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Southwest Notes: Aldama, J. Green, Mavs, Pelicans

October 4th, 2022 at 7:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Santi Aldama, the 30th overall pick in the 2021 draft, has started at power forward for the Grizzlies in both of their preseason games so far and looks like the favorite to occupy that spot when the regular season tips off, with Jaren Jackson Jr. (foot) sidelined, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

As Cole writes, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins pointed to shooting, play-making, defensive versatility, and chemistry with the starters as the four biggest keys for that power forward spot.

Aldama’s shooting and play-making numbers certainly didn’t jump off the page as a rookie, when he made just 6-of-48 threes and had nearly as many turnovers as assists, but the team believes in his ability and he has shown growth in the preseason. The 21-year-old recorded four assists in his first game and made four three-pointers in his second game. He also leads the team in points (34) and rebounds (14) in those two contests.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Mavericks coaches and players are continually pointing to former first-round pick Josh Green as the player who came to camp in the best shape and improved the most in the offseason, according to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News, who notes that a leap from Green would be huge for a Dallas team that lost Jalen Brunson.
John Hollinger of The Athletic is bearish on the Mavericks‘ chances of matching or exceeding their 52 wins from last season, projecting the team to finish eighth in the West at 46-36.
The Pelicans‘ 2021 offseason looks much better in retrospect than it did at the time, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. The Pelicans let Lonzo Ball go and missed out on top target Kyle Lowry in free agency, but with Ball injured and Lowry perhaps losing a step, New Orleans is better off having instead fortified its backcourt by acquiring CJ McCollum at the 2022 deadline, according to Clark. That move wouldn’t have happened if the team had retained Ball or signed Lowry.

Mavs Notes: Wood, McGee, THJ, Ntilikina, Green, Dinwiddie, More

September 26th, 2022 at 3:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Christian Wood, the biggest addition of the Mavericks‘ offseason, is expected to primarily play a sixth man role in Dallas, head coach Jason Kidd told reporters today (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN).

“This is my first time hearing about it,” Wood said during his own media session (Twitter link via MacMahon). However, he said that his focus with his new team will be on winning and he’s not overly concerned about whether he starts or comes off the bench.

While it may come as a bit of a surprise that Dallas wants Wood to come off the bench, MacMahon notes (via Twitter) that – as he reported at the time – the Mavs told JaVale McGee when they recruited him in free agency that they envisioned him as their starting center. It seems that plan remains on course.

Here’s more on the Mavs:

During his Monday media session, Tim Hardaway Jr. pronounced himself “100%” healthy after missing most of last season due to foot surgery, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News relays (video link via Twitter). Kidd confirmed that Hardaway has been back in Dallas playing pick-up games for the last week and said the forward is “ready to go,” tweets Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News.
Frank Ntilikina and Josh Green are candidates to be Dallas’ third ball-handler behind Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie, Kidd said today (Twitter link via Landon Thomas). Speaking of Dinwiddie, he’s feeling good as he enters his first full season as a Maverick and concludes his first full healthy offseason following his ACL injury. “It’s night and day,” Dinwiddie said of his ACL now compared to last year (Twitter link via Caplan). “Not even close.”
New Bulls guard Goran Dragic confirmed today that he talked with the Mavericks as a free agent this summer, but said he was “never close” to a deal with Dallas (Twitter link via Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic).
Dorian Finney-Smith joked today that he would’ve been upset if Jalen Brunson had remained in Dallas instead of accepting the Knicks’ four-year, $104MM offer. “Man, you see how much money they gave him?” Finney-Smith said (Twitter link via Caplan). “I would’ve been mad if he stayed here.”

Southwest Notes: Josh Green, Rockets, Grizzlies

July 21st, 2022 at 4:07pm CST by Rory Maher

After being benched during last season’s playoff run, Mavericks wing Josh Green is working diligently on his game to try to stay in the lineup as much as possible going forward, according to Alex Kennedy of BasketballNews.

“I think the biggest thing for me is just realizing what I need to do to help the team out; I’m not trying to work on stuff that I’m not gonna do in a game,” Green said. “And I’m coming in with full confidence, knowing what I need to do and being ready to go. I’m more motivated than ever.”

The 18th pick of the 2020 draft, Green averaged 4.8 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .508/.359/.689 shooting in 67 games (15.5 MPG) last season. Still just 21 years old, Green says he’s feeling self-assured entering his third season.

