- The Pacers have a lot more options on defense after trading for Pascal Siakam, notes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Coach Rick Carlisle already took steps to improve atrocious defensive numbers early in the season by moving Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith into the starting lineup late last month. There has been progress, as Dopirak points out that the team is 19th in points allowed and 17th in defensive rating over its last 15 games.
- In light of the Pascal Siakam acquisition, Pacers’ rookie forward Jarace Walker would seemingly have an even smaller role. However, coach Rick Carlisle has been giving Walker more opportunities to play small forward, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star notes. “Once we acquired Pascal, you gotta take a hard look at how this thing is shaping up,” Carlisle said. “With the realities about the importance of playing with size to being a good defensive team, it makes sense to put him in that equation somewhere. It doesn’t mean he will always play 3. The more I’m going through this, I like playing with size, size that can move and make plays and stay in front of people is even better.” Walker, the eighth overall pick of last year’s draft, has averaged 21.3 minutes of playing time over the last three games.
USA Basketball has officially announced a pool of 41 players who are in the mix for the 12 spots on the 2024 Olympic men’s basketball team.
While the pool is subject to change, Team USA’s 12-man roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics will, in all likelihood, be made up of players from this group.
The list figures to shrink as the summer nears due to players suffering injuries or opting not to participate for other reasons, but at some point prior to the July event the U.S. decision-makers will have to choose a final roster from the remaining candidates.
Here’s the full list of 41 players, 28 of whom have represented Team USA in a previous World Cup or Olympics:
- Bam Adebayo (Heat)
- Jarrett Allen (Cavaliers)
- Paolo Banchero (Magic)
- Desmond Bane (Grizzlies)
- Scottie Barnes (Raptors)
- Devin Booker (Suns)
- Mikal Bridges (Nets)
- Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
- Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
- Jimmy Butler (Heat)
- Alex Caruso (Bulls)
- Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- Anthony Davis (Lakers)
- Kevin Durant (Suns)
- Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
- Joel Embiid (Sixers)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
- Paul George (Clippers)
- Aaron Gordon (Nuggets)
- Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)
- James Harden (Clippers)
- Josh Hart (Knicks)
- Tyler Herro (Heat)
- Jrue Holiday (Celtics)
- Chet Holmgren (Thunder)
- Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
- Kyrie Irving (Mavericks)
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
- LeBron James (Lakers)
- Cameron Johnson (Nets)
- Walker Kessler (Jazz)
- Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
- Damian Lillard (Bucks)
- Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)
- Chris Paul (Warriors)
- Bobby Portis (Bucks)
- Austin Reaves (Lakers)
- Duncan Robinson (Heat)
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Derrick White (Celtics)
- Trae Young (Hawks)
Adebayo, Booker, Durant, Holiday, Lillard, and Tatum were part of the Olympic team that won gold in Tokyo in 2021. Jerami Grant, Draymond Green, Keldon Johnson, Zach LaVine, JaVale McGee, and Khris Middleton were also on that roster, but aren’t part of the preliminary pool this time around. It’s possible some of them turned down invitations.
“The United States boasts unbelievable basketball talent and I am thrilled that many of the game’s superstars have expressed interest in representing our country at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games,” national team managing director Grant Hill said in a statement. “It is a privilege to select the team that will help us toward the goal of once again standing atop the Olympic podium. This challenging process will unfold over the next several months as we eagerly anticipate the start of national team activity.”
USA Basketball also announced today that Team USA will face Team Canada in Las Vegas on July 10 in an exhibition game. It sounds like that contest will take place during the NBA’s 2024 Summer League.
The Pacers will be without their star point guard for at least three more games, according to the team, which announced this morning (via Twitter) that Tyrese Haliburton will be unavailable vs. Denver (on Tuesday), Philadelphia (Thursday), and Phoenix (Friday) before being reevaluated on Saturday.
Haliburton missed five games due to a left hamstring strain earlier this month. He beat his projected recovery timeline by returning to action on Friday in Portland, but was ruled out for Sunday’s contest in Phoenix and will now remain on the shelf for a few more games due to what the club is calling left hamstring injury management.
It’s an unfortunate setback for the Pacers, who are in the midst of the Eastern Conference playoff race (they’re tied for sixth at 24-19) and are looking to establish chemistry with a revamped lineup that features newly acquired forward Pascal Siakam.
It’s also a potentially significant financial development for Haliburton, whose five-year, maximum-salary extension would increase in value by a projected $41MM if he makes an All-NBA team this season. As we outlined over the weekend, Haliburton would receive a starting salary worth 30% of next season’s cap – instead of 25% – if he earns All-NBA honors, but he’ll have to appear in at least 65 games to qualify.
