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Southeast Notes: Love, Washington, Gafford, Howard

November 21st, 2023 at 6:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kevin Love won’t return to Cleveland to face his former team on Wednesday. He’s listed as out for personal reasons, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. It would have been Love’s first game in Cleveland since he was bought out last season.

Prior to that announcement, Love told Chiang and other media members he was looking forward to the trip. The veteran Heat big man also indicated it took awhile to adjust to his new surroundings. “I think at first, it was a bumpy transition. I think it is with anybody trying to find their place in a new organization, especially after eight-and-a-half years there. But I definitely feel like this has been a great landing spot for me,” he said.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

With Miles Bridges back in the lineup on Monday, P.J. Washington came off the bench for the first time since the 2021/22 season. However, it didn’t come as a surprise. Hornets coach Steve Clifford and Washington had been discussing the possibility for awhile. Washington will continue to get a steady diet of minutes. “PJ and I have been talking about this ever since Miles came back. So, he’s still going to play,” Clifford told Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “His minutes won’t change. PJ will play just as many minutes as he was before, but we have to get to playing groups like we were talking about before the game. And so they’re going to play together, too. PJ is all about the team. He’s extremely team-oriented. He grew up in a basketball family. He has no problems with it, and again, this has been something that’s been discussed since Miles came back.”
Wizards center Daniel Gafford has started a majority of the games he’s appeared in the past two seasons but this is the first season he’s the unquestioned starter. Gafford is enjoying that comfort zone while playing a career-high 24.1 minutes per game, he told Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network. “They’re putting all their trust in me,” he said. “For me to be trusted with this role, it’s something I’ve always wanted. It’s on my side and my part to keep up that trust and confidence in me. They threw me in the fire, so I’ve gotta put the fire out.” Gafford is in the first year of a three-year, $40.2MM contract.
Lottery pick Jett Howard will play for the NBA G League Osceola Magic this week, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said it will be great for Howard to get steady minutes with Osceola. The 11th overall pick has made just five brief appearances in Orlando’s games this season.

Atlantic Notes: Reed, Oubre, Mazzulla, Celtics’ Starters

November 21st, 2023 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers retained Paul Reed in free agency on a three-year, $23.5MM deal this summer. Coach Nick Nurse would like to get more bang for those bucks and expand the big man’s playing time, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“I think that Paul (has) played so well that it’s hard to not let him stay out there. In fact, I’ve been trying to keep him out there a little bit longer, figure out a way to keep him out there,” the Sixers coach said of Reed, who is averaging 4.1 points and career highs of 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 13 minutes per night as Joel Embiid’s backup.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Kelly Oubre took another step in his recovery from being struck by a vehicle while walking in a hit-and-run accident. The Sixers forward returned to the practice court on Monday, Pompey writes. Oubre suffered broken ribs in the incident. He’ll be reevaluated in approximately one week. “I think getting him moving was the first step,” Nurse said. “Getting him into some contact and things is the next step. I think after [Tuesday] we’ll have a little better read on the timeline.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla asserted himself and sent a message by pulling his stars in the third quarter against Memphis on Sunday and it worked, John Tomase of NBC Sports Boston notes. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday sat for a seven-plus minute stretch while reserves closed out the quarter. They returned for the fourth quarter as the team pulled out a 102-100 win. Still, Mazzulla wasn’t impressed. “I don’t think we deserved to win that game,” he said,
For the most part, however, the Celtics‘ starters have blended well while racing to an 11-3 record, Michael Pina of The Ringer writes. Prior to their loss to Charlotte on Monday, the starting five — that also includes Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White — had a league-leading plus-104 overall rating while generating 124.1 points per 100 possessions on a 66.6 true shooting percentage. “[They’re] one of the best starting fives in the league, if not the best starting five in the league,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said.

Michael Malone Signs Extension With Nuggets

November 21st, 2023 at 4:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

NOVEMBER 21: The multiyear extension is official, the team announced in a press release.

