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Atlantic Notes: J. Harris, Knicks Trade Targets, Raptors, T. Harris

January 12th, 2022 at 10:13pm CST by Rory Maher

Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris still isn’t practicing yet after undergoing ankle surgery at the end of November, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post relays. There was a report last week indicating Harris was close to returning to practice and could return to games within a couple weeks, but that seems less likely based on Lewis’ update. Coach Steve Nash says Harris isn’t cleared for all activities.

“Yeah so I think he’s … he’s not full [ramp-up mode],” Nash said. “He’s not fully cleared to do everything yet. He’s got to get back to that, and he’s got to get his high-intensity stuff in. So, he’s not there yet.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

  • The Knicks are among the teams interested in Hawks wing Cam Reddish, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Begley also points to Myles Turner and Jalen Brunson as players the Knicks are known to be interested in.
  • Eric Koreen of The Athletic believes the Raptors should be looking at acquiring a wing shooter prior to the trade deadline in order to shore up a weak spot in the roster.
  • Chris Boucher has improved over the course of the season and his strong play has helped the Raptors go 6-1 over their past seven games. Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes that Boucher is learning his role is to provide energy and effort no matter how many minutes he receives. “He’s accepted whatever is there for playing time, whatever the lineup is, he’s accepted it with energy,” coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s played hard. There haven’t been a ton of offensive attempts, and that doesn’t seem to bother him either. He just keeps going and playing. He’s been really impactful.” Boucher is an unrestricted free agent this summer.
  • Sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter) that Sixers forward Tobias Harris has been playing through right shoulder bursitis and bicep tendinitis. Harris said he’s been dealing with shoulder soreness since a game against Utah, and that it’s an “irritating” type of pain rather than something severe, but it has been aggravated multiple times since original incident, tweets Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice.
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Trade Rumors: Simmons, T. Harris, Magic, Wolves, Cavs

January 11th, 2022 at 8:50am CST by Luke Adams

After reporting last week that the Sixers‘ preferred outcome would be to have Ben Simmons play for the team this season and then revisit his trade market in the offseason, Marc Stein said in his latest Substack article that teams around the NBA are skeptical about that stance. As Stein notes, it could be a negotiating ploy to try to get potential trade partners to improve their offers, since the odds of Simmons acquiescing to Philadelphia’s wishes and reporting to the team this season still appear extremely slim.

Stein also reported last week that the Hawks are a team to watch in the Simmons sweepstakes, a subject that ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Marc J. Spears discussed in the latest episode of Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast.

As RealGM relays, Windhorst and Spears have both heard the Sixers are exploring the concept of attaching Tobias Harris to Simmons in any deal. Theoretically, those two players could produce a greater trade return than Simmons on his own, but Harris’ shooting numbers are down this year and his contract isn’t exactly team-friendly — he and Simmons are earning a combined $69MM this season, which would create salary-matching complications.

According to Spears, the Hawks were more interested in discussing just Simmons than trying to construct a deal that also included Harris.

Here are a few more trade rumors and notes from across the league:

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Charania’s Latest: Collins, Simmons, Celtics, Pacers, Wall, Cavs

January 10th, 2022 at 10:19am CST by Luke Adams

Hawks big man John Collins has grown increasingly frustrated with his role in Atlanta, multiple sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. Although Collins signed a five-year, $125MM contract with the team in the offseason, his usage rate and scoring average (17.5 PPG) are the lowest they’ve been since he was a rookie in 2017/18.

According to Charania, Collins has challenged his Hawks teammates in the locker room multiple times this season, encouraging them to play team basketball. He has “felt his voice go unheard,” Charania adds.

Although Charania doesn’t explicitly state that Collins is a candidate to be traded before this year’s deadline, he notes that the Hawks are a team to watch in the Ben Simmons sweepstakes, echoing a Friday report from Marc Stein. If Atlanta is willing to make Collins available, it would certainly increase the number of trade possibilities open to the team.

