Jaren Jackson Jr.

Southwest Notes: Brooks, Udoka, Wembanyama, Grizzlies, Williams

January 13th, 2024 at 5:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Dillon Brooks will be back in the Rockets‘ lineup for tonight’s game at Boston, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. The defensive specialist has been out of action since December 26 due to a right abdominal oblique injury. He won’t be on a minutes restriction, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Brooks, who took part in his team’s pre-game shootaround on Friday night for the first time since the injury, talked to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle about his recovery process.

“It’s been a struggle,” he said. “I want to be out there so bad. Talking about switching, being disciplined on switching, and any time they have an opening to attack the offensive end or whatever, trying to accomplish that.”

Brooks has helped to transform the Rockets’ defense after signing as a free agent last summer, bringing a strong presence to a team that finished near the bottom of the league in nearly every significant defensive category during its three years of rebuilding. Lerner points out that the version of Houston’s starting lineup that includes Brooks is among the NBA’s best five-man units in terms of net rating and defensive rating.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Rockets coach Ime Udoka returns to the TD Garden tonight for the first time since leading the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals, notes Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Udoka has maintained close ties with his former players, but this marks their first on-court meeting since he was suspended and ultimately replaced by Joe Mazzulla. “I saw Ime a couple of times this summer. That’s somebody I got a really, really good relationship with. Talk to him all the time,” Jayson Tatum said. “I’m happy for him that he’s gotten this new opportunity. I think they’re going to see a lot of improvement with that team, right? They got some new talent, some new guys, so that helps. Playing against him is going to be a little weird. It’s going to be the first head coach that I’ve had to play against that I had. So it’s going to be different.”
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama responded Friday to rumors that some teammates are reluctant to share the ball with him, tweets Josh Paredes of FanSided. “Of course, I’ve heard it, but it’s never been even close to reality,” Wembanyama said. “There’s nobody on this team that doesn’t want to pass me the ball and there’s nobody I don’t want to pass the ball to.”
Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are the latest additions to the Grizzlies‘ long injury list. Bane, who has a sprained left ankle, is one of seven players who have been declared out for tonight’s game against New York, while Jackson is listed as doubtful with a right knee contusion.
Vince Williams‘ new contract with the Grizzlies is valued at $9.1MM over four years, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), with the first three seasons guaranteed at $6.6MM. The fourth year is a team option.

Grizzlies Notes: Morant, Jackson, Smart, Kennard

January 10th, 2024 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

After being diagnosed with a torn labrum that will require season-ending surgery, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant told his teammates in an “emotional” meeting on Tuesday to “stay locked in and keep grinding,” Desmond Bane tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

The Grizzlies, who were also missing reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. due to a right knee contusion, responded on Tuesday with an impressive 120-103 victory in Dallas, their third straight road win over a Western Conference rival. Head coach Taylor Jenkins called it “one of the most impressive team wins of the season,” per MacMahon.

“We have nothing to lose,” guard Marcus Smart said. “Especially without Ja, everybody’s counting us out. Everybody’s expecting us to just lay down and quit, and that’s not what this team is about and not in our heart.

“… We’re going to fight. That’s all we can do. That’s what we know. We’re going to fight until we can’t fight no more. And that’s all you can ask — for you fight to the end, because we understood that coming into the season the odds against us and things have affected our team. We understood that this might not be a year where everything is expected of us, but it’s a year for us to damn well get right for next year as well.”

As his Grizzlies teammates look to continue battling for a play-in spot without him, Morant is in the process of deciding – along with the Grizzlies’ staff – which surgeon will perform his shoulder surgery, according to MacMahon.

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

Smart exited Tuesday’s win in the third quarter due to a dislocated right ring finger. The finger isn’t broken, but Smart will undergo an MRI when the team returns to Memphis, tweets Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com.
Speaking to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, orthopedic surgeon Brian Schulz explains how a labral tear occurs and what Morant’s recovery process will look like. According to Schulz, while Morant will be able to begin physical therapy almost immediately following his surgery, a typical return-to-play timeline for this sort of injury is approximately six months, which is why the club has already ruled him out for the season.
ESPN’s experts take a look at how Morant’s injury will impact the team, with Kevin Pelton pointing out that drafting in the 2024 lottery could put Memphis in position to add another young player to its long-term core at a relatively team-friendly price. Bobby Marks, meanwhile, notes that next year’s roster projects to be in the tax if Luke Kennard‘s team option is exercised, which could impact the Grizzlies’ trade deadline plans with Kennard and/or others on the roster.
Mark Deeks of HoopsHype explores what the Grizzlies could do with the disabled player exception they’re likely to be granted as a result of Morant’s injury, and explains why that exception is more likely to simply expire without being used.

