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Eastern Notes: Simmons, Ntilikina, Middleton, Harden, Dick

October 19th, 2023 at 10:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Ben Simmons continues to brim with confidence during training camp. The Nets guard said he’ll be even better than what he showed early in his career, when he was named to the All-Star team three times.

“I’m going to be better than I was,” Simmons told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “My job is just to show up, perform, work my ass off and lead this team the right way. So it’s doing all the little things, and everything else takes care of itself.”

We’ve got more from the Eastern Conference:

Hornets guard Frank Ntilikina departed their preseason game on Thursday with a hyperextended left knee, the team’s PR department tweets. Ntilikina’s $2,528,233 minimum salary won’t be fully guaranteed until January 10. He signed a one-year deal in August.
Khris Middleton hasn’t played in the preseason but that appears likely to change on Friday. The Bucks swingman, who has been working his way back from right knee surgery, says he’s good to go for the preseason finale, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “As of right now, I definitely feel like I’ll be out there playing tomorrow,” Middleton said. “Don’t know how long, how many minutes, but I do expect to be playing, which is exciting for me.”
James Harden missed practice for a second straight day on Thursday but coach Nick Nurse said it didn’t distract his Sixers teammates. “I think the organization has made it clear what’s going on,” Nurse told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “They are working on stuff, as we say, day by day. We had a really good practice today. Very energetic, the guys that were here. And that’s what we are focused on.” Nurse said it’s “unlikely” Harden will play in the preseason finale on Friday even if he returns to the team by then.
Gradey Dick may be a fan favorite but he’s unlikely to be in the Raptors’ rotation early in the season, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. The first-round pick requires “a lot of patience and time,” coach Darko Rajakovic said. “He’s got to slow down himself before the game slows down for him,” Rajakovic added.

Clippers Notes: Covington, Batum, Mann, Rotation, Harden

October 19th, 2023 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers may use a committee approach at power forward once the regular season begins, according to Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum and versatile Terance Mann are likely to share that spot.

“All three guys bring something different to the table when we talk about defense,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “T-Mann can start, he can guard the point guard tonight and guard the four tomorrow. Nico can guard the point guard in the four tonight and RoCo is more of an off-the-ball deflection, steals, weak-side defender type guy. So, they do some different things. And so, it could be by committee … every night could be something different.”

We have more on the Clippers:

Lue will use nine or 10 players in his rotation and the competition for playing time beyond the team’s stars is fierce. Lue doesn’t see having good depth as a bad thing. “It’s kind of like [Team] USA. You have a lot of guys who deserve to play but you can’t play all those guys,” he told Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times. “For me, [I am] just having the constant dialogue with the players and communicating and just let them know that, ‘This is what I’m looking at, this is the sample size of games that I’m looking at, and you‘ve just got to be ready.’”
Will the constant trade chatter regarding James Harden have a negative impact on the locker room? Lue doesn’t think so, he told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “I like the team that we have right now,” he said. “We have a great unit. I’m just focusing on our guys that’s in the locker room. They’re the same way. We’ve had a great camp. They’re locking in and paying attention to detail on both sides of the basketball. That has to be our mindset all season long. That’s what we’re focused on right now.”
Can the second unit go without a true center? Do they have enough shooters? Those are two of the questions hovering over the team as training camp winds down, The Athletic’s Law Murray opines.
An emphasis on better success during the regular season to get the Clippers prepared for a deep playoff run is reiterated in a column by Sportsnaut.com’s Mark Medina.

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Sioux Falls, Richardson, Highsmith, Roster Decisions

October 19th, 2023 at 7:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bam Adebayo is eligible to sign a two-year, $97MM extension until Monday. However, the Heat center realizes he could get a longer and more lucrative contract if he waits, he told Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.

Adebayo could meet the super-max criteria and become eligible to sign a four-year, $245MM extension in the 2024 offseason if he makes an All-NBA team or is named Defensive Player of the Year this season.

“The money difference does play a part,” he said. “But we’ll have that conversation at some point.”

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Despite the logistics of shuttling players from Point A to B, the Heat announced a five-year agreement to keep their NBA G League affiliate in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). It’s approximately 1,824 miles between the two cities.
Foot injuries continue to mar Josh Richardson‘s preseason. He departed Wednesday’s preseason loss with a right foot injury and was underwent an MRI on his foot on Thursday, according to Chiang. The MRI results were negative and he’s day-to-day. He sat out the Heat’s second and third preseason games due to left foot discomfort.
An MRI on Haywood Highsmith‘s left knee revealed a sprain and he’ll be reevaluated in two weeks, Chiang tweets. He recently had his $1.9MM salary guaranteed.
There are six players on the Heat’s current 19-man camp roster competing for the 14th spot on the standard roster and the three two-way contract slots. Out of that group, Jamal Cain, Dru Smith and Cole Swider have stood out, according to Chiang. Cain and Smith are already on two-way deals and looking to get a promotion to the standard roster. “It’s just gratifying to see that kind of improvement from a young player, particularly when it’s not easy,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Cain.

