- The Rockets are in position to finish with the NBA’s worst record for a second consecutive year, but all is going according to plan, according to Rahat Huq of The Houston Chronicle, who argues that team owner Tilman Fertitta deserves credit for signing off on a full-fledged rebuild rather than trying to stay competitive as a borderline playoff contender following last year’s James Harden trade.
The 2021/22 MVP race is one for the ages, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who contends that we “aren’t talking about it nearly enough.” As Hollinger outlines, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Sixers center Joel Embiid are each in the midst of a historic season and would be a clear MVP frontrunner if it weren’t for the presence of the other two.
If the season ended today, Hollinger notes, Jokic (32.3) and Antetokounmpo (32.0) would have the two highest single-season PERs in NBA history, while Embiid’s (31.0) would also make the top 10. Hollinger says he’d pick Jokic for MVP if forced to decide right now, but with over a month left in the season, there’s still plenty of time for Antetokounmpo and Embiid to strengthen their cases.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Gerry Cardinale, a shareholder in Fenway Sports Group, says that adding an NBA franchise is “a real top priority” for the massive Boston-based firm, as Michael Silverman of The Boston Globe writes. The FSG conglomerate already owns MLB’s Boston Red Sox, the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Premier League’s Liverpool FC.
- Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams, Kansas guard Christian Braun, and Colorado State forward David Roddy are among the best bets to further improve their draft stock with strong performances to finish out the NCAA season, says Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Wasserman also singles out four other prospects who are candidates to rise up draft boards in the coming weeks.
- Touching on several stories from around the NBA in his latest article for The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor makes a case for why the Knicks should lean more heavily on their young players, breaks down what Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans have brought to the Mavericks, and praises the work the Rockets have done developing their rookies this season. O’Connor also argues that the NBA should tweak its playoff format to allow top seeds to pick their first-round opponents.
- Daishen Nix has offered the Rockets a glimpse into the future, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. Nix has averaged 22.5 points in the G League this season, shooting 49% from the floor and 40% from deep. Houston promoted him from his two-way deal and signed him to a four-year deal last month.
- All the extra work Jalen Green has put in over the course of his rookie season is paying off, as Kelly Iko of The Athletic details. The Rockets guard and No. 2 pick in last year’s draft averaged 16.5 PPG and shot 39% from the 3-point line last month. “I would just say a lot more efficient, a lot more aggressive,” Green said of his improvement. “I’m locked in and hopefully will give my team a chance to win and just take my game to another level.”
- Having kept him on their roster through March 1, the Rockets appear intent on retaining point guard Dennis Schröder at least through the rest of the season. And according to Marc Stein, the two sides remain open to the idea of extending the relationship beyond 2021/22. Even if Schröder doesn’t re-sign with Houston, he could work with the team on sign-and-trade scenarios this summer, says Stein.
- Rockets guard Dennis Schröder, who had to settle for a one-year, $5.9MM contract in free agency last summer, has hired new representation, signing with Priority Sports, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Schröder is averaging a career-high 7.8 assists per game in his first five appearances with Houston, but has shot the ball erratically, making just 34.5% of his attempts from the floor, including 21.7% of his three-pointers.
The Rockets‘ young backcourt hasn’t produced many wins this season, but Kevin Porter Jr. believes he and Jalen Green have a bright future, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Porter is in his first full season as a point guard after learning the position after being acquired from the Cavaliers last year. Green, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, has endured an up-and-down rookie season, but has been producing points lately at a much more efficient rate.
“We need momentum going into next year,” Porter said. “Finishing off the season — not even (for) next year — finishing off the season, we want to finish the right way. … We want to take it real serious and try to win each and every game. We’re going to try to jell, me and J’s chemistry on the court, because next year we’ve got to be scary. We’re going to be scary.”
Porter had to leave Friday’s game at Orlando after rolling his left ankle in the third quarter, but coach Stephen Silas said it’s just a routine sprain, according to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. Porter was held out of practice today to receive treatment and will be a game-time decision on Sunday.
There’s more on the Rockets:
- With his team well out of the playoff race, Silas will focus on improving the defense over the rest of the regular season, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. The Rockets rank 29th in the league in points allowed in the paint and are the worst in the league by far in that statistic since the start of January. “I might try a few new things,” Silas said. “But it has been the rim, the restricted area, where teams are getting to the restricted area and shooting 60-something percent at the rim. So our rim protection has to be better, which means our bigger guys are lower and closer to the rim. That’s something that I’m going to be be toying around with.”
- One pleasant surprise this season has been the emergence of rookie guard Josh Christopher, Iko adds. Even though Christopher only plays 16.5 minutes per night, the Rockets have been 5.8 points better when he’s on the court. Iko sees him developing into a valuable role player in Houston, possibly as a smaller version of Danuel House.
- Armoni Brooks, who was waived to accommodate a three-for-one trade with the Celtics at the deadline, has joined the College Park Skyhawks in the G League, Iko tweets. He adds that Brooks declined several two-way contract offers and may still have a future with the Rockets.
