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Bucks, Heat Have NBA’s Oldest Rosters; Thunder Youngest

October 26th, 2022 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks have the NBA’s oldest opening night roster this season, per a 2022/23 roster survey published by the league on Tuesday.

According to the NBA’s data, the average age of a Milwaukee player is 29.47 years old, with 36-year-olds George Hill and Wesley Matthews and 35-year-old Joe Ingles among the veterans contributing to that league-high average. The Heat (average age of 28.13 years old), Suns (28.05), Clippers (27.98), and Mavericks (27.89) have the next-oldest rosters, according to the NBA.

On the other end of the spectrum, no team has a younger roster than the Thunder, whose current group includes just one player older than 27 (Mike Muscala, who is 31). The average age of a Thunder player is just 23.14 years old, putting them ahead of fellow rebuilding teams like the Rockets (23.58), Spurs (23.84), and Magic (23.94). Interestingly, the Grizzlies (24.27) are the league’s fifth-youngest team, despite coming off a 56-win season.

Here are a few other tidbits of note from the NBA’s roster survey for the 2022/23 season:

  • The Bucks and Thunder are also the most and least experienced NBA teams, respectively. The average Milwaukee player has 7.24 years of NBA service, while the average Oklahoma City player has just 1.94. That puts the Bucks comfortably ahead of the Clippers (6.56) and Celtics (5.82), while the Thunder are well behind the Rockets (2.29) and Magic (3.00).
  • Kentucky (27) and Duke (25) have the most players currently in the NBA of any college program. No other school has more than 12 (UCLA).
  • The average NBA player stands at 6-foot-6.74, weighs 217.62 pounds, and is 26.01 years old. The league identifies Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks (6-foot-6.5, 220 pounds, and 26 years old) as the player who most closely resembles the league’s “composite” player in terms of height, weight, and age.
  • There are 13 sets of brothers currently in the NBA, including three Antetokounmpos (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, and Kostas Antetokounmpo) and three Holidays (Jrue Holiday, Justin Holiday, and Aaron Holiday).
  • The league’s survey also includes some data on the youngest and oldest players, which we previously outlined here.
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Injury Notes: Garland, Embiid, Curry, J. Murray, More

October 21st, 2022 at 8:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland, a first-time All-Star last season, has been ruled out of Saturday’s game at Chicago due to his eye injury, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter links). Garland didn’t travel with the team and the “current feeling” is that Garland is “improbable” to play in Cleveland’s home opener on Sunday against Washington, Fedor adds.

Garland suffered a lacerated eyelid when he was inadvertently poked in the eye by Gary Trent Jr. in the second quarter of the Cavs’ 108-105 loss to the Raptors on Wednesday. Fedor reported on Thursday that Garland does not have structural damage and won’t require surgery.

Here are some more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

  • Sixers head coach Doc Rivers says that Joel Embiid‘s conditioning was impacted by plantar fascitiis during the offseason, as Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. “He had a little plantar fasciitis before the season started — before training camp — and that took him off his conditioning program,” Rivers said. “And so he’s back on that. But listen, he’s playing with the right intentions. He just didn’t play well, and that’s OK, too. That’s going to happen. We’ve still got to win those games.” The Sixers dropped their first two games of the season, with Embiid looking pretty sluggish. Rivers reiterated that Embiid is no longer dealing with the injury, but needs to regain his rhythm and conditioning.
  • Guard Seth Curry (offseason ankle surgery) is likely to travel with the Nets for their two-game road trip next week, but “probably” needs more practice time before he returns to action, head coach Steve Nash said on Friday (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).
  • Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who played his first regular season game on Wednesday since suffering a torn ACL in April 2021, is out for Friday’s game against the Warriors, head coach Michael Malone told reporters (Twitter links via Kendra Andrews of ESPN). According to Andrews, Malone said the Nuggets are resting Murray because Friday is the first of a back-to-back. However, that might not be the case for the entire season, Malone added.
  • No. 4 overall pick Keegan Murray will make his debut on Saturday against the Clippers after being a full participant in Friday’s practice, a source tells ESPN’s Marc J. Spears. Murray was fully cleared by the Kings after exiting the health and safety protocols, Spears writes.
  • Dillon Brooks (left thigh soreness) and Ziaire Williams (right knee soreness) missed their second consecutive games for the Grizzlies on Friday, the team announced (via Twitter). Memphis won its opener against New York and defeated Houston in game two.
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Grizzlies Notes: Adams, Jackson, Brooks

