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Jimmy Butler To Return For Game 3

May 6th, 2023 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

MAY 6: Butler will be available for Game 3, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

MAY 5: The Heat have yet to offer an official update on Jimmy Butler‘s status for Game 3 vs. the Knicks, but the star forward is planning to play on Saturday, a source tells Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).

Head coach Erik Spoelstra has continually deflected questions about Butler, who missed Game 2 due to a sprained right ankle and seems likely to be listed as questionable for Game 3. Spoelstra told reporters today that there likely won’t be a definitive update on the injured swingman until close to game time on Saturday.

However, like Winderman, Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald have also heard that there’s optimism about Butler’s chances to play tomorrow.

Obviously, getting Butler back in the lineup would significantly improve the Heat’s odds of defeating the Knicks and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. The 33-year-old averaged an eye-popping 37.6 points per game on .597/.444/.708 shooting during Miami’s first-round upset of the Bucks and was the team’s leading scorer in its Game 1 win over New York, racking up 25 points and 11 rebounds in 43 minutes.

With Butler’s status still up in the air, the Knicks have been preparing for both scenarios – the six-time All-Star being available or out – leading up to Game 3.

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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Houston Rockets

May 6th, 2023 at 1:24pm CST by Rory Maher

The Rockets finished with a .500 or better record for 14 consecutive seasons from 2007-20. When their franchise player, former MVP James Harden, asked for — and was granted — a trade to start 2020/21, it was the beginning of a rough three-year stretch of basketball in Houston.

The team finished with the worst record in the league in both ’20/21 and ’21/22, and was tied with San Antonio at 22-60 for the NBA’s second-worst mark in ’22/23. The Rockets finished 30th, 30th and 29th in defensive rating over those three seasons, so obviously improving on that front will be a top priority under new head coach Ime Udoka, who replaced Stephen Silas after the Rockets declined to pick up their option on the last year of Silas’ contract.

The past two draft lotteries have seen the Rockets land the second (Jalen Green) and third (Jabari Smith) overall picks. Will 2023 be the year they win the lottery and select Victor Wembanyama?

They’re certainly hoping that’s the case. After winning a tiebreaker with the Spurs, Houston will draft no lower than sixth overall.

The Rockets’ Offseason Plan:

There have been conflicting reports over the past week about the status of at least one member of the team’s core. One rumor stated that, while interviewing head coaches, the Rockets broached the subject of including Green in trade talks to try and acquire a star this summer. Another indicated that Green, Smith, Tari Eason and Alperen Sengun were Houston’s primary core.

I don’t think the idea of trading Green should be entirely dismissed, but I’d be surprised if he’s moved. He’s still only 21 years old and has two years left on his rookie contract. Sure, he’s struggled with scoring efficiency and defense, but those are normal growing pains for a young player, and it’s not like the Rockets had a strong foundation on either end of the court.

The other three players mentioned should be safe. One big knock I had against Silas was how disorganized the Rockets were offensively. The fact that he admitted the team rarely ran plays for Smith – who struggled to find quality looks throughout his rookie season – was unacceptable to me, because they were setting him up to fail — it’s not like he was known as a shot creator coming out of Auburn.

Kevin Porter Jr. and/or Jae’Sean Tate look to me like the most likely trade candidates on the roster. That’s not to suggest I necessarily think they will be traded or that they’re bad players — just that they make the most sense to be on the block from a fit standpoint. I don’t think Porter is a true point guard, and while Tate brings a lot of positive attributes, he’s not a good three-point shooter.

After a solid third season, Kenyon Martin Jr. is a good bet to return, either on his minimum-salary team option or – if the Rockets turn down his option to negotiate with him as a restricted free agent, like they did last summer with Tate – on a new contract. I don’t think Daishen Nix will be on the roster in ‘23/24 – his salary is non-guaranteed, and while he’s only 21, he was among the worst semi-regular rotation players in the NBA this season.

Armed with the most cap room in the NBA this summer (about $60MM), the Rockets will certainly look to be aggressive and make major strides in ‘23/24, for a number of different reasons. For starters, if the team is unable to land any of its top targets, I could see general manager Rafael Stone getting fired before the season even begins, because the front office has been very forthright about building toward this point in time.

