- Amid rumors that the Suns are confident about their chances of acquiring Miles Bridges from the Hornets, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports argues against the move, saying the organization shouldn’t be considering someone with Bridges’ history of domestic violence. Bourguet also speculates that Phoenix hasn’t moved on Bridges already because it fears a backlash from fans.
Within a look at some of the potential trade targets who have recently been linked to the Suns, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports reports that a source close to the situation has described Phoenix as “very confident” about its ability to make a competitive offer for Hornets forward Miles Bridges. Bourguet adds that Charlotte center Nick Richards is also a target, but that the team would likely only be able to acquire one Hornet or the other due to salary-matching considerations.
Bourguet also confirms that Nets forward Royce O’Neale is a legitimate target for the Suns, observing that O’Neale is more attainable than Dorian Finney-Smith due to his expiring contract and smaller cap hit.
The Suns would almost certainly need to use Nassir Little ($6.25MM) as their primary outgoing salary piece in any trade and would need to get to within 10% of the incoming salary, so acquiring a player who is earning much more than O’Neale ($9.5MM) would be tricky. Phoenix would presumably need to add one or two minimum-salary players and multiple second-round picks to its package for either Bridges or O’Neale.
The buyout market could also prove fruitful for the Suns, Bourguet writes, even though they’ll be prohibited from signing a player whose pre-waiver salary exceeds $12.4MM. P.J. Tucker would have interest in Phoenix if he’s bought out, according to Bourguet, who says the team has also been in touch with center Bismack Biyombo, a current free agent.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Veteran guard Alex Caruso, who left the Lakers for the Bulls as a free agent in 2021, tells Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports that he still sometimes thinks about how things would have played out if he had remained in Los Angeles. “Yeah, definitely,” Caruso said. “Just because of how well I played with them when I was here. I know how I supported them. And I’ve gotten better. I was expecting myself to get better. It’s actually what had to move me on. I kept getting better and eventually I was at a point where I couldn’t stay here. I definitely have always thought about it because those guys (LeBron James and Anthony Davis) are my brothers. We’ve been through a lot together. Always good seeing them. Every now and then you think about what could’ve been.”
- Rival coaches and executives are praising Clippers head of basketball operations Lawrence Frank for the way his gamble on James Harden has paid off so far, according to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I didn’t think it would work out,” one exec said. “A lot of people didn’t think it would work out. But he had it right. Russell (Westbrook) is playing within himself. Harden is sharing the ball. They have great chemistry right now.”
- In a conversation with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Clippers wing Norman Powell spoke about his impressions of Harden and Westbrook as teammates, the role that coach Tyronn Lue has played in the team’s success, and how these Clippers compare to the 2019 champion Raptors, among other topics.
- Viewed as a probable outgoing piece if the Kings make a major deadline trade, Harrison Barnes has been on a heater this week, scoring 32 points on Monday and a career-high 39 on Thursday, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes.
After being considered a game-time decision leading into Friday’s contest vs. Oklahoma City, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson was later ruled out with a bone contusion in his left foot, the team announced (via Twitter).
Williamson has a history of foot injuries, having missed the entire 2021/22 season with a broken fifth metatarsal on his right foot. Obviously though, this new injury is on the opposite foot, and there’s no indication that it will be a long-term issue — head coach Willie Green said imaging on Williamson’s foot “came back clean,” tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com.
The former No. 1 overall pick is averaging 21.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 4.8 APG in 36 games this season. Friday was his ninth missed game in ’23/24.
Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Starting Magic guard Jalen Suggs sustained a bruised left knee on Friday and was ruled out for the remainder of the matchup with Memphis, per the team (Twitter link). As a third-year former first-round pick, Suggs will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.
- As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel tweets, Suggs isn’t the only Magic backcourt member injured at the moment. Veteran guard Gary Harris still isn’t doing contact work yet as he continues to recover from a right calf strain, per head coach Jamahl Mosley. Friday was Harris’ 11th consecutive missed game.
- Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr. was in “tremendous pain” after falling on his left wrist during Friday’s win over Atlanta, according to Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Jones went straight to the locker room and was later ruled out with a left wrist sprain, per the Mavs (Twitter link).
- Suns center Jusuf Nurkic exited Friday’s loss to Indiana due to left thumb injury and did not return, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. After the game, Nurkic said he jammed his thumb a few times, but X-rays were negative (Twitter link via Rankin). Guard Bradley Beal also exited Friday’s game after being inadvertently hit in the nose by Myles Turner, but he was able to return to the contest, Rankin adds. Head coach Frank Vogel said Beal may have suffered a broken nose, Rankin tweets. Beal said he didn’t feel any concussion symptoms but he couldn’t breathe out of his nose, with blood continuing to be an issue, per Rankin (Twitter link).
