Seth Curry

Atlantic Notes: Boucher, Achiuwa, Curry, Sixers, Mazzulla

October 25th, 2022 at 10:29am CST by Luke Adams

While Chris Boucher would rather have been playing in the Raptors‘ first three games, the veteran forward/center found a silver lining in having to sit out with a hamstring injury, as Doug Smith of The Toronto Star relays.

“To be honest with you, I feel like it was good for me just to see what I can bring to the team, sitting down and watching,” Boucher said on Monday before returning to the Raptors’ lineup in Miami. “If I was playing and we were losing games, I probably wouldn’t see as much.”

Boucher got into quick foul trouble in his season debut on Monday, picking up five fouls in just 12 minutes of action. But he was effective in his limited role, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in a Raptors victory.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

The Raptors got a big night out of Precious Achiuwa against his old team on Monday, as he grabbed 22 rebounds against the Heat. While the team isn’t expecting regular 22-rebound nights from Achiuwa, head coach Nick Nurse wants to see him produce more consistently. “I always say you can play good, like one out of three games, right? It’s got to get bumped up to two out of four, then three out of five,” Nurse said, per Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. “No one is going to play great every night but we got to start making some progression where there’s some consistency there.”
Nets sharpshooter Seth Curry, who continues to work his way back from offseason ankle surgery, is getting closer to making his season debut, according to head coach Steve Nash. “(Curry) traveled and we’re just monitoring him still. He’s doing well,” Nash said on Monday, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I’d say he’s out for Wednesday, but we’ll see whether Thursday, Saturday or the subsequent games. It’s coming soon.”
After averaging an NBA-low 11.3 bench points in their first three games (all losses), the Sixers got 36 points from their reserves in their first win of the season over Indiana on Monday, as Joel Embiid and James Harden worked to get the bench players involved, writes Rich Hofmann of The Athletic.
In an in-depth profile, Chris Mannix of SI.com takes a closer look at Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla, including revisiting his arrests as a student at West Virginia in 2008 and 2009. “I’m not perfect,” Mazzulla said. “I made the mistakes. I’ve worked to reinvent myself. I know who I am and I know the mistakes that I made. It’s important to be secure about that if you want to be authentic with people.””

Injury Notes: Garland, Embiid, Curry, J. Murray, More

October 21st, 2022 at 8:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland, a first-time All-Star last season, has been ruled out of Saturday’s game at Chicago due to his eye injury, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter links). Garland didn’t travel with the team and the “current feeling” is that Garland is “improbable” to play in Cleveland’s home opener on Sunday against Washington, Fedor adds.

Garland suffered a lacerated eyelid when he was inadvertently poked in the eye by Gary Trent Jr. in the second quarter of the Cavs’ 108-105 loss to the Raptors on Wednesday. Fedor reported on Thursday that Garland does not have structural damage and won’t require surgery.

Here are some more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers says that Joel Embiid‘s conditioning was impacted by plantar fascitiis during the offseason, as Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. “He had a little plantar fasciitis before the season started — before training camp — and that took him off his conditioning program,” Rivers said. “And so he’s back on that. But listen, he’s playing with the right intentions. He just didn’t play well, and that’s OK, too. That’s going to happen. We’ve still got to win those games.” The Sixers dropped their first two games of the season, with Embiid looking pretty sluggish. Rivers reiterated that Embiid is no longer dealing with the injury, but needs to regain his rhythm and conditioning.
Guard Seth Curry (offseason ankle surgery) is likely to travel with the Nets for their two-game road trip next week, but “probably” needs more practice time before he returns to action, head coach Steve Nash said on Friday (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who played his first regular season game on Wednesday since suffering a torn ACL in April 2021, is out for Friday’s game against the Warriors, head coach Michael Malone told reporters (Twitter links via Kendra Andrews of ESPN). According to Andrews, Malone said the Nuggets are resting Murray because Friday is the first of a back-to-back. However, that might not be the case for the entire season, Malone added.
No. 4 overall pick Keegan Murray will make his debut on Saturday against the Clippers after being a full participant in Friday’s practice, a source tells ESPN’s Marc J. Spears. Murray was fully cleared by the Kings after exiting the health and safety protocols, Spears writes.
Dillon Brooks (left thigh soreness) and Ziaire Williams (right knee soreness) missed their second consecutive games for the Grizzlies on Friday, the team announced (via Twitter). Memphis won its opener against New York and defeated Houston in game two.

