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NBA GMs Vote Lakers As Offseason Winners, Title Favorites

December 18th, 2020 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s general managers liked the Lakers‘ offseason moves and are bullish on the team’s chances to repeat as champions in 2020/21, as John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes in his annual survey of the league’s GMs.

An impressive 81% of the responding general managers picked the Lakers to win the championship in 2021, which is the third-highest percentage any team has received since Schuhmann began conducting his annual GM survey 19 years ago. The Clippers ranked second at 11%, while the Nets and Heat received one vote apiece.

Meanwhile, the Lakers (37%) beat out the Suns (22%) and Thunder (15%) in the voting for best offseason roster moves. The Hawks, Bucks, and Sixers each received two votes, while the Trail Blazers got one too.

Here are a few more of the interesting responses from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

  • The Suns‘ acquisition of Chris Paul (44%) and the Bucks‘ trade for Jrue Holiday (33%) were voted the moves that will have the biggest impact this season. The Clippers‘ signing of Serge Ibaka (15%), the Pelicans‘ deal for Steven Adams (11%), and the Trail Blazers‘ trade for Robert Covington (11%) were the front-runners for the most underrated offseason player acquisition. Gordon Hayward‘s $120MM contract with the Hornets (54%) was voted the most surprising offseason move.
  • While NBA GMs view Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (39%) as the favorite to win Rookie of the Year over Warriors big man James Wiseman (29%), Wiseman received the most votes (36%) among this year’s rookies to be the best player in five years, followed by Ball (25%). Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton, meanwhile, was voted the biggest steal in the 2020 draft (43%).
  • Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic were the top choices as the player GMs would want to start a franchise with today. They each received 43% of the vote, with Lakers stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James and Pelicans youngster Zion Williamson also picking up votes.
  • Speaking of Williamson, he helped the Pelicans receive the nod for the team with the most promising young core (41%). The Grizzlies (22%), Hawks (11%), Celtics (11%), and Nuggets (11%) also got multiple votes.
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James Harden Rumors: Simmons, Sixers, Heat, Robinson

December 18th, 2020 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

After reporting on Thursday that the Sixers have been willing to discuss Ben Simmons in James Harden trade talks with the Rockets, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (video link) said during an appearance on the Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin Show today that Philadelphia will be “very careful” about including Simmons in any offer that doesn’t get them more than Harden.

While Wojnarowski doesn’t get into any specifics about what Philadelphia would want, it seems reasonable to assume that if they’re being asked to part with Simmons and draft picks, the 76ers would seek at least one more player from the Rockets — perhaps someone like P.J. Tucker. It doesn’t sound like Houston would be enthusiastic about that scenario though, per Wojnarowski, who says the Rockets will likely want Simmons “plus a bunch more assets” for just Harden.

“You saw (Sixers president of basketball operations) Daryl Morey come out yesterday and say, ‘We’re not trading Ben Simmons,'” Wojnarowski said. “Well, I certainly don’t think they’re trading Ben Simmons just in a deal that looks like it’s straight up with some picks for James Harden. I think they’re going to want a lot more than James Harden. That might not be a deal that’s available to the Sixers.”

The two sides could re-engage in discussions, but right now they aren’t close, according to Woj, who says he expects Simmons and Joel Embiid to open the season in Philadelphia.

Here’s more on Harden:

  • Although the Rockets are committed to finding the right deal, they’d be happy to get a Harden trade done “sooner than later,” Wojnarowski said this morning during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up (video link).
  • Simmons is unlikely to be traded for Harden at this time, according to Derek Bodner of The Athletic, who cautions that doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the coming months if the Simmons/Embiid duo isn’t thriving. For now though, once reports surfaced suggesting Simmons might be available, the Sixers had to publicly back their All-Star guard, Bodner writes.
  • The Heat were said to have interest in exploring a possible Harden trade and have presumably touched base with Houston. However, Ethan Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports (Twitter link) hears from multiple sources that the inclusion of Duncan Robinson in a possible offer is a “major sticking point” — in other words, the Rockets would want him and Miami wouldn’t want to give him up.
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) expanded his breakdown of teams that could theoretically make a run at Harden from nine to 14, adding long shots like the Cavaliers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Kings.
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Sixers Open To Discussing Ben Simmons In Harden Trade Talks?

December 17th, 2020 at 6:43pm CST by Luke Adams

6:43pm: Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has responded to the reports on Simmons’ potential availability, issuing the following statement to Charania (Twitter link): “We are not trading Ben Simmons — he is an important part of our future.”

