Luka Doncic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

NBA GMs High On Thunder’s Offseason Moves, Celtics’ Title Chances

October 8th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder made the best roster moves during the 2024 offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. Within his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 37% of his respondents picked Oklahoma City as having the best summer, with the Sixers coming in second place at 33%. The Knicks got 20% of the vote share, while no other club received more than a single vote.

It was one of many favorable outcomes in the survey for the Thunder, who were overwhelmingly selected as the team with the best young core — 60% of GMs selected OKC, compared to 20% for the second-place Magic.

New Thunder guard Alex Caruso was chosen by general managers as the most underrated offseason acquisition, receiving 23% of that vote share, while last year’s Most Valuable Player runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was picked as this year’s MVP favorite (40%), narrowly edging Mavericks star Luka Doncic (30%).

The Thunder also received a handful of votes from the league’s GMs as the team that will win the 2025 NBA Finals, but at 13%, they finished a distant second to the Celtics, who earned a whopping 83% of the vote. Besides those two clubs, only the Mavericks (3%) received a vote to become this season’s champions.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

New Sixers forward Paul George got 60% of the vote as the offseason acquisition who will have the biggest impact in 2024/25, followed by new Knicks Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns at 13% apiece. The Towns trade, meanwhile, was named the most surprising offseason move, eking out George leaving Los Angeles for Philadelphia (27% to 23%).
Unsurprisingly, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama was the overwhelming choice (77%) for which player the GMs would most want to start a franchise with. Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic each earned three votes in that category, while Doncic got one.
The league’s general managers are high on No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard — the Rockets‘ guard is their pick to win the Rookie of the Year award (50%) ahead of betting favorite Zach Edey of the Grizzlies (30%). Sheppard also comfortably received the largest vote share (43%) when the GMs were asked which rookie will be the best player in five years. Spurs guard Stephon Castle (17%) and Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (13%) were the runners-up in that category.
There was no consensus among the GMs on which 2024 draftee was the biggest steal. Wizards guard Carlton Carrington, Kings guard Devin Carter, Pacers wing Johnny Furphy, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon, and Thunder guard Nikola Topic each received three votes to lead the way.
Among newly hired head coaches, Mike Budenholzer of the Suns is the one GMs feel will have the biggest impact on his new club. Budenholzer received 40% of the vote, beating out Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons (20% apiece). Meanwhile, Spurs guard Chris Paul (30%) and Raptors guard Garrett Temple (20%) are the active players that GMs feel would make the best head coaches down the road.
Asked what they’d change about the NBA, 20% of GMs said the rules related to the tax aprons, trades, and roster construction are too restrictive and/or should be “indexed to (a) team’s market,” per Schuhmann, making it the top response.

International Notes: McGruder, Pokusevski, Abu Dhabi, International Stars, Korkmaz

October 5th, 2024 at 11:39am CST by Tristan Tucker

Former NBA guard Rodney McGruder has signed with Italian club Reyer Venezia, according to a release from the team (hat tip to Sportando).

McGruder appeared in 317 games (132 starts) from 2016-23, registering career averages of 5.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest. He played most extensively for the Heat during that time, making 112 of his starts in a Miami uniform. In his first season in the league, McGruder finished in eighth in Rookie of the Year voting after starting in 65 of the Heat’s games. He dealt with an injury the following year but opened the 2018/19 season as a full-time starter for Miami, averaging over 10 PPG and shooting just under 40.0% on three-pointers through the New Year.

However, McGruder fell out of the rotation that year and was eventually cut at the end of the season as it became clear the Heat wouldn’t make the postseason. He was waived in order to make room for back-end roster shuffling moves, including the conversion of Duncan Robinson from a two-way deal to a standard contract.

McGruder then played for the Clippers for one season before spending the subsequent three years of his career with the Pistons. Detroit appreciated him as a veteran leader, but opted not to re-sign him in 2023. He landed on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Warriors last offseason but didn’t ultimately make the team. McGruder then played for Olimpia Milano in Italy last season.