- Raptors two-way big man Jontay Porter had to leave Friday’s game vs. the Clippers due to an eye injury he sustained earlier in the week vs. Memphis, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, who says Porter was cleared by an eye specialist on Friday and he has a follow-up appointment on Saturday (Twitter links).
The Jazz, Suns, and Pistons are among the teams that have called the Hornets to inquire on forward Miles Bridges, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
Bridges, 25, is considered a potential trade candidate for a Hornets team that appears lottery-bound and already moved one key player (Terry Rozier) this week in exchange for a first-round pick. Bridges has been productive in his return to the court this season, averaging 20.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 37.0 minutes per game across 31 appearances, with a shooting line of .455/.355/.866.
However, Bridges’ trade value is complicated by a couple factors. One is his contract situation. Having accepted his qualifying offer as a restricted free agent last summer, Bridges will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. He also has the ability to veto a trade and would lose his Bird rights if he’s dealt this season, which could affect what a team is willing to give up to acquire him.
The other factor limiting Bridges’ trade value is his legal situation off the court. The Hornets forward sat out the entire 2022/23 season following accusations of domestic violence and has faced new allegations following the resolution of that case. While the former Michigan State star would be an ideal fit on the court for many teams seeking another wing or forward with size, there may be teams unwilling to pursue him due to the off-court allegations.
According to Fischer, the Jazz are viewed as both a buyer and seller at this season’s trade deadline. While players like Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, and Talen Horton-Tucker are considered available, Utah is also keeping an eye out for possible additions who could help the team win now. One item on the Jazz’s wish list is a veteran who could handle point guard duties while rookie Keyonte George continues to learn the ropes. Hawks guard Dejounte Murray is one player Utah has expressed interest in, says Fischer.
The Suns’ interest in Bridges was reported earlier this week and has since been confirmed by Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Unlike Utah and Detroit, Phoenix isn’t in position to open up cap room this summer to potentially re-sign Bridges and would likely have to view him as a rental. However, if the cost is modest enough due to Bridges’ expiring contract and legal issues – perhaps Nassir Little and a couple second-round picks – the Suns would still be interested.
According to Fischer, the Suns are eyeing potential rotation players at various positions who could be acquired using Little as the primary outgoing salary-matching piece. That group includes guards Delon Wright and Monte Morris, forwards Jae’Sean Tate and Royce O’Neale, and center Nick Richards.
As for the Pistons, they project to have significant cap room this summer and appear to be attempting to get a head-start on free agency by acquiring a player to whom they could dedicate a chunk of that room. They were linked to Pascal Siakam before he was sent to Indiana and have reportedly discussed Zach LaVine as well.
In his latest Substack article, Marc Stein says that those talks with the Bulls about LaVine have “by no means gone dormant,” noting that the Pistons maintain interest in the two-time All-Star.
Japan won its first FIBA World Cup game in 17 years in 2023, and Suns wing Yuta Watanabe was a big part of that team. Watanabe reminisced on his summer in a conversation with HoopsHype’s Sam Yip, expressing optimism for Japan’s future in basketball.
“If I’m going to retire in five, six years in a realistic world, we [are probably] not going to be one of the top teams in the world in five years, but I think at least we will be good enough to compete against those great teams,” Watanabe said. “I mean we did a good job against Germany and Australia in the World Cup. We lost by 20 but we won the second half. I think in five, six years we gonna be there to compete against those teams.”
We have more from around the basketball world:
- French wing Zaccharie Risacher is making a case to be one of the first players selected in the 2024 draft during a historically productive season, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo writes (ESPN+ link). Risacher boasts a mix of positional size, scoring, play-making, defense and smarts, according to Woo. His physical profile is similar to that of Shane Battier and Ziaire Williams. Woo breaks down the rest of Risacher’s game, explaining why he could go No. 1 overall and considering which teams might make sense for him.
- The 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game roster was unveiled on ESPN on Tuesday, and it features potential 2025 No. 1 overall picks Cooper Flagg and Ace Bailey (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jonathan Givony). Kentucky commit Boogie Fland, Duke commit Isaiah Evans, Washington commit Zoom Diallo and Rutgers commit Dylan Harper are among others featured on the rosters.
