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Pelicans Notes: Ingram, Centers, Williamson, Alvarado

October 2nd, 2024 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

It has become increasingly rare for a star player on an NBA team to go through the offseason prior to his contract year without being extended or traded, but that’s the situation that Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram finds himself in this fall.

As Christian Clark of NOLA.com writes, Ingram – who will become an unrestricted free agent in 2025 if he doesn’t sign a new contract before July – was asked this week about the possibility of signing a preseason extension. The former All-Star said he doesn’t “expect anything” and that he’s happy to focus on basketball.

“Me and (Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin) have had some conversations, a few conversations,” Ingram said on Monday at media day. “But at the end of the day, it’s a business. As long as I do the basketball part, the business is going to handle itself — whether it’s here or somewhere else. I just have to continue to put the work in.”

Griffin acknowledged that the situation has the potential to get awkward, but he expressed confidence that it won’t be a distraction for Ingram or the Pelicans due to the trust the two sides have in one another.

“The reason people don’t get into this situation is there is not a level of trust between the two parties that he could enter the year and perform at a high level and be about the right things and we would honor our commitment to him,” Griffin said, per Clark. “Neither party has that fear. It’s going to be a unique situation. I know what it’s supposed to look like is one thing or another. We’re not worried about that. He’s a really unique guy with a unique skill set.”

Here’s more on the Pelicans:

Although Ingram returned at the end of last season from the knee injury that sidelined him for 12 games, he admitted he wasn’t at full strength during the playoffs and that it took a while for him to get back to 100%. “Gone through some ups and downs trying to get the knee back healthy,” Ingram said, according to Clark. “It actually was a long summer trying to get the knee back healthy. I’ve been working out hard. Working out at 100%. I’m ready to go.” Griffin explained Ingram’s absence from a voluntary mini-camp in August by telling reporters, “(He) wasn’t ready for that physically, and he knew it.”
With Jonas Valanciunas and Larry Nance Jr. no longer on the roster, the Pelicans’ new group of centers is made up of journeyman Daniel Theis and rookies Yves Missi and Karlo Matkovic. There will be plenty of instances during the season when none of those bigs are on the floor for New Orleans, according to head coach Willie Green. “I’m not dead set on (starting a true center). I’m pretty undecided,” Green said (story via Will Guillory of The Athletic). “When we get to camp, I think your team helps you make those decisions. … There are going to be a ton of games when we don’t have a traditional center on the floor.”
While Zion Williamson will be the biggest player on the court in certain Pelicans lineups, Griffin pushed back against labeling the former Duke star a small-ball center, per Guillory. “Zion grew up a point guard. He grew up with the ball in his hands. He literally identifies the game by facing the basket and handling the ball,” Griffin said. “He’s never been traditional as a big in any way, shape or form. And yet, because he’s large, people want to make him a ‘big.’ He’s really not that.”
Taking more jump shots will be a priority for Zion this season, Griffin told reporters, including Clark. Williamson is on board with that plan, though he stressed that he’s not just focused on continuing to develop his offensive game and wants to make a real impact on defense too. “Whenever I’m in great condition, I feel like my play on both ends of the floor is at a high level,” Williamson said. “Not just one.”
In case you missed it, Jose Alvarado‘s two-year, $9MM contract extension with the Pelicans is now official. It features a flat structure, with a $4.5MM guaranteed salary in 2025/26 and a $4.5MM player option for ’26/27, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.

NBA Roster, Contract Deadlines To Watch In October

October 2nd, 2024 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

After a couple quiet months around the NBA, October is full of important deadlines for roster and contract decisions. Here’s our round-up of the dates to keep an eye on this month:

Regular season roster decisions

The 2024/25 regular season tips off on Tuesday, October 22, which means teams must set their rosters for the season by 4:00 pm Central time on Monday, October 21. To be in accordance with regular season roster limits, a team must be carrying no more than 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

While teams have until Oct. 23 to set their their regular season rosters, many clubs will make their final cuts on or before Saturday, October 19. That’s the final day that a team can waive a player on a non-guaranteed contract and avoid paying any of his salary.

