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Kansas’ Jalen Wilson Among Draft’s Latest Early Entrants

April 6th, 2023 at 12:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Kansas forward Jalen Wilson has declared for the 2023 NBA draft, he announced on social media (Twitter video link). Wilson didn’t say anything about maintaining his eligibility, so we’re assuming he plans to stay in the draft and hire an agent.

Wilson was a redshirt junior, so he technically had two years of college eligibility left. However, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year is a projected second-round pick, currently No. 51 on ESPN’s big board, and clearly he likes his chances of making it to the NBA.

Wilson, who helped the Jayhawks win a national championship in 2022, led the team in scoring (20.1 PPG) and rebounding (8.3 RPG) during his standout junior season, in which he was also named first-team All-American. Kansas was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but fell in the second round to Arkansas.

The 22-year-old joins teammate Gradey Dick — a potential lottery pick — as Jayhawks who have declared for the draft.

Here are a few more college players who are entering the draft:

Oklahoma guard Grant Sherfield, who had previous stops at Wichita State and Nevada, has declared for the draft (Instagram link). As with Wilson, Sherfield didn’t say anything about maintaining his eligibility (he had one year left due to COVID), so we’re assuming he’s going pro. As a senior for the Sooners, Sherfield averaged 15.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .403/.394/.863 shooting in 32 games (33.7 minutes per contest).
UC-Davis guard Elijah Pepper, who earned All-Big West honors each of the past three seasons, is entering his name in the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he announced on Twitter. Pepper had a productive senior season for the Aggies, averaging 22.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals on .449/.322/.816 shooting in 31 games (35.5 minutes).
Tulane’s Sion James, a junior guard, is also testing the draft waters while maintaining his eligibility, he announced via Instagram. James put up 9.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals on .483/.317/.710 shooting in 31 games (37.1 minutes) for the Green Wave in 2022/23.

Bucks Notes: Matthews, Middleton, Holiday, Lopez

April 6th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks have been limiting Wesley Matthews‘ playing time to keep him fresh for the postseason, and the 36-year-old swingman showed Wednesday what his playoff impact might be, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Amid injuries to several teammates, Matthews played 30 minutes against the Bulls, contributing seven points and eight rebounds while frustrating DeMar DeRozan on defense.

Matthews has appeared in just 50 games this season and has logged 15.8 minutes per night, the lowest figure of his career. He hasn’t necessarily endorsed the reduced role, but he’s willing to do whatever coach Mike Budenholzer believes is best for the team.

“It’s tough to manage, but within that, it’s understanding that you can still impact the game and that goes back to what my mom told me, I think probably when I was like four or five years old is that there’s so many ways that you can impact the basketball game,” Matthews said. “Other than my high school time, my high school career, I’ve never been the leading scorer on my team. Could I have done it? Probably. But that wasn’t what was asked of me. It was to win. Help the team win, and by any means necessary.”

There’s more on the Bucks:

Khris Middleton left Wednesday’s game in the first quarter with soreness in his right knee after appearing to hurt it on a jump shot (video link), Nehm adds. Budenholzer wasn’t able to offer much information on Middleton’s condition, but he called it a “re-aggravation of kind of something that we’ve been working with him on all year.” Middleton has dealt with a variety of ailments that have limited him to 33 games. He missed the first 20 games of the season while recovering from surgery and experienced persistent knee pain around the All-Star break.
Jrue Holiday is close to wrapping up another bonus, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Holiday will receive a bonus if he averages 7.3 assists per game, and he’s at 7.4 after picking up 15 assists against Chicago.
With 26 points on Wednesday, Brook Lopez reached the 20-point mark for the 26th time this season, tweets Kane Pittman of ESPN Australia. That matches his total during his first four years with the Bucks as he’s enjoying his best scoring season since 2016/17. Lopez is also among the top contenders for Defensive Player of the Year honors and is in position to land another significant contract at age 35.

Pacific Notes: Westbrook, Wiggins, Suns, Len

April 6th, 2023 at 10:02am CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers savored Wednesday’s victory over their cross-town rivals in a game with huge implications for playoff seeding, but the win was a little sweeter for Russell Westbrook than anyone else, writes Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. Westbrook was a lightning rod for criticism and an easy target for all that went wrong during his season and a half with the Lakers. He was the subject of trade rumors dating back to last summer before being shipped to Utah in February.

Westbrook signed with the Clippers after reaching a buyout agreement with the Jazz and has been a productive if sometimes imperfect fit. With the chance to solidify a top-six seed on Wednesday night, Westbrook provided early energy with 10 first quarter points as the Clippers built a 19-point lead in the first half.

