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Community Shootaround: Who Will Win The West?

April 6th, 2024 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

The Celtics currently hold a 14-game lead for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, making them a very strong favorite to reach the NBA Finals, though that outcome is far from assured.

The standings are much more competitive in the West though. The seedings are still up for grabs, but the top 10 teams are all but secured after Golden State beat Houston on Thursday.

The Timberwolves are currently the No. 1 seed due to a tiebreaker over the defending-champion Nuggets, who hold an identical 53-24 record. The upstart Thunder are one game back at No. 3, followed by the Clippers, Mavericks and Suns.

The Pelicans, Kings, Lakers and Warriors are currently the Nos. 7 through 10 seeds, meaning they’d be in the play-in tournament if the season ended today. Only two games separate Phoenix and the Lakers, however, so things could certainly change between now and April 14, when the regular season concludes.

Each of the top teams in the West has question marks ahead of the postseason, mostly due to injuries. Minnesota may not have Karl-Anthony Towns back before the first round, and the team has only advanced past that stage one time in franchise history. Denver, which went 16-4 in last year’s playoffs en route to its first title in 2023, has been playing without star guard Jamal Murray of late, though he may return soon.

Oklahoma City is young and is not playoff tested, plus MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been sidelined recently with a quad injury. Kawhi Leonard is currently dealing with a knee injury for the Clippers.

The Mavericks have dealt with injuries to rotation players throughout the season, though they’re the hottest team in Conference at the moment. Phoenix’s “big three” has only played in 36 games together in 2023/24. New Orleans, Sacramento, the Lakers and Golden State have all been inconsistent throughout the season.

With so many unknowns, it makes it difficult to pick a favorite. That leads us to our question of the day: Who do you think will advance out of the West and make the NBA Finals? Head to the comments and let us know what you think.

L.A. Notes: Kawhi, Harden, Vanderbilt, LeBron

April 6th, 2024 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard missed a third straight game on Friday due to right knee inflammation, with head coach Tyronn Lue telling reporters that the star forward is considered day to day, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Appearing on SportsCenter on Friday (Twitter video link), Youngmisuk said the injury is one the Clippers and Leonard have to manage carefully with the postseason around the corner, noting that the affected knee is the same one he underwent surgery on in both 2021 and 2023.

The expectation, according to Youngmisuk, is that Leonard shouldn’t require an extended absence, but since the Clippers are currently in a stretch of five games in seven days, the team may not be in a hurry to bring him back until the schedule lightens up a bit.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

The Clippers are hoping to get James Harden‘s offensive game back on track, as Youngmisuk said on SportsCenter and Janis Carr outlined for The Orange County Register. Friday’s 15-assist triple-double in a blowout win over Utah was a step in the right direction, but Harden was limited to just 13 points in that victory and made fewer than half of his field goal attempts for a ninth straight game. He’s averaging 12.2 PPG on 33.0% shooting during those nine games.
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain) will be reevaluated early next week in Los Angeles, head coach Darvin Ham said on Wednesday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). McMenamin provided an update of his own on Friday, tweeting that Vanderbilt has yet to be cleared for contact drills but went through an individual workout on Friday. The 25-year-old, who last played on February 1, is still working his way toward full sprinting and jumping, McMenamin adds.
Although LeBron James told reporters last weekend that he has “not very long” left in his NBA career, Shams Charania of The Athletic said on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link) that people around James and around the NBA expect the Lakers‘ superstar forward to play for at least “one or two more years” beyond this one. Next season would be James’ 22nd, which would tie him with Vince Carter for the most in NBA history.
A year ago, the Lakers began the season with a 25-31 record before finishing on an 18-8 run. They’ve made a similar second-half push this season, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic, having gone 20-8 since starting 24-25. Due to the competitive nature of the Western Conference, Los Angeles is still in ninth place, so not even a playoff berth is assured, let alone a return to the Western Finals. “We just hope we can go through the same journey in terms of securing a playoff spot and having success — and go even deeper this time,” Ham said.

Injury Notes: Leonard, Barrett, Quickley, Mitchell, Ingram

April 2nd, 2024 at 6:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will miss the team’s game on Tuesday against the Kings due to right knee soreness, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Leonard, who played 37 minutes and scored 23 points against the Hornets on Sunday, returned to Los Angeles on Monday for treatment. His status for Thursday’s game against the Nuggets is uncertain.

The fact that Leonard’s flared up is a troubling development for the Clippers, who are pointing toward to a deep playoff run. Leonard has appeared in 68 games this season, his most since the 2016/17 campaign. Norman Powell will move into the starting lineup in his place, Youngmisuk tweets.

