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Eastern Notes: Pacers, Quickley, Hawks, Bucks, Beal

June 15th, 2023 at 8:04am CST by Luke Adams

No team holds more picks in the 2023 NBA draft than the Pacers, who have had another full week of pre-draft workouts at the Ascension St. Vincent Center in Indianapolis.

The Pacers hosted Marcus Carr (Texas), Kendric Davis (Memphis), Zvonimir Ivisic (Croatia), Drew Peterson (USC), Julian Phillips (Tennessee), and Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky) for a group workout on Monday, then brought in D’Moi Hodge (Missouri), Colby Jones (Xavier), Omari Moore (San Jose State), Kevin Obanor (Texas Tech), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Marquette), and Malachi Smith (Gonzaga) on Tuesday.

The most notable workout of the team’s week so far is happening on Thursday, with the Pacers scheduled to host Gradey Dick. The Kansas guard could be a player Indiana considers with its lottery pick at No. 7.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • With Immanuel Quickley becoming eligible next month for a rookie scale extension, Fred Katz of The Athletic polled 15 front office members around the NBA to get a sense of what a “fair” extension for the Knicks guard would look like. Of those 15 participants, 11 projected an annual salary between $16-20MM, with five specifically suggesting $72MM over four years.
  • Discussing his newly completed coaching staff, Hawks head coach Quin Snyder told Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wanted a strong player development group made up of “selfless” individuals who would help instill that philosophy in Atlanta’s players. “It’s like putting any team together that whether it’s, tactical experience, analytics experience, literally different cultures and genders and all the different things that go into making a unique, strong group,” Snyder said. “But ‘The Thin Red Line’ to me that runs through all of it was, just selfless people that are able to put the group in front of themselves and I really want our staff to model that because that’s what we’re asking of our team.”
  • Eric Nehm of The Athletic breaks down the rumor identifying the Bucks as a possible Bradley Beal suitor, examining how Milwaukee could build a package to acquire Beal and weighing whether or not the star guard would actually make a better long-term building block than Jrue Holiday or Khris Middleton. As Nehm notes, while Beal is younger than Holiday or Middleton, he’s not as solid a defender as either of those current Bucks.
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Draft Notes: Walker, Pacers, Bates, Pistons

June 7th, 2023 at 10:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Houston’s Jarace Walker is a projected top-10 pick, currently ranked No. 7 on ESPN’s big board. As Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files writes, Walker’s workout on Wednesday with the Pacers, who control the No. 7 overall pick, was actually his first with an NBA team, but he has upcoming workouts with the Pistons (No. 5) and Jazz (No. 9).

A strong, long-armed forward who is viewed as one of the best defenders in the draft, Walker could fill an immediate need for Indiana at the four if he’s available on draft night, Agness notes. The Pacers are reportedly searching for a starting power forward and need help defensively.

“I think my biggest asset is my defense, just my versatility there,” Walker said, stressing that he wants to show that he’s more than a good defender. “That’s what people focus on, but there’s so many other things on the floor that I can do.”

The 19-year-old cited Luguentz Dort and Jrue Holiday as a couple of burly defenders he looks up to, according to Agness.

Here are a few more notes on the 2023 NBA draft, which will take place June 22:

  • The Pacers have been extremely busy hosting prospects for workouts, and that will continue on Thursday, Agness tweets. Tyger Campbell (UCLA), Sidy Cissoko (G League Ignite), Markquis Nowell (Kansas State), Ben Sheppard (Belmont), Hunter Tyson (Clemson) and Jalen Wilson (Kansas) will be the six participants. Sheppard is currently the highest-rated of the group on ESPN’s list, coming in at No. 37. In addition to No. 7, Indiana also controls the Nos. 26, 29, 32 and 55 picks
  • Eastern Michigan wing Emoni Bates has had a busy schedule leading up to the draft, reportedly working out for nearly half the league already. A source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link) that Bates will be visiting the Bucks on Friday. He’s currently No. 51 on ESPN’s board.
  • While much ink has (understandably) been spilled about what the Pistons might do at No. 5, they control the 31st pick in the draft as well. Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link) examines six 3-and-D wings who might be available with the second-rounder, including Xavier’s Colby Jones (No. 28 on ESPN’s board) UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez (No. 30), and Pepperdine’s Maxwell Lewis (No. 32).
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Bucks’ Jrue Holiday Named Teammate of the Year

May 11th, 2023 at 11:29am CST by Rory Maher

Bucks guard Jrue Holiday has been voted the 2022/23 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year, the NBA announced in a press release. A panel of league executives select the 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, while current players vote on the winner.

