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Rockets’ Kevin Porter Jr. Arrested For Assault, Strangulation

September 11th, 2023 at 12:14pm CST by Rory Maher

Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. was arrested in New York and charged with assault and strangulation, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link).

Police arrived at a hotel at 6:45am Eastern time following a 911 call.

“Upon arrival officers were informed that a 26-year-old female sustained a laceration to the right side of her face and was complaining about pain to her neck,” a New York Police Department spokesperson said. “A preliminary investigation on scene determined that a known individual struck her multiple times upon her body and placed his hands around her neck.”

The woman was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

According to Aaron Katersky of ABC 7 New York, Porter arrived at the Times Square hotel early Monday morning after a night out, and his girlfriend, a former WNBA player, wouldn’t let him into the room because she was upset at the hour of his return. Porter gained access to the room with the help of security and that’s when the alleged assault occurred, police sources tell Katersky.

Rockets general manager Rafael Stone declined to comment on the incident, according to Feigen.

Porter was considered one of the top prospects in his draft class, but he fell to 30th overall in 2019 in part due to off-court concerns — he was suspended indefinitely during a portion of his lone college season at USC for personal conduct issues. During his rookie season with Cleveland, he was suspended for a game for making improper conduct with an official.

During the 2020 offseason, Porter was arrested for improper handling of a firearm following a car accident. He opened 2020/21 on the inactive list due to the gun charge, which was later dropped.

In January 2021, Porter had a locker room outburst, which caused the Cavaliers to publicly say they would either trade or waive him. The Rockets basically got him for nothing in return — they gave up a heavily protected second-round pick.

The following January, Porter was suspended by Houston for a game following a verbal altercation with then-assistant coach John Lucas. The 23-year-old reportedly threw an object in the locker room and left the arena before the game ended.

Porter is undeniably talented — he averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals on .442/.366/.784 shooting in 59 games (34.3 minutes) last season. However, it’s pretty clear that the Rockets aren’t entirely sold on him being a centerpiece of their future.

For example, Porter signed a four-year, $63.4MM+ rookie scale extension with Houston last October, but only his 2023/24 salary ($15.86MM) is guaranteed. He has a $1MM partial guarantee for ’24/25, followed by a non-guaranteed salary in ’25/26 and a non-guaranteed team option in ’26/27, the final year of the deal.

The Rockets also drafted guard Amen Thompson fourth overall a few months ago and gave Fred VanVleet a three-year, maximum-salary contract in free agency (the third year is a team option), so Porter’s role will likely be reduced this season — assuming he remains on the team following his latest off-court incident.

NBA Set To Impose New Rules On Resting Star Players

September 11th, 2023 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA is expected to approve new guidelines this week involving rest for star players, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Competition Committee has endorsed a stricter policy on sitting out players in nationally televised games and resting more than one star on the same night, according to Wojnarowski, who adds that the Board of Governors will vote on the measure on Wednesday.

If approved, the league will be able to impose larger fines on teams that violate the new rule, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The fines would be $100K for a first violation, $250K for a second violation and $1MM more than the last penalty for each additional violation, according to Woj’s sources.

A star will be defined as anyone who has made an All-Star or All-NBA team over the past three seasons, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Load management has become a more common practice in recent years, and the NBA has been searching for ways to get its best players on the court more often, especially in marquee games. One provision of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement requires players to participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for All-NBA or All-Defensive honors as well as major postseason awards.

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Trail Blazers To Sign Duop Reath

September 11th, 2023 at 10:55am CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent center Duop Reath will sign a one-year contract with the Trail Blazers, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Reath will likely receive a minimum salary, and there’s no indication if the deal includes any guaranteed money.

The 27-year-old played for Portland’s Summer League team, averaging 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in five games, and started for Australia during the World Cup. He has played overseas since going undrafted out of LSU in 2018, spending time in Serbia, Australia and China.

The 6’11” Reath will be just the fourth Blazers player 27 or older, joining Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic and Jerami Grant, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Portland had the NBA’s youngest roster prior to adding Reath.