Because a player gets paid for the time he spends on waivers, a player who is cut on Monday, Oct. 21 wouldn’t clear waivers until Wednesday, Oct. 23, the second day of the regular season. That means that even if his contract is non-guaranteed, he’d earn two days’ worth of his salary.

Teams who intend to waive players with partially or fully guaranteed salaries are in better position to wait until the Monday before the regular season begins. For instance, if the Pacers decide to cut James Johnson, who has a $750K partial guarantee, it wouldn’t matter if they do so on October 19 or 21 — he’d receive his $750K either way.

However, if the Pacers want to waive Cole Swider, whose salary is entirely non-guaranteed, they’d likely do so on the Saturday. Waiting until the Monday would mean paying him $23,994 (2/174ths of his $2,087,519 salary).

Two-way contract conversions

A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can have his deal converted into a two-way contract, but only up until Monday, October 21, the day before the regular season begins.

If a player on an Exhibit 10 contract remains on his team’s roster through that Monday without being converted to a two-way, his Exhibit 10 deal would become a standard non-guaranteed contract.

Since most players on Exhibit 10 contracts will be waived on or before October 19, it’s worth keeping tabs on which of them hang onto their roster spots through that Saturday — those players will be good bets to have their deals converted into two-ways or perhaps even to claim a 15-man roster spot.

Contract extensions

The deadline for a player to sign a rookie scale extension is Monday, October 21 at 5:00 pm Central time.

As of today, four of the 24 players who were eligible for a rookie scale extension entering the offseason have signed one, leaving 20 players who still may be seeking new deals that would keep them off the 2024 free agent market.

Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Pelicans wing Trey Murphy, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, and Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga are a few of the notable rookie scale extension candidates to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

It’s a safe bet that several players eligible for rookie scale extensions will sign them — in each of the past four offseasons (2020 through 2023), at least 10 players have done so, with a record-setting 14 rookie scale extensions signed a year ago.

As for veteran extension candidates, a player who is extension-eligible and who is in the final year of his current contract can sign an extension at any time before or after the regular season begins, all the way up until June 30, 2025.

However, a player who is eligible for a veteran extension but who is not in a contract year will only be eligible to sign a new deal up until Monday, October 21.

For instance, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram will remain eligible to sign a veteran extension even after the regular season begins, since he’s in the last year of his current contract. But Suns forward Kevin Durant, who has two guaranteed years left, can only sign an extension up until Oct. 21. After that, he’ll become ineligible to sign a new deal until next summer.

An extension-eligible veteran who holds an option for 2025/26 will remain extension-eligible after the season begins as long as his option is declined as part of any extension agreement, with his new contract beginning in ’25/26. A player like Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon would fit this bill.

Salary guarantee dates

The league-wide salary guarantee date to watch is January 7, 2025. A player on a non-guaranteed contract who isn’t waived by that date and doesn’t clear waivers before January 10 will have his 2024/25 salary become fully guaranteed.

However, certain players have contracts that call for them to receive partial or full guarantees at the start of the regular season. Our list of early salary guarantee dates shows which players fall into that boat on Tuesday, October 22, including Raptors center Bruno Fernando and Trail Blazers guard Dalano Banton, among others.

Rookie scale team option decisions

A team that wants to exercise its 2025/26 third- or fourth-year option on a player on a rookie contract must do so on or before Tuesday, October 31.

As our tracker shows, the Bulls and Heat have already made their option decisions, while the Celtics, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Sixers, and Suns don’t have any to make. But the NBA’s other 22 teams will have to pick up or turn down those rookie scale team options for ’25/26 in the coming weeks.

A team that retains a player without exercising his 2025/26 option would put that player on track for unrestricted free agency next offseason. At that point, his team wouldn’t be able to offer him a salary higher than what his option would have been worth, though rival suitors could offer him more than that.

