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Northwest Notes: Thunder, SGA, Jazz, Nuggets, Wolves

November 13th, 2024 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

With Chet Holmgren sidelined until sometime in 2025 and Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams still not ready to return, expect the Thunder to fully lean into small-ball lineups, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. The team has the roster flexibility to add a veteran center via free agency if it so chooses, but head coach Mark Daigneault seems to enjoy playing small, Lorenzi notes — now it has become a necessity rather than an option.

In their first game without Holmgren on Monday, the Thunder ran out a starting lineup of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins, making their point guard (Gilgeous-Alexander) the tallest player on the court at 6’6″. And the three reserves who saw the most minutes – Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, and Ajay Mitchell – were no more than 6’5″.

Still, the Thunder made those small lineups work and pulled out a victory over the Clippers, largely due to the heroics of Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored a career-high 45 points, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes. According to Thunder PR, the guard became the first player in NBA history to have at least 45 points, nine assists, five steals, and two blocks in a game. Gilgeous-Alexander won’t play like that every night, but he’s confident Oklahoma City can keep winning games despite missing its big men.

“We’ve been there before,” he said, per Youngmisuk. “We’ve won games playing small, and we can do it again.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Walker Kessler‘s absence on Tuesday due to right hip soreness highlighted the lack of quality defenders on the Jazz‘s roster, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, who suggests that’s an area the team will need to address via player development or roster additions — or both. After giving up 120 points to Phoenix on Tuesday, Utah ranks 27th in the NBA in defensive rating (117.6) and dead last in net rating (-13.0).
The Nuggets got off to a shaky start this fall, but they’re on a roll as of late, riding a five-game win streak into Friday’s game in New Orleans. They’ve had to lean heavily on star center Nikola Jokic to pick up those victories — the three-time MVP is averaging 38.1 minutes per game, far exceeding his previous career high of 34.6 MPG. In a pair of stories for The Denver Post, Bennett Durando explores whether the Nuggets can keep winning while better managing Jokic’s playing time and considers whether it makes sense for the club to target a center on the trade market. For what it’s worth, Durando believes acquiring a shooter will be a greater priority for Denver than trading for a center.
Following an ugly 14-point Timberwolves loss to Portland on Tuesday, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic says Minnesota needs to recapture the edge and ferocity that characterized last season’s 56-win squad. This year’s Wolves have made things too easy for their opponents and are “opening doors they used to slam in people’s faces,” Krawczynski writes.

Injury Notes: Hawks, THJ, Simons, Bamba, Suns

November 13th, 2024 at 7:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks announced a series of injury updates on Tuesday, issuing a press release to provide the latest on where things stand with Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring), Kobe Bufkin (shoulder), Vit Krejci (adductor), and Seth Lundy (ankle).

According to the team, Bogdanovic, Bufkin, and Krejci are all progressing through their rehabilitation and will be reevaluated in about one week, so they’ll all miss at least a few more games. As for Lundy, his recovery from a sprained left ankle will take more time. According to the Hawks, he’ll be reevaluated in approximately four weeks.

Bufkin and Lundy have yet to appear in a game for the Hawks this season, while Bogdanovic and Krejci have played in just one and four contests, respectively. Despite being shorthanded, Atlanta pulled off a major upset on Tuesday in its first NBA Cup game, beating the defending champion Celtics 117-116.

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

Pistons wing Tim Hardaway Jr. took a pair of hits to the head during a defensive possession in Tuesday’s game and left the court on a wheelchair (Twitter video link). According to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link), Hardaway underwent a CAT scan, which was negative. He received some stitches, but it doesn’t sound like he sustained a serious injury, which is good news. Given the nature of the injury, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Hardaway has to enter the NBA’s concussion protocol.
Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons left Tuesday’s game in the first quarter and didn’t return due to what the team referred to as a chest injury. Head coach Chauncey Billups explained after the game that Simons was experiencing shortness of breath, but that everything came back normal after he underwent a series of tests (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report). The Blazers will conduct more testing on Wednesday, but Billups thinks Simons will be okay.
Clippers center Mohamed Bamba, who is making his way back from a left knee injury, continues to move closer to his season debut. While Bamba will miss Wednesday’s game vs. Oklahoma City, he’s listed as out due to a G League assignment rather than the knee ailment.
The Suns were down another starter on Tuesday, as Jusuf Nurkic joined Kevin Durant on the sidelines due to left ankle soreness (story via ESPN). It’s unclear if Nurkic’s ankle issue will force him to miss more games — the team is back in action in Sacramento on Wednesday night. Mason Plumlee started at center with Nurkic unavailable.
Another Suns starter, Bradley Beal, exited Tuesday’s game due to left calf tightness, but he downplayed the injury during his post-game media session, referring to the decision to pull him as “a little precautionary” (Twitter video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).

