Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Grizzlies Convert Scotty Pippen Jr. To Four-Year Contract

October 15th, 2024 at 6:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

6:37pm: Pippen Jr. has officially signed his new contract, the team’s PR department tweets.

5:02pm: The Grizzlies are promoting Scotty Pippen Jr. from his two-way contract to their standard roster and signing him to a new four-year deal, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

Pippen appeared in 21 games for the injury-ravaged Grizzlies last season, including 16 starts, and averaged 12.9 points, 4.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals. He continued to play well in Summer League games, averaging 21.5 PPG, 8.7 APG and 5.0 RPG in six Las Vegas contests.

Pippen has the inside track at backing up Ja Morant if the club doesn’t acquire another point guard. Heading into camp, Pippen and Derrick Rose were the main candidates for that spot, but that changed quickly when Rose announced his retirement.

Pippen, 23, went undrafted in 2022. He signed a two-way deal with the Lakers that year and spent most of his time in the G League while appearing in six NBA contests. The Lakers waived him during training camp last October and he signed with the Grizzlies on that two-way contract in mid-January.

The Grizzlies will still have an open spot on their projected 15-man regular season roster, though they don’t necessarily need to add another player for opening night.

Southwest Notes: Popovich, Lawson, Murphy, Morant, Jackson Jr.

October 14th, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has put his players, particularly the less experienced ones, on notice. The longtime coach will be much less forgiving of mistakes this season, he told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.

“I think if anything it’s a little less tolerance,” he said. “We have been since the beginning (of training camp) … a little bit more disciplined in the sense of accountability, knowing that mistakes happen too often – (telling players) ‘You need to understand that by now.'”

Tre Jones believes it’s natural for Popovich to take that approach as expectations rise.

“A lot of us didn’t have a lot of those experiences we went through the last couple of years,” Jones said, “but now that we’ve had them and now that we’ve brought in guys that are helping us learn those things as well, you can’t make those same mistakes over and over again. There’s no room for that, if we want to win.”

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A.J. Lawson said he’s benefited significantly in Mavericks training camp, working alongside stars Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, he told Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda.com. “Every day you learn something new with these guys,” Lawson said. “They’re great at what they do—Kyrie is one of the best ball-handlers, Luka is one of the best players, and Klay is one of the best shooters. Having these guys on the same team is a lot to learn from. I can take shooting techniques from Klay, ball-handling and decision-making from Kai, and learn how to run the floor with Luka. There’s so much opportunity as a wing player like me, and I’m excited for this season.” Lawson signed a two-way contract with Dallas over the weekend shortly after he was waived by the club from his standard deal.
It has been another rough preseason for the Pelicans’ Trey Murphy. He was sidelined at the beginning of last season with a left knee injury. Now, he’s dealing with a right hamstring strain that will keep him out of action at the start of this season. “Very tough,” Murphy told Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times Picayune. “Not starting the season again hurts me a lot. Doing everything I can summer-wise to be prepared for a season and having that happen really sucks. But just looking at it with perspective, it could be a lot worse. Good thing it’s an NBA season. I’ll be there for the majority of it.” Murphy will be a restricted free agent next summer unless he signs a rookie scale extension by Oct. 21.
Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. are being held out of the rest of the preseason due to minor ailments. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins wants his stars to make the best of training camp in other ways. “I actually talked to both of those guys about being fully invested in all the practice reps and using their voices,” Jenkins said, per Michael Wallace of GrindCityMedia.com. “I want them to get mental reps, whether it’s through film sessions or their teammates’ film feedback that they’re getting. They’ve been ever present, so we’re going to make the most of the situation over the next week-plus. And thankfully, they’re going to be ready for opening night.”

Taylor Jenkins Wants A Faster Pace This Season

October 12th, 2024 at 9:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

With his star players returning from injuries, Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins wants his team to play at a faster pace, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Memphis tended to slow games down last season with Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. all missing significant time. “It’s going to be a matter of how we convert, whether it’s stops, rebounds, turnovers, even after made baskets,” Jenkins said. “Our ability to get the ball up the floor quicker — last year, we were trying to get into more of a positionless style of offense. We’re still going to lean into that, but there are things we’ve been tracking and practicing (with) the switch from defense to offense. Pace is a numerical thing, but it’s really a mentality thing.”
Free agent Markelle Fultz seems like a good option as a backup guard for the Grizzlies, especially if Morant, Bane and Marcus Smart are all going to be starters, Iko tweets. Iko contends that Fultz would be ready to handle minutes right away, while Yuki Kawamura and Scotty Pippen Jr. need time to learn.