The signing will bring the Blazers to the offseason limit of 21 players following the weekend agreements with Kevin Knox and George Conditt IV. However, several of the team’s reported deals aren’t yet official.

World Cup Notes: F. Wagner, Schröder, Top Players, Banchi

September 11th, 2023 at 10:28am CST by Arthur Hill

Germany’s Franz Wagner was thrilled not only to win a gold medal at the World Cup, but to be able to accomplish the feat while playing alongside his brother, writes Cesare Milanti of EuroHoops. Franz and Moritz Wagner are also teammates on the Magic, but their undefeated run through the World Cup field is the highlight of their careers.

“It’s special,” Franz Wagner said after Sunday’s win over Serbia. “Special to have our parents here too. This is so surreal, it doesn’t make sense that we are both on this team and we can enjoy it.”

Wagner appears to be fully recovered from a sprained ankle he suffered in Germany’s opening game. Although he missed the rest of pool play, he was back for the knockout round, scoring 22 points and grabbing five rebounds in a semifinal win over Team USA, then posting 19 points and seven rebounds in the gold medal contest.

“There were so many moments this year in so many games that the other team made a run, this game, the game before against the States,” he added. “We never let it slip, we just kept playing and kept staying together. That made a huge difference in all these games.”

There’s more from the World Cup:

Tournament MVP Dennis Schröder hopes Germany’s success will lead to more exposure for basketball in his home country, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. The German team has become more successful in international competitions, but the games aren’t widely available to the public. “We first thought the tournament was going to be on the TV. Only the final was on the TV,” Schröder said. “Basketball is a great sport and I hope we can get our respect for what we are doing the last two years. I wish that every single game is on TV. Ten years ago when I started, we had Dirk Nowitzki but nobody knew who were the other guys on the team. Now we go to Japan and the Philippines and they know us. We hope to get this respect also in our country and get recognized.”
Schröder was a first-team selection by Brian Windhorst of ESPN on his list of the best players at the World Cup. Joining him on the first team are Team USA’s Anthony Edwards, Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Slovenina’s Luka Doncic and Serbia’s Bogdan Bogdanovic. Making up Windhorst’s second team are the USA’s Mikal Bridges, Australia’s Josh Giddey, South Sudan’s Carlik Jones, Serbia’s Nikola Milutinov and the Dominican Republic’s Karl-Anthony Towns.
Luca Banchi was honored as the tournament’s best coach after leading Latvia to a fifth-place finish in its first-ever World Cup.

LeBron James Recruiting NBA Stars For 2024 Olympics

September 11th, 2023 at 8:52am CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James wants to play in the 2024 Olympics and has started recruiting other veteran stars to join him, multiple sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.

James reached out to Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and Draymond Green, who are all planning to be part of the team next summer in Paris, Charania adds. Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, De’Aaron Fox and Kyrie Irving are also interested in participating, according to Charania’s sources.

Team USA is coming off a fourth-place finish at the World Cup, but Charania reports that James’ team-building efforts started well before that tournament and aren’t related to the disappointing result. Charania points out that although the U.S. has failed to medal in the last two World Cups, it has won four straight Olympic golds and James wants to see that streak continue.

James was part of gold medal teams in 2008 and 2012, but he hasn’t played in the Olympics since then. He will be 39 in December, and sources tell Charania that he and Durant, who will turn 35 later this month, are viewing the 2024 Games as their “last dance” with USA Basketball.

They have both talked to Curry, who will be 36 next summer, about forming the core of the U.S. team, Charania adds. Curry has never played in the Olympics, but he has two World Cup gold medals.

Charania states that USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill refused to comment on the reported interest from James and other stars, but he is aware of it.

