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New York Notes: Ntilikina, Rivers, Thibs, Durant, Nets

December 22nd, 2020 at 11:45am CST by Luke Adams

Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina was one of the 13 players who didn’t sign a rookie scale extension by Monday’s deadline despite being eligible for a new deal, and will now be on track for 2021 free agency.

While some of those 13 players engaged in contract negotiations with their respective teams, that wasn’t the case for Ntilikina, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who says there were no extension talks between the Knicks and the former lottery pick.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Knicks won’t attempt to re-sign Ntilikina when he becomes a free agent in 2021 or that they’ll try to trade him before then. But it appears as if the team is content to take a wait-and-see approach with the fourth-year guard, as Begley observes.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:

New Knicks combo guard Austin Rivers, who has missed all four preseason games due to a right groin injury had yet to return to practice as of Monday and seems very likely to miss the start of the regular season, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post.
Ian O’Connor of ESPN takes an in-depth look at Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, examining Thibs’ popularity among players, his coaching style, and his outlook in New York.
Nets forward Kevin Durant will face his old team in Tuesday night’s opener, but doesn’t anticipate added emotions or higher stakes in the game against the Warriors, writes Malika Andrews of ESPN. “I feel like each game is important to me,” Durant said. “And it’s no more important to me because I am playing against my old teammates. I just feel like the game of basketball is going to have me on that level anyway and it’s going to be good to see some of my old teammates.”
The preseason gave us a preview of what the Nets‘ primary bench unit should look like, according to Mollie Walker of The New York Post, who says the group, led by Caris LeVert, should also feature Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince, Landry Shamet, and Jeff Green.

Atlantic Notes: MKG, Spellman, Sixers, Nets, Durant

December 14th, 2020 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have 15 players with guaranteed salaries for the 2020/21 season, which means that – on paper – their roster for the regular season appears set. However, if the team wants to hang onto veteran forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, whose deal isn’t guaranteed, one of those 15 others will have to be traded or released.

“You know who (Kidd-Gilchrist) is and he’s trying to find a way onto the roster,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said over the weekend, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. “Michael’s always been a terrific competitor. Health comes first, we want him healthy and then we’ll go from there.”

It’s not clear yet whether the Knicks are committed to getting Kidd-Gilchrist – who has missed the first two preseason games with an illness – onto the regular season roster. But if he makes the team, Omari Spellman appears to be a candidate to be waived to make room, sources tell Bondy.

Spellman was dealt to New York last month along with Jacob Evans and a second-round pick in exchange for Ed Davis. That trade appeared to be mostly about the future draft pick for the Knicks, who have already cut Evans.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

John Hollinger of The Athletic liked the Sixers‘ offseason moves, which created better fits on the roster while giving the team more long-term cap flexibility. However, he still wants to see proof that the team can be more than the sum of its parts rather than less, as it was last season.
With a left knee contusion sidelining Caris LeVert for the Nets‘ preseason opener on Sunday, Spencer Dinwiddie got the start in his place. Head coach Steve Nash isn’t sure whether or not that arrangement might become permanent, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “Caris is a starter. Will he start for us? I’m not sure,” Nash said. “He’s so good with the ball in his hands. There’s a case to be made that he plays that (Manu) Ginobili role, where he’s clearly a starter. Manu played in All-Star games, started on the bench, ran the second unit and closed games.”
Kyrie Irving‘s return and Kevin Durant‘s debut for the Nets on Sunday couldn’t have gone much better, says Lewis in a separate New York Post story. While Durant didn’t quite look like peak KD, he score 15 points in 24 minutes and said after the game that he felt healthy, calling it a “good first step.”

Atlantic Notes: Durant, Irving, Harris, Thompson

December 13th, 2020 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

For the first time since signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in July of 2019, the Nets will have the All-Star duo together on the court today, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Durant has fully recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals, while Irving is ready to go after last season’s shoulder surgery.

