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Warriors, Rockets Viewed As Two Teams Most Likely To Make Big In-Season Trade

November 16th, 2024 at 11:49am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Warriors and Rockets have been tabbed by scouts and executives as the two teams most likely to make a significant in-season trade, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Insider link). After big deals across the league dried up assets for most teams, not many have the combination of young players, draft picks and movable veterans that Golden State and Houston do.

Golden State has been at the center of several high-level trade rumors in the past few months, including for now-Sixers wing Paul George and Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. Brandin Podziemski, 2023’s No. 19 overall pick, was deemed untouchable specifically in talks for Markkanen, which led to the Warriors and Jazz being unable to reach an agreement on any trade. Podziemski spoke openly about the process to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

“It was hard for me to process it mentally,” Podziemski said in an interview for the Hoop Collective podcast. “Everybody is hyping you up but at the same time tearing you down, like ‘Why didn’t we trade him? We should’ve traded him for X, Y, Z.’”

According to Windhorst, league executives are well aware that chairman Joe Lacob is a big fan of Podziemski’s and know that the price to acquire the Santa Clara product would be steep.

“You feel the respect and love from [GM] Mike Dunleavy and Joe Lacob and our front office and how much they value me after seeing just one year of what I could do,” Podziemski said. “And it’s not like I was being mentioned for another role player, these were All-Stars being talked about. … To see the Clippers and the Jazz to want me in return, it showed Golden State’s value for me to teams around the league.”

It’s unclear what kind of star players, if any, will be on the trade block this winter. As we wrote earlier Saturday, players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zion Williamson aren’t available right now, and likely wouldn’t be as part of any mid-season move in any case. It’s early in the season, so teams are all still trying to sort out what their postseason chances are and how their talent is meshing. The Warriors at 10-2 might not feel inclined to make a move anyways.

Still, De’Anthony Melton ($12.8MM), Gary Payton II ($9.1MM) and Kevon Looney ($8.0MM) present three large expiring deals that could theoretically be used in trades. The Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga weren’t able to agree to an extension before the season, so he could be an outgoing piece in any hypothetical trade. Golden State owns nearly all of its future first-round draft capital, giving the team plenty of ammo for a move.

As for the Rockets, the impressive young duo of Tari Eason and Amen Thompson has been made off limits in any trade talks, according to Windhorst. The Rockets at 9-4 are also not in any sort of rush to make a deal, per Windhorst, and Eason and Thompson have helped the team rank third in defensive efficiency in the early part of the season.

In theory, as noted by ESPN, the Rockets have strong assets that wouldn’t require moving a young piece. Steven Adams is on an expiring $12.6MM deal and Houston retained Jeff Green ($8.0MM), Jock Landale ($8.0MM), Jae’Sean Tate ($7.6MM) and Aaron Holiday ($4.7MM) this offseason despite their lack of playing time. Houston has several draft picks at their disposal from Phoenix that could be enticing. Reports this offseason suggested they may be interested in trading those picks back to the Suns for Kevin Durant. While Durant is almost certainly off the table, perhaps some of those assets could be used elsewhere.

Again, most of the biggest names across the league seem unlikely to change teams in the coming months. Some, like Markkanen, agreed to long-term contracts or were recently on the move, taking them off the shortlist. Others, like Durant, are playing at a high level for contenders. That leaves a small group of players who would be worth sacrificing significant assets for.

It’s worth noting that reporting in October indicated the Rockets were signaling they were unlikely to make a major in-season move. Still, one name that should be monitored for both Golden State and Houston is Heat forward Jimmy Butler. He didn’t sign an extension with the Heat this summer and is planning on declining his player option this coming offseason to test the waters.

Both the Warriors and Rockets have been mentioned as potential suitors for the star swingman. Regardless, it would be pretty surprising to see the Heat move Butler. Even facing the risk of him departing in free agency, Miami selling a star player for young assets runs counter to the organization’s modus operandi.

Thunder Sign Branden Carlson

November 16th, 2024 at 9:34am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Thunder signed Branden Carlson, according to a release from the team (Twitter link via NBA insider Marc Stein). The deal is a one-year standard contract, per HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link).