We have more international notes:

Former first-rounder Aleksej Pokusevski returned to Europe this offseason, signing with Partizan Belgrade after spending four seasons in the NBA with the Thunder and Hornets. According to Eurohoops, he’s open to an NBA return in the future but is thankful to be with a club that’s helping him develop further. “I think I’ve already gotten better, and that was one of the main reasons I came here,” Pokusevski said. “Overall, we’ve gotten better as a team, we’ve grown closer, and I think it’s going to be a good season for us.” He averaged 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in 168 career games (65 starts).
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Abu Dhabi’s chairman of Department of Culture and Tourism, has been a driving force of the NBA’s high-profile preseason games in United Arab Emirates, Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes. The league is deepening its relationship with the Middle East, which is continuing to be a more viable business partner for the NBA, Windhorst explains in a piece highlighting the growing relationship between the two sides.
Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have requested to NBA commissioner Adam Silver that the NBA host games in their respective home countries of Slovenia, Serbia and Greece, according to Sportando. “It’s a difficult task because hosting these games requires an incredible amount of resources and, frankly, it doesn’t make financial sense as a one-off event,” Silver said, per Sportando. “It works in places like Mexico City, Paris or here in Abu Dhabi because it is part of a long-term initiative. I really appreciate the enthusiasm of the fans in Serbia, Slovenia and Greece, as well as the efforts of players like Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Doncic to bring NBA games to their countries. But it is not easy to organize. We will continue to explore this possibility, even though the cost of organizing these events increases every year. I want to find a way to honor these great players”
After signing with AS Monaco this offseason, Furkan Korkmaz suffered a leg injury, according to BasketNews. He’s expected to miss multiple weeks as a result of the ailment.

Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Marshall, Thompson, Kleber, Edwards

October 2nd, 2024 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The left calf contusion that forced Mavericks star Luka Doncic to miss the second day of training camp is considered to be minor, writes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. The team will give Doncic a week to rest before reevaluating his condition, which means he’ll miss a “Fan Jam” open practice on Sunday as well as the preseason opener Monday against Memphis. Barring any unexpected complications, he should be back soon after that.

“He got hit in the calf,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Reported it tight yesterday so they went and got an MRI. We’ll reevaluate him in a week and see where he stands.”

Curtis recalls that Doncic suffered a strain in his left calf last October when the Mavs were in Spain. He was limited to five minutes in an exhibition matchup with Real Madrid, his former team, and sat out the last game of the preseason, but was ready for opening night.

Doncic’s teammates don’t seem concerned about having him miss a week or more of training camp.

“I don’t think it’s going to be hard because when he’s on the court, it’s easy to play with him,” P.J. Washington said. “For us, it’s just learning our spacing and learning where we need to be. He’s going to be Luka, so we’re not really worried about him. It’s just us getting in our right spots, making sure we know the plays and defenses and all of that type of stuff.”

Sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link) that there are no concerns about Doncic’s availability for the October 24 opener.

There’s more from Dallas:

The Mavericks signed Naji Marshall to be a defensive stopper after losing Derrick Jones in free agency, but Marshall may provide an offensive lift as well, Curtis states in a separate story. Klay Thompson was raving about Marshall’s shot-making after the first day of camp. “Naji played incredible,” Thompson said. “The guy was making floaters, pull-ups. I thought he played really well. I was impressed with Naji. He scored a couple of times on me. His jumper was fluid and his mid-range was nice.”
Thompson had to “get the nerves out” in his first day of training camp with a new team after spending 13 years with the Warriors, Curtis adds in another piece. “It feels like transferring schools,” he said, “but it’s a feeling you want to embrace because it’s so rare to get those butterflies as a player. It’s awesome.”
Maxi Kleber and Kessler Edwards were both held out of the start of camp, although Kidd didn’t provide a reason, according to Curtis. Kleber missed much of last season’s playoff run with a right shoulder AC joint separation.

Mavs’ Doncic Sidelined With Calf Contusion

October 2nd, 2024 at 1:37pm CST by Luke Adams

All-NBA guard Luka Doncic has been diagnosed with a left calf contusion, the Mavericks announced today (via Twitter). According to the team, Doncic will be reevaluated in approximately one week.

Doncic has a history of left calf issues, though in the past he has dealt with primarily non-contact injuries (strains), whereas his latest ailment is the result of the calf taking a hit during a weekend workout in Dallas, per NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).

