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Southeast Notes: Hawks, Butler, Kuzma, Fultz, Okeke

January 4th, 2022 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

It’s clear that changes are necessary to improve the Hawks‘ defense, but the team’s current personnel may not provide any quite fixes, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, who suggests that it’s an area Atlanta could look to address on the trade market.

Trae Young scored 56 points with 14 assists for the Hawks on Monday night, but it wasn’t enough for a victory, since the club surrendered 136 points to a Portland team missing Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Acting coach Joe Prunty acknowledged after the game that something needs to change on defense.

“There are a lot of things that need to be addressed. A lot of things that we have to do as a team to get better at,” Prunty said, per Kirschner. “There are things we have talked about, things we have worked on, but clearly we need to continue to do it. It’s going to be hard to win a game giving up 136. We’ve done this a few times now. We have to get better across the board as a team, that’s coaches and players.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Jimmy Butler exited the Heat‘s game in the third quarter on Monday due to a right ankle injury and will undergo further testing today to assess the severity of the ailment, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. For his part, Butler – who has already experienced some right ankle problems this season – doesn’t seem to believe it’s a significant injury. “If you talk to Jimmy right now, he says he’s fine,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We will have to evaluate it and see how he feels.”
Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma had a career night on Monday, putting up 36 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists in a win over Charlotte. As Ava Wallace of The Washington Post writes, Kuzma is getting more and more comfortable with his new team and believes he’s in a “great situation” in Washington. “Fit and opportunity is everything in this league,” Kuzma said on Monday.
Magic guard Markelle Fultz, who continues to recover from ACL surgery, is now in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, but forward Chuma Okeke has exited the protocols, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Okeke missed Monday’s game due to return to competition reconditioning, but should be nearing a return.

Southeast Notes: Heat, Hornets, Magic, Spoelstra

December 12th, 2021 at 6:38pm CST by JD Shaw

The Heat will be missing several players to start their four-game road trip on Monday in Cleveland, including Jimmy Butler (tailbone) and Markieff Morris (neck), Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel tweets. The club will also be without Bam Adebayo (thumb) and Caleb Martin (protocols).

All four players won’t be traveling with the team, receiving their treatment in Miami instead. In addition, veteran guard Victor Oladipo (knee) has yet to play this season, but Winderman notes that he’ll be traveling with the team and sitting on the bench.

Morris has been sidelined for the past 17 games, while Butler returned on December 6 after missing four games. Butler re-injured himself during that contest, costing him the past two games (and counting). Despite playing without several key players, Miami still holds the fourth-best record in the East at 16-11.

Here are some other notes from the Southeast Division:

Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer examines whether the Hornets should pursue Pacers big men Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. Indiana is reportedly open to discussing the players in trades as it ponders whether to start a rebuilding phase. Both Sabonis and Turner would likely start if they were acquired by the Hornets, who currently starts Mason Plumlee at center.
Despite owning a 5-22 record, the Magic remain optimistic due to the impending return of guard Markelle Fultz, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Fultz suffered a torn ACL last January and fully practiced with the team on Friday for the first time since sustaining the injury. “It was great to have ‘Kelle on the floor,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said of Fultz. “As long as there are no hiccups, he’s going to continue to progress in the right direction.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra questioned the league’s strategy with handling players in health and safety protocols, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. “Why would they be held out extensively longer than if they have the flu?” he asked. “I think there’s a contradiction there.” The same couldn’t be said a year ago when vaccines weren’t widely available, but now that they are, it could raise an interesting discussion.

Florida Notes: Suggs, Miami Backcourt, Butler, Spoelstra

December 7th, 2021 at 7:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Magic rookie guard Jalen Suggs continues to develop his skills at the next level despite remaining sidelined due to a fractured right thumb, writes Dan Savage of Magic.com. Savage notes that the injury will not require surgery, and the club will continue to monitor it with check-ups every other week.

Rather than rehabilitate at home, Suggs wanted to travel with his Magic teammates for the club’s recent Western Conference road trip: “For me, the biggest part was still being around the team, hearing what the coaches are saying, being on the bench, and being engaged into the game. That was the biggest piece for me for wanting to come and hoping they’d let me come. Again, just continuing to build the camaraderie because I love to be around these guys.”

Savage reports that Suggs is going through game film with head coach Jamahl Mosley and assistant coach Nate Tibbetts as he hopes to take strides even while unavailable for the Magic.