“We had 11 and 7 (Irving and Durant) sitting out for a lot of these games last year, and finally to have them back we’re ready to do big things with them, and we’re all excited,” Jarrett Allen said. “Two All-Stars, two most likely going to be Hall of Famers and watching them growing up, playing against them, playing with them and finally going to be on an actual NBA court it’s going to be an experience. I never thought I’d be in this position, but I’m ready to take advantage of it and soak it all in.”

Today will also mark the head coaching debut of Steve Nash, who was a surprise hire to run the team. He plans to take advantage of Durant’s versatility, which may include some time at point guard.

“Kevin will offensively play all five positions,” Nash said. “I don’t know that we’ll see a ton of time with him at the 1, but he’s definitely a ballhandler, playmaker and can thrive in pick-and-roll situations. So he’ll play the 1 at times. We’re trending toward positionless basketball.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Nash hasn’t talked to Irving about his refusal to speak with the media, Lewis adds in a separate story. The league fined Irving and the Nets $25K each this week for failing to comply with media access rules. “He’s been unbelievable in camp,” Nash told reporters. “He’s been playing at an extremely high level. He’s been a leader. So, while he may not be in your guys’ good books right now, he’s in my good book.”
Tobias Harris is poised for a bounce-back season as he reunites with Sixers coach Doc Rivers, who also coached Harris with the Clippers, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The trade of Al Horford will allow Harris to spend more time at power forward, which is his natural position. “We have changed our system since I was in L.A. with Tobias, but clearly, I know what works for him,” Rivers said. “It doesn’t really matter the system, it matters the way Tobias plays.”
Tristan Thompson joined the Celtics as a free agent during the offseason, but he heard rumors in the past that he might be traded there, he says in an interview tweeted by Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston.

Nets Notes: Durant, G League, Dinwiddie

December 10th, 2020 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

As he prepares to make his debut for the Nets, nearly 18 months after joining with the team, Kevin Durant expects to be asked to play a few different positions, he told reporters on Wednesday. As Malika Andrew of ESPN writes, Durant will spend time playing frontcourt roles besides his old small forward spot.

“I think Coach (Steve Nash) is going to use me in a variety of ways, especially as a small-ball five and four sometimes,” Durant said. “And bringing the ball up, too, so I’ve just got to be ready for anything.”

Durant also said on Wednesday that he doesn’t have a set number of minutes in mind for the Nets’ preseason games as he makes his return from a torn Achilles. He’s just hoping to use those two exhibition contests as a measuring stick for what his body can handle, writes Andrews.

Here’s more on the Nets:

Durant was asked about the James Harden trade rumors again on Wednesday and deflected them, saying he’s “very excited” about Brooklyn’s current roster. “I don’t think about James Harden at all,” the Nets’ star said, according to Adam Zagoria of Forbes. “I mean, he doesn’t play on our team.” Durant previously insinuated that reports of him and Harden talking about teaming up in Brooklyn were “made up.”
The Nets are among the teams expected to opt in for the proposed G League bubble in Atlanta, tweets Zagoria. The Long Island Nets – Brooklyn’s affiliate – would be among the dozen-plus clubs likely to participate, Zagoria adds.
Spencer Dinwiddie was mentioned in some offseason trade rumors, with Shams Charania of The Athletic reporting today that the Nets guard was among the players pursued by the Bucks. However, head coach Steve Nash sounds confident that Dinwiddie will remain in Brooklyn for the 2020/21 season, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link). “I’m heavy towards not trading Spencer Dinwiddie and the front office feels the same way,” Nash said.

Bucks, Heat Also Among Harden’s Preferred Trade Destinations

December 10th, 2020 at 8:35am CST by Luke Adams

James Harden now has the Bucks and Heat among his preferred trade destinations, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. Milwaukee and Miami join Brooklyn and Philadelphia as the top landing spots on Harden’s wish list.