- Ahead of the All-Star starters being unveiled earlier Thursday, The Ringer’s Michael Pina broke down his official starter ballot, as well as who he thinks the reserves should be. Pina voted for Tyrese Haliburton, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic, all of which mirrored the official selections. However, Pina had New York’s Jalen Brunson over Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard on his ballot. He also picked the Lakers’ Anthony Davis and the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard over LeBron James and Phoenix’s Kevin Durant. Check out the rest of his selections here.
The Kings have expressed trade interest in Nets forwards Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale, according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, who made his comments during The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross (hat tip to HoopsHype). Amick said the Kings are a bad defensive team looking to get better, and those two in particular could help.
Finney-Smith and O’Neale are both valued assets leaguewide and Sacramento’s interest is the latest in a series of rumors surrounding Brooklyn’s pieces. The two players — along with Spencer Dinwiddie, who’s also involved in trade rumors — are the oldest on the Nets’ roster, and win-now teams seem to be targeting them for their veteran presence and two-way versatility.
Finney-Smith, making about $13.4MM this year, is averaging 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 37.8% from beyond the arc. He’s under contract through at least 2024/25, and has a player option for the following season. O’Neale is making $9.5MM this year and is set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season. He’s averaging 7.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists this year.
It’s unclear what Brooklyn would covet from Sacramento’s side in a potential trade. Kevin Huerter and Davion Mitchell are among players who could help fill out a trade from a salary standpoint.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Huerter, Mitchell and Harrison Barnes have been mentioned in possible trade packages for weeks now, and The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson writes that it could be weighing on a Kings team that recently went on a season-long four-game losing streak. “Everybody’s human, so everybody feels it in some way shape or form,” head coach Mike Brown said. “You can talk about it as much as you want or as little as you want, but at the end of the day rumors and speculation are rampant as the trade deadlines nears every year for every team. It’s part of our business. You’ve just got to deal with it and keep moving forward as best you can.”
- Given how the team’s payroll is structured, the Suns don’t have many contracts that would be useful for salary-matching. The three maximum-salary stars aren’t going anywhere, and the team values Jusuf Nurkic ($16.9MM) and Grayson Allen ($8.9MM), per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports, which leaves Nassir Little ($6.3MM) as potentially the biggest available salary on the books. Bourguet sifts through 30 trade scenarios, sorting them based on their likelihood.
- Lakers superstars LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (Achilles) were both listed as questionable ahead of Thursday’s game against the Bulls (Twitter link via Los Angeles Times’ Brad Turner). However, both were upgraded to available ahead of the game and started (Twitter link). James didn’t play the previous contest against the Clippers, but Davis hasn’t missed a game since Dec. 15.
The NBA revealed the 2024 All-Star Game starters on Thursday night, with Lakers forward LeBron James leading the pack with his record-breaking 20th straight selection. James has been a starter since 2005, his second season in the league, and broke his tie with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most selections in league history (Twitter link via NBA PR).
James and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will serve as captains. Joining James as Western Conference starters are Suns forward Kevin Durant, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. James is a captain for a seventh straight year.
Joining Antetokounmpo as Eastern Conference All-Star starters are Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, Bucks guard Damian Lillard, Sixers center Joel Embiid and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.
Thursday’s selections represent milestones for several players. Antetokounmpo is making his eighth career start and was the top vote-getter. Lillard is making his first career All-Star start. Haliburton is the fourth player in Pacers history to be named an All-Star starter, joining Paul George, Reggie Miller and Jermaine O’Neal (Twitter link). Embiid is a starter after not being named one in his MVP season a year ago. Tatum is making his fifth All-Star Game.
In the West, Doncic set the Mavs’ franchise record with four All-Star Game starts. Jokic was first in player and media voting en route to his sixth straight selection. Gilgeous-Alexander is making his first start. Durant is making his 14th All-Star appearance.
The starters are selected by a weighted voting process with the fan vote accounting for half of the final outcome. The player and media portions of the vote each counted for 25 percent. Three frontcourt players and two guards were selected from each conference.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps writes there was little drama in the selections for the starting positions. The voting totals from fans didn’t vary much from week to week, with Embiid, Haliburton, Tatum, Antetokounmpo, James, Jokic and Durant well ahead in their respective positions. The second guard spot in the East was more competitive, with Lillard and Hawks guard Trae Young going back and forth in fan voting. The guard spots in the West were also tight, with Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander and Warriors guard Stephen Curry close in voting. Bontemps points out Lillard finished well ahead of Knicks guard Jalen Brunson in fan voting to earn the starting nod.
Full voting results can be found here.
