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Grizzlies Notes: Brooks, Free Agency, Tillman

April 24th, 2023 at 1:44pm CST by Rory Maher

Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks is playing on an expiring $11.4MM contract in 2022/23, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension. Will Memphis bring him back for ’23/24?

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon noted on the Hoop Collective podcast that the Grizzlies have already tried to upgrade from Brooks, having made unsuccessful trade deadline pitches to Brooklyn for Mikal Bridges and Toronto for OG Anunoby. MacMahon suggested Memphis might call the Nets about Dorian Finney-Smith if the team chooses not to re-sign Brooks (hat tip to RealGM).

“I don’t know if Dillon Brooks is on this team after this (Lakers) series,” MacMahon said. “We’ll see if the Grizzlies can come back and win it. I certainly don’t know if he’s on this team after free agency this summer, but the problem is if he’s not, who’s guarding all the best players? All the stars on the other teams?”

“If they’re letting Dillon Brooks go, they absolutely have to get a really, really, really good defensive wing player. They can let him go in free agency, they just have to figure out how to replace him. Trust me, they’ve put a lot of thought into that.”

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

Damichael Cole and Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal believe it’s looking unlikely that the Grizzlies will re-sign Brooks unless he turns things around in a major way for the rest of the playoffs. Although he is a very good defensive player, Brooks’ shooting has been a liability against the Lakers — through three games (23.5 MPG), he’s posting just a .325/.250/.600 shooting line while averaging more shots (13.3) than points (11.3).
Brooks was ejected in the third quarter of Game 3 after hitting LeBron James in the groin while going for a steal, but he won’t be suspended for Monday’s Game 4, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Brooks, 27, believes being labeled as a “villain” is why he received a flagrant foul 2 for the incident, according to MacMahon of ESPN. “The media making me a villain, the fans making me a villain and then that just creates a whole different persona on me,” Brooks said. “So now you think I intended to hit LeBron James in the nuts. I’m playing basketball. I’m a basketball player. So if I intended — and that’s whatever is in the flagrant 2 category — if you think I did that, that means you think I’m that type of person.”
One of the primary reasons the Grizzlies were able to win Game 2 is third-year big man Xavier Tillman (22 points on 10-of-13 shooting, 13 rebounds) outplayed Lakers star Anthony Davis (13 points on 4-of-14 shooting, nine rebounds, five blocks). Tillman’s journey this season has been an eventful one, as Cole writes for The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Tillman played in summer league and then spent time with the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate to open the year. However, injuries to Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke have opened up minutes in the middle, and Tillman has taken advantage of his opportunity, Cole notes. “I think it’s a true sign of a winner,” Jenkins said. “It’s a true sign of a pro, and that’s why we love (Tillman), a guy who always stays ready. He wants to impact winning in whatever his role is going to be.” The Grizzlies hold a $1.93MM team option for ’23/24 on Tillman, who will be extension-eligible this offseason.

Los Angeles Notes: James, Brooks, Reaves, Clippers, Westbrook

April 23rd, 2023 at 5:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

LeBron James fired back at the Grizzlies and nemesis Dillon Brooks with a typical big-game performance on Saturday, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times opines. Brooks got ejected for hitting James in the groin region, while the Lakers superstar delivered 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the 10-point Game 3 victory. “This is not my first rodeo, I’ve had this throughout my career with certain individuals,” he said.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

James didn’t want to share an opinion on whether Brooks’ ejection warranted a suspension for Monday’s Game 4, Mark Medina of The Sporting Tribune relays. “I don’t know. I’m not part of the committee,” the Lakers star said. “If he’s in the lineup or he’s out of the lineup, we have to prepare no matter what. I look forward to the challenges that Monday will bring.”
Lakers guard Austin Reaves is getting used to taking hits, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. Reaves said he was struck in the face three or four times during Game 3. He shook off the blows and contributed 13 points, six rebounds and two assists. “I’m getting used to it,” said Reaves, a restricted free agent after the season.
There’s a simple reason why the Clippers are facing elimination — the Suns have their stars and they don’t, Law Murray of The Athletic notes. The Clippers are facing a 3-1 deficit with Kawhi Leonard sidelined the last two games and Paul George sitting out the entire series. That has put much more pressure on the remaining players, including four rotation members that joined the team in the last quarter of the regular season. “I think the biggest thing is acquiring four new guys during the trade deadline with only 21 games left,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “It makes it harder, because they’re still learning on the fly pretty much. And when Kawhi and PG both don’t play, it’s unfamiliar territory for the other guys.”
Russell Westbrook has averaged 31.7 points and 7.0 assists in the last three games and former teammate Kevin Durant said his former teammate is showing up his critics, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes. “When he retires, people are (going to) really tell the truth about how they feel about his game,” Durant said. “Right now, the fun thing to do is to make a joke out of Russ but the way he’s been playing since he got with the Clippers is showing everybody who he really is.”

