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Bucks Notes: Middleton, Budenholzer, Lee, Playoff Series

April 15th, 2023 at 7:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Khris Middleton is confident that he’ll be available for his regular role when the Bucks open their playoff series on Sunday, writes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Middleton hasn’t played since he aggravated his sore right knee April 5, but he was able to participate in his second full practice Saturday.

“It took about two days to kind of get it to go away and get back to being myself,” he said. “Doing a little bit more rehab this past couple days. The long break I think has been great for everybody to freshen up and that’s exactly what I tried to do, take advantage of this time to get my body right.”

It has been an injury-plagued season for Middleton, who was only on the court for 33 games. Owczarski points out that he had his most productive stretch after being inserted back into the starting lineup March 7 following a bout with knee pain. In the 11 games since then, Middleton averaged 19.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting 47% from the field.

“Playing those minutes, being in the starting lineup, playing with a lot of those main guys out there, I felt like I’d been doing it for years,” he said. “I’d been saying it, my body was feeling great for a while up to that point so it wasn’t a huge a confidence reach. It was a little bit to say, OK, yeah, I could still do this, but I felt more like myself again in that role and in those minutes.”

There’s more from Milwaukee:

  • Mike Budenholzer offered a ringing endorsement for assistant Charles Lee, who is among the candidates for the Pistons‘ head coaching position, Owczarski adds. Lee began working under Budenholzer with the Hawks in 2014 and followed him to Milwaukee four years later. “Charles Lee is, I think, one of the top guys in our league,” Budenholzer said. “… He’s great as the associate head coach. He’s great as somebody the players the trust, the players believe in, the players follow his lead. I trust him to the nth degree.”
  • The Bucks will enter their playoff series with a huge rest advantage over the Heat, who had to go through two play-in games, observes Steve Megargee of The Associated Press. Most of Milwaukee’s regulars haven’t played since they clinched the No. 1 seed on April 5. “It’s kind of tricky because you might go and play the first game and you’re rusty,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said. … “You might play the first game and you have so much energy and play great basketball. We’ll see.”
  • Eric Nehm of The Athletic examines the matchups in the series and speculates on how Budenholzer will handle his rotation with the starters expected to see expanded playing time.
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Poll: Eastern Conference’s First Round Playoff Series

April 15th, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

With the play-in tournament complete and the playoff field set, the NBA’s postseason will begin in earnest on Saturday. Since three of Saturday’s four games are Eastern Conference matchups, we’re zeroing in on those first round series this morning before shifting our focus to the West later today.

Here are the four first round series in the East:

Milwaukee Bucks (1) vs. Miami Heat (8)

This series holds a little more intrigue than the typical No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchup. The Heat won the most games in the Eastern Conference in 2021/22 and nearly made it to the NBA Finals last spring. This year’s team isn’t much different from that one, even if its in-season results were a lot less impressive. A group led by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo certainly won’t roll over in the playoffs.

Still, the Bucks were one of the NBA’s most dominant teams in the regular season, winning a league-high 58 games. And despite some injury question marks, they’re the deeper, more talented team in this matchup. This series may not be a repeat of Milwaukee’s four-game sweep of Miami in round one of the 2021 playoffs en route to a Bucks championship, but there’s a reason why Giannis Antetokounmpo are massive betting favorites (-1200, per BetOnline.ag).

Boston Celtics (2) vs. Atlanta Hawks (7)

The Celtics will enter their first round series as even bigger betting favorites (-1300) than the Bucks. Boston’s +6.7 net rating on the season was the NBA’s best mark by a comfortable margin, whereas Atlanta has spent much of the season looking like a league-average team, finishing the year at 41-41 (with a +0.1 net rating) before winning a play-in game over Miami.

The Celtics’ No. 2 overall defense should be capable of slowing down the Hawks‘ star backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray; it remains to be seen whether Atlanta will have any answer at the other end of the court for Boston’s star wings, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. A Hawks upset isn’t impossible, but it looks like a real long shot, barring injuries.

Philadelphia 76ers (3) vs. Brooklyn Nets (6)

While the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds are often significant favorites in NBA playoff series, it’s unusual for a No. 3 team to be as heavily favored as the Sixers are over the Nets (-1200). The odds make sense though — Philadelphia had the NBA’s third-best record, trailing only two Eastern powerhouses. And Brooklyn likely wouldn’t have finished as high as sixth in the East if not for the first-half contributions of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who are no longer on the roster.

The new-look Nets, led by Mikal Bridges, were competitive down the stretch, but they went just 13-15 after the trade deadline. The 76ers, meanwhile, followed up a 12-12 start to the season by winning 42 of their last 58 games, and they’ll be at full strength in the playoffs — stars Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey are all healthy after missing between 16 and 24 games apiece during the regular season.