The coaches for each All-Star team will be determined via the standings on Feb. 4, with the top-seeded coach taking the reins for each conference. However, Boston’s Joe Mazzulla and Denver’s Michael Malone are ineligible by virtue of the fact that they coached the two teams last season. Entering Thursday, the Thunder and Timberwolves are tied atop the West while the Bucks are next up behind the Celtics in the East, with the Sixers one game behind Milwaukee.
This year, the league is returning to the East vs. West format, so these players are suiting up for their respective conferences in the 73rd NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 18.
The reserves, who are picked by the league’s coaches, will be announced Feb. 1.
Bradley Beal lost a chance to play in the last Olympics after being placed in COVID protocols, and it doesn’t appear he’ll be part of this year’s event either, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The Suns star wasn’t included on the 41-player pool list that was released Tuesday.
“It’s a difficult exercise because we have so many talented players and so many guys who one could make an argument for being on the list,” USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill said during a media conference call. “I had some great conversations with Brad last summer. That was tough. Tough decisions to get it to 41. I’ll be honest. I didn’t think we would be at 41. I thought we would have fewer names. I thought maybe 30 and it was really hard to get to 41 and I imagine it will be very difficult to get to 12.”
Beal remains a productive scorer, averaging 18.0 PPG in his first season with Phoenix, but injuries likely factored into the decision to keep him off the pool list. Beal has been limited to 50 and 40 games the past two seasons, and he has only appeared in 20 of the Suns’ first 44 games.
“I’ll say this with history as sort of a guide here,” Hill added. “A lot can, and will, happen between now and July and we’ve added players to that list. We’ve been fluid at times. We’ll continue to monitor, we’ll continue to evaluate and we’ll see where we are when we get on that plane and head overseas.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Warriors forward Draymond Green was also noticeably absent from the pool list, and Hill indicated that his two suspensions this season played a role in the decision, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “His contributions have been significant, and he is a real part of the legacy of this organization for his excellence,” Hill said of Green, a two-time gold medal winner. “But in lieu of what’s transpired this year, we made a decision to not have him on this list.”
- The Warriors will wear a “DM” patch for the rest of the season to honor assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, who died suddenly last week, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The team paid tribute to Milojevic with a ceremony before tonight’s game (video link from Kendra Andrews of ESPN).
- Kings forward Sasha Vezenkov will be reevaluated in seven to 14 days after suffering a moderate right ankle sprain Monday night, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Vezenkov was dealing with a sprained left ankle going into the game, Anderson adds.
The NBA’s trade deadline is just 15 days away, which means we’re nearly in buyout season. Several veteran players on lottery-bound teams who are in the final year of their respective contracts will become candidates to be bought out if they’re not traded to a new team on or before February 8.
When the league and the players’ union finalized a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2023, they agreed to a new rule that affects the buyout market. This rule hasn’t been a factor yet this season, but it will likely be relevant in the coming weeks. And in the wake of the deal that sent Kyle Lowry to Charlotte, making him a buyout candidate, I’ve seen some confusion about how the rule works and which players are affected, so we’ll offer some clarity here.
First, here’s the new rule: A team whose salary is above either the first or second tax apron is not permitted to sign a free agent on the buyout market if his pre-waiver salary exceeded the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
For the 2023/24 season, that means that any team whose taxable salary is above $172,346,000 is ineligible to sign a player who was cut this season if he was earning more than $12,405,000.
This applies to both buyouts and standard waivers, so regardless of whether or not the player agreed to give up any money as part of his release, he’s ineligible to sign with an apron team if he had been earning more than $12,405,000.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN noted earlier this week (via Twitter), these are the clubs whose team salaries are currently above the apron levels:
- Boston Celtics
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Phoenix Suns
That means that a player like Lowry, whose $29.7MM salary far exceeds the mid-level exception, would currently be ineligible to sign with one of those seven teams if he’s bought out by the Hornets. However, that list of teams is subject to change as rosters changes and salaries fluctuate.
The Heat, for instance, reduced their payroll in the deal that sent out Lowry for Terry Rozier, whose cap charge is several million dollars smaller than Lowry’s. The Heat are currently above the first apron but well below the second, per Eric Pincus of Sports Business Classroom, so if they were to further trim their payroll, they could gain the ability to sign any player on the buyout market (well, with the exception of Lowry, due to a separate rule prohibiting a team from re-signing a player it traded if he’s waived by his new team).
