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Raptors Notes: Siakam, Trade Rumors, Quickley, Barnes

December 31st, 2023 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

After word of the OG Anunoby trade broke on Saturday, the general consensus among league insiders who spoke to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca is that the Raptors were just getting started, with multiple sources suggesting that the deal with the Knicks may be the first of several moves made by Toronto.

“It’s a reboot around Scottie Barnes, that’s for sure,” one source told Grange.

After previously reporting that league sources expect Pascal Siakam to be on the move sooner or later, Grange adds the Mavericks to the list of teams likely to to pursue the Raptors forward. The Hawks, Pacers, and Kings are the clubs that have been repeatedly cited as presumed suitors for Siakam.

Jalen Johnson was a player the Raptors coveted in previous talks with Atlanta, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, though the Hawks won’t be particularly inclined to include him in an offer in the midst of his breakout season. Along similar lines, the Kings have been unwilling to discuss former No. 4 overall pick Keegan Murray, Scotto confirms.

As Scotto has previously observed, Pacers forward Jarace Walker, this year’s No. 8 overall pick, seems to fit the mold of the kind of young, controllable player the Raptors would like. Walker’s lack of playing time so far in his rookie season has some people around the league wondering if Indiana would give him up in a package for an impact player.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Finding a guard who is comfortable playing off the ball and who can space the floor alongside Barnes was a priority for Toronto, according to Grange, who says there’s a lot of enthusiasm among Raptors officials about what Quickley can bring to the team. “Quickley is the perfect pairing next to Scottie Barnes because of the shooting and floor spacing he’ll provide,” one rival executive told Scotto.
While the Raptors’ goal is to add pieces that better complement Barnes, the young forward declined to comment when asked about Saturday’s trade, which sent three of his best friends on the team to New York, Grange notes. “This is the NBA, that’s the thing, right?” Siakam said of the deal. “Like we got to be robots and just move on. Because that’s what it is. We get paid for it, right? So you have to move on… (but) it sucks. It’s not easy. For some people is the first time (they’ve been through it) but I’ve seen it happen. So I understand. … It’s a business and you learn about it every day, and every day you try to just be out there you know, like look out for yourself, look out for your teammates, and do the best that you can.”
Following a loss to the lowly Pistons on Saturday, the Raptors are 12-20 on the season, and postgame comments from Dennis Schröder indicated that the club isn’t exactly a “cohesive, well-oiled” machine, writes Grange. “When I got here, (head coach) Darko (Rajakovic) did a great job just putting this system into the organization,” Schröder said. “But I think we just got to follow that. Everybody just being unselfish, sharing the ball… to be a winning team, we need everybody, Even the guys who don’t really, really play. People got to be grateful, cheering on their teammates when they get a stop, when they get on the floor, dive, pick them up, being excited for one another. I don’t want to go deep into that, but I need to feel that because in the summer I did. … I went to war with all my brothers from the (World Cup champion German) national team. But we knew we had each other. I don’t feel it here yet like that.”

Raptors To Continue Exploring Pascal Siakam Trades

December 30th, 2023 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

After agreeing to send OG Anunoby to New York, the Raptors are expected to continue exploring trades involving forward Pascal Siakam, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

While Wojnarowski reports that there’s currently no traction on any deal involving Siakam, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) says league sources expect the two-time All-Star to be on the move at some point.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports also writes that league personnel anticipate a Siakam trade following today’s Anunoby deal. As Fischer observes, many rival executives had long believed that Siakam was more likely to be traded than Anunoby, with the Hawks, Kings, and Pacers frequently mentioned as potential suitors. Toronto and Atlanta had serious conversations about the 29-year-old over the summer.

Like Anunoby, Siakam can become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, so the Raptors will have to make a decision soon on whether or not he’s part of their long-term plans. Toronto’s cap situation going forward will allow the team to re-sign both Siakam and Immanuel Quickley to new contracts that begin in ’24/25, but the club would, of course, gain significantly more cap flexibility by not having to commit to a new maximum-salary – or near-max – contract for Siakam.