Ja Morant Returns For Game 3

April 22nd, 2023 at 8:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant will be active for tonight’s Game 3 against the Lakers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. He will be in Memphis’ starting lineup, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Morant wound up missing just one game with the right hand injury he suffered in the fourth quarter of the series opener last Sunday. The Grizzlies won without Morant on Wednesday night to knot the series at 1-1 heading to Los Angeles.

Team officials were encouraged during Saturday morning’s shootaround as Morant was making shots with his right hand, according to Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. He wore black tape on the hand as he attempted spot-up three-point jumpers, Cole adds, noting that reporters had only seen Morant dribbling and shooting with his left hand throughout the week.

“He looked good,” Luke Kennard told Cole. “We had a great couple days here so far, and he looked good so far. He was able to shoot the ball some, so we’ll see how it goes.”

There was hope that Morant would be available for Wednesday’s Game 2, but he wasn’t able to pass grip and dribbling tests, so he was ruled out shortly before game time.

Lakers Notes: Russell, Thompson, James, Brooks

April 22nd, 2023 at 2:01pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers starting point guard D’Angelo Russell, reacquired by Los Angeles at the trade deadline, has had an underwhelming first postseason with L.A. to this point, but the team is hopeful he can turn that around posthaste, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.

Broderick notes that Russell is connecting on an abysmal 32.1% of his field goals and 28.6% of his triples so far, while averaging 12.0 PPG, 5.5 APG, 5.5 RPG, and 0.5 SPG.

“It’s a make-or-miss league,” head coach Darvin Ham noted. “Sometimes you’re on. Sometimes you’re not. We’re just hopeful he’ll be on Saturday.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

Reserve big man Tristan Thompson appreciates that he was added on the last day of the regular season to essentially be another locker room voice and positive influence on his new teammates, as he told Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “If I help them become one percent better, it helps our team be better,” Thompson noted. “And that’s part of my role being here, is how can I help this team get one percent better?”
All-Star forward LeBron James has been dismissive of Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks‘ recent postgame smack-talking, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I’m not here for the bulls—,” James said following a team practice yesterday. “I’m ready to play and that’s it.” Following Memphis’ 103-93 Wednesday victory over L.A. to even their series at 1-1, Brooks held little back in his comments to gathered media, calling James “old” while opining that the 38-year-old was no longer his peak self.
In case you missed it, Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant was sidelined for the second game of Memphis’ series against L.A., and remains questionable ahead of Game 3 tonight.

Injury Updates: Morant, Giannis, Wiggins, Payne

April 20th, 2023 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Going into Wednesday’s Game 2, there were indications that Ja Morant‘s right hand injury had healed enough for him to play, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. In a meeting with reporters shortly before game time, Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said his star guard was “feeling a little bit better,” adding that he just had to clear some tests regarding his grip and his ability to dribble.

The announcement that Morant would miss the game was made about an hour before tipoff. Jenkins explained that the team decided to be cautious with the injury, which an MRI revealed involves soft tissues between the bones in Morant’s hand.

“He got all the testing and was still battling some soreness, a little pain,” Jenkins said. “It’s just a collective decision. We all decided that, and obviously he’s a warrior, he wants to be out there, would do anything to be out there, but we just felt like hey, just given all the testing results, give him this game and just wait a couple more days in between.

“We’re hopeful that with the progress he’s making the last couple of days, you know, he’ll be back sooner rather than later. Can’t guarantee when that’s going to be, but it was just one of those things that we just couldn’t, you know, pull it to have him in tonight.”

The series will resume Saturday night in Los Angeles.

