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Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic Named Players Of The Week

March 14th, 2022 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets forward Kevin Durant and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

In his first full week back after returning from a knee injury earlier this month, Durant led the Nets to wins over Charlotte, Philadelphia, and New York during the week of March 7-13, averaging 30.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 7.7 APG on .522/.364/.875 shooting in those three games (38.2 MPG). It’s the second time this season that he has earned Player of the Week honors.

It’s Doncic’s second Player of the Week award this season too — he also won it exactly one month ago. This past week, he led the Mavericks to a 3-1 record, averaging 30.5 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 6.3 APG, and 1.8 SPG on .494/.395/.767 shooting in 36.5 minutes per contest.

Durant beat out fellow nominees Giannis Antetokounmpo, Darius Garland, Pascal Siakam, and Wendell Carter Jr. in the East. The other Western Conference nominees were Deandre Ayton, Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, and Jordan Poole (Twitter link).

Southwest Notes: Doncic, Powell, Jackson Jr., Wright

March 13th, 2022 at 9:09pm CST by JD Shaw

Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic picked up his 14th technical foul of the season on Wednesday against the Knicks, a decision that won’t be overturned, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.

The league office previously rescinded Doncic’s technical foul against the Warriors on Feb. 27, but his most recent one will stand. Doncic is now officially two technical fouls away from a one-game suspension, according to league rules. That count will reset once the postseason begins.

The Mavericks (41-26) rank fifth in the Western Conference standings and have 15 games left on the season. The team lost to New York 107-77 at home, shooting a dismal 6-of-44 from behind-the-arc (14%), but it bounced back to defeat Houston 113-100 on Friday and Boston 95-92 on Sunday.

Here are some other notes from the Southwest:

The Mavericks are enamored with Dwight Powell‘s physical approach to the game, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News notes. Powell doesn’t score many points per game (8.0), but his toughness and durability on both ends have been vital. He’s started in 56 of his 67 games this season.
Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commerical Appeal explores why the Grizzlies’ championship odds may be determined by their second-best player. Starting point guard Ja Morant has put forth an MVP-caliber season, but Memphis will need production from Jaren Jackson Jr. to make a deep playoff run. Jackson has emerged as a versatile defender for the Grizzlies, averaging 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and a career-high 2.2 blocks per game.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic hosts a Q&A with Spurs general manager Brian Wright, who’s helping the team usher into a new era of basketball. Wright was named general manager at 36 years old in 2019. He discussed his tenure with the team, Gregg Popovich and more in the brief interview.

And-Ones: Young Point Guards, Henson, Holmgren, Draft

March 9th, 2022 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

Rising Grizzlies star Ja Morant has enjoyed a breakout year in Memphis, but 11 of 15 scouts and executives polled by Tim Bontemps of ESPN would still take Mavericks star Luka Doncic over Morant if they were picking a young point guard to build around.

Bontemps asked those 15 scouts and execs to rank Doncic, Morant, Trae Young, LaMelo Ball, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Darius Garland, and got some interesting responses. Doncic was the overwhelming top pick, with Morant (who had the other four first-place votes) coming in second, followed by Young in third. Ball and Gilgeous-Alexander were neck and neck for the fourth spot, with Garland bringing up the rear.

The question engendered plenty of debate, according to Bontemps, who notes that the respondents’ evaluations of certain prospects varied significantly. For instance, one Eastern Conference executive believes that Gilgeous-Alexander could be “potentially be doing a lot of the same things” as Morant if their situations were flipped, while an East scout said SGA is “clearly last” of the six in his view, since the others are better at passing and making plays for teammates.

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

Former NBA lottery pick John Henson has signed with Mets de Guaynabo for the upcoming season in Puerto Rico, tweets agent Christian Santaella. Henson, who has appeared in 445 regular season NBA games, signed a 10-day contract with the Knicks last April, but hasn’t played in an NBA game since the 2019/20 season.
In an Insider-only story for ESPN, Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz explore why Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren is such a polarizing player for NBA scouts. As ESPN’s duo explains, Holmgren is a one-of-a-kind prospect who can’t be easily compared to current or former NBA players, making it more difficult to evaluate both his potential upside and his potential risk.
Givony and Schmitz have also updated their top-100 prospect list for the 2022 NBA draft and discussed some of the players who have recently risen up that big board.
Jeremy Woo of SI.com takes an in-depth look at Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, identical twins who are candidates to be drafted in the lottery in 2023. The Thompson twins, who are currently playing for Overtime Elite, both went in the top 10 of ESPN’s most recent 2023 mock draft.