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan observed this afternoon (via Twitter), the Raptors are in position to generate more than $36MM in cap room in 2024 and then go over the cap to re-sign Quickley, but that projection would require Siakam to not be on the books beyond this season — it would also mean not taking back any multiyear money in a Siakam trade, which may not be realistic.

From a basketball perspective, there had been questions about the long-term on-court fit of the Anunoby/Siakam duo alongside franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes. Led by those three forwards, the Raptors had gotten off to a 12-19 start this season.

Removing Anunoby from the equation could give Barnes and Siakam an opportunity in the coming weeks to show that they can thrive alongside one another, but Anunoby is a better shooter and floor-spacer than Siakam and was widely considered to be the better complementary piece for Barnes.

Reports have indicated that the Raptors have “no appetite” for a teardown or rebuild, and the return in the Anunoby trade reflects that, as the team opted for two young building blocks rather than attempting to load up on future draft picks. If Toronto makes a move with Siakam, the club would presumably seek a similar kind of package.

Central Notes: Ball, Green, Pacers Lineup, Sasser

December 28th, 2023 at 9:35pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said guard Lonzo Ball was in town last week and he’s optimistic that his latest procedure to alleviate his pain worked, tweets NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson. Ball is still ruled out for the rest of the season but, according to Johnson, he’s progressing well and is expected to resume running by January.

“Everything they’ve done in terms of progressing him, he’s handled very well,” Donovan said, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “The pain he was experiencing that was causing the setback is eliminated in terms of what he’s doing now, but he hasn’t run.”

Ball hasn’t played in a game since Jan. 14, 2022 as he’s dealt with continuous injuries and setbacks. With his pain alleviated and physical activity soon to resume, his eventual return to the court looks more likely with this latest development.

In 35 games with the Bulls, Ball has averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He was acquired by Chicago in the summer of 2021 in a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans. He has a player option next year for roughly $21.4MM and Cowley mentions it’s possible he returns to play sometime in the offseason or training camp, but that’s more speculation than anything.

We have more from the Central Division:

It took some time for Bucks sharpshooter A.J. Green to find his footing in the NBA, but he finished the 2022/23 season strong and earned a guaranteed contract ahead of this year, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jim Owczarski writes. While Green hasn’t yet earned a permanent keep in the rotation, the Bucks can count on him to come in and hit threes when needed. “Freakin’ A.J.,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “I feel like whenever he shoots the ball, the ball is going in.” Green is under contract for two seasons after this one, though both are non-guaranteed.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle made significant changes to the team’s starting lineup in their Tuesday game against the Bulls, moving Buddy Hield and Obi Toppin to the bench for Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith, respectively, IndyStar’s Dustin Dopirak observes. Andrew Nembhard also started in place of the injured Bruce Brown. The Pacers, who had previously lost six of their last seven, defeated the Rockets 123-117 with their new lineup.
After finishing his collegiate career tied fifth for wins in Houston’s program history, Marcus Sasser is having to adjust as the Pistons suffer through a 28-game losing streak, tied for the longest in NBA history, Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle writes. However, Sasser has been able to turn to his former college coach Kelvin Sampson for advice this year, according to Duarte. “I worry about him in his first year,” Sampson said. “But at the same time, you get paid for this, man. Suck it up, you’ll be all right.“

Injury Notes: Duren, Jazz, Wright, Len, B. Brown

December 26th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Pistons looking to avoid becoming the first team in NBA history to ever lose 27 consecutive games in a single season, starting center Jalen Duren appears poised to make his return from an eight-game absence due to a left ankle sprain. He’s listed as probable to play vs. Brooklyn on Tuesday, tweets James L. Edwards of The Athletic.

While no player on the Pistons has particularly flattering on/off-court numbers this season, the team has played better with Duren available. Detroit’s net rating in the big man’s 404 minutes this season is -7.9; that net rating slips to just -12.8 in the team’s 988 minutes without him on the court.

