Nikola Jokic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

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).

Northwest Notes: Gordon, Jokic, Conley, Clarkson

March 13th, 2022 at 3:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has been an excellent fit in Denver over the last year, writes Matt Isa of Basketball News. The 6’8″ power forward, 26, is thriving during his first full season with the Nuggets after arriving from Orlando in a deadline trade during the 2020/21 season. Across 62 contests with the Nuggets, Gordon is averaging 14.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 2.5 APG. He is also connecting on 51% of his field goal attempts and 73.7% of his free-throw looks.

At 40-28, the ailing Nuggets presently occupy the sixth seed in the East, 1.5 games ahead of the seventh-seeded Timberwolves. Though Gordon never emerged as a bona fide star in Orlando, due in part to a lack of three-point shooting or ball-handling, he has found a home as a key role player for Denver. Gordon has been unlocked as a finisher alongside All-NBA center Nikola Jokic in the team’s frontcourt, opines Isa.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Nuggets MVP candidate Nikola Jokic is excited to play against one of the other leading candidates for that end-of-year award, Sixers center Joel Embiid, on a national TV contest Monday night, writes Mike Singer of the Denver Post. “He’s a great player, great,” Jokic said. “He can do everything on the floor, who is controlling the game, who is in conversation for MVP and the best player in the league. He’s so dominant. He’s skilled, but he’s so big and strong that he uses that. He’s really tough coverage for every single team in the NBA.” The 6’11” Jokic, who won the MVP award in 2021, is averaging 26.1 PPG, 13.8 RPG and 8.1 APG for Denver. He has a slash line of .573/.349/.806. Embiid is averaging 29.7 PPG, 11.2 RPG and 4.3 APG for the 40-25 Philadelphia, along with shooting splits of .489/.355/.819.
Sidelined Jazz point guard Mike Conley pushed reserve guard Jordan Clarkson into a career-best night on offense, according to Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune. The 2021 Sixth Man of the Year scored 45 points on Saturday in a 134-125 win over the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back. Clarkson went 15-of-21 from the floor, including 7-for-13 from long range. “A big part of it was Mike,” Clarkson said. “When I walked in today, he was like: ‘You know what I ain’t seen you do all year? Get 40.’ And it just pinged in my head.” The 6’4″ vet has had a slightly underwhelming shooting season this year from the floor, connecting on 41.6% of his 14 field goal looks, including just 32% of his 7.7 three-point attempts.
Clarkson seems to be comfortable playing through his shooting slumps, per Jazz.com. After a slow start to the season, Clarkson has seen a significant uptick in his play over the past month and a half. “I’m not changing anything, I’m not really thinking about stuff too much,” he said of his recent improvement. “Just coming into work.” Head coach Quin Snyder praised Clarkson’s commitment. “He’s not gonna be on the all-defensive first team, and I think he’d admit that, but he cares,” Snyder said. “The last month or so, he’s been very deliberate in his work.”

Nuggets Notes: Jokic, Cousins, Morris

March 10th, 2022 at 10:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kings coach Alvin Gentry believes Nikola Jokic deserves to win back-to-back MVP awards, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets. Jokic carried Denver past Sacramento on Wednesday with 38 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists. “He’s just a different beast. He doesn’t get shaken,” Gentry said. “He just does what they need to do to win the game…Watching him play, it’s hard to believe that he won’t be the MVP again.”

We have more on the Nuggets:

Despite winning the MVP last season, Jokic still doesn’t get the same recognition as some other NBA stars. Jokic says it doesn’t bother him that he’s not one of “faces” of the NBA, as he told Rohan Nadarni of Sports Illustrated. “I don’t think about it. It would be a really nice thing, yes,” Jokic said. “I don’t want that or need that. I’m fine with where I am right now with my status in the NBA.”
DeMarcus Cousins has given the team another dimension, Mark Schindler of Basketball News writes. The Nuggets are 13-1 in games in which Cousins has played. He has bolstered their bench and developed chemistry with Bones Hyland on pick-and-roll situations. Cousins was signed for the remainder of the season late last month.
Monte Morris has been an unheralded reason for the Nuggets’ 12-2 record over the past 14 games, Mike Singer of the Denver Post notes. He’s averaging 13.5 PPG, 4.9 APG and 2.8 RPG during that span. “Him and Nikola have the same kind of impact,” coach Michael Malone said. “We take our time, we get set, we space the floor, we read the defense. He knows that Nikola’s going to garner so much attention, he’s got to keep the defense honest.”

