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Injury Notes: George, SGA, Markkanen, Rozier, Oubre

March 31st, 2023 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers star Paul George isn’t expected to play again during the regular season as he recovers from a right knee sprain, but he hasn’t been ruled for the postseason. Still, the Clippers recognize that they’ll likely need to win a few playoff games without George in order to have a chance to get him back in their lineup, Shams Charania of The Athletic said during an appearance this week on FanDuel TV (Twitter video link).

“The Clippers believe, I’m told, that they’re going to have to get out of at least the first round for a real window for Paul George to return,” Charania said. “So maybe second round, conference finals. You get out of the first round and you give yourself a chance to get Paul George back.”

At 41-36, the Clippers are currently the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, so they may enter the first round without home court advantage. Winning a series on the road without their top scorer would be a tall order, but it may be L.A.’s only path to getting George back on the court this spring.

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left ankle sprain) was originally listed as out for Friday’s game against Indiana (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman), but has since been upgraded to questionable (Twitter link via Andrew Schlecht of The Athletic). Gilgeous-Alexander, whose team still has a hold on the 10th spot in the West at 38-39, has missed the last two games due to that sprained ankle.
Another Western Conference All-Star, Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, will also remain sidelined on Friday, tweets Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. It’s the fourth time in the last five games that Markkanen has been ruled out due to a left hand contusion. A loss vs. Boston tonight might put the Jazz’s play-in hopes on life support — they’re currently at No. 12 in the West, 1.5 games back of Oklahoma City.
Hornets guard Terry Rozier will miss a fourth straight game on Friday vs. Chicago due to left foot discomfort, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Charlotte has just four games left after tonight, so it’s unclear whether we’ll see Rozier again this season. Kelly Oubre (right shoulder sprain), who has also been out for the last three games, has been upgraded to questionable for Friday.

Injury Notes: Morant, Grizzlies, SGA, Markkanen, Cavs, Pacers

March 29th, 2023 at 2:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant missed Tuesday’s game vs. Orlando due to right thigh soreness, but there are no long-term concerns about the injury, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. It sounds like the team was simply playing it safe with Morant, who recently returned from an eight-game absence and will be available on Wednesday for the second game of a back-to-back set.

While Morant will suit up on Wednesday, the Grizzlies may give a few other regulars the night off when they host the Clippers. According to the team (Twitter link), Desmond Bane (right foot soreness), Jaren Jackson Jr. (left calf soreness), and Tyus Jones (left foot soreness) are all considered doubtful to play.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Two teams still in the thick of the Western Conference play-in race won’t have their All-Stars available on Wednesday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left ankle sprain) will miss a second consecutive game when the Thunder host the Pistons, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link), while forward Lauri Markkanen (left hand contusion) won’t play for the Jazz in San Antonio, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
Jarrett Allen (right groin strain) and Isaac Okoro (left knee soreness) missed Tuesday’s game for the Cavaliers, but Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com hears their absences were precautionary, with the team having already clinched its playoff spot. “Isaac is extremely disappointed because Isaac wanted to play all 82 games,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “But this is something where just big picture we need to make sure we take care of him. We know how important he is and how impactful he can be for us. So, you just have to keep an eye on him. Isaac will keep running through a wall if you don’t pull him back some. We’re trying to do our best to protect him.”
Tyrese Haliburton (right ankle sprain; left elbow soreness), Buddy Hield (non-COVID illness), and Chris Duarte (left ankle soreness) will all be unavailable for the Pacers on Wednesday vs. Milwaukee for a second consecutive game, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Myles Turner, who has missed the last two games due to left ankle soreness, is listed as questionable.

Is Isaiah Joe Best FA Signing In Thunder History?

