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Atlantic Notes: Finney-Smith, Bridges, Embiid, Poeltl

February 15th, 2023 at 11:34pm CST by Rory Maher

The Grizzlies reportedly offered four first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, but he wasn’t the only new Nets addition that drew interest from rival teams. Sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber link) that “multiple teams offered two firsts” for Dorian Finney-Smith, who was acquired from Dallas in the Kyrie Irving trade.

A strong, versatile defensive player and solid three-point shooter (36% career), Finney-Smith is in the first year of a four-year, $55.6MM extension, so he’s under contract long term (the final year is a player option for $15.4MM).

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Bridges exploded for a career-high 45 points (on 17-of-24 shooting) during Wednesday’s victory over Miami, as Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post relays. “If we keep learning and growing together, I feel like we’ll be a scary team that teams don’t want to play against,” said Bridges, who stuffed the stat sheet with eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. “Defense comes first before anything.” The Nets lost major star power at the trade deadline, but Bridges has given the team hope that he can take his game to a new level, Sanchez writes.
Sixers star Joel Embiid might not compete in the All-Star Game, as he’s been dealing with a nagging foot injury, according to Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. “I’m not sure, I’m not healthy,” Embiid said when asked if he’d play in Sunday’s game. “I haven’t been healthy for the past three weeks or month, I was just trying to get to the All-Star break without missing games and stuff. I feel like I’ve reached the point where I really need to follow the doctor’s advice and miss, back then he said I should have been sitting for two weeks. Going to see how the next few days go and go from there.”
The Raptors re-acquired center Jakob Poeltl, whom the team drafted ninth overall in 2016, ahead of last week’s trade deadline. In his third game back with the Raptors, he became just the second player in NBA history (David Robinson is the other) to record 30-plus points without making a free throw or a three-pointer while also registering at least five blocked shots, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. The Austrian big man recorded 30 points (on 15-of-17 shooting), nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and six blocks in Tuesday’s victory over Orlando.

Atlantic Notes: Griffin, Dedmon, Simmons, Bridges

February 13th, 2023 at 9:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Adrian Griffin filled in for Nick Nurse on Sunday as the Raptors’ head coach dealt with a family issue. Griffin, who coached the club to a one-point win over Detroit, hopes this experience will help him land a head coaching job down the road, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes.

“It’s something I’d like to pursue in the future as far as being a head coach so this is good practice for me,” the Raptors assistant said said. “But I never lose sight of what’s important and that’s the players. I’ve got to make sure that they’re prepared, I’ve got to make sure that they know what’s coming and put them first. Yes, I appreciate this opportunity but I always try to keep it in perspective: We’ve got a game to win and my job is to prepare them to win.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Dewayne Dedmon has decided to join the Sixers after he clears waivers, but Philly Voice’s Kyle Neubeck is skeptical that Dedmon is the answer as Joel Embiid‘s backup, given that he’s 33 and he couldn’t establish himself as the Heat’s backup big man. Dedmon made spotty contributions on offense this season and it’s questionable whether he can effectively guard pick-and-rolls, Neubeck writes.
Ben Simmons admits he’s not happy with his spotty fourth-quarter minutes, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets. “It’s a little frustrating trying to find some rhythm and consistency; but that’s what it is at this point right now,” he said. “Guys have been in and out due to injuries, trades, so there’s been a lot of different things that play factors into it.”
Nets fans have quickly embraced Mikal Bridges, the top player they acquired in the Kevin Durant blockbuster. The home crowd chanted “Brooklyn Bridges” as he shot free throws in his team debut on Saturday. “Hearing that chant, I kind of wanted to join in and make them yell louder. … People were already saying ‘Brooklyn Bridges’ when I got traded. I like it,” he said.
Bridges didn’t lose his consecutive games streak on a technicality, Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press reports. He was forced to miss a game last week for the first time in his career on Thursday after he was traded by Phoenix. He was listed as “inactive — trade pending” in the official box score. The league determined that since Bridges wasn’t eligible to play, it shouldn’t count as a missed game. He has the league’s longest active streak, now at 367 after the Nets fell to the Knicks on Monday night.

Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, Pascal Siakam Named All-Stars

February 10th, 2023 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially named Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, and Raptors forward Pascal Siakam as injury replacements for next weekend’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City (Twitter link).

