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Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups Among Hall Of Fame Finalists

February 16th, 2024 at 10:02pm CST by Rory Maher

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced its 14 finalists for 2024 on Friday evening (via Twitter), with former NBA stars Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups among the nominees. Billups is currently head coach of the Trail Blazers.

Here’s the full list of finalists:

Chauncey Billups — Five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA, two-time All-Defense, one-time champion, 2003/04 Finals MVP (Pistons)
Vince Carter — NBA-record 22 seasons, 25,728 career points (23rd in NBA/ABA history), eight-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA, 1998/99 Rookie of the Year
Michael Cooper — Five-time NBA champion, eight-time All-Defense, 1986/87 Defensive Player of the Year (all with the Lakers)
Walter Davis — Six-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA, 1977/78 Rookie of the Year, Suns‘ all-time leading scorer
Bo Ryan — Former head coach of Wisconsin, four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year
Charles Smith — Winningest high school head coach in Louisiana history
Seimone Augustus — Four-time WNBA champion, eight-time All-Star, 2006 Rookie of the Year
Marian Washington — Longtime former head coach of Kansas (women’s)
Dick Barnett — Two-time NBA champion, one-time All-Star, three-time NAIA champion at Tennessee A&I
Harley Redin — Former men’s and women’s coach of Wayland Baptist University (Texas)
Michele Timms — One-time WNBA All-Star, Olympic bronze and silver medals with Australian national team
Doug Collins — Former NBA player, coach and broadcaster *
Herb Simon — Pacers owner *
Jerry West — Four NBA championships as an executive with the Lakers (he’s already in the Hall of Fame as a player) *

* Nominated as contributors

The Class of 2024 will be unveiled on Saturday, April 6 during the NCAA’s Final Four. The enshrinement ceremony for 2024’s Hall of Fame inductees will take place on Saturday, August 17.

“Unbelievable,” Carter said of being a finalist, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “You look in the crowd, you see Hall of Famers, and the opportunity … I mean, you can’t beat that. You can’t beat that. It’s a proud moment.”

“Everybody that enters the NBA … it’s their dream. It’s basically basketball heaven to be in the Hall of Fame,” Billups told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter links). “That was never my goal when I was playing. I just wanted to try to win and be the best teammate I could be. … I’m just humbled by today. Just being close to it is an honor. I know I’m not there, but I’m closer. It’s a straight honor.”

According to Reynolds, four others were honored by the Hall of Fame as well. JoAn Scott, the NCAA’s vice president of men’s basketball, received the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award. J.A. Adande and Debbie Antonelli received the Curt Gowdy Awards for print and electronic journalism, respectively, while Slam Magazine and the television show “NBA Inside Stuff” received the award for transformative media.

Trail Blazers Sign Duop Reath To Three-Year Deal

February 16th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams

10:00pm: Reath’s promotion to a standard contract is official, the Blazers announced in a press release.

1:50pm: The Trail Blazers are promoting Duop Reath to their standard roster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the rookie center has agreed to a three-year contract with the club.

Reath, 27, signed a two-way contract with the Blazers in October and has emerged as a regular part of the team’s frontcourt rotation, appearing in 40 games so far this season, including 11 starts. He has averaged 8.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 17.4 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .475/.385/.741.

As Wojnarowski observes (Twitter link), Reath’s path to his first standard NBA contract has been an unorthodox one. He and his family fled South Sudan for a refugee camp in Kenya when he was nine years old and ultimately relocated to Australia.

After later moving to America, Reath spent two seasons at Lee College in Texas, then transferred to LSU for two more years. He went undrafted in 2018 and played professionally in Serbia, Australia, China, and Lebanon from 2018-23 before catching on with Portland. The big man was in camp with the Blazers on a non-guaranteed contract, but made enough of an impression to earn a two-way deal and has now received another promotion.

While the exact terms of Reath’s new contract aren’t yet known, the Blazers will use a portion of their mid-level exception in order to sign him for more than two seasons. The deal will be guaranteed for the rest of this season, and I’d expect it to include at least a partial guarantee for 2024/25.

The Blazers currently have a full 15-man roster, but Ashton Hagans‘ 10-day contract with the club will expire on Saturday night, opening up a spot for Reath.

Delon Wright Bought Out By Wizards, Plans To Sign With Heat

February 16th, 2024 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

4:02pm: The Wizards have officially waived Wright, the team confirmed today in a press release.

2:08pm: Veteran guard Delon Wright has reached an agreement on a contract buyout with the Wizards, agent Greg Lawrence tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, Wright intends to sign with the Heat after he clears waivers.

Wright, 31, has been with the Wizards since signing a two-year, $16MM contract with the club as a free agent in 2022. He appeared in 83 total games for Washington across those two seasons, averaging 6.1 points, 3.3 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 20.2 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .450/.350/.854.