Carlson was suiting up for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League, to begin the season. The former Utah big man spent most of the offseason on a two-way contract with Toronto after going undrafted in 2024. However, he was waived in training camp to open up a two-way slot for Jamison Battle and wound up as a G League affiliate player. He averaged 14.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 51.5% from the field in his first three outings with the Raptors 905.

This signing comes off the heels of Malevy Leons being waived on Friday. The Thunder are using their 15th roster spot to cycle through big men while dealing with injuries in their frontcourt to Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. Alex Reese opened the season on a standard deal before being waived in a favor of Leons. Now, the Thunder have swapped out Leons for Carlson.

It’s important to note that players and teams can’t agree to 10-day deals until January. So these signings are not official 10-day contracts, even if they’re being deployed in a similar fashion to them. Carlson’s deal is almost certainly structured like Reese’s and Leons’ were, making it a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary agreement. The Thunder had Reese on the roster from Oct. 22-29 and incurred a $79,804 cap hit for having him on the roster. Leons’ dead-money cap hit will come in a little above that.

Of course, the Thunder could opt to keep Carlson on the roster until or even after the league-wide salary guarantee date in January after he posted more than solid numbers in the G League. The 7’0″ center provides size and plenty of college experience as a five-year player at Utah, where he averaged 17.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on a .501/.379/.714 shooting line in his final collegiate season.

Fischer’s Latest: Bucks, Caruso, Ingram, Johnson

November 16th, 2024 at 9:17am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Bucks still aren’t planning on engaging teams on potential Giannis Antetokounmpo trades anytime soon, but Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, echoing earlier reporting, confirms that they are looking for “perimeter defensive adjustments and reinforcements.”

As Fischer notes, Milwaukee’s trade options are limited as a team operating over the second apron. The team can’t package two or more player salaries for matching purposes or send out cash, for starters. According to Fischer, the Bucks are dangling their 2031 first-round pick as trade bait. They value that pick highly, as it would follow Antetokounmpo’s age-37 season.

MarJon Beauchamp was mentioned as a piece the Bucks were interested in moving in October. With his fourth-year option declined, Beauchamp is on the books for $2.7MM and is a free agent after the season. However, while packaging Beauchamp with that 2031 first-rounder seems like a decent offer for a role player, the Bucks couldn’t take back a player earning more than $2.7MM, significantly reducing their potential targets in that scenario.

Brook Lopez has been floated as a potential outgoing piece, but Fischer is skeptical the Bucks will look to move the big man, at least at this point. With Milwaukee trying to improve its defense, Lopez is someone the team might just be better off keeping to stay afloat on that end. Fischer – who reported in the offseason that Lopez was a possible trade candidate – said he hasn’t heard the veteran’s name come up much this season, for what it’s worth.

If the Bucks aren’t moving off either Damian Lillard or Khris Middleton, their only other potential trade pieces earning over $3MM are Bobby Portis ($12.6MM in 2024/25, player option for next season) and Pat Connaughton ($9.4MM in ’25/25, player option in ’25/26).

We have more sourced notes from Fischer:

An extension for the Thunder‘s Alex Caruso seems to be on the horizon, according to Fischer. That’s always been the goal since Oklahoma City acquired the defensive-minded guard in exchange for Josh Giddey this past summer. Caurso, whose extension eligibility remains limited for now, will become eligible for a deal worth up to four years and roughly $81MM as of Dec. 21, six months from the date he was acquired by OKC.
The Pelicans‘ injuries continue to pile up to an insurmountable level, but New Orleans’ isn’t giving the indication that it’s pressing the panic button on this current build, Fischer says. That means there’s been no serious talks on any potential Zion Williamson trade. Instead, Fischer says this situation gives Brandon Ingram a runway to build on his trade value. As we’ve previously relayed, Ingram and the Pelicans couldn’t bridge the gap on any potential extension talks during the offseason — Fischer hears that Ingram was asking for close to $40MM annually. The Pelicans explored possible trades involving Ingram but couldn’t find a suitable offer due to the fact that he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer and any team acquiring him would have to make a similar financial investment.
The Spurs have won three of their last five games under interim head coach Mitch Johnson, with their two losses in that stretch coming by a combined six points. Fischer confirms that Johnson was a leading candidate to fill Washington’s head coaching role that ended up remaining with Brian Keefe, and says Johnson was also a strong candidate for the Hawks‘ head coaching role after they let go of Nate McMillan. Johnson, filling in for Gregg Popovich as he recovers from a mild stroke, is a name to watch on the coaching market whether he stays with the Spurs and succeeds Popovich down the line or ends up in another head coaching role, Fischer says.

