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Texas Notes: Mavericks, Hardaway, Irving, Rockets, Spurs

March 23rd, 2023 at 11:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite falling below .500, the 36-37 Mavericks remain intent on competing for a title this season, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com.

“The standings are going to change to the last game of the season,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “If we can get healthy and have everyone on the court, that gives us the best chance to win… We feel we have the pieces to be a championship team. We’re playing for a championship. But we just right now have to focus on the game that’s in front of us and that’s Charlotte.”

Over the past two weeks, Dallas has gone just 2-5, while slipping from the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference to No. 9. They have been without one or both of their two All-Star guards, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, in each of their past six games.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. are both questionable to suit up for the Mavericks in their next game, Friday against the Hornets, the team has announced (Twitter link). Irving is dealing with a sore right foot, while Hardaway continues to struggle through a non-COVID illness.
Two Rockets players may not be available for Houston on Friday against the Grizzlies, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Small forward Jae’Sean Tate will miss another game due to his sore left knee, while center Frank Kaminsky is considered questionable to play due to migraines.
Several key Spurs players will be sidelined Friday night against the Wizards, as the team continues to tank. Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News reports (Twitter link) that rookie Jeremy Sochan will be shelved with a sore knee and guard Romeo Langford will miss the action with an adductor injury. The team’s second-leading scorer, Devin Vassell, is questionable with a knee injury, as is center Zach Collins, who is dealing with a biceps bruise.

NBA Fines Pacers’ Buddy Hield $25K

March 23rd, 2023 at 8:34pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Pacers swingman Buddy Hield has been fined $25K by the NBA, the league announced in a press release (Twitter link).

The 6’4″ small forward was penalized for “making an obscene [hand] gesture on the playing court,” early in the second quarter of an eventual 115-109 March 20 loss to the Hornets, the press release states. Tony East of Sports Illustrated (Twitter video link) pinpointed the moment of the incident, which occurred while Hield was taking a breather on Indiana’s bench.

Fines aside, Hield has been enjoying another solid year for an Indiana team that remains very much in the thick of the play-in tournament race as of this writing. Despite that loss to a lowly Charlotte team Monday, the 33-40 Pacers are currently 1.5 games behind the Bulls for the East’s No. 10 seed.

Through 73 starts this year, Hield is averaging 17.1 PPG on .459/.424/.819 shooting splits for Indiana. He’s also contributing 5.0 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.2 APG. The 30-year-old sharpshooter is currently in the third season of a four-year contract he signed with the Kings in 2020.

Injury Notes: Embiid, Wizards, Raptors, Simmons, Gallinari

March 23rd, 2023 at 7:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Sixers All-NBA center Joel Embiid sat out the second half of Philadelphia’ 116-91 blowout victory over the Bulls Wednesday with mild right calf tightness, but he’s expected to suit up for the Sixers’ next game on Friday, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

While the injury is considered minor, Rich Hoffman of The Athletic suggests it could impact how Philadelphia handles its final 10 games of the 2022/23 season. The Sixers’ other top scorer, point guard James Harden, sat out the win with a sore left Achilles.

Hoffman notes that Philadelphia is prioritizing postseason health over regular season wins down the home stretch, a strategy that could cost the team’s the East’s second seed and home court advantage in the second round of the playoffs should it match up with the Celtics.

“We’ve gone into the playoffs two years in a row with injuries,” head coach Doc Rivers said in a postgame presser. “We all know that you don’t win in the playoffs when your key guys aren’t healthy, period. So, we’re going to do whatever we can to be healthy.”

