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Northwest Notes: Jokic, Collins, Milton, Division Preview

October 14th, 2023 at 8:18am CST by Tristan Tucker

After winning the 2023 NBA Championship, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic made headlines throughout the summer by expressing his desire to go back home and then later partying in his hometown of Sombor, Serbia. ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk took a look back at “the summer of Jokic” and explored the center’s approach to the offseason.

Nuggets team president and governor Josh Kroenke didn’t text Jokic like normal this summer, Youngmisuk writes, instead allowing the two-time MVP to refresh.

“We all kind of left him alone,” Kroenke said. “For him to get away from basketball, be with his family and reconnect with who he is fundamentally is only going to be a benefit for the Nuggets and for basketball because he comes back fresh.”

Jokic claimed he only touched a basketball “a couple of times” this summer, but did stick to a routine he’s used through the past three years, which resulted in two MVPs and a championship, Youngmisuk details. Head coach Michael Malone noted the time of seemed to benefit Jokic mentally and when teammate Aaron Gordon came to visit during the summer, he was impressed by the depth of Jokic’s routine, according to Youngmisuk.

“He’s the best player in the world,” Gordon said. “He works out like a monster. … His regimen, his diet and how detail-oriented he is with his body, is second to none.”

Youngmisuk notes Jokic has been more vocal in practices and team settings, displaying a new type of confidence as he and the team aim for a second straight title.

“He’s only 28,” Gordon said. “So he’s going to get even smarter at manipulating the defense [and] offense. … I don’t see anybody stopping him. They still haven’t found the answer for him yet.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The Jazz traded for forward John Collins this offseason after he had a productive six seasons with Atlanta, averaging 15.8 points and 8.0 rebounds. However, both Collins and Utah’s coaching staff understand getting the 6’9″ forward acclimated in a new system might take some time, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. “I have to adapt to a bunch of things that I wasn’t used to doing in Atlanta, and that’s part of the game, and I’m embracing it because it’s a new chapter for me and it also allows my game to grow,” Collins said.
Eight players in the Timberwolves‘ likely rotation for their first regular season game on October 25 were on the team at the end of last season, Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes. However, Wolves head coach Chris Finch said he’d like to ideally play a nine-player rotation, and Hine believes free-agent addition Shake Milton is likely to be that ninth player. Minnesota signed Milton to a two-year, $10MM deal after the guard averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 assists across his first five NBA seasons in Philadelphia.
The Northwest Division hosts the defending champion Nuggets, but also one of the few rebuilding teams in the league in the Trail Blazers. Tony Jones, Jason Quick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic preview the division which features rising stars like the Jazz‘s Walker Kessler and the Timberwolves‘ Anthony Edwards. The trio is bullish on the Thunder‘s Chet Holmgren, with Jones saying Oklahoma City getting him back from injury is the best offseason “addition” in the division. Meanwhile, Quick and Robbins believe Denver losing Bruce Brown and Jeff Green are the moves with the biggest potential to backfire. I recommend checking out the article in full, if you’re an Athletic subscriber, to get a solid picture for the division next season.

Rockets Notes: VanVleet, Brooks, Eason, Green, Bullock

October 12th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The addition of Fred VanVleet provides a major upgrade as the Rockets try to move up the standings after three years of rebuilding, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic says in a discussion with Kelly Iko about the team’s prospects. Vecenie notes that VanVleet will be a reliable leader for Houston, which gave about 2,000 backcourt minutes last season to Daishen Nix, TyTy Washington and Josh Christopher.

The Rockets had been using Kevin Porter Jr., who is away from the team due to assault charges, as their point guard even though it’s not his natural position. Vecenie expects improvement just from having a true leader on the court, even though he views VanVleet as the league’s 12th- to 15-best point guard.

Vecenie adds that VanVleet’s shooting was down last season, but it was notably better after the Raptors traded for Jakob Poeltl to give them an effective screener. VanVleet can hit threes, make the right decisions on offense and challenge opponents on defense, and Vecenie notes that those are all areas where the team needed to improve.

