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And-Ones: Bronny, LeBron, Shaq, Bacon, Vaughn

November 20th, 2023 at 10:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bronny James took another step toward making his collegiate debut on Sunday, as he warmed up with his USC teammates prior to a game for the first time this season, according to an ESPN report. LeBron’s son suffered cardiac arrest in July during a team workout.

“He went through warmups with the team. He’s a big part of our program and our team. He’s a terrific teammate,” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “We look forward to hopefully one day getting him back on the court, but when that day is, that’s not my decision. We’re going to be patient and go through the process.”

Bronny was considered a potential first-round pick prior to his health issues.

We have more from around the basketball team:

Shaquille O’Neal has previously expressed he’d like to own a piece of an NBA franchise in Las Vegas if the league expands there. He hinted that LeBron James might also be part of the ownership group, according to Sportando’s Alessandro Maggi. “If there’s ever an NBA team coming here, I’d definitely like to be involved,” O’Neal said. “With LeBron, without LeBron, I just want to be involved.”
Former NBA wing Dwayne Bacon has signed with China’s Shanghai Sharks, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets. Bacon played in Greece last season and also joined an Israeli team for three exhibition games in the U.S. this fall. The former second-round pick’s last NBA campaign was in 2020/21 with Orlando.
Former first-round pick Rashad Vaughn has signed a contract with Greece’s Apollon Patras BC, Sportando relays. Vaughn, who was drafted by the Bucks with the No. 17 pick in 2015, spent the 2022/23 season in the NBA G League with the Cavaliers’ affiliate, the Cleveland Charge. His last taste of NBA action came in 2017/18, when he played a combined 28 games with Milwaukee, Orlando and Brooklyn.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Watanabe, Beal, Clippers, Warriors

November 20th, 2023 at 8:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings will aggressively pursue a trade for a star, The Athletic’s Shams Charania stated on FanDuel’s Run It Back (hat tip to NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin).

“This is the first time in a really long time — maybe when Chris Webber was with the Kings — that you can look at the Kings as a trade destination,” Charania said. “They’re going to be involved in every star player: Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, maybe Zach LaVine. Whatever stars become available because [Kings’ GM] Monte McNair, that organization, they’ve done a good job at keeping their assets. They have tradable contracts. So they’re going to be a player for stars coming up for sure.”

The Kings control all of their future first-round picks except their 2024 selection, which is owed to Atlanta (with lottery protection).

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Suns’ Yuta Watanabe missed Sunday’s game at Utah with a left quad contusion, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. He was kneed during a pick-up game on Saturday. Watanabe, who signed a two-year, veteran’s minimum contract with a player option during the offseason, had appeared in Phoenix’s first 12 games, averaging 5.3 points per night.
Suns wing Bradley Beal, who won’t play for at least the next three weeks due to a low back strain, has dealt with nerve irritation from his back down to his legs, according to The Athletic’s Charania. Beal, who suffered the initial injury in training camp, only appeared in three games before he was sidelined again last week.
It’s time for the Clippers and Warriors to start showing that they’re true contenders and prove they deserve to continue with their current core groups, The Athletic’s John Hollinger opines.

Northwest Notes: Kessler, Brogdon, Henderson, Wallace, Timberwolves

November 20th, 2023 at 6:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jazz second-year center Walker Kessler, who is recovering from a left elbow ulnar collateral ligament sprain, continues to make progress and has been cleared to begin basketball contact this week, according to a team press release. Kesseler sustained the injury during Utah’s season-opening game against Sacramento on Oct. 25 but continued to play through it for seven games. He will be reevaluated in one week.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Trail Blazers guard Malcolm Brogdon should return to action very soon and rookie Scoot Henderson could also be in uniform sometime this week, according to coach Chauncey Billups, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report tweets. Brogdon has been sidelined since Nov. 8 with a hamstring injury, while Henderson — the third pick in the draft — hasn’t played since Nov. 1 due to an ankle sprain.
Cason Wallace, the 10th pick of the draft, made his second start for the Thunder on Sunday in place of injured Jalen Williams, sideline reporter Nick Gallo tweets. Wallace played 21 minutes but only took two shots and scored two points. He’s averaging 7.3 points in 22.9 minutes through 14 games.
Timberwolves owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore will have tough decisions to make regarding the team’s luxury tax issues if Minnesota has a strong season, The Athletic’s Sam Amick notes. If the Wolves don’t prove to be an elite team with their current core group, significant changes will be very likely. However, Timberwolves officials insist the incoming ownership group would not be averse to paying the tax going forward if the roster proves worthy of that kind of commitment.