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

Wizards power forward Kyle Kuzma and shooting guard Bradley Beal will both miss Washington’s game Friday against the lowly Spurs, reports Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link). Kuzma is dealing with a sprained right ankle, while the oft-injured Beal is currently grappling with left knee soreness.
Deep-bench Nets big man Ben Simmons is currently only engaging in individual workouts and not yet working out with the team as he continues to rehabilitate his sore left knee, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link). Head coach Jacque Vaughn was noncommittal when he was asked if the team would be able to ramp up Simmons before the end of the regular season.
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, big man Precious Achiuwa, and shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. did not practice on Thursday and are questionable Friday in a winnable game against the rebuilding Pistons, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Grange observes (Twitter link) that Barnes is exercising caution with his ailing left wrist. Achiuwa is dealing with a hamstring injury, while Trent has an elbow ailment.
When Danilo Gallinari tore his ACL six months ago, the injury was considered very likely to end his season. Though it remains a long shot, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston writes that the Celtics forward continues to keep the door ajar for a potential return for the postseason. “Playoffs, it’s still in my head,” Gallinari said. “A lot of steps that need to be done before you play an actual game. And even maybe after all those steps, you are not ready for a playoff game because when you don’t play the whole season and then be ready to play a playoff game is not easy for anybody, not just body-wise but mentally-wise. But like I said, it might happen. So we’ll see.”

Michigan’s Jett Howard Declaring For 2023 NBA Draft

March 23rd, 2023 at 5:22pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Freshman Michigan guard Jett Howard has informed Jonathan Givony of ESPN that he intends to declare for the 2023 NBA draft.

Howard, currently recovering from injuries to both his ankles for the next month, is projected as the No. 15 prospect in Givony’s latest mock draft.

“This was a great learning year for me,” Howard told Givony. “It’s what I needed. It taught me how to play within a pro-style offense and be effective, to get out of my comfort zone, and play with other good players.”

The 6’8″ swingman was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team and All-Freshman Team. Givony adds that, before his ankle ailments, Howard had been considered a possible top-10 selection in this year’s draft. Across 29 games in 2022/23, all starts, he posted averages of 14.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.0 APG and 0.7 BPG.

“I’ve had both ankles nagging for a while, so my dad [Michigan head coach and former All-Star big man Juwan Howard] and the coaching staff agreed with the specialist that it’s better for me to get to 100%,” Howard said. “I was only 50-60% [healthy] for most of the Big Ten. My dad being the coach, he is was looking out for me and wanted the best for my health. He understands that ankles are tricky. I met with a specialist after the Big Ten tournament and they wanted me to rehab for four to five weeks.”

Warriors’ Gary Payton II Could Return Sunday

March 23rd, 2023 at 3:27pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors guard Gary Payton II has been making “good progress” in his recovery from a right adductor injury and has “intensified” his on-court activity over the past week. He’s expected to practice on Saturday, at which point his status will be determined for Sunday’s game against the Wolves, Golden State announced (via Twitter).

Payton has yet to play for the Warriors in 2022/23 after they acquired him in a trade just before last month’s deadline. He had started for the Trail Blazers the night before the deal, but the Warriors failed his physical, putting the trade in jeopardy. They ultimately went through with the deal after exploring their options for a few days.

The 30-year-old was slow to recover from offseason adductor surgery, as he didn’t make his debut with Portland until January, 36 games into the season. Once he returned, he only exceeded 20 minutes played three times, and missed an additional five contests.

Payton, who played a key role in helping the Warriors win the championship last year, signed a three-year, $26.1MM contract with the Blazers in free agency last summer. In 15 games this season (17.0 MPG), he averaged 4.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG and 1.1 SPG on .585/.529/1.000 shooting.

Rockets Sign D.J. Augustin For Rest Of Season

March 23rd, 2023 at 3:24pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 23: The Rockets have officially signed Augustin for the remainder of the season, the team announced today (via Twitter).

MARCH 22: The Rockets are signing free agent point guard D.J. Augustin for the rest of the season, agent Raymond Brothers tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). It will be a minimum-salary contract, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

It will be Augustin’s second stint with the Rockets. He was acquired by Houston in a March 2021 trade and spent nearly a year with the organization before being waived in February 2022 at the trade deadline. He finished last season with the Lakers, but has been out of the NBA so far in 2022/23.

A reliable backup point guard for much of his career, Augustin has averaged 9.5 points and 3.9 assists per game in 976 career regular season appearances (23.4 MPG). At age 35, he may not have a whole lot left in the tank, but the Rockets are presumably adding him to their roster to serve as a veteran mentor for their young players rather than expecting him to play big minutes down the stretch.

The Rockets have two openings on their standard 15-man roster, so no corresponding moves will be necessary to make room for Augustin.