A report in December indicated that owner Tilman Fertitta has grown “antsy” with the state of the Rockets’ rebuild. That makes sense – it’s a drastically different team than the one he purchased, and it has lost a lot of games lately.

Another reason Houston wants to improve next season is the team owes its 2024 first-round pick (top-four protected) to Oklahoma City as part of the Chris Paul/Russell Westbrook trade (the Rockets owe the Thunder their 2026 first-rounder as well).

When you’re as bad as the Rockets have been over the past three seasons, you need help everywhere. Aside from the defense, three other areas in particular stand out: three-point accuracy, assists and turnovers. They finished last in the league in all three of those categories.

Perhaps that’s why the Rockets have been consistently linked to Harden this season. One of the most prolific scorers and three-point shooters in NBA history, the 33-year-old led the league in assists for the second time in ’22/23 at 10.7 APG. He also posted a career-best 3.17-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Harden holds a $35.64MM player option for ‘23/24 and is far from a lock to leave Philadelphia, where he has a much better shot at winning his first championship. Still, there’s a reason the rumors won’t go away, and his ties to Houston are obvious.

The problem is, if the Rockets give him a four-year max deal projected to start at $46.9MM (and a total of $201.67MM), they won’t have enough remaining cap room to sign another veteran impact player — maybe someone like Jerami Grant. Perhaps Harden would be willing to take another discount like he did last summer to improve the team, but that’s a tougher sell with a team that isn’t close to contention.

That’s one reason why I wouldn’t be surprised if Porter is dealt, because it could open up enough salary to sign another player at a starting salary of about $31MM.

Harden might not even be atop Houston’s wish list. He’s a decade older than most of the players on the roster, as is Khris Middleton, another player who has been floated as a potential target.

They’ll have other options. Not a ton, because it’s not a great free agent class, but there are alternatives.

Splitting that $60MM to go after Fred VanVleet and Grant could be one route they could take. Or VanVleet and a big offer sheet to Cameron Johnson. Or using some of their cap room on a free agent and the rest to accommodate a trade for a disgruntled star. You get the point.

The Rockets’ draft assets shouldn’t be overlooked either. While the club probably won’t trade its lottery pick, its second first-rounder (No. 20) could be a useful sweetener if the team wants to make a win-now trade.

The most important thing will be to not strike out, because the advantage of remaining below the cap floor has been reduced in the new CBA, and the Rockets have plenty of incentives to improve.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • Kenyon Martin Jr. ($1,930,681): Bird rights
    • Note: If Martin’s option is exercised, his salary would become guaranteed two days before the July moratorium. If it’s not exercised, he would be eligible for restricted free agency.
  • Total: $1,930,681

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 2 overall ($10,718,760)
    • Note: This is only a placeholder until the draft order is determined via the lottery.
  • No. 20 overall ($3,170,400)
  • Total: $13,889,160

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Kenyon Martin Jr. (veteran)

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Note: Frazier’s cap hold remains on the Rockets’ books from a prior season because it hasn’t been renounced. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Room exception: $7,609,000
  • Trade exception: $3,892,917
    • Note: Expires on June 26.
  • Trade exception: $3,089,360
  • Trade exception: $293,920
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Suns Notes: Booker, Durant, Ayton, Landale, Warren

May 6th, 2023 at 11:51am CST by Luke Adams

With Chris Paul unavailable for Game 3 of the Suns‘ second round series vs. Denver, stars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant were asked to carry even more of the offensive load on Friday — it’s hard to imagine how they could have responded any better to that task.

As Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com writes, only five pairs of teammates in NBA history have combined to score more points in a single playoff game than the 86 Booker and Durant racked up last night. While Durant needed 31 shots from the floor to score his 39 points, Booker poured in a hyper-efficient 47 on just 25 field goals and two free throws.

“He doesn’t run from the tough stuff,” head coach Monty Williams said of his star guard. “I just think it’s his makeup. He understands not having Chris puts more on his plate, but I don’t think he forced it the way that you would think. I think he allowed the game to happen naturally and then when there were opportunities for him to push the issue. He was pretty efficient.”

Durant, who has only been a Sun since February, told reporters after Friday’s win that his co-star’s performance came as no surprise to him, suggesting that these sort of superstar performances are what he expected from Booker when he arrived in Phoenix.