As we observed on Tuesday when we wrote about Harden adding the Sixers to his list of preferred destinations, the Rockets are under no obligation to send the former MVP to one of the teams on his list, since he has multiple years left on his contract and doesn’t have the ability to veto trades. However, it’s possible those clubs would be more willing to offer significant packages for Harden if they know he wants to play for them.

Neither Milwaukee nor Miami looks like an ideal trade partner for Houston, however, given the Rockets’ asking price of an All-Star caliber player plus several young players and/or draft picks. Both the Bucks and Heat have traded away multiple future first-round picks and/or pick swaps, compromising their ability to build an offer heavy on draft assets.

As for potential centerpieces, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo would presumably be off the table in any deal with Miami, while Milwaukee obviously isn’t moving Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks have other former All-Stars in Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, but neither is on a particularly team-friendly contract — Middleton is owed $147MM over four years, while Holiday can reach free agency in 2021. Tyler Herro would be an intriguing target in any deal with the Heat, but has only played one season, so the Rockets would have to be awfully high on his potential to accept a package built around him.

The Nets and 76ers are still atop Harden’s wish list, according to Charania, who says the 31-year-old has been “resigned to the belief” that he can no longer compete for a championship in Houston.

However, Charania hears that the Rockets have no interest in a Brooklyn offer that doesn’t include Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving. A Sixers offer would likely have to include Ben Simmons, but new head coach Doc Rivers has “privately made clear” that he wants an opportunity to try to maximize the potential of the Simmons/Joel Embiid duo, Charania writes.

General manager Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia front office, having added sharpshooters Seth Curry and Danny Green to complement Simmons and Embiid, appear committed to keeping their two young stars for the time being.

Harden is currently going through the NBA’s coronavirus testing process and will have to register six negative tests before he’s cleared to practice with the Rockets. According to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, Harden only requires three negative tests to begin individual workouts, and Charania suggests the superstar guard is expected to have a workout in front of team personnel soon.

According to Charania, Harden has “maintained a dialogue” with trusted Rockets assistant coach John Lucas, even as he has been non-communicative at times with the club’s front office.

Nets Notes: Prince, LeVert, Green, Irving

December 4th, 2020 at 9:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

There are questions about how Nets forward Taurean Prince fits into a 3-and-D role on a team featuring Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Despite that, Brooklyn’s front office is not inclined to pursue a salary-dump trade involving Prince, let alone attaching a pick to make it happen, sources told ESPN’s Zach Lowe. Prince is due to make approximately $12.6MM during the upcoming season and another guaranteed $13.3MM in the 2021/22 season before his contract expires. Prince averaged 12.1 PPG and 6.0 RPG during last season but shot just 33.9% from long range.

We have more on the Nets:

Caris LeVert is well aware that his name has been bandied about in trade rumors, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. LeVert, whose three-year, $52.5MM extension kicks in this season, is often mentioned in rumors involving a third star to join forces with Durant and Irving. “I try not to pay attention to it, but it’s hard when you turn on TV and see certain things, when you turn on your social media and see certain things,” he said. “I just worry about the team, myself, putting in work every day.”
Veteran forward Jeff Green has known Durant since childhood and he’s thrilled they’re rejoining forces with the Nets, Lewis writes in a separate story. They played together in Seattle and Oklahoma City. “That’s where the friendship started to build, and then it just continued to build over the years and grow stronger,” said Green. “So I’m excited for this opportunity to play alongside him.”
Irving seems to be planning a media blackout this season, as Malika Andrews of ESPN tweets. Rather than doing a press conference heading into camp, Irving issued a statement. He wrote in part, “My goal this season is to let my work on and off the court speak for itself.”

Nets Notes: Durant, Harden, LeVert, Irving, More

December 1st, 2020 at 4:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked today about reports that he and James Harden have talked about teaming up in Brooklyn, Nets forward Kevin Durant dismissed the idea that such a plan has been in the works, as Adam Zagoria of Forbes.com writes.