Injury Updates: Suggs, Nets, Westbrook, Bogdanovic

October 16th, 2022 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Magic guard Jalen Suggs, who was diagnosed with a left knee capsule sprain and bone bruise after leaving the team’s October 7 preseason game, will be available when Orlando opens its regular season on Wednesday in Detroit, head coach Jamahl Mosley said on Sunday (link via Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel).

It’s a somewhat surprising update, since bone bruises can be troublesome ailments and the Magic have generally taken a conservative approach when bringing back young players from injuries during the last couple years.

One orthopedic surgeon who spoke to Price last week speculated that the capsule sprain would take about two-to-four weeks to heal, while the bone bruise might extend Suggs’ recovery timeline beyond that. However, that surgeon didn’t assess Suggs first-hand, and it appears the former No. 5 overall pick will comfortably beat that estimated timeline.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

The Nets confirmed today that Joe Harris (foot) and Seth Curry (ankle) will not be available for the team’s regular season opener on Wednesday, tweets Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. Harris and Curry, both of whom are coming back from ankle surgery, will continue to go through contact practices this week, with Brooklyn expecting to offer another update on Thursday.
Russell Westbrook‘s left hamstring injury isn’t considered serious, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the Lakers guard will be listed as day-to-day after undergoing some tests. There’s no structural damage to the hamstring, Haynes adds.
Hawks swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic is making progress as he continues to recover from knee surgery, but he’s unlikely to be available for the team’s regular season opener on Wednesday, head coach Nate McMillan told reporters on Sunday (Twitter link via Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
While Kings rookie forward Keegan Murray isn’t dealing with an injury, he has been placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, reports Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 Sacramento (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Murray will be cleared to play in the team’s regular season opener on Wednesday.

Atlantic Notes: Brogdon, Boucher, Porter Jr., Curry, Irving, Smart

October 15th, 2022 at 9:42am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors and Celtics both expressed an interest in trading for Malcolm Brogdon this summer but he told the Pacers he’d prefer Boston, Brogdon said during a SiriusXM NBA Radio appearance, as Brian Robb of MassLive.com relays.

“We knew there was Boston, we knew Toronto we knew (the Wizards),” Brogdon said of his trade options. “(The Wizards) fell off after the draft since they were thinking about trading that 10th pick for me. Toronto and Boston popped up. We had a choice to pursue — there wasn’t an offer on the table yet from either of them but the Pacers came to me and said we could pursue either of them and which one would I rather pursue?”

It’s unclear what sort of offer the Raptors might’ve made for Brogdon, since they don’t have obvious salary-matching pieces they’d want to part with. However, it was ultimately a moot point, since the guard encouraged the Pacers to pursue a deal with Boston.

“I thought this team was farther along,” Brogdon said of the Celtics. “They have a superstar in Jayson Tatum and probably another superstar in Jaylen Brown as well. I thought it would be a great fit for me because I wanted to win right now.”

Brogdon is projected as Boston’s sixth man entering the regular season.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Raptors big man Chris Boucher will be out “a couple of weeks” due to a hamstring injury, according to coach Nick Nurse, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweets. Forward Otto Porter Jr. hasn’t been on the court in recent weeks due to a similar injury and will likely miss some time.
Seth Curry, who had left ankle surgery in May, apparently won’t be ready for the season opener. Nets coach Steve Nash said Curry still has some hurdles to clear but has been getting some individual work in, Nick Friedell of ESPN tweets.
Nets guard Kyrie Irving admits he has some regrets about the way last season played out, he told Friedell in a Q&A session. “I think we all think about times we could have made better decisions, and times we wish we could have done things differently and I feel the same way at times throughout my life. … I legitimately just want to play the long game and not put too much pressure on myself or the people that I’m around,” he said.
Celtics guard Marcus Smart suffered a minor groin injury when he slipped on a wet spot in the preseason finale against Toronto on Friday, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets. “I feel like I’m all right. But the adrenaline is still going right now,” Smart said. “Hopefully, in the morning I feel all right.”

Injury Notes: Bagley, Bogdanovic, Mobley, Curry, Gallinari

October 11th, 2022 at 10:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons will find out the extent of Marvin Bagley III‘s right knee injury when he undergoes an MRI on Wednesday, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.

