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2021/22 Rising Stars Team Rosters

February 4th, 2022 at 6:27pm CST by Rory Maher

As we previously relayed, the NBA announced a new format for its Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, which will take place on Friday, February 18. The event will feature four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament (two semifinals and a final).

The player pool is comprised of 12 NBA rookies, 12 sophomores, and four players from the G League Ignite, while the games will be played to a target score: 50 points in the semifinals and 25 points in the final, in honor of the league’s 75th anniversary season.

The rosters were announced on February 1, but now the four honorary coaches (75th anniversary team members Rick Barry, Isiah Thomas, Gary Payton and James Worthy) have selected their seven-man teams, per our JD Shaw (Twitter link). Here are the rosters:

Team Barry:

Team Isiah:

Team Payton:

Team Worthy:

James Ham of ESPN 1320 and The Kings Beat provides (via Twitter) the full draft results.

The top 10, in order, were: Edwards, Mobley, Ball, Anthony, Giddey, Barnes, Cunningham, Bey, Bane, and Wagner. It’s worth noting that Worthy and Anthony both went to the University of North Carolina, so Anthony’s selection at No. 4 is less surprising given that context.

What do you think of the teams? Who do you think will come out on top? Head to the comments section and let us know your thoughts!

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Sixers To Pursue Harden Before Deadline; Nets Open To Talking

February 4th, 2022 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers are expected to pursue Nets star James Harden in the days leading up to the February 10 trade deadline, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports that Brooklyn is now believed to be open to discussing a possible deal.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said last week that the Nets wouldn’t consider moving Harden at the deadline, but Charania’s latest report suggests the team isn’t closing the door on the possibility. Sources tell Charania the 76ers and Nets are expected to engage in talks about Ben Simmons and Harden before next Thursday.

According to Charania, Nets officials don’t have any urgency to make a trade involving Harden and still view their roster as championship-caliber as is. However, if Philadelphia is willing to sweeten the deal by attaching more assets – including players like Seth Curry, Tyrese Maxey, and/or Matisse Thybulle – to Simmons, Brooklyn will listen, in case there’s a deal to be made that makes the team more well-rounded as it pursues a title.

As Charania explains, there have been some concerns in Brooklyn about Harden’s playing style, since the former MVP’s tendency to dominate the ball and play at his own pace contrasts with the more “free-flowing, organic” approach employed by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Head coach Steve Nash has met with the trio to try to find a balance and optimize the offense, per Charania, but the team has yet to hit its stride. Of course, that’s in part because the three stars are so rarely available at the same time.

Still, unless they have major concerns about the on-court fit and Harden’s flight risk in the offseason, the Nets seem unlikely to do anything drastic in the next six days. They’d want a “significant haul” from the Sixers, Charania writes.

Philadelphia has long been focused on landing a star in any Simmons deal, with Harden and Bradley Beal among the players at the top of their wish list. The expectation had been that a player of that caliber wouldn’t become available until the offseason, when both Harden and Beal can opt out of their respective deals.

The Sixers have projected a willingness to extend their standoff with Simmons until then, with Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com reporting today that a deadline deal involving the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up appears increasingly unlikely. If Harden is legitimately available ahead of the deadline though, or if the Wizards are willing to talk about Beal, that could accelerate Philadelphia’s timeline.

The 76ers also continue to discuss possible Simmons scenarios with other teams, according to Charania. Sources tell The Athletic that the Hawks have been the most engaged suitor in recent weeks, having discussed a framework that includes John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and draft picks.

The Timberwolves have also remained in touch with Philadelphia about Simmons and have been open to the idea of taking on Tobias Harris, says Charania. However, Minnesota isn’t willing to part with the draft assets the Sixers are seeking.

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Atlantic Notes: Trent, Celtics, Beal, Harden

February 3rd, 2022 at 2:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Raptors shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. has been proving his mettle as a valuable addition to a scrappy Toronto team, opines Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Trent has firmly carved out a role for himself as a starter with the Raptors.

“It’s big,” head coach Nick Nurse said of Trent’s current scoring tear (31+ points in five straight games). “It gives you a huge lift and then he gives you somewhere to go, too, with some play calls and then it usually gives you something to counter back against, too, because he’ll draw so much attention that we can go back to someone else. That’s big.”

