- Loyola guard Lucas Williamson has a pre-draft workout on tap with the Jazz on Thursday, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Williamson has already worked out for several teams, including the Bucks, Celtics, and Grizzlies, Jones adds.
- Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines 14 players to watch for the Grizzlies’ three draft picks next month. Memphis owns the 22nd, 29th and 47th selections in the event, which takes place on June 23.
Should Tyus Jones find a lucrative deal in free agency this summer, the Grizzlies may have a ready-made replacement on the roster in De’Anthony Melton, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Melton was a solid contributor for Memphis this season, averaging 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals on .404/.374/.750 shooting in 73 regular season games (22.7 minutes). He’s also an impressive, versatile defender capable of playing both guard positions.
Melton’s postseason stats dropped off considerably, as he averaged 5.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steal on .323/.250/.750 shooting in 10 games (17 minutes). Still, he’s only 23 years old and certainly looks capable of continued improvement.
“Ball-handling, getting that one-two go-to getting my shot off,” Melton said when naming offseason improvements. “I think I realized how effective my jump-shooting is this year. I just got to learn how to get to it more and get to it more efficiently.”
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Grizzlies had a wildly successful season despite falling to the Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals, finishing with a 56-26 regular season record — the second-best mark in the NBA — after many predicted they’d be in the play-in tournament prior to the season. They also have the flexibility to make major moves this summer if they so choose, with a great young roster, cap space, all of their own future first-round picks, and the Nos. 22, 29, and 47 picks in the upcoming draft. Yet all that flexibility might lead to a quiet offseason, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who reports that the team has informed agents it intends to either select a draft-and-stash prospect or a two-way player with the 47th pick due to a lack of roster spots.
- In an interview with Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Rockets coach Stephen Silas said one of his primary focuses for next season will be improving the team’s defense, which ranked 29th in the league in 2021/22. “I want to be a better defensive team. We just have to be, and for young guys, that’s hard. Hard for them to grasp the defensive end and be able to anticipate what’s coming. To see a set develop and know where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there and be there on time. I want to improve on the defensive end,” Silas said.
- In a separate article for The Athletic, Iko examines Christian Wood‘s fit on the Rockets‘ roster going forward. Sources tell Iko that rival teams remain interested in Wood’s services despite his sometimes childish behavior, which makes sense considering the 26-year-old averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds on .501/.390/.623 shooting in ’21/22. He’ll be on an expiring $14.3MM contract next season.
Beyond an obviously forthcoming contract extension for All-NBA Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, Memphis will have to make several key offseason decisions.
Evan Barnes, Mark Giannotto, and Damichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal take a look at what they consider to be the four key questions facing the Grizzlies: The fate of Dillon Brooks, whether or not the team should retain both its two first-round draft picks, whether or not big man Brandon Clarke will receive a contract extension of his own, and the futures of free agents Kyle Anderson and Tyus Jones.
The Grizzlies’ rebuild began to bear fruit in a major way during the 2021/22 NBA season. Morant won Most Improved Player and made his first All-Star and All-NBA teams, while the 56-26 Grizzlies earned the second seed in the West and won their first playoff series since the 2014/15 season.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Melvin Hunt, most recently an assistant coach for the Hawks during the 2020/21 season, may return to the Rockets as an assistant next year, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). Hunt was previously a scout and assistant coach for Houston from 1999-2004.
- The Mavericks are currently trailing the Warriors 3-0 in the Western Conference Finals, a deficit that no club in NBA playoff history has ever overcome. Though the odds are fairly steep for Dallas to buck that trend, the club clearly has established a system that seems primed for future success, writes Rob Mahoney of The Ringer. Mahoney observes that the Mavericks have opted to surround All-Star point guard Luka Doncic with shooters and defenders, a formula that has helped them make their first Western Conference Finals appearance in 11 years. The Mavericks play a must-win Game 4 at home tonight.
- Injured Mavericks wing Tim Hardaway Jr. will consult team doctors this evening, according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Provided that club doctors are satisfied with Hardaway’s continued recovery from a left foot fracture that required surgery, he’ll take the next step in his rehabilitation tomorrow, adding new non-contact workout elements to his routine, per Townsend.
The 2021/22 All-NBA teams have officially been announced by the NBA. For the fourth straight season, Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was unanimously selected to the All-NBA First Team by a voter panel of 100 media members. Antetokounmpo, 27, is making his sixth All-NBA team overall.
Antetokounmpo, reigning MVP Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic received the most votes. Suns All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker and Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid rounded out the list of top five vote-getters. Because the All-NBA teams, unlike the All-Star squads, require just one center per team, Embiid was relegated to an All-NBA Second Team placing.
