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Southeast Notes: Young, Rozier, Love, Magic, Wizards

April 23rd, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show (YouTube link) about Trae Young‘s future in Atlanta, NBA insider Chris Haynes said the Hawks guard has expressed to him that he’s “down with the process” and wants to see a young Atlanta team “turn the corner.” However, while Haynes hasn’t heard anything from Young’s camp to indicate that he’s seeking a change of scenery, he acknowledged that there are “definitely teams out there who are monitoring his situation.”

Within his preview of the Hawks’ offseason, John Hollinger of The Athletic also explores what’s in store for Young and the Hawks, noting that it’s hard to get a read on the team’s direction because there are already so many individuals who have some say in the front office, even before Atlanta hires a new head of basketball operations.

In addition to team owner Tony Ressler and his son Nick Ressler, executives who have a voice in personnel decisions include general manager Onsi Saleh, assistant GM Kyle Korver, and advisers Chris Grant and Chris Emens. Tony Ressler also sometimes asks for input from people outside of the basketball operations department, including minority owner Grant Hill. According to Hollinger, Hill is viewed by some sources as Ressler’s top choice to run the front office, but seems satisfied with his USA Basketball job.

While there has been “chatter” about the possibility of the Hawks entertaining a Young trade this offseason, it remains to be seen how strong his market would be, according to Hollinger, who suggests one possible reason the team traded Dejounte Murray instead of Young a year ago was because it would’ve been more difficult to extract value for Young.

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Terry Rozier (ankle sprain) and Kevin Love (personal reasons) will be unavailable for the Heat in Game 2 of their series vs. Cleveland on Wednesday. Head coach Erik Spoelstra says he “feels” for both players, praising Rozier for maintaining a good work ethic even when he’s out of the rotation and adding that the team is there for Love during “what he’s going through,” per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Rozier told reporters that he’s “super frustrated” about injuring his ankle in a scrimmage, but he said the injury is already improving and didn’t require an MRI, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Heat guard described his status as “day to day.”
The Magic aren’t bothered by Al Horford‘s complaints about Orlando’s “extra” physicality in Game 1, including a hard foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that resulted in Celtics star Jayson Tatum injuring his wrist. According to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required), head coach Jamahl Mosley said he didn’t think Caldwell-Pope deserved to be called for a flagrant foul on that play, while guard Cole Anthony said the Magic play “the right way” and aren’t trying to hurt anyone. “We’re going to keep mucking it up,” Anthony added. “You’re just giving us good feedback.”
The Wizards were voted the NBA’s second-worst organization in The Athletic’s latest player poll, with Brian Keefe receiving the most votes for the league’s worst coach. As Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes, those results suggest the Wizards have work to do to adjust the outside perception of the team, though veterans like Malcolm Brogdon and Khris Middleton have said since arriving in D.C. that they’ve been pleasantly surprised by how the organization functions.

Southeast Notes: Anthony, Wizards, Heat Play-In

April 17th, 2025 at 8:34pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Cole Anthony played a starring role in Orlando’s play-in victory over Atlanta on Tuesday, Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes. He scored 26 points and six assists to clinch the seventh seed for the Magic.

As Robbins writes, Anthony had a roller-coaster season in 2024/25, seeing his role fluctuate frequently as he averaged a career-low 18.4 minutes per game, so it was rewarding for him to help secure their spot in the playoffs.

“It’s been up-and-down for him,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “But just his energy, his spark, his juice, what he provides for this team coming off that bench, he plays fearlessly and that’s how we need him to continue to play.”

Now, the Magic are preparing for a first-round series against the 61-win Celtics.

“It was awesome, and we need that from him, to be ready and plug in and give us instant offense like that and just make the right play,” teammate Franz Wagner said.