“He’s just a leader of this team, this organization,” Durant said. “He brings it every single day. We just follow his imprint, and we rally around him.”

Here’s more on the Suns:

  • Booker has a tendency to frequently revisit his own past, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst notes within a profile of the Suns’ star, which has made him all the more appreciative of the team’s present opportunity to fight for a championship. Phoenix didn’t win more than 24 games in a season until Booker’s fifth year in the NBA. “Just being from a young team to an established team now is just something totally different. But I wouldn’t change my journey for anybody else’s,” he said ahead of the second round. “… It’s tough taking them Ls early on. But I think I got to develop my game, and I had people that believed in me, the organization that believed in me and I just took it from there.”
  • While Booker and Durant came up big in Game 3, it was a disappointing night for big man Deandre Ayton, who had as many fouls as points (four) and was benched in favor of Jock Landale in crunch time. Ayton – whose 2021/22 season ended with a benching – was “visibly upset” when he was removed from the game with just under five minutes remaining, but he energetically supported Landale and his teammate down the stretch, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Although Ayton didn’t speak to the media after the win, Durant told reporters that he expects the center to have a big Game 4, Rankin adds.
  • The Suns’ reserves stepped up in a major way on Friday, writes Greg Moore of The Arizona Republic. After getting just four bench points in Game 2, Phoenix bumped that number to 22 in Game 5, with Landale and T.J. Warren giving the team a spark. Making his first appearance of the series, Warren logged 26 minutes of action and the Suns outscored Denver by 20 points while he was on the court.
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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Maximum Salary

May 6th, 2023 at 10:48am CST by Luke Adams

There are many NBA players technically on maximum salary contracts, but most of those players didn’t earn identical salaries this season, making the league’s “maximum salary” something of a misnomer. While each NBA player has a maximum salary that he can earn in a given season, that number varies from player to player, with a handful of factors playing a part in determining the exact figure.

The primary factor in determining a player’s maximum salary is his years of service. If a player has been in the NBA for no more than six years, he can earn up to 25% of the salary cap in the first year of his deal. Players with seven to nine years of experience can earn up to 30%, while veterans with 10 or more years in the NBA are eligible for up to 35% of the cap. In 2022/23, the salary cap is $123,655,000, meaning the maximum salaries are as follows:

Years in NBA Salary
0-6 $30,913,750
7-9 $37,096,500
10+ $43,279,250

The figures above explain why Zach LaVine, who signed a maximum salary contract with the Bulls last July following his eighth NBA season, earned a salary of $37,096,500 this season. But they don’t explain why Suns star Devin Booker, who is also in that 7-9 year window and is on a max contract of his own, made just $33,833,400.

The reason Booker’s maximum salary is a few million shy of LaVine’s is that those league-wide maximum salary figures only apply to the first year of a multiyear contract.

When a player signs a maximum contract, he can receive annual raises of up to either 8% or 5%, depending on whether he signs with his previous team or a new team. So by the third, fourth, or fifth year of his contract, he could be earning significantly more or less than his updated max for that season, depending on the rate the salary cap has been increasing and whether or not he has moved into a new “years of service” group.

Booker signed his first maximum salary contract extension in 2018 and it went into effect in 2019/20, when he had fewer than six years of NBA experience. Although he has received annual 8% raises since then, those raises haven’t been enough to keep up with the annual cap growth and with his move into the 7-9 year window. As a result, he earned about $3.26MM less than his actual max in 2022/23, despite being on a “max contract.”

Booker signed a new contract extension last summer that will go into effect in 2024/25, at which point he’ll receive a major pay bump and surpass LaVine’s annual earnings.

Here are a couple more ways a player’s usual maximum salary can fluctuate:

  • A free agent’s maximum salary is always at least 105% of his previous salary. For example, Warriors star Stephen Curry is earning $48,070,014 this season. He’s under contract for three more years, but if he were eligible for free agency this offseason, he’d be eligible to receive a starting salary of up to $50,473,515 (105% of this year’s salary), even though that figure will easily exceed 35% of the 2023/24 cap.
  • In certain situations, players eligible for new contracts can earn the maximum salary for the level above the one they’d typically fall into. A player receiving a designated rookie extension can earn up to 30% of the cap instead of 25% if he meets certain criteria. A veteran can become eligible to earn up to 35% of the cap instead of 30% if he meets the same criteria, which are related to MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, or All-NBA honors.

