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Pacific Notes: Plumlee, Kawhi, Lakers, Warriors

December 26th, 2023 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers center Mason Plumlee is making progress in his recovery from the knee injury that has sidelined him since November 6, head coach Tyronn Lue said over the weekend. As Janis Carr of The Orange County Register relays, Plumlee has played “a little 1-on-1” and has taken part in limited 3-on-3 drills as he inches closer to a return, which is expected to come next month.

“He’s feeling pretty good,” Lue said. “Still has a couple of boxes to check before he gets back on the floor, but he’s trending in the right direction. The last couple of workouts he’s had (there hasn’t been any) pain in his knee so it’s feeling pretty good.”

While Plumlee acknowledged that he’s very eager to get back on the court, he suggested that the Clippers’ recent nine-game winning streak helped alleviate his anxiousness.

“It was hard to watch at first when they were losing, but it became a joy to watch them,” the big man said. “You always want to play, but it was good to see the team turn the corner. James (Harden) looks so good playing with everybody now.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

After missing the past two games – both Clippers losses – due to a hip contusion, star forward Kawhi Leonard is considered questionable to return on Tuesday vs. Charlotte, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Leonard was also listed as questionable before the previous two games, so it remains possible that he’ll miss additional time.
The sample size is tiny, but the Lakers‘ new starting lineup – featuring Jarred Vanderbilt in place of D’Angelo Russell – hasn’t gotten off to a good start. The five-man group has a 105.0 offensive rating and a 125.0 defensive rating, which would both rank dead last in the NBA, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Buha notes that the competition (Oklahoma City and Boston) has been tough and the lineup has played only 18 minutes so far, but says the group doesn’t make sense together and doesn’t look competent on either end of the floor, arguing that the team needs to make another change.
While Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has said he doesn’t want to play Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga together, he may have to rethink that approach in order to maximize both players, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Thompson also explores Golden State’s rotation, wondering if the team might actually have too much depth to get regular minutes for all the players who deserve them once Draymond Green and Gary Payton II return.

Draymond Green’s Suspension Likely To Last 11-13 Games

December 25th, 2023 at 11:01am CST by Luke Adams

Among those involved in Draymond Green‘s return-to-play process, there’s a “general belief” that his indefinite suspension will end up covering about 11 to 13 games, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Warriors forward has missed six games since the NBA announced he would be sidelined indefinitely — today’s contest in Denver will be the seventh. The 11th game of his suspension would be on January 4 (vs. Denver), while the 13th would be on Jan. 7 (vs. Toronto).

As Wojnarowski outlines, Green is getting individual counseling sessions during his absence and is also taking part in periodic virtual meetings with officials from the Warriors, the league, and the National Basketball Players Association. Those Zoom meetings are aimed at charting his progress toward reinstatement and are playing in a role in how the NBA and NBPA evaluate Green’s progress working through “whatever issues might have contributed to repeated violent episodes,” Wojnarowski writes.

Green’s agent Rich Paul, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., and Golden State trainer Rick Celebrini are among those who have participated in the ongoing sessions, sources tell ESPN. Wojnarowski adds that Green has been described as “open and engaged” during the meetings.

While the Warriors and the players’ union were involved in designing the terms of Green’s suspension and the conditions for his return, the NBA will ultimately have the final say on when he’s reinstated, according to Wojnarowski.

Woj adds that even though Green is permitted to condition and practice with the Warriors, he likely won’t return to the team’s facility on a regular basis until early January.

The Warriors have played well as of late without their former Defensive Player of the Year and will put a five-game winning streak on the line this afternoon against the defending-champion Nuggets.

Community Shootaround: Christmas Day Games

December 25th, 2023 at 9:32am CST by Luke Adams

Merry Christmas from the Hoops Rumors staff!

As usual, the NBA has an impressive slate of five games on tap for Christmas Day, with many of the league’s top teams and biggest stars in action on December 25. Here’s today’s schedule:

11:00 am CT: Milwaukee Bucks (22-7) at New York Knicks (16-12)
1:30 pm CT: Golden State Warriors (15-14) at Denver Nuggets (21-10)
4:00 pm CT: Boston Celtics (22-6) at Los Angeles Lakers (16-14)
7:00 pm CT: Philadelphia 76ers (20-8) at Miami Heat (17-12)
9:30 pm CT: Dallas Mavericks (17-12) at Phoenix Suns (14-14)

Some of these teams have underachieved to some extent so far – the Warriors, Lakers, and Suns, in particular, aren’t where they want to be in the standings – and reigning MVP Joel Embiid won’t be available for the Sixers. But each matchup still has something going for it.

