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Atlantic Notes: Achiuwa, Hartenstein, Lowry, Barnes, Quickley

February 24th, 2024 at 11:23am CST by Tristan Tucker

Knicks forward Precious Achiuwa took over the starting power forward position over the past 10 games in Julius Randle‘s absence and has played some of the best basketball of his career during that stretch, The Athletic’s Fred Katz writes. Achiuwa is averaging 14.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks in his last 10 outings, including three games with more than 15 rebounds.

Achiuwa flew under the radar when he was moved to New York in the trade for OG Anunoby, but he’s been one of the team’s steadiest contributors after uneven stops in Miami and Toronto to begin his career, Katz writes. Playing under coach Tom Thibodeau has unlocked aspects of Achiuwa’s game, including effective fake dribble handoffs.

“You knew there was versatility to his game,” Thibodeau said. “But we didn’t understand the dribble handoff part of it, all those things. And the offensive rebounding is something that we liked from the start. We knew he was very effective with that.”

The Knicks will have some decisions to make once Randle returns to the lineup, but Achiuwa is making a strong case to be included in a fully healthy rotation, according to Katz.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein returned to the court on Thursday after missing three games with injury. However, according to New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, Hartenstein left the arena with “a little frustration” about his minutes because they differed from his ramp-up plan. Hartenstein said he was supposed to hit the 21-minute mark but he only played 11 in a win over the Sixers.
Kyle Lowry made his debut with the Sixers on Thursday, scoring 11 points, four rebounds and five assists while receiving a standing ovation in front of his hometown crowd. “It was an amazing atmosphere and the ovation that I got was awesome. I was happy,” Lowry said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “I was pissed that we lost and we were in that situation, but it was a great moment. Now for me it’s about winning basketball games.” Lowry was born in Philadelphia and played college ball at Villanova.
When the Raptors acquired Immanuel Quickley, they added an athletic guard who can shoot the ball — an ideal complement on paper to star Scottie Barnes. While there have been some bright spots with the pairing, The Athletic’s Eric Koreen observes that it’s still a work in progress. Each player is playing individually well, but Toronto is looking for more synchronicity with the duo, per Koreen.

Southwest Notes: Wembanyama, Jackson, Mavs, McCollum

February 24th, 2024 at 9:50am CST by Tristan Tucker

Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama became the youngest player to record an elusive 5×5 on Friday, recording at least five points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks in the same game. Wembanyama joined Jamaal Tinsley as the only rookies in league history to accomplish the feat and he became just the second player, behind Michael Jordan, to record back-to-back games of five steals and five blocks.

What Wembanyama is doing as a rookie is unheard of, as emphasized by his stat line against the Lakers: 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five blocks and five steals. In his last four games, the rookie is averaging 24.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.8 blocks, 5.5 assists and 3.3 steals.

Still, Wembanyama’s postgame comments suggest he’s more concerned about trying to win games than individual stats. When asked about joining Jordan in the history books, Wembanyama said “I wonder if he did it in wins,” according to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez.

Lakers superstar LeBron James had high praise for the 20-year-old rookie phenom after the game, calling Wembanyama one of the best rookies he’s ever seen.

“He doesn’t have a ceiling,” James said. “He can do whatever he wants to do with his career. It seems like he enjoys the game. It seems like he puts in the work. Just from the outside looking in, I’m not with him on a day-to-day basis, but I said a long time ago how special he was, and it’s literally that simple.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Grizzlies rookie GG Jackson II has been one of the bright spots of an unusually tough season in Memphis and it looks like his offensive role with the team is going to continue to grow. According to Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal, coach Taylor Jenkins said the team will look to transition Jackson from a secondary creator to a primary one and will put the ball in his hands more, though he’ll likely continue to come off the bench. “I feel like they put a lot of trust in me and they see the confidence in my game,” Jackson said.
The Mavericks are on a seven-game win streak despite having dealt with a plethora of injuries all season, writes Tim Cato of The Athletic. To illustrate just how unhealthy the Mavs have been, Cato points out that Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic have played fewer total games together (45) since Irving joined the team midway through last season than Bucks stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have. Now, after trading for P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford at the deadline and getting players healthier, head coach Jason Kidd will have rotation questions to sort through. “We’re deep,” Kidd said. “This is the first time the Mavs have been deep in a long time.” Outside of Doncic, Irving and their new trade acquisitions, Dereck Lively, Josh Green and Derrick Jones Jr. are among those who have impressed this year.
Pelicans guard CJ McCollum suffered a left ankle injury on Friday night against Miami and did not return after initially being deemed questionable, according to team PR (Twitter link). McCollum is averaging 18.8 points and 4.6 assists per game this season for New Orleans.

Pistons Notes: Williams, Rotation, Wiseman, Grimes

February 24th, 2024 at 8:20am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Pistons went 11 deep into their rotation through the first 13 minutes of their Thursday loss to the Pacers. According to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, it felt like Detroit was auditioning for players who might be on next season’s roster, even though coach Monty Williams denied that was the case a day earlier.

“I’m not going to be throwing combinations on the floor to just be looking at certain combinations,” Williams said Wednesday. “We’re done with that, in my opinion. We’re trying to develop guys, for sure, but we’re going to try and win every game we can so that we can create what we feel [will give us momentum] going into the summer.”

In Edwards’ view, it doesn’t feel like there’s much synergy with the rotations Williams is putting on the floor. If the team is prioritizing winning, Edwards writes, it doesn’t make sense that James Wiseman is earning minutes over Mike Muscala and there’s been no staggering the minutes of franchise guards Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey. But it doesn’t feel like development is the priority in the rotation either, according to Edwards, because rookie Marcus Sasser played fewer minutes than Evan Fournier and Malachi Flynn.

The deep rotations and new faces are making it difficult for any consistency to develop in Detroit and too many minutes are being given to players who might not be on the roster next season, Edwards writes.

In response to questions surrounding his 11-man rotation on Thursday, Williams explained that he told the coaches he’d prefer to run with about nine rotation players but Sasser bumped his knee and that’s why he ended up using Flynn more (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of Detroit Free Press).

We have more Pistons notes:

Williams also explained his decision to play Wiseman over Muscala (Twitter link via Sankofa). “I like what he’s giving us, especially on the defensive side,” Williams said of the former No. 2 overall pick. According to Sankofa, Williams said that the rim protection Wiseman provides is more important when smaller guards like Sasser and Flynn are on the floor.
Wiseman is hoping to shed the bust label he picked up after being traded away for a modest return at the 2023 deadline after he was drafted second overall in 2020, according to FOX Sports’ Melissa Rohlin. “I believe I can be a great player,” Wiseman said. His career has been derailed by a combination of injuries, illness and a lack of NBA preparedness, Rohlin writes.
Quentin Grimes, acquired by the Pistons at the deadline, is listed as probable ahead of their Saturday matchup against Orlando, according to Sankofa (Twitter link). Grimes hasn’t played since being traded due to a right knee sprain, but averaged 8.6 points per game while connecting on 37.9% of his three-pointers in his first three seasons in the league.

Northwest Notes: Conley, George, Blazers, Nuggets

February 23rd, 2024 at 10:43pm CST by Rory Maher

Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley will earn $9,975,962 in 2024/25 followed by $10,774,038 in ’25/26 as part of his new two-year extension, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). It’s a straight two-year contract with no options, and Conley can’t be traded for six months due to the 8% raise in year two of the extension, Marks adds.

Appearing on NBA Countdown, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said (Twitter video link) Conley initially wasn’t thrilled that Utah sent him to Minnesota at last year’s deadline, having instead hoped to land with the Lakers or Clippers. However, he and his family now love the area and he was enthusiastic about staying with the Wolves.

In a story for ESPN.com, Kevin Pelton writes that Conley’s extension looks like a win for the Wolves on the court and off, even though they’re almost certain to be a second apron team in 2024/25. Pelton says the No. 1 seed in the West is well worth spending money on. Minnesota has only paid the tax once in franchise history, but Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are set to become majority stakeholders next season.

Pelton also examines Minnesota’s free agents this summer and ways in which the team could trim payroll, which seems unlikely barring an unforeseen development.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Jazz guard Keyonte George, the 16th pick of last year’s draft, spent the summer watching all 82 of Utah’s games from 2022/23 to prepare for his rookie campaign, he tells Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports. “I watched as much film as I could just so I knew what my role was going to be coming in,” George said. “I knew Mike (Conley) was gone, so I just had to go into a new situation, trying to be a lead guard, and I was trying to speed up the process. My main goal was to be effective as soon as possible so I wanted to put myself in a position to be knowledgeable and not think about what I was doing in a new system and just play.” Known as more of scorer coming out of Baylor, George knew facilitating would be key to NBA minutes. He says he continues to study other players to gain an edge. “As the year has gone on, I’ve felt way more comfortable and my shot is starting to fall,” George added. “Definitely the game is slowing down for me. I’ve been watching games around the league and seeing how other guards get to their spots and just trying to figure out my spots and my shot selection.”
The Trail Blazers have reached a five-year “bridge agreement” with the city of Portland that will keep the team in the Moda Center through at least 2030, with the current lease expiring in 2025, per Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. The Blazers own the arena but the city leases the land. President of business operations Dewayne Hankins said the move will keep the team in Portland and owner Jody Allen has instructed the Blazers to get a long-term deal done with the city.
The Nuggets are 25-8 with all five starters active but just 12-11 when at least one player from the group is unavailable. With that in mind, head coach Michael Malone says he’s more focused on repeating as NBA champions instead of angling for the West’s top seed, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes. “For me, (the top seed) is not a top one or two priority, to be very honest,” Malone said. “We talked about that with our team today. The good thing is Minnesota is No. 1. We play them three more times. We’re three games out (of first place). So we have avenues to become the No. 1 team. It’s definitely attainable. But I don’t want to win that battle and lose the bigger war. … I think having home court in the first round is very, very important. I think having a healthy team going into the postseason is very important. And if we happen to be the No. 1 seed, that’s just a cherry on top. But we’re not gonna put all our cards in just to attain that and to risk being healthy for a very deep playoff run.”

Sixers’ Melton Returns Friday After Lengthy Absence

February 23rd, 2024 at 8:27pm CST by Rory Maher

Sixers guard De’Anthony Melton returned from an 18-game absence on Friday vs. Cleveland, tweets Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Melton, who last played on January 12, has been dealing with a lumbar injury in his back.

The 25-year-old had started all 33 games in which he appeared this season prior to Friday, when he came off the bench on a minutes restriction. Melton, one of the team’s best defenders, has averaged 11.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.6 SPG on .393/.363/.827 shooting in 29.1 MPG through 33 contests.

Veteran forward Nicolas Batum had also missed the past nine games leading into the All-Star break with a hamstring injury prior to Thursday, when he played 18 minutes in the loss to New York. While he was technically available for the back-to-back Friday, he hasn’t actually played through three quarters, likely just to be cautious because he’s 35 and soft-tissue injuries are tricky.

As our tracker shows, Melton and Batum are two of a possible 14 free agents for the Sixers in 2024. That’s the highest FA total in the league — the Lakers are second with up to 11.

Melton, who is also eligible for a veteran extension, is making $8MM in 2023/24, while Batum makes $11.7MM.

The Sixers are currently 32-23, the No. 5 seed in the East.

Nets Notes: Struggles, Johnson, Bridges, Koch Family

February 23rd, 2024 at 6:52pm CST by Rory Maher

In their first game under interim head coach Kevin Ollie on Thursday in Toronto, the Nets had yet another listless performance, losing by 28 points to the Raptors, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Ollie replaced Jacque Vaughn, who was fired in part due to the team’s lack of energy and effort, with Brooklyn just 8-24 over its past 32 games.

Ollie made playing with energy and hustle a priority in his first practice on Tuesday, but the Nets repeatedly failed to get back in transition in the blowout loss, Lewis notes, losing the fast-break points battle 46-10.

“We didn’t make shots, but their effort, their energy, loose balls, offensive rebounds, beat us in probably every area,” said Ollie. “And giving up 46 fast-break points and not being able to stop them and limit them in half-court situations was a killer for us.”

Here are a few more notes out of Brooklyn:

Ollie made a change to the starting lineup on Thursday, moving fifth-year forward Cameron Johnson to the bench, Lewis writes in another story. The starting five consisted of Ben Simmons, Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton. It was only the second time Johnson has come off the bench this season, with the first coming just before the All-Star break in his first game back from an adductor injury. The 27-year-old, who re-signed with the Nets on a lucrative long-term contract last summer, finished with six points on 1-of-7 shooting in 21 minutes.
Appearing on the podcast (Roommates Show) of his former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, who now play for the Knicks, Nets wing Mikal Bridges compared the two teams’ situations unprompted, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link), who wonders if Bridges would ever consider asking out of Brooklyn. “I know people might want to think about different situations and teams,” Bridges said. “Obviously, I’ve got my boys over there in New York, so everybody goes with that. ….” Bridges went on to say he wanted to keep playing for the Nets, despite their struggles. Bondy acknowledges that “it’s entirely plausible — and understandable — if the Nets simply refuse to trade their best player across the river,” but argues that if it was a possibility for New York, it’d be an idea worth pursuing.
Billionaire Julia Koch is negotiating to buy a minority stake in the Nets, per Lewis and Josh Kosman of The New York Post. Koch’s son David Koch Jr. would also be involved. The stake could be as high as 15%, from majority owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai. According to The Post, Julia has an estimated net worth of $60-65 billion, which would make her the second-wealthiest woman in the world and only trailing Clippers owner Steve Ballmer in the NBA.

And-Ones: Cousins, Howard, Wolters, Doumbouya

February 23rd, 2024 at 5:16pm CST by Luke Adams

While he hasn’t officially announced his retirement from the NBA, DeMarcus Cousins admitted during a conversation with Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype that he doesn’t really expect to be back in the league.

“Honestly, no,” Cousins said when asked if he’s hoping for a potential NBA return soon. “I know I’ve had my time there. You know, there was a point where I was trying to make that happen. But the place I’m in my life now, just with everything I’ve got going on, just outside of basketball, like I’m in a good place.

“So, like I said, I’m excited for what I have ahead and my future. You know, my 12 years in the league were a small chapter or chapters in my life. And, I’m ready to move on to the next and see what’s in store for me.”

A four-time All-Star, Cousins was a dominant interior force in his prime, averaging at least 24 points and 11 rebounds per game for four straight seasons from 2014-18 for Sacramento and New Orleans.

However, a series of leg injuries – including a torn Achilles, a torn quad, and a torn ACL – in 2018 and 2019 derailed his career. Since playing for the Nuggets in 2021/22, the 33-year-old has been out of the NBA, competing professionally in Puerto Rico and Taiwan.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

A Georgia judge has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Dwight Howard that accuses the former NBA star of sexual assault and battery, reports Baxter Holmes of ESPN. The case remains in the discovery phase, with no trial scheduled yet, per Holmes. Stephen Harper, who filed the civil suit last July, alleges that Howard assaulted him during a July 2021 encounter, while Howard’s attorneys have repeatedly stated that it was consensual.
Nate Wolters, who appeared in 84 NBA regular season games after being selected 38th overall in the 2013 draft, recently announced his retirement as a player, according to Andy Rennecke of St. Cloud Live. The Summit League Player of the Year for South Dakota State in 2013 and later a member of the Bucks, Pelicans, and Jazz, Wolters hasn’t been in the NBA since the 2017/18 season. However, he played internationally for several seasons after that, with stops in France, Lithuania, Israel, Russia, Serbia, and Greece.
Former NBA first-round pick Sekou Doumbouya will continue his career in his home country of France. The 23-year-old forward has signed with Chorale Roanne Basket for the rest of the season, according to a press release from the team. The 15th overall pick in 2019, Doumbouya spent two seasons with the Pistons and last played in the NBA with the Lakers in 2021/22.

Patrick Williams To Undergo Season-Ending Foot Surgery

February 23rd, 2024 at 4:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Bulls forward Patrick Williams will undergo surgery on his injured left foot and will be sidelined for the remainder of the season, the team announced today in a press release.

According to the Bulls, Williams was initially diagnosed with a bone edema, but recent imaging revealed a “progression of his foot stress reaction.” He last played on January 25.

The No. 4 overall pick of the 2020 draft, Williams has had an up-and-down four seasons with Chicago, showcasing tantalizing two-way upside at times mixed in with plenty of inconsistency. Part of that has been due to injuries — while he played 71 games as a rookie and all 82 games in 2022/23, he was limited to just 17 games in ’21/22 due to a wrist injury and only made 43 appearances this season due to foot and ankle issues.

Overall, the 22-year-old averaged 10.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 0.9 SPG and 0.8 BPG on .443/.399/.788 shooting in 43 games (27.3 MPG) in ’23/24, including 30 starts.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, Williams will be a restricted free agent this summer if the Bulls give him a $12,973,527 qualifying offer.

With Williams and Torrey Craig (right knee sprain) both sidelined, the Bulls have been running smaller lineups, with a starting five of Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. Rookie Julian Phillips and second-year wing Dalen Terry also received rotation minutes in Thursday’s loss vs. Boston.

Williams is Chicago’s second opening-night starter to go down with season-ending foot surgery, joining two-time All-Star Zach LaVine. The Bulls are currently 26-30, the No. 9 seed in the East.

Ryan Arcidiacono Joining Bulls’ G League Affiliate

February 23rd, 2024 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran guard Ryan Arcidiacono is joining Chicago’s G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Although neither Windy City nor the Maine Celtics have officially announced it yet, the two teams made a trade sending Arcidiacono’s G League rights to the Bulls, according to the G League’s transaction log.

Arcidiacono, who played in Chicago for four seasons at the start of his NBA career from 2017-21, has spent the majority of the past three seasons with the Knicks. A Tom Thibodeau favorite, the 29-year-old guard is considered a welcome presence on the bench and in the locker room, but played very sparingly in New York — he went scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting in 45 total minutes of action across 20 games this season.

The Knicks sent Arcidiacono to the Pistons in the trade that saw Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks land in New York. Detroit, facing a roster crunch, subsequently waived him.

Thibodeau and the Knicks, who had three roster spots available earlier this week, probably wouldn’t mind re-signing Arcidiacono and reuniting him with fellow Villanova alums Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo. However, they’re ineligible to do so. A team that trades away a player can’t bring back that player as a free agent later in the season if he’s waived by the team he was traded to.

Rest-Of-Season NBA Dates, Deadlines To Watch

February 23rd, 2024 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

With the All-Star Game behind us, we’re preparing for the home stretch of the 2023/24 NBA season. Here are a few noteworthy dates and deadlines to keep an eye on before the playoffs begin in April.

February 29

Last day for contract renegotiations.

A team with cap room can renegotiate a player’s current-year salary to give him a raise as part of a contract extension. There are no legitimate candidates for a renegotiation at this point in the season though, since there are only one or two teams that could realistically open up cap room, and they likely aren’t looking to extend anyone.

March 1

Last day a player can be waived by one team and remain eligible to appear in the postseason for another team.

As we outline in our glossary entry on buyouts, a player doesn’t need to be signed by March 1 in order to retain his playoff-eligible — he simply can’t be waived after that date. A player who is waived on March 1 and signs with another team on April 8 would be playoff-eligible for his new team, but a player who is waived on March 2 and signs on March 5 wouldn’t be.

March 4

Last day for a team to sign a player to a two-way contract.

Under the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, the deadline to sign a player to a two-way contract was January 15, but it has been pushed back in the current CBA and teams are taking full advantage.

In the 15 days since the trade deadline, 11 players have signed new two-way contracts. That number figures to grow ahead of March 4. While there are only two open two-way slots around the NBA right now – with a third about to open up in Chicago – it seems as if at least one or two new openings are being created every day lately as two-way players receive promotions to teams’ standard rosters.

March 11

Last day to use a disabled player exception.

The Bulls ($10.2MM) and Trail Blazers ($5.8MM) are among the teams that still have available disabled player exceptions, which could be used to sign a player to a rest-of-season contract or to claim a player with an expiring contract off waivers.

However, disabled player exceptions are used more frequently at the trade deadline than after it, and neither Chicago nor Portland has much breathing room below the luxury tax line. The likeliest scenario is that these DPEs will expire without being used.

April 14

Last day of the NBA regular season.
Last day players can sign contracts for 2023/24.
Last day two-way contracts can be converted to standard NBA contracts.
Luxury tax penalties calculated based on payroll as of this day.

Several teams around the NBA have at least one open spot on their 15-man rosters. We can probably assume that most – if not all – of those clubs will fill their openings by April 14.

Playoff teams will want to make sure they have as much veteran depth as possible, just to be safe, while lottery teams will look at signing younger players to multiyear deals that include little to no guaranteed money beyond this season in order to get a longer look at them in the summer.

April 15

Playoff rosters set (2:00pm CT).

April 16-19

NBA play-in tournament.

April 20

NBA playoffs begin.

While they wait for the play-in tournament to conclude, the top six teams in each conference will get a few days off between the regular season and the postseason, giving them some time to recharge before the playoffs begin.

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