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Atlantic Notes: Kolek, Queta, Dick, Barnes

November 5th, 2024 at 10:58am CST by Luke Adams

After playing a rotation role in each of the Knicks‘ first five games, veteran point guard Cameron Payne was unavailable on Monday in Houston due to a hamstring strain. That resulted in rookie guard Tyler Kolek seeing his first meaningful minutes of the season for New York.

Kolek was only on the court for 5:32 and was a minus-four in his limited playing time. Still, he knocked down his only field goal attempt (a three-pointer) and has made a positive impression on a head coach who typically doesn’t make a habit of playing rookies.

“I really like (Kolek) a lot,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “I think he’s learning like most young guys coming into the league. He’s a gym rat. Works extremely hard. Puts a lot of time into film study. Extra work. Practice. He’s around really good veterans. That helps move it along in terms of how you learn. And then a big part of it is the trial and error of getting out there and doing it. So I think he’s putting everything he has into it. So we’ll see.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Having seen his rotation role increase over the past week, Celtics center Neemias Queta earned his first career start on Monday in Atlanta and delivered with 10 points, seven rebounds, and a plus-31 mark in just 23 minutes. As Brian Robb of MassLive.com writes, Queta’s transformation into a rotation player gives Boston more insurance up front behind veterans Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. “He’s grown a lot as a player and quite honestly he doesn’t know how good he can be,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Queta after Monday’s win. “He’s got a great ceiling and so the standard is very high and I thought he did some great things for us tonight.”
Following an up-and-down rookie season, Raptors sharpshooter Gradey Dick is showing early signs of breaking out in his second year, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, who takes a closer look at how 2023’s No. 13 overall pick is thriving so far this fall. With a 26-point outing on Monday in Denver, Dick is up to 21.6 PPG on .473/.383/.929 shooting in his first eight games as an NBA sophomore.
After a meeting with doctors on Monday, the Raptors determined that injured forward Scottie Barnes won’t require surgery to repair the right orbital fracture he suffered last week, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. A surgical procedure likely would’ve extended the recovery timeline for Barnes, who will be reevaluated in about two weeks.

Onuralp Bitim Returning To Europe

November 5th, 2024 at 9:47am CST by Luke Adams

After spending the 2023/24 season in the NBA, Turkish forward Onuralp Bitim will head back overseas for the ’24/25 campaign, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.

According to Urbonas, Bitim is on track to sign a long-term contract with the Istanbul-based club Fenerbahce. However, Fenerbahce has a crowded rotation on the wing, so the team is expected to loan the 25-year-old to Bayern Munich in Germany for the rest of this season.

Having played professionally in Turkey for several years, Bitim made the move stateside in 2023 and opened the NBA season on a two-way contract with the Bulls. He was promoted to Chicago’s standard roster in February and began to see some action at the NBA level around that time.

Bitim, who made his NBA debut on Feb. 22, ultimately appeared in 23 total games for Chicago, averaging 3.5 points and 1.4 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .381/.273/.800. His season ended due to a detached retina, which required multiple surgeries and an uncomfortable recovery process.

Bitim remained under contract with the Bulls until last month, when he was among the club’s preseason cuts.

While Bitim’s NBA numbers were underwhelming, he was a solid contributor at the G League level in 22 games for the Windy City Bulls, putting up 14.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on .415/.363/.909 shooting in 30.1 minutes per contest. In 2022/23, he made the All-EuroCup Second Team for Bursaspor in Turkey after averaging 18.1 PPG and 3.2 APG in 18 EuroCup outings.

Knicks, Boo Buie Agree To Two-Way Deal

November 5th, 2024 at 8:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have agreed to sign rookie guard Boo Buie to a two-way contract, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). He’ll fill the two-way slot that is opening up as a result of Ariel Hukporti‘s promotion to the standard roster.

Buie, a 6’2″ guard, went undrafted in June after spending his entire five-year college career at Northwestern. As a super-senior in 2023/24, he averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 36.9 minutes per game across 34 starts, posting a shooting line of .438/.434/.858. He was named to the All-Big Ten first team in both 2023 and 2024.

Reporting on draft night indicated that Buie would sign an Exhibit 10 contract with Phoenix, but he ended up signing an Exhibit 10 deal with the Knicks instead. He was in camp with the team just briefly and reported to the Westchester Knicks – New York’s G League affiliate – this fall.

While Buie will likely still spend plenty of time in Westchester, his new two-way deal will also allow him to play for the Knicks’ NBA squad and will give him a significant salary bump. Assuming the signing is officially finalized on Tuesday and he spends the rest of the season on that two-way contract, the 24-year-old will earn $532,025.

