Hornets coach Charles Lee talked about the need to develop “emotional maturity” following a late-game skirmish in Friday’s loss to Boston, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The altercation started when Grant Williams ran into former teammate Jayson Tatum while the Celtics were pushing the ball up court (Twitter video link from NBC Sports Boston). Williams was ejected from the game with a Flagrant 2 foul and may face further discipline from the league office.
“It was a transition opportunity and I was trying to make a play on the ball. I did reach across his body and when you slow down the replay, it looks like I make a play and then I kind of go after it,” Williams explained. “J.T. is one of my closest friends always. There was no intention of trying to harm him in any way. So, it was just one of those plays where in full speed he passes the ball, which probably makes it worse because that’s when I reach for the ball. The ball is already out of his hand. … You seen me raise my hand, say I fouled him.”
Williams added that he wanted to apologize to Tatum immediately after the play occurred. But the teams were immediately sent back to their respective benches, and Williams was tossed out of the game before he could say anything to Tatum.
“We all know J.T. is my guy. Nothing intentional,” Williams added. “He got up quick and by the time I got up, there was a ruckus and they brought us to our benches. I’ll talk to him tonight or (Saturday). He knows. We probably don’t even have to talk. He knows it wasn’t intentional or malicious by any means.”
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The NBA season tipped off just 11 days ago, which means it’s still far too early to draw any sweeping conclusions about anything that’s happened so far.
Still, a quick glance at the standings reveals some expected outcomes. The defending-champion Celtics are off to another strong start, at 5-1. The Thunder, widely projected to be the top team in the West, are the only undefeated club left in the conference at 5-0.
On the other end of the spectrum, projected lottery teams like the Trail Blazers (2-4) and Jazz (0-5) sit at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, while the Raptors and Pistons (both 1-5) bring up the rear in the East.
There are a few records that are a little more surprising, however. We figured the Cavaliers would be among the East’s contenders, but they’ve been even better than expected in the early going — their 6-0 mark is the NBA’s best record.
Other would-be contenders in the East, like the Pacers (2-4) and Bucks (1-4) are off to far slower starts. Milwaukee’s performance, in particular, has been troubling, given the underwhelming way their season ended in 2023/24. Damian Lillard‘s fit doesn’t look any smoother in his second year with the Bucks than it did in the first, and the team badly needs a healthy Khris Middleton, who has yet to make his season debut after missing 74 games across the past two seasons.
In the West, several of the clubs led by former MVPs (Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and LeBron James) are off to strong starts, with the Suns (4-1), Warriors (4-1), and Lakers (4-2) holding top-four spots in the standings entering Saturday’s action. New head coaches Mike Budenholzer and J.J. Redick seem to be making a positive impact in Phoenix and Los Angeles, respectively, while Golden State’s depth has been a major asset so far.
On the other hand, after an underwhelming offseason in which they lost starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency and faced questions about the fit of newcomer Russell Westbrook and the health of Jamal Murray, the Nuggets are just 2-3 and required an overtime period to beat Toronto and Brooklyn. Nikola Jokic has been playing at his usual MVP level, but he’s not getting enough help, and Westbrook (.244 FG%, .200 3PT%) and Murray (.370 FG%, .304 3PT%) have done little so far to answer those offseason questions.
Again, with the caveat that the sample size is small, we want to hear your takeaways from the first week-and-a-half of the season.
Which fall trends are you taking seriously and which ones do you expect to be short-lived? Which struggling teams and players should be worried and which ones just need more time to hit their stride? Which clubs off to strong starts are legitimate and which ones do you expect to come back down to earth?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen has been ruled out for a second consecutive game, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, who tweets that Markkanen will be unavailable on Saturday in Denver. Utah’s leading scorer also missed Thursday’s loss to San Antonio after exiting Tuesday’s game vs. Sacramento early due to low back spasms.
According to Larsen (Twitter link), Markkanen doesn’t anticipate a lengthy absence, indicating today that he believes he’ll return to action at some point during the team’s current road trip. That trip will include stops in in Chicago (on Monday), Milwaukee (Thursday), and San Antonio (next Saturday) before Utah returns home on November 12.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
The term “poison pill” doesn’t actually show up in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, but it’s used colloquially to refer to a provision in the CBA that affects players who recently signed rookie scale contract extensions.
As we explain in our glossary entry, the so-called poison pill provision applies when a player who signed a rookie scale extension is traded before the extension takes effect.
In that scenario, the player’s incoming value for the receiving team for matching purposes is determined by averaging his current-year salary and the salaries in each year of his new extension. His current team, on the other hand, simply treats his current-year salary as the outgoing figure for matching purposes.
For instance, Rockets big man Alperen Sengun is earning a $5,424,654 salary in 2024/25, but signed a five-year, $185MM extension that will begin in ’25/26.
Therefore, if Houston wanted to trade Sengun this season, his outgoing value for salary-matching purposes would be $5,424,654 (this year’s salary), while his incoming value for the team acquiring him would be $31,737,442 (this year’s salary, plus the $185MM extension, divided by six years).