“My confidence is high, man. I’m ready to go, and I can’t wait for next year,” Green said, per Kennedy. “Coach (Jason) Kidd really helped me out last year, and he has a lot of trust in me, so now it’s just about me going forward and continuing to develop and show what I can do. I’m on a veteran team — a very good team — so for me, it’s just about doing what I can do to impress and just play like I usually play.”

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Assuming Eric Gordon remains on the roster entering training camp, he should be the starting small forward for the Rockets, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Houston’s starting lineup projects to be Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green, Gordon, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun, according to Iko, with the first five reserves possibly being Daishen Nix, Josh Christopher, Tari Eason, Jae’Sean Tate and Usman Garuba. Iko notes that Tate, who has started 135 of his 148 NBA games to this point, will likely be the team’s sixth man and receive significant playing time. Noticeably absent from the projected 10-man rotation is Kenyon Martin Jr., who requested a trade last month due for that very reason, and Iko says rival teams continue to keep an eye on Martin’s situation with the Rockets.
Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal grades each of the Grizzlies‘ Summer League performances, giving undrafted rookie Kenneth Lofton Jr., who is signed to a two-way contract, an A. Lofton’s low-post scoring could provide something the current roster doesn’t have, Cole notes. On the other end of the spectrum is first-rounder Jake LaRavia, who received a C-minus from Cole due to his offensive passivity.
As we noted yesterday, the Grizzlies are among the teams facing a roster crunch entering training camp. In a separate story, Cole writes that Danny Green and Killian Tillie are likely to be the most vulnerable members of the roster at the moment, and if Lofton gets promoted to a standard deal, perhaps both of them could be traded or released.

Mavericks Notes: Roster, Kidd, Bullock, Doncic

May 21st, 2022 at 5:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

Letting a 19-point lead slip away Friday night was a reminder that the Mavericks still have work to do on their roster, writes Tim Cato of The Athletic. Dallas controlled much of Game 2 after building an early 26-10 lead, but couldn’t stop the Warriors when it mattered and now faces a 2-0 deficit in the Western Conference Finals.

Coach Jason Kidd only has six players that he can trust for significant minutes, Cato notes. Frank Ntilikina played just four minutes in Game 2 and didn’t score. Kidd tried Josh Green in the second half, but he missed the only shot he took in five minutes. Spencer Dinwiddie had four points and four turnovers as the Mavs’ bench was outscored by Golden State’s 36-13.

Having a healthy Tim Hardaway Jr. might ease the problem, but he’s still recovering after having foot surgery in February. Cato adds that Dallas needs another two-way wing who can match up with the Warriors’ collection of talent at that position, but the team doesn’t have a good option currently on the roster.

There’s more on the Mavericks:

Kidd believes his team helped Golden State by taking too many three-point shots, per Tim McMahon of ESPN. Friday’s game turned around in the third quarter as the Mavs scored just 13 points and shot 2-of-13 from long distance. “If you make [threes], that’s great, but you just have to understand, if you miss four in a row, you can’t take the fifth,” Kidd said. “You’ve got to make it. That just puts too much stress on yourself and on your team because, if you’re not getting stops on the other end, it turns into a blowout.”
The Warriors won by controlling the area near the basket on both ends of the court, according to Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. Dallas was outscored in the paint, 62-30, and was out-rebounded by a 43-30 margin. “Small, small-ball,” Kidd said. “When you say the overall playoffs, we did start off without Luka (Doncic), who is our best rebounder. But just being small. Sometimes, we’ll give up the rebound to take advantage of the offensive side. But when we do win, we rebound the ball, and we have to do a better job of that.”
Hardaway is the only player listed on the Mavs’ injury report for Game 3, tweets Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News, who adds that the stitches Reggie Bullock received in his right eyebrow and the lingering pain in Doncic’s right shoulder don’t appear to be serious concerns.

COVID-19 Updates: Osman, Lyles, Maxey, Kings, Aldridge, Mavericks

December 25th, 2021 at 9:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

If the Cavaliers are able to host the Raptors Sunday afternoon, both teams will have a shell of their normal lineups. Cavs forward Cedi Osman has become the team’s eighth player in the league’s health and safety protocols, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. He joins Jarrett Allen, Ed Davis, Evan Mobley, RJ Nembhard, Isaac Okoro, Lamar Stevens and Dylan Windler.