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Warriors Notes: Offseason Moves, Curry, Kuminga, Starters

October 2nd, 2024 at 8:41am CST by Luke Adams

After being linked to big-name trade targets like Paul George and Lauri Markkanen during the offseason, the Warriors ended up not making a major deal and focused instead on bringing in a handful of role players at mid-level prices, including De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, and Kyle Anderson. The team’s defensive anchor, Draymond Green, told reporters this week that he was on board with that decision, as Kendra Andrews of ESPN relays.

“One move in this league, it can pretty much set you up for how the next 10 years of your organization is going to go. Sometimes the best deal you can make is to not make a deal, and I think we did a great job in going out and getting pieces that are going to help this team grow,” Green said. “… Championships are won six through 10. Championships aren’t won one through five.”

Green compared the summer additions to the ones the Warriors made in 2021 when they brought in Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II, and Nemanja Bjelica to bolster their depth ahead of a championship season. That doesn’t mean that Golden State will be a title team in 2024/25, but Stephen Curry believes the newcomers can help the club move toward that goal.

“All three guys we brought in all are veterans,” Curry said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Established veterans that know how to play the game. Good pieces that you need to be a championship-type team. Does that mean we’re there? I don’t know.”

Here’s more on the Warriors:

After a disappointing 2023/24 season that saw Golden State finish 10th in the West and bow out of the postseason in the first play-in game, Curry said he’s coming into training camp with an “open mind of how we’re supposed to play” and that he’s embracing the idea of “evolving and pivoting” to figure out what works best for the current group. “I know there’s a Warriors mentality and culture of how we do things, there’s a system that we ran for a decade plus that has worked,” Curry said, according to Andrews. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that’s how this team needs to play. We have to have kind of antennas up and an openness to accept what this team’s strengths are, what our weaknesses are, and kind of lean into those.”
Jonathan Kuminga, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension until October 21, said he will “hopefully” reach a deal with the Warriors but that he won’t be worried if it doesn’t get done this fall, Slater writes. Kuminga would be a restricted free agent in 2025 if he doesn’t sign a new deal before the season begins. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s not my concern,” he said. “I’m just happy to be here, happy to start a new season. Fourth year. I’d love to have it, but I’m not really concerned about it. If I get it, if I don’t, it’s cool. I’m still going to be me. I’ll just go out there and perform.”
In a separate story for The Athletic, Slater evaluates the candidates for the starting shooting guard position, noting that the Warriors could go the defensive route with Melton, the floor-spacing route with Hield, or the long-term route with Brandin Podziemski.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr stressed on Tuesday that shooting guard isn’t the only opening in the Warriors’ starting lineup, telling reporters that there’s an open competition for basically every spot besides point guard, where Curry will start. “There is competition across the board,” Kerr said (story via Andrews at ESPN). “It’s not as simple as, ‘Who is going to be the two?’ It’s got to be — ‘Who is going to be the five? Who’s the four?’ We know that Steph is the one. But what’s the combination? … The starting lineup is going to have to be dependent not only on the first five fitting, but the second fitting as well. We’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out lineups. All the guys can do is compete, play their ass off.”

New York Notes: Bridges, Washington, Towns, Nets, Williams, Thomas

October 2nd, 2024 at 7:26am CST by Luke Adams

After making an NBA Finals and being part of a 64-win season in Phoenix, new Knicks forward Mikal Bridges admitted it was a difficult adjustment to be on a Nets team that went just 44-65 during his season-and-a-half with the franchise. However, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Post writes, Bridges also viewed his Nets tenure as a useful learning experience.

“Yeah, it was tough in Brooklyn, we were losing. Even personally, I think I didn’t handle it as well as I could,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I always preach mental toughness and never losing your spirit. But it was just something I never dealt with like that. And, I think it was just a lot just for that team in general when I was there and the expectation for everybody and I think I didn’t handle it as good as I should have.”

Having been traded to Brooklyn’s cross-town rivals, Bridges is more optimistic about what the 2024/25 season holds, while Knicks star Jalen Brunson is excited about reuniting with his former Villanova teammate in New York’s starting lineup.