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Even though they won just 18 games, this was a successful season from a developmental perspective for the Wizards. Three rookies — Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George — started a significant number of games while players like Bilal Coulibaly showed signs of development. In a piece exploring learnings from the season, Varun Shankar of The Washington Post pinpoints Justin Champagnie as a valuable player but writes that players like Richaun Holmes and Malcolm Brogdon might be on the way out in the offseason.
In his offseason preview for the Wizards, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes that players like Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart might have value for contending teams this offseason due to their contracts set to expire in 2026. In potential trade scenarios involving those players, the Wizards could take back long-term salary. Brogdon will be a free agent and the Wizards could theoretically involve him in a sign-and-trade while getting a minor asset in return. Outside of that, the Wizards will keep adding to their young core. Smith writes that AJ Johnson and Tristan Vukcevic are two young players in house to watch for bigger roles next year.
The Warriors‘ play-in victory over the Grizzlies ensures the Heat will receive Golden State’s first-round pick in June, which will be either 18th, 19th or 20th overall, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. That pick order will be determined by random drawing. Golden State’s pick was top-10 protected. Whether or not the Heat hang onto their own first-round pick will hinge on whether or not they beat Atlanta on Friday.
The Heat defeated the Bulls in the play-in tournament for the third straight year, with Tyler Herro serving as a major offensive catalyst, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Pelle Larsson, who played many minutes toward the end of the season in a starting role, returned from an ankle injury and was available on Wednesday, but didn’t play. Forward Nikola Jovic is also close to making his return after not playing since late February. He was upgraded to questionable for the first time since then and could potentially return in the playoffs.

Wizards Notes: Sarr, Middleton, Bey, Johnson

April 12th, 2025 at 7:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

Wizards center Alex Sarr frequently displays the defensive potential that made him the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft, but he still has room to grow, writes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. Sarr is tied for sixth in the league with 1.5 blocked shots per game, although some of his underlying numbers put him far behind the league’s top rim protectors.

Shankar notes that entering Friday’s game, Sarr was allowing opponents to shoot 64.9% on shots inside of six feet, which is third highest in the league among players who have appeared in at least 30 games and faced at least six such shots per game. Opponents are shooting 3.3 points worse than normal when he’s the primary defender in those situations.

By comparison, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren leads in that category at 18.3 points worse, while Memphis’s Jaren Jackson Jr. is minus-14.2 and Evan Mobley is minus-8.7. Shankar acknowledges that they’re more established than Sarr, but he points out that their numbers were also better than his in their respective rookie seasons.

“Getting stronger, working on my body, all of this is going to improve,” Sarr said. “I think I’ll come back even better (as) a rim protector.”

There’s more on the Wizards:

Veteran swingman Khris Middleton has been declared out for Sunday at Miami, which will be his ninth straight missed game. Coach Brian Keefe told reporters on Friday that Middleton was likely done for the season due to a right knee contusion, Shankar adds. He appeared in 14 games after being acquired from Milwaukee at the trade deadline and holds a $34MM player option for next season.
Saddiq Bey has also been officially ruled out for Sunday, which means he’ll complete his first season with the Wizards without any game action, Shankar tweets. Bey, who’s recovering from an ACL tear he suffered in March of 2024 while with Atlanta, signed a three-year, $20MM contract in free agency last summer. He began practicing with Washington’s G League affiliate last month.
AJ Johnson has been spectacular at times in his first opportunity at regular NBA minutes, Shankar states in a separate story. The rookie shooting guard, who came to Washington in the same deal as Middleton, is averaging 8.9 points per game since the trade but is connecting at just 38.2% from the field and 23.8% from three-point range. He only got into seven games with the Bucks before the deal. “The more I play, I just feel like I’m getting better and better and understanding more,” Johnson said. “I’m just excited to keep playing.” Shankar also traces Johnson’s unconventional road to the NBA, which included time at four high schools and a season in Australia’s National Basketball League.