And-Ones: MVP Race, Fenway Sports Group, 2022 Draft

March 7th, 2022 at 2:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2021/22 MVP race is one for the ages, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who contends that we “aren’t talking about it nearly enough.” As Hollinger outlines, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Sixers center Joel Embiid are each in the midst of a historic season and would be a clear MVP frontrunner if it weren’t for the presence of the other two.

If the season ended today, Hollinger notes, Jokic (32.3) and Antetokounmpo (32.0) would have the two highest single-season PERs in NBA history, while Embiid’s (31.0) would also make the top 10. Hollinger says he’d pick Jokic for MVP if forced to decide right now, but with over a month left in the season, there’s still plenty of time for Antetokounmpo and Embiid to strengthen their cases.

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

Gerry Cardinale, a shareholder in Fenway Sports Group, says that adding an NBA franchise is “a real top priority” for the massive Boston-based firm, as Michael Silverman of The Boston Globe writes. The FSG conglomerate already owns MLB’s Boston Red Sox, the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Premier League’s Liverpool FC.
Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams, Kansas guard Christian Braun, and Colorado State forward David Roddy are among the best bets to further improve their draft stock with strong performances to finish out the NCAA season, says Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Wasserman also singles out four other prospects who are candidates to rise up draft boards in the coming weeks.
Touching on several stories from around the NBA in his latest article for The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor makes a case for why the Knicks should lean more heavily on their young players, breaks down what Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans have brought to the Mavericks, and praises the work the Rockets have done developing their rookies this season. O’Connor also argues that the NBA should tweak its playoff format to allow top seeds to pick their first-round opponents.

Nuggets Notes: Cousins, Malone, Barton, Gordon, Jokic

March 6th, 2022 at 1:36pm CST by Rory Maher

DeMarcus Cousins had a stellar game on Friday night for the Nuggets, putting up a season-high 31 points on 14 shots in just 24 minutes of action. Cousins also contributed nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in the team’s 116-101 win over the Rockets. Cousins started in place of reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who was out with a non-COVID illness, as Mike Singer of The Denver Post relays.

Cousins said he was released by the Bucks earlier in the season due to a calf strain, giving Denver the opportunity to pick him up. Coach Michael Malone says he’s never lost faith in Cousins, even if others have. “Most people had given up on him,” Malone said after Friday’s game. “All you need is somebody to believe in you.”

Malone said Cousins lost eight-to-10 pounds after arriving in Denver, per Singer. Malone also said Cousins’ strong recent play could help lessen the load on Jokic, who’s having another MVP-caliber season. “He keeps on playing like this … you don’t have to run Nikola into the ground,” said Malone, who suggested the Nuggets might have the best center tandem in the NBA.

“It’s very satisfying,” said Cousins when asked what it’s meant to him to take advantage of his latest stop. “It’s even a better feeling to have a coach that believes in you, an organization that believes in you.”

Here’s more from Denver:

Advice from his basketball idol Kobe Bryant helped Will Barton become the Nuggets’ all-time leader in three-point field goals, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports. “Kobe told me, ‘If you get a jump shot, you’re going to be deadly,'” Barton said. “Once he told me I had talent and all I had to do was work on my jumper, it further solidified what I already thought about myself.” The former second-round pick struggled with his shot early in his career, but transformed himself into a solid marksman over the past eight seasons with Denver, making 36% of his 3-pointers. Barton set the franchise mark with his 769th trey in the team’s win over the Rockets on Friday, breaking a record held by J.R. Smith.
Aaron Gordon has developed impressive chemistry with Jokic, writes Singer in a separate article for The Denver Post. “Jok’s IQ is through the roof,” Gordon said. “He’s a basketball savant. Just genius. It’s great talking to him, understanding how he sees the game. How we can make it easier for him and where he needs us to be.” Gordon is taking advantage of Jokic’s elite passing by making smart cuts to the basket, leading to a career-best 51.7% from the field, including 60.6% on two-pointers. Gordon told Singer that he’s “seeing the game differently.” “Just angles,” he said. “Attacking angles. Making reads. I finally feel like I’m making better reads.”
Jokic gave a typically self-effacing reply regarding his conversations with Gordon, Singer relays in the same piece. “I don’t know the right answer,” said Jokic. “I’m just trying to help him. … I’m just telling him what I know. If that helps him, or not, I don’t know. I’m just trying to tell him what I see.” Singer notes that a quarter of Jokic’s assists this season have gone to Gordon, the highest mark on the team.

