Nikola Jokic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Jokic, Wallace, Conley, Clingan

January 25th, 2025 at 9:29am CST by Tristan Tucker

Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic helped bolster his MVP case with a monster performance on Thursday against the Kings, recording 35 points along with season highs of 22 rebounds and 17 assists. His 22 rebounds matched a career high while his 17 assists were one shy of tying his best-ever mark. Everything seemed to be going right for the three-time MVP in Thursday’s game, which included him making a full-court heave, writes The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando.

“I think this is the best basketball of my life, that I have ever played. I’m feeling good out there,” Jokic said. “I’m in shape. The ball is going in. I’m feeling good. I think I can influence the game on different levels.”

The Nuggets have won 10 of their last 11 games and Jokic has put up a triple-double in each of his last five appearances. He’s now averaging a triple-double on the season, putting up 30.2 points, 13.4 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game on a .564/.479/.814 shooting line.

“If no one’s ever done it … I’m just gonna say ‘historical,’” coach Michael Malone said, per The Sacramento Bee’s David Caraccio. “You think about his 10 years here, you think about the three MVPs, you think about the championship, the finals MVP — and this is the best season he’s ever had. And that’s saying a lot.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Thunder second-year guard Cason Wallace is known for his tremendous defensive intensity, but as Rylan Stiles of Thunder on SI writes, he has a second elite trait. Wallace is an effective cutter, ranking in the 94th percentile in the league while shooting 63% at the rim. “He has done a great job of embracing the system,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Early on it was a pretty narrow role offensively, it was dunker work, it was rolling, it was cutting. Now he is starting to find a little bit more with the ball in his hands.“
The Timberwolves haven’t hit the same highs as last season after trading Karl-Anthony Towns in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in the fall. In an interview with HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, point guard Mike Conley spoke about the team’s budding chemistry and what it might take for Minnesota to turn it around, among other topics. “I think it took them probably a better part of half a season to figure out KAT and [Rudy Gobert] before I got here,” Conley said. “They went through growing pains, and we’re in that same scenario now with adding new people into our lineups. It takes a minute. It doesn’t happen overnight. We added Julius and Donte literally in training camp. It led to a lot of ripples through who we are, offensively and defensively. I think we’re making a lot of progress.“
Trail Blazers rookie center Donovan Clingan made his return to the lineup on Friday against Charlotte (originally announced via the team on Twitter) after missing five games with an ankle sprain. He recorded four points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks in his return.

Northwest Notes: Williams, SGA, Gordon, Dillingham

January 23rd, 2025 at 8:12pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Thunder continue to deal with major injuries, including playing chunks of the season without Isaiah Hartenstein and nearly all of it without Chet Holmgren. Part of the reason Oklahoma City is staying afloat – far above and beyond in fact – is the play of Jaylin Williams, Rylan Stiles of Thunder on SI writes.

“First off, he has become a leader. Always doing the right things, just trying to win games by any means necessary,” teammate Isaiah Joe said. “He is a very smart player. He is willing to play hard, does all the little things and wants to win at all cost no matter what it takes.”

Williams is averaging 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 16 outings. He has started Oklahoma City’s past four contests with Hartenstein and Holmgren both sidelined, averaging 8.5 PPG and 6.3 RPG during that stretch.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got over the 50-point threshold for the first time in his career on Wednesday, scoring a career-high 54 points. According to Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman, Wednesday’s game was a byproduct of Gilgeous-Alexander’s mentality shifting. “I think this season I’ve taken a leap in my mental. In the past, I’ve been hyper focused on efficiency, and in moments I would — not defer, but I would be conscious of it, and I think it would like affect my decision making,” the Thunder star said. “And this year, I think I’ve got over the hump of not worrying about efficiency. Like, I’m just playing.“
Aaron Gordon fortifying the second unit might be key to the back half of the Nuggets‘ season, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports opines (Twitter link). In each of Denver’s last four wins, superstar Nikola Jokic played fewer than 31 minutes. After returning from a nine-game absence, Gordon came off the bench in each of his past six games. According to Matt Moore of Action Network HQ (Twitter link), head coach Michael Malone said Gordon told him he’d be fine with coming off the bench for the foreseeable future if that’s what’s best for the team. Gordon is a combined plus-50 in Denver’s last five victories.
Timberwolves rookie Rob Dillingham expressed that he’s ready to take on a heavier workload, The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski writes. “I’ve always played. I never had to go through where I’m not playing, especially because of injury,” said Dillingham, who recently returned from an ankle sprain. “It was new to me. But I just had to sit back and realize why it was happening, then take my time off and get ready for when I do get in the game, just like now.” The 2024 lottery pick out of Kentucky is averaging 4.8 points in 9.7 minutes per game across 19 appearances this season.

