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Wizards Notes: Jones, Offseason, Coaching Search, Coulibaly

April 16th, 2024 at 9:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Most veteran free agents on rebuilding teams would prefer to play for a contender. Wizards guard Tyus Jones would rather stay put, according to Ava Wallace of the Washington Post.

Jones got a long-awaited opportunity to start for Washington after an offseason trade from Memphis. He started in all 66 games he played, averaging 12.0 points and 7.3 assists per contest.

“From the day I was traded, obviously, knowing that I’m on an expiring deal, just being in the league, anyone who pays attention to the NBA, you know what that can mean sometimes. But without saying what that means, that was never the plan from the front office with me,” Jones said. “They’ve said from the beginning: ‘We want you here. The plan is for you to be here long term, and when we get to that bridge, we’ll cross it.'”

We have more on the Wizards:

It will be a busy spring and summer in D.C., Wallace notes in her offseason outlook. The franchise is searching for a head coach, and while they only have two free agents, the Wizards will be evaluating their young roster and looking for ways to accumulate more assets.
Speaking of the coaching vacancy, The Athletic’s Josh Robbins reports that the front office plans to spend the next week or so mapping out and refining their search process before they begin the interviewing process. Interim coach Brian Keefe will receive consideration for the permanent position, per Robbins. The front office will focus on candidates who relate well to players and have a player-development focus.
Even though he didn’t post eye-popping stats, Bilal Coulibaly had a solid rookie season, Robbins writes in a separate story. Coulibaly played in 63 games until he suffered a season-ending fracture in his right wrist on March 16. Coulibaly showed a willingness to keep the ball moving rather than taking low percentage shots. “If you look back on young wings and young bigs getting on the floor, getting the minutes, getting the experience in Years 1 and 2, through our research, is the most important thing,” Washington general manager Will Dawkins said. “And he was able to get those consistently this year, which is very valuable for his future and predicted success.”

Draft Notes: Mitchell, Love, Jackson, Blums, Bowman

April 16th, 2024 at 7:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Junior guard Ajay Mitchell, a projected second-round pick, is declaring for the draft, agent Todd Ramasar tells ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link). The 6’4″ UC Santa Barbara floor leader averaged 20.3 points and 4.3 assists while making 38% of his 3-point attempts this past season. He’s currently ranked No. 54 on ESPN’s Best Available list.

We have more draft-related news:

Arizona guard Caleb Love will enter the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he revealed on a Twitter post. Love averaged 18.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists this past season. Love played three seasons for North Carolina and averaged 18.8 points during a 2022 NCAA Tournament run when the Tar Heels reached the title game.
Overtime Elite’s Jahzare Jackson is declaring for the draft, he announced on Instagram. The 6’11” center averaged 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds for the developmental team.
VEF Riga combo guard Roberts Blums will declare for the draft, Jon Chepkevich tweets. Blums was the 2023 FIBA European U18B’s MVP. This season, he was named the Estonian-Latvian League’s Best Young Player.
American-born Malik Bowman, who is playing in Portugal, is also declaring for the draft, he announced on Instagram. Bowman, a power forward, has averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds in 12 games for SC Lusitania.

Kawhi Leonard Completes Team USA’s Star-Studded Roster For Olympics

April 16th, 2024 at 6:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Team USA has completed its selection of an All-Star laden 12-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic report (Twitter link). Kawhi Leonard was chosen for the final roster spot, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt tweets.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Monday the 11 other selections for the roster. Team USA received a firm commitment from Leonard on Tuesday, Wojnarowski tweets.

Unlike USA Basketball’s FIBA World Cup roster last summer, which lacked size and interior strength, the Olympic roster is filled with quality bigs. Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis will be joined at the power positions by LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

The wings will be manned by Jayson Tatum, Leonard, Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards. Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton and Stephen Curry round out the backcourt.

Haliburton and Edwards are the only players from the FIBA World Cup roster to make Team USA’s Olympic roster.

Team USA has won the gold medal in each of the last four Summer Olympics.

Potential Lottery Pick Ron Holland To Enter Draft

April 16th, 2024 at 5:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

G League Ignite wing Ron Holland, a potential lottery selection, will enter the draft, he told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

The 6’7” Holland averaged 19.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game for the Ignite this season after decommitting from Texas last spring. Holland is currently rated No. 13 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list.

“This season was an opportunity to learn and grow,” Holland said. “Emotionally, all the losing was draining, but it helped me grow mentally learning my role, how to play and letting the game come to me.”