Anthony Davis Plans To Play Wednesday Despite Eye Injury

November 12th, 2024 at 9:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The latest Anthony Davis injury turned out to be just a minor scare.

Davis says he’s “fine” after getting poked in the eye during Monday’s game, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. It occurred when he blocked a dunk attempt by Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl.

A visit to an ophthalmologist went well, even though there was still visible redness in the center of his eye after the Lakers practice on Tuesday. Davis says he’ll play against Memphis on Wednesday.

“Nothing happens next,” he said in terms of monitoring the eye injury. “I go about my days as I would any other day. There’s nothing I need to do. The next step is getting some more sleep and getting ready for tomorrow.”

Davis is off to an MVP-style start, averaging 31.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He missed a game last week due to a heel injury.

Davis suffered a corneal abrasion in March after getting poked during a game against Golden State. He wore goggles in practice on Tuesday but plans to shed them for Wednesday’s game.

“I wore goggles. For three years when I was younger. I just don’t want to, to be honest,” he said. “Obviously, the doctors said I didn’t have to. Now if it gets to a point where a doctor’s orders are to [wear them] … if it gets to that point where my eye doctor tells me that I need to wear them, then of course I will. But I’ve been cleared to go out and play without them.”

Eastern Notes: Schröder, Thibodeau, Allen, Rivers, Horst

November 12th, 2024 at 8:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dennis Schröder is playing some of the best ball of his career and he isn’t oblivious to the fact that he could be playing elsewhere at some point this season, the Nets guard told Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

“I’ve been in the league 12 years, and people have talked about my name in trade talks for 12 years. [And] I’ve been traded twice,” Schröder said. “… So [gossip] is going to happen. They use it as an event where they can promote who is on the block. I don’t really care.

“But I’ve bought into this system right now because they pay my checks, and I’m doing my job every single day, and I’m always professional about it, always going to make the most out of it. Get one percent better every single day. And whatever happens, happens. I understand it’s a business, but no worries here.”

Schröder, who is averaging 19.5 points and 6.2 assists per game, has an expiring $13MM contract.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

The Knicks depleted their depth with some blockbuster moves this offseason and coach Tom Thibodeau has shown a reluctance to trust his reserves, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. In their last three losses, Thibodeau basically ran a six-man rotation in the second half with Miles McBride as the lone reserve receiving meaningful playing time.
The Cavaliers will look to stay unbeaten on Wednesday at Philadelphia but they could go without their starting center. Jarrett Allen is listed as questionable due to a lower left leg strain, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Allen appeared a little hobbled on Monday, according to Fedor, when he was limited to nine points, five rebounds and one block in 26 minutes against Chicago.
It’s unlikely that Doc Rivers is on the hot seat after the Bucks’ 2-8 start, considering Rivers received a four-year, $40MM contract after Adrian Griffin was fired in midseason, according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick. General manager Jon Horst is under pressure after a few disappointing seasons, and league sources told Amick that there’s skepticism he’d be given the leeway to make another coaching change this soon.

Western Notes: Wembanyama, Thompson, Booker, Reddish, Russell

November 12th, 2024 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Victor Wembanyama enjoyed his best game of the season against Sacramento on Monday. The second-year Spurs star racked up 34 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three blocks. He knocked down half of his 12 three-point attempts and the team’s interim coach wants him to keep hunting shots after a slow offensive start to the season.

“He makes shots every day,” Mitch Johnson said, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “He missed really good shots to start the year, and I understand why it’s a talking point. But I don’t think we ever wavered on him not making shots. I think it is just the percentages evening out at this point.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

Klay Thompson feels even better now about his decision to move on from the Warriors and join the Mavericks, he told Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Thompson says it was a necessary move mentally as well as career-wise. “Honestly, it’s rejuvenated me and done something I needed bad just for my mental and my career,” Thompson said. “So, I really feel the love here, and I feel highly valued that I can do great things.” Thompson is averaging 13.8 points in 3o.1 minutes per night while starting 10 games.
Devin Booker is still adjusting to Mike Budenholzer‘s rotation patterns. With past coaches, Booker often played the entire first quarter. That hasn’t happened this season — Budenholzer prefers to utilize his players in shorter bursts, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic notes. “Probably the last eight years of my career, I played the first 12 minutes,” the Suns star guard said. “Trying to find a rhythm, but at the same time, set guys up. It’ll come.”
The Lakers are off to a 6-4 start and the Orange County Register’s Khobi Price offers 10 observations through the team’s first 10 games. He notes Cam Reddish has made the most of his increased playing time since being added to the rotation last week and that bench scoring has jumped since D’Angelo Russell was moved to the second unit.

