Antetokounmpo missed the final three games of the regular season due to an injury that the Bucks diagnosed as a left soleus (calf) strain. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Monday that there was some “real doubt” about Giannis’ ability to return for Game 1 this weekend, so Wojnarowski’s update today doesn’t come as a major surprise.
According to Woj, the Bucks are hopeful that treatment on Antetokounmpo’s calf strain will allow the two-time MVP to return sometime later in the series. He has been undergoing treatment “around the clock,” sources tell ESPN.
It’s a bit of déjà vu for the Bucks, who saw their superstar go down with a back injury in Game 1 of their first-round series vs. Miami a year ago. That injury cost Antetokounmpo two-and-a-half games of a series that the Heat ultimately won in five.
Milwaukee, which went 4-5 without Giannis this season, won’t want to put its franchise player at risk of a more serious injury by rushing him back too soon, but will want to do everything in its power to avoid a repeat of that 2023 scenario in this year’s playoffs.
Antetokounmpo is expected to show up on most MVP ballots this spring after averaging 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, and a career-high 6.5 assists in 35.2 minutes per game across 73 games for the Bucks. His 61.1% mark on field goal attempts this season also represented a career high.
Virginia forward Ryan Dunn has opted to enter the 2024 NBA draft following his sophomore season and suggested in a statement to Jonathan Givony of ESPN that he’s prepared to forgo his remaining college eligibility to go pro.
“I had an amazing two years at UVA,” Dunn said. “I’m focused on the next step in my life now. I got really good feedback from the NBA and am ready for the next level. I am all in.”
As Givony details, Dunn was considered one of the best defensive players in all of college basketball this past season, but his shot didn’t develop as NBA evaluators had hoped. The 6’8″ forward averaged just 8.1 points per game while making 7-of-35 three-pointers (20.0%) and 41-of-77 free throws (53.2%). He told ESPN that he plans to focus on improving his shooting during his workouts this spring.
Despite some shortcomings on offense, Dunn is still the No. 31 prospect on ESPN’s board and is viewed as a possible first-round pick after averaging 8.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 27.5 minutes per game as a full-time starter as a sophomore.
Meanwhile, Serbian wing Nikola Djurisic has also declared for the 2024 NBA draft, per agent Misko Raznatovic (Twitter link).
The No. 78 prospect on ESPN’s board, Djurisic has been under contract with Mega Basket in Serbia since 2020. The 20-year-old, who was named the ABA League Top Prospect a year ago, has averaged 14.4 PPG, 3.4 APG, and 2.8 RPG in 26 games (30.7 MPG) this season, with a shooting line of .454/.330/.739.
The rules governing eligibility for NCAA players don’t apply to international prospects, so Djurisic will have the option of removing his name from the draft anytime up until the NBA’s June 16 withdrawal deadline. He also tested the draft waters a year ago before pulling out in June.
With 11 of 12 roster spots reportedly locked in for USA Basketball’s 2024 Olympic roster, the program could go in a number of different directions with the 12th and final slot. The list of players in contention for that final roster spot includes plenty of big names, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard is currently viewed as the leading candidate.
Leonard hasn’t represented Team USA at the Olympics or a World Cup before, but has support from some of the stars on the roster, including Kevin Durant and LeBron James, says Charania. George won gold with Team USA in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, while Brunson, Banchero, and Bridges competed in the 2023 World Cup.
It’s possible that more than one player in that final group of candidates could ultimately make the cut if any of the top 11 have to drop out due to an injury or for personal reasons. Of course, Leonard is currently dealing with a nagging knee issue of his own, though there’s no indication at this point it would prevent him from playing in July.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
Danny Leroux of The Athletic takes a look at the NBA’s 2024 free agent class, evaluating what sort of stars, starters, and rotation players will be available. As Leroux observes, a handful of stars are on track for potential free agency, but few – if any – are good bets to change teams. That group includes LeBron James, Paul George, James Harden, Pascal Siakam, and Tyrese Maxey.
In an interview with Dean Sinovcic of Nacional.hr, former first-round pick Dzanan Musa, who spent two seasons in Brooklyn from 2018-20, didn’t rule out the possibility of returning to the NBA as early as this offseason, but said he’s focused for now on trying to win Liga ACB and EuroLeague titles with Real Madrid (hat tip to Sportando).