Here are a few more injury-related updates ahead of Tuesday’s slate of games:

The Jazz will get a couple guards back in their rotation on Tuesday, as both Keyonte George (left foot inflammation) and Talen Horton-Tucker (left foot inflammation) have been upgraded from questionable to available, tweets Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. George has missed Utah’s past six games, while Horton-Tucker was unavailable for the last two.
The Wizards haven’t listed any injuries for Tuesday’s game against Orlando, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (via Twitter), which means veteran guard Delon Wright should be available for the first time since spraining his left knee on November 10.
Kings center Alex Len, who last played on November 13, has been upgraded to available and been cleared to return from a high right ankle sprain, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Len will actually play at all in Portland on Tuesday, given that he only logged 41 total minutes across six appearances prior to the injury.
Pacers wing Bruce Brown has been ruled out of Tuesday’s game in Houston as a result of a right knee bone bruise (Twitter link via Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files). It’ll be the second consecutive missed game for Brown after he appeared in each of Indiana’s first 27 contests this season.

Lack Of Wing Size Hampering Defense

December 24th, 2023 at 5:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pacers lack size on the wings, which is a major reason for their .500 record and inability to get stops, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files notes. That has made it difficult for Indiana to slow down the opponents’ best player, since that is normally the job of an athletic 6’7″ or 6’8″ wing.

Scotto’s Latest: Raptors, Pacers, Hawks, Markkanen, Hornets, More

December 22nd, 2023 at 6:38pm CST by Rory Maher

Rival executives believe Pascal Siakam is more likely to be traded than OG Anunoby if the Raptors decide to shake up their roster, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. In fact, teams looking for help on the wing think Toronto “will do whatever it takes” to retain Anunoby as a free agent in 2024 — he’s widely expected to decline his $19.9MM player option for next season.

Scotto reports that top front office executives from the Pacers and Hawks had extensive conversations with Toronto’s brass at the NBA G League’s Winter Showcase in Orlando this week. Both teams have consistently been linked to the Raptors for several months, Scotto notes.

If the Raptors trade Siakam, they’d be looking for young players and draft capital in return, according to Scotto, with the goal of retooling around Scottie Barnes and Anunoby.

To that end, Pacers forward Jarace Walker, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 draft, could be a name to watch in trade talks. He hasn’t played much as a rookie this season, but he’s had some strong performances in the G League. Scotto also hears the Hawks would prefer to keep Jalen Johnson, who was having a breakout third season before sustaining a fractured wrist (he was recently cleared to resume practicing in full).

Here are more rumors and notes from Scotto:

Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen has been the subject of some trade speculation this season, but Scotto is the latest reporter to reiterate that the Finnish star is expected to stay put. According to Scotto, there are three reasons for that: Markkanen wants to remain with the Jazz, the cost of acquiring him could be exorbitant, and he could renegotiate and extend his contract in the offseason, which would bypass 2025 free agency. Multiple executives told Scotto the idea of a possible Markkanen trade was “wishful thinking.”
There’s a “strong belief” among rival executives that the Hornets will make front office changes “by next season at the latest,” Scotto writes. If president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak is fired or moved to a different role, Nets assistant GM Jeff Peterson and Wizards senior VP of player personnel Travis Schlenk are potential candidates to replace him, league sources tell Scotto. As Scotto writes, both Peterson and Schlenk previously worked with new Charlotte co-owner Rick Schnall in Atlanta.
Kings guard Keon Ellis and Cavaliers guard Craig Porter Jr. are among the top candidates to be promoted to standard deals from their current two-way contracts, per Scotto. Cleveland has an open roster spot and wouldn’t necessarily need to release anyone to give Porter a raise (and make him playoff-eligible), while Sacramento has Juan Toscano-Anderson on a non-guaranteed deal.

Central Notes: Merrill, Craig, LaVine, Nembhard, Pistons

December 22nd, 2023 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

In the midst of his best stretch of the season, Cavaliers wing Sam Merrill woke up on Thursday morning with a sore right wrist after falling on it on Wednesday, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required).

Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to continue playing an increased role for the banged-up Cavs, Merrill attempted to fight through the pain, but was clearly bothered by the injury and didn’t play in the second half of Thursday’s loss to New Orleans, as Fedor details.

“When it rains, it pours,” forward Dean Wade said of Merrill joining an increasingly crowded Cavs injury list. “It sucks, but we’ve still got to go out there and play a game. We’ve got, I don’t know how many healthy bodies we’ve got, but still got to go out there and fight.”

“It was definitely tough for us. He’s been lights out the last two games,” Jarrett Allen added. “He came in and he tried to pull through, tried to rough it out with the hurt hand. Sadly, he couldn’t do it. But it happens. It’s been the cascade of players going down for us, so we just have to keep going.”

With Ty Jerome, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley sidelined due to longer-term injuries, the Cavaliers could theoretically qualify for a hardship exception if a fourth player goes down. But hardship exceptions are only available to teams with full rosters — Cleveland already has an open spot that the team has thus far been unwilling to fill due to luxury tax concerns.

As we await more details on Merrill’s injury, here are more notes from around the Central:

Bulls forward Torrey Craig believes the eight-to-10 week recovery timeline the team provided when announcing his right foot injury is too long, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Craig said on Thursday that he’s a fast healer and that he intends to beat that timeline, assuming his rehab goes well.
In other Bulls injury news, Zach LaVine is making good progress in his recovery from his own right foot injury and is expected to start cutting next week, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s going to hopefully start to jump shooting, running, increase the speed,” Donovan said of what LaVine’s rehab. “He’s actually running at a pretty good clip straight ahead, and then moving toward next week is when they would probably start some of that running, changing direction, kind of curve running to see how he responds.” As Cowley details, LaVine could be cleared to resume basketball activities and begin practicing again if he responds well next week.
After missing six games due to a bone bruise, Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard returned to action on Friday in Memphis and looked good in his 16 minutes on the court, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.
Something has to change for the 2-26 Pistons, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, who says that “a shakeup needed to happen yesterday” and that everyone – from players to coaches to the front office to ownership – bears blame for this season’s disaster.

Central Notes: Merrill, Walker, Pacers, Middleton

December 21st, 2023 at 6:50pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill led Cleveland to a victory over the Jazz on Wednesday behind a franchise record-tying eight three-pointers off the bench. After beginning the year on the outside looking in to the Cavs’ rotation, Merrill is establishing himself as a key depth piece over the past week, which was highlighted by his career-high 27 points against Utah.

In his past five games, Merrill is averaging 14.0 points while shooting a scorching-hot 53.8% from downtown on 7.8 attempts per game.

“This is what the NBA is about. It’s about making dreams come true,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Merrill, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor (Subscriber link). “He’s worked his tail off, and he’s definitely making his dream come true.”

Fedor further explores the Utah State product’s rise to the top of Cleveland’s bench in a separate subscriber-only story, detailing his climb from unheralded high school guard to an eventual 10-day contract with the Cavs late last season, where he has remained since.

