long Island Nets acquire Au’Diese Toney‘s returning rights and a 2025 first-round pick, the Birmingham Squadron (Pelicans) acquire Trhae Mitchell‘s returning rights, and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets) land the rights to Devin Cannady and Markquis Nowell along with a 2024 first-round pick.

In the 905’s other trade, the Raptors’ affiliate sent Koby McEwen‘s returning rights to the Windy City Bulls in exchange for Evan Gilyard‘s rights, tweets Murphy.

Fred Katz of The Athletic identifies five of the most interesting extension-eligible veterans to keep an eye on this fall, singling out Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., and Mavericks center Daniel Gafford, among others.
Who are the candidates to replace Adrian Wojnarowski as ESPN’s top NBA insider? According to reporting from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic and Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, while big-name NBA reporters like Shams Charania and Chris Haynes are possibilities, it’s also not out of the question that one of ESPN’s other top news-breakers, such as Jeff Passan or Adam Schefter, could end up in the role. Marchand says Passan is a candidate to switch from MLB to the NBA, while McCarthy suggests it’s not out of the question for Schefter to take on a dual role covering the NFL and NBA.
In an in-depth Insider-only article for ESPN, Bobby Marks takes a look at all 30 teams’ training camp rosters and examines the key dates and deadlines coming up for each of those clubs.
Taking into account their projected regular season win totals, John Hollinger of The Athletic picks five teams he expects to exceed expectations in 2024/25, including the Cavaliers, Suns, and Pistons.

Central Notes: Mitchell, Allen, Thompson, Bitim

September 30th, 2024 at 6:58pm CST by Tristan Tucker

For the first time in his Cavaliers tenure, Donovan Mitchell didn’t have to sidestep any questions about his future on Monday after signing a three-year, $150.3MM extension this offseason, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes.

“From the minute I got here I told my mom, I think I was just like, ‘Yo, I really like it here,’” Mitchell said Monday. “For me it was just a no-brainer. I’ve known for a little bit that this was my decision. It’s finally good to have a media day where we’re not talking about where I’m going next. You can lay your roots somewhere that you actually want to be. I think that’s special.”

According to Fedor, Mitchell considered other options but had decided on re-upping with Cleveland by early 2024 before putting pen to paper this summer.

“It was kind of funny watching everybody say that this is how I’m feeling, but I knew,” Mitchell said. “I don’t want to call it a looming cloud. Every loss is like, ‘What’s going to happen next?’ It’s refreshing. I’m glad that we’re here and I’m excited to be here. You know where you’re going to be, where your feet are. It’s just a calming vibe. I can come in here now and breathe. It’s way more peaceful. I know where home is. I’m happy here.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen received criticism during his postseason rib injury, including from former teammate Marcus Morris, Fedor writes in a separate story. Allen took a sharp hit in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs but brushed it off, underestimating the severity of the injury. The one-time All-Star continually appeared on the injury report with a questionable designation, but it wasn’t until after the season that it was revealed that the rib was actually broken. Despite his toughness being called into question, Allen brushed off all criticism, including that of Morris’s, stating that one can never understand how tough a rib injury is until they themselves go through it.
Allen, who signed a three-year, $91MM extension with the Cavaliers this offseason, spoke on Monday about why he decided to accept a new contract from the team with two years left on his existing deal, as Fedor writes. “I like it here,” Allen said. “I like the city. I like the people here. It’s easy to say in front of everybody just to hype everybody up, but I truly do genuinely like it here and I believe in it here. I’ve put in three years, three and a half years to try to see this team succeed and genuinely happy that they’ve put their trust in me for another whatever years.“
Pistons second-year forward Ausar Thompson is being held out of contract drills to start training camp, according to Larry Lage of The Associated Press. Thompson dealt with a season-ending blood clot in the spring and president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said the 21-year-old is working through a medical process with the NBA and the players’ union. Thompson has been cleared for non-contact drills, conditioning, and strength training.
Bulls guard Onuralp Bitim underwent two surgeries to fix a detached retina in his right eye that he suffered in the team’s second-to-last game of the season, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets. As part of his recovery, Bitim said he had to sit on his stomach for 15 hours a day for multiple days. Now healthy, Bitim is battling Talen Horton-Tucker, Kenneth Lofton, Marcus Domask, E.J. Liddell and the two-way players for a spot on Chicago’s 15-man roster.