Toronto’s roster is even more strained, with 10 players currently in protocols. Khem Birch, Isaac Bonga, and Justin Champagnie were placed in the protocols earlier today, joining Precious Achiuwa, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Malachi Flynn, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet. Toronto will have to finalize 10-day hardship contracts with at least one more player before game time to reach the league roster minimum of eight.

There’s more COVID-19 news from around the league:

Pistons forward Trey Lyles entered the protocols Saturday, becoming the team’s sixth player this week to do so, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Lyles is coming off his best game since signing with Detroit in the offseason, posting 28 points, eight rebounds and four blocks Thursday night. Sankofa expects rookie Luka Garza and possibly Jamorko Pickett to see more playing time while Lyles is unavailable.
Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey has also been placed in the protocols, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Maxey has taken over as point guard in the absence of Ben Simmons and has started 28 of the 29 games he has played in his second NBA season.
Kings forwards Marvin Bagley III and Louis King have cleared protocols and should be available Sunday, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Terence Davis has been cleared as well, Anderson tweets.
Nets coach Steve Nash said veteran big man LaMarcus Aldridge has either exited the protocols or is close, but will need time for conditioning before he can resume playing, relays Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link).
Josh Green has joined his Mavericks teammates in Utah after clearing protocols, but won’t be active for tonight’s game, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). He’s expected to be able to play during the rest of the team’s road trip.
Mavericks assistant coach Kristi Toliver tweeted on Christmas that she contracted COVID-19.

D’Angelo Russell, Three Blazers Enter Protocols

December 25th, 2021 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell has joined the growing list of Minnesota players in the health and safety protocols, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The Timberwolves now have eight players affected, including stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. They’ve already signed a pair of replacement players – Chris Silva and Rayjon Tucker – using hardship exceptions, but will likely make at least one more roster addition before their next game on Monday.

Here are more COVID-19 protocol updates from around the NBA:

Three Trail Blazers players – Robert Covington, Ben McLemore, and Keljin Blevins – have entered the health and safety protocols, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). That brings Portland’s total count to five affected players, all of whom have been placed in the protocols in the last two days.
Kevin Knox has exited the protocols, but Jericho Sims has entered, so the Knicks still have three players affected, according to the team (Twitter links). RJ Barrett is back in the starting lineup for New York today and Quentin Grimes is also expected to play, but Immanuel Quickley and Knox will need a little more time to ramp up their conditioning, says Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).
Mavericks wing Josh Green has tested out of the protocols, but didn’t travel with the team to Utah and won’t play tonight, tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

COVID Updates: Josh Green, Ziaire Williams, Okogie, Morant, Carlisle

December 19th, 2021 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Mavericks second-year wing Josh Green has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Green, the 18th overall pick of the 2020 draft, hasn’t seen much action so far this season, appearing in 17 games for a total of 125 minutes (7.4 MPG). He’s averaging 2.4 PPG and 1.5 RPG.

Rookie Ziaire Williams has entered the protocols for the Grizzlies, writes Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Williams, the 10th overall pick of the 2021 draft, has also been dealing with an ankle sprain that has sidelined him for the past six games. Through 19 games (17.8 MPG), the 20-year-old is averaging 4.7 PPG and 1.5 RPG.

Timberwolves wing Josh Okogie has entered the protocols as well, the team announced (via Twitter). In 20 contests this season (13.9 MPG), Okogie is averaging 2.6 PPG and 2.2 RPG.

If the three players tested positive, they will need to isolate for at least 10 days or until they return two consecutive negative PCR tests a minimum of 24 hours apart.

Here are a couple more COVID-19 related updates:

Grizzlies star Ja Morant has exited the health and safety protocols, Barnes writes in a separate piece. Memphis is taking a “wait and see” approach with its star point guard, as he’s still dealing with a knee sprain suffered in late November. However, Morant is back with the team and will likely be on the bench tonight against Portland, Barnes tweets. The Grizzlies have surprisingly gone 10-1 without Morant and currently hold the fourth seed in the West with a 19-11 record.
Head coach Rick Carlisle is back with the Pacers after exiting the health and safety protocols, according to James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter). Carlisle led Indiana’s practice Sunday and is expected to coach the team Tuesday at Miami, Boyd relays.

Mavericks Pick Up Josh Green’s 2022/23 Option

October 19th, 2021 at 2:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have picked up their 2022/23 team option on Josh Green‘s rookie scale contract, the team announced today (Twitter link).