Sam Amick of The Athletic considers what’s at stake for each NBA head coach in the postseason, suggesting that the pressure will be on Joe Mazzulla (Celtics) to at least reach the NBA Finals. Jason Kidd (Mavericks), J.B. Bickerstaff (Cavaliers), and Darvin Ham (Lakers) are among the others who will be motivated to avoid early exits, Amick adds.
In a conversation about end-of-season awards, a panel of five ESPN experts weren’t in agreement on who should win Most Improved Player or Sixth Man of the Year. Three different players – Malik Monk, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Naz Reid – earned votes from the five-man panel for Sixth Man honors.
It has been a fiercely competitive race for the postseason in the Western Conference, where it took 50 wins to clinch a top-six seed while Sacramento and Golden State were unable to secure more than a spot in the lesser play-in game after racking up 46 victories.
The Rockets’ fate this season epitomizes just how tough the path to the playoffs was in the West — at 41-41, Houston didn’t come particularly close to earning a play-in spot, ending up five games behind the No. 10 seed. But the Rockets finished comfortably ahead of the East’s bottom two play-in teams, with a full five-game cushion over the No. 10 Hawks.
This is a roundabout way of saying that while two good teams will be sent home this week, we should be in store for a terrific week of play-in games in the Western Conference, starting with a pair of matchups on Tuesday that could go either way.
In the early game, the No. 7 Pelicans will host the No. 8 Lakers for the second time in three days. The results of Sunday’s contest weren’t particularly encouraging for the Pelicans, who could have clinched the No. 6 seed in the West with a victory, but trailed all afternoon en route to a 16-point loss.
It was the third time in four games this season that New Orleans lost to Los Angeles, and none of those games were particularly close. Back in December, the Pelicans were blown out by the Lakers by 44 points in an embarrassing performance on a national stage in the in-season tournament semifinal.
Still, this is a talented Pelicans team that did beat the Lakers by 20 points in the clubs’ other game in New Orleans at the end of December. The Pelicans were above-average on both ends of the courts this season, ranking 11th in offensive rating and sixth on defense for a +4.6 overall net rating that was the No. 6 mark in the NBA. By comparison, the Lakers were just 15th in offensive rating and 17th on defense, for an overall +0.6 net rating (No. 19 in the league).
The Pelicans also have the cleaner injury report for Tuesday’s game, with all of their players available. However, Brandon Ingram has only been back from a knee injury for one game and wasn’t at his best on Sunday — New Orleans was outscored by 28 points during his 23 minutes of action.
The Lakers, meanwhile, will be missing Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) and Christian Wood (knee), while Anthony Davis (back) and LeBron James (ankle) are listed as questionable and probable, respectively. While Davis and James have been banged up in recent weeks, they’ve been very effective when they’ve played, and it’s a safe bet they’ll be suiting up on Tuesday.
One interesting wrinkle in this No. 7 vs. 8 matchup is that the winner earns a date with the defending-champion Nuggets in round one, while the loser will host a do-or-die play-in game on Friday for the right to face the upstart Thunder. While Oklahoma City would be the more favorable matchup, it seems safe to assume neither team will get too cute with Tuesday’s game — no one’s tanking in the postseason, and a victory in a second play-in game is hardly assured.
The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag view the Pelicans/Lakers game as a toss-up, listing it as a straight pick-em. That’s not the case for the No. 9 vs. 10 game, where the visiting Warriors are 3.5-point favorites over the Kings in Sacramento.
Home underdogs aren’t especially common in the NBA playoffs, but it’s easy to understand why bettors would favor Golden State. The Warriors are an experienced, battle-tested club still headed by the core players – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green – who have led the franchise to four championships since 2015.
The Dubs also beat the Kings in the first round of last season’s playoffs as a lower seed and have been the hotter team as of late. Golden State enters Tuesday’s play-in game having won 10 of its last 12 games, whereas Sacramento has been reeling in recent weeks. Once well positioned to push for a top-six spot, the Kings lost seven of 11 contests to wrap up their season, with three of their four victories during that stretch coming against lottery teams.