Knicks Respond To Raptors’ Motion, Don’t Want Silver To Rule On Dispute

November 20th, 2023 at 5:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks have responded to a motion filed by the Raptors that sought to dismiss New York’s lawsuit against them, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post reports. The Knicks are seeking more than $10MM in their lawsuit and have also dragged commissioner Adam Silver’s name into the dispute between the Atlantic Division clubs.

The Knicks argued that the court system should handle the matter, rather than the NBA, because of Silver’s allegedly tight relationship with Toronto minority owner Larry Tanenbaum.

Tanenbaum is currently the NBA’s Chairman of the Board of Governors.

The Knicks wrote in their 24-page response on Monday, “Silver himself described Tanenbaum as ‘not just my boss as the chairman of the Board of Governors, but he’s very much a role model in my life. If Silver were to preside over the instant dispute, he would be arbitrating a case for his boss and ally,” ESPN’s Baxter Holmes tweets.

The Knicks also inferred that Tanenbaum was handpicked by Silver as Chairman, Bondy adds.

The lawsuit stems from their allegations that Ikechukwu Azotam, a former Knicks video coordinator, stole scouting and analytics secrets – including files containing “over 3,000 videos” – and gave them to the Raptors after he was hired by their organization. Azotam and Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic were also named in the suit.

In the motion to dismiss, Toronto called the lawsuit “baseless” and “a public relations stunt” by the Knicks. The Raptors also wrote that the dispute should be handled by Silver instead of a federal judge, pursuant to a bylaw in the NBA’s constitution that reads, “The Commissioner shall have exclusive, full, complete, and final jurisdiction of any dispute involving two (2) or more Members of the Association.”

The Knicks also claim that since their damages exceed $10MM, which is more than NBA can penalize a team, the courts should handle the case rather than the league office, Mike Vornukov of The Athetic tweets.

Central Notes: Bulls, LaVine, Lakers, Cunningham, Cavs, Walker

November 20th, 2023 at 4:35pm CST by Rory Maher

While Zach LaVine has been mentioned in several rumors this fall after it was reported that both he and the Bulls are increasingly open to exploring a trade, the two-time All-Star isn’t one of the two players on Chicago’s roster that rival teams have shown the most interest in thus far, reports Marc Stein at Substack. Six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan and two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic aren’t on the list either.

All-Defensive guard Alex Caruso is the Bulls player opposing teams are most intrigued by, per Stein, followed by forward Patrick Williams.

As Stein writes, the Bulls haven’t made Caruso available, but he would have a “double-digit list of suitors” if that were to happen. As for Williams, who was the No. 4 overall pick in 2020, Stein says rivals still find him intriguing despite a very poor start to the season. Williams is set to hit restricted free agency in 2024.

In the same article, Stein says he’s heard the Lakers‘ rumored interest in LaVine is “best described (at most)” as to be determined. According to Stein, L.A. hopes that Jarred Vanderbilt (heel) and Gabe Vincent (knee) will provide a “meaningful boost” once they return from their respective injuries.

Here’s more from the Central:

As a former No. 1 overall pick who was the top recruit in his high school class, plenty of hype has followed Cade Cunningham. But advanced stats are extremely low on the third-year Pistons guard, according to Zach Kram of The Ringer, who writes that Cunningham has trouble scoring efficiently from all over the court. Kram takes an in-depth look at Cunningham’s game and his advanced metrics, suggesting that he might be more of a No. 2 offensive option on a good team rather than the No. 1 option he’s been made out to be.
The Cavaliers had perhaps their best win of the season on Sunday, defeating the defending-champion nuggets without Donovan Mitchell (hamstring) and Caris LeVert (knee). However, the victory didn’t answer the two biggest questions facing the franchise, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic: Has Cleveland has improved enough to advance past the first round of the playoffs? And is Mitchell “happy enough” to sign an extension next year to stay long term?
Jarace Walker, the No. 8 overall pick in June’s draft, has only played 41 total minutes over four games for the Pacers to this point, mostly in garbage time. Head coach Rick Carlisle has told the young forward to stay ready, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “This is what being a professional is all about,” Carlisle said. “He’s probably always played at every level he’s played at from middle school to high school to college, AAU, you name it, but given the present circumstance, you gotta be a pro and work at your craft and you gotta be ready. I talked to him two days ago and let him know. I said, ‘I don’t know when it’s gonna happen but your time is coming. That’s how it works in this league.'”

Kings’ Fox, Knicks’ Brunson Named Players Of The Week

November 20th, 2023 at 2:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Kings guard De’Aaron Fox and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson have been named the NBA’s players of the week, the league announced on Monday (via Twitter). Fox won the weekly award for the Western Conference, while Brunson won for the East.