“I know how he plays, he knows how I play,” Brunson said. “The chemistry is still there.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:

According to reporting from Bojan Brezovac of MozzartSport, the Serbian club Partizan Belgrade could receive a payment worth up to $1MM for letting Duane Washington out of his contract in order to be signed-and-traded by the Knicks to the Hornets for salary-matching purposes in the three-team Karl-Anthony Towns trade. The Knicks could pay up to $850K of that amount with no cap impact — any additional buyout money on top of that would come out of Washington’s NBA salary. The veteran guard is expected to be waived by Charlotte so he can return to Partizan after the trade.
Fred Katz of The Athletic explores how the Knicks might deploy Towns in order to optimize his unique skill set and considers what assets New York still has left for a possible in-season trade.
After being traded from the Grizzlies to the Nets in July, Ziaire Williams said on Monday that he feels like “a loose bird finally let out of his cage” (Twitter video link via Erik Slater of ClutchPoints). “Some days, I just kind of felt like I was trapped,” Williams said. “I definitely feel a lot more free (here). … It’s definitely a blessing in disguise.” Brian Lewis of The New York Post takes a look at the opportunities that Williams and former lottery pick Killian Hayes have for fresh starts in Brooklyn. Williams has a guaranteed $6.1MM salary for 2024/25, while Hayes is on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal and is fighting for a roster spot.
Nets guard Cam Thomas is eligible for a rookie scale extension up until October 21, but he seems more likely to reach restricted free agency next summer than to sign a new contract before the season begins, according to Lewis. “I’m pretty sure my agent will have conversations with them, but I’m just worried about the season,” Thomas said. “This is the opportunity I’ve been wanting since I got into the league: to play, be free, so I’m just gonna make the most of it, and whatever happens, happens.”

Pistons Notes: Veteran Additions, Cunningham, Goals, Reed

October 1st, 2024 at 10:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

New Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon used the team’s cap space to acquire veterans such as Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley to provide more balance to the roster. Third-year center Jalen Duren believes that was the right approach for an otherwise young team.

“Their voices have been huge for us,” Duren said, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “Those older vets, they’ve brought a sense of balance. Just hearing them talk, everybody wants to know what they have to say. Everybody cares about their opinions on things. I feel that’s been great for us.”

Fellow third-year lottery pick Jaden Ivey feels the same way.

“They’ve been amazing already,” Ivey said. “I’ve learned a lot already from Tobias, working with him, pick his brain from what he’s been through. Being in that playoff atmosphere for a long time, he knows what it’s like. … I’m looking forward to competing with those guys. They’re going to bring a lot to this team and, most importantly, that winning mindset is what we need and they’re going to bring it for us on this team.”

We have more on the Pistons:

While the veterans will lend their voices, Langdon expects Cade Cunningham to be the unquestioned leader of the group, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Cunningham signed a max five-year extension this offseason. “He wants to lead,” Langdon said. “I think that was a big thing for him and we’re fortunate he wants to be here as well. A young man of his caliber, both playing and as a young man who’s high-character, he embodies what we want to be as a franchise. The re-signing of him, we’re all very excited about. Seeing him progress every day in terms of his leadership and also his compete level, both sides of the floor. And then playing winning basketball and figuring out what that means night in and night out because hopefully we can stay in games.”
There are several rebuilding teams in the Eastern Conference — opening the door for a potential run for a play-in tournament slot — but Langdon isn’t focused on the team’s record this season, Sankofa adds. “I don’t think the goal for us is wins and losses,” he added. “Obviously we want to win as many games as possible but it’s putting a group together that establishes a Detroit Pistons identity. At some time of the season, we want to be able to say, and (head coach J.B. Bickerstaff) has reiterated to our guys, that this is Detroit Pistons basketball and when we walk into the arena, the other team knows exactly what we’re going to bring. And they better be ready for it because we’re going to come and compete every night.”
Don’t underestimate the addition of Paul Reed, Langlois writes. Reed was claimed off waivers from Philadelphia and could be a valuable backup big man. He’ll compete with Duren and Isaiah Stewart for playing time at center. “I know those guys are super strong, super physical, super athletic,” Reed said of Duren and Stewart. “I’ve got to match their energy. I feel they make my job a lot easier just because we have more bodies I can go bang with. It’s going to be super tough for the opposition. We know we have to protect the paint.” If Reed doesn’t claim a rotation spot, he may not last the season. His $7.7MM salary remains non-guaranteed until early January.