Southeast Notes: Larsson, Mitchell, Risacher, Middleton

April 12th, 2025 at 12:00pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Heat lost rookie guard Pelle Larsson on Wednesday to a sprained ankle he suffered during a weightlifting incident, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. The rookie out of Arizona called the incident a “freak accident.”

“I was lifting and just stepped and got my foot caught in something,” Larsson said. “So I just stepped on a twisted ankle, and it doesn’t feel great.”

Larsson isn’t sure if he’ll be ready for next week’s play-in tournament, according to coach Erik Spoelstra. It’s unfortunate timing, as he had established himself as a strong perimeter defender for Miami and started six games in a row with Andrew Wiggins sidelined, averaging 10.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals in those games, Chiang notes.

“It’s more frustrating than anything, especially when it happens off the court,” Larsson added. “It feels like you don’t have as much control. So it’s frustrating.”

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After playing 22 minutes in Friday’s matchup against the Pelicans, Heat guard Davion Mitchell crossed the 2,000-minute mark on the season and met the starter criteria. That means his qualifying offer this season will remain at $8,741,210 — it would have dipped to $7,976,830 if he had fallen short of 2,000 minutes.
Hawks No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher continued his late-season push for Rookie of the Year consideration on Thursday, scoring a career-high 38 points against the Nets. According to the team (Twitter link), Risacher’s 38 points were the most by any rookie in a single game this season.
Wizards forward Khris Middleton has been out since March 27 and will probably miss the team’s final game of the season on Sunday, according to The Washington Post’s Varun Shankar (Twitter link). In 14 games with the Wizards, all starts, Middleton averaged 10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per night.

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Sarr, Middleton

April 6th, 2025 at 4:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite having lost their last three games in a row and six of their last 10 contests overall, the Hawks have been making a push to develop their young perimeter players with a play-in tournament berth already assured, writes Jake Fischer for Hawks.com.

No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher in particular has been taking positive strides as the season has transitioned into its home stretch. Accordingly, he has been named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for two months running.

“(Trae Young is) more comfortable and aggressive throwing the ball ahead and seeing those guys attack the rim in transition,” Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said.

“The floor’s more open,” Young agreed. “And that causes my defender to make a decision whether to help or stay with me.”

The growth of 23-year-old forward Jalen Johnson, prior to his season-ending shoulder injury, and 22-year-old guard Dyson Daniels, a strong All-Defensive Team candidate, also gives the team major hope for the future.

“We think we can propel this team to a championship one day,” Daniels said. “The more we play together, the more chemistry we develop, the more experience we get, the more games we’re going to win.”

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Another Rookie of the Year candidate, Wizards big man Alex Sarr, has been showing plenty of promise as Washington’s lottery-bound 2024/25 season has wound down, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. The 19-year-old, selected with the No. 2 pick last summer, has been taking particular pride in his recent play on defense. “I love that he celebrated a defensive play,” coach Brian Keefe said, referring to a key block in a late-game situation in March. “It wasn’t just an offensive play. That’s winning stuff. That’s a winning play he made. If he wanted to be excited about that, that’s great, because we want him to anchor our defense.” Sarr’s shooting from distance has come and gone this season, but he has been enjoying consistent minutes, which he appreciates. “Being able to have freedom helps you develop as a player,” Sarr told Robbins, “knowing the things maybe you shouldn’t do, the things you have to work on.”
Former All-Star wing Khris Middleton, just two months into his Wizards tenure, has become a stabilizing veteran presence. According to Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network (subscriber link), Middleton already leads Washington in taking charges. The 33-year-old veteran’s willingness to put his body on the line has inspired his young teammates, Hughes opines.
In case you missed it, veteran Heat wing Andrew Wiggins is hoping to be back before Miami’s regular season ends, although there is no set timeline yet for his return from his right hamstring tendinopathy.