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links), who first reported that the trio was expected to make the All-Star Game, notes that Edwards and Fox will replace Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Pelicans forward Zion Williamson in the West, while Siakam will replace star forward Kevin Durant in the East.

Durant, of course, was traded from the Nets to the Suns this week, but was initially named an Eastern Conference All-Star, so his replacement comes from the East.

In his third season with the Timberwolves, Edwards is averaging a career-high 24.7 points per game on .464/.367/.767 shooting to go along with 6.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.7 steals per night in 58 games (36.2 MPG). Fox, a sixth-year guard, is putting up similar numbers for Sacramento, with 24.2 PPG, 6.3 APG, and 4.3 RPG on .504/.326/.789 in 49 games (33.7 MPG).

Both Edwards and Fox are first-time All-Stars.

Siakam, meanwhile, will be playing in his second All-Star Game after making the team in 2020. This season, he’s averaging new career highs in points (25.0) and assists (6.2) per game. He has also put up 8.0 rebounds per game with a .475/.326/.767 shooting line in 46 games and is leading the league in minutes per contest (37.5) for the second straight year.

In a full press release announcing the All-Star changes, the NBA announced that Sixers center Joel Embiid, Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant have all been promoted from All-Star reserves to starters, since Durant, Williamson, and Curry were all on track to start.

Eastern Notes: Thybulle, D. Robinson, Lowry, Celtics, Hart, Pistons

February 9th, 2023 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

Sixers center Joel Embiid knows that teammate Matisse Thybulle has been mentioned in trade rumors leading up to Thursday’s deadline, but the All-Star big man praised Thybulle’s defensive abilities and said he’d like to see the team hang onto the fourth-year wing, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Personally, I would love to have him,” Embiid said. “I think he’s one of our better defenders, especially on the perimeter. We don’t have a lot of guys that cause steals or blocks, and all that stuff, extra possessions. That takes extra possessions from the other teams. He’s someone that fits on every NBA team based on his defensive skill set. I think he helps us a lot. But then again, I don’t make the decisions.”

There are a handful of reasons why Thybulle has been mentioned as a trade candidate. His offensive limitations have been exposed in past postseasons, he’s headed for free agency this summer, and the Sixers are only slightly above the luxury tax line, so moving off a small amount of salary could save them a significant amount of cash at season’s end.

Here’s more from around the East:

The Heat have explored trading forward Duncan Robinson, but Robinson’s pricey long-term contract and uncertainty about his status following finger surgery have decimated any value he might have, per Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. According to Jackson and Chiang, potential trade partners have sought multiple first-round picks in talks involving Robinson, so the Heat are more focused on discussions centered around Kyle Lowry, with the Clippers still in the mix.
The Celtics‘ trade offer for Jakob Poeltl consisted of guard Payton Pritchard, injured forward Danilo Gallinari, and multiple future second-round picks, reports Brian Robb of MassLive.com. While that proposal would’ve given the Spurs a promising young player in Pritchard, it fell well short of what Toronto was offering in terms of draft compensation.
Fred Katz of The Athletic explores how Josh Hart will fit in with the Knicks and explains why New York wanted him, noting that he’s a classic Tom Thibodeau sort of player. Katz also notes that the protection terms on the team’s traded 2023 first-round pick (it will turn into four second-rounders if it lands in the lottery) will allow the Knicks to remain flexible with all of their future first-rounders this offseason and beyond.
The Pistons have reportedly set a high asking price for veterans Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, who are both under contract for next season, and head coach Dwane Casey understands why the front office has taken that stance, as Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link) relays. “(Burks) and (Bogdanovic) are the perfect fit for our rebuilding program, and we’re ready to take off and go forward next year,” Casey said. “Those two guys are just important pieces now and also going forward.”

2023 NBA All-Star Reserves Announced

February 2nd, 2023 at 6:24pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The league has announced its 2023 All-Star reserves during a pregame broadcast on TNT, as voted on by NBA head coaches. As usual, the list of 14 selections featured some interesting surprises.

For the Eastern Conference, coaches voted in Sixers center Joel Embiid (the reigning Player of the Month in the East), Heat center Bam Adebayo, Bulls wing DeMar DeRozan, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, and Knicks forward Julius Randle.

Holiday, who is making his second overall All-star appearance this year, last earned an All-Star nod a decade ago while playing for Philadelphia.