After shipping Norman Powell to the Trail Blazers for Trent at the trade deadline last season, the Raptors showed how much they expected out of Trent when they signed him to a three-year, $54MM contract in the offseason. Grange notes that Nurse and the rest of the Raptors organization emphasized their interest in seeing Trent step up as a defender and develop into a more significant three-point catch-and-shoot scorer.

Trent’s season has been so good, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN, that the 23-year-old may be too valuable to the 26-23 Raptors to use as a potential trade chip ahead of next week’s deadline.

“It’s just the opportunity to shoot and score, unlimited shots, kind of let me go out there and play,” Trent said. “You don’t have to worry about anything. I don’t have to look over my shoulder anymore. If I miss a shot or kick it off my leg, my coaching staff believes in me. They’re allowing me to play and allowing me to roll with the punches.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • As the NBA trade deadline approaches, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston previews potential options available to the Celtics. The team is coming off a hot January, in which it went 10-6 to move to a respectable 28-25 on the season, still only good for the No. 9 seed in the crowded East. Because Boston remains mired in relative mediocrity, Forsberg suggests the club could be in tax-avoidance mode, making big transactions less than likely before the 2022 offseason. That said, Forsberg speculates that the team could opt to offload guards like Romeo Langford or Dennis Schröder, among others.
  • The Sixers could face an intriguing opportunity at the trade deadline. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer ponders what Philadelphia should do if adding Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal suddenly becomes a viable option. Beal could opt out of the last year of his current deal with the Wizards and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. With that reality in mind as the deadline approaches, Beal could force Washington’s hand and compel the only team he has ever known to trade him. Pompey wonders if the Sixers will consider adding a high-level isolation scorer in his prime, even if Beal is having a down scoring year by his standards and has never been much of a defender. The team’s reluctance to include Tyrese Maxey or Matisse Thybulle in an outgoing trade could limit its ability to add a star player.
  • Nets shooting guard James Harden did not mince words when discussing Brooklyn’s current six-game losing slump, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. “I think we’ve done too much talking,” Harden said. “It’s just, we got to go out there and do it, and do it consistently. We have times when we’re great, and we have times when we’re really bad. We just got to find some consistency throughout the course of games more times than not.” It should be noted that Harden, averaging 22.5 PPG, 10.2 APG and 8.0 RPG on the season, said this on a night when he shot 2-of-11 from the floor and netted a total of four points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and six turnovers.
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Sixers Notes: Maxey, Simmons, Rivers, Trade Deadline

February 2nd, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

The emergence of second-year guard Tyrese Maxey may be affecting the Sixers‘ desire to get a deal done for Ben Simmons by the trade deadline, writes David Murphy of The Philadelphia Inquirer. With Joel Embiid out of the lineup Monday, Maxey assumed the role of team leader and put up 33 points and eight assists in a matchup with Grizzlies star Ja Morant.

Murphy suggests it’s a performance that Simmons would have difficulty duplicating, which may lead the Sixers’ front office to think they have the lead guard they need for an extended playoff run. Amid the persistent trade rumors involving Simmons, there have also been reports that Philadelphia may prefer to wait until summer and take another shot at landing a star.

“He’s a helluva basketball player, a great leader at such a young age,” teammate Andre Drummond said of Maxey. “He has a lot on his shoulders being in the position that he’s in to carrying an entire team, he’s great. He’s a great basketball player, and I’m glad that he’s my point guard.”

There’s more from Philadelphia:

  • Reports about Simmons in an ESPN story that appeared Tuesday indicate that he still doesn’t understand why Sixers fans are disappointed in him, claims Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice. Neubeck notes that fans remained supportive even when Simmons was struggling to make a free throw in last year’s playoffs, but they turned on him in the offseason when he pulled away from the team and appeared to stop trying.
  • Among the claims in the ESPN report is that Simmons was disappointed that coach Doc Rivers didn’t visit him while he was training in Los Angeles during the offseason. That’s despite Simmons ignoring text messages and calls from Rivers and later telling some of his teammates not to try to see him. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that,” Rivers told Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times. “There’s nobody that’s been more supportive than me. I have a tape someone sent me of almost an hour of me over and over (praising Simmons). You heard me last year every day. It’s all posturing. That’s why you haven’t heard me – I don’t get involved in all that stuff. I’ll leave that up to the front office and Ben’s camp. I’m staying out of that part. But, listen, some of this stuff I laugh at and I feel bad. I think Ben’s a good kid. I want Ben to do well.”
  • With the trade deadline a little more than a week away, Rich Hofmann and John Hollinger of The Athletic look at the Sixers’ options involving Simmons and other players.
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Dave Joerger Returns To Sixers’ Bench Following Cancer Treatments

February 2nd, 2022 at 3:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Assistant coach Dave Joerger is returning to the Sixers‘ bench on a full-time basis, the team announced today in a press release.