While Morey’s statement suggests there will be no traction anytime soon on a swap involving Harden and Simmons, that possibility can’t be entirely ruled out. With both ESPN and The Athletic reporting on the Sixers’ openness to discussing Simmons, there’s likely something to it, and Morey has made this sort of declaration before about a player he later traded.

5:51pm: The Sixers have “signaled a willingness” to include Ben Simmons in trade packages for James Harden, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne. Shams Charania of The Athletic is hearing the same thing, tweeting that the 76ers have made Simmons available in talks with the Rockets for Harden.

However, ESPN’s duo reports that those discussions have “come nowhere close” to a deal, and Charania conveys a similar sentiment, writing that conversations between the two teams “aren’t fluid” for the time being.

While the Rockets and 76ers haven’t gained any momentum toward an agreement, Houston is increasingly expanding trade talks beyond Harden’s preferred destinations, according to Wojnarowski and Shelburne. Sources tell ESPN that the Rockets are engaged in ongoing discussions on several fronts and have been keeping in touch with Harden about those scenarios.

A number of playoff-caliber teams in the East and West are feeling “less inhibited” about trading for Harden without any assurances that they’d be able to keep him beyond his opt-out date in 2022, according to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, who add that those teams appear increasingly comfortable discussing high-level trade assets.

For their part, the Rockets haven’t moved off their reported asking price of a young franchise cornerstone and draft picks, and are prepared to open the season with Harden on their roster, per Woj and Shelburne. However, ESPN’s duo says the Rockets are also signaling to teams that they’re willing to complete a trade sooner rather than later if the right deal arises.

A report last week indicated that the Sixers appear best positioned to acquire Harden if they’re willing to part with Simmons — that still seems to be the case, though Philadelphia and Houston would have to haggle over what else would be included in a hypothetical swap of the All-Star guards. One recent report suggested the Rockets would want three first-round picks in addition to Simmons, which seems unrealistic.

The Rockets’ interest in the Nets‘ assets is limited, sources tell ESPN, so a third team may be necessary to get the former MVP to Brooklyn.

Harden’s list of preferred destinations reportedly includes Milwaukee and Miami as well, though the Bucks aren’t believed to be interested in pursuing a deal, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN said today on his Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM). The Heat sound more open to exploring the possibility of adding Harden, and ESPN’s report suggests that other teams may be in the mix as well.

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Southwest Notes: Harden, Rockets, K. Johnson, D. White, Mavs

December 17th, 2020 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Within his latest look at the James Harden saga in Houston, Sam Amick of The Athletic writes that the Rockets star’s “ball-dominant style, defensive reputation and personality” appear to be limiting the amount of interest on the trade market. Teams not on Harden’s reported wish list have concerns about both cost and fit, says Amick.

“Harden is a terrific scorer, but not a champion,” one front office executive told The Athletic. “He isn’t a two-way player and (he’s) hard to play with. … He is so used to getting his own way, I think there are concerns he can negatively affect a team’s culture.”

While Harden’s preferred landing spot – the Nets, Sixers, Bucks, and Heat – may be more viable destinations, rival executives are “extremely skeptical” that Houston and Brooklyn will reach a deal, and Milwaukee looks like a long shot too, according to Amick.

Philadelphia may be the most viable option, given Daryl Morey‘s strong affinity for Harden, but the 76ers are committed to giving the Ben Simmons/Joel Embiid duo an opportunity to play under Doc Rivers. As for Miami, sources close to the situation are skeptical that the Heat will want to try to assimilate Harden into their culture built on “discipline and dirty work,” says Amick.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • The Rockets announced today that they plan to host fans at the Toyota Center to start the season, with a reduced capacity and healthy and safety protocols in place. The team is expected to allow between 3,000 and 3,700 in the building, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
  • Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said on Tuesday that second-year forward Keldon Johnson, who has been sidelined so far this month due to a foot injury, won’t be ready for the team’s regular season opener, but could be good to go in “a couple of weeks,” writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. Derrick White (left toe surgery) will likely be out longer than that, per Popovich. “(Johnson is) going 3-on-3 now,” Popovich said. “He has contact and he’s competing. … Derrick’s further behind (in his rehab). He’s not out on the floor competing or doing anything of that nature.”
  • The Mavericks achieved their offseason goals of improving their defense and gaining more future cap flexibility, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who surprisingly projects the club to finish with the second-best record in the Western Conference (47-25).
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Sixers Release Ryan Broekhoff, Derrick Walton

December 15th, 2020 at 7:18am CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 15: The Sixers have officially waived Broekhoff and Walton, per RealGM’s transactions log.

