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Southeast Notes: Heat, Spoelstra, LaMelo, Magic

April 2nd, 2025 at 7:38pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

It’s possible the Heat will control two first-round picks in what’s expected to be a stacked 2025 draft.

According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, Miami will earn Golden State’s 2025 first-rounder should it fall outside the top 10. Given that the Warriors have now climbed into the West’s fifth seed, that’s looking highly likely. The Heat would also retain their own first-rounder if they miss out on the playoffs.

Currently the No. 9 seed in the East with a 34-41 record, Miami is locked into at least a play-in tournament berth. The Heat would land in this year’s draft lottery if they’re eliminated in the play-in tournament. With the 11th-worst record in the NBA as of this writing, Miami would have only an outside chance to land the top overall pick or a top-four overall selection, but could end up with two picks in the top 20.

There’s more from around the Southeast:

  • Things have hardly gone to plan for the Heat this season on the whole. Just two years removed from their second NBA Finals appearance with Jimmy Butler, the All-Star swingman demanded a trade out of town. When he left, his team sank in the East standings. Now, head coach Erik Spoelstra is grappling with Miami’s new fate: a likely play-in tournament appearance, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes. “Are we where we had planned to be as an organization?” Spoelstra asked. “No, but there is great competition now league-wide. And when you have something to play for as an organization, it’s fun and it matters still.”
  • Hornets guard LaMelo Ball has undergone successful arthroscopic surgeries on his right wrist and right ankle, the team announced today (Twitter link). According to the Hornets, the 6’7″ pro is expected to resume full basketball activities within five or six weeks. Charlotte has long since been eliminated from the postseason. In his 47 healthy bouts this season, Ball logged averages of 25.2 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game.
  • The Magic enjoyed a spectacular night shooting from distance during a win over San Antonio on Tuesday, nailing 18 triples. But that’s more the exception than the rule for a club that has been struggling to convert from long range overall in 2024/25, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “It changes our game completely when we have shooting like that and guys just can’t sit in the paint,” star forward Franz Wagner said. Orlando’s 31.4% three-point rate this season ranks dead last among all 30 NBA clubs. The Magic’s 35.3 outside attempts per game put them 23rd in terms of frequency.
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NBA Announces Finalists For Sportsmanship, Teammate Of The Year Awards

April 2nd, 2025 at 2:28pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced the 2024/25 finalists for a pair of awards on Wednesday, 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 to be named Teammate of the Year.

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):

Holiday is the only one of this year’s finalists for the Sportsmanship Award who has earned the honor in the past — he won it in 2021. Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey won the award last season.

Meanwhile, the NBA also announced its finalists for the Teammate of the Year award for 2024/25. 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.

Holiday is a three-time Teammate of the Year, while Timberwolves guard Mike Conley has also won the award twice, including in 2024. However, neither of those veterans is a finalist this season.

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

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Southeast Notes: Anthony, Houstan, Daniels, Rozier

April 1st, 2025 at 5:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Magic guard Cole Anthony returned to action on Tuesday after missing seven games with a left big toe strain. He was upgraded from questionable to available prior to Orlando’s contest against San Antonio, the team’s PR department tweets.

Anthony has appeared in 61 games this season, averaging 9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per contest. He’s in the first year of a three-year, $39.1MM contract.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Caleb Houstan received rotation minutes over the past six Magic games in Anthony’s absence. The highlight of that stretch for Houstan was an 18-point outing against Sacramento on Saturday. “He’s always consistent, no matter if he’s playing or not playing, if he’s in or out of the rotation,” Paolo Banchero told Beede. “He’s always showing up, getting his work in. Every time he shoots it, it has a pretty good chance of going in.” Orlando holds a $2.19MM club option on Houstan’s contract for next season, which must be exercised by the end of June.
  • Hawks defensive ace Dyson Daniels, just named Defensive Player of the Month in the Eastern Conference, is pleased with the chemistry on the team. “I think we have really good pieces on this team, and pieces that work well together,” Daniels told Sportskeeda’s Grant Afseth. “Obviously, (Trae Young is) our guy, the motor of the team. We try to look after him, set him screens, get him open, and he does the same for us. He’s a really good passer.”
  • Terry Rozier had dropped out of the Heat‘s rotation until Monday, when he played 33 minutes against Washington with a host of players missing the contest. Rozier contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. The veteran guard, who has one year left on his contract, admits it’s best a rough season for him. “It’s never easy for a competitor, especially me,” he said, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “You work so hard and then it just becomes unfortunate with the situation. But you just try to stay positive through it all, and give grace and still be thankful that I’m in this position. You try to keep working hard, waiting for my name to be called again.”
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And-Ones: P. Gasol, Head Coaches, Tanking, Incentives

April 1st, 2025 at 10:33am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA star Pau Gasol is gaining momentum to become the CEO of the NBA’s proposed European league, according to a report from Eurohoops. Citing Gasol’s “strong links” to both the NBA and European basketball, a league source tells Eurohoops that the idea of the Spaniard taking on the CEO role for the new league has “universal approval” among the NBA’s governors.

