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Woj: LeBron Already Working Toward Owning Expansion Team In Vegas

December 9th, 2023 at 8:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James isn’t just discussing the possibility of owning an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas, he’s already trying to make it happen, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said tonight on NBA Countdown (video link).

“He has been active behind the scenes and on a regular basis now in meetings with his advisors planning with a group about what a franchise would look like, how an organization would run and then obviously the finances,” Wojnarowski said. “It is going to be an expensive proposition to get an expansion team in this next round.”

Wojnarowski adds that one potential obstacle for an ownership group led by James was recently eliminated when the Adelson family reached a tentative agreement to purchase the Mavericks. The Adelsons are involved in the casino business and would have been “a real contender” to become the new owners of a Las Vegas team, according to Wojnarowski.

Woj also confirms that the NBA plans to begin considering expansion once its next media rights deal is finalized and has an eye on adding two teams, with Las Vegas and Seattle considered the current favorites.

“LeBron James is determined to be at the forefront of a Vegas expansion NBA team in the future,” Wojnarowski adds, “and he is putting the work in on it now.”

Kyrie Irving Escapes Serious Injury

December 9th, 2023 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

5:15 pm: The Mavericks confirmed (via Twitter) that Irving has a right heel contusion and has returned to Dallas for treatment. No timetable has been set for him to resume playing.

5:04 pm: Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving suffered a heel contusion in Friday’s night game at Portland, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. He’s beginning treatment for the injury, and there’s no word on how long he might be sidelined.

According to an ESPN report, Irving was injured on a drive to the basket late in the first half. He fell to the floor after contact, and teammate Dwight Powell landed on him while chasing a loose ball.

Irving stayed on the court for several minutes, but was able to shoot two free throws before leaving the game. The team later announced that he wouldn’t return.

Mavericks officials are relieved that an MRI taken today showed that Irving’s injury is “just a bruise,” according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). He adds that Irving has been dealing with soreness in his foot since the start of the season.

Irving didn’t travel with the team for Monday’s game at Memphis, a source tells Marc Stein (Twitter link). The team hasn’t made an official announcement about Irving’s status, but he’s expected to miss at least that game.

Irving has been an important component to the early-season success for Dallas, which is third in the West at 13-8. Through 17 games, he is averaging 23.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists while shooting 47.1% from the field and 38.4% from three-point range.

Gorgui Dieng Working For Spurs As Basketball Operations Representative

December 9th, 2023 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran big man Gorgui Dieng never formally announced his retirement as a player, but it sounds as if he has moved onto the next stage of his career. As Jeff McDonald details for The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required), Dieng is working with the Spurs as a basketball operations representative, a title the team created for him.

According to McDonald, Dieng splits his time between the front office and coaching staff, working with general manager Brian Wright in addition to mentoring young big men like Victor Wembanyama and Charles Bassey.

“I’m very free on what I’m doing,” Dieng said. “I’m in the front office learning and doing stuff. When they start practice, I come here and help the team. I’m here just to be around them and help.”

Dieng, who will turn 34 in January, appeared in a total of 628 regular season NBA games from 2013-23, averaging 7.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per night for the Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Spurs, and Hawks. In 2022/23, he played in 31 games for San Antonio, providing some veteran frontcourt depth and serving as a leader in the locker room.

“Everyone around me knew I wanted to play 10 years and that was it,” Dieng said. “I always said that. When I reached 10, I said I’ve reached my goal. It was time to stop and try different stuff.”

Despite his stated desire to play just 10 years, Dieng was open to contract offers this past offseason, but didn’t generate much interest on the free agent market, McDonald reports.

The Senegalese forward/center, who has a house in San Antonio and spent some time at the team’s practice facility during the summer, approached Wright about joining the organization as an intern, according to McDonald, who says the team insisted on giving Dieng a formal position and a salary. Head coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurs’ players are happy to have him around.