Wizards Notes: Record Loss, Sarr, Champagnie, Middleton

March 28th, 2025 at 12:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

Losing games is beneficial for the Wizards as they try to maximize their lottery odds, but there was nothing to be gained from Thursday night’s performance, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Washington set franchise records by giving up 162 points to Indiana and losing by 53 points. The Pacers overwhelmed the Wizards’ defense, shooting 64.1% from the field and 57.4% from three-point range.

“You should be upset,” coach Brian Keefe said. “You shouldn’t be happy. But it’s always about what you do going forward. Unfortunately, losses like this happen. You don’t want them to. No one’s happy about it, most of all our organization, me and the players especially. We’ve got competitive guys in our locker room. But it’s how you go forward. It’s always how you respond.”

At 16-57, Washington remains a half-game “behind” the 16-58 Jazz in the race for the league’s worst record. Robbins points out that the Wizards have been playing better lately, putting together a 6-4 run from February 24 to March 15 that included wins at Detroit and Denver. They also won at Philadelphia on Wednesday, so there were no warning signs that they were about to break this 54-year-old record.

“We’re competitors, so we definitely don’t want to be on the bad side of games like that,” Jordan Poole said. “I think we know that the longer you play, the more games you play, there will be nights like this, especially coming off of a back-to-back. I think we in the locker room know that’s not acceptable, especially for the standard that we’re trying to set, in how we played. But we’ve got to find ways to just learn from it, get better and then bounce back in a couple of days.”

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Rookie big man Alex Sarr scored 22 points Thursday night and led the Wizards in shots for the seventh time in the last eight games, according to Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. The No. 2 overall pick is enjoying his best month of the season, averaging 17.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in March, and may be making a late bid for Rookie of the Year honors. “I think it’s a nice accomplishment. But at the same time I think there’s way more than just getting (an) individual award,” Sarr said. “… I’m going to be part of this team hopefully for a lot of years to come. And what we’re building right now is more important than (individual awards).”
In an interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Justin Champagnie admits he considered giving up his NBA dream as he fought to earn a roster spot over the last three years. The 23-year-old small forward’s efforts were rewarded this season when he signed a four-year, $10MM deal with the Wizards that includes $1.8MM in guaranteed money. “To be honest with you, I probably thought about quitting three or four times,” Champagnie said. “I always told myself no matter what happens, stay grounded, remember where you came from, keep doing what you’re doing, and let it be what it’s going to be.”
Khris Middleton, who was traded to Washington at the deadline after a long career in Milwaukee, believes the Wizards have a bright future and could challenge for the playoffs soon, Scotto adds. “I think if you give us a full offseason and give us a full season together,” he said, “with the improvement of the young core, which is going to be huge, I think they can take a big step because of the way they work, how talented they are, and how smart they are.”

Wizards’ Khris Middleton To Undergo MRI On Right Knee

March 27th, 2025 at 10:50pm CST by Rory Maher

After playing 14 first-half minutes on Thursday against Indiana, forward Khris Middleton was ruled out for the second half due to right knee soreness, the Wizards announced (via Twitter).

In his post-game press conference, head coach Brian Keefe said Middleton would undergo an MRI on his right knee, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network (Twitter link).

It’s unfortunate news for the three-time All-Star, who was traded to Washington last month after spending 10-plus seasons in Milwaukee. Middleton was a key part of the Bucks’ championship run in 2022, but his career has been derailed by a series of injuries the past few seasons.

The 33-year-old has appeared in just 36 total games in 2024/25, averaging 12.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists on .476/.362/.866 shooting in 23.0 minutes per contest. That’s the fewest minutes he’s averaged since he was a rookie with Detroit back in ’12/13.

Middleton holds a $33.3MM player option for ’25/26 that he’s widely expected to exercise.

In other Wizards injury news, forward Anthony Gill was also ruled out for the remainder of Thursday’s game after playing three minutes in the first half. He’s dealing with left hip soreness, per the team (Twitter link).

Eastern Notes: Bucks, Okogie, Raptors, Cavs, Wizards

March 19th, 2025 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers met after Tuesday’s loss to Golden State with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, who reports (via Twitter) that the session served as an “open forum” for the Bucks stars to share ideas for how to get the team out of its recent slump.

