- The Pacers, who have won five in a row and nine of their last 11, look like they’re joining the Jazz as presumed lottery teams who are a little too talented to be major players in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, writes Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required).
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox and Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton have been named the NBA’s players of the week, the league announced today (via Twitter).
Fox, the Western Conference winner, led Sacramento to a 3-0 week while averaging 25.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists on .600/.417/.889 shooting. Through 14 games for the 9-6 Kings, Fox is averaging career highs of 25.4 points and 4.8 rebounds, plus 6.4 assists and 1.1 steals, along with a career-best shooting line of .558/.382/.845.
Fox’s former teammate Haliburton, the winner in the East, led Indiana to a 3-0 week while averaging 21.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 block on .532/.320/.833 shooting. The 22-year-old is having a breakout third season for the 9-6 Pacers, averaging career highs of 20.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, a league-leading 10.5 assists and 1.9 steals on a sparkling .493/.403/.854 shooting line.
According to the NBA (Twitter link), the other nominees in the West were Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, while Bradley Beal, Darius Garland, Myles Turner and Franz Wagner were nominated in the East.
- Aaron Nesmith scored a season-high 19 points for the Pacers on Saturday and forward Jalen Smith said his teammate was due for a big offensive game, he told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “We all know what Aaron can do,” Smith said. “Aaron’s one of the best shooters on the team, arguably one of the best shooters in the NBA in my opinion. We knew that he was due for a breakout game some time soon. We kept telling him to keep trusting himself, keep shooting. It’s going to fall sometime soon. It can’t be off all the time.”
NOVEMBER 19: There’s some hope that neither Morant’s ankle injury nor Haliburton’s is a significant one.
As Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal relays, Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke expressed optimism about whether he’d seen Morant in the locker room after the game: “He was walking. I don’t know how serious it is … It doesn’t sound super serious.”
In Houston, Haliburton told reporters – including Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star – that he isn’t overly concerned about his own ankle injury: “It feels all right right now. It’s the same ankle that I hurt against Toronto (last Saturday). I think it’s more precautionary than anything. We’ll see how it feels in the morning.”
It seems likely that Morant will miss some time, and Haliburton might too, but hopefully neither injury is one that will require a star point guard to be sidelined for a big chunk of the season.
NOVEMBER 18: A pair of rising guards suffered injuries late in the fourth quarter of victories and had to be helped off the court on Friday night.
Grizzlies star Ja Morant turned his left ankle in Friday’s win over the Thunder, per Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. According to Lang Whitaker of Grind City Media (Twitter link), head coach Taylor Jenkins said Morant “tweaked” the ankle and there will be an update on his status Saturday.
As Tim MacMahon of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Morant missed Sunday’s game against the Wizards after injuring the same ankle last week. Through 13 games, he’s averaging 29.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.2 steals for the Grizzlies.
Point guard Tyrese Haliburton also suffered a lower leg injury with less than a minute left in the Pacers‘ victory over Houston, tweets Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. It appeared as though Rockets big man Usman Garuba may have landed on Haliburton’s foot or ankle after contesting his layup.
Through 13 games in his first full season in Indiana, Haliburton is averaging 20.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, a league-leading 10.4 assists and 1.9 steals. The Pacers have been a pleasant surprise early on in the 2022/23 season, currently holding an 8-6 record.
Even though we’re only a month into the 2022/23 NBA season, some front offices are “beginning to get itchy trading fingers,” writes Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, citing league sources. While the in-season trade market often doesn’t heat up until December 15, when most offseason signees become trade-eligible, some clubs may already be looking to make changes, according to executives who spoke to Bulpett.
“Everyone comes into the year having talked themselves into their roster,” one general manager said. “But then we start playing the games and soon enough reality sets in. Some teams shouldn’t read too much into it, because it takes time for guys to get on the same page if you’ve made some changes. But even though it’s crazy, some guys look at the standings and think, ‘Oh, s–t, I better do something.’ … And some of them are going to be under pressure to do something. It’s going to be really interesting to see what happens after December 15.”