A player who signs a maximum salary contract can receive a trade kicker as part of his deal, but he can’t cash in on that bonus for any amount beyond his maximum salary in a given league year. For instance, Bradley Beal‘s max salary contract with the Wizards features a 15% trade kicker, but if he had been traded this season, he wouldn’t have been eligible to receive that bonus, since he was already earning his maximum salary of $43,279,250.

Similarly, a maximum salary player whose team finishes the season below the minimum salary floor isn’t eligible to receive a share when the team distributes that money to its players, since his max salary for that year can’t be exceeded.

The current figures for maximum salaries in 2023/24 are as follows, based on the NBA’s projection of a $134MM salary cap:

Years in NBA Salary
0-6 $33,500,000
7-9 $40,200,000
10+ $46,900,000

These figures will apply to players who previously signed maximum salary extensions that will go into effect in ’23/24, including Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, Darius Garland, and Nikola Jokic.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were previously published by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.

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Community Shootaround: Open Head Coach Jobs

May 6th, 2023 at 9:29am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets completed their head coaching search a week-and-a-half ago, hiring Ime Udoka to replace Stephen Silas. However, there are still three NBA teams still in the market for new coaches.

[RELATED: 2023 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]

Interestingly, those three clubs – the Bucks, Pistons, and Raptors – are at very different stages in terms of their development, so even if they consider some of the same candidates, they’ll likely have very different expectations for their new hires, especially in the short term.

Milwaukee won a title in 2021 and expected to make it back to the NBA Finals in each of the last two seasons. The fact that they only won a single playoff series during that stretch is why Mike Budenholzer is out of work — his replacement will be expected to make deeper postseason runs with a roster headed by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

While the Bucks’ roster has championship upside, the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will limit the front office’s flexibility going forward and could hamstring the team’s ability to make additional upgrades. It also may force management to make difficult decisions on upcoming contracts for key contributors on the wrong side of 30, including Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.

Detroit is on the opposite side of the spectrum, having won no more than 23 games in a season in any of the last four years. There are some promising young pieces here – including Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, and whichever player the team drafts in the top five next month – but the Pistons are all about unrealized potential.

No one on the roster has made an All-Star team, and the next step for the club will be contending for a play-in spot, not a championship. So while a new head coach will be expected to help Detroit take a step forward right away, there won’t be any immediate expectations of winning playoff series.

The Raptors are somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. The team’s 41-41 record this past season was a disappointment, given the presence of former All-Stars like Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, along with 2022 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes and three-and-D standout OG Anunoby. But the roster probably lacks the star power and depth necessary to legitimate vie for a championship.

Toronto traded away its 2024 first-round pick with minimal (top-six) protection, so the team won’t want to take a step back next season, even if it makes some significant roster changes. The new head coach will be expected to get the Raptors back to the postseason and not just to make a quick exit.

We want to know what you think: which of the NBA’s three current head coaching vacancies do you view as the most and least appealing jobs? What sort of candidates do you think would be good fits in Milwaukee, Detroit, and Toronto?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

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Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Harden, Borrego, Nets

May 6th, 2023 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who finished fourth in Most Valuable Player voting this season, was motivated on Friday night by watching Joel Embiid receive his MVP trophy before Game 3 of the Sixers/Celtics series in Philadelphia, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.

It wasn’t exactly Hakeem Olajuwon dominating David Robinson and the Spurs following Robinson’s MVP ceremony in 1995, but Tatum led the Celtics to a 114-102 win in Game 3, scoring a team-high 27 points and helping Boston reclaim home-court advantage in the series.

“It just got me really ready to play,” Tatum said of the pregame ceremony, per Collier. “You could feel the energy from the crowd and the building. I’m happy for (Embiid). He earned it, he deserved it, but I was just focused on trying to win tonight.”

In addition to his 27 points, Tatum grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds, handed out five assists, and had a a pair of steals and a block, earning praise from his teammates for a “superstar” performance.