“We are thrilled to announce this extension with Coach Malone and to keep him leading the Nuggets for years to come,” said Kroenke Sports & Entertainment vice chairman Josh Kroenke. “To see our team continue to improve year after year, culminating with our ultimate goal of an NBA championship is exactly what we all envisioned on the day we hired Michael in 2015. This extension is extremely well deserved and there’s no question about the commitment and dedication that Michael has shown to our organization.”

NOVEMBER 13: After winning the NBA title, Nuggets coach Michael Malone has been rewarded with an extension that will make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Malone’s extension will cover two more years in addition to the two remaining on his current deal, a source tells Mike Singer (Twitter link). That would put him under contract through the 2026/27 season.

Malone came to Denver in 2015, taking over a team that was near the bottom of the league. After missing the playoffs in his first three seasons, he has guided the Nuggets to the postseason in each of the past five years, culminating last spring with the first championship in franchise history.

With 375 wins in Denver, Malone is already third on the Nuggets’ career list behind Doug Moe and George Karl, and he’s likely to move into the top spot by next season. Wojnarowski points out that Denver has the NBA’s second-best winning percentage since 2018/19, behind only Milwaukee.

Malone is the fourth longest-tenured coach in the league, Woj adds. Only Gregg Popovich, Erick Spoelstra and Steve Kerr have spent more time with their current teams.

[RELATED: Longest-Tenured NBA Head Coaches]

Malone, 52, is the son of former NBA coach Brendan Malone, who passed away last month. He also served as head coach of the Kings for a little more than a season prior to his time with the Nuggets and spent time as an assistant with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Hornets and Warriors.

Southwest Notes: Brooks, Grizzlies, McCollum, Nance, THJ, Osman

November 21st, 2023 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Dillon Brooks, who has been lauded by Rockets coaches and teammates alike for the grit and toughness he has brought to his new team in Houston, believes his former club in Memphis has missed the edge he brought to the court, as Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) writes. Ahead of his first meeting against Memphis on Wednesday, Brooks said the Grizzlies “have no swagger” this season without him.

“It’s like the girlfriend that you used to have,” Brooks said of his departure from the Grizzlies, who have a 3-10 record. “You don’t know how good she is until she’s gone.”

Asked about Brooks’ comments, Grizzlies wing Desmond Bane said he “hasn’t seen anything that he’s said,” while Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins took the high road, saying that he’s “really happy for (Brooks’) early-season success,” per Wynston Wilcox of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Although they weren’t willing to get dragged into a war of words with Brooks, it sounds like there are certainly some Grizzlies players who are looking forward to facing their former teammate.

“I want to play against him,” Jaren Jackson Jr. told Wilcox. “I’ve been talking trash to Dillon for five years, so it’s great.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

While it remains unclear exactly when they’ll return to game action, injured Pelicans veterans CJ McCollum (collapsed lung) and Larry Nance Jr. (rib fracture) are trending in the right direction. Both players were full participants in practice on Tuesday, according to head coach Willie Green (Twitter link via Will Guillory of The Athletic). McCollum, who said he also fractured a rib, told reporters that he feels good and is awaiting medical clearance from his pulmonologist, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “I should be cleared here pretty soon,” he said.
Even without McCollum and Nance available, the Pelicans have been playing good basketball lately, winning three of their last four games, including a 36-point blowout over Sacramento on Monday. As Clark details for NOLA.com, star forward Zion Williamson said a team meeting helped spark the turnaround. “We weren’t on the same page before,” Williamson said. “Now we’re all on the same page. … We talked about what we wanted to do as a unit. That’s what we are going to live and die with. Since we are all on the same page, I think we have been gelling together a lot better.”
Mavericks wing Tim Hardaway Jr. had started more often than not in his previous four-plus seasons in Dallas, but he has embraced a sixth man role this season, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. Hardaway’s 18.2 points per game and .405 3PT% would be career highs. “I said before, first and foremost, in order for you to know that you’re going in that role, you have to embrace it and accept it,” Hardaway said. “That’s what (Jamal Crawford) did. That’s what (Lou Williams) did. That’s what J.R. Smith did. And that’s what I’m trying to do is have that same mentality.”
When the Spurs acquired Cedi Osman as part of the three-team sign-and-trade deal sending Max Strus to Cleveland, it wasn’t clear whether the veteran forward would even be in their plans. However, Osman is playing well in a regular role off the bench and has earned praise from head coach Gregg Popovich, who called him “a competitor of the highest order,” according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). “He’s been really good for us,” Popovich said of the 28-year-old, who is on an expiring contract.

