Keyonte George

Northwest Notes: Timberwolves, Gordon, George, Jazz

December 3rd, 2024 at 9:25am CST by Luke Adams

The legal battle that will determine who controls the Timberwolves won’t be resolved until January at the earliest, sources tell Eben Novy-Williams and Michael McCann of Sportico.

As Sportico’s duo explains, the legal representatives for current team owner Glen Taylor and prospective owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez will answer “final questions of clarification” from the three-person arbitration panel handling the case in early January. The panel isn’t expected to make its final ruling on the matter until sometime after those questions are answered.

Even when the arbitration process concludes, it likely won’t fully close the books on the Timberwolves’ ownership fight. Novy-Williams and McCann point out that the losing side could petition a federal judge to vacate the arbitration award. Additionally, if the arbitrators rule in favor of Lore and Rodriguez, the new ownership group would still need to be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

It has been a challenging start to the season for the Timberwolves, but there was no bad body language and there were no concerning post-game quotes after a blowout victory over the Lakers on Monday night. Chris Hine of The Star Tribune has the story on the encouraging win and the good vibes it created.
In his first game back after missing 10 games due to a calf strain, Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon came off the bench on a minutes limit on Sunday and served as Nikola Jokic‘s backup, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. While Gordon has been far more effective as the second-string center than Dario Saric, Zeke Nnaji, or DeAndre Jordan have – Denver was +3 with Jokic off the court vs. the Clippers – he’s the least sustainable option to continue as the backup five over a full 82-game season, given his typical role alongside Jokic, Durando notes.
Outside of his subpar shooting percentages (.375 FG%, .336 3PT%), turnovers and defense have also been issues for Keyonte George, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, who suggests that the second-year Jazz guard hasn’t inspired confidence as a ball-handling point guard and doesn’t shoot well enough to be a full-time shooting guard. George is still just 21 years old and works hard, Larsen writes, but will have to make significant strides to become the player the Jazz hoped they were getting when he was drafted in 2023.
Jazz head coach Will Hardy conceded he made a mistake in calling a timeout on Sunday before Collin Sexton had a chance to attempt what would’ve been a go-ahead basket in the final seconds of Utah’s game vs. the Lakers (Twitter video link). After the game, Sexton said he understood why Hardy made the decision he did and didn’t blame him at all. As Tony Jones of The Athletic writes, while the one-point loss was a tough pill to swallow, the mature way the moment was handled showed there’s trust between the head coach and his players, an important sign in a challenging rebuilding year.

Northwest Notes: Filipowski, George, Collier, D. Jones, Doncic, Vezenkov, Blazers

November 18th, 2024 at 11:29am CST by Tristan Tucker

Rookie center Kyle Filipowski‘s play continues to be one of the brightest spots of the Jazz‘s season so far, Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune writes. After claiming a starting role last week, Filipowski continues to pass test after test against some of the NBA’s best.

Filipowski is being targeted defensively in his rookie season, but he has responded admirably and recorded three steals against the Kings on Saturday.

“I guess that’s how it is for rookies, especially rookies that stand up to that sort of thing,” Filipowski said. “I gotta pull my big boy pants on, you know, and not back down from that challenge.”

The No. 32 pick in this year’s draft is averaging 7.9 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 55.2% from the field. In his past five games, including three starts, he has increased those averages to 12.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per contest.