The award “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and a role model to other players, and commitment and dedication to team,” per the NBA.

Here are the 12 finalists, listed in order of their total points received (players received 10 points for a first place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth, and one point for fifth place):

It’s the second straight Teammate of the Year award for Holiday, and third in the past four seasons. Lillard won in ’20/21. The only other active player to have won the award is Minnesota guard Mike Conley, who took it home in ’18/19 with Memphis. The award was introduced in ’12/13.

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NBA Announces 2022/23 All-Defensive Teams

May 9th, 2023 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced its All-Defensive teams for the 2022/23 season.

A total of 100 media members vote on the All-Defensive awards, with players receiving two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote. This year’s All-Defensive teams are as follows:

First Team

Second Team

Unsurprisingly, Jackson – who was this season’s Defensive Player of the Year – received the most First Team votes (96) and showed up on the most overall ballots (99). Only one voter didn’t have Jackson on either All-Defensive team.

Milwaukee teammates Holiday (94) and Lopez (85) received the second- and third-most First Team votes. No other player earned more than 50.

While the Bucks have two players on the First Team, it’s a bit surprising to see former DPOY Giannis Antetokounmpo miss out altogether. Antetokounmpo earned 16 First Team votes and 28 Second Team votes for a total of 60 points, the most of any player who didn’t earn All-Defensive honors. Although he received more total points than Brooks or Adebayo, Giannis didn’t make the cut because there were four forwards with more points than him.

Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (40 points), Celtics guard Marcus Smart (35), Nets guard Mikal Bridges (33), and Nets center Nic Claxton (25) would have joined Antetokounmpo on a hypothetical All-Defensive Third Team as the highest vote-getters who fell just short.

A total of 38 players showed up on at least one ballot — the full voting results can be viewed here.

Being named to an All-Defensive team will benefit a pair of players financially, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). White earned a $250K bonus for his Second Team nod, while Holiday will receive $129,600 for making the First Team.

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And-Ones: Pate, Ignite, Awards, Combine, Players’ MVP Pick

April 18th, 2023 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

Dink Pate, a 6’8″ point guard and a five-star recruit, has signed with the G League Ignite, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Having just turned 17 in March, Pate will be the youngest known professional basketball player in U.S. history, according to Givony, who notes that the youngster won’t be draft-eligible until 2025. That means he’s committing to spending two seasons with the Ignite, like Scoot Henderson did from 2021-23.

According to Pate, he considered the possibility of committing to a college program and was leaning toward Alabama over Arkansas, but believes he’ll have a better opportunity to continue developing his game with the Ignite.

After graduating high school a year early, Pate intends to move to Las Vegas later this month and begin training at the Ignite’s practice facility with new teammates Matas Buzelis and London Johnson, per Givony. Buzelis is a candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, while Johnson currently projects to be a first-rounder.

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

  • After naming Jaren Jackson Jr. the Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, the NBA will announce another major postseason award winner for each of the next three evenings (Twitter link). Newly added award Clutch Player of the Year is due up on Tuesday, followed by Coach of the Year on Wednesday and Sixth Man of the Year on Thursday.
  • According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter links), the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will make it mandatory for prospects who receive an invite to the draft combine to attend and do what’s required of them there (that will likely include medical testing but not scrimmages). A player who declines a combine invite without an excused absence won’t be draft-eligible until the following year, says Pincus.
  • The Athletic’s NBA writers polled 108 current NBA players on a series of NBA-related questions, including their MVP pick, their title prediction, and much more. Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic have compiled the results, which include Sixers star Joel Embiid (50% of the vote) comfortably beating out Nikola Jokic (25.5%) as the players’ MVP choice; Hawks guard Trae Young getting the most votes (14.5%) for the NBA’s most overrated player; and Bucks guard Jrue Holiday earning the nod as both the best individual defender (28.7%) and most underrated player (17.5%).
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Central Notes: Pistons, Williams, Holiday, Antetokounmpo

April 9th, 2023 at 9:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver is expected to talk to two former Thunder assistant coaches he worked with in Oklahoma City — the Bulls’ Josh Longstaff and the Nets’ Brian Keefe — for Detroit’s head coaching job, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Dwane Casey announced after the Pistons’ season finale that he would be moving to the front office.

Bucks assistant Charles Lee, former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin, Heat assistant Chris Quinn and Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse have already been mentioned as potential targets for the Pistons’ job.