Below is a list of the three All-NBA teams. Vote tallies are listed in parentheses next to player names. Five points were awarded to players for a First Team Vote, three points netted for a Second Team vote, and one for a Third Team vote. Antetokounmpo earned a perfect 500 points.
All-NBA First Team
- Guard: Luka Doncic, Mavericks (476)
- Guard: Devin Booker, Suns (460)
- Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (500)
- Forward: Jayson Tatum, Celtics (390)
- Center: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (476)
All-NBA Second Team
- Guard: Ja Morant, Grizzlies (301)
- Guard: Stephen Curry, Warriors (274)
- Forward: Kevin Durant, Nets (276)
- Forward: DeMar DeRozan, Bulls (184)
- Center: Joel Embiid, Sixers (414)
All-NBA Third Team
- Guard: Chris Paul, Suns (114)
- Guard: Trae Young, Hawks (110)
- Forward: LeBron James, Lakers (169)
- Forward: Pascal Siakam, Raptors (63)
- Center: Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves (174)
Jazz center Rudy Gobert and shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, Heat center Bam Adebayo and small forward Jimmy Butler, Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown, Bucks guards Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, Grizzlies shooting guard Desmond Bane, Suns small forward Mikal Bridges, Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray, and Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet all received All-NBA votes. Surprisingly, Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, who played in just 29 games this season, also received a single vote.
As we previously outlined, the All-NBA selections come with significant financial ramifications. As a result of being named to All-NBA teams, Booker and Towns have become eligible for super-max extensions that would begin in 2024/25. If they’re signed this offseason, those deals would be for four years and would start at 35% of the ’24/25 cap. According to Bobby Marks of ESPN (via Twitter), they currently project to be worth $211MM apiece.
Young’s five-year contract extension, which was signed last August and will go into effect in 2022/23, will now be worth 30% of next season’s cap instead of 25% by virtue of his All-NBA selection. Based on a projected $122MM cap, that means it’ll be worth about $212MM instead of $177MM.
Jokic had already met the super-max requirements prior to this announcement, since he won last year’s MVP award — he’s eligible to sign a five-year, super-max extension this offseason and has said he plans to do so. Doncic, who signed a maximum-salary contract extension last summer, also previously met the super-max criteria by earning All-NBA nods in 2020 and 2021.
Notable players who are not eligible this offseason for super-max deals include Morant and Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine. As Marks tweets, Morant needs to make the All-NBA team again in 2023 to qualify for a starting salary worth 30% of the cap (instead of 25%) on his next deal.
LaVine, a free agent this offseason, would have been eligible to earn up to 35% of next season’s cap from the Bulls if he had made an All-NBA team, but will instead be able to earn no more than 30% of the ’22/23 cap on his next contract.
With their inclusions, Morant, Booker, and Young are making their All-NBA team debuts. Meanwhile, on the other side of the NBA aging curve, two 37-year-old veterans further cemented their Hall of Fame credentials during the 2021/22 season. James made his 18th All-NBA team, while Paul was named to his 11th All-NBA team.
Mavericks swingman Reggie Bullock has been named this year’s recipient of the 2021/22 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award, Bullock announced in a recent Instagram story (hat tip to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News).
“Super honored to have won this award,” Bullock said in his Instagram story, which also included two photos of an engraved trophy. “My platform isn’t taken for granted and I’ll keep inspiring and doing what’s right for my ppl ‼️”
The league has not yet officially revealed the identity of this year’s victor, chose by a committee featuring several social justice leaders. The NBA is supposed to make the announcement at some point during Sunday’s TNT broadcast of the Western Conference Finals.
Aside from Bullock, other finalists for the honor this season include All-Star Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, All-Star Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet, Grizzlies All-Defensive Team power forward Jaren Jackson Jr., and Bucks All-Defensive Team point guard Jrue Holiday.
The league is set to make a $100K donation to a charitable social justice organization of Bullock’s choosing. The Dallas Morning News reports that Bullock has selected his hometown Kinston Teens to receive the donation. The other finalists will all be given a $25K league donation for their chosen social justice groups.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Mavericks reserve guard Spencer Dinwiddie has enjoyed a particularly lucrative playoff run for Dallas thus far, Marc Stein notes at Substack. The structure of the contract Dinwiddie signed during the 2021 offseason with the Wizards is laden with bonuses that incentivize postseason success. Dinwiddie earned $100K when the Mavericks made the second round of the playoffs and $571,427 when the club advanced to the Western Conference Finals. Should Dallas move on to the Finals, Dinwiddie would earn an additional $400K bonus.