Raptors Notes: Quickley, Rajakovic, Agbaji

November 12th, 2024 at 5:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Immanuel Quickley has endured an unfortunate string of injuries and another one has cropped up. The Raptors guard has been diagnosed with a partial UCL tear in his left elbow, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets. He’ll be reevaluated in a week.

As Michael Grange of Sportsnet notes (Twitter link), Quickley missed all of training camp and four preseason games with a thumb sprain. He also sat out eight games with a pelvic contusion from a fall in the season opener. The elbow injury comes after he returned for two games. Quickley averaged 75 games a season in the past three seasons.

We have more on the Raptors:

Head coach Darko Rajakovic knows what the organization wants out of him this season, as he told The Athletic’s Eric Koreen in a Q&A session. “This year the focus is very clear. We need to develop young guys. We need to develop our roster,” he said. “The main thing, the most important thing, is being dedicated to the process of the development — individually and as a team. And this year for us, process has to be more important than the outcome of some of those games. That’s not saying that you’re not competing. That’s not saying that we don’t want to win. I think it’s completely opposite. As you can see, we are undermanned, but we are really competing and staying in all of those games against really good teams.”
Rajakovic and his staff deserve credit for the team’s competitiveness in the early going, despite its shortcomings. He has also earned the right to be second-guessed on some of his late-game decisions in the final two minutes of a close game, and Grange details some moves that Rajakovic could have handled differently.
When the team picked up the fourth-year option on Ochai Agbaji‘s contract, there were legitimate reasons to question the move. That’s not the case anymore. Through 11 games this season, he’s averaging 14.0 points while shooting 58.8% from the field and 47.7% on 3-point tries. “Summer league wasn’t the way I wanted it to go. I would say I was a little discouraged after that, but that was kind of just motivation even more for me going back into (team) mini-camps that we had just to kind of go and prove myself again and kind of re-establish that confidence,” Agbaji told Koreen. “Summer league and last year, I’ll always tell people now, those were kind of just the building blocks of me. Obviously you have to have those down days to have up days.” Agbaji is eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer.

Harry Giles Joining Shanxi Loongs

November 12th, 2024 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent big man Harry Giles has signed with the Shanxi Loongs of the Chinese Basketball Association, as Dario Skerletic of Sportando relays. The team posted a photo on the Chinese social media site Weibo of Giles wearing Shanxi gear.

Giles, 26, has appeared in a total of 165 regular season games since being drafted with the 20th overall pick in 2017, including 23 contests last season for the Nets and Lakers. He was a five-star recruit out of high school and was viewed as a probable lottery pick before his career was derailed by knee injuries, which forced him to miss his entire rookie campaign and parts of subsequent seasons.

Giles holds career averages of 5.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 11.7 minutes per game for four NBA teams, including the Kings and Trail Blazers.

The former Duke standout was with the Hornets in training camp this fall, but didn’t earn a spot on the team’s regular season roster, having been cut at the end of the preseason.

Giles is joining a Shanxi team that is off to an 8-2 start in CBA play this season. The club’s two leading scorers are also ex-NBA players — Brandon Goodwin, formerly of the Nuggets, Hawks, and Cavaliers, is averaging 24.1 points per game for the Loongs, while former Thunder, Pistons, and Wizards swingman Hamidou Diallo has put up 18.9 PPG.

Lakers’ Wood Experiences Setback, Out At Least Four More Weeks

November 12th, 2024 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Lakers big man Christian Wood has experienced a setback in his recovery from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link), head coach J.J. Redick told reporters on Tuesday that Wood developed soreness in the knee during his ramp-up process and will be reevaluated in four weeks.

Wood underwent an arthroscopic surgical procedure on his knee in early September. At the time, the team said he’d be re-examined in approximately eight weeks. That was a little over nine weeks ago.

The procedure was the second one Wood has had on that troublesome knee this year. His 2023/24 season came to an early end when he was sidelined by a left knee injury in February that forced him to undergo arthroscopic surgery in March. The veteran forward/center was technically cleared to play in the final two games of the Lakers’ first-round series vs. Denver, but the club opted not to use him after such a long layoff.

Wood played a rotation role for the Lakers when he was healthy last season, averaging 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per contest during the regular season (50 games). However, his shooting percentages – 46.6% from the floor and 30.7% on three-pointers – were well below his career rates.