Western Notes: Doncic, Tenzer, Watson, McGee, Len, Spurs

September 10th, 2023 at 8:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Luka Doncic isn’t doing himself any favors with his constant complaining to the officials, Tim Cato of The Athletic writes. The Mavericks superstar was tossed from Slovenia’s quarterfinal loss to Canada in the FIBA World Cup. Doncic’s technical fouls in the NBA have risen in each of his five seasons. Cato notes. Doncic has publicly acknowledged over the years he needs to pipe down, but his actions haven’t reflected it. He’s a master at drawing contact but complaining about non-calls serves no useful purpose, as Cato writes.

We have more from the Western Conference:

The Nuggets’ new G League general manager, Ben Tenzer, believes forward Peyton Watson will blossom in his second NBA season, he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. “(He) has all the potential in the world. I think it starts with his defense and his energy,” Tenzer said. “He’s such a unique player with his size and his ability to cover the court. His shot-blocking ability. I think we were able to see it a little bit when he played with the Nuggets toward the end of the season, how good he can be. So I think for him it starts with the defensive side. The offensive side will come because of his natural ability to be able to handle and attack the rim.”
Alex Len and JaVale McGee are expected to make the Kings’ opening night roster and compete for backup minutes at center, James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com tweets. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering they both have guaranteed contracts. That also means Neemias Queta and Nerlens Noel, who have partially guaranteed deals, will essentially be competing for the final roster spot, assuming Sacramento decides to carry 15 players.
The Spurs have 18 players on guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals. So who will be the odd men out? The Athletic’s John Hollinger and Kelly Iko explore that, plus other Spurs-related topics. Khem Birch and Charles Bassey appear to be the most vulnerable, according to Hollinger. If San Antonio is unable to deal one of its guards, then either Doug McDermott, Reggie Bullock or Cedi Osman could be bought out.

World Cup Notes: Brooks, Field Size, Olympic Qualifier, Bogdanovic

September 10th, 2023 at 6:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dillon Brooks‘ NBA season didn’t end well, as LeBron James and the Lakers dismissed the Grizzlies in the playoffs. The offseason has gone a lot better. Brooks signed a lucrative contract with the Rockets, then he played well enough to earn Best Defensive Player honors at the FIBA World Cup, Sportando tweets.

Brooks, who played for bronze medalist Canada, enjoys his reputation as a villian, according to Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net.

“It’s just a persona. People love him, I have grown to love him myself. It’s like Kobe created Black Mamba. That’s my persona but only on the court. I love my kids, my family, my teammates,” Brooks said.

We have more tidbits from the World Cup:

FIBA is pleased with how an expanded field has led to more parity and unpredictability, according to The Associated Press. FIBA expanded the World Cup field to 32 teams in 2019, while 80 teams took part in the qualification process leading up to 2023’s event. “Parity is good,” FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said. “It’s good because it means competitiveness. It is excellent if it comes together with a higher level of play all the time. What we have achieved is we have reached a greater depth in the roster of countries. Nine of the 32 that came to this World Cup did not play in the previous World Cup.”
FIBA plans to announce the hosts of the four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments at the end of November, Eurohoops.net relays. Those tournaments, which will determine the last four qualifiers for the Paris Olympics, will be held in early July.
Hawks swingman and Serbia’s Bogdan Bogdanovic helped lead his national team to a silver medal for the second time, having accomplished the feat in 2014 as well. He’s hoping to get at least one gold medal before his international career is through, according to George Efkarpides of Eurohoops.net. “I was second once. I’ll be happy to get the gold as well. To finish the tournament with a win,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes luck is not on your side. We missed some shots, we missed some opportunities. That’s the game of basketball. That’s how it works.”

Team USA Notes: Haliburton, Bridges, Next Steps

September 10th, 2023 at 3:14pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite Team USA’s failure to earn even a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton would like to keep playing for the program, writes George Efkarpides of Eurohoops. The Paris Olympics next summer would mark the next big opportunity to do so.

“If they want me back, it’s a no-brainer for me,” Haliburton said of a return to Team USA. “You want to end on a high note; we didn’t do that, so it’s obviously disappointing. But it was a fun experience. Every time you can play for the USA, it’s a privilege and an honor.”