A six-time All-Star and two-time champion in the NBA, Gasol played for FC Barcelona at the start and the end of his professional career, winning Spanish League championships in 1999, 2001, and 2021. He also compiled a lengthy list of accomplishments in international tournaments, winning three Olympic medals (two silvers, one bronze), a World Cup title, and three EuroBasket championships with Spain’s national team.

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

  • The Grizzlies and Kings currently employ interim head coaches and will be looking to name a permanent coach after the season. Tim Bontemps of ESPN breaks down the pros and cons of the jobs in Memphis and Sacramento, while Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers which other head coaches might be on the hot seat this spring, including Willie Green of the Pelicans and Chauncey Billups of the Trail Blazers.
  • Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic is the latest NBA writer to propose suggestions for how the league could address its tanking problem. Vorkunov’s ideas include having the lottery determine the top eight picks (instead of four), further flattening the lottery odds, and automatically assigning the two worst teams the fourth and fifth overall picks.
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks highlights some incentive clauses in player contracts to keep an eye on during the season’s final two weeks, including Rockets forward Dillon Brooks ($1MM) and Timberwolves forward Julius Randle ($1.4MM) getting bonuses for their teams making the playoffs. Magic forward Jonathan Isaac must appear in at least four of Orlando’s final six games to reach the 70-game threshold, which would assure him of a $2.6MM bonus, Marks notes.
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Jalen Green, Paolo Banchero Named Players Of The Week

March 31st, 2025 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets guard Jalen Green has been named the Player of the Week for the Western Conference for the week of March 24-30, while Magic forward Paolo Banchero has won the award for the Eastern Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

It’s the third time Green has earned Player of the Week honors in his career, including the second time this season. He was recognized for leading Houston to a 3-0 week that included victories over Atlanta, Utah, and Phoenix. The former No. 2 overall pick averaged 28.7 points per game on 50.8% shooting (40.9% on threes) while also contributing 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest.

Banchero was named Player of the Week once during his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2022/23, but this is the first time he has claimed the award since then. His Magic went 3-1 week last week and the former No. 1 overall pick led the way with 30.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 35.8 minutes per game.

Banchero is the second Orlando forward to earn Player of the Week honors this season, joining Franz Wagner, who was recognized in November. Houston has also had multiple players win the award in 2024/25, as Alperen Sengun achieved the feat in December.

Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Harden, and Green’s teammate Alperen Sengun were the other Player of the Week nominees in the West (Twitter link). OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Josh Giddey, Coby White, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyler Herro, and Donovan Mitchell were nominated in the East.

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Florida Notes: Harris, Fultz, Larsson, Ware

March 30th, 2025 at 3:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Veteran guard Gary Harris has emerged as a reliable late-game defensive threat for the Magic with several of the team’s regular rotation players ailing, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscriber link).

The 30-year-old has played sparingly with Orlando this season, averaging 2.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game across 41 appearances with the club.

After missing five games as a healthy scratch since the end of February, Harris has been a major defensive leader on the perimeter. He’s averaging a steal per game across his last five contests.

“His defense is something that you probably wouldn’t know unless you looked into it, but he’s one of our best guard defenders,” guard Anthony Black said. “His activity, he picks up the ball full court, gets clutch rebounds and he’s a knockdown shooter… All those things are huge to us, and then he’s just a really good veteran leader. It’s just good for us on the court.”

There’s more out of the Sunshine State:

  • Former Magic guard Markelle Fultz, who spent five seasons in Orlando, played an emotional first game back against his old team as a member of the Kings in a blowout loss Saturday, Beede writes in another story (subscriber link). “It’s good to talk a little trash, play, go out there and compete, but at the end of the day, it’s love,” Fultz told reporters. “It’s a lifetime relationship that I have with these guys.” He was sidelined for 39 contests last season with left knee injuries and opted to rehab the knee before signing with a new team. “That’s something that was big on my mind going into the summer, just getting healthy and taking my time to do it… That’s the choice I decided to [make] in the beginning of the year and that’s why I took that time off.” Across 17 games since signing with Sacramento last month, Fultz is averaging 3.1 PPG and 1.2 APG in 8.7 MPG.
  • Rookies Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson have been shining for the Heat as of late, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (subscriber link). The frontcourt standouts each enjoyed impressive nights in Miami’s Saturday victory over Philadelphia. Larsson scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds, handed out four dimes, swiped four steals and blocked two shots. Ware logged a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double without missing a shot. Jackson notes that Larsson seems to have replaced second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. as head coach Erik Spoelstra‘s preferred swingman behind Andrew Wiggins. “Pelle is just an ignitable player. He makes things happen – the steals, the deflections, the hard plays,” Spoelstra said. “Those are momentum shifting plays that he has a knack for. He spends so much time in the gym that the rest of his game is getting better — the play-making, shooting, the facilitating.” Jackson opines that Ware needs to get stronger, since he has looked pretty movable in the post against opposing veteran bigs. Still, Spoelstra seems to like where the big man is right now.“I love what he’s doing,” Spoelstra said. “Number one, he’s glass eating. He has such a knack for rebounding over a crowd. He does rebound in traffic, too. There’s a lot of contact down there.”
  • In case you missed it, former six-time All-Star Heat wing Jimmy Butler, now with Golden State, downplayed his first game against his old team since forcing a trade this year.
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Magic Notes: Play-In Tournament, Fultz, Anthony, Isaac

March 29th, 2025 at 9:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

It’s been obvious for a while that the Magic are headed for the play-in tournament, and they officially clinched a spot with Saturday’s lopsided win over Sacramento, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. The 121-91 victory improves Orlando to 36-39 and extends its lead to 8.5 games over 11th-place Toronto.

The Magic got 63 combined points from Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Caleb Houstan and led by as many as 35 points. Coach Jamahl Mosley was happy about his team’s resilience after Thursday’s loss to Dallas.

“They responded the right way to the other night,” he said. “This group did a very good job of holding each other accountable and just continuing to play the right [way], first and foremost defensively.”

Orlando moved percentage points ahead of Atlanta in the battle for seventh place and the chance to host the play-in game for the No. 7 seed.

There’s more on the Magic:

  • Today’s game marked the return of Kings guard Markelle Fultz, who spent the last five seasons with Orlando, Beede adds. Fultz, who received a video tribute, remained a free agent for most of the season before signing with Sacramento in mid-February. “It’s known how I feel about Markelle, how we feel about Markelle, and what he does, what he means, who he is as a young man, as a husband, as a father,” Mosley told reporters before the game. “… All of those things about Markelle Fultz, I cannot speak more highly of a young man that I’ve ever been around.”
  • Cole Anthony missed his sixth straight game today with a strained left big toe. He posted “Back soon!!” on social media this week, but he still hasn’t been cleared for contact at practice, Beede states in a separate story. “He’s doing some individual things on the court,” Mosley said. “Just ball-handling, dribbling, light movements, all those little things.”
  • Jonathan Isaac has seen a sharp cutback in his playing time, averaging just 11 minutes per game since the All-Star break, Beede observes in another piece. The veteran forward, who’s averaging 5.3 PPG and shooting a career-low 26.2% from three-point range, acknowledged that he has to provide more offense to earn increased minutes. “I haven’t played well over the course of the season,” Isaac said. “I haven’t shot it well, haven’t played well overall. I’m not necessarily blaming anybody or mad at anybody but myself. This is where I’m at and I’ll be ready to play when my number’s called, provide energy and try to help this team win games.”
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Southeast Notes: Banchero, Johnson, Nurkic, Niang

March 27th, 2025 at 9:45am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Magic have moved within a half-game of seventh-place Atlanta for the top seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. That’s due in large part to Paolo Banchero‘s resurgence. Their star forward has reached the 30-point mark in four consecutive games, including three victories.

In 16 games following the All-Star break, Banchero is second in the league in scoring (29.6 PPG) behind only MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (34.1).