And-Ones: Brantley, NBA Awards, Seattle, Brogdon

March 5th, 2022 at 11:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA player Jarrell Brantley has been sued by Russia’s UNICS Kazan after he left the country, Ian Begley on SNY.tv tweets. The Russian club has sued Brantley for $250K after he returned to the U.S. with his wife and infant daughter. The forward will pursue G League opportunities but he could be blocked from playing in that league because he requires permission from Kazan. Brantley played 37 games with the Jazz from 2019-21.

We have more from around the basketball world:

It’s a coin flip between Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic in the race for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, Zach Harper of The Athletic opines. Ja Morant has moved up to the third spot with his offensive outbursts in recent weeks. Harper updates his rankings on numerous postseason awards in his column.
Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell is confident the NBA will return to the city, but the league denied that any expansion plan is in the works, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports writes. “The odds are high,” Harrell said. “We’re very intentional about it. I chase down rumors and I chase down actual people in a position to make that happen. I feel good about our opportunity.” A league spokesman told NBC Sports that there’s “no truth” to a report that expansion is on the front burner this offseason.
Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon has some interest in playing for the Polish national team and the country’s basketball federation will try to make it a reality, according to a Eurohoops.net report. Brogdon’s connection to Poland comes from his wife, who has Polish roots and relatives who live in the country.

Agent Anticipates Jokic Will Sign Super-Max Deal In Offseason

March 2nd, 2022 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Misko Raznatovic, the agent for Nikola Jokic, expects the star center to sign a super-max contract extension with the Nuggets during the 2022 offseason, he said during an appearance on Donatas Urbonas’ podcast at BasketNews.com.

“According to our expectations, it should be signed this summer,” Raznatovic said. “The extension of the maximum amount, what he obviously deserved.”

Raznatovic’s comments are essentially just further confirmation of an outcome that has long been anticipated.

Jokic qualified for a super-max contract – also known as a designated veteran extension – when he won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award in 2021. However, he only had six years of NBA service at that time, and a player signing a super-max deal, which starts at 35% of the salary cap instead of 30%, must have at least seven years under his belt. So even though he had met the performance criteria, Jokic had to wait one more year to extend his contract.

The 27-year-old has done nothing this season to dissuade the Nuggets from putting that super-max offer on the table, having averaged 25.5 points, 13.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 1.4 steals on .567/.364/.806 shooting in 55 games (33.0 MPG).

Jokic, who will be eligible to officially sign his extension once the new league year begins in July, can tack five new years onto the final season of his current contract, which will pay him $33.6MM in 2022/23. We can’t yet pin down the exact value of the reigning MVP’s super-max extension, since it will be based on the salary cap in 2023/24.

Last month, the NBA projected a $121MM salary cap for the ’22/23 season, so it’s a safe bet that number will continue to rise the following year — we just don’t know by how much. For instance, if the ’23/24 salary cap is $124MM, Jokic’s five-year extension would be worth $251.7MM. A $128MM cap would result in a $259.8MM deal.

No matter what the precise amount of the extension is, it’ll be a record-setting payday for Jokic, one that his agent expects him to take in stride.

“Luka Doncic organized a nice party for his last contract that put some kind of challenge primarily for me because I am very well known for organizing parties and participating in social life,” Raznatovic told Urbonas with a smile. “But knowing Nikola, probably nothing will happen, and everything will be the same. Just one piece of paper to be signed.”

Northwest Notes: Towns, Presti, LeBron, Jazz, Jokic

February 20th, 2022 at 9:31pm CST by JD Shaw

Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns staked his claim of being the greatest shooting big man ever by winning the three-point contest on Saturday, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

Towns defeated several guards and wings to win the contest, including Trae Young, Zach LaVine and Patty Mills. He’s averaging 24.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game this season, shooting 41% from three-point range. Prior to this season, he’s shot above 40% from deep in three of his six campaigns.