We’ve got Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard visiting Madison Square Garden; former MVPs Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic starring in a showdown between the two most recent NBA champions; Jayson Tatum and the Celtics facing LeBron James and the Lakers in a battle between the league’s two most storied franchises; Jimmy Butler and the defending Eastern Conference champions hosting Butler’s former team; and perennial MVP candidates Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant squaring off in Phoenix.

The NBA’s schedule makers did especially well on the Eastern Conference side of things — the East’s top three teams, and five of its top six squads, are all in action today, with the fourth-seeded Magic representing the only exception.

Over in the West, things are a little more hit and miss, given that the Lakers, Warriors, and Suns currently rank ninth, 10th, and 11th in the conference. The No. 2 Nuggets and the No. 6 Mavericks are the only two Western Conference teams in action today that currently hold a playoff spot.

While the NBA couldn’t have realistically expected that either team would be quite this good this season, it’s too bad the 22-6 Timberwolves, who are in a tie for the league’s best record, and the exciting young Thunder (18-9) aren’t part of today’s schedule.

We want to know what you think. Are there any teams you wish were (or weren’t) involved in today’s games? Which of these five contests are you most looking forward to? Which five teams are you picking to win this year’s Christmas Day matchups?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in, and feel free to use it as an open thread to discuss today’s games.

And-Ones: Frazier, Grant, Anderson, Christmas Games

December 24th, 2023 at 8:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA guard Tim Frazier didn’t last long with his latest European team. He parted ways with Greece’s Promitheas Patras after playing just one game, according to Eurohoops.net.

The club made the announcement, saying Frazier left due to a family emergency. Frazier previously played in Greece with AEK Athens and, most recently spent time in France with SIG Strasbourg. He appeared in 289 NBA games, most recently in 2021/22 when he saw action in 12 contests with the Magic and Cavs.

We have more from the international basketball world:

Another former NBA guard, Jerian Grant is expected to get a contract extension with Greek club Panathinaikos until 2026, according to another Eurohoops.net post. Grant, the 2022/23 EuroCup MVP, is averaging 8.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals this season.
Spain’s Valencia has announced the signing of former NBA forward Justin Anderson, according to Sportando. Anderson played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants last season after getting waived by Indiana during training camp. He was named to the All-G League Third Team. Anderson, who appeared in 242 NBA games after being a 2015 first-round pick, signed a 45-day contract with Valencia that can be extended until the end of the season.
The Warriors are playing on Christmas Day for the 13th time in the last 14 years and Stephen Curry doesn’t take it lightly, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “Marquee games on Christmas, it’s going to be a great atmosphere,” Curry said. “You know, we’ve been in that environment before, so I understand what it’s going to be like. On the road, it’s going to be fun to just compete. It’s a test.” This year’s group of Christmas participants is virtually the same as last year. Of the 10 teams picked, nine also played on Dec. 25 last year. The exception is Miami, with Memphis not on the slate after debuting last year.

Warriors Notes: Jackson-Davis, Green, Wiggins, Payton

December 23rd, 2023 at 11:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors appear to have gotten a major steal late in this year’s draft, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Weaving a separate but related agreement into the Chris Paul/Jordan Poole deal, Golden State sent Patrick Baldwin Jr. and cash to Washington for the 57th pick, which it used to select Indiana center Trayce Jackson-Davis, who has been indispensable, especially since Draymond Green‘s latest suspension.

Jackson-Davis showed the Wizards what they missed in their Friday night matchup, posting his third straight double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds. He feels like he has something to prove to the rest of the league after sliding so far on draft night.

“Washington, I think, called me on draft day,” Jackson-Davis recalled. “Them and the Spurs called me and said, ‘We’re thinking about taking you early in the second. We’re probably going to get a pick.’ But it didn’t happen. Then all of a sudden my agent called and said the Warriors are trading for Washington’s pick.”

The Warriors have a numerical model that projected Jackson-Davis as a top-15 prospect and they considered him worthy of a first-round pick, Slater adds. Jackson-Davis said he heard that Golden State was trying to trade for another first-round selection after taking Brandin Podziemski at No. 19, but couldn’t find an acceptable deal until the draft was almost over.

Jackson-Davis added that teams began calling his agent around the 35th pick, but they all wanted him to accept a two-way contract. His insistence on a guaranteed deal caused him to stay on the board until nearly the end.