By the time he’s reevaluated on Saturday, Haliburton will have missed 12 games this season. Additionally, he logged just 13 minutes in a 13th game, so it won’t count toward his 65-game minimum. That means he’d become ineligible for All-NBA consideration if he misses five more games after this Friday’s contest.
With Haliburton unavailable, the Pacers figure to continue leaning more heavily on T.J. McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, and Bennedict Mathurin for ball-handling and play-making responsibilities.
Speaking to Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link), Bucks shooting guard Malik Beasley explained the thinking behind his decision to sign Milwaukee over the summer when he reached unrestricted free agency.
“Definitely wanted to win a championship, that was one of my goals,” Beasley said. “I felt that I’m at a point in my career where I just want to win and do whatever I can for the team. With the Bucks I felt like the dynamic of Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and being able to space the floor for them, I felt like that was huge. I looked into all that, making sure I would be able to get some reps, making sure I’d be able to get some playing time.”
“I do feel like I’m one of the best shooters in the league,” Beasley added. “I’m not try to be cocky or anything, I’m just confident.”
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Pascal Siakam‘s new Pacers teammates were encouraged by his strong debut for the club, a 21-point showing in a 118-115 loss to the Trail Blazers, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “We were just learning how to go on the fly, just going off our basketball brains,” All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “It’s like playing pickup a little bit out there. That’s the exciting part for us I think is we get back here is, we played alright, but there’s so much more room for us.”
- Cavaliers 10-day signee Pete Nance is reveling in his opportunity to play for his favorite team, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). “It’s surreal,” Nance told Fedor. “The goal was to get a call-up from the G League at some point, but to have it be the Cavs, it’s just a really cool thing for me. I’m super excited. I grew up a lifelong Cavs fan. Something I’ve thought about my whole life. I’ve been working for this my whole life. It’s a dream come true.” Pete’s father Larry Nance played for the Cavs from 1988-94, while his brother Larry Nance Jr. was with the team from 2018-21.
- The struggling Pistons face an intriguing trade deadline. In a new reader mailbag, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required) unpacks Detroit’s options, suggesting that the team will essentially view the trade deadline as an opportunity to get a head-start on the offseason by adding players who will be with the team beyond this season.
Raptors forward RJ Barrett is hoping for a friendly reception from fans tonight in his first-ever road game at Madison Square Garden, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. The Knicks were in the middle of a road trip when Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were sent to Toronto as part of a five-player trade on December 30, so this marks the first time back in New York City for either player since the deal. Barrett has fond memories of the four-plus seasons he spent with the Knicks, and he hopes the city feels the same way.
“I think the one thing [I appreciated most here] was the fans,” Barrett said. “Sold out every night, it’s like a show at the Garden, with all the lights and everything that goes on. So I was always appreciative of that, I always loved playing in the Garden. But [Saturday] I’ll be a visitor, and I’m excited to see what that’s like.”
Quickley has been given a larger role with the Raptors than he had in New York, Botte adds. Even though he was runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year honors last season, coach Tom Thibodeau was only playing him 24 minutes per night before the deal. Quickley has become a starter in Toronto and is averaging career highs of 18.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists through 10 games.
“I don’t cry during movies, so I’d probably say not that much,” Quickley responded when asked if he expects returning to the Garden to be emotional, “but this one will be — I’ma try not to cry.”
There’s more on the Raptors:
- Quickley believes he developed “thick skin” from dealing with the New York media and the expectations of Knicks fans, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. He still keeps in touch with his former teammates and says he understands why he was traded. “Business of basketball,” Quickley said. “The Knicks made a decision. And not really much you can do about it. Expecting to play a basketball game [that night against the Pacers] and didn’t.”
- Barrett and Scottie Barnes both received an A-minus as Eric Koreen of The Athletic handed out his mid-season grades for the Raptors. Koreen cites Barnes’ improvement as a shooter as the most positive development for the team and says Barrett has been a perfect partner for him in transition.
- Indiana’s own 2024 first-round pick that Toronto received in the Pascal Siakam trade is top-three protected, so it won’t convey in the unlikely event that the Pacers miss the playoffs and get lucky in the lottery. If that happens, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter link), the Raptors would receive Indiana’s second-round pick in 2025 and the least favorable 2024 second-rounder among the Pacers, Jazz and Cavaliers.
As we detailed back in September, there are several players around the NBA who would benefit financially from making an All-NBA team or winning a Most Valuable Player of Defensive Player of the Year award in 2023/24.
Heat big man Bam Adebayo, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray are among the players who would become eligible to sign a super-max (Designated Veteran) contract during the 2024 offseason by earning one of those honors this season.
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could ensure they become eligible to sign a super-max extension in 2025 by making this year’s All-NBA team. Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. could do the same by winning a second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award.
Additionally, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, and Hornets guard LaMelo Ball signed maximum-salary rookie scale extensions that will be worth 30% of next season’s salary cap (instead of 25%) if they make an All-NBA team this spring. These “Rose Rule” contracts are essentially “mini” super-max deals.