Viewed as an obvious trade candidate this season due to his expiring $8.2MM deal and the Wizards’ place near the bottom of the NBA standings, Wright was mentioned in several rumors leading up to last Thursday’s deadline.

However, he stayed put, with Josh Robbins of The Athletic subsequently reporting that the offers Washington received for the 31-year-old were “underwhelming” and would’ve required the Wizards to take on salary beyond this season.

After averaging 15.1 minutes per contest in his first 29 games this season, Wright logged just 18 total minutes in the Wizards’ first four games after the trade deadline, signaling that he was no longer part of their plans, so his buyout agreement doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

Wright has a somewhat limited offensive game, but is a solid passer who takes care of the ball and can make an open three-point shot. Much of his value stems from his play on the other end of the court, where he’s an active, versatile perimeter defender.

He’ll join a Heat team that lacks depth at the point guard position following Dru Smith‘s season-ending injury and the January trade sending Kyle Lowry to Charlotte. Players like Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, and Josh Richardson have played the position for Miami this season, but none are prototypical point guards, and Rozier and Richardson are both currently injured. Wright will give the club another ball-handling option in that role.

The Heat have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to make room for Wright. Miami is permitted to sign Wright despite being over the first tax apron because his pre-waiver salary was less than this season’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12.4MM).

Filling their 15th roster spot will allow the Heat to use their two-way players in up to 50 games apiece, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald notes (via Twitter). As long as Miami had an open roster spot, those three players will limited to a combined total of 90 games played.

The Wizards will have just 13 players on standard contracts once they officially waive Wright. They’ll have up to two weeks to re-add a 14th man.

Warriors Move Klay Thompson To Bench

February 16th, 2024 at 7:42am CST by Luke Adams

After making 727 consecutive starts, Klay Thompson came off the bench for the Warriors on Thursday for the first time since 2012 in the team’s final game before the All-Star break. Thompson had his best night of the year, scoring a season-high 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting in 28 minutes of action in a 140-137 win over the Jazz in Utah.

As Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area and Anthony Slater of The Athletic write, the move to the second unit wasn’t viewed as a punishment for Thompson, who has been benched in some clutch-time moments as of late and made some costly mistakes on defense on Wednesday.

Head coach Steve Kerr explained that he decided to insert Brandin Podziemski into the starting five in Thompson’s place because lineups that feature the rookie alongside Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, and Jonathan Kuminga have been so effective — they’ve outscored opponents by 57 points in 107 minutes, good for a +26.0 net rating. Additionally, using Thompson as a sixth man gives Golden State “a lot of firepower” off the bench, Kerr added.

“He wasn’t thrilled about it,” Kerr said of informing Thompson of the decision before Thursday’s game. “I didn’t expect him to be thrilled about it.”

However, Thompson – whose overall production and shooting efficiency have dipped well below his career rates this season – said he ultimately decided to “embrace” the move before the opening tip.

“You can do two things. You can pout or you can go out there and respond. I thought I did the latter very well tonight,” Thompson said (Twitter video link via NBC Sports Bay Area). “… I realize I’m going to play a ton of minutes, so you’ve just gotta let the ego go when you think of coming off the bench and all that. I thought about Manu Ginobili, that guy has four rings and a gold medal, and he came off the bench his whole career. And I don’t think anyone looks down on his Hall of Fame candidacy. He’s one of the greats.

“… The moment you worry about what people say or what headlines will be written about being benched or the streak being broken, is when you go out there and you don’t play with that love, that compassion for your teammates, and that freedom that has gotten me to this point. So I realized that I didn’t want to go to All-Star break on a sour note, and I had my best game of the season. Hopefully (can) build off it.”

As Slater notes, Kerr said after the game that having Thompson come off the bench isn’t necessarily “permanent.” However, he wants to at least take a longer look at it, so the plan is to keep Podziemski in the starting lineup and Thompson in that sixth man role when the Warriors resume play after the All-Star break next Thursday.

Thompson has averaged 17.3 points per game on .421/.373/.918 shooting in 50 contests (30.6 MPG) this season. The Warriors have a -1.9 net rating during his minutes this season, compared to a +5.5 mark when he’s not on the court, but the team was a +7 with the veteran sharpshooter on the floor in Thursday’s three-point victory.

Thompson remains extension-eligible and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t re-up with Golden State on or before June 30.

Clippers’ P.J. Tucker Fined $75K By NBA

February 15th, 2024 at 2:23pm CST by Rory Maher

Clippers forward P.J. Tucker has been fined $75K for publicly expressing a desire to be traded in comments to Andscape reporter Marc J. Spears last week, the NBA announced on Thursday (via Twitter).