“Just trying to see the flow, see where certain shots come in, see how I can better control the game in certain situations,” Suggs said. “I think they’ve done a great job of keeping me involved and keeping me engaged.”

Across 21 games thus far this season, the 6’4″ 21-year-old point guard out of Gonzaga is averaging 12.3 PPG (albeit on lackluster shooting percentages), 3.6 APG and 3.4 RPG.

There’s more out of the Sunshine State:

Due to a rash of injuries early in the 2021/22 NBA season, the Heat have been compelled to tinker with lineup optionality, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. The backcourt tandem of veteran point guard Kyle Lowry and up-and-comer Gabe Vincent has emerged by necessity, and may become a favorite for head coach Erik Spoelstra going forward. “You have toughness and that defensive disposition from both of them,” Spoelstra said. “Either one of them can play on the ball or play off the ball and they feel equally comfortable in that role. I think the different roles that Gabe has had to play for us the last year and a half have really prepared him to be able to complement Kyle very well.”
Heat All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler, in his first game back from a tailbone injury that kept him sidelined for four contests, appeared to re-injure himself after suffering a hard fall in an eventual 105-90 defeat against the Grizzlies Monday night, per ESPN.com. “It is a contact sport,” head coach Erik Spoelstra noted. “But he definitely re-aggravated it. You can tell from that point on he was not his usual self. So we’ll reevaluate him [Tuesday] and see where we are.” When available, the 32-year-old swingman has looked like his usual All-Star self, averaging 22.8 PPG on 50.9% shooting from the floor and 85.2% from the charity stripe, while chipping in 5.8 RPG and 5.2 APG across 18 games.
Spoelstra discussed his frustrations with himself as a coach in the wake of the Heat‘s recent slump, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The team has lost four of its last five contests overall, including three games on its home court. “I have to do a better job getting the team organized and getting the team comfortable, where the ball’s going, how we’re going to play offensively,” Spoelstra said. To be fair, the team has been without All-Stars Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo, out with injuries, for most of those games. The Heat are currently still the fourth seed in the East at 14-11. The lead man in Miami since 2008, Spoelstra is the second-longest-tenured NBA head coach, behind just Gregg Popovich of the Spurs.

Injury Notes: Towns, Butler, Morris, Warren, Wood, KPJ

December 1st, 2021 at 10:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns hopefully avoided a major injury Wednesday night, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).

Towns fell on his lower back after slipping off the rim after a dunk. However, Woj says X-Rays on Towns’ lower back came back clean. We’ll have to wait and see if there’s an update from the team to determine if Towns might be sidelined.

Here are some more injury notes:

Heat star Jimmy Butler (tailbone) missed his second consecutive game Wednesday night against the Cavs and it sounds like he could miss more time. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel tweets that he’s likely to miss the back-to-back games Friday and Saturday against the Pacers and Bucks.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters there’s still no update on Markieff Morris, who has now missed 12 games in a row with whiplash, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said that scans on T.J. Warren‘s foot had positive results, but there’s still no timeline for his return, the team announced (via Twitter).
Rockets starters Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr. were both injured in Wednesday night’s game against the Thunder and did not return. Wood suffered a sprained ankle, while KPJ has a left thigh contusion, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Southeast Notes: Butler, Morris, Hachimura, Mulder

November 21st, 2021 at 9:16am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat may have enough talent to challenge for an NBA title, but they’ll have to break their habit of letting big leads slip away, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Jimmy Butler addressed the topic Saturday night after Miami squandered a 16-point third quarter advantage while losing to the Wizards in a battle of two of the East’s top teams.

Most troubling for an organization built around its defensive mentality is that the Heat couldn’t stop the Wizards in the fourth quarter. Miami allowed Washington to shoot 73.3% in the final 12 minutes, including 5 of 9 from three-point range.