Suns Notes: Budenholzer, Defense, Jones, Nurkic, Lee

October 1st, 2024 at 9:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mike Budenholzer was hired as head coach of the Suns in part to shore up a defense that allowed too many easy baskets and ranked in the bottom 10 in turnovers forced. Overall, Phoenix ranked 13th in defensive rating last season.

That’s exactly what the Suns focused on during the first two days of camp, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic writes.

“Establish a defensive identity,” Budenholzer said. “Establish how important being great defensively is. We’ve had a great month of September with open gym, but understandably, it’s mostly offense and just hooping and playing. (Tuesday) was a lot more of a defensive emphasis and putting in our basic, whether it’s our shell defense. Pick-and-roll defense, transition defense.”

We have more on the Suns:

Both Rankin and Gerard Bourguet of GoPHNX.com shared the biggest takeaways from Monday’s media day. Among the topics that Rankin highlighted was Phoenix’s belief it got a huge free agent bargain with the addition of Tyus Jones. “We can say how it is, we got him for a steal,” Devin Booker said. “I remember the news being broke while we were at USA (Basketball), all the guys in the locker room where like, ‘Man, how did y’all get that done?’” Bourguet noted that big man Jusuf Nurkic and his teammates will be seeking out more 3-point attempts.
Speaking of Jones, The Athletic’s Doug Haller explores how the veteran point guard will impact the offense. The Suns tried to win without a pure point guard last season and it didn’t work despite the efforts of Booker and Bradley Beal. Phoenix averaged 14.9 turnovers per game and looked disorganized during key moments. Jones’ knack for playing under control and getting the ball in the right spots should change all that.
Damion Lee was re-signed on a one-year deal despite missing last season due to a meniscus tear in his right knee. Lee told Bourguet (Twitter links) why his recovery took so long. “It’s been a journey. Oct. 10 will be a year out of surgery, and like I explained before, I initially went in for a regular meniscus injury. Come to find out it was a root tear, then come to find out both roots were off,” Lee explained. The injury wore on him mentally, too. He fought depression and sought out therapy. “I’ve been through ‘it,’ and I’m still standing tall. That’s perseverance, that’s resilience, that’s faith,” Lee said.

Trail Blazers Sign, Waive David Muoka

October 1st, 2024 at 9:05pm CST by Luke Adams

9:05pm: Muoka’s release is listed on the NBA’s official transaction log, indicating that the Blazers have formally signed and waived him.

2:56pm: The Trail Blazers are signing free agent center David Muoka to an Exhibit 10 contract and will subsequently waive him, reports Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link).

Muoka’s agent Josh Goodwin confirmed (via Twitter) that his client is signing with Portland, noting that he’ll become the first player born in Hong Kong to ink an NBA contract.

After going undrafted out of UNLV in 2023, Muoka spent his rookie season with the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate. He averaged 4.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 14.7 minutes per game across 38 outings for Long Island in the Showcase Cup and regular season.

Because Muoka finished last season with the Nets’ affiliate, simply signing and waiving him won’t allow Portland to secure his G League rights. However, it will ensure that he receives an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the Blazers’ affiliate this season. The Rip City Remix will have to acquire his returning rights from Long Island to make that happen.

The Blazers have two open spots on their 21-man training camp roster, so no corresponding move will be required to make room for Muoka.