“I’m playing some good basketball right now,” he told Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “[I] just want to keep it up.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • AJ Johnson, who was part of the Kyle Kuzma/Khris Middleton deal between the Wizards and Bucks, has shown off his athleticism since joining Washington with some high-flying dunks, Varun Shankar of the Washington Post writes. Johnson, a late first-round pick last June, had a season-high 17 points against Toronto on Monday, then showed his passing skills with nine points and six assists against Philadelphia on Wednesday. “Getting better and better every game,” Wizards coach Brian Keefe said.
  • Jusuf Nurkic is feeling at home in Charlotte with the Hornets after a tumultuous season-and-a-half with the Suns, he told Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “It’s obviously a different situation,” Nurkic said. “Sometimes, it’s good for players to change situations, change teams. But just being in a respectful environment, usually the response is good. So we are still learning each other — the coaches, team. The organization is still learning me and I’m learning the organization, getting a feel for each other in our evaluations and stuff. But so far, so good.” Nurkic has one year left on his four-year, $70MM contract.
  • Georges Niang has given the Hawks a boost since being traded by Cleveland. He’s averaging 13.3 points in 19 games while making 42.3 percent of his 3-point attempts. He told Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda that the Hawks made the transition easier. “This organization has done everything to help me get comfortable with the city and the team. They’ve made it feel like home — and you don’t get that everywhere. I’m truly thankful to be with a high-class, first-class organization like the Atlanta Hawks,” he said. Niang, playing for his fifth team, is signed through next season.
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Magic Break Out Of Scoring Slump With 120 Points

March 23rd, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill
  • The Magic are hoping Friday’s 120-point outburst at Washington will spark their offense for the rest of the season, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. He notes that Orlando is 7-1 when reaching the 120-point mark, but the team still has the league’s least-productive offense at 104.8 PPG. “It was huge,” coach Jamahl Mosley said of Friday’s performance. “Our guys understanding what we need to do, how we need to take care of business when we are on the road one game at a time and focus in these moments to play the right-type defense and have our offense clicking at the right is very important for this group as continue down the stretch.”
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Southeast Notes: Risacher, Hornets, Lee, Isaac, Adebayo

March 22nd, 2025 at 11:42am CST by Tristan Tucker

Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher is making his case for Rookie of the Year honors with his recent play, Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Head coach Quin Snyder recognizes that the 19-year-old’s growth hasn’t and will not always be linear, but he has been an advocate for his rising player all year.

“I think it’s a strong case,” Snyder said. “You have to look beyond some of the quote, unquote numbers. Although, if you look at the progression, even in a statistical case, over the course of the season, it’s pretty impressive. That’s a credit to who he is, his talent and as a human being and his character, and he just embraces everything, whether that’s when he’s making shots or he’s not making shots. Defensively, he’s really a complete player, and he’s got a high ceiling.”

While Spurs guard Stephon Castle has emerged as the favorite for Rookie of the Year honors and Wizards big Alex Sarr might be ahead of Risacher too, the French wing’s improvement is notable and impressive. During his last 22 appearances, the No. 1 overall pick is averaging 14.4 points per game while shooting 45.5% from three (4.9 attempts). In his first 38 games, he averaged 10.5 PPG and shot 28.3% from three (4.2 attempts).

“You can’t be serious if you don’t have him in the Rookie of the Year conversation,” teammate Georges Niang said. “I think his progression throughout the year, especially on a team that is winning and trying to make the playoffs, I think it’s been impressive what he’s been able to do. And for sure, it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if he won Rookie of the Year because he truly deserves it.”

Risacher said it would mean a lot to him to win the award, but he’s firmly focused on improving and keeping Atlanta focused on the postseason.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets are on the brink of being eliminated from the playoffs, which would extend the NBA’s longest active streak without a postseason appearance to nine years. However, as Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer writes, the Hornets are happy to play spoiler even if it doesn’t culminate in a playoff showing. “It just gives us confidence,” Miles Bridges said. “It gives us confidence knowing we can play how we want to when we are semi-healthy. Just imagine when we are fully healthy.“
  • Hornets head coach Charles Lee has taken a long-term outlook when discussing Charlotte’s ability to be competitive. He isn’t losing his cool during post-game news conferences, Boone writes in another story. “Human nature is to try to find the negatives, try to find the wrongs,” Lee said. “And that’s the easy thing to do. It’s the easy way to find some comfort. And the place that I like to live and the place that we like to live is finding the positives and what are the growth areas we have seen.”
  • Magic forward Jonathan Isaac is seeing limited minutes after renegotiating his contract last offseason to increase his 2024/25 salary and tack on four extra years. Isaac didn’t play in the second half of Wednesday’s game against the Rockets, the Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede writes. “As we’re looking at these games as playoff-type ‘win the next game,’ you’ve got to look at matchups,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. Isaac is averaging 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 0.9 steals in 15.5 minutes per game this season, though his 62 appearances are his most since 2018/19.
  • The Heat‘s current 10-game losing streak is one of the longest in franchise history. Regardless, Bam Adebayo appears to not be losing hope for the rest of the season with the team still in position to make the play-in tournament. “You can’t let go of the rope now,” Adebayo said, per HoopsHype (Twitter link). “To me, being a quitter is in your character — and I’m not a quitter.“
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