Joerger had been away from the club since November 13, having been treated for what was said to be a form of “head and neck” cancer. According to today’s announcement, Joerger’s treatments concluded in mid-December and he’ll be with the team while he continues to recover.

“Words can’t describe how grateful I am to be back around this basketball team,” Joerger said in a statement. “The last several months have been some of the most challenging of my life, but I am so lucky to have the support of Josh Harris, David Blitzer, Doc Rivers, Daryl Morey, Elton Brand and the entire 76ers organization. Their support, along with my wife Kimberly, and my loving family, has been unwavering.”

It’s great news for the Sixers and for Joerger, who said in November when he first announced his diagnosis that he was fortunate to have caught the disease early.

A former head coach in Memphis and Sacramento, Joerger joined the Sixers’ staff during the 2020 offseason and has been Rivers’ lead assistant since then. Joerger likely would’ve taken the reins as Philadelphia’s acting head coach in late December and early January when Rivers entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, but he was still away from the team at that time, so assistant Dan Burke temporarily replaced Rivers on the 76ers’ sidelines.

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Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid Named Players Of The Month

February 2nd, 2022 at 2:10pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of All-NBA centers have earned Player of the Month honors for January, with Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic winning the Western Conference award, while Joel Embiid of the Sixers was named the winner in the Eastern Conference (Twitter link).

Jokic appeared in all 17 of the Nuggets’ January games and led the team to an 11-6 record. He averaged 26.2 PPG, 13.4 RPG, and 8.9 APG in 33.5 minutes per contest, posting a scorching-hot shooting line of .596/.420/.881. Jokic earned Player of the Week honors on January 24, but this is his first Player of the Month award this season.

Embiid, meanwhile, is the East’s Player of the Month for a second straight time, having also won the award in December. He appeared in 14 games, including 11 Sixers victories, in January and averaged an eye-popping 34.0 PPG to go along with 10.8 RPG, 5.1 APG, and 1.5 BPG in 32.1 minutes per game.

Jokic and Embiid are firmly in contention for this year’s Most Valuable Player award after finishing first and second, respectively, in voting a year ago. Embiid’s Sixers are currently 31-19, just one game out of first place in the East. Jokic’s Nuggets rank sixth in the West at 28-22, but are only 1.5 games out of fourth place.

According to the league (Twitter links), the other Player of the Month nominees were Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson, Ja Morant, Dejounte Murray, Anfernee Simons, and Karl-Anthony Towns in the West, and Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, Darius Garland, Pascal Siakam, Jayson Tatum, and Trae Young in the East.

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Wizards Rumors: Beal, Simmons, Avdija, Hachimura, Bertans

February 2nd, 2022 at 12:26pm CST by Luke Adams

We already published one collection of Wizards-related rumors today, examining the team’s interest in Domantas Sabonis and Spencer Dinwiddie‘s availability, among other topics. However, a deep dive into Washington’s deadline plans from David Aldridge and Josh Robbins of The Athletic covers a few additional bases, necessitating another roundup of notes and rumors from out of the nation’s capital.

Aldridge and Robbins, like other reporters, have heard no indications that the Wizards are considering trading star Bradley Beal, but the sources they spoke to were less certain about Beal’s intentions going forward.

Multiple league sources told The Athletic that the veteran guard remains conflicted about his future, torn between wanting to remain loyal to D.C. and being uncertain about whether the Wizards can surround him with championship-caliber talent.

Beal has been frustrated by the team’s gradual slide down the standings this season, and sources close to him suggest he wouldn’t automatically reject the idea of being traded, according to Aldridge and Robbins. However, he hasn’t asked to be dealt and his preference is still to remain with the Wizards, who want to continue building around him.