Hornets To Receive Three Second-Rounders, Three Players In Towns Blockbuster

October 1st, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets are receiving three second-round picks along with DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown Jr. and Duane Washington Jr. as the third team in the Knicks–Timberwolves blockbuster trade, Shams Charania, Jon Krawczynski and Fred Katz of The Athletic report (via Twitter). A pair of those second-rounders are coming from the Knicks, while the Timberwolves will provide the other one.

The Knicks, of course, are acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns in the trade, while Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and a protected Pistons first-round pick controlled by New York are headed to Minnesota.

The Knicks will also receive the rights to 2023 draft pick James Nnaji from Charlotte, Katz tweets.

Jeffries has appeared in a total of 64 NBA games for four different teams. He saw action in 17 games off the bench for New York last season.

Brown has appeared in NBA games for five organizations since entering the league in 2019/20. He played eight games for the Knicks last season.

Washington has played a total of 79 games for Indiana and Phoenix. Washington, who didn’t appear in an NBA game last season, signed a two-year contract with Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade in July.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides more details on Charlotte’s haul (Twitter link). Minnesota is shipping a 2025 second-rounder (the least favorable of Denver’s or Philadelphia’s picks). The Knicks are giving up a 2026 pick that Golden State owed them and their own 2031 second-rounder.

The trio of veteran players are involved in sign-and-trades and Charlotte will also collect a total of $7.2MM in cash from the Knicks, Marks notes. That’s the maximum amount of cash a team can trade in 2024/25, so New York won’t be permitted to sent out cash in any subsequent deals.

The cash Charlotte receives will offset the salaries of the three players, who will earn a combined $6.8MM, Marks adds (Twitter link). The Hornets are using their room exception to make those acquisitions, making them the first team to take advantage of new rules allowing teams to trade for players using the non-taxpayer mid-level, room, or bi-annual exception.

Partizan and Washington will agree to a buyout freeing him up for the sign-and-trade deal, but Charlotte plans to waive him, so he could re-sign with the Belgrade-based club, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets.

Nnaji, the 31st pick of the 2023 draft, is a draft-and-stash prospect who struggled to get rotation minutes with Spanish powerhouse Barcelona in ’23/24. He’s playing for Spain’s Girona on loan from Barcelona this season.

As we outlined on Saturday when we discussed the cap implications of the trade for the Knicks, they’ll have just 12 players under contract once the deal is official and won’t have enough room under their hard cap to carry two more players on veteran minimum deals.

In all likelihood, they’ll carry a 13th man on a minimum-salary contract (possibly Landry Shamet) and will promote either Kevin McCullar or Ariel Hukporti to the standard roster. They’d also have the option of signing a draft-and-stash prospect as their 14th man, though most viable candidates for an NBA roster spot are under contract with teams elsewhere.

Los Angeles Notes: Leonard, Harden, Lakers Rotation, Redick

October 1st, 2024 at 6:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard anticipates he’ll be on the court for the team’s regular season opener, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes. Leonard has been dealing with inflammation in his right knee during the offseason. However, Leonard acknowledges knee issues will remain an ongoing concern.

“Everything has been going great for the past month, but being very cautious for reasons in the past we haven’t been able to finish some playoff runs, so making sure we’re staying healthy for those important moments,” he said. “Trying to maintain it and figure it out. We’ll be in here for a long time if I started describing stuff [about the injury and treatment] … but just learning on how it came and how to keep it down and make sure that we don’t fall in that timeframe of [missing time in] those important [late-season] moments and just making sure I’m healthy. There’s certain stuff that we could do or try to do to make me last.”

Leonard, who signed a three-year max extension in January, is encouraged by the fact he played more often last season.

“I played my most games I’ve played in a long time last year,” Leonard said. “Last two years I came back from ACL and been injured and it’s a progression for me. It was successful for us last year. Obviously from a fan base [perspective] or just from my own competitive nature, we didn’t reach a goal [of winning a title]. But in the grand scheme of things and how my body’s been doing it, it was a good year. I went from zero games to 52 to 68. So let’s see if I could keep it going from there.”