Bulpett’s story features some speculation from executives about what struggling or inconsistent teams like the Lakers and Nets might do on the trade market, as well as a suggestion from one exec that clubs’ financial situations will be worth monitoring as the trade deadline nears.
“There could be some interesting players out there as we get deeper into the season, because I think teams are going to be looking to dump salary once it’s clear they’re not in the playoff mix — or maybe in the mix but with no chance to do anything if they get there,” the executive said. “Teams are going to start looking at that luxury tax bill and their record, and the two just aren’t going to mesh.
“Where it could get interesting is if some guys get the idea they need to make a splash to keep their jobs. But I think you’re going to see some owners step in and look at the bottom line. What’s funny is that they may end up saving their GMs from themselves — you know, keep them from doing something stupid.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Spain has leapfrogged the United States as the No. 1 national team in FIBA’s men’s basketball rankings, according to a press release. The U.S. had held the top spot in FIBA’s rankings since 2010 and has won the last four Olympic gold medals, but finished seventh in the 2019 World Cup (which Spain won) and third in this year’s AmeriCup.
- Zach Harper of The Athletic divides the NBA’s 30 coaches into “hot seat” tiers, starting with the ones who definitely aren’t going anywhere – such as Gregg Popovich and Erik Spoelstra – and working his way down to the coaches who might want to keep their LinkedIn profiles up to date — Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks and Doc Rivers of the Sixers are in that final tier.
- A panel of NBA.com writers weighs in on the biggest surprises of the NBA season to date. Besides obvious choices like the Warriors‘ struggles and the Jazz‘s unexpected early success, the panel singled out the Pacers for their solid start and noted that offensive production has been off the charts in the early going.
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic checks in on where Overtime Elite stands heading into its second year, highlighting some of the tweaks the league has made. Among those tweaks? Offering recruits a choice of a scholarship or a salary, allowing them to leave the door open to eventually playing college ball by retaining their amateur status, if they so choose. “The scholarship option (for high-school aged recruits) has been big for us, if not bigger than NIL,” OTE general manager Damien Wilkins said. “Because now we can go out and recruit without restrictions. There’s no real downside.”
The Magic will be getting some reinforcements for Friday’s game in Chicago, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Veteran guard Gary Harris has been cleared to make his regular season debut following offseason arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, Price reports. Additionally, starting center Wendell Carter Jr. will be back in the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game due to a strained right plantar fascia.
Orlando’s opponents also got some good injury-related news on Friday. As Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago writes, Bulls guard Coby White (left quad contusion) and forward Patrick Williams (right ankle sprain) both said at Friday’s shootaround that they’ll be able to play against the Magic. White has missed the last eight games as a result of his injury; Williams sprained his ankle on Wednesday, but it appears the injury won’t cost him any games.
Here are several more injury updates from around the NBA:
- As expected, Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon will be available on Friday vs. New Orleans after missing four games with a hamstring injury. However, the team announced that Marcus Smart (right ankle inflammation) will miss a second straight game (Twitter link).
- The already shorthanded Raptors will be missing Gary Trent Jr. and Chris Boucher on Saturday vs. Atlanta due to non-COVID illnesses, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. However, Eric Koreen of The Athletic tweets that Dalano Banton‘s ankle sprain isn’t as serious as initially feared and Pascal Siakam (adductor strain) has resumed on-court activity. Another update on Siakam is expected in a week or so, Koreen adds.
- Heat star Jimmy Butler (knee soreness) has been ruled out for Friday’s game against Washington and it’s possible that Bam Adebayo (knee contusion) won’t be available either, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Adebayo is currently listed as questionable.
- Hornets forward Gordon Hayward, who has been on the shelf since November 2 due to a left shoulder contusion, has been upgraded from doubtful to questionable for Friday’s game vs. Cleveland, according to the team (Twitter link).