There’s more from Houston:

Vecenie also likes the addition of Dillon Brooks, but believes his four-year contract might be “a bit aggressive” because of the potential of Tari Eason. Vecenie says Eason was “phenomenal” at Summer League, and there’s a chance that he’ll be better than Brooks by the end of the season. Vecenie observes that Eason provides the same type of high-energy defense as Brooks, but without the questionable shot selection that can bog down offenses. At 40.2%, Brooks had the fourth-worst effective field goal percentage in the league last season.
Coach Ime Udoka talked about the need for Brooks to play under control after he was ejected early in Tuesday’s preseason opener (video link). “You have to learn to control your emotions and stay in the game, Udoka said. “You can’t get yourself taken out in the first quarter.” Brooks said his reputation was responsible for the ejection, but referees determined that his low blow to Pacers center Daniel Theis was intentional.
Free agent additions Jeff Green and Reggie Bullock are expected to make their debuts with the Rockets on Thursday night in New Orleans, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Green signed with Houston this summer to be a veteran leader after winning a title in Denver last season, while Bullock was added last week for outside shooting help after the Spurs waived him.

Rockets Notes: Green, Harden, VanVleet, Veterans

October 7th, 2023 at 8:55pm CST by Rory Maher

In an interesting article for ESPN, Zach Lowe details why Jalen Green could be the key for the Rockets to turn the corner in 2023/24 and beyond.

Green, 21, had impressive counting stats in his second season, averaging 22.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG and 3.7 APG in 76 games (34.2 MPG). However, as Lowe notes, the former No. 2 overall pick struggled at times with scoring efficiency (.416/.338/.786 shooting), decision-making (2.6 turnovers per game) and defense.

According to Lowe, Green has shown he can make all the pick-and-roll passes necessary to manipulate defenses, but has been inconsistent with actually executing them. Lackadaisical play on both ends has also been an issue, but the team believes it can be corrected.

“This is a huge year for him,” GM Rafael Stone told ESPN. “It’s on him to really put together all the things he’s worked on. You see individual games where he’s locked in — whether it’s on-ball defense, help-side defense, making the right reads in the pick-and-roll. And then there are other games where he just kind of let go of the rope. He’s a bucket. It’s about all the little things.”

Green will be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

Houston wants to lean into Green’s play-making, which is one reason why the team went after Fred VanVleet — who is adept at playing both on and off the ball — instead of James Harden in free agency, Lowe writes in the same story. “Nothing against James,” head coach Ime Udoka told ESPN, “but Fred is just a better fit. I coached James in Brooklyn. He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around. The words ‘Ime doesn’t want James’ never came out of my mouth. It was, ‘Let’s look at the best fit.’ If we want Jalen and the young guys to take the next steps, we need them to have the ball. As for me saying I don’t want James, that was never the case. It was about fit.”
VanVleet has made an immediate impact on Houston with his leadership and savvy two-way play, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “I’m more of a booster, a confidence giver, energy giver with all of these guys — especially Jabari (Smith),” VanVleet said. “Keep boosting and instilling that confidence because when guys go out there and play free, you’ll get the best version of them.”
VanVleet isn’t the only veteran the Rockets added in free agency this summer, with Dillon Brooks and Jeff Green also in the fold. As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link) writes, their experience and skill should help a young team going forward. “First and foremost, I would say experience,” Green said of what he will bring. “Being in every type of situation possible, winning the championship last year, going to the playoffs multiple years, I bring the experience itself and teaching these young guys what it takes to be a true professional. The winning aspect, what it takes, the everyday grind, them seeing it, I think it will help in the long run.”

Rockets Notes: Brooks, Jeff Green, Jalen Green, Porter

September 17th, 2023 at 8:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

Canadian national team head coach Jordi Fernandez was impressed by the professionalism Dillon Brooks showed during the World Cup, writes Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire. Before signing with Houston this summer, Brooks wore out his welcome in Memphis with his abrasive tactics and questionable shot selection, but Fernandez told Toni Canyameras from Mundo Deportivo that he didn’t see any of that with Team Canada.

“(He’s) excellent,” Fernandez said. “He is nothing more than a normal person who comes in and is very professional. He takes good care of himself (and does) all the work to be 100% ready to play. His work in the gym, the things he does on his own — he is a superb professional.

“Inside the locker room, he connects with his teammates, everyone respects him. He is like the rest of the group, he is nothing out of this world. He is one of the best competitors I have ever seen, and on the entire court, not only defensively, where he has superpowers, but he’s shown offensively that he can not only score but also be efficient with the quality of the shots.”

The Rockets are counting on having that version of Brooks after giving him $86MM over four years. They’re hoping he can help establish an identity on defense, where Houston has been among the league’s worst teams during its three years of rebuilding.