As Haynes notes, the Bucks have lost five of their last seven games and have struggled on offense during that time, including scoring a season-low 93 points vs. Golden State in Tuesday’s defeat. Haynes describes Tuesday’s post-game meeting as “productive.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Veteran wing Josh Okogie got off to a good start in Charlotte after being traded to the Hornets in January, registering a +16.3 net rating in his first 149 minutes with the team. He has missed the past 23 games due to a left hamstring strain, but appears to be nearing a return. He was assigned to the G League on Tuesday to practice with the Greensboro Swarm before being recalled to the NBA team, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter links).
The Raptors have won six of their past nine games and have been buoyed during that stretch by strong performances from players on two-way or 10-day contracts, including Jared Rhoden, A.J. Lawson, and Colin Castleton. What useful information might Toronto glean from this late-season hot streak? Michael Grange of Sportsnet considers that question, exploring how the team can separate the signal from the noise.
After losing a second consecutive game in a row on Tuesday, the Cavaliers are now tied with Oklahoma City for the NBA’s best record at 56-12 and won’t have a shot at 70 wins unless they don’t lose again this season. Neither earning the league’s top seed or winning 70 regular season games is a top priority for the Cavs heading into the playoffs though, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. The team’s two primary objectives? “To be healthy and playing great basketball,” according to head coach Kenny Atkinson.
The Wizards are the latest team to cut back on minutes for their veterans, presumably in an effort to tank, writes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. Jordan Poole and Khris Middleton each played just 10:31 in Monday’s loss to Portland and didn’t appear at all in the second half, even though it wasn’t part of a back-to-back set.

Southeast Notes: Bogdanovic, Wizards, Poole, Joseph, Houstan

March 15th, 2025 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Before being traded from the Hawks to the Clippers at last month’s deadline, Bogdan Bogdanovic had changed teams once before in his NBA career, having initially signed with Atlanta in 2020 after three years in Sacramento. However, last month’s trade represented the first in-season move for the veteran guard, who said it has been a more challenging adjustment period and that he was “nervous” returning to Atlanta to face his old team on Friday, per Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“This, in-season (move) is really tough,” Bogdanovic said. “And as much as I told you I was ready, I wasn’t ready. As you can see it at the beginning, the way I played and just the way I felt. So how the time goes, everything, it’s getting better.”

Bogdanovic, who said he didn’t know where the visitors’ locker room was when he entered the arena ahead of Friday’s game, scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in a win over the Hawks on Friday. He also got to match up on a few possessions with Trae Young and admitted that going up against his friend and former teammate took some getting used to.

“I won’t lie to you, there’s one situation, I gave him a high-five on the floor,” Bogdanovic said. “But you see the face, and it’s like ‘Let’s go.’ But it’s just a normal reaction, as I said. Yeah, it was weird. It was weird to play against them, but it’s business at the end of the day. And I wish them all the best, honestly. They’re great group of guys. I know how hard they are working, and they had a good run. They’re gonna have a good run.”