While it doesn’t sound as if the injury a serious one, it’s worth noting that the one-week timeline provided by the Mavericks doesn’t necessarily mean that Doncic will be recovered by that point — just that he’ll be evaluated then.

Still, there’s no reason to believe at this point that the superstar’s availability for the Mavs’ regular season opener on October 24 vs. San Antonio is in jeopardy, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN confirms (via Twitter).

Doncic was an MVP finalist last season after leading the NBA with 33.9 points per game to go along with 9.2 rebounds and a career-high 9.8 assists per contest. He also set new career bests in three-point percentage (38.2%) and three-pointers per game (4.1), then led Dallas to the first NBA Finals appearance of his career.

Mavs Notes: Lively, Gafford, Thompson, Morris, Dinwiddie

October 1st, 2024 at 3:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Daniel Gafford was the Mavericks‘ starting center down the stretch and in the playoffs last season, but second-year big man Dereck Lively has a chance to overtake him for that role this fall. As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required) writes, head coach Jason Kidd has suggested Gafford and Lively could compete for the job, but said on Monday, “We’ll probably start D-Live with the first group and see how that goes.”

Lively’s teammates are excited to see the strides he makes in year two after his All-Rookie season in 2023/24.

“Just seeing him this offseason, the workouts and pickup games that we’ve played, he’s in really great shape and he’s gonna continue where he left off,” forward/center Maxi Kleber said. “It’s a privilege to play with him.”

While it’s possible Gafford will end up coming off the bench in his first full season in Dallas, both centers figure to play key roles for the Mavericks in 2024/25, so the veteran isn’t worried about whether or not he retains his starting job.

“When it comes to the anticipation of me and D-Live, I just feel like we can be two good old cowboys out here. Doing our thing, just having fun, catching lobs,” Gafford said. “We just come in every day and make each other better. … I get that somebody will have to start at the end of the day, but I don’t think we’re gonna make a big deal out of it.”

Here’s more on the Mavericks:

Star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving expressed excitement on Monday about the arrival of veteran sharpshooter Klay Thompson, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Doncic said the spacing that Thompson will help create is “going to be perfect for us,” while Irving added, “I feel like our dreams (of a championship) can be possible because he’s here now.” Informed of his new teammates’ comments, the former Warrior was “visibly appreciative,” Vardon writes. “It means a lot,” Thompson said. “It gives me confidence to keep working hard and be myself. … It really means a lot that they believe those things, because I do too and I am excited to get to work.”
Markieff Morris told reporters on Monday that he was trying to get twin brother Marcus Morris on the Mavericks’ roster this offseason, but it didn’t pan out, tweets Townsend. Marcus is once again a free agent and is looking for a new NBA home after being cut by New York, but if Dallas retains Markieff along with its 14 players on guaranteed contracts, there wouldn’t be room on the regular season roster for anyone else.
After choosing the Lakers over the Mavericks on the buyout market last season, Spencer Dinwiddie is happy to be back in Dallas this fall, writes Sasha Richie of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). Dinwiddie played some of the best basketball of his career during a previous stint in Dallas from 2022-23, averaging 17.1 points per game with a .404 3PT%. “Probably the most consistent basketball I’ve played has been in a Mavs jersey. The farthest I’ve gone in the playoffs — the Western Conference Finals — was in a Mavs jersey,” Dinwiddie said. “These guys are my friends. I’m still familiar with over half the team.”

Texas Notes: Klay, Doncic, Adams, Rockets

September 29th, 2024 at 4:14pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban recently spoke with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast (Twitter link) about a variety of topics, including Klay Thompson‘s to depart the Warriors for Dallas in free agency.

“Klay Thompson’s got a lot to prove,” Cuban said. “Klay was ready for a move. All the grief he got last year – particularly the way it ended. So the timing was right.”