Bagley suffered a non-contact injury when he slipped during the opening quarter of the Pistons’ preseason game against the Thunder on Tuesday. He had to be helped off the court. Detroit re-signed Bagley on a three-year, $37MM contract this summer.

Another Pistons forward, Bojan Bogdanovic, acquired from the Jazz last month, is nursing a calf strain, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets.

We have more injury-related info:

Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley is making good progress in his recovery from a right ankle sprain and could appear in a preseason game, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Mobley underwent a lengthy workout after Tuesday’s practice. “We’re hopeful. We haven’t ruled it out,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “It’s always about tomorrow and how it responded the day before. But we have not ruled him out from playing in a preseason game.”
Nets guard Seth Curry will not play in the remaining two preseason games and his status for opening night is questionable, Nick Friedell of ESPN tweets. Curry is still working his way back from left ankle surgery in May.
The Celtics’ Danilo Gallinari, who is expected to miss the season due to a torn left ACL, started walking a few days ago and is receiving physical therapy on his knee, Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets.

New York Notes: Randle, Quickley, Simmons, Curry

October 2nd, 2022 at 3:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After a 2021/22 regression from his lone All-NBA Second Team appearance the year before, Knicks power forward Julius Randle is amenable to an increased offensive pace and fewer touches, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Bondy notes that the club’s pace ranked 30th during head coach Tom Thibodeau‘s first season in New York and 29th in 2021/22.

“It’s just the way the game is going,” Randle said of the speed adjustment. “There are so many more possessions, high-scoring games. So, it’s just the way the league is going and an adjustment that everybody has to make.”

Bondy adds that the 27-year-old shed some pounds during the offseason in service of an anticipated uptick in pace this year.

“Because of the strength of the club, we can use him in different ways,” Thibodeau said. “He doesn’t always have to have the ball. He can play off the ball [as a secondary playmaker in transition].”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Third-year Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley is hoping to raise his field goal shooting percentage in 2022/23, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. To do that, Quickley has been fleshing his mid-range game over the summer. “I think it will help my field-goal percentage a lot,” the 6’3″ guard out of Kentucky said. “Just being able to do everything when I’m on the floor is a versatility thing I like for myself.” For his career, the 23-year-old is a 39.3% shooter.
Nets forward Ben Simmons underwent cryotherapy sessions as he rehabilitated his surgically-repaired back during the 2022 offseason, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber-only link). “I’ve put myself in position,” Simmons said of his development this summer. “I’ve been working on myself this past year to get back on the floor and play at a high level… I deserve to take this opportunity to get back on the court, so I’m excited to team up with these guys, these coaches.”
Nets shooting guard Seth Curry has yet to engage in 5-on-5 play with Brooklyn as he continues to work his way back from a May left ankle surgery, reports Nick Friedell of ESPN (Twitter link). Curry indicates that he is continuing to feel comfortable during individual workouts. Friedell adds that head coach Steve Nash remains hopeful that Curry can round into form in time to play in the team’s final preseason game next week.

Nets’ T.J. Warren Not Expected To Return Before November

September 28th, 2022 at 2:29pm CST by Luke Adams

New Nets forward T.J. Warren, who continues to work his way back to full health after missing most of the last two seasons due to foot problems, won’t be available when the regular season begins next month, head coach Steve Nash said today (link via Nick Friedell of ESPN).

According to Nash, it didn’t come as a surprise to the Nets that Warren’s recovery timeline will extend into the season, and they’re encouraged by the progress he has made. The 29-year-old is expected to be out at least through October.

“I think we’re going to assess again in November, but he’s doing great,” Nash said. “He’s building up. We knew this going in. And we also don’t want to take big risks with T.J. because he’s been out for two years. So it’s a process that we want to be very confident in and make a firm organization not to rush him.”

Warren appeared in just four games in 2020/21 and didn’t play at all in ’21/22 due to consecutive stress fractures in his left foot. He said on Media Day that his foot has fully healed, but that he still needs to do more rehab work to receive full clearance from team doctors.

Once Warren is ready to go, he’ll provide the Nets with another dynamic scorer in the frontcourt. In three seasons from 2017-20, Warren averaged 19.3 PPG on .509/.379/.791 shooting in 175 games (32.6 MPG) for the Suns and Pacers.