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The Pistons‘ impressive turnaround this season should serve as an inspiration for the Wizards as they make their way through a slow rebuilding process, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Washington may not have its future franchise cornerstone on the roster yet like Detroit did with Cade Cunningham, Robbins acknowledges, but the Pistons’ success this season shows the importance of having the right head coach in place and how a few smart veteran additions can help unlock the potential of a club’s young players.
Speaking to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Wizards guard Jordan Poole said he believes the team’s “ceiling is high” and that there’s already “a lot of talented guys” on the roster. “The ball is rolling. Snowball effect right now,” he said. “It’ll take a little bit, but we got the right group, the right setup. We’re in a really good situation right now. We’re playing some fun basketball. It’s something going to be more competitive, better as we go.” Poole also discussed a number of other topics, including what he’s learning from Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart and why he has felt more comfortable this season than he did during his first year in D.C.
Veteran Magic point guard Cory Joseph has made his first three starts of the season in the past two weeks and played a season-high 30 minutes in Thursday’s win over New Orleans, earning praise from head coach Jamahl Mosley, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel relays (via Twitter). “His poise and his ability to get guys in the right spot,” Mosley said when asked what has stood out about Joseph’s performance. “And then defensively picking up full-court. The energy that he brings as a veteran, you can’t say enough about his positive spirit, his positive energy.” Orlando holds a minimum-salary team option on Joseph for 2025/26.
Like Joseph, Magic forward Caleb Houstan has a minimum-salary team option on his contract for next season and was lauded this week by Mosley for stepping up after being out of the rotation for much of the year. Houstan scored 18 points in 26 minutes in Friday’s loss to Minnesota. “I say this with no hesitation. He might be one of the hardest workers I’ve seen,” Mosley, according to Beede. “This kid is in early, stays late, comes back, works on his shot. … He is determined. He is focused. He’s a pro. He stays ready no matter if his number is called for two minutes or 22 minutes.”

Wizards Notes: Smart, Middleton, Sarr, Vukcevic, Brogdon, Coulibaly

March 11th, 2025 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Trade-deadline acquisitions Marcus Smart and Khris Middleton have had a positive impact on the Wizards so far. As Varun Shankar of The Washington Post writes, the two veterans have been active for the same seven games since debuting on February 21 and the team has gone 4-3 in those contests. Washington was 9-45 before the duo suited up and has lost the two games Smart and Middleton have missed since then.

Monday’s game vs. Toronto represented the second time in recent weeks that Smart and Middleton have been held out of one end of a back-to-back set for “injury management.” The Wizards have dropped those two matchups, to the Magic and Raptors, by 20 and 15 points, respectively.

While head coach Brian Keefe didn’t say on Monday whether he’d continue to sit Smart and Middleton in back-to-backs for the rest of the season, the Wizards likely won’t go out of their way to make those veterans more available, given the impact they’ve had on winning and the importance of lottery positioning. Washington has had the NBA’s worst record for nearly the entire season, but is now just a game behind Utah and 2.5 games behind Charlotte in the standings.

Here’s more on the Wizards:

Keefe experimented on Monday with playing centers Alex Sarr and Tristan Vukcevic at the same time and liked what he saw during those seven minutes, as Shankar relays. “They complement each other offensively, and I thought they could complement each other defensively,” Keefe said of the young bigs. “So I wanted to see what that looked like. I thought they did a good job during that little stint.” Vukcevic said he was “a bit surprised” to be playing power forward, but appreciated the opportunity to try something new. “That’s something that (the Cavaliers are) doing, and it’s working out for them. So it would be great if it could work out for us,” he said.
Veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon, who has been on the shelf since February 12 with a left ankle sprain, has been doing on-court work in recent days, including after the team’s shootaround on Monday, per Shankar. However, Keefe declined to give a timetable for Brogdon’s potential return.
In an in-depth story for RG.org, Spencer Davies takes a closer look at Bilal Coulibaly‘s second year in the NBA, noting that the forward’s efficiency numbers (.421 FG%, .281 3PT%) have dropped in large part due to a more challenging shot profile and suggesting that the Wizards remain bullish on the 20-year-old’s potential. “I know they believe in me,” Coulibaly told Davies. “They are telling me that every single day, so it feels really good. For me and just my confidence, having guys that believe in me makes me believe in myself too.”
Coulibaly took a hard fall in the first quarter of Monday’s loss vs. Toronto after being fouled on a dunk attempt by Raptors forward Jamison Battle (video link). The Wizards have listed him as out for Tuesday’s matchup with Detroit due to a right hip contusion, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says it’s fortunate the second-year forward didn’t injure his head, neck, or back, given how scary it looked in real time.