Jazz Granted Disabled Player Exception

November 16th, 2024 at 7:45am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Jazz have been granted a disabled player exception worth $2.9MM for Taylor Hendricks‘ season-ending injury, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link).

Hendricks was lost for the season after suffering a non-contact fractured fibula and dislocated ankle on October 28. He underwent surgery for the injury in early November.

As we explain in our glossary, a disabled player exception affords an over-the-cap team some additional spending power when it loses a player to an injury deemed likely to sideline him through at least June 15 of that season. The exception is worth either half the injured player’s salary or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, whichever is lesser. Hendricks is set earn $5,848,680 this season, so the exception is worth half that amount, $2,924,340.

The exception can be used to sign a free agent, claim a player off waivers, or acquire a player in a trade. It can only be used on one player and can only be utilized for a one-year deal. Any player being acquired via trade or waiver claim must have just one year remaining on his contract.

Being granted a disabled player exception does not open up a roster slot for the Jazz, who have a full 15-man roster. They would need to open up a roster spot to utilize the exception, which expires if it’s not used by March 10.

Hendricks, 20, was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 draft. He played in 40 games last season, making 23 starts, averaging 7.3 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 37.9% from three. The 6’9″ forward was in prime position to earn more playing time this season as he started each of the team’s first three games and averaged 25.0 minutes before his injury.

Thunder Waive Malevy Leons

November 15th, 2024 at 10:55pm CST by Rory Maher

The Thunder have waived forward/center Malevy Leons, the team announced.

Leons, who went undrafted in June out of Bradley, initially signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Oklahoma City in September. He was waived on Oct. 19, but was re-signed on Oct. 31, when the Thunder cut Alex Reese.

Leons’ contract was a non-guaranteed one-year deal worth the prorated rookie minimum. OKC will carry a relatively small dead-money cap hit for waiving the 25-year-old, who was born in the Netherlands.

Leons appeared in five games for the Thunder, playing a total of 17 garbage-time minutes. He recorded two points, two rebounds and one assist in those contests.

It’s unclear why exactly the Thunder decided to sign and waive both Reese and Leons so early in the season, but from a big-picture perspective, it doesn’t change much about their cap outlook. They’re still $10MM+ below this season’s luxury tax line, which is set at $170,814,000.

The Thunder now have 14 players on standard contracts, with all three two-way spots filled.

Injury Notes: Knicks, Hawks, Pelicans, DeRozan, Carter

November 15th, 2024 at 10:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns was ruled out of Friday’s win vs. Brooklyn after initially being listed as questionable, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Towns sustained a left knee contusion after bumping into Zach LaVine on Wednesday.

Backup guard Miles McBride was also downgraded from questionable to out on Friday due to an illness. McBride has been battling knee soreness as well, Bondy adds.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau provided another injury update on Precious Achiuwa prior to Friday’s contest. As Bondy notes, Achiuwa is nearing the four-week mark on his hamstring strain, which has prevented him from suiting up in 2024/25. Thibodeau said on Wednesday that Achiuwa still hasn’t been cleared for practice.

“He’s reevaluated every day,” Thibodeau said. “So yes, he has been reevaluated. The depth of it, I’m not sure. I know they’ve increased his activity. I think that part is good. With the hamstring, we just want to make sure it’s not a problem that will linger.”

Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:

A trio of injured guards — Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring), Kobe Bufkin (shoulder) and Vit Krejci (adductor) — were assigned to the Hawks‘ G League affiliate on Friday to get some practice reps in, tweets Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. All three players are expected to travel with Atlanta for the team’s upcoming four-game road trip, which begins on Sunday in Portland and ends on Friday in Chicago, so there’s a chance they could return next week.
The Pelicans finally received some good injury news on Friday, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, who tweets that CJ McCollum has progressed to playing 5-on-5 and is getting close to returning from a right adductor strain. However, the news wasn’t all positive, as second-year guard Jordan Hawkins (low back strain) and defensive stalwart Herbert Jones (right shoulder) have not yet been cleared for contact work.
Kings forward DeMar DeRozan missed his first game of the season on Friday vs. Minnesota due to lower back tightness, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. DeRozan exited Wednesday’s game with the injury, was unable to practice on Thursday (Twitter link via James Ham of The Kings Beat), and also did not participate in Friday’s shootaround, per Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL (Twitter link).
Magic big man Wendell Carter Jr. missed his seventh straight game on Friday due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Head coach Jamahl Mosley said Orlando’s starting center has been receiving treatment and is “progressing,” albeit “slowly,” according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). “(Carter’s) been on the bike. He’s doing some spot shooting,” Mosley said.