Here’s more from Charania:

  • Besides Atlanta, the Kings, Trail Blazers, Timberwolves, and Pacers are among the clubs still in the mix for Simmons, according to Charania, who says the Sixers don’t appear any closer to moving the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up than they were prior to the season. Philadelphia hasn’t been fining Simmons, since he has been participating in training sessions and team meetings and continues to meet with mental health specialists, per Charania.
  • The Celtics have continued to convey to rival teams that they want to build around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown rather than trading one of them, sources tell Charania.
  • The Pacers are having trade discussions about Myles Turner and Caris LeVert, with Turner drawing interest from the Mavericks, Knicks, Lakers, and Hornets, while the Cavaliers remain interested in LeVert, according to Charania. Rival executives tell The Athletic that Indiana values Domantas Sabonis very highly and seems less likely to move him.
  • Teams would be interested in Rockets guard John Wall if he reaches the open market, but a trade remains very unlikely and Houston still doesn’t appear to have interest in a buyout, Charania writes.
  • As the Cavaliers consider possible backcourt upgrades, building a deal around Ricky Rubio‘s expiring contract and draft assets is a possibility, says Charania.
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Stein’s Latest: Simmons, Hawks, Ingles, Cavs, Blazers

January 7th, 2022 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Although it’s possible the Sixers will trade Ben Simmons before the February 10 deadline, their preferred scenario would be to convince him to rejoin the team and play as much of the rest of the season as possible, a source familiar with Philadelphia’s thinking tells veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein.

Trading Simmons in the next month for the best available package would improve the Sixers’ chances of competing in the short term, but the team fears that taking that route may mean squandering an opportunity to land a true complementary star for Joel Embiid, says Stein. Convincing Simmons to play the rest of this season would improve the club’s short-term outlook while also leaving the door open for Philadelphia to make an offseason play for a star, should someone like Damian Lillard or Bradley Beal become available.

One league source who spoke to Stein suggested keeping an eye on the Hawks as a potential suitor for Simmons. Atlanta badly needs to upgrade its defense and president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said this week that he plans to be active at the trade deadline in an effort to improve his struggling squad (Twitter link via Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

The Hawks don’t have the sort of trade candidate who would appeal to the 76ers as the centerpiece of a Simmons trade, but have several young players and draft picks they could put on the table, as Stein observes.

Here’s more from Stein:

  • The Jazz considered the idea of trading Joe Ingles during the offseason, but decided against it due to concerns about how it would affect the team’s culture, says Stein. However, Danny Ainge has been hired by Utah since then and may be less reluctant to move Ingles if his expiring contract is necessary to land a defensive-minded wing.
  • The Cavaliers continue to seek more play-making after acquiring Rajon Rondo from the Lakers, per Stein. Cleveland has lost two key guards – Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio – to season-ending injuries.
  • According to Stein, teams are keeping a close eye on how the Trail Blazers handle Damian Lillard‘s abdominal injury, since an extended absence for the star point guard would likely impact Portland’s approach at the trade deadline.
  • There has been an “undeniable uptick” in trade discussions around the NBA since the holidays, according to Stein, who identifies Myles Turner, Jerami Grant, Dennis Schröder, Eric Gordon, Terrence Ross, Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III, Robert Covington, and Jusuf Nurkic as some of the players considered league-wide to be this year’s most likely trade candidates.
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Eastern Notes: Raptors, Wright, LeVert, Turner, Bridges

December 27th, 2021 at 10:15am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said on Sunday that two of the replacement players the team had hoped to sign in advance of its game vs. Chicago last Wednesday didn’t pass the COVID-19 screening process, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweets. The game was ultimately postponed because Toronto didn’t have enough players available.

The Raptors were said to have deals in place with Brandon Goodwin and Nik Stauskas, but those agreements were reported a week ago and were never finalized, so presumably those are the two players Nurse was referring to.