Conversely, if a team like the Sixers, whose salary is currently less than $3MM shy of the first apron, took on several million dollars in salary in a deadline trade, they’d become ineligible to sign a player like Lowry in the buyout market.
A team can be above the luxury tax line but remain eligible to sign a player on the buyout market, since there’s a gap of approximately $7MM between the tax threshold ($165,294,000) and the first apron. The Lakers, for example, currently project to be a taxpayer, but they have enough room below the apron to ensure this restriction won’t apply to them.
In order to be eligible to sign a player who had been earning more than $12,405,000, the team must have a salary below the first apron upon the completion of the signing — that means a team whose salary is $1MM below the apron can’t offer a player a rest-of-season contract worth $1.2MM.
If a team were to sign a player like Lowry or Gordon Hayward (who is earning $31.5MM) on the buyout market, that club would subsequently be hard-capped at the first apron and would be prohibited from having its salary exceed $172,346,000 for the rest of the season.
Outside of Lowry, Hayward, and perhaps Knicks wing Evan Fournier, it doesn’t look like there will be many buyout candidates earning above the mid-level who would be particularly intriguing on the free agent market.
Players like Gary Harris, Marcus Morris, or Doug McDermott would certainly draw interest, but I don’t see them as viable candidates for buyouts unless they’re traded to a team that views them as a pure salary-matching chip. Guys like Davis Bertans and Joe Harris may appeal to a team in need of shooting, but they’ve barely played this season, so if they were bought out, the competition for their services may not be particularly fierce.
Still, even if this rule only affects a couple players this season, it’s worth keeping in mind. After all, several of the teams in that aforementioned group of seven are legitimate championship contenders. Those are the sorts of clubs that would benefit most from adding one more depth piece, so the fact that that they won’t have access to certain targets on the buyout market is noteworthy.
The Bucks don’t have a ton of trade assets left after completing blockbuster deals in recent years for Jrue Holiday and then Damian Lillard, but they’re perusing the market in an effort to upgrade their perimeter defense, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
According to Fischer, the Bucks have contacted teams to gauge the value of Portland’s 2024 second-round pick, which Milwaukee controls — it currently projects to be 35th overall, making it more valuable than a typical second-rounder. The team is exploring deals that would package that pick with wing Pat Connaughton and guard Cameron Payne, sources tell Yahoo Sports.
As Fischer explains, Payne fell out of Adrian Griffin‘s rotation earlier this month, but it’s possible new head coach Doc Rivers will want to use him more. If not, the veteran point guard would be “amenable” to a change of scenery, Fischer writes.
While the Bucks would love to acquire a player like Hawks guard Dejounte Murray or Raptors wing Bruce Brown, Bobby Portis‘ $11.7MM cap hit would almost certainly need to be includd in order to match their salaries, Fischer notes. Additionally, Atlanta and Toronto are seeking the sort of packages – two first-round picks and a starter-level player for Murray and a first-round picks for Brown – which the Bucks may not be able to offer, given their lack of tradable first-rounders.
Chicago guard Alex Caruso is likely also out of Milwaukee’s reach, given that the Bulls aren’t inclined to move him and would seek multiple first-rounders if they did, says Fischer. Players like Trail Blazers wing Matisse Thybulle and Clippers forward P.J. Tucker may be more attainable, Fischer suggests. However, Tucker’s appeal is limited, and Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report points out (via Twitter) that Thybulle has veto rights and may not be eager to play for Rivers again.
Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- The Suns are no longer considering the possibility of trading Grayson Allen at the deadline, league sources tell Fischer. Fischer reported last week that Phoenix was gauging what a package of Allen and Nassir Little could bring back, but that seemed like it was more about due diligence, given how well the former Duke star has played this season.
- Responding to reports from Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports and Trevor Booth of Clutch Points stating that the Suns have interest in Miles Bridges and Nick Richards of the Hornets, John Gambadoro of Arizons Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) throws cold water on the Richards speculation, but suggests Phoenix could be in the mix for Bridges if the price is right.
- While Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma has been viewed as a potential in-season trade candidate, he’s under contract for several more years and Washington appears to be in no rush to move him, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on The Woj Pod. “Washington’s been very reticent with Kyle Kuzma,” Wojnarowski said (hat tip to RealGM). “… Teams tell me they call them and they’re not getting counters from Washington. If you want to register an offer for Kuzma, fine, you can do it. But they’re not at the point now where it seems like they’re really active in seriously trying to move him. It could change by the deadline, but I know (Wizards executives) Michael Winger and Will Dawkins like Kuzma, like having him there. I think they’ll be particular about what they might do.”