“He played a terrific game all around, but he finished a tough game on the road in a hostile environment for us,” Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “That’s what superstars do.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • After scoring 45 points on 17-of-30 shooting in Game 1, James Harden has totaled just 28 points on 5-of-28 shooting in his last two games, both Sixers losses. Embiid wants to see his star teammate be more assertive on offense going forward, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I mean, you just talk to him and you keep telling him to keep shooting,” Embiid said after Friday’s loss. “Be aggressive. Can’t get too high, can’t get too low. Some nights you’re going to make lots of other shots, a lot of tough ones, and some nights you’re not going to make them. So it’s about finding other ways to impact the game.”
  • After Marc Stein suggested that the Nets could be one of the teams with interest in James Borrego as an assistant coach, a league source confirms to NetsDaily that Brooklyn is “100%” in on pursuing Borrego for a spot on Jacque Vaughn‘s staff. The Nets, who are parting ways with multiple assistant coaches, also expressed interest in Borrego last year, per NetsDaily.
  • Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required) poses four questions for the Nets to answer this offseason, including what their long-term plan is at point guard and what the cost will be to re-sign restricted free agent Cameron Johnson.
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Northwest Notes: Jazz Draft, THT, Iowa Wolves, Connelly

May 5th, 2023 at 11:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Armed with three first-round picks in 2023, CEO Danny Ainge says the the Jazz will have at least 10 members of the organization present at the NBA draft combine in a couple weeks, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.

“Some. Yeah,” Ainge said when asked how much stock the team puts into the combine. “We’ll have 10 of us or more there anyway. We’ll spend a lot more time watching [the prospects] there collectively, with groups, and evaluating them. And we’ll have a lot of time at the combine and in draft workouts to get to know them up close and personal.”

The Jazz control their own first-rounder, currently projected to be No. 9 overall, though that draft slot could change when the lottery is conducted on May 16. They also control the Wolves’ (No. 16) and Sixers’ (No. 28) first-round picks from trades last summer. According to Walden, the team plans to bring in a horde of prospects to Utah for workouts, but it won’t be publicly disclosing those players “for competitive reasons.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

  • Talen Horton-Tucker is a difficult player to evaluate and that was certainly true of his performance with the Jazz during the 2022/23 season, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. Todd says she would be surprised if Horton-Tucker declines his $11MM player option for ’23/24 due to his inconsistency, but notes that he’s still only 22 years old despite the fact that he’s already played four seasons. Horton-Tucker will be extension-eligible if he picks up his option, but Todd thinks the Jazz should take a wait-and-see approach with the young guard next season.
  • The Timberwolves‘ G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, received a couple of NBAGL awards, per a press release. The franchise received the President’s Choice Award for demonstrating “excellence in business performance across key areas of focus.” The team set a franchise record for attendance in ’22/23. Iowa Wolves president Ryan Grant was also named G League Executive of the Year, as voted by his peers.
  • Tim Connelly is a Baltimore native and got his start with the Wizards, which is why speculation about him possibly re-joining the organization won’t go away. Still, Minnesota’s president of basketball operations plans to remain with the Timberwolves next season, he said in a radio interview with Chad Hartman of WCCO. “That’s certainly the plan,” Connelly said, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “That’s why we came here, moved here. We had a lot of unfinished business. It’s been a really fun year, on and off the court, and we’re fully committed to being a Timberwolf.”
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Southwest Notes: Kidd, Kyrie, Mavs, Bates, Pelicans, Grizzlies

May 5th, 2023 at 9:25pm CST by Rory Maher

Head coach Jason Kidd hopes Kyrie Irving — an impending free agent — spends the rest of his career with the Mavericks, he told Rachel Nichols of Showtime (Twitter video link).

“I think he truly is happy here, but that doesn’t guarantee us that he’s going to stay,” Kidd said (hat tip to NJ.com contributor Adam Zagoria). ” … We’re going to do everything to keep him. At the end of the day it’s his decision, we’ll see what that is. But at the end, we hope that we’ve done everything to make him comfortable, and want to be a Mav for life.”

A five-year, maximum-salary offer for Irving is projected to be worth $272MM. It seems unlikely that the Mavs would actually go that high, but you never know — they gave up real assets to acquire him, and losing him for nothing would be a disaster.

