Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today. Click here to view the transcript.
Our weekly chats will now take place at 2:00 pm CT on Tuesdays (with Dana Gauruder) and at 10:00 am on Thursdays (with me).
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today. Click here to view the transcript.
Our weekly chats will now take place at 2:00 pm CT on Tuesdays (with Dana Gauruder) and at 10:00 am on Thursdays (with me).
Joe Mazzulla is officially the head coach of the Celtics, with the interim tag now removed from his job title, the team announced (via Twitter). Mazzulla also received a contract extension, although terms of the deal weren’t released.
“As he has shown, Joe is a very talented coach and leader,” said president of basketball operations Brad Stevens. “He has a unique ability to galvanize a room around a mission. We are thankful for the work he has done to help get us to this point, and excited that he has agreed to lead us into the future.”
Mazzulla took over when Ime Udoka was suspended in September following an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Mazzulla has guided the Celtics to a league-best 41-17 record, winning Coach of the Month honors for October and November, and will coach Team Giannis in this weekend’s All-Star Game.
The team’s official announcement acknowledges that Mazzulla replaces Udoka, who led Boston to a 51-31 mark and an NBA Finals appearance in his only season at the helm.
Despite the circumstances that led to his dismissal, Udoka is expected to be a strong candidate for any head coaching jobs that open up after this season, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
Mazzulla, 34, joined the Celtics staff as an assistant in 2019. After playing college basketball at West Virginia, he held coaching jobs in the NCAA and with Boston’s G League affiliate.
The Cavaliers and Danny Green had some discussions when he reached free agency in 2021, but Cleveland was coming off a 22-50 season at that time and Green – focused on contending – ended up signing a two-year deal with the Sixers, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). After signing with the Cavs on Wednesday, Green reflected on that decision and observed that the club’s outlook has changed substantially in the last two years.
“That was before we knew how good they could be,” Green said. “They have grown since then. I wouldn’t say we kept in touch, but I’ve always been watching them and what they’ve been doing.”
As Fedor writes, Green received interest from the Suns, Celtics, and Lakers upon reaching a buyout agreement with Houston following last week’s trade deadline. He ultimately chose the Cavaliers, who offered him $2MM for the rest of the season but gave him no assurances about playing time, per Fedor.
“The atmosphere, the culture seems to be really great,” Green said, explaining why he signed with the Cavs. “They’re doing some good things. They had an opportunity to make it happen and they were the most interested, which made it seem like it was a good fit and good spot. A team that really wanted me, needed me.
“Good opportunity to probably get some minutes on the floor with a team that’s going to be in the playoffs. That was a big emphasis for me. They are one of the teams that fit that category. They haven’t let me down yet. It’s still early, but it’s a great fit so far and culture is great.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
Longtime Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love is working toward a buyout agreement with the team, sources inform Shams Charania and Jason Lloyd of The Athletic.
Love is currently making $28.9MM in the final season of a four-year, $120MM contract extension he signed with the team in 2018. The deal kicked in the following season.
According to The Athletic’s writers, the Heat are already said to be interested in procuring Love’s services. Given Miami’s issues with floor spacing and its lack of traditionally sized power forwards, this would feel like a natural fit.
The 34-year-old big man has been with the Cavaliers since he was traded to the club by the Timberwolves ahead of the 2014/15 NBA season.
Love, a five-time All-Star, won a title in Cleveland in 2016 alongside All-Stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. As Charania and Lloyd note, the former No. 5 pick out of UCLA was the only remaining player from that title team who was part of the exciting ’22/23 club that is currently the fourth seed in the East.
The 6’10” vet had fallen out of Cleveland rotation last month around the same time Dean Wade returned from a shoulder injury. Love played what could be his last game for the team on January 24, a 105-103 loss to the Knicks.
Even before that, Love had taken more of a backseat to Cleveland’s starting frontcourt tandem of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen this season. 6’7″ Cedi Osman has taken on more minutes as the team’s de facto reserve power forward of late.
Across 41 games while still in the team’s rotation, Love posted averages of 8.5 PPG and 6.8 RPG, with shooting splits of .389/.354/.889.
The Grizzlies reportedly offered four first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, but he wasn’t the only new Nets addition that drew interest from rival teams. Sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber link) that “multiple teams offered two firsts” for Dorian Finney-Smith, who was acquired from Dallas in the Kyrie Irving trade.
A strong, versatile defensive player and solid three-point shooter (36% career), Finney-Smith is in the first year of a four-year, $55.6MM extension, so he’s under contract long term (the final year is a player option for $15.4MM).
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
The Lakers acquired D’Angelo Russell from Minnesota last week as part of a three-team blockbuster trade that also sent Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt to Los Angeles.
Russell is playing on a $31.38MM expiring contract and could hit free agency this summer. However, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on NBA Countdown (YouTube link) that there’s mutual interest between Russell and the Lakers in discussing a contract extension.
Based on Wojnarowski’s wording, those conversations have yet to begin, but there’s an expectation the two sides will come together in the coming weeks and months.
The Lakers don’t view Russell as a mere rental player, with Wojnarowski noting that they gave up their 2027 first-round pick (top-four protected) and a couple of second-rounders as part of the deal. There’s hope that the 26-year-old could be a “solution at that point guard position,” Wojnarowski said.