“It’s not about individual stuff, but we knew what was said about him and when he came over here, it’s the complete opposite of who he is,” Ivica Zubac said. “He’s a great dude, a great leader, always happy, always positive, always helping everyone on the court, helping a lot. So we just wanted to prove everyone wrong, all those rumors, all that stuff that was said about him, it just makes it better that it came in the biggest game of the season.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Andrew Wiggins is back with the Warriors, but he won’t play before the regular season ends, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Coach Steve Kerr said Wiggins had workouts on Tuesday with director of sports medicine Rick Celebrini and assistant coach Jama Mahlalela, then participated in a scrimmage on Wednesday with young players and staff members. “Full court, 5-on-5. He looked good,” Kerr said. “… He hasn’t played in two months and he’s out there running around and looking pretty good. He still has to stack a number of days like this before he’s ready to go out and play in an NBA game. We can’t put him in a bad spot, health-wise. We got to make sure we build him up, get his strength and conditioning in a good place before we put him out there.”
Now that the Suns are locked into fourth place, they may consider resting players for the final two games of the season, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Phoenix will face the Lakers on Friday and the Clippers on Sunday, so that decision will impact the playoff race.
Alex Len appears to have emerged as the Kings‘ primary backup center as they prepare for the postseason, notes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.

Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 4/6/2023

April 6th, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 10:00 am Central time (11 am Eastern).

Click here to read the transcript, and join us on Tuesday afternoon for our next live chat, hosted by Dana Gauruder.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Chats

Dwane Casey Discusses Future With Pistons

April 6th, 2023 at 9:01am CST by Arthur Hill

With one year remaining on his contract, Dwane Casey isn’t a lock to return as the Pistons’ coach next season. One of the early steps in making that decision took place when Casey met with members of the team’s ownership after Wednesday’s game, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.

“We talked about how we’re going to look at everything and meet again after we’re all done and see which way we all want to go as far as the organization,” Casey said. “There’s nothing that’s been decided as far as that’s concerned.”

Casey joined the Pistons in 2018 shortly after being fired by the Raptors despite winning Coach of the Year honors. He inherited a playoff-level team built around Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson and went 41-41 in his first season.

The Pistons eventually shifted to rebuilding mode, and when Troy Weaver was hired as general manager in 2020, he viewed Casey as the best coach to develop young talent. Casey was rewarded with an extension that runs through the end of next season.

According to Sankofa, Casey has enjoyed a full vote of confidence from the Pistons’ decision makers, including owner Tom Gores and senior advisor Arn Tellem as well as Weaver. That has enabled him to become the league’s sixth longest-tenured head coach despite a 120-262 record.

Coming off a promising year centered around No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham, Detroit entered this season with hopes of contending for a play-in spot. But Cunningham played just 12 games before undergoing season-ending shin surgery in December, and the Pistons have gone through another year of losing with a young roster. At 16-64, they have clinched the worst record in the NBA and are in danger of setting a franchise mark for the most losses in a season.

Despite the frustrations, hope remains for a quick turnaround next season. Whether Casey will be part of that next step is a decision that will be made this summer.

“I’m here,” Casey told reporters when asked about his status. “I’m under contract for another year. I committed to Tom that we were winning 60 games when I left (Toronto), and now we’re losing 60 games, but I committed to him to come in and turn around the organization. We are where we are right now. I know it seems like it’s forever away, but we’re not that far away. This team is not that far away.”

Raptors Notes: VanVleet, Dowtin, Nurse, Siakam

April 6th, 2023 at 8:05am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report (YouTube video link), Raptors guard Fred VanVleet admitted that being involved in so many trade rumors leading up to February’s deadline was a new experience for him, but said he wasn’t overly concerned about those reports because the team has always communicated well with him.

“I have such a great relationship with management and ownership, like it’s really a family thing,” VanVleet said (Twitter video link via Oren Weisfeld). “Even when all the outside noise was going on, there was really no talk behind the scenes, at least with me and them, like, ‘Hey, we might move you.’ Teams were calling, of course. There’s a lot of teams that could use me, that feel like I would take them over the hump to win a championship. Especially this year.”

VanVleet will become an unrestricted free agent this July if he turns down his 2023/24 player option, as expected. However, while it’s possible he’ll explore the open market, the veteran guard doesn’t sound like a player eager to move on from his current team.

“I’m very grateful for my situation,” VanVleet said. “This franchise gave me a chance. I’m in the NBA because they believed in me, and that’s something that I don’t take for granted, I don’t take lightly.”

