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And-Ones: Breakout Candidates, Wembanyama, Thornwell

October 21st, 2022 at 12:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype polled 20 NBA executives on their top three breakout candidates for the 2022/23 season and found that Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey was the most popular pick. While I’d argue that last season represented a breakout year for Maxey, some executives have far higher expectations for him going forward.

“Maxey’s going to be better than James Harden,” one general manager said to Scotto. “He just keeps getting better and better and will be a huge reason why they have success this season.”

Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Magic forward Franz Wagner, and Rockets guard Jalen Green were among the other popular breakout picks, based on the responses Scotto got from executives. Interestingly, Warriors big man James Wiseman and Pistons forward/center Marvin Bagley III were each picked as this year’s top breakout candidate by one GM.

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

  • In his latest look at the top prospects in the 2023 NBA draft class, David Aldridge of The Athletic passes along several entertaining quotes from NBA executives, including one Eastern Conference exec’s response to whether Scoot Henderson could surpass Victor Wembanyama as next year’s No. 1 pick: “Scoot’s good, but, no. Short of Wembanyama having murdered somebody, there’s just no way.”
  • Veteran guard Sindarius Thornwell has signed with Frutti Extra Bursasport, the Turkish team announced this week (via Twitter). Thornwell has appeared in 160 total NBA games and played for New Orleans and Atlanta in 2020/21, but wasn’t in the league last season.
  • Longtime NBA referee Tony Brown, who officiated over 1,100 games, including one in the 2020 NBA Finals, passed away on Thursday after a fight with pancreatic cancer, according to his family (story via ESPN.com).
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Haliburton Aiming To Gain All-Star Status

October 20th, 2022 at 9:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Tyrese Haliburton wants to establish himself as one of the league’s top guards, he told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “Being an All-Star would be amazing,” the Pacers guard said. “I obviously would want to play on a championship team. But it would be exciting for me to be an All-Star. It would mean a lot to me and my family.”
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Turner Expected To Be Out At Least One Week

October 20th, 2022 at 3:42pm CST by Rory Maher
  • Sources tell Shams Charania and Bob Kravitz of The Athletic that Pacers center Myles Turner is expected to miss at least a week with his left ankle sprain. Turner says it’s a “typical ankle sprain” and it didn’t impact his foot (he missed the final 39 games last season with a stress reaction in his left foot), per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link). Turner also says he’s “hoping to be able to join the team on the (five-game) road trip,” which is in line with The Athletic’s report. If Turner returns by next Friday at Washington, he’ll have missed five total games with the injury.
  • Pistons assistant coach Bill Bayno underwent successful prostate cancer surgery on Tuesday and will be away from the team recovering for the next four-to-six weeks, Detroit announced. Bayno has been an assistant with the Blazers, Wolves, Raptors and Pacers in addition to the Pistons. 2022/23 will be his fifteenth season as an NBA assistant. The Hoops Rumors staff wishes Bayno well in his recovery.
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Health Updates: LaVine, Garland, Turner, K. Murray

October 20th, 2022 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

After being ruled out for the Bulls‘ regular season opener due to “left knee management,” Zach LaVine told reporters that his absence was simply precautionary and that the left knee he underwent arthroscopic surgery on in the spring still felt fine. However, head coach Billy Donovan offered a different story when he spoke to the media, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago.

“There was a lot of very, very physically demanding practices, to be quite honest with you, coming out of the Milwaukee game,” Donovan said, referring to last Tuesday’s preseason finale. “And I think after a few of those, he felt some discomfort.”

As Donovan observed, the Bulls open the season with seven games in 11 days, so they didn’t want to ride their star swingman too hard out of the gate. LaVine’s absence won’t be “a long-term thing where he’s out for weeks,” according to Chicago’s head coach, who insisted that any discomfort LaVine felt didn’t come as a surprise to the club and is part of the recovery process.