Pistons’ Monte Morris Out At Least 6-8 More Weeks

November 21st, 2023 at 2:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Monte Morris‘ debut for the Pistons is unlikely to happen until 2024. The team announced today in a press release that Morris, who continues to rehab a right quad strain, underwent a PRP (platelet rich plasma) injection last Friday and is expected to be reevaluated in about six-to-eight weeks.

Detroit acquired Morris from the Wizards in a July trade in exchange for a future second-round pick. The plan was for him to be a steady presence in a young backcourt that features recent first-rounders like Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Killian Hayes, and Marcus Sasser.

However, Morris was affected during the preseason by lower back soreness, then hurt his quad while rehabbing his back injury. He has yet to play this season, and even if he can return in just six weeks, that would mean he’d be sidelined until early January.

Morris, a Michigan native, averaged 10.3 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per night last season for the Wizards, posting a shooting line of .480/.382/.831 in 62 games (61 starts).

The Pistons’ press release did include a couple health updates that are more positive. Jalen Duren (right ankle) is expected to return to practice this week, according to the team, while Bojan Bogdanovic (right calf strain) has begun a return-to-play progression and has been cleared for full contact. Duren has missed the past five games, while Bogdanovic has yet to play this season.

Central Notes: Bucks, Holiday, Pacers, Mitchell, Allen

November 21st, 2023 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Jrue Holiday was a key member of the Bucks team that won a championship in 2021. On Wednesday, he’ll be taking the court against his former club for the first time as a member of the conference-rival Celtics, following a pair of preseason trades that sent him first to Portland and then to Boston.

As Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, the current Bucks who were part of that 2021 team have faced plenty of former teammates over the years, but readily admit that their first matchup against Holiday won’t just be another game. Khris Middleton referred to it as “more personal,” while Giannis Antetokounmpo said it will be odd to see “one of my brothers” wearing a different jersey.

“He’s such a special person and means so much to me and obviously the team and the city,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said. “It’s definitely not going to be just like playing any other previous teammate. It’s definitely going to be different. … I’ll be excited to see him. … I miss him very much.”

“It’s kind of hard to get out your head, you feel me? It’s our brother,” Bobby Portis said. “When you play ball in the Fiserv Forum and we tip up and you look up at the championship, you can’t help but think about him, you feel me? Obviously it’s weird.”

Let’s round up a few more notes from around the Central…

A win over Atlanta on Tuesday night would clinch the Pacers‘ spot atop East Group A in the in-season tournament, securing their spot in the quarterfinals (Twitter link). Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers are welcoming the opportunity to play in games with bigger stakes than a typical regular season contest, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “The in-season tournament is probably the first time that I’m really competing to win a championship on the NBA level,” Haliburton said. “I’ve never made the playoffs or anything, so right here it gives me the chance to be able to do that, and that’s exciting for me.” Head coach Rick Carlisle believes making a run in the tournament would benefit his club more than just financially: “Opportunities to be on more meaningful stages is something that’s important for young teams.”
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell will miss a third consecutive game on Tuesday due to a hamstring strain, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
In a conversation with Sam Yip of HoopsHype, Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen said that his ankle, which cost him the first five games of the season, feels “great” now, adding that he believes his minutes restriction has been lifted. Allen also discussed the impact of the Cavs’ offseason additions, his efforts to improve his play-making, and the improvements he has seen from his younger teammates.