We have more injury-related news to pass along:

RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley are active for the Raptors’ game against the Lakers tonight, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Barrett hasn’t played since March 11 due to personal reasons and re-conditioning. Quickley has been out since March 17 for the same reasons.
The Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, who has been battling a sore left knee, will miss Tuesday’s game against Utah, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. It’s the first game of a back-to-back, with Cleveland facing Phoenix on Wednesday. Mitchell has appeared in 51 games this season and is ineligible for postseason awards.
There’s optimism that Brandon Ingram will be back in action for the Pelicans next week, The Athletic’s said Shams Charania during an appearance on FanDuel’s Run It Back program (video link). “Brandon Ingram is going to be reevaluated at the end of the week, that’ll be the two-week mark, and the hope is by that three-week mark next week, he’s going to be back in the lineup,” Charania said. Ingram is working his way back from a left knee bone contusion.

Pacers’ Tshiebwe Named NBAGL Rookie Of The Year

April 2nd, 2024 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

First-year big man Oscar Tshiebwe, who is on a two-way contract with the Pacers, has been named the NBA G League’s Rookie of the Year for the 2023/24 season, according to an announcement from the league.

An undrafted free agent out of Kentucky, Tshiebwe has only appeared in eight NBA games as a rookie, but had a monster season for the Indiana Mad Ants in the G League, where he began the Showcase Cup in the fall by racking up 33 points and 22 rebounds in his first ever NBAGL outing.

Over the course of 33 total Showcase Cup and regular season games, Tshiebwe averaged 16.4 points per contest and pulled down 532 total rebounds, including 201 offensive boards, setting a new team record. He also established a new high-water mark for rebounds per game in a G League season, averaging 16.2 in 23 regular season appearances.

Tshiebwe was busy at All-Star weekend in Indianapolis in February, competing in both the G League Up Next game and the Rising Stars event.

Because Tshiebwe’s two-way contract with the Pacers only covers a single season, he’ll become eligible for restricted free agency this summer, so Indiana will need to sign him to a new contract in order to keep him around beyond 2023/24.

According to the NBA (Twitter link), Clippers two-way guard Jordan Miller was the runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting, with Sixers two-way guard Ricky Council IV placing third.

Miller averaged 20.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 30.3 minutes per game with a .491/.355/.829 shooting line across 39 total Showcase Cup and G League regular season outings for the Ontario Clippers.

Council, meanwhile, put up 23.8 points per game on .473/.380/.775 shooting to go along with 5.3 RPG and 1.9 APG in 27 Showcase Cup and regular season contests for the Delaware Blue Coats.

Council will also be a restricted free agent this summer, while Miller is on a two-year deal and will remain under contract for 2024/25.

Tyronn Lue's Message Gets Through On Trip

April 1st, 2024 at 7:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tyronn Lue called his team soft after a 3-6 stretch late last month. The Clippers got the message, reeling off three consecutive victories for the first time since early February, Law Murray of The Athletic writes. They’ve defeated Philadelphia, Orlando and Charlotte during the winning streak.

The Clippers will finish off a four-game road swing at Sacramento on Tuesday. “Getting a win however you’ve got to get it is the most important thing, but we’ve still got a lot to build on and get better with,” Lue said. “We’ll take the win. The Philly and the Orlando games were two good games that we needed – two gritty wins, tough wins on the road. And then (Sunday), just sticking with it even though we didn’t do a good job defensively.”

Southeast Notes: Russell, Johnson, Griffin, Gueye, Miller, George

April 1st, 2024 at 5:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Magic may take a run at D’Angelo Russell in free agency this summer. The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, who covers the Lakers, has heard that Orlando would be the biggest threat to sign away the combo guard (hat tip to Jesse Cinquini of LakersDaily.com).

“Orlando is the team that — talking to people with the Lakers, talking to people outside the Lakers — Orlando is the team that probably gives them the most concern in terms of a potential suitor,” Buha said.

Russell would give Orlando’s backcourt an offensive boost. He’s averaging 18.1 points and 6.4 assists per game while shooting a career-best 41.9% from deep this season. Russell holds an $18.7MM option on his contract for next season and can become an unrestricted free agent by turning down that option.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Hawks forward Jalen Johnson will return to action on Monday night against the Bulls, The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweets. Johnson, who is averaging 16.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest, has been out since March 18 after suffering an ankle sprain against the Lakers. The Hawks currently hold the final spot for the East’s play-in tournament at No. 10 in the conference.
Several other Hawks players still require more time to come back from their injuries, the team’s PR department tweets. AJ Griffin (right high ankle sprain) has progressed to individual basketball activities and will be re-evaluated in seven-to-10 days. Mouhamed Gueye (right UCL sprain) has progressed to full contact workouts, while Onyeka Okongwu (left big toe sprain) has resumed individual basketball activities. He will also be re-evaluated in seven-to-10 days.
Hornets rookie forward Brandon Miller has labeled Clippers forward Paul George the “Greatest Player of All-Time.” Miller got a chance to match up against his idol on Sunday, contributing 22 points, six rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes during Charlotte’s 12-point loss. George paid back Miller with a compliment, according to Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “He’s got a ton of game, and a ton of talent and I’m in his corner,” George said. “So can’t wait to see him fully blossom and be one of those guys that carried the league for a long time.”