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

With Paul George signing with the Sixers and Russell Westbrook also out of the picture, the Clippers will lean heavily on 35-year-old James Harden this season. Harden says he’s up to the challenge, Ben Golliver of the Washington Post tweets. “It’s definitely going to involve a lot of me,” Harden said. “There was talk when I was in Houston… ‘You can’t win like that.’ You just saw a guy [Luka Doncic] last season make the Finals playing the same exact way I played.”
Lakers first-year coach J.J. Redick envisions a nine-man rotation, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. Redick mentioned Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jaxson Hayes, Max Christie, Cam Reddish and Jalen Hood-Schifino as some of the candidates for bench rotation spots.
Redick and his staff are already receiving compliments from the players, according to Buha. “I just think the whole structure and foundation these coaches have brought in for us is a great start,” Austin Reaves said. “Because I feel like a lot of times last year we won games off talent. And when you have talent around structure, then you have the opportunity to do something really special.” Christie said Redick has gone to great lengths to explain his philosophy: “J.J. has done a really good job, I think, to start. Definitely imposing himself as a coach. … I think he’s done a really good job kind of explaining what our offensive identity, defensive identity and so on is going to be.”

Raptors Notes: Rebuild, Ujiri, Rogers, Barnes, Walter

October 1st, 2024 at 5:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Many NBA executives won’t admit their team is in rebuild mode. Not Raptors president Masai Ujiri. He stated the obvious at Raptors media day.

“I would use the word rebuilding. That’s the right word,” Ujiri said, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet. “I think we have a clear path now going forward. … I think we set a path (when) we went into the draft last year and got a couple of young players and we want to continue to grow and build this team around Scottie (Barnes), who is 23 years old. … So, yes, in sports, you always want to be competitive, and you play to win. We’re going to play to win. But it is a rebuilding team. I think everybody sees that loud and clear.”

Even players like Jakob Poeltl know that the franchise is looking toward the future, rather than the upcoming season.

“We’re all aware of the situation. We had a massive change in the team since the middle of last season. So we know that we’re starting somewhere in the beginning,” Poeltl said. “We’re definitely capable of winning some games (but) I know that’s not the main focus for us … this has to be a long-term project. I think we all know, we’re not going to go attack the championship this year. It makes no sense for us to try to win every single game as much as we can and sacrifice development in terms of that.”

We have more on the Raptors:

Speaking of Barnes, he’s currently not with the team, but Toronto fans can relax. He’s attending to a personal matter and will rejoin the team later this week, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets.
Rogers Communications chairperson Edward Rogers, whose company is assuming majority control of the Raptors, reportedly opposed Ujiri’s five-year contract in 2021, but Ujiri said any tension between him and Rogers has long since vanished, according to The Athletic’s Eric Koreen. “Every time something comes up: (MLSE doesn’t bid for a team in the) WNBA, ‘Whoa, it’s Masai versus Edward.’ Any small thing that comes — clear that,” Ujiri said. “There’s nothing. There’s zero. Zero going on. OK? They’ve treated me well. I will keep going like that till we (cannot). For me, that’s my job. Guess what: I know I’m going to be judged on the way I do this job. And that’s that’s the way we’re going to be judged — on what happens on the basketball court.”
First-round pick Ja’Kobe Walter provided a positive update on his right shoulder sprain that he suffered in September, according to Murphy. “I get out of the sling (Tuesday), and then I’ll start my rehab, work on my movement stuff. So I should be back pretty soon,” he said. “Probably won’t be doing anything on-court for this next week-and-a-half, for sure. But still, I’ll be doing my strength and mobility work during that time. I should probably be back in, like, three weeks.” Walter said he’ll try to use training camp as a learning experience. “I can look at it a different way. I can work on my left hand. I can watch a lot more film,” he said. “I can still learn in a lot of different ways, and get better, that they’re not doing while they’re training, I can still be doing something else that they’re not doing.”

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