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Keyonte George was benched in the second half of the Jazz‘s Sunday game against Los Angeles, Larsen writes in a separate story. Coach Will Hardy was clear about his reasoning after the game: “I wasn’t happy with Keyonte’s defense in the first half. Keyonte knows how much I believe in him, but sometimes you have to make changes in the moment to reinforce your point.” George played with the second unit and ended up playing the final 19 minutes of the game. He didn’t seem to be phased by the change after the game, Larsen writes. “Urgency levels should be at an all-time high no matter what — but we’re all humans,” George said. “I don’t know if you have a boss, but if they say you should take a break, when you come back you’re going to be on your Ps and Qs.” He’ll need to continue to improve on his decision-making, Larsen opines.
In George’s place, rookie guard Isaiah Collier started the second half and established career highs in minutes (26) and assists (8). Larsen writes in the same piece that Collier has been the Jazz‘s only true point guard and while he’s only getting to his own shot by beating the opposition in fast break situations (he’s shooting 11.1% from three), he’s helping the offense by taking care of the ball. “We know who our scorers are, we know where the ball needs to go,” Collier said. “Doing those little things, it definitely helped us int he second half.” The No. 29 overall pick in 2024 is averaging 4.3 PPG and 2.7 APG this year.
Thunder No. 26 overall pick Dillon Jones set career highs in points (12), minutes (15) and assists (3) on Sunday in a loss to Dallas. The Weber State product made all but one of his six shot attempts. Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had nothing but praise for the first-round rookie, according to the Thunder’s Nick Gallo (Twitter link). “He’s getting his feet work, getting more comfortable… He’s doing a great job,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He’s keeping his head. He’s getting better. That’s all you can ask for.“
The Nuggets were close to trading up for Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic in the 2018 draft, former Denver Post writer Mike Singer said on Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “The Nuggets knew that Vlade Divac was not particularly high on Luka Doncic,” Singer, now an employee of the Nuggets, said. “And they had designs on pairing Nikola Jokic with Luka Doncic. On draft night in 2018, they tried. There was a call placed. There was a proposal and the Nuggets attempted to get the No. 2 pick for Gary Harris and two first round picks was what I was told. You can roll your eyes at that price tag, but look in retrospect. The Kings ended up taking Marvin Bagley with the No. 2 pick. I’m not saying this trade was imminent. All I’m saying is this trade was discussed and considered because the Nuggets knew Vlade Divac was not particularly high on Luka Doncic and they tried to exploit it.”
The Nuggets also previously tried to acquire Sasha Vezenkov in 2016, the former Kings forward said in a podcast, per a report from Eurohoops.net. “Jokic called me back in 2016, way before he became a three-time MVP,” Vezenkov said. “Back then, he wasn’t a superstar. He told me the Nuggets wanted me. They were signing European players. But I hesitated. I was an insecure 20-year-old. After playing in Europe, they lost interest. I don’t think about it a lot, but I often wonder what could have been.” Vezenkov made his NBA debut last year for Sacramento, but he was traded and then bought out in the offseason as he decided to head back overseas.
After a 45-point loss last week, the Trail Blazers restored good vibes by winning three in a row, Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report writes. Shaedon Sharpe has 65 points in his last two games, rookie Donovan Clingan is standing out, and bench players like Dalano Banton have played well during the streak.

Northwest Notes: Caruso, Hendricks, George, Collins, Westbrook

November 7th, 2024 at 9:32am CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Alex Caruso, acquired from Chicago in an offseason trade, has been a non-factor offensively for the Thunder through eight games. He’s averaging just 2.6 points and 2.5 assists while shooting 23.7% from the field. He’s also averaging just 4.8 shot attempts in 19.9 minutes.

Caruso, a defensive ace, isn’t worried about his limited contributions on offense.

“I just try to do whatever the team needs to win,” Caruso told The Oklahoman’s Joel Lorenzi. “The last couple years in Chicago, we had guys out. I was on the ball a little more as a lead guard, but here we got Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), we got Dub (Jalen Williams). Even Cason (Wallace)’s on the ball a little more. We got a lot of options. So for me, it’s just about figuring out how I help us win games. Right now, it’s not taking 10 shots a night.”

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Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks underwent surgery on his right leg on Wednesday, Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake City Tribune tweets. He suffered a fractured right fibula and dislocated ankle in the second half of Utah’s game at Dallas on Oct. 28. Hendricks’ injury occurred on a non-contact play as he was running into the offensive lane. Utah has not released a timetable for his return.
The Jazz recorded their first win of the season on Monday, thanks to Keyonte George‘s career night. The second-year guard had 33 points, nine assists and two turnovers in 39 minutes, Larsen notes. With Lauri Markkanen (back spasms) and Hendricks out, John Collins played exclusively at power forward and looked much more comfortable, making 12-of-17 shots for 28 points while grabbing 13 rebounds. Collins failed to mesh well with Markkanen and Walker Kessler last season because he wasn’t as involved in screens and thus couldn’t take advantage of mismatches, Larsen adds.
Russell Westbrook has averaged 25 points, six rebounds and six assists in two Nuggets victories this week. Yet coach Michael Malone has high praise for another aspect of Westbrook’s game, according to Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. “I think defensively he’s been a rock star,” Malone said. “And what I love about Russell Westbrook: 17-year vet, leopards don’t change their spots, but he is trying so hard to be disciplined. He’s trying to do the things we’re asking him to do, and I appreciate that so much. Because a lot of times at 17 years in, you are who you are. But he cares, man. He is so invested in this team and what he’s bringing to this team, and he’s so hard on himself. I can coach a guy like Russell Westbrook any day.” Westbrook signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with Denver during the summer — the deal includes a second-year player option.