Latest On Clippers, Paul George

March 29th, 2024 at 11:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Shortly after the Clippers announced that they had signed Kawhi Leonard to an extension, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported they were also discussing a new deal with fellow star wing Paul George. The next day — January 11 — George said he was “very, very optimistic” that an agreement would eventually be reached.

However, nearly three months have passed, and the 33-year-old can still become a free agent this summer if he declines his $48.8MM player option for 2024/25. He will remain extension-eligible through June 30, and would also be extension-eligible all of next season if he decides to pick up that option.

On his Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said there’s a gap between what the Clippers are offering and what George wants.

“The word in the NBA is that they’re apart,” Windhorst said. “It’s not like, let’s have a big problem. They’re apart.”

Windhorst noted that a handful of teams — including the Sixers — could have the cap room necessary to sign George to a maximum-salary deal in free agency. But he doesn’t think it’ll reach that point.

“I think the league believes that Paul George wants to remain a Clipper, and there would be concern in the league about recruiting Paul George — especially if you had to give away players to open up space,” Windhorst said (hat tip to Adam Wells of Bleacher Report). “… My informed speculation is that, eventually, Paul will agree to a deal with the Clippers. It may not be for the full max, but it may be for more than what the Clippers have been offering.”

Leonard signed a three-year extension at slightly below his maximum salary. That means he received fewer years and less money than the maximum possible under the CBA. At the time, Leonard said he felt good about the chances of George and James Harden sticking around beyond this season — Harden will be a free agent this offseason and is not extension-eligible, since his existing contract didn’t cover at least three years.

President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank also said while he wanted his star players to be “compensated fairly,” “sacrifices” would be necessary to maintain flexibility in both the short and long term.

Marc Stein reported at Substack last week that there have been rumors the Clips’ offers to George “have fallen an unknown amount shy of the numbers contained” in Leonard’s extension. Still, Stein reiterated the expectation around the NBA is a deal will get done at some point.

L.A. Notes: Kawhi, George, Hachimura, Lakers

March 29th, 2024 at 11:09am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard met the criteria for postseason award eligibility on Wednesday when he appeared in his 66th game of the season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Leonard logged just 12 minutes in one of his first 65 contests, which is why he needed a 66th game to meet that benchmark.

The achievement is notable for a couple reasons. For one, Leonard was viewed by many NBA fans as one of the faces of the new 65-game rule due to his history of load management, though he pushed back against that idea last fall.

More importantly, Leonard has built a solid All-NBA case this season, averaging 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while posting an elite .524/.415/.887 shooting line and playing strong defense. Leonard earned his sixth All-Star nod earlier this season — he has made an All-NBA team in each of his previous five All-Star seasons.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

In a pair of stories about Paul George, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines the star forward’s contract situation and considers whether a new deal with the Clippers is the likeliest outcome, while Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN explores why George has become the model NBA archetype for young NBA wings — as well as for NBA 2K players.
Making Rui Hachimura a full-time starter has been a huge success for the Lakers and has put the fifth-year forward in position to thrive, as Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group details. Since reinserting Hachimura into the starting five on February 3, the Lakers are 16-7, while the 26-year-old has averaged 15.7 PPG on .584/.453/.667 shooting in those 23 games. Head coach Darvin Ham said that playing alongside other offensive threats has given Hachimura more room to operate. “Him coming off the bench, there was times where they treated him like (LeBron James),” Ham said. “They know how he can definitely score at all three levels. He draws a lot of attention without having those guys on the floor.”
Zach Kram of The Ringer pushes back on a social media conspiracy theory that the NBA’s referees are favoring the Lakers, explaining that the free throw disparity between Los Angeles and its opponents isn’t out of the ordinary when compared to leaders in that category in previous seasons. Kram points out that the Lakers’ style of play often leads to a free throw advantage because they attempt far fewer three-pointers and more shots at the rim than average on offense, while the opposite is true on defense. The Lakers have taken 435 more free throws than their opponents, but those opponents have attempted 513 more threes than L.A, Kram adds.

Sixers Notes: Harden, Melton, Covington, George

March 28th, 2024 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

In the days leading up to his return to Philadelphia on Wednesday, James Harden wasn’t eager to speculate about how he might be received by his former home crowd, as Law Murray of The Athletic writes, telling reporters that he “didn’t care” and that he was more concerned about helping the Clippers get out of their recent slump.