In past years, players who joined the Ignite became automatically draft-eligible after their first season or during the calendar year in which they turned 19, but the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement tweaked that rule so that those prospects now won’t become draft-eligible until they enter of their own accord or until the calendar year when they turn 22. That’s why Holland has to declare for the draft.

Holland’s stock has slipped a bit, since he rated No. 2 in the ESPN 100 back in 2023. He said he plans on reminding NBA scouts during the pre-draft process why he was so highly touted prior to joining the Ignite, which won only six of 50 games. The Ignite program, which was created to develop prospects, will be disbanded.

“Nothing has changed with me,” Holland said. “I’m still the same competitor who won two gold medals with USA Basketball, won AAU tournaments and state championships, and was on the No. 1 team in high school basketball. I’m going to keep doing what it takes to win games, diving on the floor for loose balls and making 50/50 plays. I can defend every position and [I’ve] improved as a facilitator quite a bit playing with other great players.”

Holland’s season was cut short by a ruptured tendon in his right thumb, forcing him to miss the Ignite’s final 19 games. He said he was cleared for full basketball activities several weeks ago.

Bucks Notes: Lillard, Giannis, Green, Portis, Edens

April 16th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Bucks point guard Damian Lillard didn’t participate in the team’s practice on Tuesday, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Lillard said after Sunday’s game that his sore left adductor muscle was bothering him at times, citing “little irritation-type moments” (link via Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

As Nehm relays (via Twitter), head coach Doc Rivers told reporters on Tuesday that Lillard has undergone imaging, which came back clean, so today’s absence from practice was mostly just about giving him “a little more rest.”

“I think it’s that,” Rivers said when asked if the adductor was still bothering Lillard. “His Achilles. His groin. We want him to be as close to 100 percent as possible, if you can be that at this point.”

Teammate Bobby Portis downplayed Lillard’s lack of involvement in Tuesday’s practice session, noting that Game 1 of the Bucks’ series against Indiana is still several days away.

“I mean, to start off, man, it wasn’t a shock or anything that Dame sat out,” Portis said, per Nehm (Twitter link). “It’s, what, Tuesday? The game’s on Sunday. I don’t want nobody to put too much stress on that. I think we kind of blow things out of proportion too much.”

Here’s more on the Bucks:

Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf strain) and A.J. Green (ankle sprain) also missed Tuesday’s practice, tweets Nehm. A report earlier today indicated that Milwaukee is preparing to be without Antetokounmpo for the start of round one.
Portis discussed several topics in an interview with Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link), including his Sixth Man of the Year candidacy and a February trade rumor involving him and then-Mavericks forward Grant Williams. “When I got hints of (that rumor), I’m like, no way I’m getting traded for – excuse my French, that’s my guy, I love competing against him – but I shouldn’t get traded for Grant Williams,” Portis said. “That don’t even sound right. … I don’t know how that moves the needle. The things I do and the things he can help the team do are just different.”
Wes Edens spoke to Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about his first 10 years as the Bucks’ co-owner and his expectations for the next decade, stressing that he has no plans to sell his stake in the team anytime soon, like his fellow co-owner Marc Lasry did last year.
Owczarski’s feature also includes quotes from various members of the Bucks organization discussing the impact that the current ownership group has had on the franchise in the last decade. “He brought a winning culture,” Khris Middleton said of Edens. “He’s a great businessman and him and his partners wanted to bring that business culture of winning to our sports team. He did a lot. He had his hands on a lot of things, on the day-to-day operations as far as making sure things were running smoothly and put people in place that he had confidence in that can take us to the next level as a world-class, first-class organization.”

Atlantic Notes: DiVincenzo, Embiid, Melton, Nets, Bridges

April 16th, 2024 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks swingman Donte DiVincenzo is one of several notable players who will be ineligible for end-of-season awards this season despite playing in far more than 65 games, as James Herbert of CBS Sports observes. DiVincenzo appeared in 81 games this season, but technically didn’t meet the NBA’s 65-game criteria.

As we outlined in our glossary entry on the NBA’s new 65-game rule, a game only counts toward the 65-game minimum if the player logged at least 20 minutes. A player is also permitted to play 20+ minutes in just 63 games as long as there were at least two additional games in which he played 15+ minutes.

DiVincenzo played 20+ minutes in 62 games and logged at least 19 minutes in seven more, including one in which he played 19:51. If he had reached the 20-minute threshold in one of those games, he would’ve been award-eligible, but he just missed out. The Knicks wing would have been included on Most Improved Player ballots from multiple voters, including JJ Redick, who took to Twitter to express displeasure with the rule.