NBA Unveils 2025 All-Star Game Starters

January 23rd, 2025 at 7:01pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The 2025 All-Star Game starters were revealed on Thursday during Inside the NBA’s pregame show and confirmed by the NBA on social media (Twitter links).

In the Eastern Conference, a pair of Knicks made the cut, with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns – in his first season in New York – earning nods. Joining Brunson in the backcourt is Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, while Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo secured frontcourt spots.

Lakers star LeBron James extended his all-time record to 21 consecutive All-Star selections in the Western Conference. Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander accounted for the backcourt spots in the West while Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets and Kevin Durant of the Suns joined James as frontcourt starters.

The starters are selected by a weighted voting process with the fan vote accounting for half of the final outcome. The player and media portions of the vote each counted for 25 percent. Three frontcourt players and two guards were selected from each conference.

The reserves, who are picked by the league’s coaches, will be announced on Jan. 30. LaMelo Ball of the Hornets narrowly missed out on being a starter after ranking first in the fan vote, having finished third in player voting and seventh in the media vote. The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama also barely missed out, finishing second in media voting but fourth for both players and fans.

Unchanged: Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, De’Aaron Fox, Devin Booker, Norman Powell, Anthony Davis, Jalen Williams, Alperen Sengun, Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Cade Cunningham, Darius Garland, Tyrese Maxey, Tyler Herro, Evan Mobley and Jaylen Brown are among the names who could be voted in as reserves.

The 74th NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 16 will feature a new format, complete with a mini-tournament composed of four teams and three games. Two teams will meet in a semifinal while the other two will play in another. The victors in each of those games will meet in a final. The winner of each game is the first to 40 points.

The format change means that the 10 players named starters on Thursday won’t be the only players who actually start on All-Star Sunday. The 24 players ultimately named All-Stars will be split among three eight-man teams, with the roster’s drafted by Inside the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

The draft will air on Feb. 6 on TNT. The fourth team of eight players will be made up of the winning team from the Rising Stars event.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

The full voting results can be found here.

And-Ones: All-Star Game, Fernando, Snyder, NBRPA, Woj

January 22nd, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Six NBA reporters at The Athletic, including Sam Amick, Fred Katz, and Joe Vardon, made their picks for the Eastern and Western Conference All-Star starters, with all six writers selecting the same three frontcourt players in the East: Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic were the only unanimous choices in the West. Meanwhile, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama each showed up on all but one of the six ballots from The Athletic’s reporters.

The NBA will officially announce this year’s All-Star starters on Thursday evening during a TNT broadcast. The starters are determined by votes from fans (50%), players (25%), and the media (25%).

We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Veteran NBA big man Bruno Fernando, who was waived earlier this month by Toronto before his full-season salary could become guaranteed, is in talks with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid, as Michalis Gioylenoglou reports for Eurohoops.net. Gioylenoglou describes Fernando as becoming more open to making the move to Europe after having initially been reluctant to head across the Atlantic. However, no deal is done yet.
Hawks head coach Quin Snyder is among the candidates receiving serious consideration to become the next coach of Australia’s national team, sources tell Olgun Uluc of ESPN. The Boomers are seeking a successor to Brian Goorjian, who coached the national team at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.
Former NBA big man Antonio Davis, who appeared in over 900 games from 1993-2006 and made an All-Star team with Toronto in 2001, has been named the CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, reports Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). According to Spears, Davis will “drive the strategic visions, business operations, member services, and growth” of the NBRPA, a non-profit association representing former NBA players.
In a feature story for The New York Times, Bruce Schoenfeld checks in on Adrian Wojnarowski, exploring why the former star news-breaker, who was making $7.3MM annually at ESPN, accepted a job at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, that pays him about one percent of that amount ($75K per year).