“I don’t know where you making these stories up that me and James talked about any of this at a workout,” Durant said on a conference call with reporters. “I don’t know where that came from. James is a friend of mine, but I let the front office handle all of that stuff.

“I was just so focused on working out,” he continued. “I heard all the noise and I heard that James potentially wanted to come to the Nets but anybody could make up stories. Anybody can write a story and it gets some traction so nothing’s ever set in stone until it’s set in stone.”

While the Nets have been frequently linked to Harden in recent weeks, it doesn’t sound like they ever made any real progress on a trade for the Rockets star. Shams Charania of The Athletic suggested during an appearance on Complex’s Load Management podcast that Brooklyn doesn’t have the sort of young star that would appeal to Houston as the centerpiece of a package for Harden.

Here’s more on the Nets:

Charania also said on the Load Management podcast that the Nets were unwilling to include Caris LeVert in their trade offer for Jrue Holiday last month, as NetsDaily relays. According to Charania, Durant and Kyrie Irving view LeVert as “a very significant part of this team.”
Durant spoke to reporters today about the challenges of recovering from an Achilles tear, writes Scott Thompson of SNY.tv. “Those milestones of learning how to walk, learning how to run, jump again and getting used to certain movements again, I think that’s underestimated,” Durant said. “People don’t realize that the Achilles ligament is one of the strongest ligaments in your body. So for that to pop, you gotta build that up and that takes a while.”
Asked today about whether Durant and Irving will be load-managed during the 2020/21 season, Nets head coach Steve Nash acknowledged that the two stars likely won’t play all 72 games, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. However, Nash didn’t suggest there’s any set plan in place for resting those returning All-Stars.
Nash said today that he plans on having Mike D’Antoni lead the Nets’ offense and Jacque Vaughn lead the team’s defense, but his entire staff of assistants will provide input on both sides of the ball (Twitter link via Ian Begley of SNY.tv).
In case you missed it, Brooklyn announced its initial 20-man training camp roster earlier this afternoon.

Nets Rumors: Durant, Harden, Harris, Ibaka

November 20th, 2020 at 9:29am CST by Arthur Hill

The Nets aren’t hiding their optimism about Kevin Durant with the new season just weeks away, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Durant has been out of action since suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon during the 2019 NBA Finals, but his recent workouts have players and management believing he can return to an MVP level.

“I don’t think anybody is more excited than Kevin himself to get back on the court. He’s mentioned numerous times he can’t wait to be back, in Barclays, wearing the Nets jersey and being out there,” general manager Sean Marks said in an interview Thursday on the YES Network . “As it pertains to how those guys look, what we’ve seen — they’ve been back in our gym now a couple days — the feedback from the performance team on how they’ve looked is they look terrific. It’s been remarkable to watch Kevin’s development and the way he’s attacked his rehabilitation over the course of the last year. We’re all champing at the bit and excited to see him out there.”

Players who participated in pickup games with Durant during the past month in Los Angeles also had glowing reports, with Jarrett Allen telling Basketball News, “I’ll just keep it short and simple: KD is back again.”

There’s more this morning from Brooklyn:

Marks isn’t addressing questions about James Harden, who reportedly asked the Rockets to trade him to the Nets to reunite with Durant, Lewis tweets. Marks is limited in what he can say about a potential deal because of tampering rules. “All you can do is prepare yourself to put the best possible roster forward,” Marks said. “…We just have to be flexible for everything that happens, and put the best roster forward.”
Re-signing Joe Harris will be the team’s top priority when free agency officially kicks off this afternoon, Lewis notes in a separate story. One of the league’s top three-point shooters, Harris is reportedly eager for the chance to play alongside Durant and Kyrie Irving. “Those are guys I’ve gotten close with now that I’ve been with them this past year,” Harris said. “They’re obviously incredible players. You see what they’re able to do when they are healthy and playing. I don’t think there’s anybody in the NBA who wouldn’t want to play with those guys.”
Durant has been recruiting Serge Ibaka, his former teammate in Oklahoma City, but the Nets may not be able to afford him, Lewis adds. Brooklyn is limited to the taxpayer exception of $5.7MM, while several other teams interested in Ibaka can offer the full MLE of $9.3MM.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, I. Stewart, Durant