Veteran point guard Dennis Schröder is on track to finish the 2021/22 season with the Rockets, reports Marc Stein (via Twitter). According to Stein, neither the player nor the team is pushing for a buyout.
Schröder, who signed a one-year deal with the Celtics last summer, was sent from Boston to Houston as the trade deadline in a four-player swap involving Daniel Theis. Given that the Rockets – who are 15-43 and rank last in the Western Conference – are out of the playoff race and immediately waived another veteran involved in that deal (Enes Freedom), there was speculation that a buyout for Schröder could be in the cards.
However, shortly after the trade deadline passed, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone spoke enthusiastically about Schröder’s potential role in Houston, and the 28-year-old showed right away that he could provide value, putting up 23 points and nine assists in Phoenix in his second game as a Rocket. Perhaps more importantly, he seems to be a good fit alongside rookies Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, both on and off the court.
Assuming he finishes the season in Houston as planned, Schröder will reach unrestricted free agency again this summer, at which point the Rockets would hold his Non-Bird rights.
Goran Dragic and Tristan Thompson have been the biggest names to hit the buyout market so far, and it’s possible more veterans will join them by March 1. But there has been no indication that any agreements are imminent, so many of this season’s top buyout candidates could – like Schröder – end up finishing the season with their current teams.
LeBron James‘ comments during All-Star Weekend sent a strong message to the Lakers that they need to improve quickly, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. James, who is under contract for just one more season, hinted at a possible return to Cleveland and said he wants to play the final season of his career for whichever team drafts his son, Bronny. He also heaped praise on Thunder general manager Sam Presti for his ability to identify talent, leaving an unspoken contrast with Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, who James and Klutch Sports are reportedly upset with for standing pat at the trade deadline.
Woike states that all the young All-Stars on display in Sunday’s game were a reminder that many teams have surpassed the Lakers when it comes to the level of talent on their rosters. He suggests that unless Pelinka can strike gold with more minimum-salary signings this summer, like he did with Malik Monk, James won’t show much patience when he hits free agency.
There’s more on the Lakers:
- Rich Paul, who runs Klutch Sports, told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on Monday that he never urged Pelinka to trade Russell Westbrook and a future first-round pick to the Rockets for John Wall (hat tip to Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen and Roll). Wall, a Klutch client who hasn’t played this season under a mutual agreement with Houston’s management, has a $44.3MM contract that matches up with Westbrook’s salary. According to Smith, Paul called the report a “damn lie” and said, “There is no truth. It never happened.”
- L.A. probably won’t find a much better market for a Westbrook deal this summer, per Marc Stein of Substack. Westbrook will have a $47MM expiring contract once he exercises his option for next season, and Stein doesn’t expect the offers to be better than Wall’s expiring deal or a collection of bad contracts from the Knicks.
- There’s no willingness among the leaders of the Lakers’ organization to accept responsibility for the decisions that led to this year’s downfall, observes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. Front office members have taken turns denying their role in the decision to trade for Westbrook, Goon adds, and James has deflected his own involvement in the move.
After a relatively lackluster showing in a relatively lackluster AT&T Slam Dunk Contest this weekend, Rockets rookie shooting guard Jalen Green is hoping to get another crack at the competition in the years to come, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
“I for sure need a run-back,” Green said. “I messed up.”
In one of the stranger moments of the evening, Green handed Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas, a judge for the contest, a necklace holding a cell phone displaying an NFT, then went on to botch his first eight dunk attempts before finally converting his ninth look, a slick windmill whose impact had been diluted, given that he failed to convert it earlier. Green was quickly eliminated.
There’s more out of the Lone Star State:
- The rebuilding Rockets boast several solid prospects, to the point that the NBA has taken notice, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Rookies Green, Alperen Sengun and Jae’Sean Tate all were honored with selections to the Rising Stars Game on Friday at All-Star Weekend, and Green made an aforementioned (ill-fated) appearance in the Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday. “We are having a difficult season,” Sengun said. “We lost a bunch of games. I’ve learned how to stay focused during those lost games. I got a lot of experience.” At 15-43, the Rockets aren’t on track to qualify for the playoffs this season.
- New Rockets reserve point guard Dennis Schröder is bringing his veteran experience and playoff pedigree to bear for a developing young Houston club, opines Kelly Iko of The Athletic. With John Wall inactive, Schröder has helped the Rockets with his speed and his defensive assertiveness, according to Houston head coach Stephen Silas. “(Schröder) adds to our depth, our guard rotation,” the head coach said. “There was actually a point [during the Rockets’ 124-121 loss to the Suns on Thursday that] I tried to take him out of the game, and he was like, ‘Just leave me in, let me see if we can get back into it.’ I like that competitiveness about him.”
- Mavericks All-Star point guard Luka Doncic confirmed that he would enjoy playing with his countryman Goran Dragic, currently a free agent garnering plenty of buzz on the buyout market, but said he’s not pressing the Dallas front office to make a deal with the veteran point guard, writes Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.