And-Ones: MVP Race, Maledon, Flagg, Dybantsa

January 21st, 2025 at 10:40am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s Most Valuable Player race for this season already looks like it’ll be a two-man race, according to Zach Harper of The Athletic, who points to the current betting odds as evidence.

BetOnline.ag currently lists Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the frontrunner at -400, followed relatively closely by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic at +250. After those two, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks is all the way down at +4000, with Celtics forward Jayson Tatum at +5000.

Last season’s MVP Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander were among the three finalists for the award in 2024 alongside Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, who has already missed more than 17 games, taking him out of the running due to the 65-game rule. 2023 MVP Joel Embiid will also fall short of 65 games and has been eliminated from contention.

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

Tony Parker, the president of ASVEL Basket in France, said during an interview with RMC Sport (YouTube link) that he believes current ASVEL standout Theo Maledon will receive NBA offers in the offseason, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Maledon, who previously played 177 regular season NBA games for three teams from 2020-24, has averaged 18.0 points and 4.5 assists per game in 22 EuroLeague outings this season, posting a shooting line of .457/.387/.889.
Within the same interview, Parker expressed interest in getting ASVEL involved in the NBA’s rumored foray into European basketball, Askounis notes. “When you see what the NBA is doing, they are very strong. Whether it is marketing or the new TV rights contract that will start next year,” Parker said. “We need to be associated with that. I want there to be NBA Europe and for us to be part of it.”
Duke standout Cooper Flagg has solidified his place atop the 2025 NBA draft class with his recent play, according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, who says Flagg’s performance over the past month – 23.4 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 4.6 APG, and a .561/.500/.881 shooting line – is arguably the best stretch for a college freshman since Zion Williamson was a Blue Devil.
Meanwhile, Jared Weiss of The Athletic checks in on some of 2026’s best prospects, including A.J. Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer, who were taking part in the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. over the weekend. While Dybantsa wasn’t at his best during the event, Weiss says he spoke to multiple scouts who believe the 6’9″ wing could eventually become the NBA’s second-best player behind Victor Wembanyama.

And-Ones: All-Star Voting, New Leagues, Midseason Awards

January 17th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

The third update on fan voting for the All-Star Game has Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Kevin Durant heading the list of Western Conference frontcourt players, the NBA announced on Thursday (via Twitter). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic have received the most votes among Western Conference backcourt players.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Karl-Anthony Towns are the top three vote-getters among Eastern Conference frontcourt players, while LaMelo Ball, Donovan Mitchell and Damian Lillard have the most votes among the conference’s backcourt players.

The fan vote counts for 50 percent regarding All-Star starters. Player voting and a media panel’s selections are weighed at 25 percent apiece. Fan voting ends Monday and the All-Star starters will be revealed on Thursday during a TNT broadcast.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Will a new basketball league to challenge the NBA come to fruition? According to Bloomberg.com, a group of investors being advised by Maverick Carter, LeBron’s business partner, is seeking to raise $5 billion from private capital sources to form an international basketball league. James himself is not part of the efforts to form this new league, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The investors, which includes multiple private equity funds, are looking to form a league consisting of six men’s teams and six women’s teams playing games around the world, Charania adds.
Speaking of international games, NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed on Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast that discussions have been held regarding a new European league, Eurohoops relays. “One of the things we’ve been discussing is whether, before adding NBA franchises in Europe, there’s an opportunity to create an independent league there. This could leverage the enormous interest in basketball in major European capitals like Paris, London, Berlin, and Madrid— and other major cities that love basketball,” Silver said. Discussions between the NBA and FIBA regarding the proposed league have previously been reported.
Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix and Liam McKeone hand out their midseason awards, including Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year. Mannix chooses Gilgeous-Alexander as his midseason MVP, while McKeone selects Jokic. They also take a look at the highs and lows of the season so far.