“This is not, to me, anything that is unexpected,” Donovan said. “He’s going to experience, at times, whatever word you want to use, discomfort, soreness, whatever it is.”

Here are a few more updates on health issues from around the NBA:

  • Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland left Wednesday’s opener in the second quarter after getting hit in the face by Toronto’s Gary Trent Jr. during a steal attempt and sustaining a left eyelid laceration, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “His head and everything was clear,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “But he was cut and bleeding pretty bad from the inside of his eyelid.” According to Fedor, there’s no clarity yet on how much time Garland might miss, but the consensus among those who saw him after the game was that the eye “looked like it was in bad shape.”
  • Myles Turner‘s ankle sprain isn’t considered serious, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after Wednesday’s game, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link). It’s still unclear when Turner will return to action after missing Indiana’s opener on Wednesday, but it sounds like the team isn’t expecting it to be a long-term issue.
  • Kings rookie forward Keegan Murray cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Wednesday and was in attendance at shootaround, though he didn’t play in the team’s season opener, tweets James Ham of ESPN 1320 Sacramento. Murray should be ready to make his regular season debut soon, after he clears the necessary conditioning benchmarks.
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Myles Turner Sprains Ankle In Warmups, Misses Opener

October 19th, 2022 at 7:19pm CST by Rory Maher

Center Myles Turner missed the Pacers‘ regular season home opener versus the Wizards on Wednesday after suffering a sprained left ankle during warmups, Indiana announced on Twitter. Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files was the first to report when and where the injury occurred (via Twitter).

A source tells Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) that Turner landed on a ball boy’s foot, which led to the injury.

It’s a very unfortunate start to the 2022/23 season for Turner, who hasn’t appeared in a regular season game since January. He missed the final 39 games of the ’21/22 season with a stress reaction in his left foot, so the fact that he sprained his left ankle is a bit worrisome.

We’ll have to wait for more updates on Turner’s status to determine how much action he might miss. The two-time blocked shots leader, whose name has been floated extensively in trade rumors, is in the final year of his contract, which will pay him $18MM this season.

In 431 career regular season games, the 26-year-old holds averages of 12.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 2.3 BPG on .489/.349/.768 shooting.

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Central Notes: White, P. Williams, Mobley, Bucks, More

October 18th, 2022 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Bulls guard Coby White, the seventh overall pick in the 2019 draft, was eligible for a rookie scale extension up until Monday’s deadline, but he never really thought he’d sign a new deal this year, according to Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago.

“No, no. I didn’t,” White said on Tuesday. “I wasn’t really focused on that. Just play this year out. I put in a lot of work this summer, so let my work show, and take it from there.”

White also dismissed the idea that entering a contract year and playing for his next contract will provide any extra motivation this season: “Nah, I love playing basketball. That’s all the motivation I need. I love playing, I love hooping. I’ve had motivation my whole life. I ain’t gonna change nothing now.”

In other Bulls news, the team’s 2020 lottery pick, Patrick Williams, will open the season as the starting power forward, head coach Billy Donovan confirmed today (Twitter link via Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic). Williams came off the bench in multiple preseason games as Javonte Green shone, but Green will be part of the second unit to open the season.

Here’s more from around the Central:

  • The Cavaliers feel as if Evan Mobley has Hall of Fame potential and believe his development is the key to whether the team can become a legitimate championship contender, Chris Fedor writes in an excellent article for Cleveland.com. “Evan needs to be in a position where people look at us and say, ‘Evan is their best player,'” assistant coach Greg Buckner said. “It can’t be, ‘Donovan (Mitchell) is their best player, Darius (Garland) is their best player or J.A. (Jarrett Allen) is their best player.’ It has to be Evan.” That view is shared by head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, according to assistant coach Luke Walton. “J.B. talks about it all the time with us: We need Evan to be one of the best players in this league, if not the best player in this league, if we’re gonna win championships,” Walton said. “That’s our mission coming from J.B. — help him get to that level.”
  • Hoops Rumors has confirmed that Didi Louzada is eligible to become an affiliate player for the Cleveland Charge after signing a two-way contract (rather than an Exhibit 10 deal) with the Cavaliers on Monday and being waived shortly thereafter. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype first reported the Cavs’ plan to secure Louzada’s G League rights.
  • With Khris Middleton and Joe Ingles already ruled out for the start of the season, the Bucks will also be without Pat Connaughton for a few weeks, prompting Eric Nehm of The Athletic to explore how the team will deal with all its injury absences. As Nehm details, George Hill, Jevon Carter, and Wesley Matthews all figure to play increased roles, with young wings Jordan Nwora and MarJon Beauchamp potentially seeing action too.
  • Pacers forward James Johnson was happy to earn the team’s final roster spot, beating out Langston Galloway and Deividas Sirvydis. However, as Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files relays, Johnson knows that he can’t get comfortable yet, since his contract still isn’t fully guaranteed for the season. “It’s an honor for this spot, but at the end of the day I’m still vulnerable,” he said.
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Checking In On Roster Situations Around The NBA

October 16th, 2022 at 8:05am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the majority of the NBA teams made their roster cuts on Saturday and didn’t wait until Monday’s deadline to set their regular season rosters.

Making those moves on Saturday will ensure the players on non-guaranteed contracts clear waivers on Monday, before the regular season begins. If a team had waited until Monday to waive a player on a non-guaranteed deal, he wouldn’t clear waivers until Wednesday, and the team would be on the hook for two days’ worth of his salary.

After yesterday’s flurry of roster moves, here’s where things stand around the NBA…

Teams whose rosters are within the regular season limits

Of the NBA’s 30 teams, 26 have rosters that comply with the league’s regular season roster limits, which state that clubs can’t carry more than 15 players on standard contracts or two on two-way contracts.

The following 16 teams are right at the limit, carrying 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-ways:

  • Boston Celtics
  • Brooklyn Nets
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Denver Nuggets
  • Indiana Pacers
  • Los Angeles Lakers
  • Memphis Grizzlies
  • Milwaukee Bucks
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • New York Knicks
  • Orlando Magic
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Sacramento Kings
  • Toronto Raptors
  • Utah Jazz
  • Washington Wizards

Just because these rosters look ready for the regular season doesn’t mean they’re fully locked in. In fact, it would be a surprise if at least one or two of these teams don’t make minor tweaks before Monday’s regular season roster deadline. That could be as simple as swapping out one two-way player for another.

The Sixers are one team to watch, since Michael Foster Jr. – who is on an Exhibit 10 contract – remains on the roster. It’s possible Philadelphia intends to convert him to a two-way deal on Sunday or Monday, which would mean the club would have to waive one of its current two-way players (Charlie Brown Jr. or Julian Champagnie).

The following seven teams are carrying 14 players on standard contracts and two on two-ways:

  • Atlanta Hawks
  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Golden State Warriors
  • Los Angeles Clippers
  • Miami Heat
  • Phoenix Suns

The majority of these teams have luxury tax concerns and will open the season with an open roster spot to keep their projected tax bill in check, though that’s not the case for all of them.

The Hornets are well clear of the tax, for instance, and could comfortably make a roster addition if they want to. They may also be leaving a spot open for Miles Bridges, though his NBA future is up in the air due to his legal situation.The Mavericks, meanwhile, are in the tax but are still expected to sign veteran guard Facundo Campazzo before the regular season begins.

We’ve covered 23 teams so far. That leaves three more who are in within the regular season limits. Those teams are as follows:

  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 14 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way deal.
  • New Orleans Pelicans: 15 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way deal.
  • Portland Trail Blazers: 14 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way deal.

The Trail Blazers are right up against the tax line and will likely keep their 15th spot open to start the season, but the Cavaliers could add a 15th man if they so choose. All three teams could be keeping an eye on players who were waived in recent days as they mull how to fill their open two-way slots.

