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Southeast Notes: J. Davis, Dawkins, Micic, Isaac

February 27th, 2024 at 12:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Wizards guard Johnny Davis has played in all three of the team’s games since the All-Star break, averaging 17.0 minutes in those contests. While that’s a modest role, it represents a significant uptick in minutes for the former 10th overall pick, who had averaged 7.9 MPG in 23 appearances prior to the break.

“It feels really good,” Davis said, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network. “I feel like I’ve been preparing myself and putting in the work for this opportunity. When I go out there, I just want to do what it takes to help my team win.”

While the sample size is small, Davis has underwhelmed offensively in those three games, making 3-of-15 shots (20.0%) from the floor and compiling more fouls (9) than points (6). The Wizards also have an atrocious -31.9 net rating during his 51 minutes on the floor. Still, interim head coach Brian Keefe suggested he’s encouraged by what he’s seen on defense from Davis, who is celebrating his 22nd birthday on Tuesday.

“I thought he was great,” Keefe said after Davis spent some time guarding Cavs stars Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on Sunday. “He got caught with one foul when he went for the pump fake, but other than that, Johnny’s been great. The last three games, his defense has been great. His defensive rebounding has been great. He brings great energy. That’s kind of the role we envision for him. He’s been a positive on the defensive end.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Wizards general manager Will Dawkins spoke to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman about how his time in the Thunder’s front office prepared him for a larger role in Washington and the lessons he learned in Oklahoma City that he has taken with him to D.C.
Vasilije Micic didn’t play much in Oklahoma City this season as an NBA rookie, but he has taken on a rotation role since being sent to the Hornets in the Gordon Hayward trade and has made an impression on new head coach Steve Clifford, according to Eurohoops. “He’s a talented player,” Clifford said of the former EuroLeague MVP. “His awareness and feel for the game are really exceptional. There’s still newness to us. The more organized we get offensively, the better he’ll play.” Micic has averaged 9.7 points and 6.0 assists in 22.2 minutes per game for the Hornets, who have gone 5-1 since his debut for the club.
Magic forward Jonathan Isaac has been ruled out for Tuesday’s game vs. Brooklyn due to a left knee strain, but he’s relieved that his MRI showed no significant issues and thinks he could be back in action on Thursday, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter video link). “I’m definitely still a little sore, so just kind of taking it day by day there, but I don’t foresee this being a multiple-game injury,” Isaac said.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Griffin, Sixers, Trent, Raptors

February 27th, 2024 at 10:48am CST by Luke Adams

After appearing in 41 games for the Celtics last season, Blake Griffin hasn’t been on an NBA roster at all in 2023/24. However, if it were up to the Celtics’ players, Griffin would still be in Boston.

As Brian Robb of MassLive.com writes, guards Derrick White and Payton Pritchard said during an appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast that several Celtics players tried to get Griffin to sign with the team earlier in the ’23/24 league year.

“I think the whole team has been begging him to,” White said.

“I texted him actually a week ago or two jokingly being like, ‘Coming back for one last ride?'” Pritchard added. “He says he’s enjoying his life.”

According to Robb, multiple Celtics players reached out to Griffin during the team’s West Coast road trip in December to ask about a possible return. However, the six-time All-Star has opted to sit out this season to spend more time with his family, Robb writes.

“He told me at the end of last year that his family was the most important thing and I stopped talking to him about it,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said when asked on Monday about White’s and Pritchard’s comments about Griffin (Twitter link via Jared Weiss of The Athletic).

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

The Celtics have held the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference for all but six days this season and appear highly likely to keep the top spot the rest of the way, according to Jay King of The Athletic, who explores whether any conference rivals could realistically catch Boston. The Celtics have a 7.5-game lead on the No. 2 Cavaliers, with just 25 games left to play.
With Joel Embiid unavailable and players in and out of the rotation this month due to injuries and trade-deadline moves, the Sixers have struggled to find a rhythm, losing nine of their past 13 games, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). “There’s a lot of different combinations of guys,” head coach Nick Nurse said, “and we’re trying to make sure when we’re doing stuff that we can figure it out and get more on the same page. It’s just a bit disjointed at times when it gets tough.”
While Gary Trent Jr.‘s 41.4% three-point percentage is excellent, his season as a whole has still felt like a bit of a letdown, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, who considers whether or not that assessment is fair and whether the Raptors will re-sign Trent, who is a free agent this summer. A multiyear offer worth somewhere between the mid-level exception and $20MM annually might be reasonable for the 25-year-old, Koreen suggests.
Zulfi Sheikh of Sportsnet.ca identifies six storylines to watch for the Raptors down the stretch this season, including whether the team actually has a shot at a play-in berth and RJ Barrett‘s progress in his first few months with his new team.

Contract Details: Bitim, Evbuomwan, Funk, Spencer, Hagans, Goodwin

February 27th, 2024 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

Onuralp Bitim‘s new standard contract with the Bulls covers two seasons beyond this one, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The three-year deal is guaranteed for the rest of this season but is non-guaranteed in years two and three, Scotto notes.

The Bulls used $500K of their mid-level exception to give Bitim a rest-of-season salary worth more than the rookie minimum, Hoops Rumors has learned. And while the Turkish wing isn’t owed any guaranteed money beyond this season, he can earn a partial guarantee worth $350K if he’s still under contract by the start of the 2024/25 regular season.

Here are more details on a few contracts recently signed around the NBA:

Like fellow signee Buddy Boeheim, Tosan Evbuomwan agreed to a two-year two-way contract with the Pistons, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Both players received partial guarantees for 2024/25, but those guarantees are very modest (projected to be worth approximately $78K) and won’t count against the cap, so they don’t necessarily assure either player of starting next season on Detroit’s 18-man roster.
Andrew Funk‘s two-way contract with the Bulls and Pat Spencer‘s two-way deal with the Warriors each run through the 2024/25 season as well, according to Smith and Scotto (Twitter links).
Conversely, the two-way contracts that Ashton Hagans signed with the Trail Blazers and Jordan Goodwin signed with the Grizzlies are both just rest-of-season deals, Hoops Rumors has learned. As a result, Hagans and Goodwin will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.

Pistons’ Williams Blasts Refs After Loss For “Worst Call Of The Season”

February 27th, 2024 at 7:47am CST by Luke Adams

Two weeks after narrowly losing a game in Houston following a blown last-second call, the Knicks benefited from a missed call late in a two-point home victory over Detroit on Monday.

As Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press and Tim Bontemps of ESPN detail, the Knicks were trailing 111-110 in the game’s final minute and lost control of the ball with 10 seconds left. As Pistons guard Ausar Thompson began dribbling up the court, Knicks wing Donte DiVincenzo dove into him, jarring the ball loose (Twitter video links). No foul was called on DiVincenzo as the Knicks recovered the loose ball and Josh Hart scored the game-winning basket en route to a 113-111 victory.

“Where’s the New York media now?” Pistons head coach Monty Williams said after the game. “The absolute worst call of the season. No call. And enough’s enough. We’ve done it the right way, we’ve called the league, we’ve sent in clips. We’re sick of hearing the same stuff over and over again. We had a chance to win the game and a guy dove into Ausar’s legs, and it was a no-call.

“That’s an abomination. You cannot miss that in an NBA game, period, and I’m tired of talking about it, I’m tired of our guys asking me, ‘What more can we do, coach?’ That situation is Exhibit A to what we’ve been dealing with all season long, and enough’s enough.

“You cannot dive into a guy’s legs in a big-time game like that and there be a no-call. It’s ridiculous, and we’re tired of it. We just want a fair game called. Period. And I’ve got nothing else to say. We want a fair game, and that was not fair.”

In the pool report conducted by Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press after the game, crew chief James Williams admitted that the officials got the call wrong.

“Upon postgame review, we determined that Thompson gets to the ball first, and then was deprived of the opportunity to gain possession of the ball,” Williams said. “Therefore, a loose ball foul should have been whistled on New York’s Donte DiVincenzo.”

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham described the team as “livid” after the game, while Thompson admitted he was surprised when the play continued without a foul being called.

“I was very confused when I was on the ground and the play kept going, I’m not going to lie,” Thompson said. “But, I mean, that’s how it goes.”

As Sankofa writes, the officiating has been a sore spot for Williams and the Pistons all season — the club has been whistled for an NBA-high 21.9 fouls per game while losing 49 of 57 contests. Still, Williams’ post-game comments on Monday were his strongest indictment yet of a game’s referees and seem likely to warrant the league’s attention.

Williams was fined last March when he was coaching the Suns for his comments about the officiating following a loss to the Lakers, but hasn’t faced any penalties from the league for his comments to the press so far this season. That could change as soon as later today.

Southwest Notes: Wembanyama, McCollum, Mavs, Exum, Hill

February 26th, 2024 at 10:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Victor Wembanyama has been posting eye-popping numbers across the board but the Spurs coaching staff knows he’s just scratching the surface of his true potential, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes.

The Spurs wants the star rookie to grow at a comfortable pace.

“We want to continue the process. We consistently remind him to be disciplined, and to do the little things. We want him to be strong when he’s catching the ball. We go over different nuances on the scouting report, things like that,” Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson said. “One of the hardest things for us is knowing that he’s capable of doing so much. So, we don’t want to open up the floodgates and put too much on him. We want him to figure things out as he goes. We want to provide the structure where he can continue to grow.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Pelicans guard CJ McCollum didn’t play against Chicago this weekend due to a sore left ankle but he went through a full practice on Monday, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets. McCollum and Zion Williamson (left foot contusion) are listed as questionable to play against the Knicks on Tuesday, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets.
The Mavericks have an open roster spot but that may change in the near future. Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News hears that the front office is definitely looking to add a player if it finds the right fit.
Mavericks swingman Dante Exum hasn’t played since Jan. 26 due to a knee injury but he’s close to returning. Exum practiced on Monday, though he’s listed as doubtful to suit up against Cleveland on Tuesday, Townsend tweets.
Malcolm Hill‘s two-way contract with the Pelicans is a two-year deal, Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets. Hill, a third-year swingman, signed his two-way deal on Thursday.

Community Shootaround: Buyout Market

February 26th, 2024 at 9:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

We are fast approaching a significant deadline for some veteran players.

A player on an NBA contract must be waived by the end of the day on Friday in order to retain his playoff eligibility.

As our 2024 Buyout Market Watch shows, there have been seven players bought out or simply waived since the trade deadline expired who have hooked on with other teams – Daniel Theis, Bismack Biyombo, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Lowry, Danilo Gallinari, Delon Wright and Thaddeus Young.

Our Buyout Market Watch also lists numerous players who were recently waived that are still looking for another opportunity. That free agent group includes Ryan Arcidiacono, Danny Green, Joe Harris, Danuel House, Cory Joseph, Kevin Knox, Furkan Korkmaz, Robin Lopez, Chimezie Metu, Frank Ntilikina, Ish Smith, Aleksej Pokusevski and Juan Toscano-Anderson. They could be joined by a few more veterans in the coming days.

While none of the names on the list are likely to make a huge splash on a playoff team, some could provide a boost to a second unit.

House, for example, appeared in 34 games for the Sixers this season and Korkmaz saw action in 35 games for Philadelphia. Either one could fortify a contender’s wing depth. Ditto for Knox, who started 11 games for the Pistons this season.

Smith, Joseph and Ntilikina are all quite capable of stepping in and playing solid minutes at the point.

If a contender needs another power forward, Metu could fill that role. He played 37 games, including five starts, for the Suns this season. Toscano-Anderson was a rotation player two seasons ago on the championship Warriors team. Pokusevski is a young big who has made 65 starts in his career.

That brings us to our topic of the day: How many of the above-mentioned free agents are likely to be signed by a contending team? Which one do you think would make the biggest impact?

Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.

And-Ones: Edey, 2025 Draft, Bronny, All-Star Game, EuroLeague, Hordges

February 26th, 2024 at 7:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Purdue’s star center, Zach Edey, will not return to college next season, Boilermakers coach Matt Painter told Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).

Edey could have stayed for one more season due to the extra year of eligibility granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The big man is averaging 23.7 points and 11.8 rebounds and might win National Player of the Year honors for the second straight season.

Edey tested the draft waters last summer before deciding to stay in school. He’s currently listed as the No. 13 overall prospect on ESPN’s Best Available list.

We have more news from around the basketball world:

While there’s still plenty of mystery about this year’s draft class, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has already posted a 2025 mock draft with big man Cooper Flagg, who has committed to Duke, as the No. 1 selection. The No. 39 projected pick is an eyebrow raiser: Bronny James. Givony explained on NBA Today (video link) that Bronny “has not produced like a one-and-done player” at USC. Givony adds that LeBron James‘ son could be a “completely different player” if he returns to college next season.
Major League Baseball experimented with its All-Star Game, giving the winning league home field advantage in the World Series. Jalen Brunson suggested a similar solution on his podcast to make the NBA’s All-Star Game more competitive (hat tip to Geoff Magliocchetti of Sports Illustated). “I don’t know if baseball does it anymore, but the winner of the All-Star Game (could get) home-court advantage in the Finals,” he said. “That’s cool. I think that’s one way that could at least make it interesting in the fourth quarter.”
EuroLeague championships to be decided in Dubai? It could happen. Abu Dhabi is reportedly offering 75MM to host three editions of the EuroLeague Final Four, according to Sportando. Negotiations are reportedly in the advanced stages.
Cedrick Hordges has passed away, NBA Alumni tweets. He played 145 games for the Nuggets from 1980-82 before continuing his pro career in Europe for another 13 seasons.

Pistons Notes: Fournier, Grimes, Umude, Draft, Offseason

February 26th, 2024 at 6:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Evan Fournier seemed to be a potential buyout candidate when he was traded from the Knicks to the Pistons. However, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post that all signs point to Fournier remaining on Detroit’s roster for the rest of the season.

Players must be waived by Friday afternoon to become playoff eligible with his next team. Fournier has appeared in four games with the Pistons, one more than he did with the Knicks this season, averaging 11.5 points in 21.5 minutes with his current club.

We have more on the Pistons:

Detroit’s game against the Knicks on Monday night features two former New York players — Fournier and Quentin Grimes — and two former Pistons — Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks — who were dealt for each other at this month’s deadline. Grimes admitted during Detroit’s shootaround he was jacked up for the contest. “I really don’t look at it like, ‘Oh, I got to go off or something,’” Grimes told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “But you do get a little extra oomph when you wake up and try to go off against a team that traded you.” Grimes lost his starting spot prior to getting traded and knew he wasn’t long for New York. “I knew it was going to happen. I didn’t know it would be Detroit. It was a few teams,” he said. “But I knew it was going to happen, for sure.”
Stanley Umude‘s two-year contract includes a team option for next season, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Umude had his two-way contract converted to a standard, minimum-salary deal last week.
This year’s draft doesn’t have any surefire stars but the Pistons will have a high lottery pick again. Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press takes a look at eight potential lottery picks and considers how they might fit in with the team’s core players.
The additions of wings Grimes and Simone Fontecchio will allow the front office to concentrate the Pistons’ resources on one or two high-value targets with their cap space this summer, rather than spreading money around to cover multiple needs, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes.
In case you missed it, rookie guard Marcus Sasser will be sidelined at least a week due to a right knee contusion.

Wizards’ Isaiah Livers To Miss Rest Of Season

February 26th, 2024 at 4:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Wizards forward Isaiah Livers will miss the remainder of the 2023/24 season due to joint capsule inflammation in his right hip, the team’s PR department tweets.

Livers, who was traded along with Marvin Bagley III and two second-round picks for Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala in mid-January, has been beset by injuries during his young career.

The third-year forward has yet to make his Washington debut due to a combination of being out of the rotation and the hip issue. Livers appeared in 23 games (six starts) for Detroit this season, averaging 5.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.4 minutes. He missed nearly a month of action after suffering an ankle sprain during a pre-training camp workout.

Livers saw action in 52 games last season, his second in the league after being drafted in the second round by the Pistons in 2021. He missed 20 games as a result of a right shoulder sprain.

Livers had a foot injury stemming from his college career at Michigan when he was drafted. That limited him to 19 games in his rookie year. Overall, he’s seen action in 94 career games.

He’ll be a restricted free agent this offseason if the Wizards extend him a qualifying offer worth a projected $2.37MM.

Bulls Notes: Dosunmu, Caruso, Terry, Phillips, DeRozan

February 26th, 2024 at 3:50pm CST by Rory Maher

After starting the season 5-14, the Bulls have been playing solid basketball over the past few months despite dealing with some major injuries. They’ve gone 22-16 over their past 38 games and currently hold a 27-30 record, good for the No. 9 seed in the East.

Coby White has — understandably — received plenty of recognition for helping the Bulls right the ship, but his backcourt mate Ayo Dosunmu has had an impressive season as well, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

As Johnson writes, Dosunmu has always been able to create an edge while driving, but defenders sagged off him in 2022/23, when his three-point percentage dipped to 31.2% after he shot 37.2% as a rookie. However, he’s in the midst of the most productive scoring stretch of his career because opposing defenses now have to respect his outside shot — he’s up to 41.7% from deep this season.

Over his first two seasons, Dosunmu scored 20-plus points five times. He’s matched that total since January 13 alone, Johnson notes. During that 17-game span, he has scored in double figures 16 times, averaging 15.8 PPG, 3.8 APG, 2.9 RPG and 1.1 SPG on .565/.513/.792 shooting in 33.3 MPG.

Dosunmu re-signed with Chicago on a three-year, $21MM deal as a restricted free agent last summer, which is looking like a bargain considering his improved offense and solid defense, Johnson adds.

Here’s more on the Bulls:

Head coach Billy Donovan has been relying on Alex Caruso to defend power forwards with Patrick Williams (season-ending foot surgery) and Torrey Craig (knee sprain) sidelined, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. While the All-Defensive First Team guard/forward is used to defending the opposing teams’ best players, he says it’ll be a team effort to make up for the size disadvantage. “I can makeshift for the majority of games,” Caruso said. “We’re going to have to do a better job covering up for each other. Maybe throw some more wrinkles into the game plan of coverages and giving different looks, a little more gimmicky stuff to buy us minutes here and there.”
In addition to Caruso, the Bulls have been getting rotation minutes at the small-ball four spot from Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips, a pair of young players eager to make their mark in the NBA, Cowley writes for The Sun-Times. “We know we’re short-handed right now, but the way the vets on this team talk to me, talk to Julian, they preach don’t be afraid of the challenge,” Terry said. “This is how you’re going to make your name in the league if you want to be here for a long time.” He had some rough patches in Sunday’s win over New Orleans, but Terry was also a team-high plus-17 in his 15 minutes, Cowley notes.
Chicago’s victory over the Pelicans was the latest evidence of DeMar DeRozan stepping up when the team needed him most, Cowley states in another story. The Bulls were down 12 points in the third quarter, but DeRozan responded by scoring 10 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth, including a three-pointer that sealed the victory with 30 seconds remaining. “It might not always be pretty for us, but they’re going to fight,” Donovan said. “I don’t think they’re in the business of: ‘OK, Patrick’s done, Torrey is down, we’re playing against a really big team, we have no chance. We’ll just go through the motions.’ I don’t think they have that mentality. I think DeMar thrives on that. I think he thrives on chaos. I think he thrives on uncertainty.”