The Warriors are the healthier of the two clubs too. They’re missing Gary Payton II due to a left calf strain, but have more than enough depth to make up for Payton’s absence. The Kings, on the other hand, have had a harder time compensating for their missing wings, Malik Monk (right knee sprain) and Kevin Huerter (left shoulder surgery).
While the fans in Sacramento will create a favorable (and loud) home environment for the Kings, the Warriors have looked like one of the conference’s best teams during the latter half of the season — their 27-14 second-half record and +5.5 net rating during those games both rank third in the West.
We want to know what you think. Will it be the Lakers or Pelicans punching their ticket to the playoffs tonight? Which of the Warriors and Kings will stay alive, and which will see their season end today?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your predictions!
April 15th, 2024 at 10:15pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez is set to become the Nets‘ new head coach for the 2024/25 NBA season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who hears that Fernandez is Brooklyn’s top choice and that the team is prepared to hire him.
Woj notes that Fernandez became Brooklyn’s preferred candidate following an exhaustively thorough search over the last month that reportedly included dozens of potential fits.
Fernandez, 41, was one of three finalists for the gig, along with 2021 championship-winning former Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and Suns assistant coach Kevin Young.
The Nets had begun looking for their long-term head coaching solution even prior to the end of the 2023/24 regular season, while the team was still under the tutelage of interim head coach Kevin Ollie, who stepped in after Brooklyn fired former head coach Jacque Vaughn in February. Ollie reportedly received consideration for the permanent job but wasn’t among Brooklyn’s finalists.
Fernandez, an assistant coach under Michael Malone on the Nuggets from 2016-22, has served on Mike Brown‘s Kings staff in the past two years. In 2023, during Brown and Fernandez’s first season with the franchise, Sacramento made the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons. Brown won Coach of the Year honors for the achievement.
Last summer, Fernandez served as the head coach of a starry Canadian national team to a bronze medal in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He’s expected to coach the Canadians again at this summer’s Olympics.
Fernandez has long been considered a future NBA head coach and interviewed with multiple teams last spring, including the Suns and Raptors.
Since he has been the Nets’ majority owner in 2019, Joe Tsai has already gone through three permanent head coaches. In that five-season span, Vaughn served as an interim head coach twice.
For what it’s worth, while it looks like Fernandez is on track to be hired by the Nets, the move isn’t official yet — that’s an important distinction, given how Brooklyn’s last head coaching search playedout. In that case, it looked like the club was poised to hire Ime Udoka before it pivoted and retained Vaughn.
8:57pm: The Pistons officially announced (via Twitter) that they’re planning to make front office changes and will hire a new head of basketball operations, who would work directly under team owner Tom Gores. Weaver and the current basketball operations executives will remain in their current positions while the search takes place, per the team.
3:05pm: The Pistons have decided they will hire a president of basketball operations, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the search process will begin this week.
Local reporters, including James L. Edwards III of The Athletic and Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press, had been suggesting this would happen. Prior to Charania’s report, Sankofa tweeted that the Pistons were expected to “formalize” their search for a president of basketball operations within the next day or so.
As Sankofa and Edwards have written, it doesn’t sound as if general manager Troy Weaver would be dismissed as a result of this change to the front office. However, it would certainly be a demotion for Weaver, who has functioned as the team’s head of basketball operations since being hired in 2020. Under the new structure, he would report to Detroit’s new president of basketball operations.
According to Sankofa (subscription required), the Pistons would likely want to fortify the front office with other executives who are either below Weaver in the hierarchy or on the same level. If Weaver and the Pistons aren’t on the same page with ownership’s plan to revamp its front office, it’s possible the two sides could go their separate ways, but it doesn’t appear that’s the plan for now.
It has been a dismal four years in Detroit since Weaver was hired away from the Thunder to replace Ed Stefanski atop the Pistons’ basketball operations department. The club hasn’t won more than 23 games in a season during that time, compiling an overall record of 74-244 (.233).
There was some hope entering the 2023/24 season that the team’s young core – including Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson, and Jaden Ivey – might be ready to take a step forward and get the Pistons into the play-in mix. Instead, the team finished dead last in the NBA with a 14-68 mark, setting a new league record for most consecutive losses in a single season (28).