“He’s a wonderful human being,” Popovich said. “He’s one of the all-time favorite teammates of everybody. He’s a great source of experience in the league, and anybody can talk to him.”

“He’s someone you can always talk to at any time,” Spurs guard Tre Jones agreed. “He is always open. I think just having that personal connection to everybody and having such good relationships with people, that’s what makes him who he is.”

For his part, Dieng says he’s “learning a lot of stuff” in his new role and that he’s especially enjoyed the work he’s doing in the Spurs’ front office. According to McDonald, Dieng said he can imagine himself one day becoming a team’s top basketball operations executive, but for now he’s happy to play a far more modest role in San Antonio and perhaps work his way up the ladder.

“The front office, it takes talent,” Dieng said. “It takes hard work. Us (players), we just play and go home. They put everything together.”

Jontay Porter Signs Two-Way Deal With Raptors

December 9th, 2023 at 9:17am CST by Rory Maher

DECEMBER 9: The Raptors have officially signed Porter, the team announced today in a press release.

DECEMBER 8: Free agent big man Jontay Porter is signing a two-way deal with the Raptors, his agents Andy Shiffman and Mark Bartelstein tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Toronto has a two-way opening after waiving Ron Harper Jr., who will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, so no corresponding move will be necessary to sign Porter.

Porter, 24, is the younger brother of Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. Like his brother, Jontay dealt with injury issues early in his career, including a pair of ACL tears. However, he appeared in 32 G League games last season for the Wisconsin Herd, averaging 12.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, and 2.2 BPG in 28.2 MPG, with a shooting line of .390/.341/.667.

The 6’11” forward/center signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pistons in September in a move designed to give him a bonus for playing for their G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise. He was waived in October, before the ’23/24 season began.

In 10 Showcase Cup games (33.7 MPG) with the Cruise this fall, Porter has averaged 16.8 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 2.7 APG and 2.9 BPG on .456/.273/.667 shooting. He seems likely to spend most of his time with the Raptors 905, Toronto’s NBAGL affiliate.

Porter’s only previous NBA experience came in 2020/21, when he saw limited action in 11 games for the Grizzlies.

DiVincenzo Replacing Grimes In Knicks’ Starting Lineup

December 8th, 2023 at 5:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau played coy ahead of Friday’s matchup in Boston, saying there “could be” lineup changes in store (Twitter link via Steve Popper of Newsday).

However, Fred Katz of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that Donte DiVincenzo will start at shooting guard in place of Quentin Grimes. Stefan Bondy of The New York Post confirms the news (Twitter link).

It’s a noteworthy development for multiple reasons. Grimes has been struggling lately, scoring just 16 points on 5-of-28 shooting over his last seven games, and he expressed frustration with his limited role in the team’s offense following Tuesday’s in-season tournament quarterfinal loss to Milwaukee.

“It’s just hard when you go the whole quarter without touching the ball, the whole second quarter without touching the ball, and then you get one shot and you got to make it,” Grimes said. “So it’s tough going out there and just standing in the corner the whole game. Then you got to make the shot when you shoot the ball one or two times per game. It is what it is.”

DiVincenzo, on the other hand, has been on a heater of late, averaging 11.4 points while shooting 51.8% from three-point range over his past nine contests, including a pair of starts when Grimes was injured. DiVincenzo was New York’s primary offseason addition, signing a four-year, $47MM contract to join the Knicks in free agency.

Grimes, 23, was the 25th pick of the 2021 draft. Known as a solid defender, he averaged 11.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists on .468/.386/.796 shooting in 71 games last season (66 starts, 29.9 minutes). In ’23/24, his numbers are down across the board — he has posted 5.8 PPG, 1.3 RPG and 1.2 APG on .359/.345/.667 shooting in 18 games, all starts (22.9 MPG).

Part of the reason Grimes is playing fewer minutes is due to the team’s crowded wing rotation, with RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and Josh Hart also in the mix. And he’s not the only player who has shown a level of frustration with a reduced role — Hart made similar comments last week, though he made a point to say he wasn’t a “disgruntled player.”