There’s more from Houston:

There are incentives in the new contracts for Brooks and fellow free agent addition Jeff Green, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN. Brooks will receive $1MM if the Rockets reach the first round of the playoffs, while Green can earn $1.6MM by playing in at least 55 games and averaging 19 minutes per night. Green’s bonuses are considered likely, Marks adds, based on what he did in Denver last season.
Pacers center Myles Turner singled out Jalen Green during a recent appearance on Tidal League’s “Run Your Race” podcast, according to a tweet from ClutchFans. Addressing the trend of young players getting overhyped on social media because of their “cutesy handles,” Turner said Green is different. “The one kid who I will say who had a lot of that hype, and I’m actually really impressed with how he’s handling it, is Jalen Green,” Turner stated. “Jalen Green came (into the league) with a LOT of that hype, bro, even before he got to the Ignite with that social media stuff. Watching him develop into the player he is right now … I have to give him a shout out. It’s actually really impressive.”
Attorneys for Kevin Porter Jr. are asking the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to drop second-degree assault charges after determining that he didn’t break his girlfriend’s neck during last week’s attack, per Priscilla DeGregory of The New York Post. Documents showed that Kysre Gondrezick‘s fractured vertebra was the result of a congenital defect, according to his defense team. Porter still faces a second-degree strangulation charge, which carries a maximum of seven years in prison, along with a third-degree assault charge.

Contract Details: Crowder, Grant, Powell, Green, Lewis

July 10th, 2023 at 2:16pm CST by Rory Maher

Jae Crowder‘s new one-year contract with Milwaukee is for the veteran’s minimum, league sources tell Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Bucks held Crowder’s Bird rights, so they could have given him any salary up to his maximum. Obviously he was never going to receive anything close to $47.6MM next season, but it’s still interesting that he accepted such a significant pay cut after making $10.2MM in 2022/23.

Crowder just completed his 11th NBA season. As our list of minimum salaries for ’23/24 shows, the 33-year-old will earn about $3.2MM on his new deal, while the Bucks will carry a $2MM cap hit.

Here are more contract details from around the NBA:

Jerami Grant received the most lucrative contract in free agency in terms of total value, earning $160MM over five years to stay with the Trail Blazers. The fifth year of Grant’s deal is a player option, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Center Dwight Powell re-signed with the Mavericks as a free agent, inking a three-year, $12MM deal. Similar to Grant, Powell has a player option for the final season, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link). Powell reportedly drew interest from Houston, but decided to stay with Dallas.
Jeff Green‘s two-year contract with the Rockets features a non-guaranteed team option in 2024/25 and $1.6MM per season in bonuses that are considered likely to be achieved, sources tell Scotto (via Twitter). That means Green’s annual cap hits will be $9.6MM. ESPN’s Bobby Marks was first to report that the original terms of Green’s contract agreement had been amended, with Houston using cap room to sign the veteran forward.
The Lakers signed second-rounder Maxwell Lewis to a standard four-year contract using the new second-round pick exception, reports Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link). Lewis will receive guaranteed salaries of $1.1MM as a rookie next season (the minimum) and $1.4MM in ’24/25. Sources tell Price the third year of the contract is partially guaranteed for $100K, while the fourth and final season is a team option.

Rockets Sign Jeff Green To Two-Year Contract

July 7th, 2023 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: The Rockets have officially signed Green, the team announced today in a press release.

As we relayed in a separate story, the terms of Green’s deal have reportedly been amended — it’s now a two-year, $16MM contract, with a non-guaranteed second year. He was signed into Houston’s cap room.

JULY 1: The Rockets and free agent forward Jeff Green have agreed to a one-year, $6MM contract, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Green, who will turn 37 in August, is entering his 16th NBA season, but showed with the Nuggets in 2022/23 that he still has a little left in the tank. He averaged 7.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game across 56 appearances.

Green’s three-point percentage dipped to 28.8% last season, but he has a career 33.7% rate and can defend multiple frontcourt positions. He played rotation minutes during Denver’s championship run, appearing in all 20 playoff games and averaging 17.2 minutes per night.

The Nuggets were open to a reunion with Green, but not at the salary he’s getting from Houston, tweets Mike Singer of The Denver Post.

It has been a busy day for the Rockets, who have agreed to a series of moves that will eat up most of their cap room, including a free agent deal with Jock Landale, a sign-and-trade for Dillon Brooks, and a trade for Patty Mills, who will be rerouted as part of the Brooks sign-and-trade. Depending on how Houston structures its transactions, Green could either be signed into cap space or the room exception.