There’s more injury news to pass along:

It was also close to game time Wednesday when the Bucks determined that Giannis Antetokounmpo wouldn’t be available, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Antetokounmpo had been upgraded to questionable, but the team opted to not to take a risk with his injured back. “I told him this morning, like, I know you’re going to want to come back but if you don’t, just know we got you,” Jrue Holiday said. “Again, our team has the ultimate confidence in each other and we know how Giannis is. We know Giannis is going to try and make that Superman effort and come back and play 48 minutes and do what he does, but like I said, we can hold down the fort until he comes back.”
The Warriors are listing Andrew Wiggins as questionable for Thursday’s Game 3 with soreness in his right shoulder, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Wiggins has been dealing with the shoulder issue since the postseason began, but he was able to play 39 minutes in Game 2.
Backup point guard Cameron Payne remains questionable for the Suns in Game 3, tweets Law Murray of the Athletic, who adds that coach Monty Williams indicated that Payne has to overcome “movement-related hurdles” before he can play again.

Southwest Notes: Brooks, Wood, Nurse, Rockets

April 20th, 2023 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks was up to his usual antics on Wednesday night after helping lead the Ja Morant-less team to a Game 2 victory that evened the series at 1-1. Speaking to reporters, Brooks said that Lakers star LeBron James told him four minutes into the third quarter that he was “dumb” for picking up his fourth foul, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN relays. Brooks was all too happy to “get into a conversation” with James after that.

“I don’t care — he’s old. You know what I mean?” Brooks said of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. “I was waiting for that. I was expecting him to do that Game 4, Game 5. He wanted to say something when I got my fourth foul. He should have been saying that earlier on. But I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40.”

While Brooks referred to James as a “legend,” he said he views the longtime superstar as “just another basketball player” when he competes against him and suggested that LeBron is well past his prime.

“He’s not at the same level that he was when he was on Cleveland winning championships, Miami,” Brooks said. “I wish I got to see that. It would have been a harder task, but I’m playing with what I’ve got. Just wear and tear on him throughout a seven-game series and see if he can take it. See if he wants to play the one-on-one battle or if he wants to be out on the sidelines shooting the basketball.”

As the Grizzlies prepare to resume their first-round series in Los Angeles on Saturday, here’s more from around the Southwest:

Comments made by Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison during his end-of-season media session didn’t inspire confidence that the team will re-sign free agent center Christian Wood, writes Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. Harrison praised Wood’s impact, especially on the offensive end, but alluded to concerns about the big man’s defense. “Just because you’re an efficient scorer, there’s more to the game than just that, so I think it’s important to note that,” Harrison said.
While Houston has widely been considered the most likely landing spot for Nick Nurse if the Raptors‘ head coach leaves Toronto, Marc Stein says on Substack that he recently got his “first whiff of pessimism” about the Rockets‘ chances of hiring Nurse in the event that he becomes available.
Kelly Iko of The Athletic solicited opinions from scouts on several potential free agent targets for the Rockets, including Cameron Johnson, Jerami Grant, Dillon Brooks, and Fred VanVleet.

Ja Morant Ruled Out For Game 2

April 19th, 2023 at 5:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

Ja Morant will miss tonight’s game due to lingering soreness in his right hand, the Grizzlies announced (via Twitter).

Morant hurt his hand when he crashed to the court after colliding with the Lakers‘ Anthony Davis on a drive to the basket in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Game 1. Morant had to leave the game, but X-rays on his hand were negative.

Morant had been listed as questionable for Game 2, and a report Tuesday night indicated that the Grizzlies were pessimistic about his availability. He told media members that he was feeling intense pain in the hand following the Game 1 loss.

The injury appears to be a reaggravation of a bruise that Morant suffered during the final week of the regular season.

The Lakers and Grizzlies don’t play again until Saturday, so Morant will have three more days to attempt to recover for Game 3.

Players Likely To Get Rookie Scale Max Extensions In 2023

April 19th, 2023 at 11:06am CST by Rory Maher

The 2020 NBA draft was a strange one for a number of reasons. It wasn’t viewed as the strongest class by scouts and analysts, and there was no consensus top overall pick. The COVID-19 pandemic also (understandably) made it much more difficult for teams to scout and interview players due to travel restrictions.

Rookies from the class were also negatively impacted, as they were drafted in November and the 2020/21 season started one month later, with shortened training camps. Normally rookies have up to four months to spend with their new teams, including summer league and full training camps. The truncated offseason put all players behind the curve, but the ones without NBA experience were hit hardest.