“I want to be somewhere where I’m needed, wanted and can do it all,” Tucker told Spears. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I have my fingers crossed and I’m hoping to go somewhere else.”

Tucker also told ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk last week that he was “actively trying to get traded.”

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, the maximum fine Tucker could have received was $150K.

The 38-year-old hasn’t seen action since November 27 after initially playing a rotation role for the Clippers. He averaged just 1.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game across 12 appearances off the bench for his new team, making 4-of-14 field goal attempts (28.6%). He was sent to L.A. from Philadelphia in the James Harden trade.

Tucker has been unhappy with his role for much of the season, with reports of his discontent first surfacing in December. In the days and weeks that followed, he repeatedly expressed frustration with his lack of playing time, and the Clippers reportedly made an effort to trade him at last Thursday’s deadline. However, he presumably had negative value on the trade market due to the $11.54MM player option on his contract for next season, and L.A. didn’t find a deal.

The Clippers sent home both Tucker and Bones Hyland — another player who hasn’t been getting minutes — ahead of Wednesday’s win over Golden State. Both players are expected to return to the team after the All-Star break.

Dyson Daniels Out At Least Four Weeks After Knee Surgery

February 15th, 2024 at 11:12am CST by Rory Maher

Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels underwent successful left knee surgery on his torn lateral meniscus, the team announced. The 2022 lottery pick is expected to make a full recovery and will be reevaluated in four weeks, per the release.

Daniels has been a rotation regular for New Orleans in his second NBA season, averaging 5.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 52 games, including 15 starts (21.9 minutes). He posted a .438/.291/.640 shooting line in those contests.

Asked about Daniels on Wednesday, head coach Willie Green didn’t rule out the possibility that he could return before the playoffs begin on April 20, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). New Orleans is currently 33-22, the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.

A 6’8″ combo guard out of Australia, Daniels was selected to the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, which will place tomorrow. However, due to his injury, he was replaced by Grizzlies wing Vince Williams.

The Pelicans exercised their third-year team option on Daniels before the season began, so he will earn a guaranteed $6,059,520 salary in 2024/25.

The Pels will have until the fall to decide they want to pick up their fourth-year option — worth $7,707,709 — for the final season of the 20-year-old’s rookie scale contract. That seems very likely given his solid contributions, particularly on the defensive end.

Pistons’ Stewart Arrested For Punching Suns’ Eubanks Before Wednesday’s Game

February 15th, 2024 at 7:00am CST by Rory Maher

FEBRUARY 15, 7:00am: Stewart was arrested by Phoenix police for assault, according to Mark McClune of KTVK 3TV (Twitter link), who says the Pistons big man was issued a citation and was released. The police investigation into the incident remains active.

Meanwhile, Pistons head coach Monty Williams said after Wednesday’s game that the Suns’ statement on the incident was “irresponsible” (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press).

“I know Phoenix came out and said it was unprovoked. I think it’s irresponsible,” Williams said. “… Until you find out everything, you can’t make those statements. I heard about that, and that did not need to happen.”

FEBRUARY 14, 7:55pm: The Suns have released a statement regarding the incident, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link). “The attack on Drew Eubanks was unprovoked, and acts of violence such as this are unacceptable. We unequivocally support Drew, and will continue to work with local law enforcement and the NBA.”

A league spokesperson confirmed the NBA will review the altercation, Rankin adds (via Twitter).

FEBRUARY 14, 7:10pm: Prior to Wednesday’s game in Phoenix, Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart punched Suns center Drew Eubanks in the face, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The NBA is expected to review footage of the incident, Charania adds.

According to Charania and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, it’s unclear what initiated the incident, but evidently the two big men were “chest-to-chest” before Stewart landed a punch near Eubanks’ lip. Police separated the two players and “inspected the scene,” per The Athletic’s report.

Speaking to reporters pregame, Eubanks confirmed he was hit, as Gerald Bouguet of PHNX Sports relays (All Twitter links). Phoenix’s backup center said he’d just arrived to the arena and was in street clothes when the incident occurred, adding that he had never been involved in any other off-court altercations with Stewart.

“Words were said, I got sucker punched, and security intervened. … Clearly you can see what he does, how he acts on the court, so it wasn’t surprising,” Eubanks said.

Eubanks added that he was fine and will be playing tonight vs. Detroit, while Stewart is inactive with an ankle sprain.

Wednesday will mark Stewart’s eighth straight absence due to the injury, with his last appearance coming January 28. As Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press tweets, Stewart had been slated to return to action immediately after the All-Star break, but that return could be postponed if he’s suspended, which seems very likely.

According to Sankofa (Twitter link), the Pistons had no comment on the altercation as of 7:15 pm CT.