October 10th, 2022 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

While young cornerstones like Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. rightly received much of the credit for the Grizzlies‘ impressive 56-win season in 2021/22, the work that veteran center Steven Adams did for the team on and off the court shouldn’t be overlooked.

As Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, Adams is comfortable doing the “dirty work” like setting screens on offense and boxing out on defense, and teammates praised his vocal leadership even when he played a limited role in the postseason last spring.

“Culturally, just his personality is a perfect fit,” head coach Taylor Jenkins said. “He’s just a positive impact: on the floor, off the floor.”

The Grizzlies liked what Adams brought to the team enough to offer him a two-year, $25MM+ extension, which he accepted. As Cole relays, the veteran center explained why he chose to sign that deal rather than waiting to become a free agent next summer.

“I never thought that I would be in the league this long,” Adams said. “One of the good things is that it’s with an organization that’s doing something that I believe in. That’s what makes it really enjoyable. The guys, the culture. It’s not really like work.”

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

  • According to Cole, the Grizzlies gave Adams a list of things to work on in the offseason — those goals included increasing his scoring average (from last season’s 6.9 PPG) and adjusting his defensive game to be able to stay on the floor more often. “He’s excited about the challenges we have laid out for him to continue to be more aggressive on the offensive end, more versatile on the defense end,” Jenkins said.
  • Jaren Jackson Jr.‘s recovery from a right foot injury remains on track, Jenkins stated last week. The Grizzlies’ standout defensive big man hasn’t experienced any setbacks and has made progress since training camp got underway. “He’s starting to do a little more on the court,” Jenkins said, according to Cole. “No contact still. Full-court running, individual vitamins. He’s not just stationary; he’s doing a little bit more dynamic. A step in the right direction compared to how camp started.” The Grizzlies expect to have “more of an update” on Jackson – who was given a recovery timeline of four-to-six months at the end of June – around the start of the regular season, Jenkins added.
  • Despite Dillon Brooks‘ up-and-down shooting numbers in recent years, the Grizzlies have consistently played better when he’s on the floor, according to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian (subscriber link), who writes that Brooks remains a puzzle to be solved as he enters a contract year. The veteran forward will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023 if he doesn’t sign a contract extension with Memphis before then.
  • In case you missed it, the Grizzlies made a series of minor roster moves on Monday morning. We have the full story here.
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Grizzlies Notes: Crowder, Jackson Jr., PF, Clarke, Brooks, Adams, Green

September 26th, 2022 at 3:48pm CST by Rory Maher

Grizzlies star Ja Morant would like to reunite with former teammate Jae Crowder, who is sitting out training camp as the Suns seek a trade partner for the veteran forward. In reply to Crowder’s tweet about seeking work “where he is wanted..where he is needed,” Morant sent out a “back soon” emoji (Twitter link). In a separate tweet, Morant noted that Crowder hit a game-winning three in overtime to help him get his first NBA win.

Crowder didn’t shoot well in 45 games with Memphis in 2019/20, Morant’s rookie season, but he caught fire with Miami after being dealt away. Crowder has spent the past two seasons with Phoenix after signing a three-year, $29MM deal as a free agent in 2020. He’s making $10.2MM in ’22/23, the final season of his contract.