DECEMBER 14: The Sixers will part ways with a pair of players on their 20-man camp roster, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who reports (via Twitter) that the club is waiving wing Ryan Broekhoff and guard Derrick Walton.

Broekhoff and Walton each signed one-year, minimum-salary contracts with the 76ers last month. Neither player had a guaranteed salary, however, so Philadelphia won’t be on the hook for dead money as a result of the cuts.

Broekhoff, 30, spent most of the last two seasons with the Mavericks after having played overseas for five years. The former Valparaiso sharpshooter averaged 4.0 PPG with a .403 3PT% in 59 games (10.7 MPG) for Dallas.

Walton, 25, made his NBA debut with Miami back in 2017/18. He spent most of the ’19/20 season with the Clippers, averaging 2.2 PPG and 1.0 APG in limited minutes (9.7 MPG) over 23 games for the club.

Philadelphia will be carry 18 players, including a pair on two-way deals, once Broekhoff and Walton are officially released. The battle for the final spot on the team’s 15-man regular season roster may come down to Vincent Poirier, who has a fully guaranteed salary, and Justin Anderson, who doesn’t.

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2020/21 NBA Over/Unders: Atlantic Division

December 14th, 2020 at 3:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2020/21 NBA regular season will get underway on December 22, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign.

With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

Of course, there are plenty of wild cards to take into account this season. For one, teams are scheduled to play 72 games instead of 82, so if you’re picking a team to win 41 games, you’re not just expecting them to be a .500 club — you’re projecting them to finish 10 games above .500. For each team’s over/under below, we’ve noted the record they’d have to achieve to finish “over” their projection, as a reminder.

It’s also worth noting that the coronavirus pandemic could cause some games to be canceled in 2020/21. We don’t want you to have to take possible cancellations into account when making your picks though, so don’t let that stop you from taking the “over.” If a team has a couple games canceled, we’ll adjust their over/under figure downward, so you’re essentially just projecting that team’s winning percentage.

We’ll kick things off today with the Atlantic division…

Boston Celtics

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Celtics poll.

Brooklyn Nets

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Nets poll.

Philadelphia 76ers

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Sixers poll.

Toronto Raptors

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Raptors poll.

New York Knicks

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Knicks poll.

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Harden Practices With Rockets, Will Play Tuesday

December 14th, 2020 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

After registering six negative coronavirus tests, star guard James Harden practiced with the Rockets on Monday for the first time this season, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

Head coach Stephen Silas, who confirmed that P.J. Tucker also returned to practice for the Rockets, said that both Harden and Tucker looked “very good.” Silas added that he and Harden had a good conversation, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

“He was locked in and asking good questions,” Silas said of Harden, adding that the plan is for the 31-year-old to play in Houston’s preseason game on Tuesday vs. San Antonio (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN).

As we relayed this morning, Harden hasn’t backed off his desire to be traded at all and is still pushing Houston to move him. However, he has reportedly told the team that he’ll be “professional and engaged” until a trade occurs, recognizing that keeping his value high will increase the Rockets’ chances of finding a deal they like.

It doesn’t appear that any Harden trade talks have gotten serious so far, with teams unwilling to meet the Rockets’ high asking price so far. Yaron Weitzman reported earlier today (via Twitter) that Houston wants three first-round picks in addition to Ben Simmons in a deal with Philadelphia. I’m skeptical that the Rockets’ asking price will stay that high, but given that the Sixers haven’t even put Simmons on the table yet, it’s fair to assume the two sides remain far apart.

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And-Ones: Doncic, Lin, G League, Duffy

December 14th, 2020 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

A panel of eight NBA scouts and executives polled by Tim Bontemps of ESPN nearly unanimously view LeBron James as the league’s best player, but voted Luka Doncic as the frontrunner for the MVP award in 2021.

“It’s hard to see Giannis winning three in a row,” a Western Conference scout told ESPN. “And I think there’s more of an opportunity for Luka to kind of put on an MVP show and do more on an individual basis.”