Not all of those 10 players look like legitimate All-NBA, MVP, or DPOY candidates this season, but many of them will be in the mix. However, as Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks write at ESPN.com, the newly implemented 65-game minimum requirement for award winners looms large for this group.
Without appearing in 65 games (including at least 63 of 20-plus minutes and two of 15-plus minutes), these players will be ineligible to earn an All-NBA spot, and without that end-of-season honor, they won’t be in position to receive a higher maximum salary.
According to Bontemps and Marks, a player who misses more than 17 of his team’s games, falling short of appearing in the required 65, can technically still qualify for award recognition, but only in very specific scenarios:
- If the player appeared in at least 62 games (and 85% of his team’s games to that point) and then suffers a season-ending injury.
- If the player files a grievance and presents “clear and convincing evidence” that his team limited his games or his minutes with the intention of depriving him of award eligibility.
While there’s also a clause for “extraordinary circumstances,” the NBA and NBPA don’t expect that clause to apply to injury absences, since it would essentially defeat the purpose of the rule, per ESPN’s duo.
Of the 10 players mentioned above, one is already ineligible for a major end-of-season award — Ball has appeared in just 19 of the Hornets’ first 39 games due to an ankle injury, so even if he doesn’t miss a game for the rest of the season, he’ll max out at 62 appearances. Given Charlotte’s spot in the standings, Ball would have been an All-NBA long shot anyway, but he has been playing at a very high level when he’s been healthy.
The 65-game mark remains within reach for the rest of this group, though some players can’t really afford any sort of extended absence. Adebayo, for instance, has missed 10 of Miami’s 42 games so far and only logged 12 minutes in an 11th, which means it won’t count toward his 65. Seven more missed games would cost him his award eligibility.
Murray is in a similar spot — he has missed 14 of Denver’s 43 games and played just 10 minutes in a 15th, so three more missed games would make him ineligible for award consideration.
Doncic has missed seven games for the Mavericks, while Fox has missed six for the Kings, so they’re on pace to play in enough games, but if either player turns an ankle or tweaks a hamstring and is forced to the sidelines for a couple weeks, he’d be in trouble.
It looked like that might happen with Haliburton, who sat out just three of the Pacers’ first 36 games, then strained his hamstring earlier this month. He was expected to be unavailable for at least a couple weeks, but returned to action on Friday night, ahead of schedule, after missing just five contests.
Haliburton is a legitimate All-NBA candidate and would be in line for a projected $41MM pay increase across his five-year extension if he earns one of those 15 spots. Were those financial considerations a factor in his early return to action? Would he still have been inactive on Friday if that 65-game minimum weren’t in play?
It’s hard to imagine the Pacers allowing their franchise player to risk potential re-injury by coming back too early, but Haliburton certainly has a ton of motivation to play in every game he can this year.
As Howard Beck of The Ringer writes, that 65-game minimum will be a fascinating subplot to follow in the second half of the season. Although we’ve focused here on players whose future earnings could be directly tied to whether or not they claim an end-of-season award, there are many other potential All-NBA candidates who may fall short of 65 games, changing the equation for voters.
Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, Zion Williamson, and Lauri Markkanen are among the stars who have been out for eight or more games so far this season, Beck observes. Kevin Durant has missed seven.
The 65-game minimum isn’t necessary to earn votes for Sixth Man of the Year, Rookie of the Year, or an All-Rookie spot, but the other major awards require at least 65 appearances.
In 2023, five of the 15 players who made an All-NBA team appeared in fewer than 65 games, but that won’t be the case in 2024. The players who have the most riding on All-NBA honors from a financial perspective may be the ones most motivated to stay on the court, but as Adebayo points out, you “can’t stop injuries from happening.”
“God forbid nobody gets hurt, but you can’t [prevent] injury,” he said, per Bontemps and Marks. “I think it’s crazy that we even have the rule. It’s one of those things where you just accept the rule. … I guess use your 17 games as wisely as possible.”
Former NBA first-round pick Guerschon Yabusele, currently a member of Real Madrid, likely won’t be looking to return stateside anytime in the near future, he said in an interview with French outlet L’Equipe.
“I would like to return to the NBA, but I play for the best team in Europe and win championships,” Yabusele said (hat tip to Eurohoops). “Why would I leave that to sit on a bench? I will join the French National Team after the end of the season this summer, so I am waiting for the Olympics, not the NBA.”
The 16th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Yabusele joined the Celtics in 2017 and spent two seasons in Boston, appearing in 74 total games and seeing limited action. He averaged 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per contest.