It’s possible Toronto will circle back to Goodwin and/or Stauskas at some point. However, if they contracted COVID-19, they won’t be short-term options for the Raptors, so we’re no longer counting on those deals to be completed and have removed them from our roster counts page.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Hawks guard Delon Wright has entered the health and safety protocols, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Atlanta’s roster is in rough shape, with 11 players now in the protocols, but – for now at least – the team still has enough bodies available Monday’s game vs. Chicago, including five replacement players (a sixth, Wesley Iwundu, is in the protocols).
  • Caris LeVert has been playing his best basketball this month since joining the Pacers, averaging 22.1 PPG and 5.3 APG with a .392 3PT% in his last 10 games. Myles Turner, meanwhile, had one of his best games of the season last Thursday, putting up 32 points on 14-of-18 shooting. Besides helping out Indiana with their production, LeVert and Turner – both considered trade candidates – are displaying their value for potential suitors, writes Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star (subscribers only).
  • Philadelphia native and former Villanova star Mikal Bridges, who was traded from the Sixers to the Suns on draft night in 2018, doesn’t think often about what could have been if he had remained with his hometown team, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Being (in Phoenix) and knowing the city, the people, and what we’ve been doing these past years, I don’t even think twice about ever being home,” Bridges said. “I’m in a great situation now, and I love it.”
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Windhorst’s Latest: Pacers, LeVert, Blazers, Simmons, Fox

December 17th, 2021 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Based on the whispers he has heard around the league, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst views Caris LeVert and Myles Turner as more likely trade candidates for the Pacers than Domantas Sabonis, he said on the latest episode of his Hoop Collective podcast. Although Sabonis has frequently been mentioned alongside LeVert and Turner in reports on Indiana’s potential trade chips, Windhorst hasn’t heard much chatter about the All-Star center.

During Friday’s episode of the Hoop Collective podcast, Windhorst spoke at length to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon about the report on the Mavericks that MacMahon published earlier this week, which included details on how the relationship between Luka Doncic and Rick Carlisle became frayed. Interestingly, Windhorst suggested that LeVert could perhaps relate to Doncic, stating that the Pacers swingman and Carlisle have not had the “greatest partnership” so far this season.

Here are a few more interesting tidbits shared by Windhorst during his podcast:

  • Windhorst heard from one executive who said that the Trail Blazers, since their front office shakeup, have created the impression they’re willing to listen to inquiries on anyone except Damian Lillard.
  • According to Windhorst, there are multiple execs around the NBA who believe that when the Sixers eventually trade Ben Simmons, at least one of the Kings, Timberwolves, and/or Rockets will be involved, either as Simmons’ destination or as a third team in the deal. As Windhorst explains, those three teams’ front offices are run by executives who previously worked with Daryl Morey.
  • Although reports earlier this year suggested that De’Aaron Fox was expected to be off-limits in any Kings trade talks, MacMahon has gotten the sense that the point guard is no longer considered untouchable. According to Windhorst, Fox came to camp this fall 15 pounds heavier than he was when the season ended last spring.
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Pacers Rumors: Simmons, Turner, Sabonis, Duarte, Jackson

December 14th, 2021 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers are considered the NBA team most likely to make a significant move on the trade market, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. However, Fischer says there’s a leaguewide skepticism that Indiana will embark on a full-fledged rebuild after hiring head coach Rick Carlisle to a four-year contract just months ago.

“Carlisle is not going to allow that to happen,” one assistant general manager told Bleacher Report. “They’re going to ‘middle build.’ They’re going to go with a sense of competing.”

As Fischer observes, a deal for 25-year-old star Ben Simmons would be the sort of big move the Pacers could make if they want to look toward the future while remaining competitive in the present. But none of Indiana’s top trade chips is the kind of star the Sixers would covet as the centerpiece as a Simmons deal. If the Pacers make a serious push for Simmons, they may have to loop in a third team, Fischer writes.

Here’s more on the Pacers from Fischer:

  • As Shams Charania reported on Monday, the expectation among rival executives is that the Pacers will move one of their standout big men – Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis – but not both. Fischer says Indiana may ultimately make its decision based on which player commands a higher return, which suggests the team doesn’t strongly prefer one over the other.
  • Although Turner has been involved in trade rumors for years, the Pacers have always highly valued him, according to Fischer, who hears from sources that the club turned down a Pelicans offer that included the No. 4 pick in the 2019 draft. That pick was eventually sent to the Hawks, who drafted De’Andre Hunter.
  • Sabonis’ value around the NBA is mixed, but Fischer names the Trail Blazers as one team that may be interested. Fischer also mentions the Kings, pointing out that Carlisle thinks highly of Harrison Barnes, but a Monday report indicated Sacramento hasn’t pursued Sabonis or Turner at all this season.
  • Malcolm Brogdon can’t be traded this season after recently signing an extension. But besides Brogdon, rookies Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson are viewed by rival executives as the only Pacers players who are probably off-limits in trade talks. “Sabonis, Turner, (T.J.) Warren, (and Caris) LeVert all can be had at the right price,” another assistant GM told Fischer.
  • In other Pacers news, the team has assigned center Goga Bitadze to the G League for the first time this season, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. As Agness points out, Bitadze has been out of Indiana’s rotation for weeks and could use some reps with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
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Kings Shopping Hield, Bagley But Not Pursuing Sabonis, Turner

December 13th, 2021 at 5:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings are still shopping a package including Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III in hopes of getting a quality player but are not actively pursuing Pacers’ big men Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee reports.

The Kings have not engaged the Pacers in talks for Sabonis or Turner since last week, when a report surfaced that Indiana was open to dealing its top big men, as well as guard Caris LeVert. Sacramento had displayed interest in Sabonis in the past.

It’s somewhat curious that Sacramento wouldn’t target those big men for its guard-heavy roster. Sabonis is a two-time All-Star and the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, though, as Anderson notes, he’s a 31% 3-point shooter and is not considered a strong defender. Turner is the league’s top shot-blocker and would help space the floor with his 3-point shooting.

Kings GM Monte McNair is looking to make a big move and the Sixers’ Ben Simmons could still be a target. The Kings were one of several teams named as having continued interest in the disgruntled Philadelphia star, who has not played this season.

Hield is averaging 15.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 2.1 APG. Bagley, who will be a free agent (restricted or unrestricted) next summer, was benched earlier in the season but was moved into the rotation last month. The No. 2 pick of the 2018 draft is averaging 7.8 PPG and 6.3 RPG.

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Charania’s Latest: Ariza, Nunn, Sabonis, Turner, Hawks

December 13th, 2021 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers are hopeful that forward Trevor Ariza will be able to make his season debut within the next week or two, says Shams Charania of The Athletic. Ariza has been sidelined for the entire fall as he recovers from ankle surgery, but continues to ramp up his activity. He was expected to participate on Monday in a practice with some members of the South Bay Lakers, as well as Rajon Rondo and Kent Bazemore, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Like Ariza, Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn hasn’t played at all for the team this season due to a bone bruise in his right knee. Sources tell Charania that Los Angeles is optimistic about Nunn returning to the court and making his debut for the club at some point in January.

Here’s more from Charania:

  • The Suns and Kings have shown interest in Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis in recent years, per Charania. It’s unclear if either Pacific team will make a run at Sabonis now that he’s rumored to be available, but they could be worth watching. Charania adds that “a slew” of teams are expected to pursue Myles Turner, and the expectation is that Indiana would only move one of its two big men, not both.
  • Hawks president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk and other members of Atlanta’s front office will likely sign contract extensions by the 2022 offseason, Charania reports. There have been rumors that other teams may try to lure assistant general manager Landry Fields away from the Hawks, but Fields is trending toward being promoted to GM in Atlanta under Schlenk, according to Charania.
  • Charania’s latest Inside Pass column for The Athletic included several other notable tidbits, which we rounded up in a series of stories earlier today.
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Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Spurs, Simmons, Turner, Mavericks

December 11th, 2021 at 3:58pm CST by JD Shaw

Even though the Pelicans have started the season with a disappointing 8-20 record, head coach Willie Green has noticed plenty of improvement since opening night, Christian Clark of Nola.com writes.

New Orleans is 5-5 in its last 10 games, which includes a 109-93 home victory over Detroit on Friday. The team has been playing without star forward Zion Williamson due to his foot rehab.

“One of the things that I look at is our assists,” Green said. “How much we’re moving the ball. How much we’re sharing the ball. In our wins, we do a good job of just moving the ball … Some of our losses, we get a little stagnant. But in some of our losses, it comes down to making shots. I do see a lot of improvement, which is the key.”

There’s more out of the Southwest Division today:

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