Cleveland Cavaliers (4) vs. New York Knicks (5)

Now we’re talking. The rest of the Eastern Conference series are viewed as pretty one-sided, but the Cavaliers and Knicks is something a little closer to a toss-up. Cleveland is a -190 betting favorite, per BetOnline.ag, while New York is at +165 to win the series.

On paper, there are plenty of reasons to back the Cavaliers. Their +5.6 net rating ranked No. 2 in the NBA, buoyed by a league-best 109.9 defensive rating. And Donovan Mitchell is the sort of battle-tested scorer a team wants on its roster in the postseason.

On the other hand, besides Mitchell, Cleveland’s top players lack postseason experience. Darius Garland and Evan Mobley will be appearing in their first playoff game on Saturday, and Jarrett Allen didn’t advance beyond the first round in two brief postseason appearances in Brooklyn. These Knicks are well coached and have the East’s best offense (120.4 rating) since the calendar flipped to 2023.

The status of Julius Randle‘s left ankle could be significant — it sounds like he’s aiming to return for Game 1 on Saturday, but he hasn’t played since spraining the ankle on March 29 and likely isn’t back to 100% yet.

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Injury Notes: Wolves, Murray, Middleton, George

April 14th, 2023 at 9:00pm CST by Rory Maher

The Timberwolves will have both of their three-time All-Star big men active for Friday’s final play-in game against the Thunder, Minnesota announced (via Twitter). Rudy Gobert (back spasms) and Karl-Anthony Towns (right calf strain) were upgraded from questionable to available and will start, per the team.

Wolves guard Jaylen Nowell, who was previously questionable with left knee tendinopathy, will also be active. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News was first to report (via Twitter) that Nowell would be ready to go.

In an interesting rotational change, the Wolves are inserting Nickeil Alexander-Walker into the starting lineup for the first time to defend his cousin, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“They’re cousins, so there should be familiarity there but we like Nickeil’s ability to go get him full court and his size on him,” head coach Chris Finch said before the game (Twitter link via Alan Horton of Wolves Radio).

Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:

  • Nuggets guard Jamal Murray continues to be hampered by a nagging right thumb sprain on his shooting hand, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post (subscriber link). “I’m still thinking about it,” Murray said. “I’m full participating (in practice). It’s just sore. Every catch, every shot, I’m always fiddling with it trying to make it feel better, but it’ll be OK.” Denver’s second-leading scorer has been dealing with the injury for a few weeks, Singer adds, but he’s otherwise healthy and feeling ready for the playoffs.
  • Khris Middleton, a three-time All-Star for the Bucks, was a full practice participant on Thursday, according to an Associated Press report (link via ESPN). Middleton experienced discomfort in his right knee on April 5 against Chicago, causing him to leave the game early. Grayson Allen and Pat Connaughton were partial practice participants, per The AP — both players are dealing with right ankle sprains, causing them to miss the final few games of the regular season (four for Allen, three for Connaughton). The Bucks will face the Heat in their first-round playoff series after Miami defeated Chicago and advanced as the No. 8 seed in the East.
  • Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters, including Law Murray of The Athletic, that star wing Paul George, who has been out since March 21 after suffering a right knee sprain, is making progress in his recovery. However, the team won’t rush him back for its first-round series against Phoenix, with Lue saying the Clippers need George to be “close to 100 percent” in order to prevent a possible re-injury. While there’s no official timeline for George’s return, a source tells Murray the veteran forward is targeting a potential second-round return, assuming the Clippers advance (Twitter link).
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NBA Announces 2022/23 Award Finalists

April 14th, 2023 at 5:55pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA announced its finalists for all the major 2022/23 regular season awards on Friday evening (all Twitter links can be found here).

Here is the full list of finalists for each of the awards, listed in alphabetical order:

Most Valuable Player

Defensive Player of the Year

Rookie of the Year

Most Improved Player

Sixth Man of the Year

Coach of the Year

Clutch Player of the Year

TNT will begin announcing the winners next week during its coverage of the 2023 playoffs, according to the NBA. The three finalists for each award are based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Antetokounmpo, the league’s back-to-back MVP winner in 2018/19 and ’19/20, has finished fourth and third in MVP voting over the past two seasons, respectively. He averaged a career-high 31.1 PPG along with 11.8 RPG and 5.7 APG on .553/.275/.645 shooting in 63 games (32.1 MPG) this season in leading the Bucks to the NBA’s best record at 58-24.

Embiid, the MVP runner-up in each of the past two years, led the league in scoring for the second consecutive season, posting a career-high 33.1 PPG along with 10.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.0 SPG and 1.7 BPG on .548/.330/.857 shooting in 66 games (34.6 MPG). The Sixers finished third in the East with a 54-28 record, though it’s worth noting that record is also the third-best mark in the league.