Southwest Notes: Mavericks, Toliver, Kleiman, Rockets

March 8th, 2022 at 10:04am CST by Luke Adams

With several key Mavericks players exceeding their season-long minutes per game averages since the All-Star break, head coach Jason Kidd wants to make a concerted effort to ease those players’ workloads going forward, per Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com.

“We’d like to get more guys involved here, Sterling (Brown) and Trey (Burke),” Kidd said. “We’ve been running the minutes for those eight to nine guys that we have been playing. So we want to get everybody involved and get some of the minutes down for Luka (Doncic) and Reggie (Bullock). We’re playing Reggie over 40 minutes a night. So those are the things I’m looking at.”

As Sefko outlines, Doncic (37.5 MPG) and Bullock (37.0 MPG) have been the Mavericks’ most-used players since the All-Star break, but the team is also leaning heavily on Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith. Expanding the rotation should help the club avoid overusing those players without having to rest them for full games.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Mavericks assistant – and WNBA star – Kristi Toliver spoke to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic about how she ended up on Dallas’ coaching staff, what it’s like to remain active as a WNBA player while holding an NBA job, and her future coaching aspirations.
In a separate story for The Athletic, Vorkunov examines Zach Kleiman‘s rapid ascension through the Grizzlies‘ front office and the admirable job he has done since becoming Memphis’ top basketball decision-maker. Kleiman has helped turn the team into a legit contender since being named executive VP of basketball operations at age 30 in 2019. “I wouldn’t be in this position without (Grizzlies owner) Robert Pera’s vision and emphasis on organizational culture,” Kleiman said. “He entrusted me to lead basketball operations despite me being a relative unknown in NBA circles, and has challenged us to be intentional about establishing and sticking to our core tenets.”
The Rockets are in position to finish with the NBA’s worst record for a second consecutive year, but all is going according to plan, according to Rahat Huq of The Houston Chronicle, who argues that team owner Tilman Fertitta deserves credit for signing off on a full-fledged rebuild rather than trying to stay competitive as a borderline playoff contender following last year’s James Harden trade.

DeMar DeRozan, Luka Doncic Named Players Of The Month For February

March 3rd, 2022 at 2:07pm CST by Rory Maher

Bulls guard/forward DeMar DeRozan and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic have been named the Players of the Month for the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively, per a league announcement (Twitter link).

DeRozan led the Bulls to an 8-5 record in February, averaging 34.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists on .553/.400/.877 shooting in 13 games (38.5 minutes per contest). As K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes, DeRozan became the first player in NBA history to post eight straight games of 35-or-more points while shooting 50% or better in each, eclipsing a 60-year-old mark held by Wilt Chamberlain.

DeRozan’s in the midst of the best season of his career at age 32, putting up a career-high 28.2 PPG while leading the Bulls to a 39-23 record despite injuries to several key players. They currently hold the No. 2 seed in the East.

Doncic, meanwhile, led Dallas to a 7-3 record in February, averaging a ridiculous 34.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists on .457/.417/.750 shooting in 10 games (37.1 minutes). He put up 45-plus points in three of the Mavericks’ final four games leading up to the All-Star break, with a career-high 51 points against the Clippers, followed by another 45 points against the Clips, and 49 against the Pelicans.

For the season, Doncic is averaging 27.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.8 assists on .447/.331/.738 shooting. The Mavs are currently the No. 5 seed in the West with a 37-25 record.

The other finalists in the East were Heat center Bam Adebayo, Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, Magic forward/center Wendell Carter Jr., Sixers center Joel Embiid and Raptors forward Pascal Siakam. For the West, the other nominees were Suns guard Devin Booker, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, the NBA announced (via Twitter).

Southwest Notes: Hardaway, Doncic, Schröder, Pelicans

March 2nd, 2022 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

Ruled out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on his left foot a little over a month ago, Mavericks wing Tim Hardaway Jr. still doesn’t have a timeline for a return to the court, writes Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. Hardaway, who is hoping to shed his walking boot soon in order to move the next stage of his rehab process, spoke to Caplan about his recovery.