In fact, since it has nearly been two weeks since Willie Cauley-Stein‘s 10-day contract with Houston expired, the team was just about due for a mandatory roster move in order to get back to the NBA minimum of 14 players on standard contracts. Teams can only dip below that minimum for up to two weeks at a time.

Augustin’s exact rest-of-season salary will depend on when he officially signs his contract, but he’ll earn $16,700 per day.

Bucks Notes: Lopez, Top Seed, Thanasis, Mamukelashvili, Ingles

March 23rd, 2023 at 2:47pm CST by Rory Maher

Brook Lopez showed why he’s so valuable to the Bucks during Sunday’s victory over Toronto, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. The veteran center finished with a strong stat line — a team-high 26 points (on 9-of-15 shooting), five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in 31 minutes.

What those numbers don’t show is that he completely dominated the fourth quarter. With Giannis Antetokounmpo facing consistent double-teams, Lopez made timely cuts, drives and finishes around the hoop, finishing with more points (17) than the Raptors (16) in the final frame, Nehm writes.

As Nehm details, Lopez’s offensive arsenal has continually evolved since he joined Milwaukee five years ago. He’s averaging 15.6 points (highest total in six years), while shooting 52.1% from the field (highest FG% in nine years) and a career-best 37.7% from three-point range.

Lopez, who is making $13.9MM in the final year of his contract, is also a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, posting a career high 2.5 blocks per game for the NBA’s top team.

Here’s more on the Bucks:

At 52-20, the Bucks hold a 2.5-game lead on the Celtics for the best record in the NBA. Are they gunning for the No. 1 overall seed entering the playoffs? “I think we want it,” guard Grayson Allen said, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I think we want the one seed. Even like after All-Star break it’s been super close between really the top three teams in the East, so, it’s not something we obsess about – we’re not checking it every day, every game – but I think we’re definitely aware of it. I know as a group, I know we want the one seed.” According to Owczarski, Antetokounmpo said that if he had to pick between the Bucks being healthy or the top seed, he would choose health, but since it’s within reach, they “should take the spot” to get home-court advantage throughout the postseason.
Reserve forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo was away from the team for five days, including a couple games, while dealing with a personal matter, but he has rejoined the Bucks, Owczarski writes in another story. Guard Goran Dragic has yet to make his Bucks debut due to knee soreness, and forward Jae Crowder has missed the past three games with left calf soreness. When asked if they could return on the upcoming three-game road trip, head coach Mike Budenholzer said it was still up in the air. “I think it’s right on the window of possibility,” Budenholzer said. “There’s a chance they’re not available, but there is a chance that they are. They’re working, both of them hard, making good progress. We’ll just see how it goes during that stretch.”
Budenholzer said it was tough to part with Sandro Mamukelashvili at the beginning of the month, but the team believed it was the “right thing” for the big man’s career, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “He is a good player,” Budenholzer said before Thursday’s matchup with the Spurs. “I hope he is terrible tonight, but generally he is great. And we are great fans of the human. He is a great person.” The Spurs claimed the second-year forward/center off waivers after he was released by Milwaukee and converted his two-way contract to a standard rest-of-season deal.
Forward Joe Ingles recently shared some thoughts on how he’s approaching his return to Utah to face the Jazz on Friday night, his longtime former club, notes Gabe Stoltz of BrewHoop (via Twitter).

Optimism LeBron James Could Return Before Regular Season Ends

March 23rd, 2023 at 1:48pm CST by Rory Maher

1:48pm: James sent out a tweet saying he was not reevaluated today and there’s no target date for his return. He added that he’s “working around the clock” to give himself the “best chance of coming back full strength,” whenever that might be. However, he did not dispute that he was optimistic about returning before the regular season ends.

12:46pm: The Lakers announced on Thursday that LeBron James has started on-court work, but there’s no specific timeline for his return (Twitter link via Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times).

However, according to reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, and Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (All Twitter links), James is optimistic he could return in the final week of the regular season and play a few games. Head coach Darvin Ham previously said the Lakers expected James to return before the season ended.

As Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group notes (via Twitter), the Lakers play at Houston and at the Clippers on April 4 and 5, followed by home games against the Suns and Jazz on April 7 and 9. Goon believes the final three games are logic target dates for James, as they’re all in Los Angeles.

