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California Notes: Mann, Kawhi, PG, Green, Russell

March 9th, 2023 at 5:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers reserve guard Terance Mann is adjusting to his new gig behind starting point guard Russell Westbrook, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Having replaced Reggie Jackson, Mann had been the team’s starter at the point until Westbrook joined the club.

“It’s all right,” Mann said of the change. “Kind of reminds me of the position I had (before). I think I’ve been here before earlier in the year. Same sort of role if I can recall. But it’s been going all right. Just figuring it out. New unit. New voices out there. Different looks. So just sifting it out, sifting through it.

“… You know, they just want me to go out there and bring energy,” Mann continued. “I think I can do a way better job defensively than I had been doing. But just bring energy on the offensive. Make shots and play defense. And I think that’s going to be my role on this team, from here on out.”

There’s more out of California:

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue is counting on star wings Paul George and Kawhi Leonard to help the team hone its defense in the home stretch of the season, says Law Murray of The Athletic. “The last two days, we challenged our team to be better defensively, and I thought tonight with [George] setting the tone early, I just thought our defense tonight was really good,” Lue said. “I thought we really got into the ball. We were physical… I thought PG and Kawhi really set the tone early, and everyone else I thought was really good defensively.”
Ahead of Wednesday’s Golden State/Memphis game, Warriors forward Draymond Green took to his podcast via The Volume and launched into a lengthy tirade against Grizzlies small forward Dillon Brooks, who had previously talked derisively about Green, writes Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “This idiot said, ‘I don’t know what Draymond does out there, I just don’t like Golden State,'” Green said said. “I, quite frankly, wouldn’t like a team that beats me all the time, either.”
Lakers starting point guard D’Angelo Russell is expected to return to action on Friday for the team’s game against the Raptors, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). McMenamin adds that Russell will immediately move ahead of Dennis Schröder, who had been starting while D-Lo was hurt.

Isaiah Stewart Likely Out For Season With Shoulder Injury

March 9th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Rory Maher

An MRI on Tuesday revealed that Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart has a left shoulder impingement, Detroit announced. He will continue to rehabilitate the injury and will be reevaluated in three-to-four weeks, per the team.

Stewart initially injured the shoulder in January, causing him to miss a handful of games. He has been sidelined since February 25 due to a separate injury (right hip soreness).

With the worst record in the NBA (15-51) and only 16 games remaining on their schedule, there’s little reason to believe the Pistons will rush Stewart back to play again this season. He joins Hamidou Diallo and Bojan Bogdanovic as Pistons who might miss the rest of the season.

Through 50 games, including 47 starts, Stewart averaged a career-high 11.3 PPG, 8.1 RPG, and 1.4 APG on .442/.327/.738 shooting. The primary reason his FG% is down compared to the previous two seasons is that he expanded his offensive repertoire, as he attempted nearly as many threes as twos in ’22/23.

Stewart also slid down to power forward for a significant chunk of his playing time this season, which was a big change. He had played center almost exclusively in his first two seasons.

Still just 21 years old, the former 16th overall pick will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason. While Stewart is sidelined, Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman should continue to see plenty of playing time, at least until rookie center Jalen Duren returns from his own injury (bilateral ankle soreness).

Doncic’s MRI Clean, Expected Back Once Pain Dissipates

March 9th, 2023 at 2:37pm CST by Rory Maher

The MRI on Luka Doncic‘s left thigh strain came back clean, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The Mavericks star is expected to return to action once the pain in his thigh dissipates, Wojnarowski adds.

Doncic left Wednesday’s loss to New Orleans with the injury. He was favoring his left leg as he walked into a post-game media session and replied “not good” when reporters asked how he felt.

The 24-year-old MVP candidate said he had been dealing with pain in his thigh for about a week.

“I think we all can see he’s not moving well, so shooting, defensive, it’s affecting everything,” coach Jason Kidd said after yesterday’s game. “He’s trying to fight through it and help his teammates, but he had to leave.”

Through 57 games (36.3 MPG), Doncic is putting up incredible stats. He’s averaging a career-high 33.0 PPG (second in the league), 8.6 RPG, 8.0 APG and 1.5 SPG on .500/.349/.736 shooting splits.

Hopefully the pain from the injury goes away sooner rather than later, as Dallas is vying for a playoff spot. The Mavs currently hold a 34-33 record, making them the No. 8 seed in the West.

Lakers’ Mo Bamba Out At Least Four Weeks With Ankle Sprain

March 9th, 2023 at 2:13pm CST by Rory Maher

Backup center Mohamed Bamba has sustained a high left ankle sprain and will be reevaluated in about four weeks, the Lakers announced (Twitter link via Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times).