- Grizzlies big man Brandon Clarke is hoping to improve his three-point game in time for the 2022/23 season, writes Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Clarke, 25, is eligible for a rookie contract extension this summer. “It’s pretty high up on the list,” Clarke said of improving his long-range shooting. “I kind of proved this year I’m not somebody who… needs to be shooting the ball to be playing well, but that’s definitely something very high up on the list that I want to work on more.” Cole opines that the addition of a three-point shot to Clarke’s repertoire could impact how the Memphis front office views his long-term fit. Clarke is a career 29.4% three-point shooter on 0.9 attempts a night, though he did convert 35.9% of his 1.1 looks per game during his rookie season in 2019/20.
- The Spurs, owners of the ninth pick in the 2022 draft, are one of several clubs who took a look at top prospect Johnny Davis, a 6’5″ wing out of Wisconsin, during the 2022 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. Davis’s NCAA tenure has him well-versed with rebuilding teams, per Tom Orsbron of the San Antonio Express-News. “We lost six or seven seniors from my freshman year, so it was a very limited roster on the team,” Davis said of the Badgers’ 2021/22 squad. “Guys were looking left and right, (thinking), ‘Who is going to be the next ‘guy’ on the team?’ So I figured, ‘Why not me?’ It was a great opportunity to go out and play freely.” Davis averaged just 7.0 PPG during his freshman season, but took a leap as a sophomore. The 20-year-old put up 19.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.2 APG for the 25-8 Badgers this past season, while being named a consensus first-team All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year. The Spurs also possess the No. 20, 25, and 38 picks in the 2022 draft.
In an article for The Players Tribune, Warriors guard Gary Payton II says there’s no lingering dispute with the Grizzlies‘ Dillon Brooks over a hard foul that left Payton with a fractured left elbow. Payton reveals that Brooks apologized outside Golden State’s locker room following the conclusion of their second-round series.
“I give Dillon a lot of credit for that — no text, no social media, nothing indirect,” Payton writes. “He came in person, and we talked like grown men. He told me he didn’t mean to hurt me. I believe him.”
Payton adds that he’s staying positive despite a three- to five-week prognosis that means he may not return before the Warriors’ playoff run is over. He says his attitude is a product of all the work it took for him to make the league and to earn a roster spot with Golden State.
“From Day One, back when I first got with this team, all I wanted more than anything was to just stick around — that was my motto,” Payton writes. “Because I knew that if I could just do that, eventually I was going to play my way into the rotation. I was going to make an impact, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind. Early on, they’d bring guys in to have a look at them or whatever, and I’d D them up like my actual life depended on it. It was like, Nope. No sir. You are not taking my spot. Not today.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Andrew Wiggins is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s Game 3, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Wiggins, who has a sore left ankle, is averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the first two games of the series, MacMahon notes, and he’s been the team’s primary defender against Luka Doncic. Wiggins twisted the ankle late in the first half Friday night (video link from Anthony Slater of The Athletic). Coach Steve Kerr expects him to play, Slater adds (Twitter link).
- After two years away from the playoffs, Stephen Curry is providing a reminder of how dangerous he can be in closing out games, writes Marcus Thompson of The Athletic. Curry leads all postseason scorers this year with 104 fourth-quarter points, and he’s done it in just 79 minutes. “I thought Steph kind of smelled blood in the water those last five minutes (Friday),” Kerr said, “and he got to his spots. We had good spacing, and he got in in the middle of (the) paint, and he finished. … So Steph did what Steph does, something like that.”
- Kerr trusted Moses Moody to be part of his lineup that opened the fourth quarter, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 19-year-old rookie played nearly 10 minutes in the final quarter and registered a plus-8. “Moses is extremely mature, and what makes him special is he’s ready for any moment,” Jordan Poole said. “For him to come in and step up and play big minutes in the Western Conference finals and help us pull out a win is huge.”
Marcus Smart, Mikal Bridges, Rudy Gobert, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaren Jackson Jr. comprise the 2021/22 All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced in a press release.
Smart, who was voted Defensive Player of the Year, received the most points with 198 (99 first-place votes), but he was left off of one voter’s ballot. It’s his third All-Defensive nod, all First Team.
DPOY runner-up Bridges was second with 193 points (it’s his first All-Defensive team), followed by third place finisher Gobert (171), a three-time DPOY who has now been voted to the First Team for the sixth straight season.
Antetokounmpo, the ’19/20 DPOY, was voted to his fourth consecutive First Team. He was also selected to the Second Team in ’16/17, so it’s his fifth nod overall.
Jackson, who led the league in blocked shots per game at 2.27, makes his first All-Defensive Team, edging Bam Adebayo by just one point (153 to 152) for the First Team. It’s the third straight season Adebayo has been selected to the Second Team.
Jrue Holiday earns his fourth All-Defensive honor, now owning two Firsts and two Seconds. He also earned a $120K bonus for his efforts, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link), which will increase the Bucks‘ luxury tax payment to about $52MM.