Here’s more from Memphis:

  • Starting power forward Jaren Jackson Jr. underwent surgery to repair a right foot stress fracture at the end of June, with the team saying he’d miss four-to-six months at that time. At Monday’s Media Day, executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager Zach Kleiman said that timeline remains accurate. However, Jackson said that while he’s unlikely to suit up for opening night, he believes he’s ahead of the team’s schedule (Twitter links via Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian). Jackson hopes to win Defensive Player of the Year in ’22/23 after coming fifth last season, tweets Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I want it badly,” Jackson said.
  • With Jackson injured, second-year big man Santi Aldama was the first name to pop up as a possible replacement in the starting lineup from both Kleiman and head coach Taylor Jenkins, but Jenkins said that there are a number of other candidates for the role, including Brandon Clarke, Ziaire Williams, Dillon Brooks, Xavier Tillman, David Roddy and Jake LaRavia, so it sounds like there might be a training camp battle for the job, or even fluctuate depending on matchups (Twitter links from Cole).
  • Speaking about the contract statuses of Clarke, Brooks and Steven Adams, all of whom are extension-eligible, Kleiman didn’t want to go into specifics of negotiations, but he said the Grizzlies like all three players. “We view them as potential long-term pieces of our group,” Kleiman said, per Cole (via Twitter). Clarke would be a restricted free agent in 2023 if he doesn’t receive an extension, while Brooks and Adams would both be unrestricted. In case you missed, we broke down what an extension for Clarke might look like earlier today.
  • Despite being injured with a torn ACL, it doesn’t sound like veteran wing Danny Green is in danger of being waived anytime soon. “Danny Green is part of this group,” Kleiman said, adding that Memphis expects Green to return in ’22/23. However, his status as a free agent next summer is “to be determined.” (Twitter link via Cole). Green has a nearly $7MM partial guarantee on his $10MM contract this season, so he could be used as a trade chip for salary-matching purposes, but it also makes it expensive to waive him. If the Grizzlies retain Green, Killian Tillie is probably the odd man out, as the team is facing a roster crunch. Tillie will earn a guaranteed $1.9MM this season.
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And-Ones: Kurucs, Smith, Iguodala, Brooks, Trent Jr.

August 23rd, 2022 at 9:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA forward Rodions Kurucs has officially signed a one-year contract with Real Betis Baloncesto in Seville, Spain, according to a team press release. The Spanish team’s interest in Kurucs was reported earlier this month.

Kurucs has appeared in 131 NBA games, including a total of 21 with Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Houston during the 2020/21 campaign. He played with KK Partizan in Serbia last season. Kurucs also saw action in four Summer League contests with the Raptors in July.

We have more from the basketball world:

  • French big man Victor Wembanyama and G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson are the early favorites to go 1-2 in next year’s draft. Who’s No. 3? Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo chooses Arkansas freshman guard Nick Smith. Woo unveils his early first-round mock for 2023, which is filled with wings and guards.
  • Andre Iguodala believes the NBA should continue to play 82 regular season games, Lee Tran of FadeAwayWorld.net relays. On his Point Forward podcast, Iguodala says the grind of an NBA season “separates the men from the boys,” adding “We can’t change 82 games. 82 games … there’s a mental side of it. That’s why we talk about rookie wall. Records are made to be broken, and as we get better over time we’ll break more records. But I do think that there’s a foundation in all sports, you have to carry on that tradition.”
  • Dillon Brooks, Gary Trent Jr. and Victor Oladipo are among the potential free agents in next year’s class who could pump up their value during the upcoming season, Dan Devine of The Ringer writes. Devine takes a closer look at eight “compelling” players to watch as they head into possible contract years.
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Western Notes: Clarkson, Huerter, Bertans, Brooks

August 9th, 2022 at 6:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

With the future of the Jazz uncertain following the trade of Rudy Gobert and news that the team is open to moving its other 2022 All-Star (Donovan Mitchell), 2021 Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson is keeping an even keel, writes Sarah Todd of the Deseret News.