Southwest Notes: Morant, Smart, Cuban, Rockets, More

December 19th, 2023 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

With Ja Morant poised to return from his 25-game suspension on Tuesday night vs. New Orleans, the Grizzlies‘ season is on the brink, as Morant’s absence and a plethora of injuries have created what Derrick Rose referred to as a “quagmire situation,” according to Baxter Holmes and Tim MacMahon of ESPN. As Holmes and MacMahon detail, “frustration has simmered” within the organization about the direction of the season, which has opened with 19 losses in 25 games.

But Morant’s teammates were all smiles on Monday as they discussed the point guard’s impending return, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. The club’s top two scorers this season, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., have faced a level of defensive attention they’re not accustomed to, and they’re looking forward to sharing the court with a player like Morant, who will be able to divert much of that attention.

“(Morant) is going to have to deal with that,” Jackson said. “He’s going to have to turn left and turn right and see three dudes so that I can do what I do. He’s an All-NBA, Hall of Fame-type player, so you’re going to have to pay attention and if you do that, we’re going to punish you.”

Although Morant hasn’t suited up for the Grizzlies since April, the club has been ramping up his workload in practice and doesn’t anticipate imposing any real limitations on his playing time in his return, Cole notes.

“He’s going to play pretty significant minutes,” head coach Taylor Jenkins said. “… I won’t anticipate going crazy with his minutes, but I don’t think it’s any kind of restriction.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart, who hasn’t played since November 14 due to a left foot sprain, is getting very close to returning to action, Cole writes in another Commercial Appeal story. “Marcus is really close,” Jenkins said. “… Somewhere in that Indiana (Thursday) and Atlanta (Saturday) time frame, we’re hopeful that he’ll be back in the lineup then.”
Following up on the Mavericks‘ sale ahead of the Board of Governors vote, Marc Stein says on Substack that Mark Cuban will retain a 27% stake in the franchise. Stein indicates that the new owners – the Miriam Adelson/Patrick Dumont group – will therefore have a 73% controlling interest, but there have been conflicting reports on whether every single one of the minority stakeholders are being bought out.
The Rockets‘ closing lineup has been far less predictable than its starting group, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required), who examines head coach Ime Udoka‘s tendency to go with the hot hands down the stretch of games. “That’s what I believe in,” Udoka said. “I pretty much said that the day I was hired. Minutes and roles are not going to be handed out. The guys that are playing well and units that are playing well are going to get those minutes. I think everybody knows that across the board.”
William Guillory of The Athletic takes a look at the similarities between Pelicans forward Zion Williamson and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, two No. 1 picks who were expected to be saviors for their respective Southwest clubs as soon as they entered the NBA, exploring how they’ve dealt with those expectations.

Southwest Notes: H. Jones, Grizzlies, A. Holiday, Lively

November 24th, 2023 at 8:17pm CST by Rory Maher

Pelicans wing Herbert Jones wants to make sure he doesn’t take his foot off the gas pedal this season after signing a four-year, $54MM deal as a restricted free agent over the summer, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com.

“I think the biggest thing for me was after I signed, I never got complacent,” Jones said. “I know it’s not the most somebody has signed for in the NBA. But it’s still a lot of money.

“A lot of people, once they get to the first one, a lot of guys back off the gas a little bit. I just wanted to continue to work hard and show my true love for the game. There really was no dollar amount that could slow the grind down.”

With a well-deserved reputation as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, Jones is off to a pretty remarkable start on that end of the court in 2023/24, especially from a play-making perspective. As Clark notes, Jones is currently averaging 2.1 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, trailing only Anthony Davis in “stocks” (steals plus blocks).