It’s fair to say the 2020 class has been relatively disappointing overall to this point, especially some of the players drafted in the top 10.

However, there are still some excellent players who were selected in the first round, and I believe three of them are basically locks to receive maximum-salary rookie scale extensions at the beginning of July (the new contracts will kick in starting in ‘24/25). They all have areas they need to improve on, but the potential and production are there.

The top candidates

Anthony Edwards, G/F, Timberwolves

After spending much of his first two seasons playing small forward, Edwards primarily played shooting guard in 2022/23 and had a career year, averaging 24.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals on .459/.369/.756 shooting in 79 regular season games (36.0 MPG). The top overall pick of 2020 was named an All-Star for the first time this season.

Edwards has been durable, has improved nearly across the board in each of his three seasons, is arguably the best athlete in the class, and is only 21 years old. The fact that the Wolves were able to stay afloat with Karl-Anthony Towns missing most of the season is a testament to Edwards’ growth, and there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

LaMelo Ball, G, Hornets

The 2020/21 Rookie of the Year was an All-Star in year two after averaging 20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.6 steals on .429/.389/.872 shooting in 75 games (32.3 MPG). Ball, the third overall pick in 2020, followed that up by averaging 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 1.3 steals on .411/.376/.836 shooting in ’22/23.

The problem was, Ball sustained multiple left ankle sprains and then fractured his right ankle on a non-contact play at the end of February, which limited him to 36 games this season.

I highly doubt those ankle injuries will impact his next contract, though they are a little worrisome. It’s possible the Hornets might push for some type of protections on the deal, but I’d be a little surprised — Ball played 75 games in ‘21/22.

Tyrese Haliburton, G, Pacers

Several draft analysts had Haliburton high on their boards, but he wound up falling to the Kings at No. 12 overall. He played very well in his stint with Sacramento, but his fit with fellow point guard De’Aaron Fox was less than perfect, particularly defensively, and the Kings memorably traded him in February 2022 for a package headlined by big man Domantas Sabonis.

The deal has worked out well for both teams. Haliburton thrived as a full-time point guard for the Pacers to end last season, and he was outstanding in 2022/23, making his first All-Star appearance while averaging 20.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists and 1.6 steals on a sparkling .490/.400/.871 shooting line in 56 games (33.6 MPG).

Advanced stats nearly universally say Haliburton has been the top player from his class through three seasons. His efficiency and excellent decision-making stand out.

The 23-year-old only averaged 2.5 turnovers per game this season, good for a 4.15-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio – an excellent mark. Indiana went 28-28 with him in the lineup, versus 7-19 without him.

The borderline candidates

Two other first-round picks from 2020 are likely to receive massive extension offers this summer, but I’m not sure if they’ll get the full max – I could see it going either way.

Tyrese Maxey, G, Sixers

Given his relatively modest numbers as a rookie, Maxey’s enormous leap in ‘21/22 was pretty surprising (and impressive). He averaged 17.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists on .485/.427/.866 shooting in 75 games (35.3 MPG) in his second NBA season. The former 21st overall pick had a strong playoff showing as well, averaging 20.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists on .484/.377/.940 shooting in 12 games (40.4 MPG).

Maxey maintained his great outside shooting this season, averaging 20.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists on .481/.434/.845 shooting in 60 games (33.6 MPG).

Still just 22 years old, Maxey is electric with the ball in his hands and is one of the fastest players in the league, making him a terror in transition. While he rarely turns the ball over, he’s more of a shooting guard than a point guard at this time, frequently looking to score instead of distribute.

However, he’s only 6’2″, so he can realistically only defend point guards, and he doesn’t have great instincts on that end. Most of the players listed here need to work on becoming more consistent defenders, but the other players have size advantages and are better at making plays both on and off the ball defensively.

The new CBA allows players eligible for rookie scale extensions to sign five-year deals – they were previously limited to four-year contracts. With that in mind, I think Maxey is highly likely to receive an offer in the range of $160-170MM over five years, but I’d be mildly surprised if he gets the full projected $200MM+ due to his limitations as a play-maker and defender (whether he accepts less than a max deal is another story).

