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Zion, Holiday, Jackson Meet 65-Game Criteria For Award Eligibility

April 4th, 2024 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson met the criteria for end-of-season award eligibility on Wednesday by appearing in his 65th game of the season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

It’s a career high for Williamson, who appeared in 61 games in his second NBA season in 2020/21 but had otherwise never played more than 29 times in a season. The former No. 1 overall pick has built a legitimate case for All-NBA consideration this season, averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 31.3 minutes per contest, with a .581 FG%.

The bad news for Williamson and the Pelicans is that he didn’t play the final seven-plus minutes of Wednesday’s loss to Orlando due to a finger injury on his left hand. As Andrew Lopez of ESPN details, Zion had his left middle finger taped up after the game, but declined to speculate on the severity of the injury when he spoke to reporters.

“I don’t want to say anything that’s not right, to be honest,” he said. “But yeah, I tweaked it a little bit. I’ll have more information on it [Thursday] morning and I’m going to get it looked at and go from there.”

Appearing in 65+ games and potentially earning an All-NBA spot this season wouldn’t have any real impact on Williamson’s contract situation, though as Marks outlines in a YouTube video, the 23-year-old is on a unique deal and his games played in future seasons will help determine how much of his salary is guaranteed or non-guaranteed going forward.

Williamson was one of three notable players to reach the 65-game threshold for award consideration on Wednesday, according to Marks, who points out (via Twitter) that Celtics guard Jrue Holiday and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. also got there. It was technically Jackson’s 66th outing of the season, but he played fewer than 15 minutes in one of those contests, so it didn’t count toward the 65-game minimum.

Neither Holiday nor Jackson is a legitimate candidate for an All-NBA spot or for any other major award except for All-Defense. Holiday has made the All-Defensive First Team three times, including last season, and has also earned a pair of Second Team nods, while Jackson is the league’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year and has made the First Team in each of the past two seasons.

There’s essentially no chance that Jackson will repeat as Defensive Player of the Year for the lottery-bound Grizzlies, but it’s worth noting that if he did – or if he wins the DPOY award next season – he would become eligible for a super-max extension in July 2025.

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Southwest Notes: Green, Ivey, Wemby, Popovich, Pelicans

April 3rd, 2024 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Early-morning workouts and late-night phone calls with assistant coach Royal Ivey have been a factor in Jalen Green breakout this season, according to the Rockets guard, but Ivey is happy to give all the credit to Green, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

“It’s all kudos to Jalen,” Ivey said. “I’m just empowering him and encouraging him. He’s doing the work. At the end of the day, that’s a credit to his resiliency, his determination. And not being in that situation before, facing adversity, sitting down at the end of games, not being in (the game) in defensive possessions, he took that personally. This is the result of that.”

Green’s play earlier in the season was up and down, but he has been one of the league’s top scorers in recent weeks, averaging 28.0 points and 3.9 assists on .479/.394/.798 shooting in his past 17 games. Ivey said the former No. 2 overall pick has had the ball in his hands more lately and has looked more comfortable reading defenses and being aggressive.

“I can say his decision-making is A-1, making the right reads,” Ivey said. “And the finishing, it’s been (about) concentration, not looking for fouls. He’s so athletic, if he gets to his launchpad, good things happen. He’s working with his finishing every day. He’s been more assertive to get to that rim. I just think it’s confidence. It goes back to his mindset. That’s everything.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Spurs star rookie Victor Wembanyama admitted he was a bit surprised to be hit with a $25K fine for throwing the game ball into the stands at the end of last Friday’s win over New York, calling it “funny,” according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “When I threw the ball, I thought, ‘Yeah, I remember players being fined for this,'” Wembanyama said. “But they always threw it in a bad way. I threw it to please somebody. It’s not like I was trying to hurt anybody.”
  • Warriors head coach Steve Kerr doesn’t expect long-tenured Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to call it a career anytime soon, as Orsborn relays. “He was supposed to have retired five years ago, so why would we predict he is going to retire any time soon?” Kerr said when asked if he expects Popovich to fulfill the five-year contract he signed in 2023. “He is still going strong and still doing a great job and loving his work, so I can see it.”
  • Pelicans head coach Willie Green is still figuring out how to distribute minutes at center as the postseason nears, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. The team has gone back and forth between Jonas Valanciunas and Larry Nance Jr. at the five for much of the season, depending on the matchup. However, Green has also experimented with other options, including using Zion Williamson in that role for the last five minutes of Monday’s game vs. Phoenix, Clark notes.
  • Green was critical of his defense after it allowed Devin Booker to score 52 points in New Orleans for a second time this season on Monday. “Quite frankly, we were soft guarding him,” the Pelicans‘ head coach said after the game, per William Guillory of The Athletic. “We just had a soft mentality.”
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Injury Notes: Leonard, Barrett, Quickley, Mitchell, Ingram

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

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

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

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

We have more injury-related news to pass along:

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

April 2nd, 2024 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced the 2023/24 finalists for a pair of awards on Tuesday, naming the six players who are eligible to win the Sportsmanship Award for this season, as well as the 12 players who are in the running for Teammate of the Year honors.

