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Heat Weren’t Aggressive In Pursuit Of Kevin Durant

August 28th, 2022 at 11:56am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant reportedly listed Miami as one of his preferred destinations when he demanded a trade from the Nets, but the Heat didn’t make a strong effort to acquire him, Shams Charania of The Athletic said in an appearance on the Stugotz podcast.

Heat officials believed it would cost too much of their roster to trade for Durant, added Charania, who said that the last contact between the two teams regarding Durant occurred either before or during Summer League.

Charania noted that Miami reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season and didn’t see a need for major changes. He pointed to hypothetical trades involving Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro or Adebayo, Max Strus and another player and asked whether that really gets Miami any closer to winning a title.

On top of that, any consideration of trading Adebayo would have been limited by the designated rookie extension rule, which would have prevented the Nets from having both him and Ben Simmons on their roster at the same time. A third team would have been needed to complete a deal, which made the prospects of a trade even less realistic.

Durant also was interested in joining the Suns, but Charania hears that Brooklyn didn’t want Deandre Ayton in return. Ayton became ineligible for a sign-and-trade this summer after Phoenix matched his offer sheet from the Pacers.

Charania said there were opportunities to deal Durant, but no one was willing to meet the Nets’ asking price. The Celtics wouldn’t part with Marcus Smart or Robert Williams along with Jaylen Brown, while the Raptors weren’t willing to include Scottie Barnes in trade talks. Charania said Brooklyn could have made a deal that was heavy on draft compensation with the Suns, Grizzlies or Timberwolves before they sent their assets to Utah for Rudy Gobert, but the Nets were only interested in trades that would keep them competitive.

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Western Notes: Suns, Durant, Green, Tillie, Holmgren, Mitchell

August 27th, 2022 at 3:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns coach Monty Williams never discussed the Kevin Durant trade rumors with his players, he said during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio (hat tip to Dana Scott of the Arizona Republic).

“When I first heard about the Kevin Durant stuff, I was kind of blown away by it just because, you know, we’ve been so blessed here to have guys want to come,” Williams said. “At the same time, ‘At the expense of what?’ was my thinking. And I like our team. I love our guys. But I wasn’t going to have conversations that didn’t need to be had.”

Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder were among the names speculated as part of the talks between Brooklyn and Phoenix.

“I think our guys are mature enough to understand that part of our business,” Williams said. “I didn’t want to have conversations about stuff that didn’t need to be brought up.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • Danny Green‘s contract may be the reason he makes the Grizzlies’ roster, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. Green is on the roster bubble as he recovers from a torn ACL that will likely keep him out of action until at least the second half of the season. However, his expiring $10MM contract is one of the team’s best trade chips. Forward Killian Tillie may be the odd man out if Green isn’t traded, though he could still find his way onto the roster due to his shooting ability and position versatility.
  • Thunder big man Chet Holmgren, declared out for the season due to a foot injury suffered during a pro-am event, is hardly the first high-profile rookie in that predicament, Drew Maresca of Basketball News notes. Joel Embiid, Blake Griffin, Nerlens Noel, Michael Porter Jr. and Ben Simmons were some of the other highly-touted prospects who had to sit out a full year due to injuries.
  • The Jazz are reportedly trying to get the best offer for Donovan Mitchell prior to training camp and Sarah Todd of the Deseret News believes that’s a wise approach. She notes that Utah isn’t out to win this coming season, so there’s no reason to keep the All-Star on the roster, while the team that acquires him will want him to build chemistry with his new teammates. It would avoid the awkwardness of having Mitchell in their camp while trade rumors swirl.
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Bridges, Johnson And Ayton All Have Big Opportunity Next Season

August 24th, 2022 at 5:46pm CST by Rory Maher
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Western Notes: Suns, Durant, Bridges, Bogdanovic, Beasley, Garza

August 23rd, 2022 at 5:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Suns were never truly in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7. While the Suns had multiple conversations with the Nets this offseason, none of them occurred in recent weeks.

The Nets wanted a better haul than the Jazz received from the Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert.

Forward Mikal Bridges was never offered because neither side made a formal proposal, Gambadoro adds (Twitter links). The Suns simply didn’t have the assets Brooklyn insisted upon and they would not give up franchise player Devin Booker.