Lakers Sign Quinndary Weatherspoon, Waive Louis King

October 19th, 2023 at 7:35pm CST by Rory Maher

7:35pm: The Lakers have officially signed Weatherspoon. In a related move, they have waived forward Louis King, the team’s PR department tweets.

5:03pm: The Lakers are signing free agent guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, agent Daniel Hazan tells Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it seems likely that Weatherspoon will be signed to an Exhibit 10 contract, which would entitle to him a bonus worth up to $75K if he’s waived and spends at least 60 days with the South Bay Lakers, L.A.’s G League affiliate.

A former second-round pick (No. 49 overall in 2019), Weatherspoon played 42 NBA games with the Spurs and Warriors from 2019-22, with a modest average of 6.5 minutes per night. He was out of the league last season, having played professionally in China.

Weatherspoon most recently played for Israeli club Maccabi Ra’anana during the preseason, suiting up for a couple games while averaging 15.5 points and shooting 40% from three, Haynes notes.

The Lakers will have 18 players under contract once the signing is official, with 14 players on guaranteed standard deals and all three two-way slots filled.

Central Notes: Stotts, Griffin, Cunningham, Bates, Allen, Nembhard

October 19th, 2023 at 6:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Terry Stotts isn’t retiring, even though the 65-year-old coach is exiting Adrian Griffin’s staff with the Bucks, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Stotts wasn’t comfortable with his fit on Milwaukee’s staff. Griffin claimed they got along just fine.

“It caught all of us off guard, of course, but again, you just support him,” Griffin said. “He was a terrific guy. I learned a lot from him in a very short time. He was really good at what he does. He made a decision – a personal decision – and we just have to respect that.”

However, The Athletic’s Eric Nehm and Shams Charania report that Stotts and Griffin had a tenuous relationship. That included a shootaround incident in which Griffin yelled for Stotts to join the coaches’ huddle when Stotts was about to have a conversation with the team’s star players. That highlighted the potential difficulty of Stotts adapting to an assistant role under rookie head coach Griffin. Conversely, it also spoke about the treatment and level of respect that Griffin needed to show Stotts, considering his lengthy coaching career.

We have more from the Central Division:

The Pistons paid Monty Williams a lot of money to coach their team, and their star player, Cade Cunningham, has bought in to Williams’ hard-driving style, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. “I love the way he pushes us,” Cunningham said. “He calls things the way he sees them. I think that honesty and that bluntness towards us, that’s huge. Especially for a young team. The systems that he’s put in, the way that he’s made it around our abilities and the personnel we have has been great for us. It’ll continue to get better as he learns us and we learn him.”
Rookie second-round pick Emoni Bates has led the Cavaliers in scoring during the preseason. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that he’s thrilled Bates dropped to the No. 49 overall pick. “I believe if Emoni had gone in the lottery he’d have been the type of player who’d have been in the Rookie of the Year conversation,” Bickerstaff said. “We are extremely fortunate that he’s here with us and we look forward to working with him.”
Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen is showing progress from the right ankle injury that has sidelined him during much of training camp. On Thursday afternoon, he went through post-practice shooting drills and then went through an individual workout, according to Fedor. He is set for re-evaluation this weekend and there’s hope he can return for Cleveland’s regular-season opener on Wednesday night.
Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard went through a full practice this week and is on track to play in the team’s preseason finale on Friday, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. Nembhard is working his way back from an ankle injury.

Pelicans Exercise 2024/25 Options On Dyson Daniels, Trey Murphy

October 19th, 2023 at 4:49pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans have picked up their 2024/25 team options on Dyson Daniels and Trey Murphy, the team announced in a press release.

Neither player will be impacted in ’23/24, but their salaries for the following year are now locked in. Daniels will earn $6,059,520 in his third season, while Murphy will make $5,159,854 in his fourth.

A 6’8″ guard who was the No. 8 overall pick last year, Daniels averaged 3.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.3 APG on .418/.314/.650 shooting in 59 games as a rookie in ’22/23 (11 starts, 17.7 MPG). The 20-year-old Australian is known more for his strong defense than his offense at this stage of his career.