James last played on February 26 against Dallas after sustaining a foot injury. On March 2, he was diagnosed with a tendon injury in his right foot and was scheduled to be reevaluated in three weeks, hence today’s update.

Bolstered by trade deadline additions and strong play from Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, among others, the Lakers have gone 7-5 since James went down with the injury. They’re currently 36-37, the No. 10 seed in the West, but the standings remain extremely tight — only one game separates the Nos. 7-12 seeds.

Getting the team’s leading scorer, second-leading rebounder and top assist man back would obviously be beneficial for the Lakers in their effort to make the playoffs. James, 38, has been limited to 47 games this season, but continues to play at a very high level, averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 36.1 minutes per night

Lakers Notes: Reaves, Russell, LeBron, Davis, M. Leonard

March 23rd, 2023 at 12:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

After scoring a career-high 35 points Sunday night, Austin Reaves was rewarded with a spot in the Lakers‘ starting lineup, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. With two days off between games, coach Darvin Ham and his staff had time to prepare Reaves for starting duties as he took the place of Malik Beasley. Woike notes that it’s Ham’s first change to the starting unit since the trade deadline that wasn’t forced by injuries.

Reaves delivered 25 points and a career-best 11 assists in his first start since January 4 as the Lakers topped the Suns to move into a tie for ninth in the Western Conference playoff race.

“It’s going to be hectic,” Reaves said of the competition for postseason spots. “But this is why you play the game. You want high-pressure moments and you really want to play under the lights.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

D’Angelo Russell says he’s “at peace” after returning to the Lakers in a trade last month, but he’ll also be able to adjust if his long-term future isn’t in L.A., according to Helene Elliott of The Los Angeles Times. Russell, who has provided a scoring spark, topped 25 points Wednesday for the fourth time in his 11 games with the team. He’s enjoying the chance to display how much he has grown as a player and a person since L.A. drafted him in 2015, but he also knows more change could be coming in a few months. “I’m a free agent this summer. I’ve been traded midseason, so to get comfortable somewhere it’s not easy for me,” he said. “So, until I am, I won’t be comfortable. I won’t feel like it’s home.”
LeBron James will have his right foot tendon injury reevaluated this week, but there’s still no set timetable for him to return, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Ham believes the team is benefiting by responding to challenges with James sidelined. “Bron, with him being out, it’s revealed that we have a lot of different weapons that are very capable players on both sides of the ball that can help us achieve the goal we’re trying to achieve,” he said. “And when he comes back, he’s just going to add to it.”
Buha notes that the medical staff still considers the right foot stress condition that caused Anthony Davis to miss 20 games earlier this season to be an “active injury,” and it hasn’t been decided whether he’ll play in both games of the team’s lone remaining back-to-back on April 4 and 5.
Sources tell Buha that the Lakers were interested in signing Meyers Leonard, who worked out with them in January, before he joined the Bucks. L.A. is opting to keep its open roster spot for now after workouts with Tristan Thompson and Tony Bradley earlier this week.

Pistons Sign Eugene Omoruyi

March 23rd, 2023 at 11:10am CST by Rory Maher

The Pistons have signed second-year forward Eugene Omoruyi to a contract that covers at least the rest of the 2022/23 season, the team announced.

The 26-year-old just completed his second 10-day deal with Detroit, and the Pistons decided to keep him around. Head coach Dwane Casey and center James Wiseman praised Omoruyi for his drive, energy and defense in recent weeks.

The former Oregon standout was on a two-way contract with the Thunder earlier this season until being promoted to Oklahoma City’s standard roster after last month’s trade deadline. However, he was cut in late February in order to make room for Lindy Waters on OKC’s 15-man squad.

Omoruyi appeared in 23 games with the Thunder, averaging 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds on .468/.258/.607 shooting in 11.8 minutes per night. In 10 games with the Pistons, he’s averaging 8.8 points and 3.6 rebounds on .455/.231/.750 shooting in 21.3 minutes per contest.

We’ll have to wait for more details to see whether Omoruyi’s new contract only covers the rest of the season or is a multiyear deal. Either way, the Pistons had a roster opening after his second 10-day contract expired, so they didn’t have to release anyone to bring him back.