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Toronto expects to make a decision on Thursday afternoon about whether or not to promote two-way player Jeff Dowtin to the 15-man roster, head coach Nick Nurse said on Wednesday (Twitter link via Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca). Nurse added he’ll meet with general manager Bobby Webster to discuss the decision.
In a column for Sportsnet.ca, Grange argues that the Dowtin situation seems to expose a gulf between Nurse and Raptors management. Meanwhile, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca tweets that it would be a bad look for the organization if Dowtin’s solid play on his two-way deal isn’t rewarded with a promotion.
Eric Koreen of The Athletic considers Pascal Siakam‘s case for All-NBA honors, noting that the standout forward would become eligible for a super-max extension if he’s named to one of the All-NBA teams this spring. Siakam’s numbers (24.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 5.9 APG) are certainly All-NBA caliber, but the Raptors’ underwhelming record may hurt his case, Koreen observes.
In a separate story for The Athletic, Koreen contends that the Raptors’ organization lacks consistency in its performance and philosophy, from the front office on down to the players. Koreen suggests the decision not to convert Dowtin’s contract in time for a big game on Wednesday was an odd one, given that the team could have used him in its loss to Boston.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, AD, Russell, Bamba, Offseason

April 5th, 2023 at 9:43pm CST by Rory Maher

Lakers stars LeBron James (right foot soreness) and Anthony Davis (right foot stress injury) are both active for Wednesday’s game against the Clippers, tweets Mark Medina of NBA.com. Both players had previously been considered game-time decisions, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, the availability of the team’s two best players was up in the air leading into tonight’s game after going to overtime to defeat the Jazz in Utah on Tuesday night. James played in 38 minutes, while Davis played 42 — both high marks since returning from their respective foot injuries in March and January.

“The extra five minutes definitely didn’t help,” James said. “It definitely didn’t help but we needed to get the win.”

Wednesday will also mark the first time Davis has played in back-to-back games for several months, McMenamin notes, with the Lakers’ medical staff concerned about a possible re-injury due to overuse. Head coach Darvin Ham said the team wouldn’t risk jeopardizing anyone’s long-term health for a short-term situation — the Lakers and Clippers are tied with identical 41-38 records.

“If we see that they won’t have any issues, in terms of their health, and we’re not putting them at risk, then we’ll proceed,” Ham said. “If there’s any kind of question marks, we’ll walk through them, talk through them, and go from there.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Guard D’Angelo Russell (left foot soreness) was ruled out of Tuesday’s game for precautionary reasons, tweets McMenamin. Ham said Russell has been dealing with the issue for over a year and called it “bad timing” that it started to bother him recently. However, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said on Get Up (YouTube link) that there was optimism Russell would be able to return on Wednesday and that was indeed the case — he started at point guard.
Backup center Mohamed Bamba, who has been out for a month with a high left ankle sprain, was initially probable for Wednesday’s game (Twitter link via McMenamin) and was later upgraded to available. It will be interesting to see if Bamba gets minutes over Wenyen Gabriel, who has played well this season off the bench.
In another story for ESPN, McMenamin explores how the Lakers can retain six players who helped reshape the roster. The six are Russell, Bamba, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Davon Reed, all of whom could be free agents in the offseason, though the Lakers are extremely unlikely to release Vanderbilt, who only has a small partial guarantee ($300K) on his team-friendly $4.7MM salary for 2023/24 (it becomes fully guaranteed if they don’t waive him by the end of June).

Kings’ Matthew Dellavedova Undergoes Finger Surgery

April 5th, 2023 at 8:33pm CST by Rory Maher

Kings veteran Matthew Dellavedova underwent successful right index finger surgery, the team announced (Twitter link via James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com).

The longtime reserve guard broke his finger last Wednesday against the Thunder. According to the Kings, Dellavedova will be out indefinitely as he begins the rehabilitation process, but he is expected to make a full recovery.

Dellavedova, 32, is only averaging 6.7 minutes per game in 32 appearances as Sacramento’s third-string point guard, so his absence likely won’t impact the Kings much during their playoff push. The nine-year veteran is playing on a minimum-salary contract in 2022/23 and will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

Mavs’ Cuban Talks Irving, Wood, Brunson, Kidd, Doncic, More

April 5th, 2023 at 7:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Speaking to the media ahead of Wednesday’s game against Sacramento, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban touched on a number of topics.

Cuban said the team acquired guard Kyrie Irving at the February trade deadline with the goal of keeping him around “long term,” as veteran reporter Marc Stein relays (Twitter links). Cuban added he thought the Mavs had “a good shot” at retaining Irving, who will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

When asked if he thought Irving was worth a maximum-salary contract, Cuban replied, “I’m not going to negotiate with you,” tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. The longtime owner said re-signing Irving is the team’s top offseason priority, but was noncommittal on big man Christian Wood, another potential free agent.

“I’m not going to go through individual players,” Cuban said, per MacMahon (Twitter link).

Both of the Mavericks’ star guards — Luka Doncic and Irving — will be available for Wednesday’s game, the team announced (via Twitter).