There’s more on the Warriors:

Green has missed more than five games during his indefinite suspension, which means Golden State can transfer him to the suspended list and sign a replacement player, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Memphis added Bismack Biyombo during Ja Morant‘s suspension, but salary cap concerns may make the Warriors less likely to follow suit — they already have an open roster spot.
Coach Steve Kerr likes his current rotation, but changes are still expected soon, per Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. After missing two games with an illness, Andrew Wiggins could be ready to return on Christmas Day, and Gary Payton II, who has been sidelined since late November with a strained right calf, recently began practicing again. Room will also have to be made for Green whenever he’s reinstated by the league.
Tim Kawakami of The Athletic re-examines the 2020 draft and explains why the Warriors opted for James Wiseman instead of Tyrese Haliburton. Head coach Steve Kerr said he thinks Haliburton was ranked fourth or fifth on Golden State’s board. “I was disappointed that they (had) the No. 2 pick because I felt like if they were anywhere out of the top three, I felt like I was going to be the pick,” Haliburton said.

Checking In On NBA’s Open Roster Spots

December 22nd, 2023 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

Nearly two months into the NBA’s 2023/24 season, there are only eight open roster spots available across the league. Each team is permitted to carry up to 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, so that means 532 of 540 total roster spots are occupied.

All 90 two-way contract slots are currently filled, which means that each of the eight remaining openings is a standard slot.

Here are the teams that are currently carrying only 14 players on their respective standard rosters:

Boston Celtics
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Lakers
Miami Heat
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans

The Celtics, Warriors, Lakers, Heat, and Pelicans are all currently over the luxury tax line and presumably aren’t eager to increase their projected end-of-season tax bills without a very good reason to do so. It seems likely that all five teams will fill their 15th roster spots by the end of the regular season, but there has been no urgency to do so yet.

While Boston, Golden State, and Miami have team salaries well beyond the tax threshold, Los Angeles and New Orleans aren’t far above that cutoff, so if the opportunity arises at the trade deadline, we could see them try to make cost-cutting trades in order to duck the tax. That figures to be more of a priority for the Pelicans, who have never been taxpayers, than it will be for the Lakers, who will likely be willing to take on additional salary for the right upgrade.

As for the Bulls, Cavaliers, and Timberwolves, all three teams entered the season close enough to the tax line that it didn’t make sense to carry a 15th man who would’ve pushed team salary above that threshold.

Chicago and Minnesota have a little more breathing room than Cleveland and could sign a free agent today without going into the tax, but I expect they’ll be patient — both teams are candidates to make trade deadline moves, so if they have to take back an extra $1-2MM in salaries in a deal, that breathing room below the tax will come in handy.

The injury-ravaged Cavaliers could benefit from adding a 15th man, but they’re less than $800K away from the tax line and have no interest in becoming a taxpayer, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. A trade or buyout involving Ricky Rubio, which they’ve reportedly begun looking into, could generate some additional flexibility to fill out the roster, but there has been no indication anything is imminent.

Warriors Notes: Poole, Wiggins, Dynasty, Jackson-Davis

December 21st, 2023 at 10:57pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Friday night marks the first time Jordan Poole will return to Golden State since being traded from the Warriors for Chris Paul over the offseason. Poole’s time with the Warriors ended in a rough way despite an overall successful tenure, as a well-documented preseason incident with Draymond Green foreshadowed an uneven season that saw the Warriors fall in the second round of the playoffs and Poole average just 10.3 points per game in the playoffs (down from 20.4 in the regular season).

Poole went from a late first-round pick who struggled to find playing time in his first two seasons to an integral piece of Golden State’s championship run in 2021/22. His efforts earned him a contract extension from Golden State, good for four years and $123MM, but he never ended up playing on that deal before being moved.

With Poole traveling to Golden State on Friday, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater looked back at Poole’s time with the Warriors and caught up with all parties to determine what went wrong.

“I look back at that, and I hate that it happened,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “I know that in my heart, that when [the punch] happened, we handled it the best way we thought we could handle it. But in hindsight — and hindsight is always 20/20 — we could have done better for sure. I just hate the way it ended for Jordan here, because he is a huge success story. For us and for him, this was a great marriage. He helped us win a title. We helped him, you know, become a champion and a guy who signed a big contract, life-changing contract. It was all wildly successful. But I hate the way it ended.”