 “My vibe is always good,” Clarkson said of his attitude while dealing with the Jazz’s tenuous outlook. “This is my ninth year going into the league. I know how the business of basketball works… This is all part of what it is. But my preparation never changes and I’m going to wake up every morning and be me and do what I do. Everything is good.”

There’s more out of the West:

  • New Kings shooting guard Kevin Huerter is bringing his playoff pedigree to Sacramento and hopes to help Sacramento reach the postseason, writes Jarrod Castillo of NBC Sports Bay Area. “I feel like I’ve been through a lot there, having that playoff experience,” Huerter said. The 6’5″ wing added that he’s “hungry to win” with his new club.
  • In his first full season for the Mavericks, power forward Davis Bertans needs to return to the level of long-range shooting that earned him his current $80MM contract, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. During the 2019/20 season, Bertans connected on 42.4% of his 8.7 three-pointers a night. Last season, in 22 games for Dallas, he connected on 36% of his 3.9 looks a game, a solid but not elite percentage.
  • Veteran swingman Dillon Brooks appears likely to earn a contract extension offer from the Grizzlies, writes Chris Herring of the Daily Memphian in a subscriber-exclusive story. However, Herring expects Brooks to reject such an offer. During the 2021/22 season, Brooks was limited to just 32 games. When he could suit up, he averaged 18.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.1 SPG.
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Stein’s Latest: Grizzlies, Mavs, Pistons, Schröder, Bagley

June 20th, 2022 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

After reporting over the weekend that the Grizzlies, who hold the 22nd and 29th overall picks in this Thursday’s draft, are “trying hard” to move up, Marc Stein says in his latest Substack report that Memphis is among the teams that has explored the possibility of acquiring the No. 4 overall pick from the Kings.

It would be a challenge for the Grizzlies to entice the Kings to move that fourth overall pick without a lottery selection of their own to offer in return. As Stein observes, Memphis would probably have to offer up at least one member of its veteran core to pique Sacramento’s interest — Stein mentions Dillon Brooks and Brandon Clarke as possibilities.

Jeremy Woo of SI.com, who confirms that the Grizzlies are trying to trade up from No. 22, suggests that the team has proposed package that includes various veterans, including De’Anthony Melton. However, Woo says Memphis has been trying to move “into the teens,” which is a more realistic goal than getting all the way up to No. 4.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein:

  • Having agreed to acquire Christian Wood from Houston, the Mavericks are “far less likely” to make use of their $10.9MM trade exception, a source tells Stein. That exception, which will expire after June 27, would allow Dallas to acquire nearly $11MM in salary without sending out any salary of their own, but the Mavs already project to be well over the luxury tax line, especially if they re-sign Jalen Brunson, so they’ll be wary about continuing to spend.
  • While the Pistons have been cited as a potential suitor for Brunson, Stein hears from sources that they’ve been considering targeting Dennis Schröder as a more cost-effective option in the backcourt.
  • Stein also confirms that the Pistons continue to be linked to free agent center Mitchell Robinson and have “very strong interest” in re-signing former No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley III.
  • In case you missed it, Stein also passed along several Hawks-related tidbits, which we round up right here.
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And-Ones: BIG3, Canada, Hezonja, Coaches

May 24th, 2022 at 2:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Ty Lawson, Corey Brewer, Jordan Crawford, Jonathon Simmons, Norris Cole, Festus Ezeli, and Jordan Hill are among the many former NBA players whose names are in the BIG3 draft pool for the 2022 season, per the league’s official website.

The BIG3 will hold its draft on Wednesday evening in Los Angeles as it gears up for the coming season. As we previously relayed, the first games of 2022 are scheduled for June 18 and this will be the first year in which the BIG3 holds an All-Star Game.