While the Nets are prepared not to have Warren in their opening night lineup, Nash shared a more positive update on Seth Curry, who is making his way back from ankle surgery. According to Friedell, Nash told reporters on Wednesday that Curry is expected to be ready for the regular season and might be able to suit up for the team’s final preseason contest.

Nets Notes: Durant, Nash, Irving, Curry, Warren, Simmons

September 26th, 2022 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Addressing reporters at the Nets‘ media day on Monday, Kevin Durant explained that he requested a trade this offseason because he had some “doubts” about whether the Nets were building a legitimate championship culture (Twitter link via Tania Ganguli of The New York Times).

“I wanted everybody to be held accountable for their habits as a basketball player,” Durant said, per Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post. “I think a lot of stuff was getting swept under the rug because we’re injured or this guy’s not around or just the circumstances. I thought we could have fought through that a little bit more and focused on the guys that were here a little bit more.

“When I went out with the injury, we lost 10 in a row. And I’m like, ‘We shouldn’t be losing some of these games that we lost, regardless of who’s on the floor.’ So I was more so worried about how we’re approaching every day as a basketball team. And I felt like we could have fought through a lot of the stuff that I felt that held us back.”

Durant said he wasn’t disappointed not to be dealt and that he’s committed to the Nets going forward (Twitter links via Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic and Adam Zagoria of NJ.com). He also admitted that he wasn’t surprised to remain a Net, since general manager Sean Marks and the team’s front office set a sky-high asking price.

“I know I’m that good, that you’re just not going to give me away,” Durant said.

In his own media session, Marks said that he feels good about where things stand with Durant, adding that if the star forward “still wanted out, he wouldn’t be here” (Twitter link via Vorkunov). He also said the Nets made a legitimate effort to trade Durant, though he admitted he was fielding outside inquiries more than he was instigating discussions.

“Yeah, absolutely we made those calls and we at least picked up the phone when teams called us,” Marks told YES Network (Twitter link via Zagoria). “I gotta be honest, I wasn’t making a whole lot of outgoing calls, I mean why would you do that?”

Here’s more on the Nets:

Steve Nash downplayed the fact that Durant reportedly called for the head coach’s job as part of his ultimatum to the Nets, likening it to a family squabble and telling reporters that he and KD got together to talk it out (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).
Kyrie Irving, who referred to Brooklyn’s summer as a “clusterf–k,” said he came close to leaving the Nets before picking up his player option, adding that he had some other options, but “not many,” Sanchez writes for The Post. Irving admitted that potential suitors had concerns about his availability and his commitment.
Interestingly, Irving stated that his decision to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 cost him a lucrative long-term extension offer from the Nets during the 2021 offseason. “I gave up four years, $100-something million deciding to be unvaccinated, and that was the decision,” Irving said, per Sanchez.
A pair of Nets wings are still awaiting full clearance following injuries, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN (Twitter links). Seth Curry, who underwent ankle surgery in May, said today that he’s at “85-90 percent” and isn’t fully cleared to participate in camp. Meanwhile, T.J. Warren said the foot injury that cost him all of the 2021/22 season is fully healed, but he still needs to do more rehab work to get cleared by team doctors.
Ben Simmons is “ready to go” and will be a full participant in training camp, he said today (Twitter link via Friedell). As long as he remains healthy through the preseason, the plan is for the former No. 1 overall pick to be on the floor when the Nets’ season begins, tweets Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Simmons also said he’s willing to play center for his new team (Twitter link via Zagoria).

Stephen Curry Would Have Supported Kevin Durant Trade

September 12th, 2022 at 9:50am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant is still in Brooklyn after his trade request dominated the news for most of the summer. No one was willing to meet the Nets‘ high asking price, but Stephen Curry tells Matt Sullivan of Rolling Stone that he would have gladly welcomed Durant back to the Warriors.

Golden State was believed to be in a strong position to bid for Durant because of the team’s collection of young talent and draft assets. Curry revealed that there was “a conversation internally” involving Warriors management and selected players about pursuing a trade, and he was completely on board.

