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Woj: Haliburton’s Status In Doubt For Rest Of Series

May 26th, 2024 at 4:55pm CST by Rory Maher

4:55pm: Haliburton is listed as questionable for Game 4, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star tweets.

11:06am: The Pacers find themselves in a 3-0 hole in the Eastern Conference finals after dropping Saturday’s Game 3 in Indiana. The Pacers led for most of the game, but Boston used a late run — including a couple stupendous plays from Jrue Holiday — to secure the victory.

Before the game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on NBA Countdown that Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who missed Game 3 with a left hamstring injury, could miss the rest of the series (Twitter video link).

“The Pacers are going to err on the side of caution with this left hamstring injury, and for that reason, you may have seen Tyrese Haliburton for the last time in this series,” Wojnarowski said.

Haliburton missed 10 games earlier in the season with a left hamstring strain, which is one reason why Indiana is wary of the All-NBA point guard returning too soon, according to Wojnarowski, who noted the 24-year-old is also on the U.S. Olympic team.

“Certainly, they’re going to reassess this on Monday ahead of Game 4, but I think there’s real doubt that Tyrese Haliburton will be back in Game 4 — and perhaps even again in this series — as much as he would love to rejoin this Indiana team and try and give them a chance down 2-0 versus Boston,” Wojnarowski concluded (hat tip to Jordan Daly of NBC Sports Boston).

The Pacers showed last night that they can’t be discounted merely because their best player is out. Indiana went 7-6 without the Haliburton during the regular season.

Still, no team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit, and the Pacers were already underdogs against the East’s No. 1 seed. Monday’s Game 4 tips off at 7:00 pm CT.

Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton To Miss Game 3

May 25th, 2024 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

2:04pm: Haliburton will be out for Game 3 and will be reevaluated ahead of Game 4, according to Wojnarowski, who says the guard’s availability for that game “remains in serious question” (Twitter link). Indiana will err on the side of caution with its franchise player, Woj adds.

1:40pm: Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who re-injured his left hamstring on Thursday, is expected to miss Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday, according to reports from Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Haliburton exited Game 2 in the third quarter due to hamstring soreness and didn’t return. As we detailed that night, the issue was especially concerning because the Pacers star strained his left hamstring in January and missed 10 games as a result of that injury — he attempted to return after just five games, but ended up being out for five more following that lone appearance.

The Pacers, who entered the Eastern finals as massive underdogs, are already facing a 2-0 deficit in their series vs. the Celtics and will face even longer odds without Haliburton, the engine who drives Indiana’s offense. The 24-year-old was named to the All-NBA Third Team this week after averaging 20.1 points and a league-leading 10.9 assists per game during the regular season. He has put up 18.7 PPG and 8.2 APG in the playoffs.

As we wrote on Friday, the team has solid alternatives at point guard in Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell, but neither player can replicate the kind of play-making and outside shooting that Haliburton provides.

“He does so many things for our team where everyone just has to move the ball more and get in the paint more,” McConnell said. “The ball movement, like I said, just has to be at another level. He gets 10 assists in his sleep. It’s hard for another person on our team to replicate that. It’s a group effort when he goes down to kinda get people the ball and get moving.”

While Nembhard and McConnell will take on increased responsibilities at point guard, the Pacers will also lean more heavily on star forward Pascal Siakam to initiate the offense and be the team’s go-to scoring option.

In related news, Celtics guard Jrue Holiday – Haliburton’s primary defender – has been added to the injury report for Game 3 due to a non-COVID illness, as Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston tweets. Holiday is listed as questionable to play.

Lonzo Ball: I Expect To Play First Game Of 2024/25 Season

May 24th, 2024 at 9:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked during the latest episode of his What An Experience podcast whether he expects to be on the court for the Bulls on opening night next season, Lonzo Ball expressed confidence that he’ll be ready to go (YouTube link).

“Yes, I firmly believe that,” said Ball, who hasn’t played in an NBA game since January 14, 2022. “That’s the plan that I’m on and I haven’t had any setbacks, so I expect to play the first game.”