“I just think everybody’s got to grow up a little bit and realize, if we want to be a really good team, we’ve got to win these games, we’ve got to hold on to these leads, we’ve got to keep playing basketball the right way, keep getting stops, even when we’re not making shots,” Butler said. “Because that’s what’s going to win us a championship, on the defensive end. And if we’re making shots, great. Maybe we’ll win by a little bit more. But it we’re stopping other teams from scoring, that’s what champions are borne of.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra provided an update on Markieff Morris, who is still recovering from whiplash after being hit from behind by Nikola Jokic, Winderman adds in a separate story. Morris didn’t accompany the team on its current four-game road trip, which means he will miss at least 10 games. “It was a very dangerous play and it’s really unfortunate,” Spoelstra said. “That’s the byproduct of those kind of dangerous actions. But he is feeling better. We’ll just continue to take it one day at a time.”
Rui Hachimura attended the Wizards‘ shootaround Saturday and is getting closer to making his season debut, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “The fact that he was able to go through parts of shootaround today were terrific,” said coach Wes Unseld Jr. “I think it’s just another step in his ramp-up. We still don’t have a definitive timetable, but every day it seems like it’s more.”
Mychal Mulder, who signed a two-way contract with the Magic late last month, enjoys being with his new team, notes Matt Murschel of The Orlando Sentinel. The former Warriors guard turned in his best performance of the season Saturday night as Orlando’s reserves nearly erased a 28-point deficit in Milwaukee. “We’ve got good chemistry all around, up and down the roster,” Mulder said. “Guys love playing with each other here. We like one another. We’re a unit and we’re connected. That connectedness in our group is going to show up over time.”

Southeast Notes: Oubre, Butler, Unseld, Capela

November 11th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

A few months before he reached free agency earlier this year, Kelly Oubre strongly suggested that he wanted to be a starter, telling reporters, “I can offer a lot more than coming off the bench.” However, he has been willing to accept a bench role with the Hornets so far, having started just five of 13 games for the team to open the season. On Wednesday, his reserve role put him in position for a historic performance — his 37 points off the bench represented a new franchise record for most points in a game by a non-starter, per Sam Perley of Hornets.com.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

As first reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Heat star Jimmy Butler will miss Thursday’s game vs. the Clippers due to his right ankle sprain. It remains unclear whether the injury will keep Butler out of action for multiple contests.
Count Montrezl Harrell among those who believe the Wizards hit a home run by hiring Wes Unseld Jr. as their new head coach this offseason. “I think it was just a great job picking the right head coach, man,” Harrell said, per Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. “As you can see, it’s resulted in our play.” Washington is tied for the East’s best record at 8-3 and the team has the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA.
One reason for the Hawks‘ slow start to this season has been Clint Capela‘s inability to be the sort of two-way impact player he was last season, writes Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Capela tells Kirschner that he’s still working his way back to 100% after dealing with a lingering Achilles issue. The veteran center was limited during training camp and head coach Nate McMillan doesn’t believe his conditioning is where it would be if he had been fully healthy. “The fact that he didn’t really start running until he got to training camp set him back,” McMillan said. “He’s now trying to play himself into game shape with the season starting.”

Health Updates: White, Butler, Claxton, Harris

November 11th, 2021 at 11:57am CST by Luke Adams

Bulls guard Coby White expects to make his 2021/22 debut “real soon,” he said on Wednesday, per Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. White, who has been recovering from June shoulder surgery, practiced with the Windy City Bulls on Tuesday and took part in a 5-on-5 scrimmage with Chicago’s G League team, then went through shootaround with the NBA club on Wednesday.

“It’s been a long road, it’s been a long five-to-six months (of rehab), so it’s a blessing to be back out there and playing again,” White said after that shootaround, according to Schaefer. “I’m pretty much fully back (at practice) right now.”

White will travel with the Bulls for their five-game Western Conference road trip, which begins on Friday. Asked on Wednesday if he’ll play at all during that trip, White replied, “Maybe. It’s a possibility.”

Here are a few more health updates from around the NBA:

Heat star Jimmy Butler was forced to exit the team’s Wednesday loss to the Lakers early due to a sprained right ankle (link via ESPN). Head coach Erik Spoelstra had no post-game update on Butler’s status, so it remains unclear if the injury will sideline him for a few games or if he’ll be able to return quickly.
Nets center Nicolas Claxton will likely miss at least a couple more games, but he appears to be nearing a return from the illness that has sidelined him since October 25, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I don’t know if it was a disease or what, but he was just ill. I can’t really say more than that,” head coach Steve Nash said. “But he started ramping back up again (on Wednesday). So I don’t know how long that process will take. I think they have to assess where he’s at, and then see how he goes and then we’ll figure out when he can play again.”
Tobias Harris has missed the team’s last six games due to a positive COVID-19 test, but Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said on Tuesday that the veteran forward is doing better and should return sooner rather than later, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. Harris is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game vs. Toronto — if he’s unable to play tonight, he’s probably a good bet to be back on Saturday.