Here’s more from the Southwest:

Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal details how Jaren Jackson Jr. helped Bismack Biyombo quickly acclimate to the Grizzlies, writing that the two big men had a preexisting relationship, as they’re both vice presidents of the National Basketball Players Association. Following a season-ending knee injury to Steven Adams, the Grizzlies signed Biyombo once Ja Morant was placed on the suspended list. The Congolese center has played a prominent role for the injury-ravaged team, starting eight of his nine games while averaging 7.3 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 1.1 BPG in 25.1 MPG. “He can fit in any locker room,” Jackson said of Biyombo. “He’s a great leader. That’s why he’s doing what he does for his country and does what he does for the union. I know how much he cares about the league. That care carries over to the locker room.”
Rockets guard Aaron Holiday, a free agent addition over the offseason, has been playing a regular role with No. 4 overall pick Amen Thompson sidelined due to an ankle sprain, writes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “He’s a guy that can play on and off the ball,” head coach Ime Udoka said of Holiday. “Stronger, tougher than his size and then also shoots the ball well, so he’s been invaluable to us with the guys out. He’s been really good lately.”
In a conversation with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Mavericks first-rounder Dereck Lively touched on his influences, his rookie season thus far, and playing with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, among other topics. Lively will be sidelined for Friday’s matchup against the Clippers due to a lower back contusion he sustained on Wednesday vs. the Lakers, per the NBA’s official injury report.

Grizzlies Notes: Smart, Kennard, Injuries, Roster, Jackson

November 15th, 2023 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

Already missing two point guards in Ja Morant (suspension) and Derrick Rose (knee), the Grizzlies saw another one go down in Tuesday’s loss to the Lakers.

As Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, Marcus Smart left the game in the first quarter with a left ankle injury after landing on Austin Reaves‘ foot while contesting a shot (Twitter video link via Bally Sports). Smart was wearing a walking boot on his left foot after the game and will undergo further evaluation to determine the severity of the injury, per Cole.

Luke Kennard also left Tuesday’s contest due to left knee soreness and didn’t return, but head coach Taylor Jenkins referred to that decision as precautionary, so it sounds like the veteran wing won’t miss much – if any – more time. With the Grizzlies off for three days before resuming their schedule in San Antonio on Saturday, Kennard will have some time to rest that knee.

Here’s more on the Grizzlies:

When the Grizzlies placed Morant on the suspended list and opened up an extra roster spot, they used it on Bismack Biyombo because they were short on frontcourt depth, with Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke out and Santi Aldama and Xavier Tillman banged up. The original expectation was that they’d use that 16th roster spot to add a point guard during Morant’s absence, according to Cole of The Commercial Appeal, who notes that Memphis could certainly use an extra body in its backcourt now. Two-way player Jacob Gilyard is the only healthy point guard on the roster, though Desmond Bane figures to continue to shoulder plenty of the ball-handling and play-making responsibilities.
For what it’s worth, the Grizzlies could qualify for another extra roster spot via a hardship exception, but that would require four players to have missed at least three consecutive games due to an injury or illness, with an expectation they’d remain sidelined for some time beyond those three games. For now, only three players fit that bill (Adams, Clarke, and Rose).
Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. spoke to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda about several topics, including the team’s slow start this fall, how his role has changed with Adams and Clarke on the shelf, his position as a team leader, and his experience playing with Team USA. Jackson said he’d “for sure” be interested in playing in the Olympics if he gets the call from USA Basketball. “I haven’t gotten the word. I’ll do it if they ask me,” Jackson said. “It’s random. You never know. It’s whenever they want to call.”
Medina also conducted a Q&A with Smart prior to Tuesday’s ankle injury. The veteran guard discussed, among other subjects, his adjustment to a new team, the message he’s trying to impart his younger teammates, and the conversations he has had with Morant in practices.

And-Ones: Extensions, Breakouts, B. Smith, Defenders

October 27th, 2023 at 10:35pm CST by Rory Maher

2023 set a record for rookie scale extensions, with 14 contracts signed before the October 23 deadline. Typically, rookie scale extensions go almost exclusively to stars or at least starters, but that wasn’t the case this year.

John Hollinger of The Athletic classifies it as a “middle-class revolution” with six players signing at or below the projected 2024/25 mid-level exception, and a couple others receiving slightly more than that. Several of those players come off the bench for their respective clubs.

As Hollinger writes, there are several reasons why both teams and players may have been motivated to reach new deals. For players, avoiding restricted free agency was surely a factor — Magic guard Cole Anthony and Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu recently said that was the case for them.

For teams, a salary cap that is projected to rise substantially in the coming years will help “water down” some of the contracts. Mid-sized contracts are also very useful for trade purposes, Hollinger observes, with free agency limitations likely a major consideration for the Celtics (Payton Pritchard) and Nuggets (Zeke Nnaji) due to their payrolls (both project to be over the second apron in ’24/25).