Jokic, the reigning back-to-back MVP, averaged 24.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 9.8 APG and 1.3 SPG on .632/.383/.822 shooting in 69 games (33.7. MPG). In addition to breaking Wilt Chamberlain‘s record for most assists per game by a center (8.6), Jokic led the Nuggets to the top seed in the West with a 53-29 record.

It’s long been assumed that Banchero, Brown and Fox were the runaway favorites for their respective awards. Given Embiid’s excellent play to end the season and Denver’s stumble to the finish line, it seems likely that Embiid will edge out Jokic and Antetokounmpo to win his first MVP — all three finalists are more than deserving, just as they were last year.

However, the other three awards are more up in the air. Jackson and Lopez have been considered the betting favorites for DPOY for much of the second half of the season. Mobley’s inclusion is somewhat surprising, but maybe it shouldn’t be — the Cavs finished with the league’s top defense and he is arguably the best defender on the team.

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Pistons To Interview Kevin Ollie, Charles Lee For Head Coaching Job

April 14th, 2023 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons are interviewing Kevin Ollie for their head coaching vacancy, sources tell Shams Charania and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A former NBA point guard, Ollie began his coaching career after retiring as a player in 2010. He was the head coach at UConn from 2012-18 and won a national title with the Huskies in 2014 but lost his job after the NCAA opened an investigation into UConn and its coaches for recruiting violations.

More recently, Ollie was the head coach of the Overtime Elite program for two years, beginning in 2021. He issued a statement last month announcing that he was leaving that position.

In addition to meeting with Ollie, the Pistons have been granted permission to interview Bucks assistant Charles Lee as they seek a replacement for Dwane Casey, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski classifies Lee as a “significant” candidate in Detroit’s search.

[RELATED: Dwane Casey To Transition To Pistons’ Front Office]

Lee is a former Bucknell shooting guard who played professionally in international basketball leagues for several seasons. He has been a longtime assistant under Mike Budenholzer, first with the Hawks (2014-18) and now with the Bucks (since 2018).

Lee and fellow Bucks assistant Darvin Ham received consideration for multiple head coaching openings before Ham was hired by the Lakers last spring — Lee has a chance to be the next Budenholzer assistant to land a head coaching job during this hiring cycle.

Wojnarowski, who previously reported that Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin and Heat assistant Chris Quinn would be candidates the Pistons consider, reiterates today (via Twitter) that Griffin and Quinn are expected to “factor prominently” into Detroit’s search. The Pistons are expected to receive permission to interview both veteran assistants, sources tell ESPN.

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Haslam Completes Purchase Of Lasry’s Stake In Bucks

April 14th, 2023 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

1:34pm: In a press release formally announcing the sale of Lasry’s stake to Haslam, the Bucks clarified that Edens will be the team’s governor for the next five years.

10:24am: The Haslam Sports Group has closed its purchase of Lasry’s stake in the Bucks, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico (subscription required). That source says the deal values the Bucks at closer to $3.2 billion than the previously reported $3.5 billion figure.

10:17am: Jimmy Haslam, Dee Haslam, and their Haslam Sports Group will officially become part of the Bucks‘ ownership group on Friday, according to Shams Charania and Eric Nehm of The Athletic, who report that the Haslams are set to complete his purchase of Marc Lasry‘s stake in the franchise.

Lasry agreed in February to sell his share of the team at a $3.5 billion valuation to the Haslams, who are also the controlling owners of the Cleveland Browns (NFL) and the Columbus Crew (MLS). Lasry reportedly owned about 25% of the Bucks, which would put the Haslams’ investment in the range of $875MM.

Scott Soshnick of Sportico reported (via Twitter) a couple weeks ago that the sale agreement had been approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors.

Prior to cashing out, Lasry shared the Bucks’ controlling owner responsibilities with Wes Edens. When they bought the franchise in 2014, they agreed to serve alternating five-year terms as the primary governor — Edens assumed that role from 2014-19 and Lasry took it over in 2019. Speaking at the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona last month, Jimmy Haslam stated that Edens would reclaim that role while Haslam learns the ropes of NBA ownership.

The Haslams’ purchase of Lasry’s stake in the Bucks won’t have the same sort of immediate impact that Mat Ishbia‘s purchase of the Suns did in February. Ishbia signed off on a trade for Kevin Durant within days of taking control of the team, but if Milwaukee enjoys a deep playoff run, it will still be at least a month or two before the club is even permitted to make its next roster move.