Wizards Notes: Poole, Wembanyama, Stock Watch, Rookies

November 15th, 2024 at 8:18pm CST by Rory Maher

After a forgettable first season with the Wizards, Jordan Poole is off to a much better start in year two, writes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. Despite losing Wednesday’s game in San Antonio, Poole was terrific, recording 42 points on 15-of-22 shooting, six assists, two rebounds and two steals.

As Shankar notes, Poole opened last season as the starting shooting guard, but after struggling for much of 2023/24, head coach Brian Keefe moved him to the bench to be a primary play-maker. Poole returned to the starting lineup as point guard late last season when Tyus Jones was injured, and he’s happy to have more on-ball opportunities again in ’24/25.

“I think [this game] is the perfect example [of the benefits of switching to point guard],” Poole said after Wednesday’s 42-point outburst.

Through 10 games (30.7 MPG), the 25-year-old is averaging 22.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 4.4 APG, 2.3 SPG and 0.7 BPG, with an efficient shooting line of .457/.444/.923. Several of those statistics represent career highs.

Here’s more on the Wizards:

In the draft lottery in 2023, the Wizards were one ping-pong ball away from landing the No. 1 overall pick and the chance to select French phenom Victor Wembanyama. On Wednesday, he showed them what they missed by pouring in a career-high 50 points on 18-of-29 shooting, including going 8-of-16 from long distance, Shankar writes for The Post. While they have some promising young talent, Washington lacks a clear-cut star to build around like Wembanyama, Shankar notes.
Poole and second-year forward Bilal Coulibaly are among the Wizards whose stock is up through 10 games, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who says Alex Sarr and Kyle Kuzma are trending in the opposite direction early on in ’24/25. Washington’s 2-8 record is actually good thing for the future, Robbins adds, as the team needs to secure another high lottery pick for a 2025 draft class that is viewed as having plenty of high-end talent.
Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network shares some early statistical trends for the Wizards’ trio of rookie first-round picks — Sarr, Carlton Carrington and Kyshawn George.

Lonzo Ball Out At Least One More Week With Wrist Sprain

November 15th, 2024 at 7:04pm CST by Rory Maher

Bulls guard Lonzo Ball has been sidelined since Oct. 28 due to a right wrist sprain. While he was hopeful of returning on Sunday vs. Houston, head coach Billy Donovan was less optimistic about that target date.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, including K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Sports Network (Twitter links), Donovan said Ball had a strenuous workout earlier this week when the team was in New York, calling it a “struggle.” Ball will be sidelined at least one more week because he’s having a tough time catching passes without pain, per Donovan.

According to Johnson, when Ball was initially evaluated by doctors, he was told his return timeline could range anywhere from two-to-six weeks, depending on how his wrist was healing. Chicago has not yet tested Ball’s injured wrist with contact drills defensively, Johnson notes.

Ball went through a pregame workout on Friday, tweets Johnson. The former No. 2 overall pick was dribbling with both hands, but when he was practicing drives, he was shooting left-handed layups and floaters.

With Ball out at least a few more games, Donovan will likely continue to lean heavily on Ayo Dosunmu as the primary guard off the bench, with Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips soaking up minutes on the wing.

NBA Considering Turning All-Star Game Into Tournament

November 15th, 2024 at 5:45pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA is seriously considering turning the All-Star Game into a four-team tournament, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.

The proposed changes would take effect starting with this season’s All-Star weekend, which will take place in San Francisco at the Chase Center, Golden State’s home arena, from Feb. 14-16.

Instead of the typical two teams with 12 players each, the 24 All-Stars would be separated into three teams of eight players apiece, Charania explains. The fourth team would be the winner of the Rising Stars competition. The tournament would feature two rounds, with the victors of round one (Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4) advancing to the final.