Former Overtime Elite coach Kevin Ollie, Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, Pistons assistant Rex Kalamian and former Villanova coach Jay Wright are some other potential candidates that may intrigue Weaver, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic speculates.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • Bulls big men Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic did something that has become an increasing rarity in the league. They appeared in all 82 regular season contests. Williams, who was injured most of last season, said he takes pride in being available, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago writes. “It’s a blessing to play all 82,” Williams said. “It was something that I definitely wanted to do and something I want to continue to do throughout the course of my career.”
  • Bucks guard Jrue Holiday achieved all of his regular season bonuses, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. He earned a total of $1.65MM for reaching incentives in minutes played, games played, rebounds and assists, as well as making the All-Star team. He still has a chance make an additional $4.1MM in bonuses, ranging from making the All-Defensive team to postseason team success, Marks adds.
  • While team goals means more to him, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo believes he deserves the Most Valuable Player award, he told Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. “Look, I will never try to create a narrative about the work I put in and maybe that might hurt me because I believe the last five years I’ve been the MVP,” he said. “Do I want a third MVP? Hell (bleeping) yeah I want a third one. I am extremely competitive. I try to make my team successful. …. I’m never going to be one who discredits anybody else’s work. That’s not who I am as a person. And I will never beg for an MVP award that I believe I deserve.”
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Bucks Notes: Matthews, Middleton, Holiday, Lopez

April 6th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks have been limiting Wesley Matthews‘ playing time to keep him fresh for the postseason, and the 36-year-old swingman showed Wednesday what his playoff impact might be, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Amid injuries to several teammates, Matthews played 30 minutes against the Bulls, contributing seven points and eight rebounds while frustrating DeMar DeRozan on defense.

Matthews has appeared in just 50 games this season and has logged 15.8 minutes per night, the lowest figure of his career. He hasn’t necessarily endorsed the reduced role, but he’s willing to do whatever coach Mike Budenholzer believes is best for the team.

“It’s tough to manage, but within that, it’s understanding that you can still impact the game and that goes back to what my mom told me, I think probably when I was like four or five years old is that there’s so many ways that you can impact the basketball game,” Matthews said. “Other than my high school time, my high school career, I’ve never been the leading scorer on my team. Could I have done it? Probably. But that wasn’t what was asked of me. It was to win. Help the team win, and by any means necessary.”

There’s more on the Bucks:

  • Khris Middleton left Wednesday’s game in the first quarter with soreness in his right knee after appearing to hurt it on a jump shot (video link), Nehm adds. Budenholzer wasn’t able to offer much information on Middleton’s condition, but he called it a “re-aggravation of kind of something that we’ve been working with him on all year.” Middleton has dealt with a variety of ailments that have limited him to 33 games. He missed the first 20 games of the season while recovering from surgery and experienced persistent knee pain around the All-Star break.
  • Jrue Holiday is close to wrapping up another bonus, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Holiday will receive a bonus if he averages 7.3 assists per game, and he’s at 7.4 after picking up 15 assists against Chicago.
  • With 26 points on Wednesday, Brook Lopez reached the 20-point mark for the 26th time this season, tweets Kane Pittman of ESPN Australia. That matches his total during his first four years with the Bucks as he’s enjoying his best scoring season since 2016/17. Lopez is also among the top contenders for Defensive Player of the Year honors and is in position to land another significant contract at age 35.
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Central Notes: Connaughton, Holiday, Bulls, Mitchell

April 5th, 2023 at 10:04am CST by Luke Adams

Already missing one wing (Grayson Allen) due to a right ankle sprain, the Bucks saw another key rotation player go down with the same injury on Tuesday, as Pat Connaughton sprained his right ankle.

Addressing the injury after Tuesday’s game, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said the team is hopeful that it won’t keep Connaughton out of action for long, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link): “He twisted his right ankle. He’ll be doubtful for (Wednesday)’s game, but we’re hoping it’s not serious.”

The Bucks, who will host Chicago on Wednesday night, can secure the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with either one more win or one more Boston loss. So it’s very possible that Milwaukee will be able to use the last couple games of the season to rest banged-up players.