And-Ones: 2025 Draft Big Board, Tanking, NBAGL Trade

October 10th, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Now through June 2025, writers across the globe will eagerly anticipate an exciting upcoming draft class headlined by Duke forward Cooper Flagg, alongside other top talents. Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN recently paired to provide an early look at the top 100 prospects before the college season tips off (Insider link).

Flagg ranked first, but Rutgers guards Ace Bailey (No. 2) and Dylan Harper (No. 3) aren’t far behind. Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe (No. 4) and France’s Nolan Traore (No. 5) remain among the top options as well, while Duke’s Kon Knueppel (No. 6) is an early riser after an impressive offseason and preseason.

UNC’s Drake Powell, Duke’s Khaman Maluach, Spanish guard Hugo Gonzalez and UConn’s Liam McNeeley round out the remainder of the top 10.

Collin Murray-Boyles is the draft’s highest-ranked returner after making the decision to come back to South Carolina, with the ESPN duo ranking him at 12.

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The top five of Sam Vecenie’s recent mock draft for The Athletic matches ESPN’s big board to a tee, with Brooklyn being slated to be the ones to land Flagg’s services in June’s draft. However, Vecenie’s mock draft deviates from there, with Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis coming off the board at No. 6 due to his ball and scoring skills. Vecenie mocks Georgia’s Asa Newell to the Hornets at No. 7 and Ratiopharm Ulm’s Ben Saraf at No. 8 to the Raptors, while ESPN has those players at No. 31 and No. 16, respectively.
With such a talented draft class on deck, The Athletic’s John Hollinger suspects teams will return to tanking in 2024/25. While some teams greatly underperformed in 2023/24, as in any year, there wasn’t as much incentive to lose since there wasn’t a consensus top pick like in next year’s draft. Hollinger likens the 2025 class to the 2018 class that produced the likes of Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson and Trae Young in terms of the depth of talent. Hollinger’s story addresses this, but I’d contend that while teams may be blown away by the talent of the 2025 class, the Hawks had a better record than nine teams but still landed the No. 1 overall pick. Meanwhile, the Pistons had their worst season in franchise history but didn’t pick until No. 5.
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate, executed a six-team trade on Wednesday, per the team (Twitter link). Several picks swapped hands, but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll focus on the player rights that were moved. The Vipers acquired the returning player rights to Jermaine Samuels, who is currently in camp with the Rockets. The Valley Suns acquired Cassius Stanley‘s rights, the Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers) received Dakota Mathias‘s rights, the Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies) got both Malachi Smith and Devin Cannady‘s rights, the Mexico City Capitanes obtained Loudon Love, and Gary Clark‘s rights were re-routed to the Wisconsin Herd (Bucks). Mathias was already signed and waived by the Pacers, so this is an indication he’ll play for the Mad Ants this season as an affiliate player. It remains to be seen whether Stanley, Smith, Cannady or Clark will sign camp deals to be later waived and set up as affiliates. The Capitanes aren’t an NBA team’s direct affiliate, so while Love could still sign anywhere as an NBA free agent, his rights being moved aren’t directly correlated with him potentially being an affiliate player.

Marcus Smart Talks Edey, Morant, Grizzlies’ Defense, More

October 9th, 2024 at 6:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Grizzlies swingman Marcus Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, is a huge fan of what he’s seeing out of Memphis’ first round draft pick this year, as he said during an interview with Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda.

Waylaid by injuries to starters Smart, Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, and Steven Adams (before Adams was shipped out to Houston midseason), Memphis fell into the lottery last year with a 27-55 record.

The benefit of that drop-off is the addition of a permanent Adams replacement in No. 9 overall pick Zach Edey, a super-sized All-American center out of Purdue.

“He’s gonna be huge for us,” Smart said of Edey. “He allows us to do a lot of different things on the defensive end. He lets me and Jaren really give everything we’ve got. Being former Defensive Players of the Year, it’s great to have that rim protection behind us. And being 7’4″ definitely helps with that. He moves very well, his IQ is very high, and he’s only continuing to get better.”