The Rockets likely envision Green as a player who can be a leader in the locker room and provide some veteran savvy on the court.

Rockets Notes: Brooks Deal, Green, Harden, Martin

July 7th, 2023 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets‘ multi-team sign-and-trade deal for Dillon Brooks will expand further to include the trade agreement between Houston and the Clippers involving Kenyon Martin Jr., according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

Houston’s deal that sends TyTy Washington and Usman Garuba to the Hawks will also be part of the Brooks sign-and-trade with the Grizzlies. With the Clippers involved and the Thunder set to take on Patty Mills in the complex transaction, it will be at least a five-team trade.

The Rockets, who acquired a second-round pick from Brooklyn for Mills and are getting two more from the Clippers for Martin, will send out five second-rounders in the deal — two to Atlanta and three to Oklahoma City. Those three picks going to the Thunder haven’t been reported yet, so it’s possible they’ll just be the three selections that Houston is receiving from the Nets and Clippers.

As we wait for the Rockets to complete their offseason moves, here are a few more notes out of Houston:

Jeff Green‘s contract with the Rockets, originally reported to be worth $6MM for one year, will actually be for $16MM over two, with a non-guaranteed second year, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Marks adds that Green’s first-year cap hit will be $8MM. If that figure is precise, rather than rounded, it means the forward will have to be signed using cap room rather than the room exception, which maxes out at $7.7MM.
The hiring of Ime Udoka as head coach was a major factor in the Rockets’ decision to pivot away from James Harden and toward Fred VanVleet in free agency, a league source tells Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “From everything we’ve gotten out of there, it was a matter that Ime didn’t want him,” the source said. “At the beginning, were they thinking about Harden? Yeah. But then they hired Ime, and Ime said, ‘It’s not going to work here.'”
Appearing on The IkoSystem podcast, Kenyon Martin Jr. spoke to Kelly Iko of The Athletic about the trade that will send him from the Rockets to the Clippers. Martin said that he appreciates the opportunity the Rockets gave him and added that Houston “will always have a place in my heart,” but admitted he’s looking forward to returning home to Los Angeles, where he was born and raised (Twitter audio clip).

Rockets Notes: Free Agency, Green, Lopez, Whitmore, Tate

July 3rd, 2023 at 11:07am CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets were the most active team on the free agent market this weekend — signing four players and jettisoning a significant amount of their young talent — but their future will still be built around the core they put together in the last three drafts, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

The big-money additions of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, along with smaller deals for Jock Landale and Jeff Green, are designed to complement Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith and Amen Thompson, according to Feigen. Kevin Porter Jr. should also be considered part of that group, Feigen adds, as he remains in the team’s long-term plans along with Tari Eason and Cam Whitmore.

All the new additions will have clear roles alongside those players, Feigen notes. VanVleet will run the offense for a team that often seemed disorganized during its three years of rebuilding. He also improves the defense with his ability to get steals and deflections and has shown that he can be effective while playing off the ball. Brooks will be the team’s best perimeter defender, while Landale and Green will back up Sengun and Smith.

There’s more from Houston:

Green’s new $6MM contract is small enough to be absorbed with the team’s $7.7MM room exception before the Brooks trade is completed, Feigen adds. However, he says the more likely scenario is that the team will keep the exception open and use it, along with roughly $4.5MM in remaining cap space, to see if it can sign anyone else.
The Rockets are surveying the market to find guard depth with the money they have left, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Iko states that a veteran who can handle either backcourt position would be ideal for the current roster.
Iko cites “genuine internal disappointment” among Rockets officials when center Brook Lopez opted to remain in Milwaukee instead of taking their offer, which was reported to be around $40MM for two years. Having Landale and Green on the roster instead of Lopez makes Sengun the clear starting center and should help with his development, Iko notes.
The roster additions mean the Rockets can afford to be patient with rookie Cam Whitmore, with Iko suggesting that the 20th overall pick could see some time in the G League.
Teams have asked about swingman Jae’Sean Tate during the offseason, but the Rockets still appear to view him as an important part of their future, Iko tweets.