Desmond Bane, G/F, Grizzlies

A four-year college player out of TCU, Bane was the last pick of the first round in 2020. He had a quality rookie season, mostly off the bench, averaging 9.2 points and 3.1 rebounds on .469/.432/.816 shooting in 68 games (17 starts, 22.3 MPG).

Like Maxey, Bane emerged as one of the most improved players in the league last season, averaging 18.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals on .461/.436/.903 shooting in 76 games (29.8 MPG). He was even better in ‘22/23, putting up 21.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.4 APG and 1.0 SPG on .479/.408/.883 shooting in 58 games (31.7 MPG).

From a statistical standpoint, the 24-year-old has a legitimate argument for getting a max deal. He’s an elite shooter and is a solid play-maker and defender.

My only real questions as far as a max deal are: Can Bane be one of the best players on a championship-level team? Is he good enough at creating his own shot? I did view Memphis as a legitimate contender this year until Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke went down with injuries.

Bane is already an excellent player who has shown consistent improvement year over year. Every team in the league would love to have him. I’m just not totally sold on a full max, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets it, and it’s hard to say he hasn’t earned it.

Injury Updates: Morant, Payne, James, Davis, George, Gobert, Jokic

April 18th, 2023 at 8:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant is officially listed as questionable to play in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Lakers, the team’s PR department tweets. Morant is dealing with right hand soreness. He landed hard on the court while committing a charge during the fourth quarter of Game 1.

Adrian Wojnarowski said on the “NBA on ESPN” show that he “does not sense a great deal of optimism” that Morant will play on Wednesday (Twitter link). An MRI on Monday revealed an aggravation of soft tissue bruising in Morant’s hand. He originally injured the hand in the Grizzlies’ April 7 win over Milwaukee, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

We have more injury-related updates:

Suns reserve guard Cameron Payne won’t play in Game 2 against the Clippers on Tuesday, Chris Haynes of TNT tweets. Payne hasn’t played since April 7 due to a back injury.
Both members of the Lakers’ dynamic duo popped up on the injury report submitted the team’s PR department, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. However, they are listed as probable for Game 2 against Memphis, with LeBron James dealing with right foot soreness and Anthony Davis nursing a right foot stress injury.
Clippers forward Paul George did a mix of conditioning and shooting drills during a workout prior to the team’s shootaround on Tuesday, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times reports. George is recovering from a sprained right knee and it remains uncertain whether he’ll play at all during the first-round series.
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is listed as questionable to play in Game 2 of their series against the Nuggets on Wednesday due to back spasms, the team’s PR department tweets.
While it would be surprising if he didn’t play in Game 2, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is also listed as questionable due to a right wrist sprain, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets. Jokic participated in practice on Tuesday and didn’t seem to think the sprain was overly serious.

Injury Notes: Giannis, Morant, Hart, Randle, Payne

April 18th, 2023 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

After previously stating that X-rays on Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s back injury came back negative, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said on Monday that an MRI also came back clean, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic.

The Bucks haven’t made any official announcements yet about Antetokounmpo’s availability for Game 2 on Wednesday, but Budenholzer told reporters on Monday that the superstar forward was making progress despite still being sore.

“He’s getting some treatment and I think we’ll just continue to monitor him for the next day or two,” Budenholzer said. “Probably fortunate that there are two days between games, so I think still mostly positive, mostly optimistic, but we’ll see how he feels over the next day or two.”

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

The status of Grizzlies star Ja Morant for Wednesday’s game vs. the Lakers remains up in the air due to his hand injury. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on NBA Today on Monday (Twitter video link) that there’s “significant doubt” about Morant’s ability to play in Game 2. Shams Charania of The Athletic hears that tests on Morant’s hand revealed no breaks and that his availability could end up being a question of pain tolerance. The All-Star guard referred to his pain level on Sunday as a 10 out of 10.
One day after listing Josh Hart as doubtful for Game 2 due to a left ankle sprain, the Knicks have upgraded him to questionable (Twitter link). Knicks forward Julius Randle also provided a positive update on his own ankle sprain, telling reporters that he’s feeling no ill effects after playing in Game 1, though he admitted that his conditioning isn’t yet where he wants it to be (Twitter link via Nick Friedell of ESPN).
Suns guard Cameron Payne, who was limited to 48 games this season due to injuries and didn’t play in Game 1 on Sunday, has been listed as questionable for Tuesday’s Game 2 due to low back soreness, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.