Bontemps also had those scouts and execs weigh in with their thoughts on the 2020 offseason, polling them on which teams had the most success upgrading their roster in either the short or long term — or both. Half the panelists picked the Lakers as the team that had the best offseason, with the Hawks, Thunder, and Sixers also receiving votes. Meanwhile, the Pistons, Rockets, and Bucks got votes for the worst offseason.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Free agent guard Jeremy Lin practiced this weekend with the G League Ignite ahead of their scrimmages on Tuesday and Thursday, league sources tell Adam Zagoria of Forbes (Twitter link). Lin wasn’t among the veteran players previously announced as part of the Ignite, but Zagoria suggests in his full story that the veteran is expected to suit up with the squad on Tuesday.
  • Dakota Schmidt of Ridiculous Upside is keeping tabs on which teams are expected to opt in and out of the G League’s proposed Atlanta-area bubble. With the NBA’s opening night just over a week away, it seems like a formal update on the plans for the NBAGL should be right around the corner.
  • After making a clerical error that cost client Anthony Carter approximately $3MM in 2003, agent Bill Duffy vowed to repay Carter in full and has made good on that promise, making the last of his payments to Carter this year, as Sopan Deb writes in an interesting story for The New York Times.
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Hollinger Praises Sixers' Offseason Moves

December 14th, 2020 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have 15 players with guaranteed salaries for the 2020/21 season, which means that – on paper – their roster for the regular season appears set. However, if the team wants to hang onto veteran forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, whose deal isn’t guaranteed, one of those 15 others will have to be traded or released.

“You know who (Kidd-Gilchrist) is and he’s trying to find a way onto the roster,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said over the weekend, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. “Michael’s always been a terrific competitor. Health comes first, we want him healthy and then we’ll go from there.”

It’s not clear yet whether the Knicks are committed to getting Kidd-Gilchrist – who has missed the first two preseason games with an illness – onto the regular season roster. But if he makes the team, Omari Spellman appears to be a candidate to be waived to make room, sources tell Bondy.

Spellman was dealt to New York last month along with Jacob Evans and a second-round pick in exchange for Ed Davis. That trade appeared to be mostly about the future draft pick for the Knicks, who have already cut Evans.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • John Hollinger of The Athletic liked the Sixers‘ offseason moves, which created better fits on the roster while giving the team more long-term cap flexibility. However, he still wants to see proof that the team can be more than the sum of its parts rather than less, as it was last season.
  • With a left knee contusion sidelining Caris LeVert for the Nets‘ preseason opener on Sunday, Spencer Dinwiddie got the start in his place. Head coach Steve Nash isn’t sure whether or not that arrangement might become permanent, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “Caris is a starter. Will he start for us? I’m not sure,” Nash said. “He’s so good with the ball in his hands. There’s a case to be made that he plays that (Manu) Ginobili role, where he’s clearly a starter. Manu played in All-Star games, started on the bench, ran the second unit and closed games.”
  • Kyrie Irving‘s return and Kevin Durant‘s debut for the Nets on Sunday couldn’t have gone much better, says Lewis in a separate New York Post story. While Durant didn’t quite look like peak KD, he score 15 points in 24 minutes and said after the game that he felt healthy, calling it a “good first step.”
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‘No Change’ In James Harden’s Desire For Trade

December 14th, 2020 at 7:35am CST by Luke Adams

With James Harden on the verge of taking his sixth coronavirus test and being cleared to practice with the Rockets, there has been “no change” in his desire to be dealt to a new team, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Although Harden would prefer to be playing elsewhere, he has expressed to Rockets ownership and management that he intends to be “professional and engaged,” per Shelburne and Wojnarowski. As the ESPN duo explains, the former MVP is aware that tanking his value would hinder Houston’s ability to complete a deal. He’s also willing to be patient, recognizing that it may take some time for the Rockets to find the right return.

The Rockets have been holding out hope that Harden may still come around to believing in the team’s ability to contend, and John Wall expressed over the weekend that he thinks he and Harden and be “a heck of a combination.”

However, the 31-year-old has been “unmoved” by the acquisition of Wall, sources tell ESPN. As Shelburne and Woj explain, it’s not personal with Wall — Harden simply hasn’t changed his view that he’d have a better chance to compete for a title elsewhere.

The Rockets have touched base with the Nets and Sixers, the top two teams on Harden’s wish list, sources tell ESPN. However, Philadelphia is still unwilling to offer Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid in any deal for Harden, and Houston remains unenthusiastic about a Brooklyn package that would consist of “complementary players” and draft picks.

A hypothetical trade with the Nets may have to involve a third team that could send the Rockets the sort of young franchise cornerstone they’re seeking, according to Shelburne and Wojnarowski, who add that neither Brooklyn nor Houston has expressed interest in a package centered around Kyrie Irving.

ESPN’s report doesn’t mention any talks with teams besides the Nets and 76ers, though that doesn’t mean that none have taken place. Harden has also reportedly added the Bucks and Heat to his list, and Miami is said to be interested in exploring the possibility of a deal. Additionally, since Harden has no power to veto trades, the Rockets could cast a much wider net as they looks to maximize their potential return for Harden.

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