Fox had missed five straight games with a sprained ankle, but he returned last week to lead the Kings to a perfect 4-0 record, including three victories on the road. He put up stellar stats, averaging 32.2 points, 6.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per night on .523/.444/.719 shooting for Sacramento, which is currently 8-4, the No. 4 seed in the West.

Brunson, meanwhile, guided the Knicks to a 3-1 week, with all of those games coming on the road. He averaged 28.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds on .476/.543/.882 shooting in those four appearances. New York has won six of its past seven games and is currently 8-5, tied for the fourth-best record in the East.

According to the NBA (Twitter links), the other nominees in the West were Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Domantas Sabonis and Karl-Anthony Towns, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Jimmy Butler, Tyrese Haliburton, Evan Mobley, Kristaps Porzingis, Jayson Tatum and Julius Randle were nominated in the East.

Pelicans’ Matt Ryan Out 10-14 Days With Calf Strain

November 20th, 2023 at 2:14pm CST by Rory Maher

Pelicans forward Matt Ryan has been diagnosed with a mild right calf strain and is expected to miss about 10-to-14 days, the team announced in a press release.

Ryan, who was injured during Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, is on a two-way contract with New Orleans. Two-way players are only eligible to be active for 50 NBA games, but the 26-year-old has already appeared in all 13 of the Pelicans’ contests this fall.

Known for his shooting prowess, Ryan is off to a strong start in 2023/24, averaging 9.3 points on an excellent .458/.471/.929 slash line in 22.9 minutes per night. All of those figures represent career highs for the third-year forward.

The Pelicans have once again dealt with a litany of injuries this season. Trey Murphy (knee surgery) has yet to make his season debut, CJ McCollum (small pneumothorax in his right lung) has missed the past seven games, and Larry Nance Jr. is out with a rib fracture. Several other players have missed multiple games as well.

On a more positive note, guard Jose Alvarado (ankle) plans to make his season debut tonight.

With Ryan out, the Pelicans will lean even more heavily on rookie first-rounder Jordan Hawkins to provide outside shooting.

Injury Notes: Herro, Vassell, Pistons, Celtics

November 20th, 2023 at 1:33pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat guard Tyler Herro is no longer using a walking boot, the team confirmed on Monday, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).

Herro, who has been out of action since Nov. 8 after sustaining a Grade 2 right ankle sprain, was set to wear the boot for 10 days. Assuming the original plan is in place, he will be reevaluated later this week.

Reporting after Herro’s injury indicated that he could miss “several” weeks, so it would be surprising if he’s back on the court in the near future. Still, it’s encouraging that he seems to be on track with the recovery plan thus far.

Herro is in the first season of a four-year, $120MM+ rookie scale extension he signed last year. The 23-year-old was off to a strong start this season prior to the injury, averaging 25.3 points per game on .446/.410/.909 shooting in his seven healthy games (all starts) while also chipping in 5.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists per night.

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

Spurs guard Devin Vassell will miss his third consecutive game — and fifth overall — due to a left adductor strain, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. Vassell is one of 14 players subject to the poison pill provision in 2023/24 after inking a five-year, $135MM+ rookie scale extension last month.
The Pistons were down six players in Sunday’s loss to Toronto, but three have a chance to return on Monday against Denver. Killian Hayes (left shoulder sprain) is probable, while Jalen Duren (ankle) and Isaiah Livers (ankle) are questionable, according to the NBA’s official injury report. Livers, who has yet to make his season debut, was also questionable on Sunday. As James L. Edwards III of The Athletic observes (via Twitter), the Pistons don’t play again until Friday, so returning Monday would give Livers additional time to see how his ankle responds.
They aren’t injured, but the Celtics will be without two key rotation players on Monday against Charlotte. Veteran big man Al Horford is resting on the second night of a back-to-back, while Derrick White is out for personal reasons, tweets Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston.

Southwest Notes: Sochan, Alvarado, Rockets, Mavs

November 20th, 2023 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs‘ efforts to turn forward Jeremy Sochan into a point guard have been a bit bumpy so far, but the team has shown a willingness to stick with it and Sochan has been open to learning, writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com. The 20-year-old admits it’s “going to be a process” to adapt to the new position, but he’s been getting advice from last season’s starter Tre Jones and said the transition has been “fun.”

“There have been moments where it’s like, ‘Yo, I don’t want to.’ It’s like, ‘f–k this s–t.’ I’m going to be honest,” Sochan said earlier this month. “There have been moments where there isn’t confidence. But there are moments of being confident and just working. Knowing the trust I have from the coaches and players, it helps.”

As Lopez details, the Spurs didn’t have Sochan watch film of any specific point guards when he moved into the role, since they still want him to play like himself rather than trying to emulate someone else.