Thompson agreed to a three-year, $50MM deal with Dallas as part of a six-team sign-and-trade.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

Five-time All-NBA Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has had a busier-than-normal offseason in 2024. Since guiding Dallas to its first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years, Doncic suited up for the Slovenian national team for the 2024 Olympic qualifiers, but was eliminated by Greece before making the cut. Doncic subsequently remained in his homeland to prep prior to the Mavericks’ own training camp, as Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal details at his Substack (subscription required).
Veteran Rockets center Steven Adams didn’t suit up for Houston last season while recovering from a right knee surgery he underwent while he was a member of the Grizzlies. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle explores how the 31-year-old will be deployed in Ime Udoka‘s system in 2024/25. As Feigen writes, Alperen Sengun enjoyed a breakout run last year and seems likely to preserve his starting spot, and he and Adams likely won’t play together often. Still, Adams – who is on an expiring $12.6MM salary – could earn increased playing time in certain matchups.
The Rockets finished with a solid 41-41 record, but in a talented Western Conference it wasn’t enough to even make the play-in tournament. Instead, Houston finished with the West’s No. 11 seed. As Feigen writes in another story for The Chronicle, team owner Tilman Fertitta hasn’t clearly expressed what would constitute a successful season for the club in 2024/25, declaring that he has “high expectations” but not explicitly stating that he expects a playoff berth.

Western Notes: Gordon, Rockets Roster, Divac, Doncic, Kennard

September 22nd, 2024 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Aaron Gordon becomes eligible for a four-year contract extension later this week and that will be one of the big storylines at the Nuggets’ training camp, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post writes. Gordon has a player option for the 2025/26 season but could replace that with the first year of a new deal as part of an extension agreement.

Jamal Murray‘s health and the way Russell Westbrook fits into the Nuggets’ rotation are among the other storylines to watch in Denver, according to Durando.

We have more from the Western Conference:

With the Rockets buying out and waiving forward AJ Griffin, they have an open spot on the official roster. How will it be filled? It could turn into a competition among players on two-ways and training camp deals, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Jeenathan Williams, Nate Hinton, N’Faly Dante, Jermaine Samuels and Jack McVeigh comprise that group. Houston could also opt to leave that spot open or sign a free agent.
Former Kings general manager Vlade Divac made one of the biggest draft blunders in recent years when he passed on Luka Doncic in favor of Marvin Bagley in 2018. Divac admits he made a mistake but explained that he already had a talented floor leader in De’Aaron Fox. “I could’ve taken Luka, but then I would’ve had to trade Fox,” he said in an interview with Index, a Croatian outlet (hat tip to Grant Afseth of the Dallas Sports Journal).
Grizzlies players have been competing in 5-on-5 scrimmages for over a month and Luke Kennard is impressed by the team’s competitiveness and attention to detail. “Something I haven’t really seen before,” Kennard told Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’re really pushing each other and competing really hard. I think that’s going to go a long way. We start that right now. We’re getting a few steps ahead until the season starts.”

Southwest Notes: Grizzlies, Zion, Luka, Washington, Rockets

September 20th, 2024 at 2:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Star point guard Ja Morant believes back-to-back college Player of the Year Zach Edey will have a strong debut season in the NBA, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Edey, who played four years at Purdue, was selected by the Grizzlies with the No. 9 overall pick in June’s draft.

“Definitely rookie of the year,” Morant said of his expectations for Edey. “I think easily, too.”

As Cole writes, Edey worked out with his new teammate earlier this summer and Morant came away impressed.

“For him to come in and say he wants to work out with me and then getting through the workout throughout the whole week, it was big-time for him,” Morant said. “It made me excited to have him on the team. His skill set is even much better.”

Here’s more from the Southwest:

Morant was suspended for the first 25 games of last season, played nine games, and then suffered a shoulder injury which required season-ending surgery in January (Memphis went 6-3 with him and 21-52 without him). However, he was cleared for contact work in early July and is fully healthy ahead of training camp, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Morant estimated he was at 75% strength in late July. Fellow Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart, who was limited to 20 games last season due to a litany of injuries, also makes ESPN’s list of key player returns to monitor for 2024/25, as does Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, who is fully recovered from the left hamstring strain he suffered late last season, per Andrew Lopez.
Jack Tien-Dana of RealGM weighs the pros and cons of Mavericks star Luka Doncic being physically stronger and heavier than he was when he first came in the league, writing that the 25-year-old and Dallas will need to “reconcile a series of contradictions” to get the best out of the All-NBA guard deep in the playoffs.
In a subscriber-only story for his Substack, Dallas Hoops Journal, Grant Afseth says Mavericks forward P.J. Washington could be the team’s “X-factor” heading into 2024/25. In order to optimally complement Doncic and Dallas’ other starters, Washington will need to become a more consistent outside shooter, Afseth observes. Washington entered last season with a career mark of 36.6% from three-point range, but shot just 32.0% from beyond the arc in ’23/24.
The Rockets brought back Jeff Green and Aaron Holiday because they showed they could be productive when called upon last season despite having inconsistent roles, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). The two veterans are also valued for their leadership, Feigen notes. The Rockets opted to guarantee Green’s $8MM salary for 2024/25, while Holiday re-signed with Houston on two-year, $9.6MM deal in free agency.