Signing Buie to a two-way contract means the Knicks intend to sign Matt Ryan to a standard deal. Word broke on Monday that New York had agreed to sign Ryan, but it wasn’t clear if the veteran sharpshooter would be added to the main roster along with Hukporti or if he’d fill the open two-way slot. We know now it’s the former.

The Knicks’ other two-way players are Jacob Toppin and rookie Kevin McCullar.

Southwest Notes: Zion, Sengun, Lively, Popovich

November 5th, 2024 at 8:10am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson didn’t show any signs of suffering an injury in Friday’s win over Indiana, in which he scored a season-high 34 points. However, he was added to the team’s injury report on Sunday due to right hamstring tightness and has now missed two consecutive games, both Pelicans losses, as Christian Clark of NOLA.com details.

“I don’t know exactly how it occurred,” head coach Willie Green said of Williamson’s injury, which was listed on Monday as right thigh soreness. “He showed up. Said he felt a little something. We wanted to make sure we got a look at it.”

Already missing Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herbert Jones, and Trey Murphy due to longer-term injuries, the Pelicans have had to elevate little-used reserves to the rotation, with Brandon Boston, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, rookie Yves Missi, and newly signed Jaylen Nowell among those playing big minutes this week. The shorthanded team has dropped back-to-back games at home, losing to Atlanta by 15 points on Sunday and to Portland by 18 points on Monday.

While New Orleans badly needs a healthy Williamson back on the court to help end its skid, Green admitted on Monday that he’s not sure what the timeline is for his star forward’s return.

“He was not at the game,” Green told reporters. “Doctor’s orders. Because of the hamstring and quad. We kept him at home tonight.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

After signing a five-year, $185MM rookie scale extension the day before the regular season began, Rockets center Alperen Sengun got off to a slow start this fall, making just 38.6% of his field goal attempts through six games. Prior to Monday’s contest, he made it clear he wasn’t stressing about his low shooting percentage, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “I’m not worried about it. Those shots are easy shots for me,” Sengun said. “They’re shots I used to make all three years. So I think it’s just going to come back and I’m going to make those.” The big man delivered on that promise by scoring 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting in a win over New York on Monday. He also contributed 14 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks in what was his best game of the season so far.
Mavericks center Dereck Lively II, who missed Monday’s loss to Indiana due to a right shoulder sprain, will undergo an MRI on that shoulder, head coach Jason Kidd told reporters. However, sources have expressed optimism that Lively’s injury isn’t significant, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
Ahead of his second game as the Spurs‘ acting head coach, Mitch Johnson said on Monday that he’s “not at liberty” to discuss Gregg Popovich‘s possible return timeline, but downplayed the seriousness of Popovich’s health issue. “Right now his health is the No. 1 priority,” Johnson said, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “We support him in that 100 percent and I talked to him last night. He’s in good spirits. He’s OK, and we can’t wait to have him back.”

And-Ones: Knueppel, Bailey, Jordan Jersey, Cap Projections, G League Deal

November 4th, 2024 at 10:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While Duke’s Cooper Flagg is expected to be the top pick in next year’s draft, another Duke freshman has scouts excited too, according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Kon Knueppel is being compared to Rockets lottery pick Reed Sheppard — a highly skilled player with elite shooting ability who was relatively underrated entering the year.

If Flagg isn’t the top pick, Rutgers’ Ace Bailey is the main candidate to supplant him. Listed at 6’10”, Bailey has shown serious shot-creation ability. Another player who has impressed scouts is Egor Demin, a 6’8″ guard who made a late commitment to BYU.

We have more from around the basketball world:

A game-worn Michael Jordan jersey from the Bulls‘ 1996/97 season has sold for $4.68MM via Sotheby’s, according to ESPN’s Dan Hajducky. The jersey was worn in at least 17 games during the season. It’s the fourth-most expensive NBA jersey sold by Sotheby’s. Jordan holds the all-time record with his $10.1MM “Last Dance” jersey.
The salary cap is projected to go up by $14MM to $154.6MM next season, but that won’t make much of a difference in terms of opening up cap space around the league, according to Spotrac contributor Keith Smith. The Nets and Wizards are the only teams projected to have meaningful cap space next summer.
In an NBA G League swap, the Windy City Bulls received the returning player rights to Jordan Hall by sending Chase Audige‘s returning player rights and a 2025 G League second-round pick to the Long Island Nets (Twitter link). Hall, who played nine games with San Antonio during the 2022/23 season, signed with Italy’s GeVi Napoli of the Lega Basket Serie A this summer but was waived last month.

Former GM Donnie Nelson Withdraws Lawsuit Against Mavericks

November 4th, 2024 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The lawsuit filed by former Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson against the franchise has been “dismissed with prejudice,” according to documents filed in Dallas County court last week, ESPN’s Bobby Marks and Tim MacMahon report. The case had been scheduled to go to trial Dec. 10.

In legal terms, “dismissed with prejudice” means a case is permanently over and cannot be brought back to court.

Nelson gave notice to the court Thursday that he is taking a nonsuit on his claims against all defendants. Rogge Dunn, Nelson’s attorney, told ESPN that “the parties have reached a resolution of their dispute on confidential terms.”

Nelson’s lawsuit was filed back in March 2022. Nelson alleged he was fired by then majority owner Mark Cuban in June of 2021 as retaliation for reporting sexual misconduct.

Nelson claimed that Cuban’s chief of staff allegedly sexually harassed Nelson’s nephew in a hotel room during the 2020 All-Star Weekend in Chicago. Nelson claimed that he didn’t find out about the incident until five months after it occurred, by which point the nephew had reached a settlement agreement with the team.

According to Nelson’s lawsuit, he was in discussions with the Mavericks about a contract extension at the time, but those talks came to an abrupt end after he reported the incident to Cuban. Nelson was fired the following year.

In their response to the lawsuit, the Mavericks denied that Nelson was wrongfully terminated and claimed that he threatened to reveal the sexual orientation of Cuban’s chief of staff if his contractual demands were not met. In the filing, the Mavericks accused Nelson of a “lengthy scheme to extort as much as $100 million,” and cited several reasons for Nelson’s dismissal, including “poor job performance.”

Nuggets Have Interest In Lonnie Walker

November 4th, 2024 at 8:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nuggets could pursue Lonnie Walker IV at some point during the season, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack article.

Walker chose to sign with Zalgiris Kaunas in the EuroLeague last week after he was waived by Boston.

The veteran swingman signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Celtics in late August in hopes of winning a roster spot in training camp. He reportedly impressed team officials, but Boston is operating under second apron restrictions, so it would have cost roughly $8.8MM in luxury tax penalties to keep Walker, on top of his $2.1MM salary.

Walker’s agent, George S. Langberg, negotiated an unusual buyout in Walker’s contract with the Lithuanian club that enables him come back to any NBA team at a cost of $450K between now and Feb. 18. Real Madrid and Maccabi Tel Aviv were among the other EuroLeague clubs that pursued Walker, but Zalgiris‘ willingness to consent to that clause was a decisive factor for Walker, according to Stein.

The Celtics were hoping Walker would head to their G League affiliate in Maine, but Walker feels he has a better chance of impressing NBA teams by playing in the EuroLeague. Boston reportedly attempted to trade Jaden Springer before the end of camp to open up a spot for Walker.

The Nuggets have depth issues, so Walker could make an impact if they pivoted his way. Denver has a full 15-man roster and all of those contracts are guaranteed, so the Nuggets would have to trade or waive a player to make room for Walker.

Arbitration Hearing To Decide Timberwolves’ Ownership Dispute Begins

November 4th, 2024 at 6:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The arbitration hearing to decide the Timberwolves’ ownership dispute began on Monday and is expected to last most of the week. The decision by the three-person arbitration panel is expected to be announced next month, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

The dispute between minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez and principal owner Glen Taylor moved to arbitration in July. A one-day mediation in the spring failed to make any progress, Windhorst writes.

The dispute has been ongoing since the tail end of last season. Taylor nixed the previous tiered payment agreement with Lore and Rodriguez, citing a breach of contract and a failure to meet a payment deadline. Lore and Rodriguez disputed that characterization, stating that they had the funds necessary to become majority owners but were awaiting NBA approval and should have been entitled to an extension.

The third payment in dispute would increase Lore and Rodriguez’ share from 36% to about 80% and the purchase agreement stipulates that they could buy out Taylor’s remaining 20% stake anytime before March 2025.

Windhorst and The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski provided more details of the process:

If the arbitration panel rules in Taylor’s favor, the process essentially ends. Lore and Rodriguez could remain as limited partners or try to sell their shares. Taylor would have to approve the sale of their shares, according to Krawczynski. However, if Lore and Rodriguez get a favorable ruling. Taylor would be contractually compelled to sell them the controlling share for the previously agreed upon $1.5 billion valuation. The franchise’s value is substantially higher now, which is a major factor in Taylor’s decision to try to halt the sale. Lore and Rodriguez would still need 23 of 30 votes from the league’s owners to finalize the acquisition, since all team percentage transfers are subject to a vote, Windhorst notes.
Those transfer rules could present a sticky situation, due to Taylor’s long-standing relationships with the other owners and commissioner Adam Silver. There have been plenty of back-scene developments due to that possibility, according to Windhorst. Lore and Rodriguez have worked to meet with owners and the league office in recent months to demonstrate their position and attempt to shore up support in the event of a vote. It’s likely that Silver and BOG chairman Larry Tanenbaum will try to build a consensus in lieu of an owners’ vote.
Lore and Rodriguez have been firming up their finances by recruiting billionaires Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, and Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, as well as private equity firm Dyal Homecourt Partners. They have amassed $950MM in an escrow account for not just the 40% needed to take majority control, but enough to give them 100% ownership of the team.
The team is facing a luxury tax bill of $100MM and total operating losses of more than $150MM this season, according to Krawczynski. That’s one reason why the Timberwolves moved Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster trade with the Knicks.
Team president Tim Connelly could have opted out of his contract this year but agreed to defer the opt-out until the 2025 offseason. If he doesn’t like the direction the way things are going, he could choose to opt out this time around, regardless of who’s running the franchise at that time.

Warriors Notes: Wiggins, Podziemski, Kuminga, Moody, Curry

November 4th, 2024 at 5:18pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors are banking on Andrew Wiggins playing at an All-Star level, as ESPN’s Kendra Andrews details. Golden State knows it needs Wiggins’ proven production with the departure of Klay Thompson.

Wiggins missed a chunk of last season due to personal reasons.

“I want to do right by them,” Wiggins said. “It feels so good when they have that confidence in you, when they have that high praise. You want to show up for them.”

Wiggins heads into Monday’s game against the Wizards — he’s listed as probable with a low back strain — with averages of 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He still has two years left, including a player option, on his four-year, $109MM contract after this season.

“I think he’s in a place where he knows the last couple years have been tough for a lot of reasons and I think he’s primed to get back to where he was a couple years ago,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s at the age where he’s right in his physical prime, and we’ve seen him do it. He helped us win a championship. I’m expecting a big year from Wiggs.”

We have more on the Warriors:

With Stephen Curry sidelined by an ankle sprain the last three games, Brandin Podziemski has gotten a greater opportunity to show his play-making skills, Anthony Slater of The Athletic notes. He has averaged 14.7 points and six assists during that span.
Jonathan Kuminga has been a sparkplug since Kerr moved him to the bench the past three games, Slater adds. He scored 23 points in 26 minutes against Houston in Saturday’s overtime win. He’s averaging 18.7 points on 51.4% shooting as a reserve. “I don’t want him to love coming off the bench,” Draymond Green said. “He believes he’s a superstar. I believe he’s a superstar. As long as you believe that, you shouldn’t be OK coming off the bench. How you respond is important.” Kuminga will be a restricted free agent next summer after failing to reach a rookie scale extension agreement prior to last month’s deadline.
The incentives in Moses Moody‘s extension begins at $462,093 in 2025/26 and increase by the maximum allowable 8% a year, according to The Athletic’s John Hollinger. The incentives pay out if Moody plays at least 1,600 minutes, attempts at least nine 3-pointers per 100 possessions, and achieves at least 60% true shooting. Since the extension begins next season, the only impact of Moody hitting all three of those marks this season would be whether the incentives are considered “likely” or “unlikely” for his 2025/26 cap number. If it is deemed “likely,” his cap hit goes from $11,574,075 to $12,037,038. Moody signed his three-year, $37.5MM extension on Oct. 21.
Curry returned to the lineup on Monday. Kerr announced prior to the game that his star guard was available, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets.

Veteran Guard D.J. Augustin Retires

November 4th, 2024 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Maher

Longtime NBA guard D.J. Augustin has decided to retire as a player, he announced Sunday on Instagram.

“Today, I’m officially announcing my retirement from the game I’ve loved for so long,” Augustin wrote in part. “Basketball has been more than a sport, it has been a journey filled with unforgettable memories, friendships, lessons and experiences beyond the court. … I’m grateful for every high and every low, every team, every city, and every fan who’s supported me and my family along the way.”

Augustin, 36, played two seasons of college ball at Texas prior to being selected No. 9 overall in the 2008 draft. He started his professional career with Charlotte (then called the Bobcats), the team that drafted him, earning a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team in 2008/09.

After spending his first four seasons in Charlotte, the 5’11” point guard became a journeyman, suiting up for the Pacers, Raptors, Bulls, Pistons, Thunder and Nuggets from 2012-16. He then had a productive four-season run with the Magic before bouncing around the league again, making stops with the Bucks, Rockets and Lakers.

Augustin’s career wrapped up in ’22/23, when he signed a rest-of-season deal with Houston, though he didn’t appear in any games during his second stint as a Rocket.

Overall, Augustin appeared in 976 regular season games (334 starts) over the course of his 15 NBA seasons, averaging 9.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 23.4 minutes per contest. He posted a shooting slash line of .412/.381/.867.