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • With Durant pulling back on his trade request, the Suns will look to obtain a post-up power forward, perhaps via free agency, Gambadoro tweets. They have an open roster spot and the taxpayer mid-level exception still available to them. Our updated list of unsigned free agents can be found here.
  • If the Jazz go into fire sale mode, there are several rotation players on their roster that could help the Grizzlies, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. That list includes wing Bojan Bogdanovic — who could slide in nicely alongside Ja Morant and Desmond Bane — as well shooting guard Malik Beasley and veteran power forward Rudy Gay.
  • Luka Garza‘s contract with the Timberwolves is an Exhibit 10 deal, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Minnesota officially signed the second-year big man on Tuesday. He’ll compete for a roster spot but could become an affiliate player for the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League team. He’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he is waived and then spends at least 60 days with Iowa.
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Grizzlies Among Teams Inquiring On Kevin Durant

August 22nd, 2022 at 8:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies are showing interest in Kevin Durant and have made “new inquiries” on the Nets‘ star forward, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

As Charania writes within his round-up of the latest Durant-related rumors from around the NBA, the Grizzlies could include up to five first-round picks in a package for the two-time Finals MVP (their own 2023, 2025, 2027, and 2029 selections, plus Golden State’s top-four protected 2024 pick). The team also has a bevy of young talent on its roster beyond star guard Ja Morant, including Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, Ziaire Williams, Brandon Clarke, Kennedy Chandler, and David Roddy.

However, according to Charania, Memphis hasn’t appeared inclined to offer Jackson or Bane (or, of course, Morant) in a deal for Durant, preferring to build an offer around their draft picks. Given that the Nets are reportedly seeking a win-now return for Durant, that sort of offer is unlikely to pique their interest, even if the picks are unprotected — those first-rounders may have to be rerouted to a third team that could send Brooklyn the kind of impact players the team is seeking.

While the Grizzlies are an intriguing new suitor for Durant, there are still a number of other teams in the mix. The Celtics, Raptors, and Heat remain among the most significant threats to land the 33-year-old, Charania says, though Toronto has continued to resist including Scottie Barnes and Miami has “yet to seriously engage” in any discussions involving Bam Adebayo. Boston, meanwhile, has been unwilling to include Marcus Smart or Robert Williams in addition to Jaylen Brown, Charania says.

The Suns also remain involved, offering up Mikal Bridges and a series of draft picks, according to Charania, but they appear to be behind those Eastern teams among Durant’s most serious suitors.

Charania identifies the Sixers, Bucks, Nuggets, and Pelicans as some of the other teams that have expressed interest in Durant, though he confirms that New Orleans deemed Brandon Ingram untouchable.

According to Charania, the Hawks also made an offer for Durant, putting John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, and a draft pick on the table. The details of that pick are unclear, but Atlanta could trade its own 2023 and 2029 first-rounders or Sacramento’s lottery-protected 2024 pick.

Although Charania doesn’t specify exactly how the Nets felt about the Hawks’ offer, he says none of Brooklyn’s discussions have gained any serious traction. There are still five weeks before training camps get underway, which could be a fraught week for the Nets, assuming Durant remains on the roster — it’s unclear whether or not he’ll show up to camp if his trade request hasn’t been granted.

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More Than 30 NBA Players On Track To Suit Up For EuroBasket

August 18th, 2022 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The first EuroBasket tournament in five years will tip off in two weeks and there are currently 34 NBA players on track to participate in the event, representing 17 different countries, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net.

EuroBasket is a 24-team international basketball competition also known as the European Basketball Championship. It historically took place every two years, but that gap was recently adjusted to four years, emulating the FIBA World Cup schedule.

The last EuroBasket tournament was played in 2017 — the next one had been scheduled for 2021, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. As a result, after being played every two years since 1947, it has now been five years since the last EuroBasket tournament, easily the longest layoff since World War II.

It’s possible that some NBA players will be cut from their teams’ rosters or will have to drop out due to injuries or personal reasons before the event begins on September 1, but in general enthusiasm to participate in the long-awaited event appears high.

Here’s the list of NBAers currently set to play in EuroBasket, per Eurohoops:

There are also multiple NBA free agents on EuroBasket rosters, including French swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and German guard Dennis Schröder.

A number of young NBA players, such as 2022 draftees Jeremy Sochan and Nikola Jovic, have dropped out to focus on getting ready for the 2022/23 season, while others, including Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) and Frank Ntilikina (France), were ruled out due to injuries.

Round robin play will begin on September 1, with each team facing the other five clubs in its group once. The top four teams in each group will advance to a 16-team bracket that begins on September 10. The final will take place on September 18, just over a week before NBA training camps get underway.

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NBA To Release Full 2022/23 Schedule On Wednesday

August 16th, 2022 at 9:04am CST by Luke Adams

9:04am: The NBA’s schedule announcement is set for 3:00 pm Eastern time (2:00 pm CT) on Wednesday, the league has confirmed (via Twitter).

7:50am: The NBA will announce its full schedule for the 2022/23 regular season on Wednesday, league sources tell veteran reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).

A handful of key matchups on the coming season’s schedule have been reported in recent days, including all five Christmas Day games and a Warriors/Lakers season opener.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Celtics and Sixers will also play in Boston on opening night, which will fall on Tuesday, October 18.