“I remember everyone told me to do the same way. ‘Have your back to the basket. Why is Karl shooting 3s? There’s no reason for him shooting 3s. We’re experts. We know better than you,'” Towns said. “Me and my dad said screw them. We’re going to do it our way.”

Here are some other notes from Northwest:

Thunder general manager Sam Presti recently received praise from LeBron James, who called him the MVP of Oklahoma City’s franchise, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “The MVP over there is Sam Presti. He’s the MVP,” James said when asked about Josh Giddey and the Thunder. “I mean, Josh Giddey is great. But Sam Presti, I don’t understand this guy’s eye for talent. He drafted [Kevin Durant], Russ [Westbrook], Jeff Green, Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson, Josh Giddey and the list goes on and on and on. This guy is pretty damn good.”
The Jazz will have many questions to answer after the All-Star break, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. Utah is 36-22 on the season, dropping a 106-101 road game to the Lakers before the break. “Come back ready to go,” Donovan Mitchell said on what needs to happen. “We have no choice. It’s not like we can say anything else. We have no choice but to be ready.”
Mike Singer of The Denver Post explores the story of how Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic once hated a Denver assistant coach. Jokic and the coach, Ogi Stojakovic, are now great friends. “He’s like a big brother, like a mentor, father, he’s like a really good friend,” Jokic said of Stojakovic. “He’s really everything. … How much he helps me on the court, he helps me off the court just to get out of the basketball … We hang out, for real. When we have a day off, my family is always with his family.”

And-Ones: MVP Race, I. Thomas, Draft, I. Clark

February 17th, 2022 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

The top two finishers in last season’s MVP voting appear to be the top two candidates for this year’s award too, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Bontemps recently conducted a straw poll of 100 media members and found that Sixers center Joel Embiid narrowly – and unofficially – leads Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic in the MVP race.

As Bontemps details, Embiid received 45 first-place votes from the poll respondents, while Jokic got 43. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (nine), Suns guard Chris Paul (two), and Warriors guard Stephen Curry (one) were the other players who got first-place votes. Interestingly, Embiid was the only player to show up on all 100 five-player ballots, while Jokic was left off five.

Curry received 94 first-place votes when Bontemps conducted a similar straw poll in December, but the veteran sharpshooter has slowed down since his hot start, while players like Embiid, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo have made stronger MVP pushes.

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

Free agent guard Isaiah Thomas is expected to rejoin the Grand Rapids Gold – the Nuggets‘ G League affiliate – after the All-Star break, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Thomas had a very brief stint in Grand Rapids in December, scoring 42 points in his only NBAGL game before getting called up to the NBA. Thomas signed 10-day contracts with the Lakers and Mavericks before returning to the open market.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has published a new 2022 mock draft, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his top-50 big board. Both draft experts currently have Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren at No. 1 and Jabari Smith of Auburn at No. 2, with Purdue’s Jaden Ivey moving up to No. 3 ahead of Duke’s Paolo Banchero.
Veteran guard Ian Clark, who has 330 regular season appearances on his NBA résumé and won a title with Golden State in 2017, has signed with the Sydney Kings, the Australian team recently announced in a press release. Clark played in 60 games for New Orleans in 2018/19, but has been out of the NBA since then.

LeBron Chooses Giannis, Curry In All-Star Draft; Durant Picks Embiid, Morant

February 10th, 2022 at 7:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

After James Harden was traded away from the Nets on Thursday, former teammate Kevin Durant opted not to pick him in the All-Star draft conducted on Thursday night. Harden was the last player chosen by LeBron James for Team LeBron, as the league announced (via Twitter).

LeBron’s starters, besides himself, are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Jokic.

Durant, who won’t play in the All-Star Game at Cleveland due to his knee injury, chose Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young and Andrew Wiggins as Team Durant’s starters.

James selected Luka Doncic as his top reserve. His guard-heavy team also features Darius Garland, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet and Harden.

Team Durant’s bench includes Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, Dejounte Murray, Khris Middleton, LaMelo Ball and Rudy Gobert.

Thus, numerous teammates will be on opposing clubs for the All-Star game, including the Jazz’s Gobert and Mitchell and the Suns’ Paul and Booker.

The game will be played February 20 in Cleveland.