It’s worth mentioning that the Pelicans still haven’t signed second-round pick E.J. Liddell, who suffered a torn ACL during Summer League play. I suspect New Orleans wants Liddell to sign a G League contract and rehab with the Birmingham Squadron this season so that the team can use its second two-way slot on someone who can actually contribute on the court, but it remains possible that Liddell could fill that two-way opening.

Teams that still have moves to make before Monday’s deadline

The following teams haven’t yet made their necessary cuts to get within the regular season roster limits:

Detroit Pistons: 16 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

The final cut will be pretty simple for the Pistons. They still haven’t officially waived Kemba Walker, but they’re expected to do so before the start of the season. Because Walker’s salary is fully guaranteed, Detroit can afford to wait until Monday instead of waiving him on Saturday, since there will be no additional financial penalty.

Houston Rockets: 17 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way deal.

The Rockets‘ final moves also looks pretty straightforward. Derrick Favors, who has a guaranteed salary, and Darius Days, who is on an Exhibit 10 contract, remain on the team’s roster for now. Favors will reportedly be waived on or before Monday. The deadline to convert players from Exhibit 10 deals to two-way contracts is Monday, so if Houston converts Days to a two-way today or tomorrow, the club will be set for the season.

Oklahoma City Thunder: 17 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

The Thunder will actually have to waive three players, not just two, because they’re also reportedly signing Isaiah Joe to their 15-man roster. David Nwaba is reportedly one of the players being cut, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the other two are also players the Thunder acquired from Houston last month: Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss.

San Antonio Spurs: 16 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

The Spurs will have to waive one player to get to the 15-man limit. Keita Bates-Diop and Tre Jones don’t have fully guaranteed salaries, but the fact that San Antonio didn’t finalize its cuts on Saturday suggests that a player with a guaranteed contract will be the odd man out. Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News reported on Saturday that Joe Wieskamp and Romeo Langford are “on the bubble.”

Reported Exhibit 10 signings that never materialized

There are a handful of free agent contract agreements that were reported at some point during the offseason and, as far as we can tell, never actually materialized. Those agreements are as follows:

These players and teams could still technically finalize these deals on Sunday or Monday, but it’s also very possible they simply fell through for one reason or another. For instance, reporting in September indicated that Montero’s buyout from his Spanish team might be an issue.

We’re no longer assuming that these signings going to happen.

Hoops Rumors’ roster resources

We consistently maintain and update a number of lists and trackers that are designed to help you keep tabs on NBA rosters. They’re all up to date following Saturday’s cuts. Those resources, which can be found on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site or on the “Features” page within our mobile menu, include the following:

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Pacers Waive Eli Brooks, Tevin Brown, Jermaine Samuels

October 15th, 2022 at 2:00pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pacers have waived three undrafted rookies who were all signed to Exhibit 10 contracts, the team announced in a press release.

The three players are guards Eli Brooks and Tevin Brown and forward Jermaine Samuels, and they could each earn a $50K bonus if they spend at least 60 days with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate.

Brooks, 6’1″, appeared in 34 games (36 MPG) as a fifth-year senior for Michigan last season, averaging 12.8 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.9 APG and 1.2 SPG on .444/.394/.877 shooting. He is the Wolverines’ all-time leader in wins and was team captain in his final two seasons.

Brown, 6’5″, was a three-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection for Murray State. He averaged 16.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 3.1 APG and 1.4 SPG on .427/.384/.748 shooting for the Racers in 2021/22 as a redshirt senior last season.

Samuels, 6’7”, averaged 11.1 PPG and 6.5 RPG on .472/.276/.770 shooting as a fifth-year senior for Villanova in 2021/22. He played 153 games for the perennial Big East power, including a small role on the championship-winning club in 2018.

While there’s still time for the Pacers to make subsequent moves, Indiana now has a full 15-man standard roster, the regular season limit, and both two-way slots filled, so it appears as though 13-year veteran James Johnson might have made the team. The forward is on non-guaranteed deal.