It will be interesting to see how the situation unfolds. Perhaps Grimes will have more on-ball opportunities with the second unit, with Katz recently suggesting the third-year guard could look to be more active off the ball too.

Zion Williamson Faces Questions About Conditioning, Effort

December 8th, 2023 at 2:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Zion Williamson scored just 13 points and grabbed a season-low two rebounds in 26 minutes of action during the Pelicans‘ blowout loss to the Lakers in Thursday’s in-season tournament semifinal. New Orleans was outscored by 33 points when he was on the court and ended up losing the game by 44.

After the game, TNT’s panel of analysts called out Williamson’s conditioning and effort level, with former star center Shaquille O’Neal suggesting he was “just like” Zion during his early years in the NBA in the 1990s.

“(He) does not run hard,” O’Neal said (Twitter video link). “It’s not a diss. It’s going to be a lesson from one great big man to another guy that can be a great big. Does not run hard. I had the same problem my first, second year. I thought I was running hard.”

Williamson’s poor conditioning was “painfully apparent” in Thursday’s loss, according to Christian Clark of The Times-Picayune, who suggests that the former No. 1 overall pick was carrying too much weight at the start of the season and hasn’t played himself into better shape. If anything, Clark says, Williamson’s conditioning has gotten worse since the season began.

As Clark details, Williamson’s poor work ethic has frustrated the Pelicans for years, with the club repeatedly encouraging the forward to improve his diet and his conditioning. Zion “doesn’t listen,” multiple team sources tell the Times-Picayune.

Williamson’s conditioning level this fall is particularly disappointing because Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin suggested multiple times ahead of the season that the former Duke star had made a concerted effort to improve in that area.

“The thing I think is important is CJ (McCollum) and Brandon (Ingram), throughout their careers, have always employed people to take care of their body, to take care of their nutrition,” Griffin told reporters at the team’s media day in October. “They are really invested in their profession. This was the first summer where we’ve seen Zion take his profession seriously like that and invest in it off the court on his own in a way that I think is meaningful.”

Griffin also said in September that Williamson had spent more time in the Pelicans’ gym this summer than he ever had before.

Williamson’s 22.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game certainly aren’t bad numbers, but they would be career lows for him. He spoke on Thursday night about wanting to give the team more and needing to bring more energy to the floor.

“I gotta be more aggressive finding my shot. I gotta do more things to get my team going. I think I was too laid back tonight, and I can’t do that,” Williamson said, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. “… I have a problem where I literally just try to hunt the best shot possible every time. But I just gotta trust my game.”

Ron Harper Jr. Out For Season, Waived By Raptors

December 8th, 2023 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have waived swingman Ron Harper Jr., who was on a two-way contract with the team, the club announced today in a press release.

Harper, who also spent the 2022/23 season on a two-way deal with Toronto, suffered a subluxation of his left shoulder during a G League game on Thursday. He’ll undergo season-ending surgery to address the injury, according to the Raptors.

The son of five-time NBA champion Ron Harper, Ron Jr. appeared in just 10 total NBA games for the Raptors, including one this season, scoring 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting in 52 total minutes of action. He spent the majority of his time since going undrafted out of Rutgers in 2022 playing for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s NBAGL affiliate.

In 49 total Showcase Cup and regular season games with the 905, Harper averaged 16.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 32.3 minutes per night. His shooting line at the G League level was .486/.327/.773.

As Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca confirms (via Twitter), Harper will receive his full two-way salary of $559,782, even though he was waived prior to the salary guarantee date. A player who is injured while on a non-guaranteed contract (that doesn’t feature an Exhibit 9 clause) continues to be paid until he’s healthy or until the end of the season, whichever comes first.

The Raptors will now have an open two-way slot — Markquis Nowell and Javon Freeman-Liberty are their other two-way players.