Actually, the Mavs announced that they’ve “extended” Green’s contract, but presumably they mean they’ve exercised that third-year option, since the 2020 first-rounder isn’t extension-eligible. Exercising Green’s option guarantees his $3.1MM salary for the ’22/23 season.

The 18th pick in last year’s draft, Green appeared in 39 games for the Mavericks as a rookie, but played a limited role, averaging 2.6 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 11.4 minutes per contest. The 6’5″ shooting guard will be looking to earn more playing time on the wing this season.

With Green’s third-year option locked in, the Mavs’ next decision on the former Arizona Wildcat will come next October. Dallas will have to decide at that point whether or not to exercise his $4.8MM option for the 2023/24 season. If the club picks up that option, Green will become extension-eligible in 2023.

Rookie scale option decisions for ’22/23 are due by November 1. You can follow all those moves using our tracker.

And-Ones: Australian Olympic Team, James, Missia-Dio, Spurs

July 3rd, 2021 at 11:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

Numerous current NBA players were named to the Australian national team’s final 12-man roster for the Olympics, ESPN’s Olgun Uluc tweets. The team is headlined by Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes, Matisse Thybulle, Dante Exum and Josh Green.

Projected lottery pick Josh Giddey is not on the 12-man roster but has been named as one of three replacement players, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. Giddey will travel to Las Vegas for Australia’s exhibition games, Givony adds. He’s currently rated No. 9 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list.

We have more from around the basketball world:

LeBron James passed on the Olympics this year and it’s unlikely he’ll play for Team USA again, managing director Jerry Colangelo said on ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin radio show (video link). “LeBron made choices these last couple of Olympics not to participate because he’s got a lot of things going on in his life,” Colangelo said. “So he put in his time, he made a contribution that is appreciated, but I think his time is over.” James’ last Olympic appearance came during the 2012 London Games.
Belgian forward Nathan Missia-Dio became the ninth player to sign with Overtime Elite, according to a league press release. The new development league will begin play in September. Missia-Dio, a 6’6” forward, played two seasons for Espoirs Limoges in France’s Elite U21 League. He is ranked 13th by Eurospects.com among international prospects born in 2004.
The Spurs are seeking a new naming-rights sponsor for their arena, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. Longtime sponsor AT&T won’t renew its current deal, which expires in the fall of 2022. AT&T has also sold off its 7.23% share of the team. Front Office Sports first reported the news.

Southwest Notes: Green, Grizz, Holt, Silas

June 20th, 2021 at 1:55pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite a disappointing Game 7 first-round elimination, rookie Mavericks shooting guard Josh Green learned plenty during his first NBA playoff experience, writes Dwain Price of Mavs.com.

Green, the No. 18 pick in the 2020 draft out of Arizona, only made a brief cameo in the series, logging four minutes during a 106-81 Game 4 blowout.

“I’ve got a whole experience the last three weeks of watching five of the best players in the NBA,” Green said during his media exit interview for the season. “I think it’s just one of those things where, obviously you want to be on the court playing. But at the same time, just try to take away as much as you can from being around great veterans on your team and just in general just watching games and just taking in as much as you can.”

Green will represent his native Australia in the Olympics next month, where he hopes to soak up more NBA knowledge from veteran teammates like Ben Simmons, Joe Ingles and Patty Mills.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

After the Grizzlies returned to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal pinpoints three key elements the club needs to focus on during the 2021 offseason. Barnes notes that the club could use upgrades in bench scoring, veteran leadership out of a new player who sees rotational minutes, and long-range shooting. When it comes to the latter category, Barnes notes that the Grizzlies connected on 35.6% on of their three-point attempts during the 2020/21 season, just the 20th-best percentage in the league.
The Spurs have promoted chairman Peter J. Holt to a managing partner position, the team has announced in a statement. Holt’s father, Peter M. Holt, bought the franchise in 1996, and his mother, Julianna Hawn Holt, succeeded Peter M. Holt as company chairwoman from 2016-2019. In the same press release, the Spurs also announced that Austin billionaire Michael Dell and global investment firm Sixth Street have joined the club as strategic partners. Tom Orsborne of the San Antonio Express-News opines that adding Dell and Sixth Street strengthens the team’s long-term commitment to staying in San Antonio.
Rockets head coach Stephen Silas spoke with Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle about how growing up around the NBA as the son of former player and coach Paul Silas informed his appreciation of the game. “Being Paul Silas’ son has always been great for me, and it obviously comes with challenges for me but I never shied away from that,” Stephen said.