March 25th, 2023 at 7:47am CST by Luke Adams

With the Trail Blazers now sitting at 32-41, three-and-a-half games back of the No. 10 seed in the West with nine games to go, there’s little reason to believe the team will resume its push for a play-in spot down the stretch — and it’s possible we won’t see a whole lot more of banged-up vets like Lillard and Nurkic this season. That would be good news for playoff hopefuls like the Thunder and Pelicans, who will visit Portland on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

Given the team’s lack of impact moves on the free agent market since relocating to Oklahoma City, Isaiah Joe may be the most important free agent addition in Thunder history, declares Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link). While Joe won’t become a star and may never even be a starter in OKC, he has enjoyed a breakout season and looks like a potential rotation player for years to come, Lowe writes. Joe has knocked down 42.0% of his three-point attempts this season and the Thunder have a plus-6.6 net rating when he’s on the court, easily the best mark by any player who has spent the entire year with the club.

L.A. Notes: Russell, SGA, AD, George, Clippers

March 24th, 2023 at 8:59pm CST by Rory Maher

Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell will miss Friday’s key matchup against the Thunder due to a right hip injury. Dennis Schröder will start in his place.

“It’s not too serious, but serious enough where we need to manage him,” Ham said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). Ham added that Russell is considered day-to-day.

The Thunder, meanwhile, will have their best player available, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is active after previously being listed as questionable with a nagging abdominal strain (Twitter links via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman).

The Mavericks, Lakers, Thunder and Pelicans are all currently tied at 36-37 in the Nos. 8-11 spots in the West. The Wolves (No. 7) sit at 37-37, while the Jazz (No. 12) are 35-37.

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

In a lengthy interview with McMenamin, Lakers star Anthony Davis expressed confidence in the team’s retooled roster, and it sounds as though he would like to see the group stick together beyond this season. “If we actually have a full summer, full training camp, go through an entire season, who knows the position we’ll be in,” Davis said. ” … The team we have now, we feel like not only can we make noise this year, and I like our chance against anybody to be honest. You put anybody against us, I like our chances. … Who knows what we could be, what threat we could be next year and then years to come if they work it out and are able to keep this group together.” As McMenamin notes, beyond Davis, LeBron James and Max Christie, no other player has a fully guaranteed contract for 2023/24, so the Lakers will have a lot of decisions to make this summer.
The Clippers were glad that Paul George avoided a major injury when he sprained his knee. He’s expected to be reevaluated in two-to-three weeks, but if the Clippers clinch a top-six seed and a berth in the playoffs, George potentially returning in a first-round series is considered “optimistic,” according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Eric Gordon will start in George’s stead for the rest of the season, Youngmisuk writes.
It’s impossible to replace a player of George’s caliber, so multiple players will have to step up to make up for his lost production on both ends of the court. Law Murray of The Athletic believes Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, Gordon, Terance Mann and Norman Powell are the top candidates for more responsibilities with George sidelined. Powell has been out with a shoulder injury, but he has been getting on-court work in and is close to a return, per Murray.

Thunder May Start Using Shai Gilgeous-Alexander In Back-To-Backs

March 23rd, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Coach Mark Daigneault said the Thunder are “open-minded” about using Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in both games of back-to-backs for the rest of the season, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City faces the Clippers tonight and will stay in L.A. for Friday’s game against the Lakers.

Pacific Notes: Davis, Vezenkov, Lamb, Bazley

March 19th, 2023 at 6:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Terence Davis, an unrestricted free agent after the season, has seen his playing time plunge this month. He got a chance to play big minutes on Saturday due to injuries and delivered a 21-point, seven-rebound game for the Kings, Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee writes. Davis acknowledged that he needed an outing like that.