The 6’8″ forward, who is now 28, has had more success since returning to Europe in 2020. Yabusele won a French League (LNB Pro A) title with ASVEL in 2021, a Spanish League (Liga ACB) title with Real Madrid in 2022, and a EuroLeague championship in 2023 while playing a key role for his teams.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Zach Harper of The Athletic previews what this year’s All-Star rosters might look like and considers which players could be left on the outside looking in. The Western Conference backcourt will be especially competitive, according to Harper, who suggests that star guards like Devin Booker and De’Aaron Fox aren’t locks to be All-Stars.
- A federal judge reinstated Illinois wing Terrence Shannon Jr. on Friday, ending his suspension and ruling that the university had violated his civil rights by depriving him of “protected property interests” without due process, according to John O’Connor of The Associated Press. Shannon, who had been considered a probable first-round pick in the 2024 draft, was suspended indefinitely by Illinois after being accused of rape last month.
- Dan Devine of The Ringer picks his award winners for the first half of the 2023/24 season, including narrowly choosing Sixers star Joel Embiid over Nuggets star Nikola Jokic as the MVP so far.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic poses a few questions for the Pacers and Raptors in the wake of their Pascal Siakam blockbuster, including what Siakam’s next contract will look like and whether Toronto will look to tank in the second half in an effort to hang onto its top-six protected first-round pick for 2024.
Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton will return to action on Friday vs. Portland after missing the past five games with a hamstring strain, he announced on Twitter.
Haliburton is ahead of schedule, as he was originally expected to miss at least a couple weeks. At the time, there was a sense of relief that the injury, which he sustained vs. Boston on January 8, was not more serious.
The 12th pick of the 2020 draft, Haliburton has been one of the standout players of the 2023/24 season thus far, leading the NBA by averaging 12.5 assists per game while only turning the ball over 2.6 times a night, an elite 4.8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
In addition to his terrific vision, basketball IQ and passing ability, Haliburton is also an extremely efficient scorer, averaging a career-best 23.6 PPG on .497/.403/.868 shooting in 33 games this season (33.4 MPG).
Marc J. Spears of Andscape reported on Thursday (Twitter link) that Pascal Siakam was expected to make his Pacers debut in Portland on Friday and that will indeed be the case, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The two-time All-NBA forward was recently acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Raptors.
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- Multiple reports indicated that Siakam was enthusiastic about the opportunity to play with Haliburton, and Wojnarowski said on his podcast that star players around the league admire the guard’s “unselfish” game, suggesting it could be a key to future roster upgrades (hat tip to Evan Sidery). “They look at how much fun it is to play there,” Wojnarowski said. “How much fun (Haliburton) is to play with. How unselfish he is. And it sometimes allows you to play up in class in terms of your market. He makes up for the difference that a Midwestern market might’ve had trouble keeping the guy.”
- Count Myles Turner among the players excited about Siakam’s addition, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). “Everybody sees this as a win-now move,” Turner said. “It’s an exciting move and a big move at the same time just to have someone who’s an All-Star and a 20-point-a-night scorer come into an organization like this, especially one that’s building and trying to get to a place that he’s been before (winning a championship).”
- Head coach Rick Carlisle also spoke about Siakam on Thursday, as Dopirak relays. “We like him very much,” Carlisle said. “Been a long-time admirer. He has some unique skills for the 4 position. I even believe he can play some 3. I know he can play some small ball 5. I’ve just heard many, many great things about him as a person, as a professional, as a worker, as a teammate. Obviously, he’s been named to multiple All-Stars, multiple all-leagues, he’s done it at a high level. We think we’re getting him at a perfect time in his career.”
The Pacers have re-signed veteran forward James Johnson, but this time he’ll receive a 10-day contract instead of a rest-of-season deal, the team announced in a press release.
Indiana waived Johnson a couple days ago in order to create roster space to acquire fourth-year guard Kira Lewis, who was immediately flipped to Toronto as a salary-matching piece for two-time All-Star Pascal Siakam.
The Pacers had two open 15-man roster spots after sending out three players (Bruce Brown and Jordan Nwora were the others) for Siakam — one of those spots will be going to Johnson.
The move was expected, as Tony East of SI.com reported shortly after Johnson was released that the team planned to bring him back if he cleared waivers.
Inking Johnson to a 10-day contract will give Indiana roster flexibility in the event of more trades ahead of the February 8 deadline. As our tracker shows, the 15-year veteran is the sixth player to sign a 10-day deal this season.
Technically, the Pacers are paying Johnson twice right now, as his previous contract was guaranteed after he remained on the roster through the cut-down deadline earlier this month. The dead money cap hit for that deal is about $1.4MM.
Johnson, who has played for 10 different NBA teams, averaged 4.8 minutes per game across five appearances in 2023/24. The 36-year-old played 18 games for the Pacers last season.
His on-court contributions have been modest the past two seasons, but clearly the Pacers value Johnson’s leadership and professionalism, which is why they keep bringing him back.