Here’s more from around the Central:

  • Bucks guard Jrue Holiday earned another $331K bonus on Tuesday when he appeared in his 66th game of the season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Holiday received that bonus last season too, so it was considered likely – rather than unlikely – to be earned and his 2023/24 cap hit won’t be affected.
  • The Bulls lost a big game on Tuesday vs. Atlanta, but they still clinched a play-in berth due to an Orlando loss, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN. Barring a late-season surge, Chicago appears likely to enter the play-in tournament as a No. 10 seed, meaning it would take two road wins to make the playoffs. “We’re happy at least that we’re going to be in that,” Nikola Vucevic said after Tuesday’s loss. “Obviously it hasn’t been the season so far we wanted. We were hoping to be higher in the standings, but it is what it is. It’ll give us an opportunity to get into the playoffs.”
  • When the Cavaliers acquired Donovan Mitchell last offseason, J.B. Bickerstaff was told, “‘He’s gonna be really good all season, but just wait till April,'” the head coach said on Tuesday. As Kelsey Russo of The Athletic details, Mitchell is delivering on that promise, having scored at least 40 points in each of Cleveland’s last four games to help lock the team into the No. 4 seed. “When you have a guy who can carry you in the biggest of moments, it gives you a chance no matter what,” Bickerstaff said of the Cavs’ leading scorer, who is up to 28.3 PPG for the season.
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And-Ones: Hard Cap, In-Season Tournament, J.R. Smith, Teammate Award

April 3rd, 2023 at 1:09pm CST by Arthur Hill

NBA owners originally sought a hard cap in negotiations with the union regarding the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, but the idea was taken off the table fairly early, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says in his latest podcast (hat tip to Real GM). He notes that the proposal was intended to restrain the league’s top spenders, but many franchises in smaller markets were opposed to it as well.

“Even a lot of small market teams were worried about a hard cap in places, like let’s say Cleveland, where all of a sudden you’re good enough to win a championship,” Wojnarowski said. “You have a team and you’re willing to go into the tax to keep that team together. Then all of a sudden with a hard cap and guaranteed contracts, the Cavs, using them as an example, or Oklahoma City four or five years from now, the smaller market teams worried ‘This is going to work against us.'”

Wojnarowski explains that a pure hard cap would make it impossible for the Cavaliers to keep the four players they hope to build the franchise around. They would eventually have to make a choice between re-signing Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell or between retaining Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Veteran NBA writer Marc Stein isn’t a fan of the in-season tournament that will begin in 2023/24 under the new CBA, writing in his latest piece for Substack (subscription required) that there’s nothing special about the competition until it reaches its Final Four. All the early rounds will be regular-season games played at NBA arenas, but the semifinals and finals will be held at a neutral site. Stein claims the league failed in its attempt to recreate the excitement of cup competitions in soccer.
  • J.R. Smith spoke about his current projects with Jenna Lemoncelli of The New York Post, but the 37-year-old guard notes that he hasn’t officially retired from the NBA. Smith, who last played for the Lakers during the bubble in Orlando, continues to work out so he’s ready in case another opportunity arises.
  • Last week the NBA announced the 12 finalists for the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, per a league press release. The finalists are Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges, Cleveland’s Darius Garland, Miami’s Udonis Haslem, Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday, New York’s Derrick Rose, Boston’s Grant Williams, Sacramento’s Harrison Barnes, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Denver’s Aaron Gordon, Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr., Phoenix’s Damion Lee and Portland’s Damian Lillard. According to the NBA, a panel of league executives selected the finalists, but current players will select the winner. Holiday won the award for the second time last season.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

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Central Notes: York, Ivey, Duren, Holiday, Antetokounmpo

March 31st, 2023 at 10:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rick Carlisle said Gabe York deserved to get promoted to a two-way deal with the Pacers, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files reports. York made a brief appearance in the NBA last season and has spent this season with the G League Fort Wayne Mad Ants. York wasn’t active for Friday’s game, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star tweets.

“Loyalty and consistency should be rewarded,” the Pacers coach said. “So this is a decision that came down, obviously ownership has to approve it, but management and the coaching staff were completely in agreement that Gabe deserved this opportunity. It’s great for him, it’s great for us.”

We have more from the Central Division:

  • The Pistons have just 16 victories but at least their two lottery picks are finishing the season strong, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. Earlier this week, Jaden Ivey had a career-best 32 points to go with eight rebounds and eight assists against Milwaukee, while Jalen Duren supplied 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists off the bench. “It means everything,” Duren said. “We’re competing for next year at this point. We’re still learning and growing and getting better. It’s not time to go on vacation until the buzzer hits on the court in Chicago (April 9). I’m just locked in and focused on keep growing and getting better until the season is over.”
  • Speaking of the Bucks, Jrue Holiday has earned a $331K bonus, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Holiday has exceeded 2,000 minutes this season — 2,082 to be exact — entering the weekend while appearing in 64 games.
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo would be thrilled to win another Most Valuable Player award but he’s focused on winning a second NBA championship with the Bucks, he told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “Do I think it’s a priority for me? No,” he said of winning MVP. “The priority for me is to get better, to help my team win a championship, to get that feeling again.” A recent ESPN straw poll indicated that the Bucks star trails Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic in the MVP race.
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