While a healthy version of Wood would likely be in the frontcourt mix for Los Angeles this season, it sounds like the 29-year-old won’t be back on the court until mid-December at the earliest. Even if he’s able to return at that time, which is hardly a lock, it will be about 10 months since he has last played in an NBA game, so it may take him some time to round into his usual form.

With Wood out, Anthony Davis and Jaxson Hayes have handled the majority of the center minutes for L.A. this fall.

Southeast Notes: Bitadze, Carter, Jovic, Love, Sarr

November 12th, 2024 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Magic center Goga Bitadze, who stepped up when Wendell Carter was injured and started 33 games last season, finds himself in a similar position this fall. With Carter on the shelf due to left foot plantar fasciitis, Bitadze has started the past four games for Orlando and has averaged a double-double (10.5 points, 10.5 rebounds) to go along with 3.0 assists and 1.8 blocks per night in those starts.

“He’s just steady,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said on Sunday, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). “He just stays ready the entire time. Doesn’t say a word when he’s asked to do something; he goes out and does it. He’s a great rim protector, does a great job in the pick and roll … He’s a facilitator on offense, getting guys in position in places on the floor. He just stays ready and that’s part of this team. We always talk about the next man up and guys are starting to step up into that role with other guys being out.”

As Beede writes, Bitadze was a free agent over the summer and potentially could’ve found a larger role and/or more money outside of Orlando, but he chose to stick with the Magic on a three-year, $25MM deal. The big man feels comfortable with the team that took a shot on him in February 2023, days after he was cut by Indiana.

“The guys (and) the coaching staff make it easy,” Bitadze said. “When you’re having joy every single practice, every single day with these guys, playing time is not that important, if you understand what I mean. It’s not that hard.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Carter is “doing well” and “slowly progressing” in his recovery from his foot ailment, according to Mosley, but the Magic center will miss his fifth consecutive game on Tuesday as Orlando faces Charlotte, tweets Beede.
Heat forward Nikola Jovic came off the bench for the first time this fall on Sunday in Minnesota, but ended up having his best game of the young season, helping Miami claim a one-point win with 15 points and seven rebounds. After the game, head coach Erik Spoelstra challenged Jovic to maintain that level going forward. “This is the standard now,” Spoelstra said, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “I don’t want to retreat, I don’t want to have to do things to get something out of players. He was very good tonight from the detail standpoint, the effort standpoint, rebounding, size, defending multiple efforts.”
Heat forward/center Kevin Love, who made his season debut on Sunday following an early-season absence due to a personal family matter, lauded the organization for giving him the time off he needed, Chiang writes for The Herald. “They were so amazing in supporting me, letting me have my time and allowing me to come back refreshed in my mind,” Love said. “… The support was unbelievable from my teammates, coaching staff, organization. … Now that I’m back, I’m just trying to add that freshness, that lightness to the locker room and hopefully help out there, as well.”
After making just 2-of-9 shots from the field on Monday, rookie big man Alex Sarr has a .330 FG% and a .186 3PT% for the season. That’s okay with the Wizards, who knew Sarr’s offense was well behind his defense and are prepared to be patient with the No. 2 overall pick, writes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. “This is part of the maturation of going through this league,” head coach Brian Keefe said. “You have to see all these different types of matchups. I’ve coached a lot of great players in this league … and you have to go through the fire. And you learn by doing and being out there and seeing what it feels like.”

Suns’ Collin Gillespie Fractures Right Ankle

November 12th, 2024 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

Suns guard Collin Gillespie has been diagnosed with a right ankle fracture, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).

According to the Suns, Gillespie will be reevaluated in four weeks. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be ready to return at that point — just that he’ll be examined at that time.

Gillespie, who is on a two-way contract with Phoenix, had appeared in only one NBA game so far this season, logging 3:26 of game action in an October 26 win over Dallas. He suffered the injury in the G League season opener on Friday, just two minutes into his debut for the Valley Suns.

The Suns initially listed Gillespie’s injury as a sprain, but Valley Suns head coach John Little said on Monday that the 25-year-old was still undergoing tests to determine the severity of the injury (Twitter video link via Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports).

Gillespie’s absence won’t have any real impact on the Suns’ NBA rotation, since he had several players ahead of him on the depth chart, but it’s an unfortunate turn of events for a young player who already lost one full season due to an injury. The former Villanova standout missed his entire rookie season in 2022/23 as a Nuggets two-way player after suffering a lower leg fracture while helping out with a practice at his alma mater.