“I haven’t been playing well,” the Kings guard said. “So that’s just point-blank, period. I haven’t been playing well. I haven’t been locked in, honestly. I’m just trying to get that rhythm back. The opportunity opened back up for me and I was able to take advantage of it.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Kings GM Monte McNair and VP of player personnel Phil Jabour traveled to Greece to watch draft-and-stash prospect Sasha Vezenkov play, columnist Shot Vetakis tweets. The Olympiacos Piraeus forward is considered the favorite for the EuroLeague MVP award, according to Javier Gancedo of EuroLeagueBasketball.net. Kings players have endorsed bringing in Vezenkov, who is averaging 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in 28 EuroLeague contests this season.
Anthony Lamb‘s new contract with the Warriors only covers the rest of the season, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. That will make Lamb a restricted free agent after the season. The swingman was promoted from a two-way deal to a standard contract on Friday.
Forward Darius Bazley said that getting traded from the Thunder to the Suns jolted him, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. “It was kind of tough,” Bazley said. “When it first happened, it was one of those moments when you’re like, ‘Dang.’ That’s all I knew. A lot of those guys, I’ve been with them since I first came here. In the NBA, your teammates and staff, you spend more time with them than you do your own families.” A restricted free agent this summer if extended a qualifying offer, Bazley has only made two cameos with the Suns.

Jalen Williams Showing Star Potential

March 17th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Thunder wing Jalen Williams has climbed to second place in The Athetic’s rookie rankings and is showing legitimate star potential, according to Sam Vecenie. Williams has helped keep Oklahoma City in the playoff race by averaging 19.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, and 2.2 SPG on .563/.467/.873 shooting in his last 15 contests (33.5 MPG).

2023’s Most Valuable Traded Second-Round Picks

March 17th, 2023 at 10:29am CST by Luke Adams

Fans of lottery-bound NBA teams will be keeping a close on the bottom of the league’s standings down the stretch because of the effect that “race” will have on the draft order and lottery odds for the 2023 first round.

However, it’s not just the first round of the draft that’s worth keeping an eye on. Those reverse standings will also dictate the order of the draft’s second round, and an early second-round pick can be nearly as valuable as a first-rounder.

Here are a few of the traded 2023 draft picks that project to land near the top of the second round:

From: Houston Rockets
To: Indiana Pacers or Boston Celtics
Current projection: No. 32

The Rockets initially traded their 2023 second-round pick, with top-32 protection, to Memphis at the 2020 trade deadline as part of a Bruno Caboclo/Jordan Bell swap. The Celtics later acquired that top-32 protected second-rounder during the 2020 offseason in the deal that sent the draft rights to No. 30 pick Desmond Bane to the Grizzlies.

As part of the complex four-team James Harden blockbuster in early 2021, the Rockets agreed to send the Pacers their 2023 second-round pick if it ends up at No. 31 and No. 32. So the Pacers are on track to receive that Houston second-rounder if it’s one of the first two picks of the round, while the Celtics would get it otherwise.

We took a closer look at this draft-related subplot of the NBA’s race to the bottom last week, noting that the Pacers could instead end up with a pick in the early 50s if the Rockets’ second-rounder slips to No. 33. Missing out on Houston’s pick wouldn’t be quite as bad for the Celtics, as we outline below.

From: Portland Trail Blazers
To: Boston Celtics or Oklahoma City Thunder
Current projection: No. 36

If the Rockets’ second-round pick ends up at No. 31 or No. 32, the Celtics will almost certainly receive Portland’s pick instead. If Houston’s second-rounder lands at No. 33, Boston would get it, while the Thunder would acquire the Blazers’ pick.

Should the Blazers’ recent slide continue, their second-rounder may not actually be much less favorable than Houston’s — only four spots separate them for the time being.

The Blazers originally gave up their 2023 second-round selection when they acquired Rodney Hood from Cleveland just ahead of the 2019 deadline. It was subsequently flipped to the Pistons (in the 2019 offeason), the Clippers (in the 2020 offseason), the Hawks (at the 2021 deadline), and finally the Celtics in a three-team trade during the summer of 2021.

When they acquired Mike Muscala from the Thunder last month, the Celtics agreed to send OKC the least favorable of their two 2023 second-round picks, which is why the Thunder would receive Portland’s pick if Boston gets Houston’s.