[RELATED: 2024 NBA Rookie Scale Extension Recap]
Most of the players who signed rookie scale extensions aren’t realistic candidates to be traded anytime soon. But even in the event that a team does want to look into trading one of these recently extended players, the gap between the player’s incoming trade value and outgoing trade value could make it a real challenge to find a deal that works for both sides — especially if a team is operating in or near tax apron territory.
The “poison pill” provision applies to 11 players who signed rookie scale extensions in 2024. Here are those players, along with their outgoing salaries and incoming salaries for trade purposes:
| Player | Team | Outgoing trade value | Incoming trade value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cade Cunningham | DET | $13,940,809 | $37,827,796 |
| Jalen Green | HOU | $12,483,048 | $29,454,095 |
| Evan Mobley | CLE | $11,227,657 | $37,375,604 |
| Scottie Barnes | TOR | $10,130,980 | $37,192,825 |
| Jalen Suggs | ORL | $9,188,385 | $26,614,731 |
| Franz Wagner | ORL | $7,007,092 | $36,672,177 |
| Moses Moody | GSW | $5,803,269 | $10,825,817 |
| Corey Kispert | WAS | $5,705,887 | $11,951,177 |
| Alperen Sengun | HOU | $5,424,654 | $31,737,442 |
| Trey Murphy | NOP | $5,159,854 | $23,431,971 |
| Jalen Johnson | ATL | $4,510,905 | $25,751,818 |
Once the 2025/26 league year begins next July, the poison pill provision will no longer apply to these players. At that time, the player’s ’25/26 salary would represent both his outgoing and incoming value.
Until then, the gap between those outgoing and incoming figures will make it tricky for several of these players to be moved, though it affects some more significantly than others.
The difference of nearly $30MM between Wagner’s incoming and outgoing trade figures, for instance, means there’s essentially no chance he could be dealt to an over-the-cap team in 2024/25 — given that the Magic have no desire to move Wagner, that’ll be a moot point, but it’s still worth noting.
On the other hand, the much smaller divide between Moody’s incoming and outgoing salaries makes a trade involving him a more viable option, though the Warriors will have a hard cap to deal with that could complicate matters in they event they look to include Moody in a deal.
Over half of the NBA's 30 teams face some sort of hard cap for the rest of the 2024/25 league year. A total of 14 clubs are hard-capped at the first tax apron ($178,132,000) as a result of moves they made on the trade market or in free agency, while three more are hard-capped at the second tax apron ($188,931,000).
Those teams won't be permitted to surpass their respective hard caps for any reason for the rest of '24/25, and it's entirely possible - likely, actually - that more clubs will join them on that list as they finalize in-season signings and trades in the coming months. Just a couple weeks ago, the Grizzlies became the 17th team to get hard-capped when they used a portion of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Scotty Pippen Jr.
[RELATED: How NBA Teams Become Hard-Capped]
However, in most cases, a hard cap doesn't actually serve as a material obstacle for a team. For instance, the Hornets are currently hard-capped at the first apron, but their team salary for apron purposes is more than $16MM below that threshold.
While the Hornets could take on some additional salary in a pre-deadline trade, it's extremely hard to imagine a scenario in which they surpass the luxury tax line ($170,814,000), let alone approach their $178MM+ hard cap. Certainly, Charlotte's front office should be aware of that hard cap over the course of the season, but it shouldn't be a front-of-mind concern that would prevent the team from pulling the trigger on any moves it realistically wants to make.
Not every team can afford to approach its hard cap like the Hornets though. For a handful of clubs, the hard cap will be a day-to-day consideration that affects a team's ability to sign a free agent, make a trade, or even carry a full 15-man roster.
Let's take a closer look at which teams have to be most aware of their hard caps over the course of the 2024/25 league year.
A Grant Williams foul on Celtics star Jayson Tatum resulted in an ejection for the former Boston forward on Friday night (video link via NBA.com). Teammate Jaylen Brown took offense to the foul – ruled a flagrant two – and approached Williams after the hit, questioning his motives, according to The Athletic’s Jay King.
“It was for sure intentional,” Brown said. “What are we talking about here? Did y’all see the same play that I’m seeing? He hit him like it was a football play, like (former NFL linebacker) Ray Lewis coming across the middle or something. It is what it is. Grant knows better than that.”
Williams said he was trying to make a play on the ball and that the collision looked worse than it actually was. The Hornets forward said “if [Tatum] had prepared and actually turned his head to the left,” it wouldn’t have looked as gnarly.
“It was just a hard foul,” Williams said. “And we play them again tomorrow. It’s nothing crazy or beyond the means. We all know JT’s my guy, so nothing intentional.”
Celtics players weren’t so sure. Both Brown and Derrick White chided Williams for the play after the game. While the Hornets forward called Tatum one of his closest friends in the league, Brown made it clear there was nothing friendly about Williams’ play.