The peak of Poole’s time with the Warriors was the championship year, as he averaged 17.0 points on .508/.391/.915 shooting splits. As Slater observes, Poole actually started over star Stephen Curry in those playoffs as the latter worked his way back from injury. Poole averaged 22.9 points and shot 46.2% from deep in his first eight playoff games that year.

“We would not have won a championship in ’22 without him,” Klay Thompson said. “Simple as that. So I hope Dub Nation shows him the right ovation on Friday night.”

While the Warriors and Green have been more vocal about the punch that headlined a shifted locker room vibe and the subsequent fallout, Slater writes that Poole has continued to keep his cards close to his chest.

“Successful time,” Poole said. “Learned a lot. Can’t ask for too much more than that. Won a championship. Played with Loon (Kevin Looney). Played with some of the greatest ever. Played with (Andrew Wiggins). Met great guys. The staff is good. It was a cool experience. It was just dope to accomplish something you’ve been looking for your entire life, winning a championship at the highest level, seeing what that takes.”

We have more Warriors notes:

Wiggins, who was one of Poole’s best friends with the Warriors, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, also spoke highly of Poole and how he dealt with the altercation with Green. “He handled that better than 99 percent of people would,” Wiggins said. “He handled it like a true professional.“
An NBA dynasty never lasts forever, opines The Ringer’s Howard Beck, and the Warriors are no different. While it may be true Golden State’s dynasty is coming to a close, it isn’t just because of Green’s recent suspensions, Beck writes. Things have been falling apart on the edges for Golden State for a while, and it’s seemingly coming together now, as the Warriors struggle through a lackluster start to the season. As Beck writes, the Warriors drafted James Wiseman over players like LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton and their attempts to develop a two-timeline system haven’t come to fruition yet. On top of that, championship architect Bob Myers is no longer with the team. Still, Beck cautions to not write the Warriors off yet, as they won a title in 2022 after some down years and still could pull things together.
The Warriors lost their first game after changing up their starting lineup, but have since strung together three wins in a row. Part of that success is coming from giving younger players extended run, and second-round rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis has stood out in each of the last two games. In those outings, he has averaged 12.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. According to Kerr, he’s going to be in the rotation moving forward. “He’s gonna play,” Kerr said (Twitter link via Slater). “He’s gonna be in the lineup.“

Injury Notes: Jazz, Lakers, Sixers, Leonard, Payton, Clarke

December 21st, 2023 at 3:56pm CST by Rory Maher

The Jazz will be shorthanded for Thursday’s back-to-back in Detroit, with Lauri Markkanen (left hamstring — injury maintenance), Keyonte George (left foot inflammation) and Talen Horton-Tucker (left foot soreness) among the eight players who will be unavailable, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).

Utah is just 2-13 on the road this season, but the team will be facing the Pistons, who have lost 24 straight games, two shy of the single-season record. If Detroit hopes to snap the skid in the near future, tonight certainly seems like a good opportunity.

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

LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) and Gabe Vincent are out for Thursday’s back-to-back in Minnesota, tweets Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet. Lakers center Anthony Davis (left ankle sprain/bone bruise), meanwhile, is questionable for the matchup against the West’s current No. 1 seed.
Sixers guard De’Anthony Melton exited Wednesday’s victory with a thigh contusion, but it’s not expected to be a serious injury, tweets Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Melton, Nicolas Batum (hamstring) and Robert Covington (illness) did not practice on Thursday, according to Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). On the league’s official injury report, Melton is questionable for Friday’s matchup with Toronto, while Covington is probable and Batum has been ruled out.
He has yet to miss a game this season, but Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard popped up on the injury report ahead of Thursday’s back-to-back in Oklahoma City. He’s officially questionable with a left hip contusion.
Warriors guard Gary Payton II has been “making good progress” from his right calf strain and has been cleared to start “various forms of team practice,” the team announced (via Twitter). Payton, who has missed the past nine games, will be reevaluated again early next week, per the Warriors.
Grizzlies forward/center Brandon Clarke tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape he expects to return to action sometime around the All-Star break. A key rotation player for Memphis, Clarke has been sidelined since March 3 of last season after tearing his Achilles tendon.

And-Ones: IST, Draymond, Bulls, Lakers, Napier, Mannion, Sarr

December 20th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

There were some complaints this fall about the unique court designs that debuted in the NBA’s first in-season tournament, with some fans viewing the bold-colored floors as eyesores. Joe Dumars acknowledged that those courts would be up for discussion next season, but the NBA’s head of basketball operations told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic that he was a fan of the way they immediately identified a game as part of the tournament.