Murphy, meanwhile, will now be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer after having his fourth-year option exercised.

The No. 17 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Murphy emerged as a full-time starter for New Orleans in ’22/23. He averaged 14.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 31.0 MPG across 79 appearances (65 starts), posting an impressive shooting line of .484/.406/.905.

Unfortunately, Murphy is currently sidelined a torn meniscus in his left knee, which required surgery. He’s expected to miss 10-to-12 weeks, with a rough return timeline of mid-November.

The full list of ’24/25 rookie scale team option decisions can be found right here.

Suns Waive Ishmail Wainright

October 19th, 2023 at 4:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Suns are waiving forward Ish Wainright, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The move has been announced in a press release, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.

The Suns exercised their club option on Wainright’s contract in June but his salary remained non-guaranteed and wouldn’t have become fully guaranteed until January 10. Wainright dealt with a right calf strain during training camp, which didn’t help his cause.

As our roster count shows, the Suns had 17 players on standard contracts, including 15 with full guarantees. Wainright’s status was shaky entering camp and now he’ll be looking for another team.

Wainright, 29, appeared in 105 regular season games over the last two seasons. He appeared in 60 games last season, including two starts, averaging 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game.

Warriors Waive Javonte Green

October 19th, 2023 at 4:27pm CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors have waived Javonte Green, the team announced on Thursday (via Twitter).

Green, 30, has spent the past four seasons playing for Boston and Chicago. The 6’4″ guard/forward was limited to 32 games in 2022/23 due to a lingering right knee problem.

A strong athlete and defender who is limited offensively, Green holds career averages of 5.1 PPG and 2.8 RPG on .534/.342/.753 shooting in 186 regular season contests (15.8 MPG).

While it was previously reported that Green was expected to be waived and play for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s NBA G League affiliate, we later learned that he had signed an Exhibit 9 contract, not an Exhibit 10 deal. That means he may not be headed to Santa Cruz after all, and it’s unclear what’s next for the former Radford Highlander, who played four seasons in Europe from 2015-19 after going undrafted.

Knicks Waive Knight; Sign Diakite, Goodwin

October 19th, 2023 at 4:18pm CST by Rory Maher

4:18pm: Knight has officially been waived. The Knicks have also signed free agents Mamadi Diakite and Brandon Goodwin to Exhibit 10 contracts (Twitter links). New York now has 20 players under contract.

4:09pm: The Knicks are waiving big man Nathan Knight, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As Katz notes, Knight was signed to a two-way contract, and New York also recently waived Jaylen Martin, so the team now has a pair of two-way spots open.

Knight, who starred in college at William & Mary, has played in 108 NBA games over the past three seasons after going undrafted in 2020. He spent his rookie season with the Hawks on a two-way deal and spent the past two seasons with the Timberwolves.

The Wolves had a minimum-salary team option on Knight for the 2023/24 season but turned it down and opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, so he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He signed a two-way deal with the Knicks a couple weeks later.

The 26-year-old forward/center holds career averages of 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per night.

Bucks Sign Elijah Hughes, Kihei Clark To Camp Deals

October 19th, 2023 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks have added Elijah Hughes and Kihei Clark to their roster, with both players receiving training camp contracts, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. The signings are official, per RealGM’s transactions log.

A 6’5″ wing, Hughes was the No. 39 overall pick in 2020 after playing three seasons of college ball at East Carolina and Syracuse, respectively. He holds two years of NBA experience with the Jazz and Trail Blazers, averaging 2.9 points in 9.2 minutes (54 games) while struggling mightily with scoring efficiency (.328/.280/.769 slash line).

Hughes was out of the league in 2022/23, having signed a training camp deal with the Bucks to secure his G League rights for the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s affiliate. He struggled with efficiency again during last fall’s Showcase Cup (.372/.284/.733 slash line in 14 games), but played better for the Herd in the regular season, averaging 16.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals on .426/.355/.853 shooting in 25 games (18 starts, 33.1 minutes).

Clark, meanwhile, went undrafted in June after five college seasons at Virginia. The 5’9″ guard averaged 10.7 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 steal on .399/.352/.767 shooting in 33 games (33.2 minutes) as a “super senior” in ’22/23.

Assuming Hughes and Clark signed Exhibit 10 deals, which seems likely, they would each be eligible for a $75K bonus if they’re waived before the season starts and spend at least 60 days with the Herd. Exhibit 10 deals can also be converted into two-way contracts, and the Bucks do have a two-way opening after waiving Omari Moore.

The Bucks’ roster is now full, with 21 players under contract.