“He can’t play like Chris Paul or he can’t play like John Stockton,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s got to be Jeremy.”

Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, who said his team “studied” Sochan ahead of the 2022 draft, referred to him as a “Swiss Army Knife-type player” with strong play-making skills, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). Jenkins isn’t surprised that Popovich is thinking outside of the box by experimenting with Sochan at the point.

“When you have been around Pop, competed against Pop, he is very open-minded to trying a lot of different things,” Jenkins said. “In the eras he has been here, playing big, playing small, emphasizing the three-ball, emphasizing the paint, emphasizing faster pace, slower pace, not a surprise.”

Here are a few more notes from around the Southwest:

Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado said today during a media session that he’ll make his season debut on Monday night vs. Sacramento, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “I’m back,” Alvarado said. “I feel good. I will go through pregame. But I’m back. That’s the plan.” Alvarado has yet to play this fall due to a right ankle sprain.
Mark Medina of Sportsnaut spoke to Rockets head coach Ime Udoka about the strides his team has made so far this season, the impact that newcomers like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks have had, and the improvement he’s seen from youngsters like Alperen Sengun. “We knew what he was offensively in a lot of ways and how he impacts the game for us,” Udoka said of Sengun, who is averaging a career-best 20.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 5.7 APG. “He can control things there. But defensively, he has taken a huge step. He’s bought in and has improved on that side of the ball.”
While the Mavericks are off to a strong start this season, losses like Sunday’s to Sacramento show that they’re still very much a work in progress on the defensive side of the ball, writes Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). Rookie center Dereck Lively II has exceeded expectations but has struggled to slow down star bigs such as Domantas Sabonis, who had 32 points on Sunday. “If we’re not scoring 130, it’s hard to win,” head coach Jason Kidd acknowledged.

Mid-Level, Bi-Annual Projections For 2024/25

November 20th, 2023 at 10:51am CST by Luke Adams

The mid-level exception and bi-annual exception are the two key tools that an over-the-cap team typically has at its disposal to sign free agents from other clubs — or to re-sign one of its own free agents, if the player’s Bird rights aren’t available or sufficient.

The year-to-year value of mid-level and bi-annual exceptions – along with several other cap-related figures and exceptions – is dependent on the movement of the salary cap. If the cap increases by 5% from one league year to the next, the exceptions increase by the same rate.

As such, we don’t know yet exactly what those exceptions will be worth in 2024/25, but we can make an educated estimate. The NBA’s most recent projection for ’24/25 called for a cap of $141,000,000, which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s mid-level and bi-annual exceptions.

Based on a $141,000,000 cap, here’s what the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions would look like in 2024/25:

Mid-Level Exception

Year	Standard MLE	Taxpayer MLE	Room MLE
2024/25	$12,859,000	$5,183,000	$8,006,000
2025/26	$13,501,950	$5,442,150	$8,406,300
2026/27	$14,144,900		$8,806,600
2027/28	$14,787,850	–	–
Total	$55,293,700	$10,625,150	$25,218,900

The standard mid-level exception is available to over-the-cap teams that haven’t dipped below the cap to use room and whose team salary remains below the first tax apron. It can run for up to four years, with 5% annual raises. Once a team uses the standard/non-taxpayer MLE, that team is hard-capped at the first tax apron for the rest of the league year.

The taxpayer mid-level exception is for a team whose salary is between the first and second tax aprons, or teams that want the flexibility to surpass the first apron later. It can run for up to two years, with 5% annual raises. Once a team uses the taxpayer MLE, that team is hard-capped at the second tax apron for the rest of the league year.

The room exception is for teams that go under the cap and use their space. Once they’ve used all their cap room, they can use this version of the mid-level exception, which runs for up to three years with 5% annual raises.

Beginning in the 2024 offseason, teams will be able to use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or the room exception – but not the taxpayer MLE – to acquire a player via trade.

If the cap increases by the maximum amount of 10%, as it has in each of the past two seasons, the non-taxpayer mid-level would start at around $13.65MM, the taxpayer MLE would be worth $5.5MM, and the room exception would be worth approximately $8.5MM.

Bi-Annual Exception

Year	BAE Value
2024/25	$4,681,000
2025/26	$4,915,050
Total	$9,596,050

The bi-annual exception – which can be used for contracts up to two years, with a 5% raise after year one – is only available to teams that are over the cap and below the first tax apron.

It can also only be used once every two years, which will disqualify the Cavaliers, Lakers, and Raptors from using it in 2024/25 — Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Toronto are the only teams to use their BAEs in 2023/24.

A maximum 10% cap increase would result in a bi-annual exception that starts at about $4.97MM in ’24/25.

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