Hornets To Reevaluate LaMelo Ball In One Week

December 8th, 2023 at 12:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets have issued an update on LaMelo Ball ‘s right ankle sprain, announcing today (via Twitter) that he has resumed individual work and will be reevaluated in one week.

Ball, who injured his ankle on November 26, reportedly suffered a severe sprain, with reports at the time indicating he was expected to be out for a while. It sounds like he’s making good progress in his recovery, having shed his walking boot and crutches earlier this week, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be ready to return when he’s evaluated again at the end of next week.

According to Boone, Ball has yet to take part in a practice with the Hornets, but has been spotted after practices taking some jump shots and putting his full weight on the injured ankle.

An All-Star in 2022, Ball was off to a hot start this season, averaging career highs in points per game (24.7) and field goal percentage (44.3%), among other categories, through his first 15 games.

The Hornets are 1-3 in his absence, with veteran guard Terry Rozier taking on more ball-handling responsibilities. Rozier has averaged 24.0 points and 8.0 assists per night in the four games since Ball went down.

Wizards Sign Jules Bernard To Two-Way Contract

December 8th, 2023 at 10:08am CST by Luke Adams

10:08am: The Wizards have officially signed Bernard to a two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release.

8:30am: The Wizards, who are opening up a two-way contract slot by waiving big man John Butler Jr., intend to use that open spot to sign guard Jules Bernard to a two-way deal, reports Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

An undrafted rookie out of UCLA in 2022, Bernard played for the Capital City Go-Go, Washington’s G League affiliate, in his first professional season. In 49 games for the Go-Go in 2022/23, he averaged 13.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 26.1 minutes per night, posting a shooting line of .425/.324/.805.

The 6’7″ shooting guard, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Wizards prior to training camp and then returned to the Go-Go to open the ’23/24 season, has taken a significant step forward in the early going. Through eight Showcase Cup contests in the NBAGL this fall, Bernard has raised his averages to 21.0 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 4.3 APG on .475/.422/.914 shooting, earning a call-up to Washington’s 18-man NBA roster.

A player on a full-season two-way deal in 2023/24 is eligible to appear in up to 50 regular season games and earn a salary of $559,782. However, because Bernard is signing during the season, those amounts will be prorated.

Assuming he officially finalizes a deal with Washington on Friday, Bernard will be eligible to play in up to 37 NBA games. He’ll make $415,011 if he remains under contract through the NBA’s league-wide salary guarantee date in January.

Eugene Omoruyi and Jared Butler are the other two Wizards players on two-way deals.

Pacers, Lakers Advance To Tournament Final

December 7th, 2023 at 11:06pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pacers and Lakers advanced to the final of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament on Thursday by defeating the Bucks and Pelicans in their respective semifinal matchups.

The championship game between the two undefeated teams (both are 6-0 in the tournament) will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday at 7:30 pm CT. The final will be the lone game of the in-season tournament that does not count towards the regular season schedule.

Indiana’s win over Milwaukee was a back-and-forth affair that came down to the final minutes, with guard Tyrese Haliburton delivering another stellar performance (27 points, 15 assists, seven rebounds, zero turnovers), including clutch baskets to seal the victory. Center Myles Turner also had a strong outing, recording 26 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

However, the other semifinal wasn’t competitive, as Los Angeles demolished New Orleans behind a brilliant showing from LeBron James, who finished with 30 points (on 9-of-12 shooting), eight assists, five rebounds and zero turnovers in just 23 minutes. The Lakers wound up winning by 44 points.

Pelicans head coach Willie Green was understandably disappointed in his team’s effort, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic.

“Tonight was a total letdown… A lack of competitive spirit,” Green said. “Tonight, we took a step in the wrong direction.”

Players on standard contracts with the Pacers and Lakers have now secured bonuses worth at least $200K (two-way players will earn half that amount). The champs will earn $500K apiece.

The Bucks and Pelicans, meanwhile, earned bonuses of $100K per player for reaching the semifinals, but have been eliminated from contention for the first NBA Cup.