- Pacers sharpshooter Chris Duarte isn’t expected to be available during the team’s upcoming four-game home stand, but could return from his ankle sprain at some point in the subsequent seven-game road trip, tweets Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. That trip begins on November 27 and runs through December 7.
- Sixers guard Jaden Springer, currently assigned to the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League, will miss at least one week due to a right quadriceps strain, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com.
- Myles Turner is averaging a career-high 17.9 PPG and 8.7 RPG through his first seven games this season, exhibiting more consistency than he has in the past. As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star writes, Turner’s improved play raises questions about how he fits into the Pacers‘ plans going forward. The veteran center is in a contract year and has long been considered a trade candidate, but might also be an ideal candidate for a renegotiation-and-extension if he wants to stay in Indiana, as we outlined on Wednesday.
After months of rumors about the Lakers‘ pursuit of Myles Turner, it may be the Clippers who make a strong play for the Pacers center, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.
Multiple sources tell Pincus that the Clippers have discussed targeting Turner. The team is in need of another center after losing Isaiah Hartenstein to the Knicks in free agency, and Turner appears to be the best option on the market, provided that Indiana is willing to move him.
Nicolas Batum is currently serving as the primary backup to starting center Ivica Zubac, Pincus notes, with Marcus Morris and Robert Covington also spending time in that role. Turner would provide a legitimate option at the five and would ease the burden on Zubac.
Turner is in the final year of his contract, but Pincus hears that wouldn’t be a factor for the Clippers, as owner Steve Ballmer is willing to accept a high luxury tax in order to build a contender. Pincus’ sources say that L.A. prefers to move some of its wing depth in the deal, rather than a lead guard such as Reggie Jackson or John Wall.
Turner has an $18MM salary this season, so the Clippers would have to send out at least $14.3MM in any trade. Assuming the team keeps Zubac, Pincus states that Norman Powell, Luke Kennard, Jackson, Morris or Covington would have to be included to get a deal done soon. L.A.’s options will expand on December 15 when Wall becomes trade-eligible and again on January 15 when Amir Coffey and Batum can both be dealt.
The Clippers are limited to offering either their first-round pick in 2028 or 2029 because the team’s other first-rounders are covered by obligations to the Thunder from the Paul George trade. Pincus points out that L.A. has plenty of second-rounders to offer, apart from 2027, along with young prospects such as Brandon Boston, Jason Preston and Moussa Diabate.
Turner is off to a strong start, averaging career highs of 17.9 points and 8.7 rebounds in seven games. He’s also blocking 3.1 shots per game after leading the league twice in that category and would be a valuable rim protector for the Clippers.
Pincus cautions that the Pacers may not be in a hurry to make a move. The trade deadline isn’t until February 10, so there’s plenty of time for Indiana’s front office to gauge its offers. One source tells Pincus that the Pacers have become skeptical that a deal with the Lakers will work out.
Pacers guards Tyrese Haliburton and rookie Bennedict Mathurin spoke at length with Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer about their chemistry during Indiana’s surprisingly solid 5-6 start to the 2022/23 NBA season, Mathurin’s willingness to be coached up, how they may have been overlooked in their drafts, and much more.
Haliburton was selected with the No. 12 pick in 2020 out of Iowa State, and Mathurin was drafted sixth overall this June out of Arizona.
The 6’5″ Haliburton is averaging a career-best 21.6 PPG, 9.9 APG, 4.6 RPG and 1.8 APG this year for the Pacers. The 6’6″ Mathurin is averaging 20.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.2 APG. That scoring average ranks Mathurin behind just No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero‘s 23.5 PPG among rookies.
The full conversation is well worth a read, as is par for the course when it comes to O’Connor. Here are some highlights.