“J.B. reiterated the trust that the whole staff has in me and what I can do,” Merrill said. “For me, it’s always going to be a fight to show that I can do more than just shoot. I think they’ve understood that from the moment they signed me that there’s more to it, especially on the defensive end competing and staying in front of guys and being in the right spots and whatnot. I certainly came away with quite a bit of confidence.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Pacers rookie forward Jarace Walker is showing signs of progress with his play as of late, writes IndyStar’s Dustin Dopirak. The 2023 No. 8 overall pick played three straight games with the Pacers, totaling more minutes in those games than he had all season. Still, according to coach Rick Carlisle, the organization is impressed, but is keeping to a specific developmental timeline with Walker and they sent him back to the G League after their Dec. 16 game against Minnesota. Center Myles Turner missed Indiana’s Dec. 18 outing, but per Dopirak, the Pacers stayed committed to their plan of having Walker spend more time with the Mad Ants. When asked what Walker needs to improve, Carlisle said he wants Walker to be “a more disciplined defender than his instincts want him to be” and to “limit willy-nilly gambles.” (Twitter link via Dopirak).
Carlisle refrained from making any drastic changes to the Pacers rotation, even though he floated the idea, after the Pacers lost four games in a row soon after the In-Season Tournament championship, Dopirak writes in another piece. After staying the course with the current lineup, Indiana responded with a 31-point victory over the Hornets on Wednesday. “Coming off a high high at the In-Season Tournament and coming back to regular NBA basketball, it was a transition nobody was used to,” guard Buddy Hield said. “That’s the first time we all went through that. We figured it out, weathered the storm.“
Bucks wing Khris Middleton endured a difficult year in 2022 and into 2023, dealing with personal matters and injury flare ups, writes Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jim Owczarski. Now he’s back to playing a full workload for the first time since April 2022. Middleton went into detail with Owczarski on his difficult journey as of late. “I’ve been thinking and hoping that I’m getting out of that stretch of my life where I can move on to a little bit more positive things,” Middleton said. “But yeah, it got really high then it got really low for me the last year or two. But that’s life. We go through things at different stages and you learn from it and grow from it. I think that’s the most important thing. Try to let a lot of frustration go and realize part of it is life and just try to grow with it and learn from it all and appreciate things a little bit more.” I recommend checking out the piece in full here.

And-Ones: MVP Poll, All-Stars, Basketball Day, Bazley

December 21st, 2023 at 2:26pm CST by Rory Maher

After finishing runner-up to Nikola Jokic in 2020/21 and ’21/22, Sixers center Joel Embiid won his first MVP award last season. And he’s arguably been even better through the first third of the ’23/24 season, averaging career highs in multiple categories, including points (35.1), assists (5.9) and free throw percentage (89.3%).

In the first MVP straw poll conducted by Tim Bontemps of ESPN (subscriber link), Embiid is the clear frontrunner, receiving 63 first-place votes and 848 points. However, several top players are in the mix, with Nuggets center Jokic (630 points), Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (352), Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (340) and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (306) rounding out the top five.

12 total players received at least one top-five vote in the informal poll, which features 100 media members and mimics the NBA’s scoring system. Embiid made it clear he’d welcome more hardware.

“I have a pretty good chance [at another MVP],” Embiid told Bontemps. “I mean, if I have a chance to be in the conversation, why not? I want it all. I’m not shy about it. I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘Oh, I don’t care about this.’ Anything that I can get my hands on, I want it.”

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

All-Star fan voting is underway, prompting Zach Harper of The Athletic to choose his starters to this point in the season. Out West, Harper has Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic in the backcourt, with LeBron James (Lakers) and Kawhi Leonard (Clippers) joining Jokic in the froncourt. For the East, Harper selects Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers), Jayson Tatum (Celtics), Antetokounmpo, and Embiid.
In a press release, the NBA announced its celebrations for the first-ever World Basketball Day, which was established by the United Nations earlier this year during the World Cup. It will be observed annually on December 21 — the day Dr. James Naismith first introduced the game of basketball at the Springfield YMCA in 1891.
Former first-round pick Darius Bazley is attempting to make his way back into the NBA through the G League after being waived by the Nets prior to the season. Playing for the Delaware Blue Coats (the Sixers‘ affiliate), Bazley had a huge game at the Winter Showcase on Wednesday, recording 43 points, 18 rebounds, three steals and six blocks in the victory over the Texas Legends (Twitter link via the NBAGL).

Smith Returns Wednesday

December 20th, 2023 at 6:13pm CST by Rory Maher

After missing the past nine games with a left knee bone bruise, Pacers big man Jalen Smith will be active for Wednesday’s contest vs. Charlotte, tweets Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Smith had been one of the more productive reserves in the league on a per-minute basis prior to the injury, averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds on .707/.667/.741 shooting through 14 games (15.4 MPG).