Harden accomplished what he set out to on Wednesday, finishing with 16 points and 14 assists in a 108-107 win over the Sixers. He was on the receiving end of plenty of boos from the Philadelphia faithful over the course of the evening and admitted after the game that it didn’t come as a surprise. However, he also contended he didn’t understand the motivation for those boos.

“I expected it,” Harden said, according to Murray. “They don’t know what it was about. But I expected it. So it is what it is. I don’t even know why they were booing, I don’t think. You ask them. They probably don’t know why they were booing.

“… For me, personally, I feel like I did everything I needed to do in the sense of, in the year prior, taking myself off of the max to help the team get better,” Harden continued. “For this city, you know what I mean? And for myself, obviously. But to win a championship. So things didn’t work out. I wanted to get paid. They weren’t talking. So it is what it is. You move on, everybody’s happy, life is good. And I mean, everybody’s looking forward.”

Harden accepted a $33MM salary rather than picking up his $47MM player option in 2022/23, but the boos on Wednesday suggest that move didn’t earn him enough goodwill in Philadelphia for Sixers fans to forgive and forget his decision to demand a trade a year later.

Harden, who blasted Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey last summer due to his belief that Morey failed to keep certain promises, replied, “Hell no” on Wednesday when asked if he believes he’ll ever reconcile with the veteran executive, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Harden also said he hasn’t stayed in touch with 76ers star Joel Embiid.

Here’s more on the Sixers:

The Sixers’ loss on Wednesday was a controversial one, with referee crew chief Kevin Scott admitting after the game that a foul should have been called on a drive to the basket by Kelly Oubre on the game’s final play, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Oubre and head coach Nick Nurse expressed their frustrations to the game’s referees after the final buzzer and had to be pulled away by assistant coaches (Twitter video link). Oubre apologized to the refs during his post-game media session for “losing his cool.”
Nurse told reporters prior to Wednesday’s game that he’s optimistic that both De’Anthony Melton (back) and Robert Covington (knee) can return before the end of the regular season, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports. Of the two, Covington is closer to getting back on the court, according to Nurse.
Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer is skeptical that the Sixers’ reported interest in Paul George will result in the star forward ending up in Philadelphia, writing that it looks more like a leverage play as the free-agent-to-be discusses a new deal with the Clippers.
In case you missed it, Nurse also discussed Embiid’s recovery from knee surgery on Wednesday.

Tyronn Lue Calls Clippers ‘Soft’ Following Monday’s Loss

March 26th, 2024 at 7:56am CST by Luke Adams

Russell Westbrook returned to action on Monday at home vs. Indiana following a 12-game absence due to a left hand fracture, but it wasn’t enough for the Clippers, who lost for the sixth time in their past nine games and are now 10-12 since getting off to a 34-15 start.

Monday’s defeat at the hands of the Pacers moved the Clippers out of the top four in the Western Conference for the first time since December — the Pelicans now control the No. 4 seed, with an identical 44-27 record and a tiebreaker edge over Los Angeles.

Speaking after the game to reporters, including Ohm Youngmiusk of ESPN and Law Murray of The Athletic, James Harden said the Clippers “gotta find” their identity, adding that teams are scoring too easily on them. Asked about the team’s identity, head coach Tyronn Lue offered a blunt assessment.

“Right now, do we have an identity? I think, yeah. We’re soft,” Lue said. “That could be an identity, if you want to call (it) that. Like, we got to be tougher, mentally and physically.”

The Clippers got off to a 3-7 start this season, struggling initially to adjust following the acquisition of Harden from Philadelphia. Lue expressed confidence at that time that his team would be fine, and the Clippers rewarded that confidence with a 26-5 midseason stretch. The veteran coach is once again optimistic that his club will ultimately figure things out, but suggested on Monday that it will take a change to their mindset and approach.

“When we were 26-5, we had a great identity,” Lue said. “So you can’t pick and choose when you want to lead. You can’t pick and choose when you want to have identity. You can’t pick and choose when you want to do things the right way.”

The Clippers were just 6-6 during Westbrook’s absence in recent weeks, and there’s hope that the return of the former MVP will help invigorate a second unit that dipped to 18th in scoring while he was out. Westbrook spoke on Monday about the role he believes he can play in helping the club reestablish its identity.

“You don’t point fingers, you don’t point blame,” Westbrook said. “Each individual, I think we got to look within, look within ourselves, and figure out how we can better help our team. I think that’s where we start, we start with ourselves. I start with myself. And then come together collectively and figure out how we now bring what we all have and bring to the table.

“As we’ve seen when we’ve done it the right way, it shows that we’re a hard team to stop. And we know where our ceiling is, we know how we need to get there. And I think ultimately, as a leader, it’s my job just to hold guys accountable, hold myself accountable, and make sure that we stay together through this tough little patch that we’re having. And to me, it’s as simple as that.”