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Wizards Waive John Butler Jr.

December 8th, 2023 at 10:07am CST by Rory Maher

DECEMBER 8: Butler has officially been waived, the Wizards confirmed today. As we outlined in a separate story, Jules Bernard has filled the two-way opening created by Butler’s release.

DECEMBER 7: The Wizards are waiving forward/center John Butler Jr., a league source tells Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link). Butler is on a two-way deal with Washington.

According to Robbins, if Butler clears waivers, the plan is for him to sign a NBA G League contract with the Wizards’ affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. He would remain an unrestricted free agent if that comes to fruition, as NBA deals take precedence over G League contracts.

Butler went undrafted last year after one college season at Florida State. He signed a two-way deal with New Orleans, but was waived after 10 days, and caught on with Portland shortly thereafter. He spent all of 2022/23 — his rookie season — on a two-way contract with the Trail Blazers, appearing in 19 games while averaging 2.4 points in 11.6 minutes per contest.

The 21-year-old re-signed with Portland on a two-way deal in July, but was waived on October 20, just before the ’23/24 season began. He caught on with Washington a few days later, but didn’t appear in any NBA games for the Wizards this fall.

Butler has appeared in nine Showcase Cup games with the Go-Go this season, averaging 7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 22.7 minutes.

The Wizards have 15 players on standard contracts, but they’ll have a two-way opening once the move is official.

Injury Notes: Beal, Suns, Porzingis, Harris, Adebayo, Jazz

December 8th, 2023 at 9:41am CST by Luke Adams

Star guard Bradley Beal fully participated in the Suns‘ practice on Thursday, but he’s not quite ready to return from his back injury, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The team wants to get Beal some more practice reps before reinserting him into its lineup, according to head coach Frank Vogel.

“We want to see him stack together a few practices where he responds well,” Vogel said. “No timeline on how many that is or what that looks like, but we want to continue to make sure he’s responding well before we put him back in there. Stay away from being in and out.”

The shorthanded Suns will also be without Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) and Grayson Allen (right groin strain) when they host Sacramento on Friday. However, as Rankin relays, Vogel referred to those injuries as “short-term” issues, suggesting Durant and Allen may not miss much – if any – additional time beyond Friday.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

As expected, Kristaps Porzingis appears poised to return for the Celtics after missing four games due to a strained left calf. He’s considered probable to play in Friday’s game vs. New York, according to the team (Twitter link).
[Note: Porzingis has since been upgraded to available.]
Pistons forward Joe Harris, who has been sidelined since November 5 due to a shoulder injury, has been upgraded to questionable for Friday’s game in Orlando, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Spacing has been an issue this season for the Pistons, who rank 28th in the NBA in three-pointers per game, so the return of Harris, a career 43.6% three-point shooter, could be a boon.
Heat big man Bam Adebayo will miss a second consecutive game on Friday vs. Cleveland due to his left hip contusion, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Adebayo said earlier this week that he’s unsure about his return timeline.
The Jazz are close to getting some lineup reinforcements. Jordan Clarkson (right thigh contusion), who has missed the past three games, and Kelly Olynyk (right shoulder strain), who has been out for two in a row, are listed as questionable for Friday vs. the Clippers. Lauri Markkanen (left hamstring strain) will be unavailable for a seventh straight contest, but was a full practice participant on Thursday and just has to tick a couple more boxes before being cleared to return, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News explains.

Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Turner, Trade Options, J. Smith

December 8th, 2023 at 7:24am CST by Rory Maher

One of the highlights of the NBA’s new in-season tournament has been the emergence of Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who has taken his game to new heights under the bright glare of the national spotlight. After defeating the favored Celtics in the quarterfinals on Monday, Indiana dispatched the Bucks — another Eastern contender — in the semifinals on Thursday to earn a spot in Saturday’s final, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.

“Tyrese is just one of those transcendent players that with him on the court, anything is possible,” head coach Rick Carlisle said.

Haliburton’s impact on the franchise has been “rejuvenating,” according to Myles Turner, who was dissatisfied with his role in Indiana prior to the six-player February 2022 trade that sent Domantas Sabonis to Kings and Haliburton to the Pacers. Nearly two years later, Turner says that blockbuster deal with Sacramento was a win-win for the two franchises, though he gives the edge to Indiana, per Sam Amick of The Athletic.

“I think we won the trade personally, but I’m biased of course,” Turner told Amick. “I think it was mutually beneficial. (Kings guard De’Aaron) Fox got something that he needed, and I got the point guard that I needed.”