“I did like the idea that if you were flipping the channels and you saw one of those courts, you knew immediately, ‘Oh, man,'” Dumars said. “Even if you have forgotten that was a Tuesday or Friday, you’re flipping channels and you saw that court, you immediately knew.”

Dumars told Vorkunov that he thinks next season’s in-season tournament final will once again be played in Las Vegas and also discussed a couple other topics, including the thinking behind the league’s indefinite suspension for Warriors forward Draymond Green. Dumars explained that the NBA viewed Green’s case as a “special situation” and felt it was important to give him time to get help for his behavior.

“The only thing we really want to see him do is get better so when he comes back, we’re not dealing with the same issues over and over again,” Dumars said. “And so that was the whole purpose behind indefinite, and when he is ready, then he’ll come back. When we feel like he’s ready, he’ll come back. When the team feels like he’s ready, he’ll come back.

“… “He’s been very receptive to this right here. He’s not pushed back on this. He has agreed this is what needs to happen. He hasn’t been defiant about this at all.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

How likely are the Bulls and Lakers to be trading partners this season? The Athletic’s Bulls beat writer, Darnell Mayberry, thinks all signs are pointing toward the two teams making a deal, but his colleague, Lakers beat writer Jovan Buha, is skeptical that they’ll find common ground. Buha, who previously reported that the Lakers have more interest in DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso than Zach LaVine, discusses the possibilities with Mayberry in a story for The Athletic.
A pair of former NBA guards are reportedly on track to join new teams in Italy. Shabazz Napier is said to be making the move from Crvena Zvezda in Serbia to Olimpia Milano, according to Eurohoops, while Dario Skerletic of Sportando reports that Nico Mannion is headed to Pallacanestro Varese after starting the season with Baskonia in Spain. The Warriors continue to retain Mannion’s rights as a two-way restricted free agent in the event that he returns to the NBA.
In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Jeremy Woo makes Alexandre Sarr‘s case to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA draft. There’s no consensus top player in this year’s draft class at this point, so ESPN will likely follow up with similar articles discussing other candidates for the No. 1 spot.

Warriors Notes: Green, Curry, Wiggins, Podziemski

December 18th, 2023 at 10:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Draymond Green has already begun counseling and will likely be suspended for at least three more weeks, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. The NBA handed down an indefinite suspension after Green hit Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the face in a December 12 game. It’s Green’s second suspension of the season, and the league cited his “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts” in making it indefinite.

Charania’s sources declined to reveal the nature of the counseling because of privacy concerns, but Green is continuing to work with representatives from the Warriors and the NBA while he’s suspended. Charania adds that Green understands the need for treatment and is “prepared to undergo the process required to return to the team in a full capacity.”

A three-week suspension would have Green back on the court in early January and would result in him missing about 12 games, Charania notes. Golden State has a 2-1 record in the three games since the suspension was imposed.

There’s more on the Warriors:

Stephen Curry‘s historic streak of making at least one three-pointer ended Sunday after 268 games, but his teammates contributed enough for a win over Portland, ESPN reports. Curry, who has carried Golden State’s offense for most of the season, had a rare bad shooting night, hitting just 2-of-12 from the field and going 0-of-8 from three-point range. “We can’t rely on Steph to bail us out on every single night,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It was a tough night for him. But that’s what a team is supposed to be about — everybody filling in for each other, different guys stepping up each night. That’s a great sign, because he’s carried us for long enough this year. We need to give him more help.”
Andrew Wiggins had his best game since being moved to the bench last week, posting 25 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes, writes Michael Wagaman of NBC Sports Bay Area. Wiggins told reporters this is the first time he hasn’t been a starter since a rec league game when he was in sixth grade, and he vowed to keep working to reclaim his starting role. “It’s different, different for sure,” he said. “It’s another thing I have to deal with. Whatever happens happens. Of course I want to get back to my normal spot. But it could take time, who knows? I can’t really dwell on something that’s a decision made by somebody [else]. I just have to keep playing, keep staying aggressive, stay in the gym and just try to do the right things. Anything can happen in this league. I’m blessed to be here and if I want to get out of this little doghouse I just have to keep fighting my way out.”
Rookie Brandin Podziemski showed why Kerr trusts him to finish games, drawing a charge with less than a second remaining to preserve Sunday’s victory, notes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Podziemski ranks fourth in the league in drawing offensive fouls, which is one of the reasons he’s starting in place of Wiggins.