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Holmgren, A. Mitchell, Alexander

November 1st, 2024 at 12:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Following the Jazz‘s loss to San Antonio on Thursday in Utah, head coach Will Hardy had some pointed words for his club, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. The Jazz committed a ghastly 26 turnovers, with the Spurs stealing the ball nine times in the third period — the most thefts in a single quarter since 1996.

“This is not guaranteed. Being in the NBA is not guaranteed,” Hardy said. “There’s a lot of players who have established themselves, but they’ve had to fight to do so. You have to scratch and claw and battle to be an NBA player for a long time. I think the average NBA career is like under four years or something, and that’s because the league will just churn players in and out.

“And right now, I just don’t feel that desperation. I don’t feel that hunger on every play.”

Larsen points to a couple of bad plays by second-year guard Keyonte George as being emblematic of the team’s poor effort, and writes that none of Utah’s young players — aside from maybe Walker Kessler — should feel secure about their place in the NBA. The Jazz (0-5) are the only team in the league that has yet to win a game.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Chet Holmgren and the Thunder bested Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on Wednesday in a marquee matchup between two of the league’s top young big men, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. Holmgren finished with 19 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 28 minutes, while Wembanyama recorded just six points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes. Both players downplayed any talk of a budding rivalry, with Holmgren saying Oklahoma City’s defense was key to the 105-93 victory. “We won tonight on the defensive end,” Holmgren said. “It wasn’t perfect on offense. I feel like we were very solid almost throughout the whole game on the defensive end.”
Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell has been receiving rotation minutes to open his rookie season, writes Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated. The 22-year-old, who was selected No. 38 overall in June’s draft, turned in his best performance on Wednesday vs. San Antonio, finishing with 12 points (on 5-of-6 shooting), four rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes. “We play a lot of 5-on-5 at training camp, so there is a lot underneath the surface that you guys might not see, but we do,” Head coach Mark Daigneault said of Mitchell. “We take those minutes really seriously…he showed a capacity early, on both ends of the floor. As good as he was offensively tonight, he was really good defensively. He continues to make strides and get better defensively.”
It appears as though rookie Trey Alexander, who is on a two-way deal, is ahead of Jalen Pickett in the Nuggets‘ backcourt rotation, tweets Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports. Pickett, a 2023 second-round pick who is on a standard contract, was recently assigned to the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s G League affiliate, while Alexander remains with the Nuggets.

Jazz Notes: Hendricks, Collins, Williams, G League

October 29th, 2024 at 7:56am CST by Luke Adams

The gruesome right leg injury that Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks suffered on Monday is expected to sideline him for the rest of the 2024/25 season, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN. While Hendricks will undergo further testing on Tuesday, he was diagnosed on Monday night with a fractured right fibula and dislocated ankle.

“That’s hard to stomach,” head coach Will Hardy said of the injury. “He’s put in a lot of hard work. He’s a great kid, and so we’re really just trying to focus on him, his health, keeping him up, his spirits up as he begins the road of his recovery. But these are the moments in sports that suck.”

Hendricks, who will turn 21 next month, played sparingly as a rookie, especially in the first half of the season, finishing with 23 starts in 40 total outings. The Jazz had planned to increase his role and his responsibilities in his second year. The 6’9″ forward started each of Utah’s first three contests and averaged 26.6 minutes per night in his two full games, well above the 21.4 MPG he logged last season.

“This is far from over for him,” Hardy said, per MacMahon. “This is a pause button for Taylor. You can see [his work paying off] even in the early parts of this season. You can see the flashes, you can see where this could be going with him, and that’s a credit to him.”

I expect the Jazz to apply for a disabled player exception following Hendricks’ injury, but that exception would be worth just $2.92MM (half of his salary) and wouldn’t grant the team an extra roster spot, so its usefulness would be limited.