Bamba only played two minutes in Sunday’s victory over Golden State and was out for Tuesday’s win against Memphis.

There’s a good chance that Bamba could miss the rest of the regular season. If he came back in exactly four weeks, which seems unlikely given he’d almost certainly need some time to ramp up his conditioning, the Lakers would have just two regular season games left on their schedule, home contests against Phoenix and Utah.

A trade deadline acquisition from Orlando, the 24-year-old has averaged 4.4 PPG and 5.3 RPG in seven games (11.6 MPG) with the Lakers, posting a .417/.333/.545 shooting line. In 40 games (17.0 MPG) with the Magic this season, he averaged 7.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 1.0 BPG on .495/.398/.686 shooting.

The No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 draft, Bamba signed a two-year, $20.6MM contract last offseason after posting career highs in multiple categories in ’21/22. However, he was third on Orlando’s center depth chart for most of ’22/23 and his salary for next season is non-guaranteed.

Bamba’s injury further depletes the Lakers’ frontcourt depth, as LeBron James is also sidelined with a foot injury. With both players out, Anthony Davis, Troy Brown, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Wenyen Gabriel should continue to see the bulk of the minutes at forward and center.

The Lakers do have an opening on their 15-man standard roster, so they could sign someone without making a corresponding roster move. Los Angeles is currently 32-34, the No. 9 seed in the West.

Celtics Notes: G. Williams, Brown, Pritchard, Davison

March 9th, 2023 at 1:42pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics forward Grant Williams has been playing through a ligament strain in his right (shooting) elbow that has been exacerbated by muscle inflammation in the surrounding area, league sources tell Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Williams has been wearing a sleeve on his elbow since February 12, Weiss writes, which is around the time he sustained the injury.

According to Weiss, Williams was unable to lift heavy weights for a few weeks, though he was able to resume that activity prior to aggravating the injury in practice over the weekend. The former first-round pick has been dealing with pain when he turns or grabs with his right hand, sources tell Weiss.

Williams’ injury may be one reason why he’s been in a shooting slump, as he posted a .333/.325/.737 shooting line in February, far below his season-long splits of .455/.404/.804. As Weiss notes, his playing time has been cut back as well, with trade deadline addition Mike Muscala and second-year forward Sam Hauser both competing with Williams for minutes.

However, Weiss says Williams didn’t blame the elbow injury for missing both free throws in a tie game at the end of regulation on Monday in Cleveland, when one make would have sealed the win. Boston eventually lost in overtime.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Williams hasn’t always been known for his shooting ability. In an interesting article for The Athletic, Weiss writes that assistant coach Ben Sullivan, who previously worked with Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, helped instill confidence in Williams, something he admits he’s struggled with since he’s been dealing with the injury because he doesn’t think of himself as a natural shooter. Williams provides more insight on the injury and says he’s been receiving cortisone treatments, which have helped with the elbow discomfort. “Shot’s feeling good, medicine helps, so it’s just a matter of continuing to be confident and continuing to shoot the way I am,” Williams said, per Weiss. “From now on, it’s a matter of letting it go, let the shot fly, and think about everything after.”
Star wing Jaylen Brown says he’s grown weary of dealing with the mask he’s been wearing after suffering a facial fracture last month. “I’m kind of tired of the mask, to be honest,” he said (Twitter link via Weiss). “I know it looks cool. But sometimes it’s hard to breathe. It kind of limits your vision at times depending on the lighting and depth perception. But y’all don’t want to hear none of that, that’s something like excuses.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla says reserve guard Payton Pritchard could miss the team’s upcoming six-game road trip, which ends March 21 in Sacramento, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Pritchard sustained a left heel injury at the end of regulation in Monday’s game when he missed a contested driving layup. Rookie guard JD Davison, who is on a two-way contract, may stay with the Celtics to provide depth, Washburn adds.
In case you missed it, the Celtics still have an opening on their standard roster, and they’re also involved in an intriguing second-round subplot that depends on where Houston finishes in the standings.

Trade Breakdown: Dario Saric To The Thunder

March 9th, 2023 at 12:00pm CST by Rory Maher

This is the sixth entry in our series breaking down the significant trades of the 2022/23 season. As opposed to giving out grades, this series explores why the teams were motivated to make the moves. Let’s dive into a deal between the Suns and Thunder…

On February 9, the Thunder traded forward/center Darius Bazley to the Suns in exchange for forward/center Dario Saric, Phoenix’s 2029 second-round pick and $1MM in cash.