While there have been no concrete reports yet on which candidates might receive consideration for the president of basketball operations position in Detroit, Edwards listed some ideas in his latest article for The Athletic, identifying Jon Horst (Bucks), John Hammond (Magic), Neil Olshey (formerly of the Trail Blazers), Bryson Graham (Pelicans), and Dwane Casey as possible fits.
Marc Stein (Twitter link) confirms that there’s a belief the Pistons will have interest in exploring the viability of hiring Horst away from Milwaukee.
Ulrich Chomche, an 18-year-old Cameroon center at the NBA Africa Academy, is entering the 2024 NBA draft, his agents at Klutch Sports tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
While Chomche is ranked 39th overall on ESPN’s list of this year’s top 100 prospects, that’s not necessarily the consensus. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic (Twitter link) says he didn’t get the impression at last week’s Hoop Summit that Chomche was “anywhere near ready” to enter for the NBA and says that many NBA evaluators had a similar take. Vecenie adds that the big man is No. 86 on his own big board.
The No. 40 prospect on ESPN’s board, French wing Pacome Dadiet, has also declared for the draft, agent Yann Balikouzou tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). The 18-year-old made 36% of his three-pointers while playing for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany’s top basketball league this past season, Givony notes.
Another draft prospect who spent the season overseas has announced his intentions to enter the 2024 draft, according to the Adelaide 36ers of Australia’s National Basketball League, who say (via Twitter) that 6’9″ wing Trentyn Flowers is declaring.
Flowers is an American prospect who spent his first professional season in Australia as part of the NBL’s Next Stars program. He’s the No. 77 prospect on ESPN’s board.
Here are several more draft-related notes:
Kentucky sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso, an elite shot blocker who swatted 2.8 shots in just 18.8 minutes per game this season, will enter the draft and forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility, Givony reports at ESPN. Onyenso, the No. 47 prospect on ESPN’s board, averaged just 3.6 points per contest but told Givony he wants to show teams during the pre-draft process that he can shoot the ball and isn’t “just a defensive player.”
Texas sophomore forward Dillon Mitchell is entering both the NCAA portal and the NBA draft, reports Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 (Twitter link). The No. 71 prospect on ESPN’s top-100 list, Mitchell averaged 9.6 points and 7.5 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game in 34 contests for the Longhorns in 2023/24.
Grand Canyon senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster, the WAC Player of the Year in 2023/24, is entering the draft rather than using his final year of NCAA eligibility, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Grant-Foster, who has now undergone multiple heart surgeries, made his return to the court this season after collapsing at halftime of a game at the start of the 2021/22 season.
The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a pre-draft event showcasing draft-eligible seniors, has announced its rosters for 2024 (Twitterlinks). This year’s PIT will tip off later this week and will run from April 17-20.
Michigan State senior guard A.J. Hoggard, who is taking part in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, is testing the draft waters while retaining his college eligibility (Twitter link via Kyle Austin of MLive.com). Hoggard is the very last prospect to crack ESPN’s big board, coming in at No. 100.
Senior guard Jordan Ivy-Curry (Twitter link via Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports) and Wake Forest senior forward Andrew Carr (Twitter link) are also testing the draft waters. If he returns to school, Ivy-Curry is transferring from UTSA to Virginia Tech.
“My numbers are up there with some of the best of them, honestly,” Thomas told Holmes. “Mine are just overlooked because not that many people know me, I’m not the most vocal, talking and all that stuff. But if you just look at my numbers, my numbers are up there with some of the best of them… I think I just go under the radar a little bit because I’m not really on social media as much.”
Across 66 bouts this season (51 starts), the 6’4″ wing out of LSU posted a career-high 22.5 points per game on .442/.364/.856 shooting, along with 3.2 RPG, 2.9 APG and 0.7 SPG.
“I feel like I have so much more room to grow,” Thomas said. “I just want people to see that I have the potential to do that instead of just trying to keep me low.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
Sixers shooting guard Buddy Hield is nearing his first-ever playoffs, writes Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Philadelphia still needs to advance beyond the play-in tournament to officially make the playoffs, however. As Smith notes, Hield is currently the active player with the most games played who has yet to appear in the playoffs. His 631 regular season contests represent the fourth-most ever for a player without a single playoff appearance.
Further details have emerged regarding Celtics combo guard Jrue Holiday‘s lucrative new contract extension, Smith tweets. It’s a fully-guaranteed, four-year, $134.4MM deal, which will not include any bonuses or incentives. The two-time All-Star will earn $30MM in his first season under this new contract (2024/25), and $37.2MM in his last (2027/28).
Newly-acquired Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley will be a restricted free agent this summer and is comfortable with the idea of sticking with his new team going forward. “Obviously the team and my agent have to handle everything but I love being here in Toronto,” Quickley said, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). “Since the day I got here they’ve done nothing but show me love.”
April 15th, 2024 at 6:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
The Team USA men’s basketball program has determined 11 of its 12 roster spots for this year’s Paris Olympics, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Woj suggests that the final roster opening could remain open for a while. Sources inform Wojnarowski that Hall of Famer Grant Hill, Team USA’s managing director, is waiting for a July training camp and some Las Vegas exhibition games before finalizing that 12th spot.
10 of the 11 players were honored as All-Stars this season, while the 11th was a key two-way force on the 2021 gold medal-winning team, which is officially considered the 2020 Olympic team.
So far, three NBA teams – the Lakers, Celtics, and Suns – will feature multiple U.S. Olympians.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, serving again as the leader of Team USA this summer, will have just one current familiar face in All-Star point guard Curry, who will be making his Olympic debut. Among the other players listed, four others will be making their debuts with the program on this stage: reigning league MVP Embiid and young All-Star guards Edwards and Haliburton.
As Woj notes, 35-year-old Durant is one of just two players to have won three gold medals in Olympic history, along with future Hall of Fame forward Carmelo Anthony. James is playing in his first Olympics since 2012. James and Anthony were also members of Team USA the last time it didn’t win gold at the tournament, in 2004.
April 15th, 2024 at 5:51pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
The Rockets’ 2023/24 season, their first under new head coach Ime Udoka, is now in the books. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle breaks down how the team showed plenty of promise en route to a 41-41 finish, diminished slightly by the lack of a playoff or play-in berth. The Rockets finished as the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference.
“Happy wouldn’t be the word,” Udoka said. “We are disappointed we didn’t meet our goal. When you are a few games behind, you think of all the tough … games we’ve given away, we understand where we could have been. The goal always was to make the playoffs and the play-in and have that experience for our guys.”
Center Alperen Sengun and shooting guard Jalen Green, who both enjoyed breakout seasons this year, are both set to be extension-eligible when the new league year begins in July.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
Pelicans head coach Willie Green‘s contract was reportedly extended last year, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Sources inform Clark that New Orleans also extended the contracts of New Orleans executive executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin and general manager Trajan Langdon. Green, a former journeyman NBA guard as a player, is in his third season with New Orleans and boasts a 127-119 record with the club so far. He has led the Pelicans to three consecutive postseason appearances, though the team was eliminated in the play-in tournament a year ago.
The Pelicans struggled to do much of anything against the Lakers in a critical season finale matchup on Sunday, as Rod Walker of NOLA.com details. In falling 124-108 to Los Angeles, New Orleans fell into the play-in tournament with a 49-33 record — the Pels are the West’s No. 7 seed and have a rematch on tap with the eighth-seeded Lakers on Tuesday.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich suggested that he expects return to coach probable Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama for his second season, writes Tom Orbsorn of The San Antonio Express-News. The 75-year-old Popovich inked a five-year deal worth upwards of $80MM to stick with San Antonio last summer. “He made it very clear day one he cares about his guys as people first,” Wembanyama said. “He is there to poke on us sometimes or to correct us. But the way my teammates and I have responded to all the advice it’s just been great and the dynamic is very good.”
Antetokounmpo missed the final three games of the regular season due to an injury that the Bucks diagnosed as a left soleus (calf) strain. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Monday that there was some “real doubt” about Giannis’ ability to return for Game 1 this weekend, so Wojnarowski’s update today doesn’t come as a major surprise.
In the early game, the No. 7 Pelicans will host the No. 8 Lakers for the second time in three days. The results of Sunday’s contest weren’t particularly encouraging for the Pelicans, who could have clinched the No. 6 seed in the West with a victory, but trailed all afternoon en route to a 16-point loss.