“Actions speak loud,” Brown said. “So it is what it is. We got the win, we’ll move on, but there’s no place in the game for that. I thought JT and him was friends. I guess not.”
Williams jokingly said after the game that he was preparing to have his former Celtics teammates over to his house after the game, but that they probably wouldn’t take him up on the offer anymore. Friday’s game served as a reunion for more than Williams. Former Celtic Kemba Walker is on Charlotte’s coaching staff, while Hornets head coach Charles Lee served as Joe Mazzulla‘s assistant last year.
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The Heat are fluctuating between a nine- and 10-man rotation to start the season, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson and Thomas Bryant have been the biggest fixtures in the second unit. Beyond those three, Haywood Highsmith, Alec Burks and two-way player Dru Smith are next up in the rotation, with their playing time varying from game to game.
Smith, in particular, stood out in Wednesday’s loss to the Knicks. Even before the game was out of reach, he played over Highsmith and Burks (who each received DNPs). Smith recorded two points, four rebounds and three blocks in 16 minutes.
“I thought he was really good in the first half,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Smith playing over Highsmith and Burks. “Some of that defensive pressure and the spark, that kind of shifted momentum and that made those minutes, not just Dru but that second unit. But that didn’t necessarily happen in the second half with that unit.”
Smith played among the second unit often in the preseason. His role may change when Josh Richardson is healthy for the Heat, but they’ve also clearly been impressed by the guard, who has spent most of his professional career in their development system since going undrafted in 2021. He’s a candidate to be converted to a standard deal at some point in the season.
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While searching for a new head coach this offseason, the Cavaliers sent out a request for all candidates to come prepared with an outline for Evan Mobley‘s future, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic. Now-head coach Kenny Atkinson presented a plan for how Mobley could continue building his relationship with Jarrett Allen in the frontcourt and space the floor despite not being a traditional shooter, like Draymond Green in Golden State.
“[Atkinson]’s just empowering me, like, ‘You gotta go and attack. Look to score for us,’” Mobley said. “And he does that with everybody. If someone is open on the wing and they pass up a shot, shoot it. That’s his whole philosophy.”
The Cavaliers have big plans for Mobley, including turning him into more of an offensive hub. The team wants him to score more in transition and believes he’ll be even more of a passing threat if teams think he’s looking to score at all times.
Atkinson’s vision is paying off in the early going for Mobley, who spent the offseason building bulk and muscle, according to Katz. He’s bringing up the ball at a career-high rate and his 18.3 points per game would also be a career high if it holds through the season.
“[Mobley] more so has a more a ‘f— you’ attitude this year,” teammate Tristan Thompson said. “I think this summer was good for him developing. Like, he knows he’s that guy. I think sometimes you gotta have that arrogant confidence in yourself. Before, he was kinda playing timid. … But now it’s more like, he knows he’s a f—ing problem.”
We have more from the Central Division:
Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley spoke in more detail this week about the left wrist injury he has dealt with for the last few years, admitting that it prevented him from golfing over the summer after he fell on the wrist last season and aggravated an old ligament issue, per Jerry Zgoda of The Minneapolis Star Tribune. Still, Conley has gotten used to playing through the injury and plans to continue doing so.
“When I’m 50, I’ll get surgery, not right now,” he said. “The surgery is a little bit complex and I’ve been playing with it for years, so I feel like I’ll just finish it.”
Entering Friday’s bout with Denver, Conley was shooting just 22.6% from the field through Minnesota’s first four games this season, including 27.3% on three-pointers. While the wrist issue may be a factor in the veteran’s shooting struggles, the sample size is small and he’s confident those numbers will improve once he gets through an early-season adjustment period.
“I’m just trying to work back the strength of it,” Conley said. “That’s the biggest thing. The pain and stuff is gone. But there are some times when I’ll shoot it and think, ‘Ah, that’s good,’ and it’ll be like two feet short. So you’re just trying to gauge the differences and work through that as the season goes forward.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
In the wake of his retirement as a player, six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin is said to be drawing significant interest not from NBA teams but from the league’s new television partners. According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, Griffin is in talks with Amazon Prime Video about a role as an analyst on their NBA coverage, with NBC and ESPN also believed to be interested in the former Clippers star.
Amazon and NBC aren’t currently airing NBA games, but will begin to do so in 2025/26, when the league’s new media rights deal takes effect, and will need to fill out their broadcast teams with both game and studio analysts. One source suggests to McCarthy that Griffin, who has an engaging personality and tried his hand at stand-up comedy during his playing days, is a candidate to become “the face” of Amazon’s NBA coverage.
Ryan Glasspiegel of The New York Post recently reported that veteran play-by-play broadcaster Ian Eagle, who calls NBA games for TNT and YES Network, is in serious talks to join Amazon for its NBA coverage. Mike Tirico and Ian’s son Noah Eagle are expected to be the top two play-by-play broadcasters for NBC’s NBA coverage, per Glasspiegel.
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