As Herbert points out, DiVincenzo’s teammate Isaiah Hartenstein is another player who might have received award consideration but is considered ineligible despite appearing in 75 games, since he played 20+ minutes in just 50 of those contests. Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, another Most Improved candidate, played in 74 games but had 20+ minutes in just 61 of them, so he’s also ineligible.

Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas (82 starts), Mavericks wing Derrick Jones (76 games, including 66 starts), and Clippers swingman Terance Mann (71 starts) likely wouldn’t have been serious candidates for any awards, but they’re a few of the other players who paradoxically failed to meet the 65-game criteria due to the nature of the rule. For what it’s worth, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) says he would have put Jones on his All-Defensive Second Team if he could have.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

As Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, the Sixers are once again entering the postseason with questions about the health of Joel Embiid, who sat out Sunday’s regular season finale and has played just five games since returning from knee surgery. However, Embiid is on track to play in Wednesday’s play-in game. He practiced on both Monday and Tuesday, per head coach Nick Nurse; 76ers guard De’Anthony Melton (back) did not (Twitter links via Kyle Neubeck and Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports).
After a disappointing season in Brooklyn, the Nets‘ roster figures to undergo an overhaul this summer, and the players who finished this season with the team are bracing for that possibility, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I don’t think (any) of my years in the league I had the same team two years in a row,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “Even if you win, teams still make moves, so I can only imagine how this summer’s gonna be.”
Nets forward Mikal Bridges admitted that it was a challenge to maintain a positive outlook during a “really tough” season and said that working on “being better mentally” will be one of his goals for this offseason, Lewis writes for The New York Post. He pointed to a December 27 loss to Milwaukee in which the Nets rested most of their regulars and the disappointing road trip that followed as low points. “The Milwaukee game and losing on that road trip, that was tough. I think that was a part of it. That didn’t help. For the players, I know that I was pretty hurt from that, I was pretty pissed off about that situation,” Bridges said. “That’s just part of it. I think I’ve failed at that part mentally. I was doing pretty good mentally, but I didn’t do a pretty good job of that this year. I let my emotions get to me.”

Top Assistant Kevin Young Leaving Suns For BYU

April 16th, 2024 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Suns associate head coach Kevin Young is set to sign a long-term contract to become the new men’s basketball head coach at Brigham Young University, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Young is replacing Mark Pope, who accepted an offer to become John Calipari‘s successor at Kentucky.

According to Wojnarowski, Young will remain with the Suns during their playoff run, but will immediately begin to assemble his coaching staff, which will work on recruiting players to BYU. Sources tell Matt Norlander of CBS Sports that Young’s new contract is expected to be worth approximately $30MM over seven years.

BYU published a tweet officially welcoming Young to the program.

A native of Salt Lake City, Young was an assistant coach at Utah Valley University in 2007/08. After spending several seasons coaching in the G League, he served as an assistant on the Sixers’ staff from 2016-20 before spending the last four seasons in Phoenix.

Initially a member of Monty Williams‘ staff, Young was promoted to associate head coach following lead assistant Willie Green‘s departure for New Orleans in 2021, then remained with the Suns under Frank Vogel this past season, becoming the NBA’s highest-paid assistant.

Young has received NBA head coaching consideration in recent years, having reportedly interviewed with the Rockets, Bucks, Raptors, and Suns in 2023. He was among the candidates to meet with the Hornets this spring and was said to be a finalist for the Brooklyn job.

It’s likely not a coincidence that news of Young’s departure for BYU broke less than 24 hours after the Nets reportedly decided to make Jordi Fernandez their next head coach.

Suns Sign Grayson Allen To Four-Year, $70MM Extension

April 16th, 2024 at 1:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

APRIL 16: Allen’s contract extension is official, the Suns announced today in a press release.

“Grayson embodies our values and we are committed to him being a key member of our core as we continue to build together into the future,” Suns president of basketball operations James Jones said in a statement. “He has been outstanding for us this season, leading the league in three-point shooting while providing a versatile skillset and competitive spirit on both ends of the floor. Phoenix has become a home for Grayson and his family, and we are thrilled that they want to be part of this community and our winning culture for years to come.”

“I love being in Phoenix and believe in what we can achieve here,” Allen added in a statement of his own. “Thank you to Mat Ishbia and the organization for embracing me. I’m excited to make a long-term commitment to remain in this community and continue building with this team.”