Here’s more on Hendricks and the Jazz:

Hendricks’ teammates were devastated to see him go down with such a significant injury, as Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune writes. “It’s just put me in an emotional state,” fellow 2023 first-rounder Keyonte George said. “That’s just my brother. I didn’t know him growing up, and then building a relationship with him over the year, he felt like family. I told him I loved him, told him I’m here for him, whatever he needs.” Third-year center Walker Kessler echoed that sentiment: “The biggest thing is just being there for him physically and checking up on him. Right now, he just needs a lot of support from a lot of people.”
Hendricks’ absence will leave an opening in the Jazz’s starting lineup and a significant gap in the rotation, according to Larsen, who considers in a separate story for The Salt Lake Tribune how the team might plug those holes. As Larsen writes, while John Collins is an obvious candidate to take Hendricks’ spot in the starting lineup, units that featured him, Lauri Markkanen, and Kessler weren’t effective last season. With that in mind, Larsen believes rookie forward Cody Williams might be the better option. While he expects Utah’s decision to come down to Collins vs. Williams, Larsen also mentions Brice Sensabaugh, Johnny Juzang, and Kyle Filipowski as longer-shot options for promotions to the starting five.
The Salt Lake City Stars have announced their training camp roster for the 2024/25 season (via Twitter). It includes a handful of players who were with Utah during training camp and the preseason, including Isaiah Wong, Taevion Kinsey, Max Abmas, and Justin Lewis.

Jazz Pick Up 2025/26 Options On Four Players

October 21st, 2024 at 2:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have exercised their 2025/26 rookie scale team options on four players, the team announced today in a press release. Those four players and their accompanying options are as follows:

Taylor Hendricks (third year, $6,127,080)
Walker Kessler (fourth year, $4,878,938)
Keyonte George (third year, $4,278,960)
Brice Sensabaugh (third year, $2,693,760)

After an impressive rookie season in which he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting, Kessler didn’t take a real step forward as a sophomore in 2023/24, with his averages slipping a little in categories like PPG (8.1), RPG (7.5), and FG% (.654). However, he’s still just 23 years old and is on an extremely team-friendly contract. He’ll now be eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2025 and will become a restricted free agent in 2026 if he doesn’t sign a new deal next offseason.

Hendricks, George, and Sensabaugh were first-round picks in the 2023 draft. Of the three, George saw the most significant role as a rookie, starting 44 of his 75 games and averaging 27.0 minutes per night. While he struggled to score efficiently, making just 39.1% of his shots from the floor (33.4% from beyond the arc), he showed real promise in his age-20 season, averaging 13.0 PPG and 4.4 APG.

Hendricks averaged 7.3 PPG and 4.6 RPG on .450/.379/.793 shooting in 40 games (23 starts) in his rookie year, while Sensabaugh had 7.5 PPG and 3.2 RPG on .390/.296/.902 shooting in 32 outings (11 starts). Both players only really saw significant playing time down the stretch after the Jazz fell out of the play-in race, but they should get an opportunity to earn more regular roles from day one in 2024/25.

The Jazz will have to make fourth-year option decisions on Hendricks, George, and Sensabaugh by October 31, 2025.

Northwest Notes: Porter, Edwards, Wolves, Jazz

October 21st, 2024 at 1:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets ranked last in the NBA a year ago with 31.2 three-point attempts per game and lost one of their most reliable outside marksmen this offseason when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope departed for Orlando in free agency. While head coach Michael Malone has downplayed Denver’s need to fire away from beyond the arc, forward Michael Porter Jr. knows the team will be relying on him more than ever this season to help spread the floor, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.

“I think we’ve got a lot of players that, they like to get to the mid-range, they like to get to the rim,” Porter said. “So we know in this day in age, teams score a lot of points when they get some three up. So I don’t have my partner in crime, KCP. He was kind of a volume shooter last year. So we don’t have any really volume three-point shooters.

“I think Jamal (Murray), he’ll shoot some threes, but he likes to get to the middy. Joker (Nikola Jokic) should probably take a couple more per game. But I know it’s gonna be up to me and Julian (Strawther) to really be the volume 3-point shooters.”