Ball has undergone a series of surgeries on his left knee in recent years and was unavailable for the second half of the 2021/22 campaign, as well as each of the two subsequent seasons. His most recent procedure, in 2023, was described as a cartilage transplant. The former No. 2 overall pick went into more detail on his podcast about what exactly that surgery entailed and how he got to that point.

“To make a long story short, ultimately, it started with the meniscus tear,” Ball said. “It started on the Lakers when I tore it the first time (in 2018). Tore it a couple more times to a point to where there was, basically, not much meniscus left and bone on bone was rubbing. The cartilage was gone and the bone was messed up, so I had to get a new meniscus from a donor. I had to get a bone allograft and I had to get some new cartilage put in as well. All that finally healed up and now I’m back on the court.”

Ball initially went under the knife to address a meniscus tear in early 2022 before undergoing an arthroscopic debridement in September of that year. He suffered setbacks during those recovery processes, but he’s confident that the third surgery better addressed the root of the issue in his knee.

“I would say we’re, what, 14, 15 months in now?” Ball said, referring to his recovery from the March 2023 procedure. “The stuff before that, we were trying to figure out what the problem was, so that was a wasted year.”

Ball exercised his $21.4MM player option for the 2024/25 season last month, so he’ll be on Chicago’s roster in the fall as long as he’s not traded or waived during the offseason. Young guards like Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu have enjoyed breakout seasons and have taken on larger roles since Ball last suited up for the Bulls, but the team would presumably be eager to find minutes for the 26-year-old if he can perform at anywhere near the level he did during his first half-season with the franchise.

Ball averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.8 steals in 34.6 minutes per game across 35 appearances in 2021/22 before being sidelined. The Bulls went 22-13 in those games.

Kings, Mike Brown Table Extension Talks

May 24th, 2024 at 8:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings and Mike Brown have had discussions about a possible contract extension for the head coach, but there’s a “gulf” between the two sides, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Brown and the Kings have decided to table those extension discussions.

Brown received a four-year contract when he was hired by Sacramento during the 2022 offseason, but only three years of that deal are guaranteed — the fourth is a mutual option, meaning both sides would have to opt in. That option wasn’t exercised, according to James Ham of The Kings Beat, so Brown will be on an expiring contract if he and the Kings don’t reach an extension agreement by the start of the 2024/25 season.

Brown has led the Kings to a 94-70 (.573) overall regular season record since taking the reins from Alvin Gentry. He guided the franchise to its first playoff berth since 2006 and won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 2022/23.

Sacramento was eliminated in the first round of the 2023 postseason, however, and didn’t make the playoffs in Brown’s second year. Despite winning 46 regular season games in ’23/24, the Kings finished outside the top eight in the conference and were eliminated in the second game of the play-in tournament.

Since Brown’s hiring, a number of head coaches around the league – including Monty Williams, Erik Spoelstra, Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, and Mike Budenholzer – have signed lucrative multiyear deals worth eight figures annually. According to Ham, Brown is set to make less than $5MM this season.

Recent reports from The Athletic and Yahoo Sports have suggested that Brown’s next deal seems likely to be worth at least $10MM per year, but it sounds as if he and the Kings have a gap to bridge in their negotiations. There’s nothing stopping the team and its coach from reopening their contract talks at any time, but Wojnarowski’s report suggests that’s unlikely to happen in the short term.

Tyrese Haliburton Exits Game 2 With Hamstring Soreness

May 23rd, 2024 at 9:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was removed from Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals vs. Boston with 3:44 left in the third quarter and didn’t return. The team announced (via Twitter) that Haliburton was dealing with left leg soreness, while ESPN Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) specifies that it was hamstring pain that forced the 24-year-old out of action.

It’s a concerning development for the Pacers, given that Haliburton strained his left hamstring in January and missed 10 games as a result of that injury — he attempted to return after just five games, but ended up missing five more following that lone appearance.