The Sportsmanship Award honors the player who “best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court,” per the NBA. Each of the league’s 30 teams nominated one of its players for the award, then a panel of league executives narrows that group to six finalists (one from each division) and current players voted for the winner.

The trophy for the Sportsmanship Award is named after Joe Dumars, the Hall-of-Fame guard who won the inaugural award back in ’95/96. This season’s finalists are as follows (via Twitter):

None of this year’s finalists for the Sportsmanship Award have earned the honor in the past, so the 2023/24 winner will be a first-timer. Mike Conley won the award last year for a record fourth time.

Meanwhile, the NBA also announced its finalists for the Teammate of the Year award for 2023/24. According to the league, the player selected for the honor is “deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.”

The voting process is similar to the Sportsmanship Award — a panel of league executives selects 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, then current players vote on the winner.

Like Conley with the Sportsmanship Award, last season’s Teammate of the Year – Jrue Holiday – has the record for most times winning the award (three), but isn’t among the finalists for 2023/24. Of this season’s 12 finalists, the only one to take home the award in the past is Conley, who claimed it in 2019.

The Teammate of the Year finalists finalists are as follows (via Twitter):

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Southwest Notes: Thompson, Sochan, Jones, Mavs

March 31st, 2024 at 9:04am CST by Luke Adams

While Jalen Green has been the breakout star of the Rockets‘ recent hot streak, the contributions of Amen Thompson during the team’s 11 straight wins shouldn’t be overlooked, Tim MacMahon of ESPN said on the latest Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link).

After spending most of his rookie season coming off the bench, Thompson has started the past nine games and is averaging 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 30.2 minutes per game during that stretch. While he has provided secondary scoring and play-making for the Rockets, it’s Thompson’s defensive ability that excites the team the most, according to MacMahon.

“The Rockets believe – and have data to back up – that he can be the best non-big defender in the NBA really soon,” MacMahon said.

The primary knock against Thompson is that he has yet to develop an outside shot — he has made just 8-of-55 three-point attempts this season, for an ugly conversion rate of 14.5%. If he can eventually add that facet to his game, his ceiling would only grow higher.

“He’s a jump shot away from being an All-Star for sure, and possibly higher than that,” ESPN’s Tim Bontemps added.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan suffered a left ankle impingement during Friday’s win over New York, jeopardizing his availability for the rest of this season, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. As Orsborn notes, Sochan hasn’t missed a game this season and had expressed a desire to play in all 82, but he has been ruled out for Sunday’s contest against Golden State and figures to miss more time beyond that.
  • Pelicans forward Herbert Jones met the 65-game criteria for end-of-season award consideration on Saturday night, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. It was technically Jones’ 68th game of the season, but he played between 15 and 20 minutes in five of them, and only two of those outings could count toward his 65-game minimum. Jones is considered a strong candidate for one of the 10 All-Defensive spots and could earn Defensive Player of the Year consideration as well.
  • The Mavericks‘ backcourt duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have come a long way over the past 13-plus months, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). As Townsend observes, the two stars first played together against Sacramento last February, so this week’s back-to-back victories over the Kings, which extended Dallas’ win streak to six games, represented an encouraging full-circle moment. “I always said, this training camp, when got some practices in together, it would be way easier for us to function better,” Doncic said. “And I think it shows, especially now. I think we’re both happy and we’re both doing some good things on the floor. And we have great teammates. So I think this team is special.”
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Southwest Notes: Daniels, Ingram, Jones, Whitmore, Wemby

March 30th, 2024 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, who has been sidelined since February 9 due to knee surgery, has been cleared to return for Saturday’s game vs. Boston, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com.

Daniels wasn’t a major part of the Pelicans’ offensive attack earlier in the season, averaging a modest 5.5 points per game on 43.8% shooting (29.1% on threes). However, he started 15 of his 52 games and played 21.9 minutes per contest, in large part due to his defensive prowess. Assuming he’s not slowed by his knee at all, Daniels figures to reclaim a rotation role down the stretch.

There’s also good news out of New Orleans on injured forward Brandon Ingram, who was able to do some on-court work on Friday in what William Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link) describes as a positive step in his recovery from a knee contusion. Ingram will reportedly remain sidelined until at least Friday, but perhaps by next weekend he’ll be nearing a return.