The conversation is well worth reading in full, but here are some highlights:

When asked about the efficacy of pick-and-roll actions between Morant and Edey, Smart was exuberant. “Oh it’s going to be deadly, man,” Smart said. “It’s just going to open up things even more for us, especially for Ja. We all know what Ja can do with a little bit of space, so just imagine what he can do with a lot of space cleared out by a big like Zach.”
The Grizzlies field what should on paper be one of the league’s best defenses. After all, Jackson earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023, a season after Smart won the award. The arrival of Edey is expected to fortify Memphis’ interior protection. “We have a high ceiling,” Morant said. “If we can stay locked in and figure it out early on, we can be really good, especially defensively. We’ve got the talent, the guys can do it, and the definition of what it takes.”
Last year, Jackson looked to score more with Morant out for all but nine games. He, too, eventually went down, but Smart believes the experience was ultimately beneficial for the big man’s long-term offensive flexibility. “We asked Jaren to take on more offensively, and that takes a toll on the body,” Smart noted. “He’s been able to learn more about himself, more about the team, and what he can do to help us. That’s what we need.”

Southwest Notes: Hawkins, Morant, Kawamura, Flynn, CP3, Wemby

October 9th, 2024 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Although Jordan Hawkins made just 38.2% of his shots from the floor as a rookie, he knocked down a respectable 36.6% of his three-point tries and was a regular part of the Pelicans‘ rotation for much of the season. The team believes Hawkins has more to contribute in 2024/25, with head coach Willie Green giving him the green light to fire away from beyond the arc and teammate Zion Williamson stating that the second-year wing “can bring a lot to this team,” per Christian Clark of NOLA.com.

“He’s special, man,” Green said. “The force and speed he comes off of plays with. His gravity creates a domino effect. We want to incorporate him in our offense. Sometimes we are playing through him.”

Hawkins’ shooting ability made him the 14th overall pick in the 2023 draft and helped him stay on the floor in his rookie year, but he knows he has to perform more consistently on the other end of the court to earn a consistent bump in minutes in year two, as Clark relays.

“I think the defensive end, I’ve trended on the way up since last year,” Hawkins said. “I’m doing a lot more things I’m comfortable with. I know the rotations, the NBA defense. It’s different from the college defense.”

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Ja Morant, who tweaked his ankle during Monday’s preseason opener, has formally been diagnosed with a “mild’ sprain, according to Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins, who said he expects his starting point guard to be ready for opening night (Twitter link via Chris Herrington of Daily Memphian). Still, the team will take a cautious approach, so it remains to be seen whether Morant will play in any of Memphis’ four remaining preseason contests.
Grizzlies camp invitee Yuki Kawamura, a 5’8″ Japanese guard, has earned praise from his teammates for his competitiveness and fearlessness, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. While Kawamura won’t make the standard roster, there’s a chance his Exhibit 10 contract could be converted into a two-way deal if the club creates a two-way opening by promoting Scotty Pippen Jr. to the standard roster, Cole adds. “He’s fierce, he’s a competitor and he loves the game of basketball,” Luke Kennard said. “I like what I’ve seen from him for sure. He’s talented. He’s going to make a lot of money playing the game.”
Malachi Flynn isn’t one of the 15 Spurs players with a guaranteed contract for 2024/25 and isn’t eligible for a two-way deal, but he has made a positive impression on head coach Gregg Popovich over the past week, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “He’s had a good camp,” Popovich said after Flynn racked up nine points, two assists, and two steals in eight minutes in Monday’s preseason opener. “He’s a tough nut. He shoots the heck out of the ball. He takes no prisoners. He works very hard. With the limited time he had, I thought he did well.”
Chris Paul will make his Spurs debut and reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama will make his 2024/25 debut on Wednesday vs. Orlando, notes Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com.

NBA GMs High On Thunder’s Offseason Moves, Celtics’ Title Chances

October 8th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder made the best roster moves during the 2024 offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. Within his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 37% of his respondents picked Oklahoma City as having the best summer, with the Sixers coming in second place at 33%. The Knicks got 20% of the vote share, while no other club received more than a single vote.

It was one of many favorable outcomes in the survey for the Thunder, who were overwhelmingly selected as the team with the best young core — 60% of GMs selected OKC, compared to 20% for the second-place Magic.

New Thunder guard Alex Caruso was chosen by general managers as the most underrated offseason acquisition, receiving 23% of that vote share, while last year’s Most Valuable Player runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was picked as this year’s MVP favorite (40%), narrowly edging Mavericks star Luka Doncic (30%).