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

In another article for The Athletic, Hollinger lists 12 players he believes are primed for breakout seasons in 2023/24, with some fairly obvious choices and some under-the-radar picks as well. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes and Hornets center Mark Williams are five of the players Hollinger thinks will see “big upticks in production.”
Former Cavaliers forward Bingo Smith has passed away at age 77, according to Tom Withers of The Associated Press. Smith played 10 season for Cleveland from 1970-80. Smith is still sixth in franchise history in points and fourth in games played, among other statistical marks. His No. 7 jersey hangs in the rafters as one of only seven players to have their number retired, Withers adds. “Bingo was always a giving teammate and one of the most fierce competitors I ever played with,” said former Cavs star and current broadcaster Austin Carr. “This is truly a sad moment in our franchise history and my heart goes out to his family.”
Jon Krawczynski and Josh Robbins of The Athletic ran an anonymous poll to see which players coaches identify as the best defenders in the NBA. Celtics guard Jrue Holiday was the only unanimous choice for first-team All-Defense, receiving all 12 votes. The remaining spots were filled by Jaren Jackson Jr. (forward), Brook Lopez (center), Alex Caruso (guard), OG Anunoby, and Draymond Green (the latter two tied for the second forward spot). Holiday was also third in the survey’s Defensive Player of the Year voting behind Jackson and Lopez, who finished first and second for the actual award last season. Evan Mobley, who was third in DPOY media voting last season and named first-team All-Defense, finished sixth in DPOY voting in The Athletic’s coaches poll and was second-team All-Defense.

Super-Max Candidates To Watch In 2023/24

September 14th, 2023 at 7:30am CST by Luke Adams

Note: This is an updated version of an article that was sent exclusively to our Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers in June. Click here for more information on Trade Rumors Front Office.

The NBA’s Designated Veteran rule, as we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, allows players to qualify for a maximum salary worth 35% of the cap before they gain the required NBA service time.

Typically, a player is ineligible to receive a maximum contract that starts at 35% of the cap until he has at least 10 years of experience, but the Designated Veteran rule gives a player with between seven and nine years of experience the opportunity to do so if he meets certain performance criteria. This has become colloquially known as signing a “super-max” deal.

The performance criteria are as follows (only one of the following must be true):

The player was named to an All-NBA team and/or was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
The player was named the NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.

Since the NBA introduced the concept of the Designated Veteran contract in 2017, 12 players have signed them across seven offseasons. Celtics wing Jaylen Brown became the latest player to join that group this summer when he signed a five-year super-max deal that could become the NBA’s first $300MM contract.

Brown will be the only player who signs such a contract this offseason, but it’s worth taking a peek down the road to see which players are the best candidates to join the list of super-max recipients in 2024 and 2025.

We can start by penciling in another Celtic, Jayson Tatum, for 2024. Although he doesn’t yet have enough years of NBA service to sign a Designated Veteran extension, Tatum met the performance criteria in the spring by earning his second consecutive All-NBA berth.

That means that even if he doesn’t make an All-NBA team in 2024, he’ll have received an All-NBA nod in two of the previous three seasons when he meets the service time criteria next summer, making him super-max eligible. It seems likely the Celtics will offer him a Designated Veteran extension at that time.

Here are some other candidates to watch during the 2023/24 season:

2024

Bam Adebayo (Heat)
De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
Pascal Siakam (Raptors)

Because a player become ineligible for a Designated Veteran extension if he’s traded after his first four years in the NBA, prime candidates like Donovan Mitchell and Domantas Sabonis won’t be able to qualify. Still, there’s an intriguing group of candidates in play for next summer.

Ingram, Murray, and Siakam, members of the 2016 draft class, would have become super-max eligible if they had made an All-NBA team this year. They’ll get another chance in 2024.

Ingram averaged a career-best 24.7 points and 5.8 assists per night in 2022/23, but injuries limited him to just 45 games. While he’s not one of the best 15 players in the NBA, it’s not impossible to imagine the 26-year-old earning an All-NBA spot if he stays healthy and helps lead the Pelicans to a top-four seed in the West. He’s probably a long shot, but we can’t rule him out entirely.

Murray was making his way back from an ACL tear last season, which meant he was subject to load management and wasn’t necessarily at his best from day one. But his postseason performance – 26.1 points per game on .473/.396/.926 shooting en route to a championship – served as a reminder that he has All-NBA upside.