There’s no reason yet to think that his new hamstring issue is as significant as the previous one, but with the Pacers facing a 2-0 deficit in the series following Boston’s victory on Thursday, they’ll be in real trouble if the All-NBA guard has to miss any additional time.

After battling low back spasms, a right ankle sprain, and a sacral contusion during the Eastern semifinals, Haliburton once again had to deal with multiple health issues on Thursday. As Joe Vardon of The Athletic tweets, the Pacers star underwent imaging on a sore chest at halftime of Game 2. According to Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link), when Haliburton was warming up at halftime, he was shaking his head and slamming the ball on the floor in frustration.

If Haliburton is forced to miss any games going forward, the Pacers would have to lean more heavily on guards Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell as ball-handlers and play-makers. Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday in Indiana.

Pistons Intend To Hire Trajan Langdon As Head Of Basketball Operations

May 23rd, 2024 at 4:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons plan to hire Trajan Langdon away from the Pelicans to become their new head of basketball operations, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides are working toward finalizing a deal. That deal likely won’t be completed until next week, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.

Langdon has spent the last five years as New Orleans’ general manager, serving as the second-in-command to executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin. According to Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link), officials within the Pelicans organization “rave about his talent evaluation skills.”

A former standout as a player at Duke, Langdon was drafted with the 11th overall pick in 1999, though he spent just three seasons in the NBA with the Cavaliers. He went on to become a star overseas, winning a pair of EuroLeague titles in 2006 and 2008 with CSKA Moscow. He made multiple All-EuroLeague teams, earned EuroLeague Final Four MVP honors in 2008, and was named top the EuroLeague’s All-Decade team for the 2000s.

After retiring as a player in 2011, Langdon got his first front office role in San Antonio, working as a scout for the Spurs from 2012-15. Before being hired by the Pelicans, he was an assistant general manager with the Nets for three years under Sean Marks.

Long viewed as a candidate to eventually run a front office, Langdon actually interviewed for the Pelicans’ top job in 2019 before being hired under Griffin. He later received consideration for head of basketball operations jobs in Sacramento and Washington.

After finishing the 2023/24 season with a 14-68 record, marking their fourth straight year at or near the bottom of the NBA’s standings, the Pistons confirmed in mid-April that they were seeking a president of basketball operations who would replace Troy Weaver as the front office’s top decision-maker.

Langdon was named last week as one of four frontrunners for the job, along with Scott Perry, Dennis Lindsey, and John Hammond. According to James L. Edwards and Shams Charania of The Athletic, Lindsey was the other finalist, and both he and Langdon met with team owner Tom Gores multiple times in recent weeks before the club made a decision.

The Pistons considered over a dozen candidates during their search process, per Edwards and Charania. Their list of possible targets reportedly included Timberwolves president Tim Connelly, who will have the opportunity to opt out of his contract with Minnesota this offseason. However, Detroit has decided to move forward with Langdon rather than waiting to see if Connelly will be available.

Previous reports indicated that the Pistons’ new front office executive will have the final say on Weaver – who remains with the franchise for now – as well as head coach Monty Williams. Like Langdon, Williams previously spent five years working in New Orleans, though their Pelicans stints didn’t overlap at all. Williams still has five years and $60MM+ left on his contract, but Gores is willing to eat that money if Langdon decides he wants to bring in a new coach, according to The Athletic.

As for the Pelicans, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype recently reported that assistant general manager Bryson Graham would likely be the top candidate for a promotion to GM if Langdon were to leave the organization.

OG Anunoby To Hear Rival Offers In Free Agency?

May 23rd, 2024 at 3:51pm CST by Rory Maher

People around the league are convinced forward Pascal Siakam will re-sign with the Pacers in free agency, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, but the situation for Siakam’s former teammate OG Anunoby may not be as “cut and dried.”

Executives left last week’s draft combine believing that Anunoby could end up testing his value on the open market by listening to offers from rival teams in addition to the Knicks, sources tell Fischer.