November 10th, 2020 at 6:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Raptors might be well-served to consider using either their No. 29 or No. 59 pick during the 2020 draft as a “draft-and-stash” option, selecting a player they know won’t arrive in the NBA until at least the 2021/22 season, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic.

Limited rotation space for unproven players, the expected development of current Toronto youth, and the compressed offseason are all factors that could point to the draft-and-stash route, Murphy notes. The Raptors face some interesting offseason options, with key role players Fred VanVleet and Serge Ibaka entering free agency.

There’s more out of the NBA’s Atlantic Division:

Athletic 6’9″ University of Washington big man Isaiah Stewart, a Rochester, NY native, appears to be a viable candidate for the Knicks to draft with the No. 27 pick in the 2020 draft, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. “The big thing about Isaiah is he’s a culture changer — he’s all about the right stuff,’’ his Washington head coach Mike Hopkins said. New York’s roster, of course, is already loaded with an array of power forwards, though many can become free agents this fall. Hopkins compared Stewart to All-Star Heat center Bam Adebayo and Clippers power forward/center Montrezl Harrell.
Nets forward Kevin Durant has been practicing at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, CA, as he continues to rehabilitate from an Achilles tear suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals. Durant has logged court time with fellow Nets Kyrie Irving, Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, Taurean Prince and Jaylen Hands, plus other pros, and is receiving rave reviews, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
Legendary Hall of Fame Celtics power forward and broadcast Tommy Heinsohn passed away this week. The six-time All-Star and eight-time champ was 86.

Steve Nash Embraces Nets’ Championship Expectations

October 27th, 2020 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

With Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving due back from injuries and the Nets mulling additional roster upgrades this offseason, new head coach Steve Nash told season ticket holders during a virtual town hall on Tuesday that he’s embracing the club’s rising expectations for the 2020/21 season.

“We’re playing for a championship,” Nash said, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I don’t want to say that anything less than a championship is not a success because you never know what happens in life, you never know the way the ball bounces. Fortune is a big part of winning an NBA championship.

“But we are playing for a championship and we’re going to build accordingly. We’re going to frame everything we do in the lens of, ‘Is this a championship characteristic or is this worth championship quality?'”

Although the Nets posted a 35-37 record and were quickly swept out of the first round of the postseason in 2019/20, oddsmakers and sports bettors are bullish about the team’s outlook with Durant and Irving in the lineup. BetOnline.ag currently lists Brooklyn in a tie with Boston as the second-most likely team to come out of the East in 2021, just behind Milwaukee.

Still, it remains to be seen how Durant will look coming off his torn Achilles, and there are some questions about how the roster will mesh when everyone’s healthy, as well as Nash’s ability to steer the ship as a rookie head coach. Those questions were only exacerbated when Irving – addressing Nash’s hiring on a recent episode of Durant’s podcast – suggested that he doesn’t “really see us having a head coach.”

However, discussing his coaching plan during today’s town hall, Nash went out of his way to echo Irving’s language about collaboration, according to Bontemps.

“I definitely don’t want to come in with too many hard and fast concepts and designs,” Nash said. “I’d much rather come in with principles — with ideas that allow our players to collaborate with us and allow their personalities and the dynamic between them and the chemistry to have a role in how it evolves.

“People talk about the Phoenix teams I played on, and this sort of revolutionary tone of how it impacted the game, but the truth be told, Mike D’Antoni‘s brilliance in much of that was he allowed it to evolve instead of getting in the way.”