In November 2021, Stewart was suspended for two games without pay “for escalating an on-court altercation by repeatedly and aggressively” pursuing LeBron James, who received a one-game suspension for “recklessly hitting Stewart in the face” and initiating the incident. Both players were ejected — Stewart received two technical fouls and James received a Flagrant 2 foul. The video of that incident can be found here.

Warriors To Explore Trades For Star Wing In Offseason?

February 14th, 2024 at 5:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors sources confirm to Sam Amick, Anthony Slater and Jovan Buha of The Athletic that Golden State made an unsuccessful run at Lakers superstar LeBron James prior to last week’s trade deadline. However, there’s “zero indication” the Warriors came close to acquiring James, per The Athletic’s report.

Still, the fact that Golden State tried to pry James out of L.A. shows the Warriors are willing to take big swings to try and capitalize on Stephen Curry‘s still-excellent form, despite his advancing age (he turns 36 next month). And it opened the door to a possible pursuit again this summer, when James could hit unrestricted free agency if he declines his $51.4MM player option.

According to The Athletic, James won’t be the only marquee player the Warriors will explore going after, assuming they’re even available. Their “dream scenario” would be trading for Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, with Clippers wing Paul George and Suns forward Kevin Durant among the other star wings on their wish list.

Antetokounmpo has only ever played for Milwaukee and signed a long-term extension before the season began that has him under contract through at least 2027, with a player option for 2027/28. George holds a $48.8MM player option for ’24/25 and has openly said he hopes to sign an extension with the Clippers (he’d have to decline the PO to sign an extension). Durant, who won back-to-back titles with Golden State in 2017 and 2018, could hit free agency in 2026.

The emergence of Jonathan Kuminga — whom GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. called “virtually” untouchable after the deadline — has given the Warriors an internal pathway to a possible star running mate for Curry. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. Depending on what route Golden State takes, Kuminga could also be an enticing headliner in a blockbuster trade, The Athletic’s authors note.

As Amick, Slater and Buha write, only one of the Warriors’ future first-round picks (2030) is tied up in a trade beyond this year’s draft, and the team will have some financial flexibility as well, with Klay Thompson on an expiring $43.2MM contract and Chris Paul on a pseudo-expiring deal (his $30MM salary for ’24/25 is non-guaranteed).

Elton Brand Doesn’t Intend To Pursue Hornets’ Job

February 14th, 2024 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixers general manager Elton Brand had been referred to as one of the early frontrunners to take over the Hornets‘ front office in the wake of Mitch Kupchak‘s reassignment, but he doesn’t intend to pursue that position in Charlotte, a league source tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

According to Pompey, Brand – who is the second in command in Philadelphia’s front office under president Daryl Morey – signed a long-term extension with the 76ers around the holidays and is committed to the team for the foreseeable future.

Brand has been with the Sixers’ front office since 2016, when he was named a player development consultant after his 16-year playing career ended. He was promoted to general manager of Philadelphia’s G League affiliate a year later, then became GM of the NBA club in 2018. Brand headed up the 76ers’ basketball operations department for two years before Morey was hired by the team in 2020.

Even with Brand reportedly removing his name from consideration, the Hornets should have no shortage of targets as they consider replacements for Kupchak.

Veteran executives like Mike Gansey, Trent Redden, Milt Newton, Jeff Peterson, Frank Zanin, Travis Schlenk, Marc Eversley, and Wes Wilcox have all been named as candidates Charlotte might consider, while Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon was identified – along with Brand – as a potential frontrunner.

Cavs Sign Craig Porter Jr. To Four-Year Contract

February 14th, 2024 at 12:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

FEBRUARY 14: Porter’s deal is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

FEBRUARY 13: The Cavaliers are converting Craig Porter Jr.‘s two-way contract into a standard deal, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (via Twitter). Porter will receive a four-year contract.

Porter has been one of the more pleasant surprises for the Cavs this season. The former Wichita State point guard went undrafted after playing three seasons with the Shockers. He agreed to a two-way deal with Cleveland shortly after the draft.

The 23-year-old point guard has appeared in 32 NBA games in his rookie year, including five starts. He’s averaged 6.5 points, 2.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game.

Porter unexpectedly played a rotation role earlier in the season when primary backup point guard Ricky Rubio left the team for mental health reasons and third-string point guard Ty Jerome suffered an ankle injury. Porter continued to see regular minutes when Darius Garland missed several weeks due to a broken jaw, though his playing time has been cut back as of late now that the roster is healthier.

Cleveland has an open roster spot despite signing Zhaire Smith to a 10-day contract on Sunday.

Porter’s deal will come out of the mid-level exception. The Cavs used a portion of it during the 2023 offseason to sign Georges Niang, but still have more than enough left to accommodate a new deal for the rookie.