Fischer acknowledges it could end up being a ploy for negotiating leverage, but the Sixers are among the teams with interest in the 3-and-D standout, who could receive $30-40MM annually on his next deal in free agency. Anunoby holds a $19.9MM player option for 2024/25 that he’s “widely expected to decline,” Fischer writes.

One change in the new CBA that will take effect this summer is that teams are officially permitted to negotiate with their own free agents the first day after the NBA Finals conclude. The latest that could occur would be June 24, a couple days before the draft.

That theoretically gives incumbent teams an advantage, as teams can begin negotiating with outside free agents on June 30 at 5:00 pm CT. Everyone knows negotiations often begin weeks in advance though, which is why so many deals are reported shortly after 5:00 on June 30.

Anunoby retained his Bird rights when he was traded from Toronto to New York at the end of December. That will allow the Knicks to go over the salary cap to offer him a five-year deal up to his maximum salary for ’24/25. The 26-year-old just finished his seventh NBA season, so his max over five years is projected to be worth $245.34M. The most a rival team could offer him would be $181.89MM over four years.

While he is undoubtedly extremely valuable — including the playoffs, the Knicks went 26-6 in games he played and just 13-14 without him — Anunoby has also missed extended time due to injuries throughout his career. He has only averaged 52 regular season games over the past four seasons, including 50 this season after undergoing elbow surgery. A hamstring injury in Game 2 of the Eastern semifinals essentially ended his season, though he attempted to play in Game 7.

NBA Closes Investigation Into Josh Giddey

May 23rd, 2024 at 1:53pm CST by Rory Maher

In January, the Newport Beach Police Department closed its investigation into Thunder guard/forward Josh Giddey. He was not charged with a crime after no corroborating evidence was found.

Sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the NBA has closed its own investigation into Giddey after reaching a similar conclusion (Twitter link).

In November, a series of posts on social media accused Giddey of having an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl who is a student at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach. That prompted both the NBA and the Newport Beach Police Department to open investigations into the claims.

However, TMZ reported at the time that the alleged minor and her family were unwilling to cooperate with law enforcement officials. Both investigations are now closed.

In addition to the off-court allegations, Giddey had an up-and-down season on the court as well, culminating in being benched in the Western Conference semifinals against Dallas. The Thunder lost the playoff series in six games.

“There’s been days where you don’t feel like getting out of bed for a number of reasons,” Giddey said during his exit interview, per Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. “As I said, I’m just lucky to have people around me that care, that were there for me. Coming in the gym every day, seeing my teammates, that helps.”

The sixth overall pick of the 2021 draft, Giddey will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason. The 21-year-old made it clear he’d be thrilled to stay with the team long-term and he’s determined to improve his shooting and defense going forward, according to Lorenzi.

“I can’t wait to get back next season and show that I’m a different player,” Giddey said, “and to never let what happened this series happen again.”

Cavaliers Fire Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff

May 23rd, 2024 at 9:53am CST by Dana Gauruder

9:53am: The Cavaliers have confirmed Bickerstaff’s dismissal (Twitter link).

9:27am: The Cavaliers have fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego are expected to be among candidates for the job, Charania adds.

Despite the fact Cleveland advanced out of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Bickerstaff’s dismissal doesn’t come as a surprise. A report from The Athletic last week indicated Bickerstaff’s job was in “serious jeopardy.”

That report indicated that star guard Donovan Mitchell, who is eligible for a four-year extension this offseason, “did not have great confidence in Bickerstaff” throughout the season, and he was “not alone.” It also suggested that a number of players privately and publicly questioned the 45-year-old’s “strategies, game management, practice habits and accountability measures” during the course of the season.

Another incident in the report spoke of how president of basketball operations Koby Altman “admonished Bickerstaff in front of his entire staff” after he played Mitchell heavy minutes in a December overtime victory with two other starters already sidelined by injuries.

Bickerstaff said after his team was eliminated for the postseason that he wanted to return and considered this season an improvement.