Heat Notes: Strus, Bryant, Butler, Jovic, Highsmith

November 21st, 2023 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Heat wing Max Strus, who will face Miami on Wednesday for the first time as a member of the Cavaliers, admitted in a conversation with Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald that it will be “weird” to go up against his old team. He also acknowledged that it has taken him some time to get used to a new NBA home after spending three seasons with the Heat.

“It kind of took me a while, like when I was in Cleveland for the first couple weeks saying, ‘Well, we did this in Miami,'” Strus said. “You know, I’m not on that team anymore so I got to stop saying ‘we.’ It’s ‘they’ now. I think it was a hard adjustment getting over that.

“… Miami does things different than everybody and I don’t think you really know the extent of that until you go somewhere else,” Strus continued. “So it’s definitely been an adjustment, it’s been different. … There’s definitely some things I miss about Miami and there’s definitely some things I don’t miss. But overall it’s been a pretty easy adjustment. I think the traits and the characteristics that I learned by playing for the Miami Heat, it’s going to suit me very well for the rest of my career. I’ve come to notice that now that I’m in a different place.”

Although they would’ve liked to re-sign Strus when he reached unrestricted free agency this past offseason, the Heat had luxury tax concerns and the 27-year-old generated a level of interest that pushed him out of Miami’s price range. He was ultimately signed-and-traded to Cleveland on a four-year, $62.3MM deal.

“I talked to Spo (Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra) and we kind of knew early on that it wasn’t really going to work financially,” Strus said of his free agency, per Chiang. “It is what it is. You can’t really do anything else about it. The numbers don’t work sometimes. It’s a business at the end of the day and everybody’s got to do what they got to do for themselves.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

After opening the season as Bam Adebayo‘s backup at center, Thomas Bryant has fallen out of the Heat’s regular rotation. Bryant is attempting to be patient and do whatever he can to help the club – even if it’s just being “a cheerleader for my teammates” – as he tries to make his case for minutes, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required). “It’s just different than the last two places he was in,” Spoelstra said of Bryant’s adjustment to Miami’s defensive system. “And that’s fair. So you have to kind of retrain habits, and calls, and different responsibilities. That’s normal when players change teams. It’s probably even more dramatic for bigs, fives.”
Jimmy Butler traveled to Wisconsin on Sunday’s day off to watch the Sioux Falls Skyforce – Miami’s G League affiliate – face the Wisconsin Herd. According to Winderman (subscriber link), Butler explained on Monday that he wanted to support teammate Nikola Jovic, who was sent to the Skyforce to get regular minutes. “Got to go see my boy, man. I’m a huge Niko fan,” Butler said. “I think he’s going to help this organization well after I’m done here. That’s my dog, that’s my bro, I love him to death. So anytime I get a chance I go to watch him hoop, I will watch him hoop.”
A journeyman who played primarily in the G League and overseas before joining the Heat in 2022, Haywood Highsmith has emerged as a key part of Miami’s rotation this season, Chiang writes for The Miami Herald. The team has won eight of the nine games Highsmith has started, and in the one loss, he was a plus-20. “There’s just a lot of hard work behind the scenes that’s behind this,” Highsmith said. “Everything that I’ve went through to get to this point is well worth it. It’s made me stronger for anything.”

Knicks’ Dolan Resigned From NBA Board Committee Positions

November 21st, 2023 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks owner James Dolan stepped down from his positions on the NBA Board of Governors’ advisory/finance committee and media committee several months ago, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Dolan also informed the league at that time that he no longer intends to attend Board of Governors meetings.

“Given all that has occurred lately, I have come to the conclusion that the NBA neither needs nor wants my opinion,” Dolan wrote in a July memo to commissioner Adam Silver and the league’s other 29 team owners, per Wojnarowski.

“My hope is that the Knicks will be treated equally and fairly as all other NBA teams,” Dolan stated. “… As you know, I am very busy with all my duties at MSG family of companies. I need to apply my time where I can be most productive.”

As Wojnarowski explains, Dolan has been “increasingly critical” of both Silver and the NBA on several issues. Notably, sources tell ESPN, he has expressed dissatisfaction with elements of the league’s revenue sharing system, which requires high-earning teams like the Knicks to share their revenues with smaller-market teams.