Here’s more from the Southwest:

  • Emoni Bates, who worked out for Charlotte on Friday, also worked out for the Mavericks earlier this week, Zagoria tweets. A former five-star recruit, Bates is currently ranked No. 56 on ESPN’s big board after a relatively disappointing first two college seasons at Memphis and Eastern Michigan.
  • Hiring an assistant coach with head coaching experience is a priority for the Pelicans, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, who notes (via Twitter) that head coach Willie Green has a good relationship with advisor Mike D’Antoni.
  • The Grizzlies will need to rely on the leadership of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. going forward with Dillon Brooks likely to depart in free agency, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “Des is a cornerstone, very significant piece of this group,” GM Zach Kleiman said. “I think he has an opportunity going forward to really establish himself as a key driver, key leader in this group. … I think he’ll have an even bigger opportunity to be a heart-and-soul-of-the-group kind of guy going forward.”
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New York Notes: Randle, Brunson, Bridges, Simmons

May 5th, 2023 at 7:31pm CST by Rory Maher

After being sidelined for Game 1 of the Knicks‘ second-round series against Miami due to a left ankle sprain, forward Julius Randle said he had no intention of missing Game 2, writes Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link).

“Yeah,” Randle said. “There was no way I was sitting out of that one.

“It’s not really the pain, man. It’s just the getting back on the court. For me, it was not being able to do anything for a while. Getting my conditioning back … the recovery after, all while trying to nurse an injury. So mentally, it’ll take a toll on you. But my wife, my family, everybody in the organization — thankfully for me, I have a great supporting cast.”

Here are a few more notes out of New York:

  • Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was limited in Thursday’s practice due to right ankle soreness. However, he told reporters on Friday, including Popper (subscriber link), that he’s “ready to go” for Saturday’s Game 3. Popper heard that Randle and Brunson would not be listed on New York’s injury report and that was indeed the case — both players will be available tomorrow afternoon (Twitter links).
  • Collin Helwig of NetsDaily.com takes a look at Mikal Bridges‘ chances of being selected to his first All-Star team in 2023/24, concluding that the Nets wing has a good shot to make it in as a reserve next season if he can continue his strong play from the second half of ’22/23.
  • Australian national team head coach Brian Goorjian is optimistic about Nets swingman Ben Simmons playing at this summer’s World Cup, which starts in late August, according to Seb Mottram of SEN.com.au. “I think his (Ben’s) mindset is getting healthy, getting in shape and getting ready to play in this (World Cup),” Goorjian told 1170 SEN Afternoons. “… As we sit now, I think there is a really strong chance (that he plays at the World Cup).”
  • ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that Simmons would like to compete for the Boomers at the World Cup, though that will depend on how his back rehab is progressing. Sources tell Windhorst that Simmons’ injury recovery is “going well” thus far. The three-time All-Star last played for the Nets on February 15 due to a nerve impingement in his back (he was also dealing with left knee soreness).
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Pistons Notes: Coaching Search, Ollie, Murphy, Draft Picks

May 5th, 2023 at 6:00pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pistons could hire a new head coach soon, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, who reports in his latest mailbag that the top candidates for the job are set to meet with owner Tom Gores next week in Los Angeles.

Bucks associate head coach Charles Lee, former Connecticut and Overtime Elite coach Kevin Ollie, and Pelicans assistant Jarron Collins are considered the leading candidates. However, Edwards believes that Ollie, a former NBA player, is the frontrunner for the position.

Here’s more on the Pistons:

  • DeJanai Raska says she was sexually harassed and assaulted by former assistant GM Rob Murphy over a period of several months, she tells Tresa Baldas of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link). There are too many details to list here, but Raska reported her allegations to the Pistons last fall. The team put Murphy on leave, but didn’t announce that he was fired until after Raska sued both the organization and Murphy. “I grew up in the city really looking up to the Pistons, the Bad Boys … and to be treated this way is heartbreaking,” Raska said.
  • Who are the top five prospects Detroit should be considering with its first-round pick, which can land no lower than fifth overall? Edwards ranks those players in order for The Athletic. Obviously Victor Wembanyama is No. 1, but Brandon Miller edges out Scoot Henderson for No. 2. Rounding out Edwards’ top five are Henderson, Houston forward Jarace Walker and Arkansas guard Anthony Black.
  • On a related topic, if the pick does land fifth in the lottery — and there’s a 47.9% chance that it will — who should the Pistons select? Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link) makes the case for Villanova wing Cam Whitmore, arguing that his physical tools and flashes of shooting make him the best choice at that spot.
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