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Atlantic Notes: Brogdon, Boucher, Porter Jr., Curry, Irving, Smart

October 15th, 2022 at 9:42am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors and Celtics both expressed an interest in trading for Malcolm Brogdon this summer but he told the Pacers he’d prefer Boston, Brogdon said during a SiriusXM NBA Radio appearance, as Brian Robb of MassLive.com relays.

“We knew there was Boston, we knew Toronto we knew (the Wizards),” Brogdon said of his trade options. “(The Wizards) fell off after the draft since they were thinking about trading that 10th pick for me. Toronto and Boston popped up. We had a choice to pursue — there wasn’t an offer on the table yet from either of them but the Pacers came to me and said we could pursue either of them and which one would I rather pursue?”

It’s unclear what sort of offer the Raptors might’ve made for Brogdon, since they don’t have obvious salary-matching pieces they’d want to part with. However, it was ultimately a moot point, since the guard encouraged the Pacers to pursue a deal with Boston.

“I thought this team was farther along,” Brogdon said of the Celtics. “They have a superstar in Jayson Tatum and probably another superstar in Jaylen Brown as well. I thought it would be a great fit for me because I wanted to win right now.”

Brogdon is projected as Boston’s sixth man entering the regular season.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Raptors big man Chris Boucher will be out “a couple of weeks” due to a hamstring injury, according to coach Nick Nurse, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweets. Forward Otto Porter Jr. hasn’t been on the court in recent weeks due to a similar injury and will likely miss some time.
  • Seth Curry, who had left ankle surgery in May, apparently won’t be ready for the season opener. Nets coach Steve Nash said Curry still has some hurdles to clear but has been getting some individual work in, Nick Friedell of ESPN tweets.
  • Nets guard Kyrie Irving admits he has some regrets about the way last season played out, he told Friedell in a Q&A session. “I think we all think about times we could have made better decisions, and times we wish we could have done things differently and I feel the same way at times throughout my life. … I legitimately just want to play the long game and not put too much pressure on myself or the people that I’m around,” he said.
  • Celtics guard Marcus Smart suffered a minor groin injury when he slipped on a wet spot in the preseason finale against Toronto on Friday, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets. “I feel like I’m all right. But the adrenaline is still going right now,” Smart said. “Hopefully, in the morning I feel all right.”
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Pacers Waive Langston Galloway, Deividas Sirvydis

October 15th, 2022 at 6:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have cut a pair of veterans from their preseason roster, announcing in a press release that they’ve placed guard Langston Galloway and swingman Deividas Sirvydis on waivers.

In a series of corresponding moves, the team has completed its previously reported deals with forward Jermaine Samuels and guards Tevin Brown and Eli Brooks. All three players, who reached Exhibit 10 agreements with Indiana shortly after going undrafted in June and have now officially signed their contracts, will likely be waived on Saturday, clearing a path for them to join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate.

Galloway has appeared in over 450 regular season NBA games, spending time with the Knicks, Pelicans, Kings, Pistons, Suns, Nets, and Bucks since entering the league in 2014. He has averaged 8.1 PPG on .397/.368/.816 shooting during that time, though he hasn’t played significant minutes since his last season in Detroit in 2019/20.

Sirvydis, 22, was the No. 37 pick in the 2019 draft. Born in Lithuania, he holds two years of NBA experience with the Pistons and played for the Pelicans’ Summer League team in July, averaging 15.5 PPG in just 22.5 minutes per game in four contests.

Galloway’s deal with the Pacers didn’t include an Exhibit 10 clause, but Sirvydis’ did, and the Mad Ants acquired his G League rights over the summer, so he’s a candidate to head to Fort Wayne as a returning-rights player.

Not counting their three new Exhibit 10 signees, the Pacers are carrying 17 players — 13 on guaranteed contracts, Oshae Brissett and James Johnson on non-guaranteed deals, and Kendall Brown and Trevelin Queen on two-way pacts.

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