Since resigning from his Board of Governors committee positions, Dolan and the Knicks launched a lawsuit against the Raptors seeking more than $10MM in damages over an issue that would typically be arbitrated by the NBA. The suit, which alleges that a former team employee illegally took files with him to his new position in Toronto, accused Silver of bias due to his friendship with Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum and Tanenbaum’s position as chairman of the Board of Governors.

Although Knicks general counsel Jamaal Lesane is now representing the franchise at Board of Governors meetings in place of Dolan, the Knicks owner didn’t give up his voting power, according to Wojnarowski.

As Woj points out, the Knicks have been the lone dissenter in two recent votes that otherwise would have been unanimous — Dolan voted against approving the sale of the majority share of the Hornets to Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin; he also voted against WNBA expansion to San Francisco.

While ESPN’s report may not provide a full picture of everything going on behind the scenes here, Dolan’s recent actions – including those dissenting votes and his claim that the league “neither needs nor wants my opinion” – suggest he’s staging a passive-aggressive protest against the NBA due to his unhappiness about certain policies. That wouldn’t be out of character for a team owner who has a reputation for pettiness.

Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 11/21/2023

November 21st, 2023 at 12:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The transcript of our weekly chat can be accessed here.

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Chats

Pistons Notes: Weaver, Thompson, Sasser, Duren, Livers

November 21st, 2023 at 10:47am CST by Luke Adams

After winning no more than 23 games in each of the last four seasons, the Pistons appear headed for another lottery finish in 2023/24. They’ve lost 12 straight games to fall to an NBA-worst 2-13 record through the first four weeks of the season.

Still, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic says there’s no indication that general manager Troy Weaver is on the hot seat. Although this was supposed to be the season that the team took a step forward and vied for a playoff spot, Pistons ownership is aware that injuries have decimated the rotation and doesn’t seem inclined to take a “sky is falling” view, according to Edwards, who notes that Weaver’s latest contract extension hasn’t even begun yet.

As Edwards points out, last season’s leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic has yet to appear in a single game and neither has Monte Morris, who was acquired over the summer to bring a steady hand to a young backcourt. With Bogdanovic and Morris unavailable, the Pistons have the NBA’s 26th-best offense and have committed a league-worst 17.5 turnovers per game.

According to Edwards, the real evaluation period figures to begin once the roster is healthier, which could happen within the next couple weeks. If the Pistons continue to struggle once all their key players are available, some “uncomfortable conversations” could be had in the spring, Edwards adds.

Here’s more out of Detroit:

Within that same mailbag for The Athletic, Edwards says he doesn’t anticipate the Pistons will make any major trades in the short term in an attempt to turn their season around. However, he believes Detroit will pursue win-now moves far more aggressively in the summer of 2024 than it did this past offseason, especially if the club’s record in 2023/24 is “no better or barely better” than it was last season.
One bright spot for the Pistons so far this season has been the play of their rookies. In an ESPN Insider story published last week, Kevin Pelton and Bobby Marks ranked Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser third and fourth among this season’s rookies, behind only young phenoms Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. As Keith Langlois of Pistons.com observes, Thompson and Sasser should put Detroit in good position to have at least one All-Rookie player for a fourth straight season.
Second-year center Jalen Duren, who has missed five consecutive games with a right ankle injury, is making progress toward a return, according to head coach Monty Williams. “He’s just been able to do a bit more on the floor,” Williams said on Monday (Twitter link via Edwards). “He’s playing 3-on-3 now. We expect him to be back soon.”
Pistons forward Isaiah Livers made his season debut on Monday vs. Denver after missing the first 14 games this fall due to a sprained ankle. Livers was on a minutes restriction, according to Mike Curtis of The Detroit News (subscriber link), who says the 25-year-old spoke after the game about needing to regain his conditioning. He made just 1-of-7 shots from the field in 23 minutes, but appeared to get through the game with no injury setbacks.