Russell is having a strong year from an efficiency standpoint, posting a .465/.387/.853 shooting slash line for a career-high .601 true shooting percentage. Through 56 games (32.9 MPG) with the Wolves and Lakers, he’s averaging 17.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 6.1 APG and 1.1 SPG.
In other Lakers-related news, LeBron James (foot/ankle) returned from a three-game absence on Wednesday, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Head coach Darvin Ham used a new starting lineup featuring Russell, Beasley, James, Vanderbilt and Anthony Davis.
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving was a late addition to Wednesday’s injury report due to low back tightness. He was first listed as questionable, but was downgraded to out a couple hours later (Twitter links).
Wednesday is Dallas’ final game before the All-Star break, as the team won’t play again until February 23. However, Irving was voted to the All-Star team for the eighth time last month — it’s unclear if the back issue will prevent him from suiting up for the exhibition event.
Christian Wood also saw his name pop up on the injury report due to an illness. He was originally considered a game-time decision, but he’ll be active tonight in Denver, the Mavs announced (via Twitter).
Here’s more from the Southwest:
After being traded from the Lakers last week, former league MVP Russell Westbrook is currently away from the Jazz as he explores his options on the buyout market. Utah has granted Westbrook permission to speak with teams that might be interested in his services, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said on NBA Countdown (YouTube link).
While the Bulls, Clippers and Heat have previously been mentioned as possibilities, Wojnarowski reports that Westbrook has also spoken to the Wizards.
Westbrook helped lead the Wizards to the playoffs a couple years ago prior to getting traded to Los Angeles. In 65 games (36.4 MPG) with the Wizards in 2020/21, he averaged a triple-double, posting 22.2 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 11.7 APG and 1.4 SPG on .439/.315/.656 shooting splits.
He only spent one season in Washington D.C., but Westbrook is familiar with several players on the Wizards’ roster and shares an agent (Jeff Schwartz) with Kristaps Porzingis.
As Woj explains, Westbrook and his potential suitors have been trying to figure out “what a potential fit might look like, what a role might look.” There’s also a chance that Westbrook could opt to sit out the rest of the season and enter unrestricted free agency this summer, according to Wojnarowski.
In 52 games (28.7 MPG) with the Lakers in ’22/23, all but three as a reserve, Westbrook averaged 15.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 7.5 APG and 1.0 SPG on .417/.296/.655 shooting.
Every team in the Western Conference was involved in at least one trade prior to last week’s deadline. With so much activity and the standings so jumbled together (except at the top and bottom), now is a good time to take stock of where things currently stand out West for the teams that have a chance at making the postseason.
Phoenix made the biggest splash, trading for superstar forward Durant (MCL sprain), who won’t make his Suns debut until after the All-Star break. The Mavericks got a second star to pair with Luka Doncic in Irving, though he can be mercurial. The Clippers bolstered their guard depth and added a traditional backup center in Plumlee.
Golden State dealt away its former second overall pick and brought back a familiar face to try and defend its title, but discovered that Payton was injured and will miss a significant amount of time. The Wolves swapped out point guards, preferring Conley’s veteran leadership and additional year of team control to Russell’s expiring deal.
The Lakers completely reshaped their roster, but with only 24 games remaining, they’re running out of time to make up ground in the standings. The Jazz were a seller, but they have exceeded expectations all season and hold a half-game lead on the Blazers and Thunder for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
The top three seeds were all relatively quiet at the deadline, particularly the Kings, who only made one very minor trade. It’s understandable why the Nuggets and Grizzlies were confident in their teams, given their respective places in the standings.
After starting the season 14-10, the Nuggets have gone 26-8 over their past 34 games. They hold a five-game lead over Memphis for the top seed in the West and currently have a 26-4 home record in 2022/23 — home court advantage could be a big deal for Denver in the playoffs.
We want to know what you think. Which team will represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your predictions.
FEBRUARY 15: Holiday’s new contract with the Mavericks is official, the team announced (via Twitter).
FEBRUARY 13, 9:05pm: Holiday has officially been waived by the Rockets, according to the NBA transactions log.
FEBRUARY 13, 12:17pm: Veteran swingman Justin Holiday has reached a buyout agreement with the Rockets and intends to sign with the Mavericks after he clears waivers, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Marc Stein reported Sunday evening (via Twitter) that the Mavs would be interested in Holiday if he was bought out by Houston. Dallas was also reportedly interested in Terrence Ross, who plans to sign with the Suns after being bought out by Orlando. However, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Holiday was the Mavs’ top potential buyout target (Twitter link).
Holiday, 34, was sent to Houston from Atlanta as part of a cost-cutting trade by the Hawks. Now in his 10th season, Holiday didn’t get much playing time with Atlanta in 2022/23, making 28 appearances while averaging 4.5 points in 14.7 minutes per game.
A report after the trade indicated that the Rockets were interested in keeping Holiday around, perhaps even beyond this season. Obviously that didn’t work out, with Holiday spotted having an extended conversation with coach Stephen Silas during Monday’s shootaround (Twitter link via Kelly Iko of The Athletic).
The Mavs dealt away Dorian Finney-Smith as part of the Kyrie Irving trade, so Holiday will provide some additional depth on the wing. Dallas technically has a full 15-man roster, but big man Chris Silva is only on a 10-day deal — if Dallas wants to sign Holiday before the All-Star break, Silva’s contract would likely be ended early to make room for the newcomer.