Nuggets Notes: Brown, Jordan, Green, Jackson, Rookies, Braun

June 27th, 2023 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

After winning a title during his first year as the Nuggets‘ head of basketball operations, Calvin Booth has no appetite for major roster changes heading into his second season. He tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post (subscription required) that he’d like the team’s 2023/24 roster to look a lot like the ’22/23 group.

“Hopefully we get the whole crew back,” Booth said, in reference to a group of free agents that includes Jeff Green, Ish Smith, DeAndre Jordan, Reggie Jackson, Thomas Bryant, and – of course – Bruce Brown. The Nuggets can only offer Brown a limited raise, but hope to re-sign him.

“Obviously Bruce is the biggest fish,” Booth said. “He has a million options. Waiting eagerly to see what’s going to happen when the moratorium ends. Hopefully he’s back in a Nuggets jersey.”

Asked specifically about veteran leaders Green and Jordan, Booth expressed more confidence in the club’s odds of bringing back Jordan, noting that Green will have “options” and adding that he’ll have to check in with the forward’s agent.

Interestingly, while Jackson wasn’t a key contributor down the stretch for the Nuggets and didn’t have a rotation role in the playoffs, a league source tells Singer that the team would like to re-sign the veteran point guard.

Here’s more on the Nuggets:

Denver’s roster will look at least a little different in ’23/24 due to an influx of rookies — the club drafted Julian Strawther (No. 29), Jalen Pickett (No. 32), and Hunter Tyson (No. 37) on Thursday. Tony Jones of The Athletic explores what the Nuggets are getting in those newcomers and considers how the team is attempting its own version of a “two-timeline” plan that didn’t work out for the conference-rival Warriors.
Explaining why the Nuggets targeted Strawther at No. 29, Booth told reporters this week that he liked the fact that the former Gonzaga sharpshooter has played in “high-pressure games” and believes he can improve Denver’s shooting off the bench (subscriber-only story via Singer). However, if the Nuggets’ roster remains relatively healthy, Booth expects Strawther to spend some time playing in the G League as a rookie.
Despite playing rotation minutes during the Nuggets’ championship run this spring, second-year wing Christian Braun may suit up for Denver in the Las Vegas Summer League, tweets Singer. Some team executives would like to see him seek out his shot and be aggressive in a way he wasn’t asked to during his rookie season, Singer explains.

Nuggets Notes: Jokic, Booth, Veteran Players

June 15th, 2023 at 10:02am CST by Arthur Hill

In an interview with Malika Andrews of ESPN (video link), Finals MVP Nikola Jokic talks about the benefits of spending his career with one head coach and the stability of being alongside Jamal Murray for so long. The Nuggets drafted Jokic in 2014, and he joined the team a year later. They hired Michael Malone as their coach in 2015 and drafted Murray in 2016.

“I really trust those guys,” Jokic said. “I think that’s how the winning is done. Jamal was injured. He thought he was going to get traded. He was playing bad. This and that, media talking about him. … He proved to himself that he can lead a championship team.”

Jokic added that he’s looking forward to returning to Serbia to celebrate with his close friends and family after Thursday’s victory parade. He also endorsed Malone’s declaration that Denver can win more titles with its current core and said there’s room for him to improve after reaching the top of the league.

“I think I can be much better, but you still need to sacrifice yourself,” Jokic said. “Basketball is not the main thing in my life. It’s something that I’m good at.”

There’s more from Denver:

Jokic is the historical heir to Tim Duncan as an unassuming superstar capable of leading his team to multiple championships, observes David Aldridge of The Athletic. Both are highly skilled in the fundamentals of the game, Aldridge notes, and they can envision plays before they happen.
Amid the championship celebration Monday night, general manager Calvin Booth was already thinking about how to sustain the Nuggets’ success, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Denver is over the salary cap for next season, so Booth’s options will be limited, but he’s reportedly trying to use one of the team’s 2024 first-rounders to trade up in this year’s draft. “We gotta give ourselves a chance to be in the Finals every year,” he said. “If we’re in the Finals, we have a chance. I don’t expect us to win it every time, but we gotta try to get here.”
Being a champion is especially sweet for four veteran players who have spent years bouncing around the league while hoping to win a ring, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Reggie Jackson embraced Jeff Green, DeAndre Jordan and Ish Smith as the final seconds ticked off the clock in Game 5. “It hit me at the end of the game,” Smith said. “I don’t know why I just got emotional, but this is gratifying, man. This is great. I’m so happy for the city. Denver, our teammates, man, we all got a story. So it’s been a blessing.”