Siakam made the All-NBA Second Team in 2020 and the Third Team in 2022 and received some votes in 2023. However, he still needs one more All-NBA nod in 2024 to become eligible for a Designated Veteran deal. He’ll be a candidate to watch as long as he remains in Toronto for the 2023/24 season. A trade – which would make him ineligible – still looms as a possibility.

Adebayo and Fox are 2017 draftees with just six years of NBA experience, which means that Fox didn’t meet the Designated Veteran performance criteria by earning All-NBA honors in May — he’ll need to do it again in 2024 to qualify for a super-max deal. His performance this past year showed that he’s capable of it.

Adebayo’s path to an All-NBA berth is complicated by the fact that the All-NBA teams will become positionless beginning in 2024. That means voters won’t necessarily have to choose three centers, which may reduce his odds of making the cut.

Still, the field of All-NBA candidates may be more wide open than usual in 2024, since the league is also requiring players to appear in at least 65 games in order to be eligible for one of the 15 spots. That means a player who misses a few weeks with an injury might be out of the running. If Ingram, Murray, Siakam, Fox, and Abebayo can stay healthy and play at least 65 times, their All-NBA odds will increase.

It’s worth noting too that being named Defensive Player of the Year is another way to qualify for a super-max. Adebayo has finished in the top five in voting for that award in each of the last four seasons and is a legitimate candidate to win it at some point.

2025

Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)

Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jackson were drafted in 2018 and have just five years of NBA experience, so they’re still two years away from having the service time required for a Designated Veteran contract — none of them would be able to sign a super-max extension until 2025. However, they all have an opportunity to meet the performance criteria in 2024.

Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander made up the All-NBA First Team backcourt in 2023, so if they make an All-NBA team again next year, they’ll have done so in at least two of the three years leading up to the 2025 offseason.

As for Jackson, he missed out on All-NBA honors in 2023, but was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. It’s a tall order, but if he can win a second DPOY award in either of the next two seasons, he’ll make himself eligible to sign a super-max contract in 2025.

The rookie scale extension recipients

LaMelo Ball (Hornets)
Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)

Ball, Edwards, and Haliburton have all signed five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extensions this offseason that project to start at 25% of the 2024/25 cap. If we assume the cap will rise by the maximum allowable 10%, those deals would be worth just shy of $217MM.

However, all three extensions include Rose Rule language. This is another form of the super-max — we can call it the “mini” super-max, paradoxical as that may sound. Unlike a player who signs a Designated Veteran contract, which starts at 35% of the cap instead of 30%, a player who meets the Rose Rule criteria can receive a starting salary worth 30% of the cap rather than 25%.

The performance criteria for a Rose Rule salary increase are essentially the exact same as for a Designated Veteran bump, but must be achieved by the end of the player’s four-year rookie contract. That means Ball, Edwards, and Haliburton would have to make the All-NBA team in 2024 in order to increase the projected value of their respective extensions to $260MM over five years — an All-NBA berth in 2025 or 2026 would be too late.

Each of these three players has an All-Star berth under his belt, so making the leap to All-NBA certainly isn’t inconceivable. Edwards may be the best bet of the three to qualify for the mini super-max, but if Ball and Haliburton can lead their teams to playoff spots, they’d certainly have a case.

World Cup Notes: USA-Canada Rivalry, Valanciunas, Latvia

September 9th, 2023 at 9:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

They both fell short of the gold medal game, but Sunday’s meeting between Team USA and Canada could be the beginning of a significant rivalry in international basketball, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The teams will face off for third place as the Canadians hope to win their first-ever World Cup medal and their first in any tournament since the 1936 Olympics.

Both countries have rosters filled with NBA talent, and both had successful runs in the World Cup before slipping in Friday’s semifinals. The U.S. lost to Germany by two points, and Canada fell to Serbia by nine.

“They haven’t won a medal since the 1930s, so they’re coming for us,” Tyrese Haliburton said. “I think both of our countries will expect to see each other for the coming years. So it seems like this is kind of the start.”

Familiarity is part of the storyline as players bring their NBA rivalries into international competition. There are even some ex-teammates involved as Jaren Jackson Jr. will face Dillon Brooks for the first time since Brooks left the Grizzlies in free agency to sign with the Rockets.

“I hope Dillon does talk trash,” Jackson said. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be him. It wouldn’t be real.”