Porter attempted 6.8 three-pointers per game last season and knocked down 39.7% of those tries. His career high is 7.3 attempts per night and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he exceeds that figure in 2024/25.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

In an interview for an ESPN Cover Story feature (Twitter video link), Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards expressed a belief that he could make the jump from the NBA to the NFL. “I told my buddies, if I win a ring in the next three to four years, I’m going to play football,” he said. While Edwards’ confidence is admirable, this claim definitely falls into the category of “we’ll believe it when we see it.”
Within his deep dive into the Timberwolves‘ roster, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic says the trade for Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle helped ease any concerns the team had about its point guard depth behind Mike Conley. “(DiVincenzo)’s been outstanding with the ball in his hands as a play-maker,” head coach Chris Finch said. “We know Julius can also create, we know Nickeil (Alexander-Walker). We’ve seen even a little more increased play-making from Jaden (McDaniels), not in a classic point guard role, but I feel like we are very comfortable with what we will do going forward at the point guard spot.”
Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune poses four questions that will help determine how the Jazz‘s season plays out, including what the front office plans to do with its non-core veterans and how good the team’s young players can be. As Larsen notes, Utah intends to prioritize the development of youngsters like Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George, Walker Kessler, Brice Sensabaugh, Isaiah Collier, and Kyle Filipowski in 2024/25 — their performances will go a long way toward determining whether they have a place in the club’s long-term plans.

Jazz Notes: Markkanen, George, Collier, Williams

October 14th, 2024 at 10:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lauri Markkanen‘s contract situation was a major story during the offseason. Markkanen and the Jazz chose to renegotiate and extend his contract for four seasons. In addition to having his salary for this season bumped from $18MM to $42MM, Markkanen tacked on another $196MM across four new years.

He told Marc Stein in a Subtack interview that he was relieved to get that done, rather than having increased uncertainty over his future, along with the possibility of being traded.

“Obviously I wasn’t a free agent, but it was more I had the ability to do the contract and kind of had the choice,” he said. “I don’t have to do it, but that was something I wanted to get done to stay with the team.”

The Warriors were prominently mentioned as a possible destination and Markkanen took the trade interest from other teams as a positive. “I think [it means] you’ve done things right — that teams want you. … I was able to kind of zone it out and really wait for my agent for what’s real,” he said.

We have more on the Jazz:

Markkanen doesn’t want his All-Star appearance to be a one-shot deal, he told Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda.com. “You don’t want to just be a one-time All Star. The goal is always to improve and show the new things you’ve been working on in your game,” he said. “I’m always trying to take that next step in my development, but it all starts with team success. Everything else comes from there.”
Keyonte George underwent an MRI on his left knee and the results were negative, Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. George has resumed on-court activities and is expected to be available for the team’s game against Sacramento on Tuesday. Isaiah Collier also underwent an MRI that revealed a right hamstring strain. He will be reevaluated in 10 days. Collier was the 29th pick of the draft.
Lottery pick Cody Williams had his best outing of the preseason on Saturday, Larsen notes. Williams scored 17 against San Antonio after contributing a total of 13 points in the previous three preseason games. He added five rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes.

Northwest Notes: Wolves, Strawther, Braun, Walker, Avdija, George

October 11th, 2024 at 11:17am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Timberwolves are taking a risk by completely changing their roster makeup in the aftermath of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade. However, AthlonSports’ Mark Medina reports that the coaching staff and players are all feeling optimistic about the change.

“There will be a pretty big learning curve,” head coach Chris Finch said. “I’m pretty confident that there are going to be rough edges that we want to smooth out.”

Minnesota reportedly coveted Donte DiVincenzo for a while, and he’ll address any spacing questions after a career year with the Knicks. Julius Randle‘s fit is a bit more interesting, as all indications point toward the Wolves leaning on Naz Reid more. It will be fascinating to see who winds up getting minutes in the closing lineup.

“I see us fitting together extremely well,” Randle said. “If you look at my career and the places that I’ve been and the things that I’ve done. I think the biggest thing I pride myself on is adaptability.”

According to Medina, Finch plans to grant Randle more play-making responsibility this season.

“My only thing is I want to help in any way needed. There’s a tremendous amount of talent here,” Randle said. “Finchy is a great coach. So whatever is asked of me, I’m going to do. I just want to help get us over that hump and win. At this stage of my career, all that matters is winning. I’ve accomplished a lot of great things on the individual scale. But I want to win at this stage of my career. I’m extremely excited and blessed to have this opportunity.”