“I was never hesitant,” Curry said. “The idea of playing with KD and knowing who he is as a person, from our history in those three years, I think KD’s a really good dude. I think he is misunderstood. I think he has had certain things happen in his life that hurt his ability to trust people around him, in a sense of making him feel safe at all times. So all of those things, I understand, having played with him and gotten to know him. I love that dude.

“And if you said, ‘Oh, KD’s coming back, and we’re gonna play with him,’ I had so much fun playing with him those three years, I’d be like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ Then you have to think: What does that actually mean? What does it look like? You tell me I’m playing with [Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Draymond Green], I’m like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ There’s all types of emotion and things that happen to the league. And if anybody’s saying that you wouldn’t entertain that conversation — no disrespect to anybody on our team — but you don’t know how things work. But you also understand, like, if we run this thing back, I’ve got complete confidence in my team that we can win it again, as constructed.

“So, all those things were true. And it started with me wanting to play with KD at the beginning. Yeah, it’s about winning, it’s about having fun, playing the game of basketball. And that was part of the reaction of, like, ‘Yeah, it’d be amazing.’ What does that actually mean?”

The Warriors were extremely successful during Durant’s three years with the franchise, winning two NBA titles and losing in the 2019 Finals amid bad luck with injuries. He averaged 25.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists over those three seasons and was named Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018.

However, Durant was heavily criticized for his 2016 free agency decision to join Warriors, who were coming off a record-setting regular season and a seven-game loss in the NBA Finals. There were also outward signs of unhappiness, especially in his final year in the Bay Area. Durant ultimately made the decision to head to Brooklyn when he became a free agent again after the 2018/19 season.

One of Durant’s current Nets teammates is Seth Curry, who said he talked to his brother about the possibility of Durant returning to Golden State.

“For him to even be entertaining the thought of having KD back on the team kind of speaks to his character,” Seth told Rolling Stone in July. “Who knows? I might be in the trade with him.”

Sullivan also recounts a conversation that Stephen Curry had with Snoop Dogg regarding what Curry viewed as Durant’s unrealistic expectations of how much talent a team would have remaining after trading for him. Curry concluded that under the circumstances, Durant’s best move was to stay with Brooklyn.

Nets Notes: Durant, Marks, Nash, Simmons, Curry

August 11th, 2022 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Kevin Durant‘s four-year contract extension with the Nets, which he signed last year, went into effect the day after he made his trade request and includes advance payment language that required the team to cut him a hefty pay check on July 1, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story.

As we noted earlier today in our list of this season’s highest-paid players, Durant is owed a $42,969,845 base salary in 2022/23. According to Stein, the star forward’s contract calls for him to receive 50% of that figure ($21,484,922) in a pair of installments on July 1 and October 1. That means that Durant received $10,742,461 from the Nets on the day after he asked the team to trade him.

As Stein observes, the fact that Durant is owed another $10.7MM+ on October 1 adds another layer of drama to the question of whether or not he’ll show up for training camp during the last week of September if he hasn’t been traded by then. If he doesn’t report, it’s possible the Nets would decide to withhold that payment.

Here’s more out of Brooklyn:

Elsewhere in his Substack story, Stein says there’s a growing belief among rival teams that Durant knew Nets owner Joe Tsai wouldn’t actually fire GM Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash when KD made his ultimatum. One prevailing theory, according to Stein, is that Durant is trying to sow discord in an effort to make the Nets lower their asking price and trade him “out of exasperation.” If that’s the endgame, it doesn’t appear to being according to plan so far.
ESPN and ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy said during a Sirius XM Radio appearance that he believes the relationship between Durant and the Nets (including Marks and Nash) can still be salvaged.
“I think it would be an awkward couple of days and then you win three in a row because I think if (Ben) Simmons comes back, (Joe) Harris comes back, (Kyrie) Irving is in a right space and is able to play and Durant comes back, they’ve got a really good team,” Van Gundy said, per Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. “And so winning helps camouflage any bad feelings and so I don’t think it will be as bad for as long as people might suspect on the outside.”
Simmons and Seth Curry are both eligible for contract extensions with the Nets, but Alex Schiffer of The Athletic doesn’t expect Brooklyn to lock up either player until the team has more clarity on its future. Even if the Nets get resolution on Durant and Irving, it seems unlikely they’d pursue an extension with Simmons, who has yet to play a game for the club and still has two years left on his current contract, but Curry – a free agent in 2023 – would be a logical candidate for a new deal.

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