Matisse Thybulle was selected to the Second Team for the second straight year, while Robert Williams earns his first nod. Williams has a $223,215 bonus attached to his rookie scale extension, but he won’t earn it for his efforts this season because he’s in the final season of his rookie contract. However, the award will change his cap hit for ’22/23 (up to $10,937,502), because he’s now considered likely to achieve an All-D nod again next season, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks relays (via Twitter).
Draymond Green, the ’16/17 DPOY, was the final selection to the Second Team. It’s his seventh All-Defensive Team overall (four Firsts, three Seconds). Green is now second among all active players in All-Defensive Team awards, only trailing Chris Paul (nine). He was previously tied with LeBron James at six.
Here are both All-Defensive teams in full, with their voting point totals noted in parentheses. Players received two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote.
2021/22 All-Defensive First Team:
- Marcus Smart, Celtics guard (198)
- Mikal Bridges, Suns guard (193)
- Rudy Gobert, Jazz center (171)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks forward (156)
- Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies forward (153)
2021/22 All-Defensive Second Team:
- Bam Adebayo, Heat forward (152)
- Jrue Holiday, Bucks guard (89)
- Matisse Thybulle, Sixers guard (87)
- Robert Williams, Celtics center (70)
- Draymond Green, Warriors forward (34)
A total of 24 other players received votes: 10 guards, 11 forwards and three centers. Among the group that missed the cut, Fred VanVleet was the top guard with 41 points, Evan Mobley was the top forward with 13, and Joel Embiid was the top center with 33. The full results can be found here.
One thing worth noting, which I personally disagree with: media members with ballots are asked to select two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, and vote for players “at the position they play regularly,” which is counterintuitive in the modern NBA, where positions increasingly matter less and less. “Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position at which they received the most voting points,” per the release.
Forcing voters to shoehorn players into positions is a poor process. For example, Adebayo starts at center, but is listed as a forward; Bridges is listed at guard, but starts at small forward. I’m not saying those players were undeserving, far from it — but it’s an irritating and outdated inconsistency.
In my opinion, the best defensive players should be on the All-Defensive teams, regardless of position. I’d also like to see a third All-D team so more recognition is given to players for their efforts on the less glamorous end of the court.
The Grizzlies will face an offseason decision on what to do with forward Dillon Brooks, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Brooks has started 245 of 272 games since arriving in Memphis in 2017, but Cole wonders if it might make more sense for the Grizzlies to make him a sixth man next season, since it would open up more offensive opportunities for starters like Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson, while Brooks could be the sort of shot creator that the bench has lacked.
Brooks’ contract situation is also worth monitoring. He’ll be entering the final year of his current deal, which could make him a candidate for either a trade or an extension. The most the Grizzlies could offer him would be about $61MM over four years.
Rival executives and league personnel view Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren as the most likely pick for the Magic at No. 1 in next month’s draft due to the front office’s affinity for length, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and general manager John Hammond have gravitated toward lanky players with huge wingspans since arriving in Orlando and did the same during their days in Milwaukee, Fischer observes, citing Giannis Antetokounmpo, John Henson, Thon Maker, Jonathan Isaac, and Mohamed Bamba as examples.
Fischer also points to Holmgren’s good relationship with last year’s No. 4 overall pick Jalen Suggs – they played together at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis – as another reason why the Magic may be leaning toward the Gonzaga star.
Whether the Magic end up drafting Holmgren or another top big man prospect like Auburn’s Jabari Smith, league personnel increasingly believe that Bamba is increasingly likely to leave the team this summer, Fischer says. Bamba is eligible for restricted free agency, but there may not be room for him in a frontcourt that would include Holmgren or Smith, Wendell Carter, and the returning Isaac.
Here’s more from Fischer:
- There’s a “strong belief” among rival executives that the Kings, who badly want to get back to the playoffs, will explore trading the No. 4 pick, according to Fischer. Holmgren, Smith, and Paolo Banchero are the consensus top three players in the draft class, but a number of prospects are in play at No. 4, so there may be a team that feels compelled to move up to snag its preferred target, Fischer writes.
- League personnel view the Trail Blazers at No. 7 and the Pelicans at No. 8 as other good candidates for trades among lottery teams, per Fischer. The Thunder, Grizzlies, and Spurs, all of whom own multiple first-round selections, are worth monitoring for possible trade-up scenarios, and there are a few teams that may want to move their first-rounders for future picks due to salary cap or luxury tax concerns, Fischer adds.
- Shaedon Sharpe is considered the wild card of the lottery and could come off the board as high as No. 4, Fischer says. Some executives told Bleacher Report that Sharpe could realistically have been a candidate for No. 1 overall if he had played at all at Kentucky. Given how little Sharpe has played in the last year, he’s regarded as a high-risk, high-upside pick.