While the plans have not yet been finalized, all signs point to the league eventually implementing the changes, two sources tell Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link).

According to Charania, NBA officials discussed the proposed format on Friday with the Competition Committee, which consists of team governors, executives, coaches, players and union personnel. The league has been discussing format changes with team officials and players for several months, and the four-team tournament quickly became the most popular plan.

Commissioner Adam Silver stated a couple weeks ago that the league was looking for a new All-Star format after last season’s contest in Indianapolis was universally panned for its lack of defense and abundance of long three-point shots. The East defeated the West 211-186 in a listless affair despite a plea from league executive Joe Dumars to take the game seriously and put forth a better effort.

“We’re looking at other formats,” Silver said. “I think there’s no doubt that the players were disappointed as well in last year’s All-Star Game. We all want to do a better job providing competition and entertainment for our fans.”

As Reynolds writes in a full story, the new format is similar to what has been used for the Rising Stars event in recent years. That four-team tournament features a target score for both the semifinal and final.

What’s less clear is how the All-Star voting process would work, according to Reynolds, who notes that at least one more coach would likely be needed as well.

Charania hears the most popular All-Star event from last season, the first-ever NBA vs. WNBA three-point shootout between Warriors guard Stephen Curry and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, will likely return in February, though it may be tweaked to include more players. Sources tell Charania that Mavericks wing Klay Thompson and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark are among the candidates to join Curry and Ionescu.

Grizzlies Notes: Jackson, Morant, Edey, Bane, Williams

November 15th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After winning over 50 games in back-to-back seasons, the Grizzlies were decimated by injuries in 2023/24 and finished with a 27-55 record. As demoralizing as that season was, the team was able to find some silver linings. One was the offensive emergence of big man Jaren Jackson Jr., the only starter to remain relatively healthy — his 30.4% usage rate in ’23/24 dwarfed his previous career high.

“It was just a huge opportunity,” Jackson told Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “I haven’t ever been put in a position to be that offensively free in probably my life. Just getting those experiences, I can take that to any year that I have going forward.”

“Last year was a huge boost in his growth offensively,” head coach Taylor Jenkins added. “It was definitely an unintended opportunity, obviously as unfortunate as last season was, but his development was one of the brightest spots I could see.”

Jackson has carried those offensive strides over to ’24/25, matching his career-high 22.5 points per game through his first 10 outings and scoring much more efficiently (.547 FG%, .392 3PT%) than he did a year ago (.444/.320).

Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, meanwhile, served a 25-game suspension to start the season, then was active for just nine games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury that kept him out of action for the next 10 months. Obviously, that wasn’t an ideal outcome for the rising star, but he believes the experience could benefit him in the long run.

“I’d say it was for the better,” Morant said, per MacMahon. “It allowed me to lock in mentally, focus more. I was able to be around my family a lot during my recovery process, being able to travel, feel human again, go to my AAU teams’ games, watch them win, watch the joy that they have being out there playing. It had me itching to get back on the floor.”

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

Morant is still on crutches and is considered week-to-week as he recovers from a right hip subluxation and pelvic muscle strains, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, who spoke to sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon Michael Gerhardt about Morant’s diagnosis and potential recovery timeline. “Based on what the reports are, I’d say it could be anywhere from three-to-six weeks for a return to play,” Gerhardt said, noting that the injury is an uncommon one for basketball players.
Ahead of this year’s draft, some teams didn’t have Zach Edey on their first-round boards, sources tell MacMahon. However, the Grizzlies were happy to select him with the No. 9 overall pick and made him a day-one starter. Edey has come off the bench in Memphis’ past three games, but Jenkins said that move wasn’t meant to be a demotion for the rookie and that it was designed to let the team evaluate different lineup combinations. Mark Medina of Athlon Sports has more on the Grizzlies’ belief in Edey and the early stages of his NBA career.
Vince Williams (left tibial stress reaction), who has yet to make his season debut, isn’t the only injured Grizzlies player who is close to returning. Desmond Bane (right oblique strain) is also listed as questionable to play on Friday in Golden State after missing Memphis’ past seven games, tweets Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com. Both Williams and Bane participated in today’s shootaround and their availability vs. the Warriors will be determined after pregame workouts, Wallace adds.