Here’s more from Cuban’s media session:

Cuban claims the Mavs “never had the opportunity” to give former guard Jalen Brunson a four-year, $56MM extension in January 2022, tweets Stein. Dallas’ owner went on to explain that Brunson’s camp was looking for a deal in the range of $18-23MM annually in early February 2022, but the Mavs could only offer him $14MM per year due to the limitations on veteran extensions, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter links). As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), the Mavs technically could have given him a deal in the $18-23MM range after the 2022 trade deadline, when Brunson was eligible to renegotiate his contract, but they would have had to clear $25MM+ in salaries in order to do so.
As for last summer, when Brunson signed a four-year, $104MM contract with the Knicks, Cuban claims Brunson’s side never gave the Mavs a number he would accept, per Townsend (Twitter links). The Mavs had Brunson’s Bird rights, so they theoretically could have offered him more years and more money than a rival team. Cuban added that he had a strong relationship with Brunson and his agents, but “things went south” when Brunson’s father, Rick, took over the contract negotiations (Twitter link via MacMahon).
It seems odd that Rick Brunson was ever in charge of negotiations, considering he was finalizing a deal to be an assistant coach with the Knicks on June 2, and free agents couldn’t sign until June 30. The elder Brunson previously worked under Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota, but resigned from the Wolves after allegations of improper conduct toward women, which he and his lawyer denied.
Cuban’s tone regarding the Brunson situation was markedly different last summer, notes Fred Katz of The Athletic (via Twitter). Last July, a week after Jalen Brunson signed with the Knicks, Cuban said he had “no hard feelings” about Brunson leaving and that the guard had “earned the right to make a decision as a free agent” (link via Zach Braziller of The New York Post).
According to Townsend (Twitter links), Cuban took responsibility for the Mavs’ poor season and for not recognizing they needed more help defensively, as the team has dropped from seventh to 23rd in defensive rating. “It’s absolutely my fault for not recognizing that,” he said. Cuban also said that the team plans to bring back head coach Jason Kidd next season.
Cuban, who has owned the team since 2000, said he believes Doncic wants to spend his entire NBA career with the Mavs, “but we have to earn that” (Twitter link via MacMahon). Doncic has expressed frustration and disappointment with how the season has gone and recently said he missed Jalen Brunson “a lot.”

Jazz Notes: Markkanen, Olynyk, Sexton, THT

April 5th, 2023 at 5:45pm CST by Rory Maher

Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen recently sat down for an interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The Q&A session covered his self belief, his stints in Chicago and Cleveland, Utah’s future, and several other topics.

Markkanen, who plans to compete for Finland’s national team at the World Cup this summer, said he’d be thrilled if he’s named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2022/23, according to Scotto.

“I think it would be great,” Markkanen said. “With the regular season about to end and I start hearing that stuff, it would be a pretty cool trophy to have at home. I take a lot of pride in the hard work and, like becoming an All-Star, knowing what I’ve gone through and being able to bounce back from that would mean a lot for me. Hopefully, I get it done. It would be pretty cool.”

Here’s more on the Jazz:

Veteran big man Kelly Olynyk acknowledges he heard the trade rumor of the Celtics being interested in his services. However, he says he’s happy with the Jazz and he has no plans to ask out in the offseason, he tells Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I mean, I love Boston,” said Olynyk, who spent his first four seasons with the Celtics. “I grew up in Boston basically, coming out of college and starting my professional career. I have nothing but great things to say about the city, the organization, everybody involved. It feels like home every time I come back. When you see those kind of rumors, it brings up great memories. It’s a city that has unbelievable people, fans, culture, all that. So you always think, ‘What if? Maybe it could happen.’ But you obviously have to focus on the now and what you’re doing. I’m definitely not trying to get out of anywhere. This is a great situation to be a part of with this team, but your mind can’t help but wander for a second when you hear about things.”
Collin Sexton had a solid showing in his first game back from a nagging hamstring injury, recording 15 points and three assists in 16 minutes in the Jazz’s loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. “It feels like he is just all competitiveness. He gives our team such a lift energy-wise. It is infectious, contagious, however you want to describe it,” head coach Will Hardy said, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. “The guys love how he plays. … It’s the same Collin that we all know, and it’s the same Collin that we’ve missed for the last 18 games. So it was great to see him out there.”
Sarah Todd of The Deseret News examines the pros and cons of Talen Horton-Tucker‘s game and wonders if he’ll be in the team’s long-term plans. Still just 22 years old, the fourth-year guard continues to show flashes of intrigue, but he’s also inconsistent and doesn’t shoot well from behind the arc (28.6% on threes). Todd thinks it’s very likely that Horton-Tucker will pick up his $11MM player option for 2023/24.