Here are a few more highlights from The Athletic’s story on the Wizards:

  • While Beal is among the Sixers‘ targets in a Ben Simmons trade, Philadelphia isn’t willing to include Tyrese Maxey or Matisse Thybulle along with Simmons in an offer for Beal, sources tell Aldridge and Robbins.
  • If the Wizards were to trade Beal, it would likely signal the beginning of a teardown and a restart for the franchise, which owner Ted Leonsis seems adamantly opposed to, per The Athletic’s duo. “I don’t see them doing that because I think the owner would prefer not to go through the pain,” one rival team executive said. “They’ve got the right people in place (in the front office), but (Leonsis) doesn’t have the stomach for it.”
  • The consensus around the NBA is that most of the veterans the Wizards have made available, including Dinwiddie, Montrezl Harrell, and Thomas Bryant, don’t have enough value on their own to net significant returns. At least one of Deni Avdija or Rui Hachimura would probably have to be included if Washington wants to take a bigger swing. One league executive who spoke to The Athletic described Avdija and Hachimura as potential “starting-caliber players,” but said talent evaluators generally don’t view them as future All-Stars.
  • In order to move Davis Bertans, who is under contract through 2025, the Wizards would likely have to either attach an asset or take back an equally bad contract, per Aldridge and Robbins. “It feels tough (without attaching a pick),” one executive said. “Maybe they can take back a similar contract that doesn’t have the player option year. But, yeah, hard to move.”
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NBA Announces 2021/22 Rising Stars Rosters

February 1st, 2022 at 6:34pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has revealed the 28 players (12 rookies, 12 sophomores, and four G League Ignite players) who will suit up for the 2022 Clorox Rising Stars Game in Cleveland this year, per its official PR account (Twitter links). There are a few intriguing surprises among the first-year NBA players.

Here are the players who made the cut:

Rookies:

Sophomores:

Additionally, four players from the G League Ignite will participate in the Rising Stars Game based on voting from NBA G League head coaches. The NBAGL has announced (Twitter link) that MarJon Beauchamp, Dyson Daniels, Jaden Hardy and Scoot Henderson will partake in the action. Players will be separated into four teams, and each G League player will be drafted to join one of the teams later this week.

Among the rookie NBA players, the additions who would be most surprising ahead of the 2021/22 season would be Dosunmu and Jones, both of whom were second-round draft selections. 2021 lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga, Ziaire Williams, James Bouknight, Joshua Primo and Moses Moody were all omitted from inclusion this year.

Among the second-year players, Ball could be appearing on multiple nights during All-Star Weekend this season, as he appears to be a very possible first-time All-Star this year thanks to his outstanding work with the upstart Hornets.

The lottery-bound Magic, Pistons, and Rockets can boast having the most inclusions here, with three players apiece.

As we detailed last week, this year’s Rising Stars event will look a little different, with the four teams taking part in a mini-tournament and playing to a target score in each game: 50 points in the semifinals and 25 points in the final, in honor of the league’s 75th anniversary season.

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Trade Rumors: Brunson, Simmons, Horton-Tucker, More

February 1st, 2022 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

After Marc Stein reported on Monday that Jalen Brunson is more likely to stay with the Mavericks through February 10 than to be traded at the deadline, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon conveyed a similar sentiment during an appearance on Zach Lowe’s podcast, The Lowe Post.

“I have been assured that they will not move Brunson before the trade deadline unless it is, and I quote, a ‘What the bleep are they thinking?’ type of offer,” MacMahon said, according to NBC Sports.

Brunson has become an integral part of the Mavericks’ offense, posting career highs in PPG (15.7) and APG (5.6) so far this season. While he has generated plenty of interest ahead of his looming free agency, Dallas reportedly remains confident in its ability to re-sign him. However, Lowe – who previously suggested the flight risk for Brunson is “very, very real” – warns that the Mavs should be careful about how they approach those negotiations.

“The thing on Brunson is I wouldn’t mess around too much if I were the Mavs,” Lowe said, per NBC Sports. “That’s all I’ll say. I wouldn’t be too cute with the negotiating. I wouldn’t be too cute, based on what I’ve heard.”