Here’s more on the Pacers:

Trading for Haliburton in February 2022 convinced Indiana to cater to his strengths by playing at an extremely fast pace, per Wes Goldberg of RealGM. “Coach allows my personality and who I am as a player to flow into our offense,” Haliburton said. “We lead the league in assists and that starts with me, but I think it’s everybody sharing the ball and wanting to see others succeed.” The Pacers currently have the top offense in the league, Goldberg notes.
Haliburton hopes to emulate Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose presence in Milwaukee put the Bucks in a better position to attract stars to a non-marquee market, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on Thursday’s broadcast (Twitter video link). “As Haliburton said to me, ‘I’m going to get you shots, I’m going to make life easy for you, and we are going to win,'” Wojnarowski said. “And that is really Haliburton’s mission right now, is to use this tournament – use this season – to start making the case to star players around the league, ‘Come play with me in Indiana.'”
According to Wojnarowski, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard has shown interest in players like Raptors forwards Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby within the last year. Indiana has the NBA’s lowest payroll this season, with plenty of moveable draft assets, and could have maximum-salary cap room in 2024, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), so roster upgrades are possible. Still, one Pacers staffer who spoke to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports wondered if “this experiment is too fresh and too positive to mess with its current chemistry,” Fischer writes.
Jalen Smith, who has been battling a left knee bone bruise, will remain sidelined through Saturday’s final, Dopirak tweets. Carlisle said Smith has been limited to light running to this point. The 23-year-old backup center is having a strong season, averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 70.7% from the field through 14 games (15.4 MPG), and he could hit free agency in 2024 if he declines his $5.4MM player option for next season.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Pacers, Lakers Advance To Tournament Final

December 7th, 2023 at 11:06pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pacers and Lakers advanced to the final of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament on Thursday by defeating the Bucks and Pelicans in their respective semifinal matchups.

The championship game between the two undefeated teams (both are 6-0 in the tournament) will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday at 7:30 pm CT. The final will be the lone game of the in-season tournament that does not count towards the regular season schedule.

Indiana’s win over Milwaukee was a back-and-forth affair that came down to the final minutes, with guard Tyrese Haliburton delivering another stellar performance (27 points, 15 assists, seven rebounds, zero turnovers), including clutch baskets to seal the victory. Center Myles Turner also had a strong outing, recording 26 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

However, the other semifinal wasn’t competitive, as Los Angeles demolished New Orleans behind a brilliant showing from LeBron James, who finished with 30 points (on 9-of-12 shooting), eight assists, five rebounds and zero turnovers in just 23 minutes. The Lakers wound up winning by 44 points.

Pelicans head coach Willie Green was understandably disappointed in his team’s effort, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic.

“Tonight was a total letdown… A lack of competitive spirit,” Green said. “Tonight, we took a step in the wrong direction.”

Players on standard contracts with the Pacers and Lakers have now secured bonuses worth at least $200K (two-way players will earn half that amount). The champs will earn $500K apiece.

The Bucks and Pelicans, meanwhile, earned bonuses of $100K per player for reaching the semifinals, but have been eliminated from contention for the first NBA Cup.

Warriors’ Gary Payton II (Calf) Out At Least One More Week

December 7th, 2023 at 8:12pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors swingman Gary Payton II will miss at least one more week due to his right calf strain, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Golden State announced that Payton is “making good progress” from the injury and he will be reevaluated next week, per Slater.

Payton, 31, is averaging 5.9 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 14 games (17.3 MPG) thus far in 2023/24. He sustained the injury on November 28 against the Kings.

Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga figure to receive more minutes with the defensive stalwart sidelined, though all three players have seen their playing time fluctuate to this point.

Payton, who helped the Warriors win a championship in 2022, is making $8.72MM this season and holds a $9.13MM player option for ’24/25.

Golden State has had an uneven start to the ’23/24 season, currently sitting with a 10-11 record, good for the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference. That said, it’s obviously early, and the Warriors are only two games back of the current No. 6 seed, Sacramento.

Pistons’ Duren Out At Least Two Weeks With Ankle Sprain

December 7th, 2023 at 7:30pm CST by Rory Maher

7:30pm: The Pistons announced in a press release that Duren underwent an MRI on Thursday which confirmed the sprained ankle. He’s out at least two weeks, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, per the team.