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For the second straight offseason, the Nuggets lost a key piece to free agency. For the second straight year, they’re hoping that a young player will fill the void left behind. Denver is counting on that strategy to be more successful this time around after watching the offseason growth of both Christian Braun and Julian Strawther, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes. Braun played well over the course of both of his first two seasons in the league, but Strawther hasn’t played much to this point. A skilled three-point marksman, Strawther will be leaned on but has the faith of the coaching staff and his teammates behind him. “Julian Strawther is poised and ready to have a really good second season,” Denver head coach Michael Malone said. “Julian was in the gym every day this summer. Every single day. The guy was a workhorse.“
It’s rare for the 57th pick in a draft to become a rotation so early in their career, but that’s the case for Trail Blazers forward Jabari Walker, who has made 128 career appearances, including 23 starts, and averaged 8.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game last season. He’s hoping to continue building on his early career success, Aaron Fentress of OregonLive writes. “Jabari has been doing a good job,” head coach Chauncey Billups said. “He’s been having a good camp. He was kind of hampered all summer with his knee and stuff. But he’s been back playing, and he hasn’t missed a beat at all. Obviously, he’s so tough and so competitive, his teams usually do pretty well in the scrimmages because of his rebounding and his competitiveness.”
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija is not participating in Friday’s matchup against the Clippers as he observes Yom Kippur, he announced in an Instagram story. According to Rose Garden Report’s Sean Highkin (Twitter link), Avdija will make his preseason — and Trail Blazers — debut on Sunday against the Kings.
Jazz guard Keyonte George left Utah’s preseason game and had to be helped off the court near the beginning of the third quarter due to a leg injury, according to Mavs.com’s Eddie Sefko (Twitter link). The Jazz said George was out with a mild left knee sprain, Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon confirms he will get an MRI later on Friday but adds that the Jazz are optimistic he won’t miss much, if any, regular season time (Twitter link).

Northwest Notes: Murray, Jokic, Jazz, A. Mitchell

October 5th, 2024 at 8:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone tried to calm speculation about Jamal Murray‘s physical condition, telling reporters in Abu Dhabi that his star point guard hasn’t experienced any issues since training camp opened, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Murray’s subpar performance in last season’s playoffs and the Olympics led to suggestions that he might be dealing with an undisclosed injury.

“Knock on wood,” Malone said. “I have seen a healthy Jamal Murray. I’ve seen a guy that, as you pointed to that play, (has been) explosive. Making plays. And that’s always a micro-goal of any game that you go into during the preseason, is making sure you have player health.”

Murray only played 15 minutes in Friday’s exhibition game as Malone used 18 players. His most notable moment came when he dove for a loose ball, which Durando sees as a sign that he’s not nursing an injury. Murray’s long-term health is more important than ever after he signed a four-year max extension last month.

“You read reports from around the league and you see different players having some of those soft tissue injuries, which can linger for a long time,” Malone said. “Like Peyton Watson (hamstring) is dealing with right now. But right now it appears to me that Jamal is in a really good place mentally (and) physically. And I know that bodes well for us.”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic isn’t concerned that playing in the Olympics will affect his performance this season, Eurohoops relays. Jokic pointed out to reporters that he was fine after representing Serbia in the 2022 Eurobasket tournament. “Last time I played for the national team, we won a championship,” he said. “Maybe that means something, maybe it doesn’t. Most players say a summer tournament helps you stay in shape. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I had a great time and feel I improved. Whether it affects my current basketball or not, who knows.”
Jazz coach Will Hardy will experiment with lineup combinations throughout the preseason, so the starting five of Keyonte George, Collin Sexton, Taylor Hendricks, Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler that he used Friday against New Zealand could change by opening night, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Hardy likes how Hendricks, a 2023 lottery pick, looks alongside Markkanen. “It allowed Lauri to guard more of the four, and Taylor to guard more of a perimeter player,” Hardy said. “I thought offensively, they fit decently, but we’ll have to monitor that as the preseason goes.”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault singled out second-round pick Ajay Mitchell as someone who has made a strong impression in training camp (video link from Derek Parker of Draft Digest).

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