The Thunder’s perspective:

On the surface, this seems like a pretty minor trade that got lost in the shuffle a bit due to all the blockbusters leading up to the deadline. That said, I thought it was interesting for a number of different reasons.

As our Luke Adams explains in our glossary entry on traded player exceptions, even though this seems like a straightforward one-for-one swap, this was actually a non-simultaneous deal for both the Thunder and the Suns, making it mutually beneficial.

A non-simultaneous deal means a team can trade away a single player without immediately taking salary back in return, allowing it to create an outstanding trade exception.

This deal showed the value of having a large ($10,183,800) outstanding traded player exception, which permitted the Thunder to take on Saric’s $9,240,000 contract for “nothing.” That also allowed them to generate a new TPE, worth $4,264,629, which is what Bazley is making this season.

The Suns created their own TPE because they only traded one player and took back less salary than they sent out. It’s worth $4,975,371, which is the difference between Saric’s salary and Bazley’s. Both teams will have until next February to use their new TPEs.

There are plenty of examples of large TPEs not being used at all. Often that has to do with the team’s proximity to the luxury tax and its willingness (or lack thereof) to pay a huge chunk of cash for what could amount to a rental player (many players involved in deadline deals are on expiring or pseudo-expiring contracts — both Saric and Bazley could hit free agency this summer, for example).

The Thunder were in the sweet spot of being over the cap but far enough below the luxury tax line that they could use their large TPE to create an additional asset of sorts to possibly create future value. It also netted them a second-round pick and a little cash, since the Suns were motivated to move off Saric’s contract.

Cap aspects aside, when it was first announced, my first thought was to wonder if Saric might reach a buyout agreement or get waived, even though the Thunder were (and still are) in the play-in race. A handful of days after the deadline, it definitely sounded like he wasn’t going to pursue a buyout, praising the organization and saying he was “open-minded” about his potential role.

However, a report late last month indicated that he nearly was waived as Oklahoma City sought flexibility with its last roster spot, instead choosing to release Eugene Omoruyi.

My second thought was, wait, did the Thunder just make an on-court upgrade and get draft capital back? That very rarely happens.

That’s not to say the Thunder made a win-now move, far from it. The primary objective was landing the second-round pick and creating a new TPE. Saric is on an expiring contract and I’m sure the Thunder’s front office wouldn’t mind if they missed the postseason, though they haven’t shown any signs of blatantly tanking to this point.

He may not be a household name, but Saric is an accomplished player, providing solid value with all three of his previous clubs (he started with Philadelphia and was traded to Minnesota in the Jimmy Butler deal back in ‘18/19). He holds career averages of 11.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 1.9 APG on .443/.360/.838 shooting in 402 games (217 starts, 24.0 MPG).

Saric missed all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals. He had a second surgery last May to repair a torn meniscus, making it an open question what his form would look like upon his return from two major knee surgeries.

He (understandably) had a very slow start to 2022/23, only appearing in 22 of Phoenix’s first 41 games with averages of 3.8 PPG and 2.8 RPG on .358/.351/.857 shooting in 11.6 MPG. That’s why I said his free agent stock was trending down when I wrote about him in January.

However, he was a rotation fixture in the 15 games (seven starts, 18.5 MPG) leading up to the deadline, averaging 8.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 2.3 APG on .485/.438/.800 shooting. Saric’s solid play has continued post-trade, as he’s averaging 10.1 PPG and 3.7 RPG on a scorching hot .627/.458/.889 shooting line through nine games with the Thunder (14.9 MPG).

The 28-year-old has an excellent feel for the game, using his high basketball IQ to overcome his relative lack of athleticism. He is a below-the-rim finisher, but has good touch and lots of tricks around the basket – he’s shooting 67.1% at the rim this season, which ranks in the 71st percentile, per DunksAndThrees.com.

The Thunder run a five-out offense where every player on the court is capable of dribbling, passing, screening and shooting. All of those are strengths of Saric’s.

He isn’t a great defensive player at either frontcourt position, and he’s undersized against some centers (he’s listed at 6’10” and 225 pounds). That said, he’s generally in the right spots, he just lacks the foot speed to stick on the perimeter and the length to protect the paint.

Oklahoma City has had a ton of draft picks over the past few years, and still has loads more in the future. Bazley was one that didn’t work out.

The No. 23 overall pick of the 2019 draft, Bazley entered the NBA as an excellent athlete with raw skills. He turned into a solid defensive player, but struggled mightily offensively.

I gained a newfound respect for Bazley as a person after I saw a video of him talking about his diminished playing time this season (he only appeared in 36 of 54 games for an average of 15.4 MPG). His team-first attitude and self-awareness were admirable.