6:40pm: Pistons starting center Jalen Duren is expected to be sidelined for the next two weeks after spraining his left ankle in Wednesday’s loss to Memphis, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It’s a tough setback for Duren, who missed seven games last month due to a right ankle injury. With the 2022 lottery pick out, fellow big men like Isaiah Stewart, Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman could receive more playing time.

Duren has been effective when healthy in his second season, averaging 12.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 blocks in 28.9 minutes per night. He has posted 10 double-doubles in his 14 appearances.

Injuries have been a major issue for the Pistons in 2023/24, with Duren, Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Livers, Monte Morris and Joe Harris among the players missing significant time. Bogdanovic recently made his season debut after dealing with a calf strain, while Morris (quad) is unlikely to suit up until 2024.

It’s been a disappointing season for Detroit, which hoped to take a step forward in its rebuild. Instead, the team has lost 18 straight games and is currently 2-19 — that’s the worst record in the NBA.

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Sensabaugh, Billups, Holmgren

December 7th, 2023 at 5:33pm CST by Rory Maher

After defeating Portland over the weekend, the Jazz took a significant step back on Wednesday, as they lost to Dallas by 50 points. Head coach Will Hardy didn’t mince words about Utah’s abysmal showing, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News.

“That was an absolutely horrendous performance from start to finish,” Hardy said. “That was a masterpiece of dogs–t.”

In order to slow the Mavs’ high-powered offense, the Jazz planned to be “as physical and intense on defense as possible,” Todd notes. Instead, they gave up 147 points — including a historic 29-point triple-double to Luka Doncic in the first half.

“I was most disappointed with our defensive intensity to start the game,” Hardy said. “I think defensively it was poor the entire night.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

After primarily playing power forward in college at Ohio State, Jazz first-round pick Brice Sensabaugh has been adjusting to playing on the wing at the professional level, and he hopes it will lead to NBA minutes, according to Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune (subscription required). The 20-year-old was selected 28th overall in June, but he has only played two minutes for Utah to this point, having spent most of his time in the G League. “Yeah, obviously, times change and roles change, especially coming to the NBA with the best players in the world,” he said. “… I kind of played the 4 in college, to be honest, so I was in more of those back-to-the-basket situations. But now, being a 2, maybe a 3, [I’m] just trying to come off pin-downs and come off screens sometimes, just trying to see the game better, and learn. And it’s way different — this game is way different than college, even the G League [is way different than college]. The floor has more space, there’s just more stuff to work with, better players.”
Jason Quick of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at Chauncey Billups‘ impact on the Trail Blazers, as well his personal growth as head coach. Portland is just 6-14, and Billups has been hard on the group at times, but the team has responded to his criticisms and has become unusually selfless and connected, Quick writes. “With Chauncey, it’s never personal. And he makes that very clear,” Matisse Thybulle said. “I think some coaches may say that, just so they can get those little personal jabs in there to disguise it, but Chauncey is straight up. He’s really honest.”
Chet Holmgren — the Western Conference’s reigning Rookie of the Month — has exceeded expectations and is changing the Thunder‘s trajectory, according to Rylan Stiles of ThunderousIntentions.com, who says the 21-year-old’s dynamic two-way game could make Oklahoma City a contender sooner rather than later.

And-Ones: D. Harper, Harden, Iguodala, NBPA, Pacers/Bucks

December 7th, 2023 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Dylan Harper, a five-star recruit who comes in at No. 2 overall in ESPN’s breakdown of the 2024 high school class, announced on Wednesday that he has committed to Rutgers for the 2024/25 college season, per Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi of ESPN.

The son of five-time champion Ron Harper and the younger brother of Raptors two-way player Ron Harper Jr., Dylan is behind only Cooper Flagg in ESPN’s rankings of next year’s recruiting class. Flagg has committed to Duke, but Harper – like No. 3 prospect Airious “Ace” Bailey – will join the Scarlet Knights, whom his older brother represented from 2018-22.

“His advice to me was to pick a school that is best for me and make it your decision,” Dylan said of Ron Jr. “I saw what a great player my brother was there and how successful Rutgers was during that time. He had a great career there. He was one of the best to play at Rutgers.”

It’s a historic recruiting class for Rutgers, which typically hasn’t been a basketball powerhouse. As Borzello and Biancardi point out, prior to this year, Rutgers had landed just six total prospects on ESPN’s top-100 lists since 2007, which is when the outlet began maintaining its annual recruiting rankings. Only one of those players – Mike Rosario in 2008 – was considered a top-50 recruit.