On their quick chemistry:
“We play off each other well,” Haliburton said. “I think his game complements mine in the sense of, I play a lot of spread pick-and-roll where I’m attacking downhill or getting the floater, but also facilitating out of it. When teams have to tag on the big or come over to help on me, I can give it to him on the second side. He’s such a downhill force getting to the cup and scoring the basketball, he’s really hard to guard on the second side of actions. So, I think naturally, it just is a good fit.”
“A player like Ty, he is really good with the ball in his hands, so I don’t need to have the ball as much in my hands,” Mathurin added. “I’m trying to do the stuff, cutting and just the other stuff, just so we can just be great on the court together.”
On Mathurin’s stated desire to improve his game with the help of head coach Rick Carlisle:
“We had practice yesterday, and then I wasn’t going too hard, and I told him, ‘I don’t take anything personal,'” Mathurin said. “‘If I don’t do this right, just tell me,” and I feel like today, he made sure he was on me a little bit. He told me to run harder and to do stuff at a good pace.”
“He’s the only guy I’ve ever seen watch film with the head coach in the back of the plane,” Haliburton said of Mathurin. “He’ll watch all of his. I watch film with our video guys and stuff. He goes back there with Coach and watches his film after games, good or bad. And that just shows he’s hungry, wants to get after it. You don’t see guys in the NBA do that. We’re young guys and we both just want to be great. But you see the hunger that he has.”
Haliburton on how the two Pacers guards may have been undervalued in their respective drafts:
“Talent evaluation’s not easy. And there’s misses… You can’t evaluate the willingness to get better. You can’t evaluate their growth in IQ, their want to learn, their want to be coached hard. You can’t evaluate those things. So there’s so much more that goes into it that you can ask all the questions you want. You can go ask somebody’s college coach, you can go ask their parents. You can go ask whatever you want. They’re going to lie. Of course they’re going to lie. They want their guy to get drafted higher. Definitely there’s guys that got drafted ahead of me, I know I’m better right now. I knew I was better than at the time. I know [Mathurin] feels the same way right now.”
With the Lakers off to a 2-9 start this season and no signs that a turnaround is imminent, VP of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and the team’s front office face a difficult decision, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.
As Haynes outlines, the Lakers must decide whether to continue pushing their chips into the middle of the table by making more win-now trades this season or whether they’d be better off waiting until the 2023 offseason to pursue major moves.
Waiting until next summer would mean Russell Westbrook‘s $47MM+ expiring contract would no longer be on the team’s books. It would also put the Lakers in position to trade an additional draft pick, since they could move their 2023 first-rounder (once the Pelicans exercise their swap rights) after the pick has been made.
However, LeBron James has a finite number of high-level seasons left and doesn’t want to waste a year waiting for reinforcements, sources tell Haynes. Other core players on the roster would also prefer the team to make win-now moves, Haynes adds.
As has been reported repeatedly throughout the offseason and into the season, the Lakers don’t want to move their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks in a deal that doesn’t significantly improve their chances of contending for a title. According to Haynes, there’s not a universal belief within the club’s front office that acquiring Myles Turner and Buddy Hield from the Pacers would move the needle to that degree.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- The Lakers are “known to covet” Bradley Beal, according to Haynes. However, the Wizards guard just signed a five-year contract with the team that includes a full no-trade clause, so he’d have to ask out of Washington for L.A. – or any other team – to have a shot at him.
- As Jovan Buha reported earlier this week, the Lakers aren’t considering trading Anthony Davis, Haynes confirms. However, Haynes hears from sources that the team has received more calls about Russell Westbrook as of late — those talks haven’t advanced beyond the initial stages though.
- LeBron James, who was diagnosed with a left adductor strain, has been ruled out for Friday’s game vs. Sacramento, and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link via The Rally) hears that James is expected to miss Sunday’s game vs. Brooklyn too. After Sunday, the team is off until next Friday.
- In the same video clip, Charania also reports that free agent wings Joe Wieskamp and Tony Snell recently worked out for the Lakers, whose .293 3PT% ranks last in the NBA.