Meanwhile, the Pelicans will be without guard Jose Alvarado on Saturday for a second straight game due to a right oblique strain, per the NBA’s official injury report. It’s unclear how much more time – if any – Alvarado might miss as a result of that injury.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Christian Clark of NOLA.com makes the case for Herbert Jones to claim a spot on this season’s All-Defensive first team, explaining why the player that Pelicans teammates describe as “our defensive leader” deserves the honor.
  • After missing the past nine games due to a sprained right knee, Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore believes he’s on the verge of returning to action. According to Whitmore, he’s working on getting his conditioning back to 100% and hopes to be cleared in time to suit up against Dallas on Sunday, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “I feel fine. There’s no pain (in the knee),” he said. “No tweaks, no issues, no nothing. I feel back to normal. I just have to feel better moving around laterally.”
  • Now that he has appeared in the requisite 65 games, Victor Wembanyama deserves serious consideration for this season’s Defensive Player of the Year award, writes Mike Monroe of The Athletic. “If you just watch the game you see how (Wembanyama) affects the game defensively,” Spurs guard Tre Jones said. “It’s tough because of our record, but I think most people know he’s already the best defender in the league. He’s already leading the league in blocks; leads in blocks and steals combined, more than previous NBA Defensive Player of the Year winners.”
  • Count Jalen Brunson among Wembanyama’s fans. After the Spurs‘ No. 1 overall pick racked up 40 points and 20 rebounds en route to an overtime win against the Knicks on Friday, Brunson – who scored 61 points in the losing effort – predicted that Wembanyama will be “one of the greatest players this game has seen,” tweets Paul Garcia of Project Spurs. “Just the way he’s built and what he’s been able to do so far,” Brunson said. “Got a lot of respect for him and it’s definitely tough to get a shot up and in over him.”
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Dyson Daniels To Play G League Game On Wednesday

March 26th, 2024 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, who underwent knee surgery in February after tearing his meniscus, appears to be nearing a return. The team announced today (via Twitter) that Daniels has been assigned to the G League and will be available to play for the Birmingham Squadron on Wednesday. The second-year wing hasn’t been active since February 9.
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Tyronn Lue Calls Clippers ‘Soft’ Following Monday’s Loss

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Zion Erupts Vs. Downtrodden Pistons; Nance Praises Pelicans

March 24th, 2024 at 9:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans got a tasty matchup against the depleted Pistons on Sunday and Zion Williamson took full advantage. Williamson made all but one of his 14 field-goal attempts while racking up 36 points.

“He had it going tonight in the first quarter,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green told Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “He kind of got it going midway through. We wanted to let him go a little bit. That’s all that was.”

  • Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr., who has passed through numerous franchises, is impressed by what New Orleans has established. The Pelicans are currently fifth in the Western Conference standings. “This is how you build a winning franchise,” he told Clark. “Those franchises that go from low wins to 60 wins, that’s not sustainable. You build a successful franchise, a successful roster, a successful team by steadily growing. Steady improvement. Keeping the core together. And really, being willing and able to play alongside each other. That’s what Denver did. That’s what Milwaukee had done. Golden State. You build. You start slow, and you build.” Nance is in the first year of a two-year, $21.6MM contract.
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Community Shootaround: New Orleans Pelicans

March 24th, 2024 at 8:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans have quietly moved up in the Western Conference standings over the last two months.

New Orleans was a ho-hum 26-21 in late January after a three-game losing streak. The team is now 17 games above .500, good enough for fifth place in the conference. The Pelicans have won nine of their last 11 games after disposing of the downtrodden Pistons on Sunday afternoon.

Perhaps the biggest reason why the Pelicans look more dangerous is that — cross your fingers — Zion Williamson has remained in uniform with the end of the regular season coming in three weeks.

After appearing in only 114 games in his first four NBA seasons, Williamson has played 60 this season. He’s gotten in better shape and the results show it. He had a seven-game stretch this month in which he averaged 27.3 points and 8.3 rebounds. On Sunday, Williamson bullied the depleted Pistons with 36 points.

CJ McCollum is also finishing strong after dealing with a lung issue early this season. He racked up 30 points in two of the last five games.

Trey Murphy III has been on fire from the perimeter this month. He entered Sunday’s game averaging 19 points and making 45.1 percent of his 3-point attempts in 10 March contests.

The Pelicans also have a lockdown defender in Herbert Jones and a pesky backup guard Jose Alvarado, who had a big game (17 points, seven rebounds, six assists) in a win at Miami on Friday night.

The big concern is second-leading scorer Brandon Ingram, who could miss the remainder of the regular season with a bone bruise in his left knee.

The Pelicans aren’t far behind the Clippers for the No. 4 spot but they also have the Suns, Kings and Mavericks a short distance behind them in the standings. They have to hold off at least two of those three teams to avoid the play-in tournament.

In historical terms, the Pelicans’ postseason resume is relatively barren. They won a first round series during the 2007/08 season and another during the ’17/18 campaign.

During the last two seasons, they lost in the opening round to Phoenix in 2022, then got bounced in the play-in tournament by Oklahoma City in 2023.

That brings us to our topic of the day: What do you think the Pelicans’ ceiling is this spring? Will they avoid the play-in tournament? Are they capable of winning a first-round series and beyond, or do you think they’ll have an early exit?

Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.

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