Nikola Jokić Suspended; Markieff Morris, Jimmy Butler Fined

November 9th, 2021 at 9:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

As anticipated, the reigning NBA MVP, Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, has been suspended by the NBA following an on-court altercation with Heat forward Markieff Morris in last night’s 113-96 blowout Denver win.

The league announced (Twitter link) that Jokić will miss one game after shoving Morris from behind and giving him whiplash, though Morris had initially instigated contact with a mild shoulder check seconds prior. Both players were instantly ejected with Flagrant 2 foul calls.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Jokić, a three-time All-Star, will lose $210,417 in salary as a result of his single-game suspension.

The NBA has also opted to fine Morris $50K for his role in the dispute. A bit more surprisingly, All-Star Heat small forward (and current 2022 MVP candidate) Jimmy Butler was dinged to the tune of $30K for “attempting to escalate” the conflict between the two players and “failing to comply with an NBA Security interview” about the incident, per the league’s statement. Though players from both the Nuggets and Heat rushed to the aid of their respective comrades, the league opted to single Butler out.

Jokić will thus miss the Nuggets’ next contest, a home matchup against the Pacers tomorrow night. Denver head coach Michael Malone said earlier today that, provided Jokić indeed was suspended, Denver would look to feature forwards Jeff Green, JaMychal Green, and Aaron Gordon more in the paint. Malone also floated the possibility that little-used young centers Bol Bol and Zeke Nnaji would get some run.

Rudy Gobert, Jimmy Butler Named Players Of The Week

November 1st, 2021 at 2:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Heat swingman Jimmy Butler have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (Twitter links).

During the week of October 25-31, Gobert helped lead the Jazz to a 3-1 record, averaging 16.3 PPG, 15.5 RPG, and 2.3 BPG with a .778 FG% in his four games (31.1 MPG).

Butler’s Heat won all four of their games during the last week, beating the Magic, Nets, Hornets, and Grizzlies by an average of 17.8 points. Butler led the way with 28.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 5.3 APG, and 3.3 SPG on .586/.400/.933 shooting in 34.2 MPG.

Gobert’s teammate Donovan Mitchell was among the other Western Conference nominees, along with Anthony Davis (Lakers), Russell Westbrook, and Luka Doncic (Mavericks). Butler beat out fellow Eastern Conference nominees RJ Barrett (Knicks), DeMar DeRozan (Bulls), Kevin Durant (Nets), Darius Garland (Cavaliers), Montrezl Harrell (Wizards), and teammate Bam Adebayo.

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Hornets, Riley, Butler

October 31st, 2021 at 2:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The 3-3 Hawks have yet to recapture the momentum that propelled them to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, writes Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. With an intimidating schedule coming up in which Atlanta will play several 2021 playoff teams, Kirschner offers his thoughts on how the club can adjust.

While forwards Cam Reddish and John Collins have exhibited plenty of growth, other key Hawks players have struggled a bit. Point guard Trae Young is struggling to adjust to the league’s new free throw rules, while shooting guard Kevin Huerter is struggling to connect from deep.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

The Hornets have already enjoyed a promising start to the 2021/22 season, writes Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. New additions Ish Smith and Kelly Oubre have fit in well thus far, with Oubre connecting on a solid 35.7% of his three-point looks. 2022 restricted free agent forward Miles Bridges has taken his scoring to borderline All-Star heights, and Boone is pegging his future contract in the $100MM vicinity. When it comes to perimeter depth, Boone observes that Cody Martin, Jalen McDaniels, and Nick Richards are also improving.
The hot start of the Heat has Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wondering if team president Pat Riley has finally nailed the club’s supporting lineup around All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. The club has wholly recalibrated its frontcourt depth around Adebayo, and the early results have paid dividends thus far. The addition of former Raptors All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry has made a huge defensive impact on Miami, though his offense is struggling so far. Sixth man Tyler Herro also appears to have taken a leap in his third season.
Heat All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler has thrived alongside new addition Kyle Lowry. Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald wonders if Butler has been newly maximized as a player alongside the former six-time All-Star point guard.