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

  • Executives around the NBA aren’t fully convinced that the Kings are really finished with the Ben Simmons sweepstakes, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. “The Kings needed to walk away because the Sixers were unreasonable in their demands,” an Eastern Conference executive told Bleacher Report. “If Philly backs off [those demands] some, perhaps Sacramento could still make a run at [Simmons].”
  • Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker is viewed by rival teams as a “marginal asset,” Pincus writes in the same Bleacher Report story. Even though he’s still a developing prospect, Horton-Tucker earns a higher salary than virtually every other 21-year-old in the NBA and will be able to reach unrestricted free agency as early as 2023, diminishing his value.
  • Pincus adds in the same Bleacher Report story that most teams expect Damian Lillard to sign a two-year contract extension with the Trail Blazers in the offseason. That suggests Lillard won’t be asking for a trade anytime soon.
  • The Celtics are open to virtually any trade inquiry leading up to the February 10 deadline, but any roster “fireworks” are more likely to happen in the offseason than this month, writes Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. According to Bulpett, multiple sources believe that if Boston doesn’t play well in the second half, it’s possible Jaylen Brown could “acknowledge that the mix isn’t right and seek a move.”
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Ben Simmons Notes: Fines, Embiid, Rivers, Training

February 1st, 2022 at 10:25am CST by Luke Adams

The fines the Sixers have imposed on Ben Simmons this season have now exceeded $19MM, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. Simmons, who is docked $360K+ for each game he misses, shows up for shootarounds and film sessions to avoid accumulating additional fines, but doesn’t usually stay long and is disengaged (though not disruptive) during those activities, Shelburne writes.

While there’s a belief that Simmons could eventually recoup a chunk of his lost money via arbitration, that’s not a certainty. According to Shelburne, the 25-year-old is upset that he’s being fined so heavily after explaining to the team that he’s dealing with mental health issues, but is willing to take the financial hit.

“We don’t give a f–k about the money,” a source close to Simmons told ESPN. “That’s not what this is. It’s hard for people to understand. But if you believe in what you’re doing and that this is not the right situation for you, and you’re trying to get to a better place, the money doesn’t matter. Obviously it’s a financial hit. But you adjust.”

“It’s easy to tell when someone is hurt when they have a cast on their arm,” another source said to Shelburne. “But this is mental health. You can’t always see it. But ask yourself, how many people would lose a dollar over this? That should tell you everything.”

Despite not playing since last spring, Simmons is believed to be in great physical condition, according to Shelburne, but he continues to tell the team and his reps that he’s not mentally ready to get back on the court again and doesn’t want to play for the 76ers ever again.

Shelburne’s deep dive into the Simmons/Sixers standoff is worth checking out in full, but here are a few more highlights from the story:

  • When Simmons agreed to fly to Philadelphia and report to the Sixers during the preseason, he considered it a “grand gesture of good faith,” per Shelburne, but the team viewed it as the least he could do, given that he’s under contract for four years. The return didn’t go well, according to Shelburne, who says Simmons was offended he was still fined for the team’s final preseason game despite rushing to arrive at the arena prior to tipoff.
  • Sources close to Simmons tell Shelburne that the three-time All-Star was upset that Joel Embiid seemed to blame him for last season’s playoff loss when Simmons didn’t blame Embiid for his “poor showing” in the 2019 postseason against Toronto. If that’s how Simmons truly feels, it’s a bizarre stance — Embiid battled an illness during that ’19 series, but the Sixers had a +18.6 net rating during his 237 minutes, compared to a -52.5 mark in the 99 minutes he didn’t play.
  • Simmons was also frustrated that Sixers coach Doc Rivers didn’t visit him when he was training in Los Angeles last summer, even though he admits he didn’t reply when Rivers “called him several times over the summer asking to see him,” Shelburne writes. As Shelburne explains, Simmons still feels that Rivers could’ve done more, like having shown up at the gym where he was known to be training.
  • Simmons wasn’t vaccinated when he first began reporting to the Sixers’ training facility in the fall, but has since been vaccinated, says Shelburne. The Defensive Player of the Year runner-up has gone back and forth between working out at the 76ers’ facility and at other gyms — he doesn’t necessarily want to be around the team more than he has to, but also doesn’t want it to turn into a circus when word gets out that he’s at more public facilities.
  • Some people within the organization believe that if Simmons – who still watches every Sixers game – did decide to suit up for the club again, his return wouldn’t be as bad as he’s imagined, Shelburne writes. “He’d get booed for a few games, but if he played well everyone would get over it,” one team source said to ESPN. “The fans booed Joel and Tobias [Harris] too, and they both got through it.” Others disagree, however. “It’s too far gone with both the fans and how he feels about the organization,” another team source said.
  • The Sixers and Simmons’ camp intend to meet again if a trade doesn’t occur by the February 10 deadline, according to Shelburne.
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