Randle will receive a $1.2MM salary bonus as a result of being named an All-Star this season, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Marks adds (via Twitter) that Holiday will get a $324K bonus. And as long as he appears in at least 65 contests this year, Brown will earn a $1.55MM bonus after having qualified for the All-Star game, Marks tweets.

Among the most notable omissions in the East were a handful of point guards: the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, the Hawks’ Trae Young, the Cavaliers’ Darius Garland, and the Sixers’ James Harden. Miami swingman Jimmy Butler also missed out. Young, Harden and Butler all made the cut last season.

In the Western Conference, Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, Kings center Domantas Sabonis, Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Clippers forward Paul George, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. were selected as reserves.

Being named to the All-Star team again this year will earn Sabonis a $1.3MM bonus, per Marks (Twitter link).

Lakers center Anthony Davis, Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Suns guard Devin Booker, and Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon were among the Western Conference snubs.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Markkanen and Jackson are the lone first-time All-Stars among these 14 picks.

All-Star weekend tips off on February 17 in Salt Lake City. Los Angeles power forward LeBron James and Milwaukee power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the captains of their respective conferences, will draft their teams ahead of the 2023 All-Star Game on Sunday, February 19.

Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic Named Players Of The Month

February 2nd, 2023 at 3:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Sixers center Joel Embiid and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic have been named the players of the month for January, per the NBA (Twitter link).

The Sixers went 11-3 last month, including 8-2 when Embiid played. He posted terrific stats, averaging 34.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.6 blocks on .549/.421/.861 shooting in 33.1 minutes per contest.

The back-to-back MVP runner-up to Jokic, Embiid – who was also December’s Eastern Conference player of the month – is leading the NBA in scoring for the second straight season, averaging a career-high 33.5 points through 38 games.

His best performance last month was a comeback victory over Jokic’s Nuggets on January 28, recording 47 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks on a .581/.571/.700 shooting line.

Philadelphia is currently 33-17, the East’s No. 3 seed.

The Nuggets went 12-4 in January, including 10-2 when Jokic was in the lineup. He averaged a ridiculously efficient triple-double, posting 24.0 points, 11.6 boards, 11.3 assists and 1.2 steals on .677/.538/.897 shooting in 33.4 minutes.

Jokic’s top performance was arguably a victory over Portland on January 17, when he recorded 36 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, one steal and one block. He was 13-of-14 from the field, 1-of-2 from three, and 9-of-10 from the line.

Denver is currently the No. 1 seed in the West with a 35-16 record.

According to the NBA (Twitter link), the other nominees in the West were Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard and Lauri Markkanen, while Bam Adebayo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson, Darius Garland, Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum were nominated in the East.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Niang, Maxey, Luxury Tax

January 28th, 2023 at 8:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

Joel Embiid turned in an MVP performance Saturday afternoon while matched up with Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who has beaten him out for the award the past two seasons, writes Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice. Embiid posted 47 points, 18 rebounds and five assists and made several big plays late in the game to help the Sixers win the battle between two of the NBA’s best teams.

Embiid was a bit too focused on his individual matchup with Jokic early on, Neubeck observes, but he began to take over the game in the second quarter, showing off his full offensive arsenal. Many of Embiid’s points came via a two-man weave with James Harden that resulted in prime scoring opportunities.

Afterward, Embiid said he doesn’t have a personal rivalry with Jokic, but he felt it was “a little disrespectful” that he wasn’t named a starter when the results of this year’s All-Star voting were announced Thursday, relays Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“I’m used to it,” Embiid said of the snub. “It’s not the first time. I think it’s more of a motivation to go out and win the whole thing. That’s the only way I’m probably going to get that respect.”

There’s more from Philadelphia:

Georges Niang is headed for a sizable payday in free agency this summer, Neubeck adds. Niang contributed 14 points in about 18 minutes off the bench today, shooting 4-of-7 from three-point range. Neubeck calls Niang one of the NBA’s best bench shooters and expects a lot of teams to be interested when he hits the open market.
Tyrese Maxey has adapted well to a reserve role since the Sixers changed their starting lineup earlier this month, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer states in a mailbag column. Coming into today, Maxey was averaging 22.4 points and shooting 41.9% on three-pointers in his first five games off the bench. However, Pompey views Maxey as a long-term starter and says he needs to improve his defense this summer so he’ll be a better fit alongside Harden.
Luxury tax concerns will affect the Sixers’ strategy heading into the trade deadline, Pompey adds. Philadelphia is currently about $1.1MM over the threshold of $150.3MM, so Furkan Korkmaz or Jaden Springer could be unloaded to avoid the tax.

Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid Each Fined $25K By NBA

January 27th, 2023 at 9:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Sixers center Joel Embiid have each been fined $25K by the NBA for separate incidents, the league announced (Twitter links).

Curry, the reigning Finals MVP, was given a technical foul and ejected for tossing his mouthpiece with 1:14 remaining in Wednesday’s two-point victory over Memphis. As Kendra Andrews of ESPN writes, Curry was frustrated by an “ill-advised” three-point attempt by teammate Jordan Poole.

According to Andrews, the mouthpiece “ricocheted off the court and landed near the courtside seats” and Curry received his third career ejection (second in the regular season). The NBA’s press release states that he was fined for “throwing his mouthpiece into the spectator stands” (video link).

“It was a crucial time in the game, and the way that our season has gone, questions about a heightened sense of urgency … when you want something really bad … I reacted in a way that put myself out of the game and put the team in a tough place,” said Curry, who disagreed with the immediate ejection because his mouthpiece didn’t come in contact with anyone.

Embiid, meanwhile, was fined for “making an obscene gesture on the playing court” in the third quarter of Wednesday’s victory over Brooklyn. He was not penalized during the game for his D-Generation X-inspired celebration.

Antetokounmpo, James Head All-Star Starters; Embiid Falls Short

January 26th, 2023 at 6:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers forward LeBron James tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Thursday with his 19th NBA All-Star selection. James, who currently shares the record with Abdul-Jabbar for most All-Star Games played with 18, was chosen as a starter, according to a league press release.

All of the starters were revealed on Thursday night.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic were the other starters chosen out of the Western Conference. James will serve as a team captain for the sixth straight year, since he received the most votes.

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, named a team captain for the third time, heads the list of starters out of the Eastern Conference. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Nets forward Kevin Durant, Nets guard Kyrie Irving, and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell will join him, but the league’s second-leading scorer, Sixers center Joel Embiid (33.4 PPG), didn’t garner enough votes.

The starters are selected by a weighted voting process with the fan vote accounting for half of the final outcome. The player and media portions of the vote each counted for 25 percent. Three frontcourt players and two guards were selected from each conference.

Embiid finished third in the player and media voting among Eastern Conference frontcourt players but fourth in the fan voting. All voting results can be found here.

The game will be played Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City. James and Antetokounmpo will choose their teams shortly before the game begins. James will set the league record for most All-Star appearances if he plays, since Abdul-Jabbar did not play in the 1973 game after being chosen.

The reserves, which are chosen by the league’s coaches, will be announced Feb. 2.

Atlantic Notes: Maxey, Embiid, Harden, Raptors, Hauser

January 16th, 2023 at 7:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey is coming to terms with his new reserve role, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Maxey was demoted to a bench role in favor of the more defensively oriented De’Anthony Melton.

“Sometimes you have to be the bigger person,” Maxey noted “I feel like it was kind of trending that way. But I’m a professional at the end of the day.”

The 22-year-old is still having a solid scoring season for Philadelphia, averaging 20.8 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.0 RPG, and 0.9 SPG.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Sixers’ All-Star tandem of Joel Embiid and James Harden are finally clicking midway through their first full season together, Pompey posits in another article. “He’s so dominant and versatile to where I’m sure he’s never played with a play-maker like me,” Harden said of the Philadelphia center. “So it’s just constant communication to where he hasn’t probably rolled this much before and I haven’t had a big that pops like that.”
After an erratic six games at home, the current core players for the Raptors face some big-picture questions, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. At 20-24, Toronto heads toward the February 9 trade deadline with an uncertain future. Smith notes that the team’s front office brain trust of Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster may make some significant changes to the club’s roster if the Raptors can’t start winning. The Raptors boast several movable players on reasonable deals.
Celtics reserve forward Sam Hauser has been mired in a major shooting slump for the last month. Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston wonders if team president Brad Stevens may opt to make a trade to replace Hauser’s lagging output for a Boston team with title hopes. Over the past 23 games, Hauser has seen his minutes slashed to 12.2 MPG and his shooting splits have nosedived to .348/.284/.250.