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

The NBA investigated the Sixers following 2022’s free agent period, looking into whether James Harden‘s pay cut that year came with any quid pro quo assurances, and investigated the team again earlier this year after the star guard called Daryl Morey a “liar.” Will yet another Harden-related investigation be necessary? Over at his Substack, Marc Stein says the comments Harden made to Sam Amick of The Athletic may force the league’s hand. The former MVP made two eyebrow-raising claims in that interview, telling Amick that the 76ers promised him a maximum-salary contract prior to his 2023 free agency and that his representatives met with Rockets head coach Ime Udoka while he was under contract with Philadelphia.
Andre Iguodala, who took over for Tamika Tremaglio last month as the NBPA’s acting executive director, is unsure whether or not he’s interested in keeping the position permanently, but he tells Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic that he couldn’t pass on the opportunity to lead the players’ union. “The players thought it was perfect timing, with my career ending, helping them continue to progress, continue to transition and helping out with that,” Iguodala said. “So, it was just a unique opportunity to do that. I’m indebted to the players and servicing the guys, and it was a no-brainer.”
The over-under for Thursday’s in-season tournament Eastern semifinal is 257.5 points, the highest total in an NBA game since 1991, according to David Purdum of ESPN. As we detailed earlier today, the Pacers have the NBA’s best offense and the Bucks rank third, so a shootout is anticipated. It’s the seventh game since ’91 with an over/under greater than 250, with four of those games occurring this season, Purdum notes.

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December 7th, 2023 at 3:34pm CST by Hoops Rumors

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Wolves Notes: Connelly, Gobert, Conley, Edwards, Towns

December 7th, 2023 at 2:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Hired by the Timberwolves in the spring of 2022, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly received plenty of criticism during his first year with the franchise for the price he paid to acquire Rudy Gobert and the limited return the team got in its investment last season. With his club off to a 16-4 start this season, Connelly isn’t ready to take a victory lap quite yet, but acknowledges he likes his roster a lot, per Michael Rand of The Star Tribune.

“We’re only 19 games in, we haven’t won a playoff series in two decades, so we haven’t accomplished much,” Connelly said on The Star Tribune’s Daily Delivery podcast prior to Wednesday’s win over San Antonio. “But … I think there’s something special about this group.”

Following last season’s underwhelming 42-40 record and first-round playoff exit, there were some calls for the Timberwolves to shake up their roster during the 2023 offseason. But Connelly decided to stick with the current core, with only a few minor tweaks around the edges, confident that more time together would put the group in position to jell.

“I’m a pretty patient person. Sometimes I think that patience can bite me, so I don’t want to overly patient and asleep at the wheel,” Connelly said. “But if you have the ability to be patient, I think oftentimes it’s rewarded in this sports landscape.”

Here’s more on the Wolves:

While the acquisition of Gobert is Connelly’s most significant move since taking control of the Timberwolves’ front office, he also made a major trade at last season’s trade deadline, moving D’Angelo Russell in a three-team deal that sent Mike Conley (and Nickeil Alexander-Walker) to Minnesota. Conley’s impact can’t be overstated, according to the Wolves’ president. “He has been fantastic,” Connelly said, per Rand. “Everything has been as advertised or better. … I can’t imagine our team without him.”
In a separate story for The Star Tribune, Chris Hine explores how Conley has transformed the Timberwolves’ late-game offense. “I try to make it easier on everybody else, so they don’t have to think as much,” Conley said. “I can do all the thinking and just put you in the right spot. It’s about us repping those certain plays that we’ve done a million times and trusting each other in those moments.”
Anthony Edwards appeared to be favoring his right hip in his return on Wednesday after missing two games due to a hip pointer, notes Hine of The Star Tribune. Edwards, who went 4-of-17 from the floor, said after the game that he was “scared” to go all-out in the first half but got more comfortable as the game went on. “Took him a while to find the rhythm of the game. I’m not sure he really ever did,” head coach Chris Finch said. “I’d like to see him attack a little bit more. Seemed a little hesitant to go at times. But I’m sure he’s working through a little bit of discomfort, so it’s to be expected.”
Discussing his relationship on and off the court with Karl-Anthony Towns, Gobert said that “wanting to see each other shine” has been the key to building their bond, according to Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune. “When you create that bond, it’s unstoppable,” Gobert said. “Adversity comes and it doesn’t matter. You know that you trust each other. You know when one is down, the other is going to lift him up and push him. We’re talking about me and KAT, but I think as a team, that’s what I’m feeling right now. And I think that’s a championship mentality.”