Nuggets Notes: Jokic, Westbrook, Gordon, MPJ, Fernandez

January 12th, 2025 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and point guard Russell Westbrook recorded triple-doubles in the same game on Friday for the second time this season, leading the team to a victory over the shorthanded Nets.

As Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes, the duo made NBA history by become the first pair of teammates to have 25-point triple-doubles in the same regular season game. Jokic put up 35 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds, while Westbrook contributed 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.

“(Jokic) does a hell of a job making the game easy for everyone,” Westbrook said. “And since I’ve been here, I’ve been trying to do the same thing and find ways to be able to make the game easy for him and other guys. When we’re both doing that, our team is really good.”

Denver is 10-5 this season when Jokic registers a triple-double and 3-0 when Westbrook does so.

Here’s more on the Nuggets:

Westbrook has been an ideal fit so far in Denver, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic, who suggests that both the point guard and the team are benefiting from the arrangement — the Nuggets got a veteran leader who can take some pressure off of Jokic with his ball-handling and play-making, while Westbrook got a chance to play more like himself under a coach who believes in him. “I told him that I wanted him to challenge himself to be the best version of himself,” head coach Michael Malone said. “No offense to any of his past coaches, but if you put Russell Westbrook in the corner, you’re not getting the whole package. We’ve made an effort to get the ball into his hands quite a bit this season.”
Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon appears to be on the verge of returning from the calf strain he aggravated on Christmas Day. After being upgraded to doubtful for Friday’s game, Gordon has been listed as questionable to suit up on Sunday afternoon in Dallas.
Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. is having arguably the best season of his career, with averages of 19.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game on .521/.415/.708 shooting through 37 contests (34.5 MPG). With that in mind, Durando explores in a Denver Post story (subscription required) whether trading Porter would help or hurt the club’s roster. The 26-year-old, who is earning $35.9MM this season, is considered Denver’s most logical trade chip if the team makes a bigger in-season deal, since the other Nuggets with eight-figure cap hits – Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Gordon – aren’t going anywhere.
Friday’s game between the Nets and Nuggets was the first time that former Nuggets assistant Jordi Fernandez returned to Denver to face his old team as a head coach. As Durando details for The Denver Post, Fernandez said that every year he spent with the Nuggets helped prepare him for his current position with Brooklyn, and his former players are happy to see him succeeding in his new role. “I think he’s doing a good job. I think guys are listening. Guys are playing hard for him,” Jokic said. “I think that’s really important for a coach. … They are trying to do the right thing. They are trying to do what he is probably telling them. So they have some kind of system, and it’s really cool to see. They’re in the beginning of the process, of course. Hopefully, they can grow.”

And-Ones: Cousins, All-Star Voting, 2025 Draft, More

January 10th, 2025 at 7:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins hasn’t played in the league since finishing the 2021/22 season with Denver, but he continues to compete professionally in non-NBA leagues around the world. The 34-year-old center is joining Selenge Bodons in Mongolia, according to announcements from the club on Instagram and Cousins on Facebook.

The No. 5 overall pick in the 2010 draft, Cousins averaged 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in 654 regular season appearances for seven NBA teams from 2010-22. Cousins’ career was derailed by a series of major leg injuries, including a torn ACL and torn Achilles, which reduced his effectiveness on both ends of the court in his later NBA seasons.