The Thunder also received a handful of votes from the league’s GMs as the team that will win the 2025 NBA Finals, but at 13%, they finished a distant second to the Celtics, who earned a whopping 83% of the vote. Besides those two clubs, only the Mavericks (3%) received a vote to become this season’s champions.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

New Sixers forward Paul George got 60% of the vote as the offseason acquisition who will have the biggest impact in 2024/25, followed by new Knicks Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns at 13% apiece. The Towns trade, meanwhile, was named the most surprising offseason move, eking out George leaving Los Angeles for Philadelphia (27% to 23%).
Unsurprisingly, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama was the overwhelming choice (77%) for which player the GMs would most want to start a franchise with. Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic each earned three votes in that category, while Doncic got one.
The league’s general managers are high on No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard — the Rockets‘ guard is their pick to win the Rookie of the Year award (50%) ahead of betting favorite Zach Edey of the Grizzlies (30%). Sheppard also comfortably received the largest vote share (43%) when the GMs were asked which rookie will be the best player in five years. Spurs guard Stephon Castle (17%) and Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (13%) were the runners-up in that category.
There was no consensus among the GMs on which 2024 draftee was the biggest steal. Wizards guard Carlton Carrington, Kings guard Devin Carter, Pacers wing Johnny Furphy, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon, and Thunder guard Nikola Topic each received three votes to lead the way.
Among newly hired head coaches, Mike Budenholzer of the Suns is the one GMs feel will have the biggest impact on his new club. Budenholzer received 40% of the vote, beating out Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons (20% apiece). Meanwhile, Spurs guard Chris Paul (30%) and Raptors guard Garrett Temple (20%) are the active players that GMs feel would make the best head coaches down the road.
Asked what they’d change about the NBA, 20% of GMs said the rules related to the tax aprons, trades, and roster construction are too restrictive and/or should be “indexed to (a) team’s market,” per Schuhmann, making it the top response.

Southwest Notes: Morant, Zion, Pelicans, Mavericks

October 8th, 2024 at 8:31am CST by Luke Adams

Playing on Monday for the first time since January 5, Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant looked like he was rounding into top form in his 18 minutes of action vs. Dallas , contributing 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the team’s preseason opener.

However, Morant briefly exited the game and went to the locker room in the first half after turning his ankle, then appeared to have issues with the same ankle after returning before checking out of the game for good in the second half.

Speaking to reporters after the Grizzlies’ win, head coach Taylor Jenkins referred to the first half injury as a “minor tweak” and added that Morant experienced a little discomfort trying to push off the ankle in the second half, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Jenkins, Morant will be evaluated in the coming days, but his removal from the game was mostly precautionary.

For his part, Morant downplayed the issue in his own post-game media session, telling reporters that he’s “all good” and pointing out that he was able to walk fine (Twitter link via Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com).

While it doesn’t sound at this point like the minor ankle injury will affect Morant’s availability for the Grizzlies’ regular season opener in a couple weeks, it’s worth keeping a close eye on the star guard after a season in which he was limited to just nine games due to a suspension and a shoulder injury. Memphis’ ability to bounce back in 2024/25 will hinge in large part on his ability to stay on the court.

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Morant and Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, the top two picks in the 2019 draft, each have a pair of All-Star nods under their belts but have had stop-and-start ascents to stardom due to health issues and – in the case of the Grizzlies guard – off-court behavior, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Vardon considers what heights the two young stars could still reach and explores their potential importance to USA Basketball, which could lose a handful of longtime stars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant by the next Olympics.
In a pair of stories for NOLA.com, Christian Clark highlights Williamson’s impressive preseason debut vs. Orlando on Monday and writes that the Pelicans believe they have the personnel necessary to finally reach their longtime goal of averaging 40 three-point attempts per game this season. It’s a lofty objective, given that only one team (Boston) cracked the 40-attempt threshold last season and New Orleans ranked 24th with 32.6 per game. “It’s manageable for the lineups we have out there,” reserve sharpshooter Matt Ryan said. “We are going to have so much shooting. So much guard and wing play.”
The Mavericks aren’t stressing the loss of reserve guard Dante Exum to a wrist injury, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News, who notes that Spencer Dinwiddie and head coach Jason Kidd were among those to laud the backcourt depth on the roster. Dinwiddie – who called this iteration of the Mavs “the most talented team I’ve been on” – and Jaden Hardy are expected to get more opportunities with Exum out.
Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link) and Curtis (Dallas Morning News subscriber link) each shared their takeaways from the Mavericks‘ training camp, discussing Klay Thompson‘s smooth integration, the impressive two-way versatility displayed by newcomer Naji Marshall, and Dereck Lively showing the potential to take another big step forward in his second NBA season.