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

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Warriors Notes: Payton, Wiggins, Curry, Moody

May 21st, 2022 at 6:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

In an article for The Players Tribune, Warriors guard Gary Payton II says there’s no lingering dispute with the Grizzlies‘ Dillon Brooks over a hard foul that left Payton with a fractured left elbow. Payton reveals that Brooks apologized outside Golden State’s locker room following the conclusion of their second-round series.

“I give Dillon a lot of credit for that — no text, no social media, nothing indirect,” Payton writes. “He came in person, and we talked like grown men. He told me he didn’t mean to hurt me. I believe him.”

Payton adds that he’s staying positive despite a three- to five-week prognosis that means he may not return before the Warriors’ playoff run is over. He says his attitude is a product of all the work it took for him to make the league and to earn a roster spot with Golden State.

“From Day One, back when I first got with this team, all I wanted more than anything was to just stick around — that was my motto,” Payton writes. “Because I knew that if I could just do that, eventually I was going to play my way into the rotation. I was going to make an impact, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind. Early on, they’d bring guys in to have a look at them or whatever, and I’d D them up like my actual life depended on it. It was like, Nope. No sir. You are not taking my spot. Not today.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

  • Andrew Wiggins is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s Game 3, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Wiggins, who has a sore left ankle, is averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the first two games of the series, MacMahon notes, and he’s been the team’s primary defender against Luka Doncic. Wiggins twisted the ankle late in the first half Friday night (video link from Anthony Slater of The Athletic). Coach Steve Kerr expects him to play, Slater adds (Twitter link).
  • After two years away from the playoffs, Stephen Curry is providing a reminder of how dangerous he can be in closing out games, writes Marcus Thompson of The Athletic. Curry leads all postseason scorers this year with 104 fourth-quarter points, and he’s done it in just 79 minutes. “I thought Steph kind of smelled blood in the water those last five minutes (Friday),” Kerr said, “and he got to his spots. We had good spacing, and he got in in the middle of (the) paint, and he finished. … So Steph did what Steph does, something like that.”
  • Kerr trusted Moses Moody to be part of his lineup that opened the fourth quarter, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 19-year-old rookie played nearly 10 minutes in the final quarter and registered a plus-8. “Moses is extremely mature, and what makes him special is he’s ready for any moment,” Jordan Poole said. “For him to come in and step up and play big minutes in the Western Conference finals and help us pull out a win is huge.”
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Southwest Notes: Brooks, Doncic, Rockets, Pelicans

May 20th, 2022 at 2:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies will face an offseason decision on what to do with forward Dillon Brooks, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Brooks has started 245 of 272 games since arriving in Memphis in 2017, but Cole wonders if it might make more sense for the Grizzlies to make him a sixth man next season, since it would open up more offensive opportunities for starters like Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson, while Brooks could be the sort of shot creator that the bench has lacked.

Brooks’ contract situation is also worth monitoring. He’ll be entering the final year of his current deal, which could make him a candidate for either a trade or an extension. The most the Grizzlies could offer him would be about $61MM over four years.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • TNT’s Kevin Harlan said on Thursday that Luka Doncic was “up most of the night” after Game 1 on Wednesday due to an illness, but a source tells Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News that the Mavericks star is “good to go” for Game 2 on Friday. Doncic will be looking to bounce back after scoring just 20 points on 33.3% shooting on Wednesday — both marks were playoff lows for him.
  • G League Ignite wing MarJon Beauchamp has a workout lined up with the Rockets, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who says it’ll be Beauchamp’s first pre-draft workout. Beauchamp is the No. 22 prospect on ESPN’s big board, so he’d be a player Houston would consider with the No. 17 pick, not at No. 3.
  • The Pelicans didn’t have much luck on lottery night on Tuesday, but they’re already playing with house money by virtue of receiving the Lakers’ first-round pick at No. 8 overall, writes Scott Kushner of NOLA.com. Stil, it’s important for the team to make the most of its “unexpected gift,” Kushner says.
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