Other newly reported matchups from the NBA’s opening week include the Suns hosting the Mavericks on October 19 after being blown out in Phoenix in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals by that same Dallas team (Twitter link via Charania); and the new-look Timberwolves hosting Rudy Gobert‘s old team, the Jazz, on October 21 (Twitter link via Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports). The Wolves will visit Utah for the first time on December 9, Haynes reports.

The fact that the season will officially begin on October 18 means that Monday, October 17 will be a key deadline to watch. That will be the last day for teams to set their 15-man rosters for the regular season, to convert Exhibit 10 contracts into two-way deals, to complete sign-and-trades, and to sign players to rookie scale extensions.

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Jerry Colangelo Would Like To See Suns Land Durant

August 15th, 2022 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Former Suns head of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo said he’d “love to see” Kevin Durant land in Phoenix, according to Doug Haller of The Athletic, who draws parallels between a possible Durant acquisition and Colangelo’s trade that brought Charles Barkley to the Suns back in 1992.
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Pacific Notes: James, Spencer, Kings, Jones

August 12th, 2022 at 8:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

As the Lakers regroup from a miserable 2021/22 season, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer wonders if aging superstar forward LeBron James would benefit from taking a page out of Kevin Durant‘s book and requesting a trade away from Los Angeles on his current expiring deal.

O’Connor writes that, if the Lakers are unable to trade for James’s old running mate Kyrie Irving, the team could consider trying to trade for Pacers veterans Myles Turner and Buddy Hield or Jazz guards Patrick Beverley and Jordan Clarkson. O’Connor opines that James should wait to sign an extension with Los Angeles until next summer, after seeing what moves Los Angeles makes to try to return to title contention.

Later, O’Connor reviews potential landing destinations for James should he (hypothetically) demand to be traded, including the Suns, the Knicks, the Trail Blazers, and a few familiar locales.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • In an interview with Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle, Warriors training camp invitee Pat Spencer discussed his decision to move on from a decorated four-year lacrosse career at Loyola University Maryland. The 6’3″ guard subsequently played a season of NCAA basketball as a graduate-transfer student at Northwestern for the 2019/20 season. Following his tenure as a Wildcat, Spencer played in Germany and with the Wizards’ NBAGL affiliate the Capital City Go-Go. “I can’t really articulate what I love so much about basketball,” Spencer said. “It’s always been my first love, with lacrosse a close second.”
  • Sleep Train Arena, the former home court of the Kings for 28 seasons, is being demolished to make way for a new 730,000-square foot hospital, plus 3,000 new residences, a theater, shops and trails, per Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. Sacramento moved to the newly-constructed Golden 1 Center in 2016, as a condition of the club’s sale to majority owner Vivek Ranadive in 2013.
  • The specter of a possible Suns trade for Kevin Durant could linger through the start of the regular season. Greg Moore of the Arizona Republic thinks Phoenix president James Jones should determine a definitive deadline when he will stop considering a trade for Durant, to avoid having that uncertainty linger for several more months.
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Pacific Notes: Kings, Suns, Saric, LeBron

August 11th, 2022 at 5:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

In taking stock of the Kings‘ entire 2022/23 roster, Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee finds some reasons for optimism.

Biderman cites the two-way upside and on-court fit of rookie Keegan Murray, the Summer League MVP and No. 4 overall draft pick this year, as a key part of the sunny outlook for Sacramento this season.

As Biderman notes, star point guard De’Aaron Fox struggled to connect consistently from long range for the bulk of the season, but made 38% of his triples across his final 16 contests, following the team’s trade for center Domantas Sabonis. Biderman considers Murray, Fox, Sabonis and second-year guard Davion Mitchell, the ninth pick in 2021 out of Baylor, to be the club’s core moving forward.

Biderman also expresses enthusiasm for the three-point shooting help that should be provided by new additions Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

  • The Suns may be able to build on their continuity after two relatively successful seasons, but Bobby Marks of ESPN (YouTube video link) wonders how newly re-signed center Deandre Ayton will fit in following a tense postseason and summer. Marks ultimately projects a repeat of the team’s regular-season dominance in 2021/22. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst opines that the Suns could look to move veteran starting power forward Jae Crowder, a free agent in 2023, by the season’s trade deadline.
  • After missing 2021/22 with a torn ACL in his right knee, Suns big man Dario Saric talked about returning to game action for Croatia this summer, writes Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. “The feeling of being back is fantastic,” Saric said. “After the end of the NBA season, I trained there until mid-July. I was preparing to be as fit as possible. I feel good.”
  • Discussing LeBron James‘ contract situation, Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter video link) opines that it might behoove the Lakers‘ All-Star forward to follow the example set by Sixers guard James Harden. Harden opted out of the final year of his deal this summer before ultimately taking a pay cut so that Philadelphia management could add more quality depth around Harden and Joel Embiid than would have otherwise been possible. If James takes the same route, it could potentially open up a maximum-salary slot for L.A. next summer, Bontemps observes.
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