Southwest Notes: Edey, Rockets, Branham, Wesley, Williamson

October 6th, 2024 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Zach Edey, three-point shooter? The former Purdue big man only attempted two shots beyond the arc during his illustrious college career and made one. But the Grizzlies don’t want their lottery pick to feel like he’s restricted to the paint as a pro. He participated in a three-point shooting contest during an open practice on Sunday and showed a good stroke.

“When it’s opportunities to be out on the perimeter, whether it’s trailing the play or he just so happens to kind of move himself out there, I want him to feel like he’s got the green light,” said coach Taylor Jenkins, per Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I don’t want to restrict him by any means. I want to see what he’s capable of.”

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The Rockets will play two preseason games in three days, facing the Jazz on Monday and Thunder on Wednesday. They’re viewing those contests as a measuring stick to see how much progress they’ve made during training camp, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I just want to go out, play hard, win, win the preseason games and get good momentum going into the season,” Jalen Green said. “The same way we’re playing here, we have to go out and play there.”
The Spurs have an Oct. 31 deadline to pick up the contract options on guards Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley for the 2025/26 season. Wesley admits the pressure is on to perform well in training camp — if those options aren’t picked up, he and Branham will be looking at free agency next offseaason. “Everybody knows it’s a contract year,” Wesley told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. “We’re trying to win, trying to get better. There’s a lot of pressure.”
After losing starting center Jonas Valanciunas in free agency, the Pelicans didn’t bring in an obvious replacement. New Orleans will employ smaller lineups, mainly with Zion Williamson as the de facto center, quite often this season, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes. “The fact of the matter is we are going to have a ton of games where we don’t have a traditional center on the floor,” coach Willie Green said. “That’s going to happen. We have to get accustomed to playing that way for a good bulk of the game.”

Southwest Notes: Grimes, LaRavia, Sheppard, Castle, Barnes

October 5th, 2024 at 9:15am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Mavericks acquired young guard Quentin Grimes this offseason, providing him with a change of scenery that brings him closer to his hometown of Houston, Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News writes. Grimes believes his skill set can help a Dallas team looking to head back to the NBA Finals.

“I feel like with the unselfishness and the amount of freedom everybody has, I’ll be able to show more like how I did in New York,” Grimes said. “Whenever somebody was down and injured, I was always able to show more of my offensive game.”

Grimes has a history of helping playoff teams. In his second season in the league with the Knicks, he averaged 11.3 points per game while making 66 starts. In his nine playoff appearances, he started six games and helped New York reach the second round. However, injuries and inconsistent shooting led to Grimes being traded from New York to Detroit, and he was rerouted again to Dallas this offseason.

The Mavericks got plenty of help on the wing this offseason, adding Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall alongside Grimes. Curtis writes that Thompson has taken Grimes under his wing through training camp and that the former could serve as a model for the latter.

“I’ve been trying to talk his ear off the whole time,” Grimes said of Thompson. “I shoot with him almost every day after practice. He’s just been a really good mentor for me, just telling me little things about my shot and how to get easier shots off pin-downs. They call it the ‘Klay action’ for a reason. Just learning from one of the greatest shooters to play is going to only elevate my game.”

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Grizzlies forward Jake LaRavia has been one of the primary standouts of training camp, Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes (subscriber link). The Wake Forest product was part of an up-and-down 2022 Grizzlies draft class that also included David Roddy, Kennedy Chandler and Vince Williams. LaRavia didn’t play many minutes his first season and didn’t dress much at the beginning of 2023/24, but he played 28.5 minutes per night across his final 24 appearances last season, averaging 14.1 points and making 36.4% of his 5.5 three-point attempts per game.
Fred VanVleet was a common draft comparison for what Reed Sheppard could do in the NBA, so it’s only fitting that the two ended up on the same team. Now, as Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle writes, VanVleet is serving as a mentor for the Rockets‘ rookie. “He was talking the whole time, just encouraging me,” Sheppard said. “He’s been great. A great leader and a great role model, for sure.“
Spurs rookie No. 4 overall pick Stephon Castle is turning heads this summer, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes. “He never gets rushed or sped up or anything,” teammate Tre Jones said. “He goes at his own pace.” Chris Paul was also complimentary of Castle’s demeanor and how he was coached in college.
Harrison Barnes has been at the center of the Spurs‘ chemistry-building efforts this offseason, according to The San Antonio Express-News’ Tom Orsborn. He’s been organizing dinners with the team and trying to lead younger players by example. “Camaraderie off the court feeds into how we play on the court,” Barnes said. “Guys have been great communicating with the group chat and with dinners we have done. That is going to bode well for us down the line.“