“To win a round in the playoffs isn’t easy,” he said. “I thought we faced a tough challenge in that first round, obviously, and to be able to go to seven games and win it showed a ton of growth. I think the play of our guys continued to show their growth. You guys will judge what success looks like. I think we accomplished what we were trying to accomplish but coming up short of a goal of obviously winning a championship.”

The Cavs will begin an immediate search for Bickerstaff’s replacement, with Altman and general manager Mike Gansey formulating a list that is expected to include coaches with head-coaching experience and potential first-timers, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports.

According to Fedor, the Cavs considered making a coaching change during the first month of the season after they got off to a slow start.

Despite the supposed internal turmoil, there’s reportedly growing optimism that Mitchell will sign an extension this offseason. Whether a coaching change impacts that in any way remains to be seen.

Bickerstaff became the Cavaliers’ head coach in February 2020 after John Beilein‘s brief stay in the NBA. The Cavaliers went 22-50 in his first full season as head coach and doubled that win total in a full 82-game season in 2021/22.

The Cavs racked up 51 regular season wins in 2022/23 but were bounced by the Knicks in the opening round of the playoffs. Cleveland won 48 games this season and defeated Orlando in the opening round but got eliminated in five games by top-seeded Boston in the second round. Mitchell missed the last two games due to a calf injury and center Jarrett Allen sat out the entire series with a rib injury.

Edwards, Haliburton Earn Salary Increases With All-NBA Nods

May 22nd, 2024 at 7:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The maximum-salary rookie scale extensions that Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton signed last offseason will have starting salaries worth 30% of the 2024/25 salary cap instead of 25% after both players made All-NBA teams. Edwards earned a spot on the Second Team, while Haliburton made the Third Team.

As our maximum-salary projections for ’24/25 show, based on a $141MM cap, the five-year deals signed by Edwards and Haliburton will now be worth $245,340,000 instead of $204,450,000. Those numbers could change if the cap comes in above or below $141MM.

Edwards and Haliburton agreed to Rose Rule language in their respective extensions. The Rose Rule allow players coming off their rookie scale contracts to receive salaries worth more than 25% of the cap in year five if they make an All-NBA team during the season (or two of the three seasons) before their extension goes into effect. Players can also qualify by being named Most Valuable Player or Defensive Player of the Year.

Hornets guard LaMelo Ball had similar language in his maximum-salary extension, but injuries prevented him from having any shot at All-NBA team in 2023/24, so his contract will be worth $204.45MM over five years.

Here are more of the financial implications of today’s All-NBA selections:

Because Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey didn’t make an All-NBA team, his maximum salary as a restricted free agent this offseason will be worth 25% of the cap instead of 30%. He’ll be eligible for a five-year deal up to a projected $204.45MM.
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander met the super-max performance criteria by earning All-NBA nods for a second straight year, but neither player has enough years of service yet to sign a designated veteran extension this summer. Both Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander will be eligible to sign super-max extensions, starting at 35% of the cap instead of 30%, during the 2025 offseason. As Bobby Marks of ESPN outlines (Twitter links), Doncic would be eligible for a five-year extension projected to be worth over $346MM that begins in 2026/27, while SGA could sign a four-year extension worth a projected $294MM+ that would begin in 2027/28.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is one year ahead of Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander — he met the super-max performance criteria by making a second straight All-NBA team in 2023, but was still one year away from having the required years of service at that time. He’ll be eligible this July to sign a five-year super-max extension that will start at 35% of the ’25/26 cap and be worth a projected $314.85MM.
Players who would have been eligible for super-max extensions if they had made an All-NBA team include Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, Heat big man Bam Adebayo, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. All of those players could still qualify if they remain with their current teams and earn All-NBA honors next season, though it’s worth noting that Ingram is considered a trade candidate this summer and is highly unlikely to get a super-max offer even if he qualifies.
Kings center Domantas Sabonis earned a $1.3MM contract bonus as a result of being named to the All-NBA Third Team, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat.