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Northwest Notes: Conley, Towns, Finch, Reath, Jazz

February 22nd, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mike Conley, who agreed to a two-year, $21MM contract extension to remain with the Timberwolves, likely could have gotten a more lucrative deal in the open market, but he’s happy to be the floor leader of a prime contender, he told Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

“This organization is headed in the right direction,” said Conley, who is still seeking his first championship. “It’s got good people leading the way, people with great intentions and are trying to build a team that can compete for years to come. Give fans something to be excited about. So, organizations like this you don’t want to pass up on.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

A phone call between Karl-Anthony Towns and Chris Finch just after Finch was hired during the 2020/21 season established a bond that had fostered the Timberwolves‘ resurgence, as both Hine and The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski write. “That was not lost on me at the moment, and it’s never been lost on me,” Finch said. “It’s been everything for the relationship. It points to really what a great person he is in terms of — he’s referred to himself as a servant leader. That’s what servant leadership is about. It’s what can you do to make those people around you, their experiences, better or easier? He paved the way for me in that regard.”
Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups is thrilled that Duop Reath was promoted from a two-way deal to a standard three-year contract. “I just love to see people get what they deserve,” Billups told Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report. “That was maybe the most happy thing that happened over the break, was being able to talk to him. He’s just so grateful and so thankful. That’s what this thing is really all about—to be able to bring somebody in who’s trying to make the league, bring him into Summer League and have him grow to a level where he’s getting an actual NBA contract is unbelievable.” Reath has a $4MM guarantee through next season and could make as much as $6.22MM through the life of the contract, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
The Jazz came close to trading for an impact player, The Athletic’s Tony Jones said on the Jackpotting Around Jazz Podcast (Twitter link). Jones didn’t name the “really good player” Utah was pursuing, but did say it wasn’t Dejounte Murray.

Celtics Notes: Brown, Springer, Tillman, Stevens, Porzingis, Holiday

February 22nd, 2024 at 9:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics forward Jaylen Brown finished second in the All-Star dunk contest and he’s open to participating again, according to Souichi Terada of Masslive.com. Brown said he had a “great time” during the event.

“If nobody else cares to do it, (expletive) it, I’ll do it again,” Brown said. “I don’t really care. People think like memes and stuff. But like I said, I think dunking is an art form. Obviously, I think I got more in the tank than what I displayed. I think I could perform better. I had a great time.”

We have more on the Celtics:

Boston returned from the All-Star break with a fully healthy roster, Brian Robb of MassLive.com reports. Jaden Springer, who was acquired from Philadelphia at the trade deadline for a second round pick, had been sidelined with a right ankle impingement during the past two weeks. Big man Xavier Tillman, who was acquired from Memphis a day before the deadline, has been cleared to play for the first time since the trade. He has been recovering from left knee soreness for the past few weeks. Both saw playing time in the team’s victory over Chicago on Thursday.
President of basketball operations Brad Stevens noted during a wide-ranging interview with Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett that team building goes well beyond the player roster. “I feel very, very responsible for putting a team together that not only includes the players, but coaches, trainers, nutrition, analytics and everyone else that is on one page and represents the Celtics really well,” Stevens said. “We will be judged on how well we play and how many games we win and our competitive character that we exhibit through it. So just putting all of the right people in all of the right spots to do that is, I think, the No. 1 responsibility. Get the right people on the bus, and make sure that we’re all moving in one direction.”
In his midseason evaluation of the Celtics’ strong first half, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe details how much Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday have changed the way the team plays.

Grizzlies’ Bane, Smart To Remain Out For Multiple Weeks

February 22nd, 2024 at 8:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Grizzlies will continue to be without guards Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart for several more weeks, the team announced in a press release.

Bane is progressing well from a Grade 3 left ankle sprain he suffered on Jan. 12 game against the Clippers. He is expected to return to play during the next three-to-five weeks, per the Grizzlies.

Bane was in the midst of a career year prior to the injury, averaging 24.4 points, 5.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds in 37 games.

Smart, who sustained a left finger/hand injury during a Jan. 9 game against the Mavericks, will continue to wear a splint for another three weeks, per that club. He will be reevaluated at that three-week mark.

Acquired from the Celtics during the offseason, Smart is averaging 14.5 points and 4.3 assists in 20 starts with Memphis.

The injury-ravaged Grizzlies return Friday from the All-Star break with a 20-36 mark, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Smart is eventually shut down.

Central Notes: Haliburton, Mitchell, Rollins, Pistons

February 22nd, 2024 at 7:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

All-Star Game starter Tyrese Haliburton was heaped with praise during the festivities in Indianapolis and he’s humbled by it, James Boyd of The Athletic writes. Haliburton gave the home audience a thrill when he made five 3-pointers in less than two minutes during the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

“The respect that I’ve gained from my peers and legends means the world to me,” the Pacers‘ star guard said. “Where I’m from, that’s not really a thing. There’s no chance that they even know where Oshkosh, Wis., is, so it means the world to me. I just want to continue to keep doing what I’m doing and gaining people’s respect.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Doc Rivers has made a change to his coaching staff, as the Bucks have parted ways with assistant Nate Mitchell, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets. Mitchell was hired by former coach Adrian Griffin last summer after serving as an assistant under Nick Nurse with the Raptors.
Ryan Rollins‘ two-way contract with the Bucks is a two-year deal, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Rollins signed the contract on Wednesday after the Wizards released him in January.
The impact of Simone Fontecchio and other recent additions to the Pistons’ roster will be one of the storylines to watch for the remainder of their season, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Whether Cade Cunningham continues to put up strong numbers after a slow start is another thing to keep an eye on, Sankofa adds.

Southwest Notes: Rockets, Pelicans, Mavs, Brunson

February 22nd, 2024 at 5:42pm CST by Rory Maher

Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said he was considering making changes to the starting lineup just before the All-Star break, but with the opening night starting five healthy again, he wants to give the group more time to show what it can do, at least for now, according to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link).

“Took a look at some things over the last 27 or so games,” Udoka said. “I think I cut 54 (games) in half and wanted to get a look when we are more whole. Looking at Dillon (Brooks) missing nine games, Fred (VanVleet) missing the last five, Jabari (Smith) missing four, and the ups and downs we had to start those games with different lineups. I felt we played a lot better, obviously, in the first 27 than the last 27. So I want to get back to that consistency, and we’ll take a look at our group going forward as is and see if we get back to the consistency and competitiveness that we had in the first 27.”

As Lerner writes, the Rockets are 18-17 with VanVleet, Jalen Green, Brooks, Smith and Alperen Sengun starting, but just 6-13 with any other lineups. They’ve also gone 1-6 without VanVleet this season. The veteran guard will be active for the back-to-back set Thursday and Friday after missing Houston’s previous five games with a left adductor strain.

“I had a little bit of an extended break, so it’s really good for me, obviously, to rehab and get back healthy,” VanVleet said, per Lerner. “I had a good week to train and get some good work in. So feeling good and just excited to be back with the group.”

Rookie wing Cam Whitmore, who missed the last three games heading into the break with a sprained ankle, is expected to return this week, Lerner adds, while second-year forward Tari Eason was being evaluated by a doctor on Wednesday to determine a prognosis for his leg injury, which has kept him out for 32 games in 2023/24.

Here’s more from the Southwest:

After competing in the play-in tournament the past two seasons, once advancing to the playoffs and once being immediately eliminated, the Pelicans hope to avoid the tournament altogether by making the playoffs outright in 2023/24, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “It’s definitely one of our goals,” head coach Willie Green said. “To take another step. That step for us is to not be in the play-in. We can control our own destiny with piling up as many wins as we can.” After winning seven of eight leading into the break, New Orleans is currently 33-22, the No. 5 seed in the West. However, the Pelicans only lead the No. 8 seed Kings by one-and-a-half games.
Coach Jason Kidd may be preaching patience but the time for the Mavericks to win is now, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News argues. Dallas is sitting in seventh place in the West but possesses the league’s most explosive backcourt, along with frontcourt upgrades made at the trade deadline.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson confirmed that he wanted to stay with the Mavericks, but said they didn’t negotiate with him seriously enough during his walk year in 2021/22. Brunson would have signed for much less than he received from the Knicks if the Mavs hadn’t balked at a four-year extension early in the process. He made those comments during a podcast as relayed by Andrew Battifarano of the New York Post. “I really did want to stay in Dallas,” Brunson said on the “All The Smoke” podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes. “Before my fourth season in Dallas, my last season in Dallas, we try to extend our contract — whatever we can get. The most we can get is like four years and $55 million. And obviously we wanted to do that, I wanted to stay there and I thought I would be there for a long time. I liked my role there.”

Dana Gauruder contributed to this report.

Timberwolves Sign Justin Jackson To 10-Day Deal

February 22nd, 2024 at 4:20pm CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 22: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

FEBRUARY 21: The Timberwolves have agreed to sign former first-round pick Justin Jackson to a 10-day contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 15th overall pick in 2017, Jackson has appeared in 278 total regular season games for the Kings, Mavericks, Thunder, Bucks, Celtics, and Suns across six seasons in the NBA. However, he has been out of the league for over a year, having been waived by Oklahoma City last February after being sent from Boston to OKC in exchange for Mike Muscala at the trade deadline.

Jackson has spent the 2023/24 season playing for the Texas Legends, Dallas’ G League affiliate. In 35 games for the Legends, he has averaged 19.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 34.6 minutes per contest, with an excellent shooting line of .480/.427/.868.

Minnesota had been carrying 13 players on standard contracts since this season’s February 8 trade deadline and had until Thursday to fill at least one of the two openings on its roster, as we outlined over the weekend. Unless the Wolves make a second addition to their roster, they’ll find themselves in a similar situation once Jackson’s 10-day contract expires, with up to two weeks to re-add a 14th man.

Jackson will earn $145,301 over the course of his 10-day deal, while the Wolves take on a cap hit of $116,075. The contract will cover the team’s next five games, starting on Friday vs. Milwaukee.

With Jackson’s 10-day deal on their books, the Wolves are now $1.4MM below the luxury tax line, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That will be a consideration as Minnesota manages its roster during the season’s final weeks, since the organization won’t want to become a taxpayer.

Pelicans Sign Jalen Crutcher To 10-Day Deal

February 22nd, 2024 at 4:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans are signing guard Jalen Crutcher to a 10-day contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The signing is official, according to the NBA transactions log.

New Orleans has an open spot on the roster for Crutcher. The Pelicans also promoted Jeremiah Robinson-Earl from his two-way deal during the All-Star break after their roster count dropped to 13.

Crutcher, 24, has averaged 17.7 points, 5.6 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 36 starts for the Pelicans’ Birmingham Squadron NBA G League team. Crutcher spent most of the past two seasons with the Hornets’ G League team, the Greensboro Swarm. He signed with New Orleans in October during training camp but was waived before opening night.

Crutcher went undrafted in 2021 out of Dayton and has yet to make his NBA debut. He’ll provide temporary depth at the guard spot.

A week ago, New Orleans announced that Dyson Daniels would be out at least a month after undergoing left knee surgery.

Pelicans Sign Malcolm Hill To Two-Way Contract

February 22nd, 2024 at 4:12pm CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 22: Hill’s two-way contract with the Pelicans is now official, the team announced in a press release.

FEBRUARY 21: Following a pair of brief stints with the team earlier in 2023/24, third-year swingman Malcolm Hill will be returning to the Pelicans on a two-way contract, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Hill, 28, was in training camp with the Pelicans in the fall and signed a 10-day contract with the club on January 27, but has yet to see any action at the NBA level this regular season after appearing in 24 total games for the Hawks and Bulls from 2021-23.

The former Illinois standout has spent the majority of this season with the Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ G League affiliate. In 33 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the Squadron, Hill has averaged 22.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 steals in 34.9 minutes per contest, posting an impressive shooting line of .477/.409/.884.

After promoting Jeremiah Robinson-Earl from a two-way contract to the standard roster over the weekend, the Pelicans have a two-way slot available, so no corresponding move will be required to make room for Hill. After the deal is finalized, the Pelicans will still have one opening on their standard 15-man roster.

Depending on when exactly Hill signs his new contract, he’ll be eligible to be active for up to either 15 or 16 of the Pelicans’ 27 games the rest of the way.

Tosan Evbuomwan To Sign Two-Way Deal With Pistons

February 22nd, 2024 at 3:47pm CST by Rory Maher

With his 10-day deal set to expire, Tosan Evbuomwan is re-signing with the Pistons on a two-way contract, agent George Langberg tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Evbuomwan will take the two-way slot previously held by Stanley Umude, who is being promoted to a standard deal, so the two players are essentially swapping spots on the Pistons’ roster.

After going undrafted out of Princeton, Evbuomwan signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Detroit, later being waived to earn a bonus for playing for the team’s NBAGL affiliate, the Motor City Cruise.

He has spent most of the 2023/24 season with the Cruise, but has also played in five NBA games with the Grizzlies and the Pistons while on 10-day contracts.

In 29 games with the Cruise, Evbuomwan has averaged 15.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 34.5 minutes per game.

Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart Suspended Three Games Without Pay

February 22nd, 2024 at 3:40pm CST by Rory Maher

3:40pm: The misdemeanor assault charge against Stewart has been dismissed after prosecutors declined to pursue the case, tweets Baxter Holmes of ESPN. That explains why the NBA handed out a suspension today, since the league typically doesn’t act until the legal process has played out.

Stewart will lose $108,966 as part of his three-game suspension, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

3:17pm: Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart has been suspended three games without pay for initiating an altercation with Suns big man Drew Eubanks prior to last week’s game in Phoenix, the NBA announced (via Twitter).

Stewart punched and pushed Eubanks during the incident, per the league’s statement. His suspension is expected to begin on Thursday vs. Indiana, as Detroit’s forward/center was set to be active tonight for the first time in several weeks after dealing with an ankle sprain.

Eubanks said he was sucker-punched in the face by Stewart in the hallway of the Footprint Center shortly after arriving at the arena, though he wasn’t injured and was able to suit up for the Suns’ victory last Wednesday. Stewart was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge and issued a citation before being released.

Stewart, 22, is averaging 11.0 PPG and 6.8 RPG on .470/.374/.746 shooting in 35 games (30.6 MPG) this season for the Pistons, who hold the worst record in the league at 8-46.