Jokic Tops Poll For Best Player; Gilgeous-Alexander Gets Nod For 2024/25 MVP

August 26th, 2024 at 10:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is the best NBA player right now but he’s not going to win another Most Valuable Player award next season.

That’s the majority opinion of the 18 NBA coaches, scouts and executives that ESPN’s Tim Bontemps polled. All but three of them believe Jokic is the league’s top player.

However, when the subject of next season’s MVP came up, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received seven votes. A handful chose Mavericks guard Luka Doncic with Jokic only receiving two votes.

The Thunder and Celtics are the solid favorites to emerge from their respective conferences and square off in the Finals. Boston received 13 votes to win the East, while Oklahoma City picked up 14 votes to emerge from the West. The Celtics received eight votes to repeat as champions, while the Thunder were chosen by seven members of the group.

There was no love for the top pick in the draft, Zaccharie Risacher.The Hawks big man didn’t receive a single vote for Rookie of the Year. The same goes for the topic of best player from the 2024/25 rookie class in five years. Grizzlies center Zach Edey garnered a panel-best eight votes for ROY, while Rockets guard Reed Sheppard was chosen by eight of them to be the best of the bunch in five years.

Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama got two-thirds of the vote for top overall player in five years.

And-Ones: Diamond RSNs, Dragic, Nowtizki, Oppenheimer

August 23rd, 2024 at 8:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Diamond Sports Group – the parent company of the Bally Sports regional networks – announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the NBA to continue local broadcasts for 13 teams for the 2024/25 season, according to Evan Drellich and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Diamond’s agreements, including a deal with the NHL to continue broadcasting nine teams’ games, will need to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge. That hearing is scheduled for September 3, per Drellich and Vorkunov. While the new deals will only cover the 2024/25 season for now, they could extend beyond that if Diamond gets out of bankruptcy.

Diamond won’t be moving forward on deals with the Pelicans or the Mavericks, according to Friday’s announcement. The Pelicans news was reported earlier this month, with the team making plans to broadcasting its games for free over the air through Gray TV.

The Mavericks’ broadcast plans for the coming season remain unclear. However, The Athletic characterized the split with Dallas as mutual, and an NBA spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News that the Mavs “declined to continue distributing their games” through Diamond/Bally Sports, so it sounds like the club has a new plan in the works.

The 13 teams whose games will continue to air on Diamond’s regional sports networks in 2024/25 are the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Magic, and Spurs.

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

Saturday’s farewell game in honor of Goran Dragic‘s retirement – dubbed “The Night of the Dragon,” will stream on the NBA App at 2:00 pm Eastern time, the league announced today (Twitter link). Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic will team up as part of “Team Luka,” while Dragic’s roster features former MVP Steve Nash. Eurohoops published the full rosters on Twitter.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Dragic’s farewell game, Dirk Nowitzki suggested that he would like to continue working in basketball in some capacity, but he doesn’t plan on becoming a full-time coach for any team. “I don’t think I see coaching in my future,” Nowitzki said, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “Things could change very quickly, but I don’t see myself as a team coach. I see more myself as an individual coach.”
Former Bucks assistant Josh Oppenheimer has accepted a job on Porter Moser‘s coaching staff at Oklahoma, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Milwaukee parted ways with Oppenheimer – who had a “close working relationship” with Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to Wojnarowski – back in May as Doc Rivers made changes to his staff ahead of his first full season with the Bucks.