Still, as Nehm observes in The Athletic’s report, it will be interesting to see what sort of effect – if any – the new co-owner’s involvement has on the Bucks’ financial and personnel decisions this summer and beyond. The ownership group has become increasingly willing in recent years to pay sizable luxury tax bills with the Bucks in perennial contention for championships.

Next year’s tax bill could be the team’s biggest yet if key free agents like Brook Lopez, Jae Crowder, and Joe Ingles are retained. Khris Middleton and Jevon Carter also hold player options for 2023/24.

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Mike Brown Wins Coaches Association Award

April 13th, 2023 at 2:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kings coach Mike Brown has been voted the National Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

It’s no surprise, considering Sacramento just ended the longest playoff drought among the four major sports leagues. The Kings went 48-34 in Brown’s first season as their head coach and will enter the postseason as the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed.

The Bucks’ Mike Budenholzer, Thunder‘s Mark Daigneault, Celtics‘ Joe Mazzulla and Knicks‘ Tom Thibodeau also received votes, per Wojnarowski.

This award, introduced in 2017 and named after longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg, is voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches, none of whom can vote for himself. However, it isn’t the NBA’s official Coach of the Year award, which is voted on by media members and is represented by the Red Auerbach Trophy. The winner of that award will be announced later in the year.

The Suns’ Monty Williams had received the award in each of the last two seasons.

Brown was hired by the Kings after six-year stint as an assistant coach with the Warriors.

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Giannis Says He Considered Retirement In 2020

April 13th, 2023 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams
  • Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo tells Lori Nickel of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he legitimately considered the possibility of walking away from the NBA due to the mental health toll he was dealing with in 2020. “I had that conversation – yes – with the front office,” Antetokounmpo said. “And, you know, very normally, everybody is looking at me like I was crazy. ‘You just signed the largest contract in NBA history and you want to walk away from the game and all that money?’ … But I don’t care about that. I care about joy. I’m a joyful person.”
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Injury Updates: Randle, Middleton, House, Isaac

April 11th, 2023 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Julius Randle practiced on a limited basis on Tuesday, giving the Knicks hope that he might play this weekend against Cleveland, Zach Braziller of the New York Post reports. Randle sprained his left ankle on March 29.

“He did some [work in practice]. Making steady progress. Taking it day-to-day,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s doing some running, shooting, scripting, that sort of thing.”

We have more injury updates:

  • Khris Middleton was not a full participant during the Bucks’ practice session on Tuesday but they’re hopeful he’ll be ready to go by the end of the week, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Middleton tweaked his troublesome right knee last week. “He’ll do some individual work, get some weight room work and he’ll do more individual work (Wednesday) and then we’re anticipating and planning for him to practice on Thursday,” coach Mike Budenholzer said.
  • Sixers swingman Danuel House Jr. didn’t practice on Tuesday due to a sore foot, but head coach Doc Rivers expects him to be available for Game 1 against Brooklyn, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He hurt his foot in one of the (last) two games,” Rivers said. “But I think he will be OK.”
  • Magic big man Jonathan Isaac underwent season-ending adductor surgery in early March. He expects to be at full strength by training camp, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel reports. “This is really going to be the first summer I have to fully work,” Isaac said. “Every other summer I’ve been rehabbing trying to get back on to the court. So I’ll be hopefully in the next few weeks be a full go. And doing everything I need to do to have a healthy next season.”
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Kawhi Leonard, Bobby Portis Named Players Of The Week

April 10th, 2023 at 2:40pm CST by Rory Maher

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Bucks forward/center Bobby Portis have been named the NBA’s players of the week, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Leonard averaged 25.7 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists on .491/.389/.842 shooting in leading the Clippers to a 3-0 record last week. They secured the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and will face Phoenix in the first round.

In 52 games this season, the two-time Finals MVP averaged 23.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals on .512/.416/.871 shooting. Leonard is under contract at $45.6MM in 2023/24 and holds a $48.8MM player option for ’24/25.

Portis, the East’s winner, averaged 20.0 points and 12.3 boards on .447/.591/.636 shooting in three games last week. The Bucks went 2-1 in those contests and 2-2 overall last week, resting some key players as they locked up the NBA’s top overall seed for the playoffs.

The 28-year-old averaged 14.1 points and a career-high 9.6 rebounds on .496/.370/.768 shooting in 70 games this season, primarily off the bench (22 starts, 26.0 minutes). The veteran big man should get some votes for Sixth Man of the Year following his strong regular season. Portis is under contract through at least ’24/25 with a player option for ’25/26.

According to the NBA (Twitter link), the other nominees in the West were Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Brandon Ingram and LeBron James, while Jimmy Butler, Portis’ teammate Jrue Holiday, Immanuel Quickley and Pascal Siakam were nominated in the East.

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