There’s more on the World Cup:

Following an All-NBA season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been one of the biggest stars of the tournament, notes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. The Canadian guard is sixth overall in World Cup scoring at 23.6 PPG and he’s number one in terms of scoring efficiency. “It’s the change of pace, yeah,” Thunder and Canadian teammate Luguentz Dort said. “Also, it’s the way he explodes, the way he can get off the defender to rise for his shot. The way that he handles the ball, the way that he creates for himself. There’s so much more.”
Jonas Valanciunas has represented Lithuania in every major tournament since 2011 and he’s not ready to think about stopping, per George Efkarpidis of Eurohoops. The 31-year-old center considers it an important part of his basketball responsibilities. “I feel proud playing for my country,” Valanciunas said. “That is what I can give for my country. This is how I can put my country on the map. I am going to keep doing that (as long as) my body lets me and the team needs me.”
Latvia wrapped up the No. 5 spot in its first-ever World Cup, defeating Lithuania by 35 points on Saturday. It’s an impressive statement from a team that played without Kristaps Porzingis, who sat out the tournament to recover from plantar fasciitis, and lost captain Dairis Bertans to an injury, observes Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.

World Cup Notes: Fontecchio, Jackson Jr., Zagars, Canada

September 4th, 2023 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Simone Fontecchio won’t be prominent on many NBA game plans but he’s certainly a major focus for Team USA coach Steve Kerr and his staff in preparations for the quarterfinal match with Italy on Tuesday.

The second-year Jazz forward leads Italy in the tournament at 18.4 points per game. He’s also Italy’s second-leading rebounder at 6.6 per game. He had a 30-point outing against Serbia.

“I’m really happy when I can help my team. I can help my team in a lot of ways – even if I score 0 points,” he said in a story posted on FIBA’s website. “I can play defense, I can get rebounds, I can pass the ball. This team doesn’t need me to score 30, but when I do it of course I am really happy. It’s just the cherry on top. It’s certainly one of the best nights I’ve had in the national team.”

We have more from the World Cup:

Team USA center Jaren Jackson Jr. has gotten into early foul trouble in three of the team’s five games. He knows he must be smarter, given the club’s lack of options at the position, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer. “Different rules, different hand positions at different times they call,” Jackson said. “You can be more physical, but you can’t at certain times. You just gotta be super, super careful. You have to understand you’re very, very valuable.”
The best non-NBA player in the tournament is Latvia’s point man, Arturs Zagars, John Hollinger of The Athletic opines. The 23-year-old has been set back during his career by multiple injuries. He has displayed superior distribution skills in the World Cup and has been comfortable shooting FIBA threes off the dribble. He played in the Lithuanian domestic league last season. Spain point guard Juan Nunez is the top draft prospect in the tournament, Hollinger adds.
Canada’s win over Spain on Sunday was validation for a national team that has often come up short on the world stage, Michael Grange of Sportsnet notes. Canada’s win clinched an Olympic berth and set up a quarterfinal match against Luka Doncic and Slovenia on Wednesday.

Grizzlies Notes: Harrison, Aldama, Jackson Jr., Jenkins

September 4th, 2023 at 7:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Grizzlies signed guard Shaquille Harrison to a one-year contract and he could be a factor in the early going with Ja Morant serving his suspension, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal notes. Under the terms of the CBA, any player suspended more than six games will be put on the team’s suspended list after five. That will open a roster spot, and that’s where Harrison could add more depth. He can play either guard spot and has plenty of experience after passing through six other NBA organizations.

We have more from the Grizzlies:

Santi Aldama had a big game for Spain when his national team was eliminated in the FIBA World Cup by Canada, Cole writes. The big man poured in 20 points, though he only grabbed two rebounds in Canada’s three-point win. Jaren Jackson Jr. was plagued by foul trouble trying to check former Grizzlies teammate and Lithuanian national team center Jonas Valanciunas in Team USA’s six-point loss on Sunday.
In a subscriber-only story, Cole opines that coach Taylor Jenkins’ future with the organization hinges on its performance in the postseason. The Grizzlies were bounced in the first round by the Lakers this past season after losing to the Warriors in the conference semifinals the previous year.
As we previously noted, the Grizzlies already have a full roster going into training camp. Even if Harrison’s contract isn’t guaranteed, the Grizzlies will have to trim two players with guaranteed deals by opening night.

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