Haliburton, a reserve for the U.S. behind Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, proved to be a key contributor for the club. His passing and scoring were critical contributions for the Americans this summer, though they fell far short of their ambitions.

There’s more from the Team USA fallout:

Haliburton may have some company from another Team USA comrade in the future. Nets small forward Mikal Bridges indicated after the club’s 127-118 overtime loss to Team Canada that he would be open to an encore appearance for his country in international play, writes Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. “I think I will never say no, it’s an honor every time,” Bridges said. “No matter the result, I wouldn’t trade those six weeks. The biggest thing is the relationship we built. That’s what I take away from this.”
Although Team USA has won the gold medal in its last four consecutive Olympic appearances, it has failed to enjoy that same success during the FIBA World Cup, which it hasn’t won in nine years. Noting that the club’s roster will have more decorated players at the Olympics in Paris next summer, Joe Vardon of The Athletic pinpoints problems with defense and rebounding as the biggest reasons behind the club’s failure this summer.

Trail Blazers To Sign George Conditt To Exhibit 10 Contract

September 10th, 2023 at 1:28pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Trail Blazers are signing big man George Conditt IV to an Exhibit 10 training camp contract, his agent Pedro Power has informed Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Conditt joins Portland’s training camp roster fresh off a stellar turn for Puerto Rico in this summer’s FIBA World Cup. He averaged 10.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 30.6 minutes per night (five games) for the Puerto Rican national team in the tournament.

The 6’10” big man went undrafted after four seasons at Iowa State in 2022. Conditt put up modest stats with the Cyclones, averaging 4.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.1 BPG and 0.8 APG across 117 contests, including 36 starts.

Conditt has since played professionally for clubs in Puerto Rico and Greece. He suited up for the Timberwolves’ Summer League squad this July.

He seems probable to join the Trail Blazers’ NBAGL affiliate, the Rip City Remix. Assuming he is waived by Portland prior to the start of the 2023/24 season and subsequently logs at least 60 days with the Remix as an affiliate player, Conditt would be eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K.

NBA Teams Expressing Interest In Arturs Zagars

September 10th, 2023 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Latvia’s Arturs Zagars is generating NBA interest after his standout performance in the World Cup, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.

The 23-year-old guard led Latvia to a fifth-place finish in its first-ever World Cup appearance and set a tournament record with 17 assists in the team’s final game against Lithuania. Zagars averaged 12.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 25 minutes per game as Latvia defeated established powers such as France, Spain and Brazil.

That showing will increase the opportunities for Zagars, who is a free agent after spending last season with Nevėžis Kėdainiai in the Lithuanian Basketball League. Urbonas states that BC Wolves Vilnius of Lithuania had interest in signing Zagars before the World Cup began, but now it has competition from several top EuroLeague clubs. Some NBA teams are also considering a two-way contract for Zagars, according to Urbonas’ sources.

“I think it’s a fair shot. It’s all about timing, chance and opportunity,” Latvian teammate Davis Bertans said about Zagars’ NBA prospects. “Everything can happen if you end up at the right place at the right time. He has all the tools to do it. He’s relentless, as you can see. They’re putting their best defender on him every single night, and he still delivers for us.”

At 6’3″, Zagars is capable of handling either backcourt position, but he’s primarily used as a point guard. Urbonas notes that he plays with a swagger and is willing to take control of the offense, either by scoring or creating opportunities for teammates. He got a taste of NBA basketball while playing for the Wizards during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League.

Zagars has played professionally in Europe since 2017, but his progress has been slowed by injuries, including a torn ligament in his ankle that required surgery in 2019. He withdrew from that year’s NBA draft, joining teams in Estonia and Germany before landing in Lithuania. He was hurt again late last season and wasn’t considered definite to play in the World Cup until coach Luca Banchi got to see him in person.

“Only in the training camp I understood that his body was responding well,” Banchi said. “Before, there were question marks, but the guy worked seriously during the summer and probably achieved so much that he couldn’t even predict himself.”