While Bazley is certainly young and talented enough that he could develop elsewhere, he was viewed as unlikely to be in the Thunder’s long-term plans even if they had kept him through the deadline. The harsh reality is trades are part of the business.

The Suns’ perspective:

Phoenix’s primary, secondary and tertiary reasons for making this deal were financial. As Luke Adams details in our glossary entry, the NBA’s luxury tax is set up so that the penalties become increasingly punitive the further teams go beyond the tax line.

Trading Saric for Bazley saved the Suns approximately $20MM toward their estimated luxury tax payment. According to Eric Pincus of Sports Business Classroom, the Suns are currently $22,249,841 over the tax with an estimated luxury tax bill of $53,436,904. And that’s after this trade was made.

Saric started to pick up steam prior to the deadline, was a key contributor to the team’s culture, and played a role in its run to the Finals a couple years ago. Would he have provided $20MM worth of value for the remainder of this season? In the most optimistic scenarios, maybe? But probably not.

Trading for Kevin Durant means there won’t be many minutes at power forward in the playoffs. Ditto at center behind Deandre Ayton. The Suns still have several options to explore backing up those frontcourt spots, including Torrey Craig, T.J. Warren, Ish Wainright, Jock Landale, Bismack Biyombo and Bazley.

Maybe the Suns like Bazley as a defender and believe he has untapped upside on offense. He’s still just 22 years old. But he had also only appeared in one of a possible seven games (for seven minutes) entering Wednesday’s matchup with his former team.

In all likelihood, Bazley’s role will be minor going forward. As a championship hopeful, the Suns can’t really afford to play him when it counts, because opposing teams dare him to shoot and he’s only converting 50% at the rim, which is in the sixth percentile of all players, per DunksAndThrees.

Given Phoenix’s cap situation going forward, plus its window of contention and where Bazley is at in his development, the odds of him receiving a qualifying offer to become a restricted free agent seem slim. If that scenario plays out, he would instead become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

The $4,975,371 TPE the Suns created as part of the deal could be used to acquire a player who makes more than the minimum at some point in the future. Losing one second-round pick several years down the line isn’t a big deal, as a few are typically up for sale in every draft.

How far the Suns go in the postseason will ultimately be determined by their star players’ health. Obviously, Durant suffering an ankle sprain just three games after returning from a knee injury isn’t ideal, but they’ve still been on a roll lately, winning 16 of their past 21 games.

The Suns are betting they have enough depth behind Durant and Ayton that losing Saric won’t come back to bite them – a reasonable position, particularly considering how much money they saved by moving him.

Knicks Notes: Hart, Quickley, Toppin, Fournier, Barrett

March 9th, 2023 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Josh Hart appears open to a long-term contract with the Knicks, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype said in a discussion about the team with Ian Begley of SNY. Hart has been a perfect fit since being acquired from the Trail Blazers at the trade deadline, and he has quickly become a favorite of head coach Tom Thibodeau.

Hart has a $13MM player option for next season, but he’s expected to turn it down and test the market. Scotto said Hart enjoys being in New York and will likely get a three- or four-year offer from the team.

Begley adds that the Knicks wouldn’t have parted with a future first-round pick along with Cam Reddish unless they were confident that they could keep Hart. He notes that Hart has talked about his connections to team president Leon Rose as well as Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle and is looking for stability after being traded four times in his first six NBA seasons.

There’s more on the Knicks from Scotto and Begley:

Teams may have missed an opportunity by not trading for Immanuel Quickley earlier this season, per Scotto, who says there were rumors that New York would have taken a first-round pick in return. Quickley is now among the favorites for Sixth Man of the Year honors and may be in line for a rookie scale extension this summer. Begley suggests the Knicks’ offer will have to be “something significant” to get Quickley to accept, adding that he’s not likely to give them a “home team discount.”
Randle’s reemergence should make Obi Toppin a strong trade candidate, according to Scotto. The third-year power forward is playing just 14.6 minutes per game and will make $6.8MM next season. Begley states that the Knicks talked to several teams about Toppin before the deadline, including the Pacers, but no one was willing to offer the draft assets they wanted in return for the former lottery pick.
New York will also look for a taker for Evan Fournier, who will have a virtual $18.8MM expiring contract next season because there’s a team option for 2024/25. Fournier was brought up in trade talks with the Raptors involving OG Anunoby, but Toronto was asking for three first-round picks and the Knicks weren’t confident about re-signing Anunoby when he reaches free agency in 2024, Scotto says. The Lakers also had some interest in Fournier earlier in the season, Begley adds.
RJ Barrett hasn’t been in Thibodeau’s closing lineups recently, and Scotto believes the Knicks would be willing to use him as a trade chip if they chase a star player this summer.

Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 3/9/2023

March 9th, 2023 at 10:15am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today.

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

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Chats

Kevin Love: Leaving Cavaliers Was “Incredibly Hard”

March 9th, 2023 at 10:07am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Love ended his time with the Cavaliers after nearly nine seasons when he accepted a buyout last month, but leaving Cleveland wasn’t an easy choice, he tells Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Love, who signed with the Heat, talked about the decision to move on after facing his former team for the first time Wednesday night.

“Professionally, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do without question,” Love said. “I think you guys know how much I love Cleveland and Ohio. All the fans there have always supported me and the team. Naturally, winning there makes it bigger than guys like myself, Kyrie (Irving), Bron (LeBron James). Even here I look up and see the championship banners and I’m like, ‘That’s special.’ I go back to Brecksville and I’m like, ‘We did that. We really did that.’ That was incredibly hard to do after eight and a half seasons.”

Although Love still feels a strong attachment to Cleveland, he wanted to find a situation where he could still play. Love had been out of the Cavs’ lineup since January 24, missing several games due to lower back pain and then being pulled from the rotation when Dean Wade returned from injury.

Love wasn’t effective this season and it became harder for coach J.B. Bickerstaff to find minutes for him. The 34-year-old forward shot just 38.9% from the floor in 41 games and was a glaring liability on defense as rival teams targeted him in the pick-and-roll. A lingering thumb injury also limited his effectiveness.

“I think it was a really tough decision for him to take me out of the lineup,” Love said of Bickerstaff. “I think they wanted to go young and stick with those guys, especially Ricky (Rubio) and Dean getting back from injury. They wanted to get the guys more minutes. But the natural frustration is you want to be out there, you want to have those conversations in the locker room, you want to be in those timeouts, those type of situations.

“I think it like all came so fast for me and there wasn’t any prospect of me going back out there and playing — and I wanted that. I was hungry for that. I was foaming at the mouth for that. Those were really tough conversations, but those are ones that I’m grateful they had with me so I was able to find something else and find a place where I could be happy and play.”

According to Fedor, Love reached out to Wade after finalizing his buyout to let him know there was no animosity and to encourage him to take advantage of his opportunity. He also talked to Rubio, his teammate in Minnesota before they reunited in Clevland, about taking over as the team’s veteran leader.

Love remains close to his former teammates and is still on their group text chat, Fedor adds. He greeted several of them before Wednesday’s game and said it’s an odd feeling to see them on the opposing sideline.

Winding up in Miami was an unexpected development for Love, who was hoping to retire in Cleveland. Now he’s adjusting to a new team that could potentially meet the Cavs in a playoff series.

“That’s in my mind and my vision, I thought it would be Cleveland without a doubt, especially after last year and the start of this year,” Love said. “Now you’ve got to put that in the rearview. It is tough after eight and a half years, moving in the middle of the season and still living out of a hotel, but in terms of welcoming me with open arms and a class organization, the Miami Heat have been just unbelievable. I can see why they have that rich history and have had so much success because they have been so good to me.”

Steven Adams Out At Least Four More Weeks

March 9th, 2023 at 9:06am CST by Arthur Hill

Grizzlies center Steven Adams had a stem cell injection on Wednesday as part of his treatment for a PCL sprain in his right knee, the team announced (via Twitter). His condition will be reevaluated in about four weeks.

Adams hasn’t played since January 22, but there had been hope that he was nearing a return. He was doing 5-on-5 work in practice in late February, and coach Taylor Jenkins floated the possibility that he might be able to play on the team’s recent road trip, which wrapped up Tuesday.

With a month left in the regular season, it’s almost certain that Adams won’t be back before the playoffs. His availability for the postseason will depend on how his knee responds to the latest treatment.

The news on Adams continues a brutal week for the Grizzlies, who saw Ja Morant step away from the team for an indefinite time following a gun-related incident over the weekend and learned that Brandon Clarke will be lost for the season with a torn Achilles. That means Memphis, which has fallen into third place in the West after three straight losses, will have to finish the season without two of its frontcourt rotation players.

The Grizzlies’ recent downturn began after Adams suffered his injury. He’s averaging 8.6 points and 11.5 rebounds in 42 games and brings a physical presence in the middle that has been missed.

The 29-year-old agreed to a two-year extension before the start of the season and is under contract through 2024/25.

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