“This injury takes a lot of time,” Hardaway said. “I’ve looked up a lot of information on the injury. I mean, everybody has different times. Everybody’s body is different. I’m going to make sure I’m 100% healthy. That’s the most important part. Not 85%, not 90%, not 95% because it’s something you don’t want to reaggravate and be out for a longer period of time, and with the bone and where it’s at, a lot of blood doesn’t go into that area of the foot like the rest of the body.”

While it’s possible we won’t see Hardaway back on the court for the Mavericks until 2022/23, he hasn’t given up on potentially making it back this spring.

“I’ll say this: The further we go [in the playoffs], the better chance I have,” Hardaway told Caplan. “That’s the answer I’ll give.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Mavericks star Luka Doncic spoke to ESPN’s Malika Andrews (video link) about a handful of topics, including his surprise at Kristaps Porzingis being traded, his team’s ability to contend for a title, and his determination not to rack up enough technical fouls to earn a one-game suspension.
Having kept him on their roster through March 1, the Rockets appear intent on retaining point guard Dennis Schröder at least through the rest of the season. And according to Marc Stein, the two sides remain open to the idea of extending the relationship beyond 2021/22. Even if Schröder doesn’t re-sign with Houston, he could work with the team on sign-and-trade scenarios this summer, says Stein.
After acquiring CJ McCollum last month, the Pelicans have put together a supporting cast capable of complementing and enhancing Zion Williamson‘s unique skill set, opines Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Now, the team just needs its star forward to get healthy to see what all the pieces look like together.

Southwest Notes: McCollum, Ingram, Zion, Schröder, Doncic

February 28th, 2022 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans may be missing former No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson, but CJ McCollum and star forward Brandon Ingram have been developing an impressive rapport in the weeks since McCollum arrived from Portland, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com.

“Those two guys set the tone for us,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said after Sunday’s blowout win over the Lakers. “When they are playing like that and playing off of each other and making the simple plays, it’s beautiful basketball to watch.”

McCollum, who went out to dinner with Ingram and Green last week, tells Mark Medina of NBA.com that he advised Ingram “to be the most aggressive version of himself and not worry about me.”

“He’s been great. We can all see what he’s doing on the floor and his ability to score and to free up other guys,” Green said of the newly-acquired guard. “Now teams can’t load up as much on Brandon and can’t double Jonas [Valanciunas] as much when he’s on the floor.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

After defending Williamson last week to reporters, McCollum stressed in his conversation with Medina that he just wants to support his new Pelicans teammate while he recovers from his foot surgery and wasn’t bothered by the fact that it took them a couple weeks to touch base. “I just want to be there for him and be someone to lean on who has gone through injuries and doubt and anxiety and all of the things that are associated with being removed from the team due to injury,” McCollum said. “He’s a really young, talented player that has got a lot on his plate right now. I think it’s important for him to focus on the process and on the rehab. The rest of the things will handle itself. But when he gets back, we’ll hit the ground running. That’s a guy that changes any franchise and their trajectory.”
Rockets guard Dennis Schröder, who had to settle for a one-year, $5.9MM contract in free agency last summer, has hired new representation, signing with Priority Sports, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Schröder is averaging a career-high 7.8 assists per game in his first five appearances with Houston, but has shot the ball erratically, making just 34.5% of his attempts from the floor, including 21.7% of his three-pointers.
After picking up his 13th technical foul of the season on Sunday, Mavericks star Luka Doncic is now tied for the league lead and is just three technicals shy of earning a one-game suspension, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. As MacMahon notes, with Dallas in the midst of a playoff race, Doncic has vowed that won’t happen.

Southwest Notes: McCollum, Zion, Doncic, Brunson, Murray

February 22nd, 2022 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

After revealing in a TNT interview on Saturday that he hadn’t been in contact at all with Zion Williamson since being traded to New Orleans, Pelicans guard CJ McCollum tells Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link) that the star forward has since reached out to him and the two have spoken.

Williamson has been away from the Pelicans as he rehabs a foot injury that has sidelined him for the entire season, but it was still surprising that he and McCollum hadn’t had any communication nearly two weeks after New Orleans agreed to trade for the standout guard.