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

The NBA provided an update on All-Star fan voting on Thursday, announcing (via Twitter) that Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic continue to be the leading vote-getters. The only change among the top three frontcourt players and two guards in each conference since last Thursday is that Warriors star Stephen Curry has nudged ahead of Luka Doncic as the No. 2 guard in the West.
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Insider link) and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic have updates their NBA mock drafts for 2025. Vecenie suggests that after top two prospects Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper, there are plenty of question marks, which is reflected in the significant differences between the two mocks. For example, Georgia’s Asa Newell comes in at No. 6 in Vecenie’s mock but at No. 22 in ESPN’s. Converseley, French point guard Nolan Traore, the No. 6 player for ESPN, nearly falls out of the lottery in Vecenie’s mock at No. 13.
In a pair of stories for The Athletic, John Hollinger identifies several underrated draft prospects to watch, including including Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams and Auburn’s Johni Broome, and discusses 10 less heralded trade candidates, such as Rockets forward Jeff Green, Celtics guard Jaden Springer, and Grizzlies sharpshooter Luke Kennard.

Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum Named Players Of The Week

January 6th, 2025 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

The two perennial MVP candidates are the first two repeat Player of the Week winners for the 2024/25 season. Tatum was named the East’s Player of the Week on October 28, while Jokic earned the honor in the West on November 11.

Jokic led the Nuggets to a 3-1 record during the week of Dec. 30-Jan. 5, putting up an incredible triple-double average of 36.5 points, 16.5 rebounds, and 11.3 assists in those four outings. He had back-to-back 40+ point performances against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, including a 41-point, 18-rebound effort in Friday’s loss.

Tatum’s numbers over the course of a 3-1 week for Boston weren’t quite so gaudy. The star forward averaged 25.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.8 steals in 34.8 minutes per night, leading the Celtics to victories over Toronto, Minnesota, and Houston before falling on Sunday to Oklahoma City.

Jokic beat out fellow nominees Anthony Davis, LeBron James, De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Wembanyama for the Western Conference award, per the NBA (Twitter link). Giannis Antetokounmpo, Cade Cunningham, Joel Embiid, Darius Garland, Tyrese Haliburton, and Coby White were the other nominees in the East.

Spurs Notes: Wembanyama, Jokic, Winning, Jones, Sochan

January 5th, 2025 at 12:20pm CST by Rory Maher

The Spurs defeated the Nuggets in a close game in Denver on Friday, then the Nuggets returned the favor in Saturday’s overtime victory in San Antonio. Star big men Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic had spectacular showings in the back-to-back, with Wembanyama averaging 27.5 points, 20.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 blocks per game, compared to Jokic’s 43.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 2.0 steals.

According to ESPN.com, Jokic and Wembanyama expressed mutual admiration for each other after Friday’s matchup.

“I think he’s better this year than last year, and I think he’s going to get even better,” Jokic said of Wembanyama. “I think he’s a special player. I think he’s one of a kind and is going to be remembered forever.”

“Multiple-time MVP, soon to be MVP again,” Wembanyama said of Jokic. “Can’t ask for a better way to get better.”

Here’s more on the Spurs:

Wembanyama’s name is in the NBA record books for several statistical accomplishments not even halfway through his second season. Michael C. Wright of ESPN shares the top moments of the French center’s first 100 games.
As impressive as Wembanyama’s highlight reel already is, he says there’s only one thing that really matters to him, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscriber link). “Some people care about highlights, but we care here about the record, the win or the loss,” said Wembanyama, who turned 21 years old on Saturday. “It is the only stat that matters.” After finishing last season with a 22-60 record, the Spurs are currently 18-17, the No. 9 seed in the West.
Point guard Tre Jones looks like he’s finally back to full strength after battling shoulder and ankle injuries for much of 2024/25, according to Orsborn (subscription required). Jones, who has missed 18 games thus far, played both ends of the recent back-to-back, finishing with nine points (on 4-of-6 shooting) and six assists in 18 minutes on Saturday. “Tre has been great,” Harrison Barnes said. “His ability to pick up the other team, the other point guard, apply pressure and then offensively he gives us another ball handler who’s able to get to the paint, able to find guys and get extra plays for us. He’s been great in that regard.”
Third-year forward Jeremy Sochan was sidelined for Friday’s contest, Orsborn notes in another subscriber-only story, but the back injury that kept him on the shelf turned out to be minor, as he was able to suit up on Saturday. Sochan will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.