From: Chicago Bulls
To: Washington Wizards
Current projection: No. 37

The Bulls remain in the thick of the play-in race in the Eastern Conference, so it’s possible their second-rounder could slide all the way to the mid-40s if they make the play-in tournament and then earn a playoff spot. However, the Wizards – the team the Bulls are chasing for the No. 10 spot in the East – have extra incentive to stay ahead of Chicago, thereby increasing the value of this pick.

The Wizards acquired this Bulls second-rounder with top-36 protection when they sent Otto Porter Jr. to Chicago at the 2019 deadline. The Bulls agreed to remove the protections as part of their sign-and-trade deal for Tomas Satoransky later that year.

Interestingly, the Wizards actually traded Chicago’s 2023 second-rounder to the Lakers as part of the Russell Westbrook blockbuster in the summer of 2021, but got it back from L.A. a couple months ago in the Rui Hachimura deal.

From: Indiana Pacers
To: Sacramento Kings
Current projection: No. 38

Like the Bulls, the Pacers are still in the play-in race in the East, so there’s no guarantee this pick will land in the top 10 of the second round. But Indiana has a banged-up roster and doesn’t appear overly incentivized to make the play-in tournament.

This pick changed hands in the Domantas Sabonis/Tyrese Haliburton mega-deal at the 2022 trade deadline. Technically, the Spurs would receive it if it lands between Nos. 56 and 60, but we can safely rule out that possibility at this point.

Other picks to watch:

Given how congested the play-in races are in each conference, there are a handful of other second-rounders whose value could surpass that of a couple of the picks listed above.

For instance, the Jazz‘s second-round pick is currently controlled by the Hornets, the Spurs own the Raptors‘ second-rounder, and the Thunder will acquire the Wizards‘ second-rounder if it’s more favorable than OKC’s own pick.

SGA Sits Out To Rest Abdominal Injury

March 12th, 2023 at 5:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pumped in 35 points against New Orleans on Saturday but the Thunder are still playing it cautious with his recent injury. He sat out the second game of a back-to-back against San Antonio on Sunday due to what the team described as abdominal strain injury management, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman tweets. The Thunder star guard has exceeded the 30-point mark in his last four outings.

And-Ones: Team USA, Referees, Most Improved Player, Oden

March 10th, 2023 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of this year’s World Cup, Team USA will play a pair of exhibition games in Abu Dhabi in August, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The U.S. national team will face Germany on August 18 and Greece on August 20 in the World Cup tune-ups.

As Windhorst outlines, the exhibition games seem to be part of a concerted effort by the NBA to further establish itself in the Middle East. The Bucks and Hawks played a pair of preseason games in Abu Dhabi this past fall, and the league opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Abu Dhabi in 2022.

Additionally, foreign sovereign wealth funds are now permitted to become minority shareholders in NBA franchises by purchasing stakes of up to 20%. According to Windhorst, Mubadala (Abu Dhabi’s fund) has reportedly displayed interest in making that sort of investment in an NBA team.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

After blasting the league’s officiating – and singling out referee Ben Taylor – Raptors guard Fred VanVleet received a relatively light fine, which will give players the “green light” to continue criticizing the game’s officials, Windhorst stated during a Get Up segment on Friday (YouTube video link). VanVleet could have been fined up to $50K, but was only docked $30K, which Windhorst notes is less than Ja Morant and Marcus Smart were penalized earlier in the season for “heat-of-the-moment” curses at referees during games.
Josh Robbins, Kelly Iko, and Eric Nehm of The Athletic debated the frontrunners for Most Improved Player and weren’t in total agreement on which player deserves the award at this point. Robbins and Iko like Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, while Nehm favors Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. All three writers have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder as their current runner-up.
Mirin Fader of The Ringer takes an in-depth look at former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden‘s efforts to continue finding joy working in basketball following his brief, injury-marred NBA career.
Bill Duffy‘s BDA Sports is being acquired by WME Sports, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who explores what the purchase means for the two agencies, Duffy, and BDA’s clients (a group that includes Luka Doncic).