Current ESPN analyst and former Pelicans guard J.J. Redick criticized Williamson today for what he called a “complete lack of investment” in the team, describing him as a “detached teammate.” However, while the incident may fuel more speculation about Zion’s commitment to the Pels, there has been no indication that people within the organization viewed it as a serious problem.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Appearing on 1310 The Ticket in Dallas on Tuesday, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he thinks Luka Doncic was “humbled a little bit” by criticism at the start of this season about his conditioning, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN relays. “I think he didn’t like being called out for his weight and other things, and it finally clicked that there’s a level of discipline that’s required,” Cuban said, adding that Doncic has been “unstoppable” since getting in better shape. “All athletes at his level go through it at some level, where things are just easy and you’re always used to being the best and you’re always used to getting all the accolades. Then when something doesn’t go according to expected, it makes you reconsider.”
Keith Smith of Spotrac examines what an offseason contract for Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson might look like, noting that Brunson isn’t a legitimate candidate for a maximum-salary contract, but should get more than what Dallas can currently offer in an extension ($55.6MM over four years).
Having made his first All-Star team this season, Spurs guard Dejounte Murray is already eager to prove he can do it again, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “I’m not a one-hit wonder. I got to be back here,” Murray said on Sunday. “… There ain’t no way I can miss out on these types of events. It was a hell of a weekend. I have to keep working.”

Texas Notes: Green, Rockets, Schröder, Luka, Dragic

February 20th, 2022 at 1:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After a relatively lackluster showing in a relatively lackluster AT&T Slam Dunk Contest this weekend, Rockets rookie shooting guard Jalen Green is hoping to get another crack at the competition in the years to come, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“I for sure need a run-back,” Green said. “I messed up.”

In one of the stranger moments of the evening, Green handed Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas, a judge for the contest, a necklace holding a cell phone displaying an NFT, then went on to botch his first eight dunk attempts before finally converting his ninth look, a slick windmill whose impact had been diluted, given that he failed to convert it earlier. Green was quickly eliminated.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

The rebuilding Rockets boast several solid prospects, to the point that the NBA has taken notice, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Rookies Green, Alperen Sengun and Jae’Sean Tate all were honored with selections to the Rising Stars Game on Friday at All-Star Weekend, and Green made an aforementioned (ill-fated) appearance in the Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday. “We are having a difficult season,” Sengun said. “We lost a bunch of games. I’ve learned how to stay focused during those lost games. I got a lot of experience.” At 15-43, the Rockets aren’t on track to qualify for the playoffs this season.
New Rockets reserve point guard Dennis Schröder is bringing his veteran experience and playoff pedigree to bear for a developing young Houston club, opines Kelly Iko of The Athletic. With John Wall inactive, Schröder has helped the Rockets with his speed and his defensive assertiveness, according to Houston head coach Stephen Silas. “(Schröder) adds to our depth, our guard rotation,” the head coach said. “There was actually a point [during the Rockets’ 124-121 loss to the Suns on Thursday that] I tried to take him out of the game, and he was like, ‘Just leave me in, let me see if we can get back into it.’ I like that competitiveness about him.”
Mavericks All-Star point guard Luka Doncic confirmed that he would enjoy playing with his countryman Goran Dragic, currently a free agent garnering plenty of buzz on the buyout market, but said he’s not pressing the Dallas front office to make a deal with the veteran point guard, writes Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.

Luka Doncic, DeMar DeRozan Named Players Of The Week

February 14th, 2022 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Surprisingly, it’s the first time this season that Doncic has been named a Player of the Week. He left no doubt that he deserved the honor, averaging an eye-popping 43.0 PPG in three games between February 7-13. He put up a shooting line of .532/.500/.707 in those three contests, chipping in 10.3 RPG and 8.3 APG.

Doncic scored an incredible 96 points in two games vs. the Clippers, though Dallas couldn’t pull out a win on Saturday vs. Los Angeles despite his 45 points and 15 rebounds. The Mavericks had a 2-1 week.

DeRozan, meanwhile, became the first player in either conference to win a Player of the Week award for a third time in 2021/22. He led the Bulls to a 3-1 week, averaging 36.8 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 4.8 APG on .598/.429/.829 shooting in 37.8 MPG. Chicago’s only loss of the week was a nail-biter against Phoenix last Monday.

Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Donovan Mitchell, Ja Morant, Dejounte Murray, and Anfernee Simons were the other Western Conference nominees for this week’s award. In the East, DeRozan beat out fellow nominees Bam Adebayo, Jarrett Allen, Joel Embiid, LaMelo Ball, Pascal Siakam, and Jayson Tatum (Twitter link).