APRIL 15: Grayson Allen has agreed to a four-year, $70MM extension with the Suns, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The deal, which includes a player option for the final season, was confirmed to Wojnarowski by Allen’s agents, Mitch Nathan, Aaron Mintz and Steven Heumann of CAA Basketball.

Allen has thrived in his first year in Phoenix, becoming the NBA’s leader in three-point shooting percentage this season at 46.1%. He also reached career highs by averaging 13.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 33.5 minutes per game while making 73 starts.

Wojnarowski notes that the new contract will continue to escalate the Suns’ tax bill, which has exploded since Mat Ishbia bought the team midway through last season. Allen will make $15.6MM next season, pushing the team’s projected payroll to $206MM. That will result in an estimated $104MM in luxury tax payments, which would be the highest figure in the league.

Phoenix is currently projected to exceed the second apron by $16MM in 2024/25, Woj adds, triggering the most severe restrictions under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Suns won’t be permitted to send out cash in trades, aggregate contracts or make use of a preexisting trade exception. They also won’t be able to trade their 2032 first-round pick if they finish next season above the second apron.

Allen had been headed for unrestricted free agency this summer, so the agreement locks up an important part of the Suns’ offense for at least three more seasons. With Phoenix already well above the salary cap, the team would have faced few options for replacing Allen if he had signed elsewhere.

The 28-year-old guard had bounced around the league since being selected by Utah with the 21st pick in the 2018 draft. The Suns were his fourth team in six years when they acquired him last summer as part of the three-team deal that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee. Allen had been a starter for the Bucks the past two seasons, but he was able to fully unlock his game on a Phoenix team where he’s surrounded by elite scorers in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

Bulls’ Onuralp Bitim Has Detached Retina, Out For Postseason

April 16th, 2024 at 1:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Onuralp Bitim‘s rookie season is over, according to the Bulls, who announced today in a press release that the Turkish wing will be unavailable for the rest of the postseason.

Bitim has been diagnosed with a detached retina in his right eye and will require season-ending surgery to address the injury, per the team.

Bitim just completed his first NBA season after playing professionally for several years in Turkey. He made the All-EuroCup Second Team for Bursaspor last season, averaging 18.1 points and 3.2 assists in 18 EuroCup contests, before agreeing to come stateside to join the Bulls.

The 25-year-old began the season on a two-way contract but was promoted to Chicago’s standard roster in February and began to see some action at the NBA level around that time.

After making his NBA debut on February 22, Bitim ultimately appeared in 22 total games for Chicago, averaging 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .381/.273/.800.

While he had a few impressive games in the second half, Bitim likely wouldn’t have seen much – if any – action for the Bulls in the postseason. Of course, Chicago’s postseason run may not extend beyond Wednesday, since the team faces a win-or-go-home play-in game vs. the Hawks.

Bitim’s contract features non-guaranteed minimum salaries for the next two seasons beyond this one, so Chicago will have the option of bringing him back at a team-friendly rate.

Rockets’ Rafael Stone, Eli Witus Received Contract Extensions

April 16th, 2024 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Rockets general manager Rafael Stone and assistant GM Eli Witus signed multiyear contract extensions with the franchise earlier this season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The deals were agreed to in January, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

Stone and Witus were promoted to their current basketball operations roles back in 2020 when longtime head of basketball operations Daryl Morey left the Rockets. The revamped front office immediately faced trade requests from veteran stars Russell Westbrook and James Harden and launched a full-fledged rebuild after having made eight consecutive playoff appearances.

That rebuild began to pay dividends this season, as third-year center Alperen Sengun enjoyed a breakout year while third-year guard Jalen Green had a big second half. Other young players, including rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore, as well as second-year big man Jabari Smith, showed promise in regular roles for Houston.

Additionally, free agent additions like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks fit in well with the Rockets, and new head coach Ime Udoka led the team to a 41-41 record following three straight seasons between 17 and 22 wins.

All of those positive developments were factors in ownership’s decision to extend both Stone and Witus, according to Wojnarowski.

“It became clear that the Rockets had executed our plan to draft and develop young potential cornerstones for the franchise, stabilized the team with veterans that translated to winning games and found our coach for the present and future,” Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said, per Feigen. “We wanted to show them as well as the public we’re excited with the direction the Rockets were going.”

The Rockets are projected to control at least one lottery pick this June, and Sengun and Green will become extension-eligible in July, so Stone, Witus, and the rest of the front office will have plenty of big decisions to make in the coming months.