Tom Thibodeau

Atlantic Notes: Maxey, Brown, Tatum, Knicks, Barnes

November 20th, 2024 at 10:09pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Sixers All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey explains his thinking behind some of his comments during a team meeting on Monday, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. Philadelphia had fallen to a 2-11 record after a defeat against the Heat and former Sixers star small forward Jimmy Butler.

Maxey reportedly called out All-NBA Philadelphia center Joel Embiid for tardiness issues and occasional unexcused absences.

“I wanted to speak up,” Maxey said. “I felt the need to do that because I wanted to share that we are better than what we have shown on the floor. There was a lot said, but it is what it is. We said what we had to say and we have to figure out a way to move on to the rest of the season. Everyone understands what’s at stake. Everyone is feeling the hurt.”

Despite an awful start to their season, the Sixers reportedly do not plan to fire either head coach Nick Nurse or general manager Daryl Morey.

Maxey, who had missed Philadelphia’s last six games, suited up alongside fellow All-Stars Embiid and Paul George for the first time this season against Memphis on Wednesday.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

On Tuesday, Celtics All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum helped Boston to end the Cavaliers‘ 15-game winning streak to open the year with beefed-up, physical defense, writes Jay King of The Athletic. “I thought both of them handled the pressure and the physicality well,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We played a little bit slower, but it was more important to get to the proper spacing. It was more important to get our drive-and-kick reads. And they did a great balance of handling the pressure, driving to attack, driving to get to the free-throw line, driving to find guys.” By dropping Cleveland’s record to 15-1, the reigning champs proved that Boston remains the class of the conference until further notice, opines Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
The Knicks are finally starting to mesh after a shaky 2024/25 season start, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. New York is currently riding high on a three-game win streak. “Just gelling, continuity, getting more acclimated with each other,” new trade acquisition Karl-Anthony Towns said of the club’s improvement. “Just understanding what everyone’s going to do and how they’re going to cut and just building trust with each other.” Begley notes that head coach Tom Thibodeau continues to reiterate how much he liked the fit of free agent guard Landry Shamet with New York. Shamet, signed to a training camp deal, was cut after suffering a shoulder injury during the preseason. He has been rehabilitating while with New York’s Westchester NBAGL affiliate. Begley anticipates that, should Shamet recover, he will have a home with the Knicks.
Raptors All-Star forward Scottie Barnes was cleared to fully participate in practice Wednesday for the first time since suffering an orbital bone fracture last month. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca notes that Barnes’ eventual return could give Toronto a sense of what it has in its present core. The team’s intended starting five of Barnes, Gradey Dick, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl has not logged a single minute together yet this season. Grange notes that Barnes will be on a minutes restriction and will don protective goggles when he does return, at first. “We all know how to play with each other,” Barnes said. “We had some reps at it, but we couldn’t get that many due to some injuries. But now we all know how to fit in with each other, play with each other, get each other going, and we know what we all like. We’ve been at it for a little while. We’ll get things going with time.”

Eastern Notes: Schröder, Thibodeau, Allen, Rivers, Horst

November 12th, 2024 at 8:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dennis Schröder is playing some of the best ball of his career and he isn’t oblivious to the fact that he could be playing elsewhere at some point this season, the Nets guard told Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

“I’ve been in the league 12 years, and people have talked about my name in trade talks for 12 years. [And] I’ve been traded twice,” Schröder said. “… So [gossip] is going to happen. They use it as an event where they can promote who is on the block. I don’t really care.

“But I’ve bought into this system right now because they pay my checks, and I’m doing my job every single day, and I’m always professional about it, always going to make the most out of it. Get one percent better every single day. And whatever happens, happens. I understand it’s a business, but no worries here.”

Schröder, who is averaging 19.5 points and 6.2 assists per game, has an expiring $13MM contract.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

The Knicks depleted their depth with some blockbuster moves this offseason and coach Tom Thibodeau has shown a reluctance to trust his reserves, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. In their last three losses, Thibodeau basically ran a six-man rotation in the second half with Miles McBride as the lone reserve receiving meaningful playing time.
The Cavaliers will look to stay unbeaten on Wednesday at Philadelphia but they could go without their starting center. Jarrett Allen is listed as questionable due to a lower left leg strain, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Allen appeared a little hobbled on Monday, according to Fedor, when he was limited to nine points, five rebounds and one block in 26 minutes against Chicago.
It’s unlikely that Doc Rivers is on the hot seat after the Bucks’ 2-8 start, considering Rivers received a four-year, $40MM contract after Adrian Griffin was fired in midseason, according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick. General manager Jon Horst is under pressure after a few disappointing seasons, and league sources told Amick that there’s skepticism he’d be given the leeway to make another coaching change this soon.

New York Notes: Brunson, Towns, Anunoby, Claxton, Nets

November 3rd, 2024 at 1:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Knicks All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have benefited greatly from being coaches’ sons, writes Steven Popper of Newsday.

Brunson’s father, former nine-year NBA point guard Rick Brunson, is currently an assistant coach guiding his son in New York.

“I think when you’re the son of a coach, regardless of what level, I think you’re consistently talking about what you can do to be better,” Brunson said. “For the most part, at least from my experience, I don’t think there’s any trick to it. It’s just that you’re in this constant mode of learning. Since you have that since you’re a kid, you learn more, you understand more. I don’t know. It’s just more of a natural feel.”

Towns’ father, Karl Towns Sr., was a standout player at Monmouth University before becoming a coach at Piscataway Technical High School.

“I think it’s just a credit to my father,” Towns said. “He was a high school coach, a damn good one, too, in Jersey, Piscataway. Just being with him every single day, just watching him coach and just garnering IQ every single day, learning the right way to play the game of basketball, ways you could help your team win, and the way he taught me. So that’s a shoutout to my father for being the man who taught me the game of basketball at this level.”

There’s more out of the Big Apple:

Knicks forward OG Anunoby has been an absolutely critical defensive contributor for New York this season, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. According to Bondy, Anunoby seems to be channeling the defensive versatility of an All-Star former Tom Thibodeau charge, Luol Deng. “Each player is unique, and there are things about him that are so unique and different: His size, his strength, his speed, his anticipation, his ability to read and to see things ahead,” Thibodeau said. “And he knows how to read plays. If someone is loose with the ball, he’s very active with his hands. Disruptive off the ball but also very good on the ball, and he’s super long. So he can fly by you and he can come back into the play and still impact the shot.”
Nets center Nic Claxton has been grappling with a minutes restriction all year as he deals with a lingering hamstring issue. That appears likely to change sooner rather than later, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “Right now, we just want to see him play consistently every game but also play more minutes,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “It’s going to happen. Obviously, I’m not going to tell when at the end of the day, but [everyone] will see it.”
Surprisingly, the Nets have gotten off to a solid 3-3 start this season. Lewis writes in another piece that a lot of this early success is a credit to Brooklyn’s clutch fourth-quarter defense. “We’re not there yet,” Fernandez said modestly of the club’s defensive growth. “It’s in process. We know that all these high-level defensive teams, playoff teams — Orlando, Celtics, Minnesota — they’re very good in pressuring the ball and very physical. It’s a process. It’s not like in one day, you’ll become those type of teams. You have to go through it. But yeah, we have to do better at the rim.”

Knicks Notes: Towns, Thibodeau, McCullar, DiVincenzo

October 4th, 2024 at 12:18pm CST by Rory Maher

Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns was understandably stunned by the blockbuster trade that sent him to the Knicks after spending his first nine seasons in Minnesota, writes Chris Herring of ESPN. Still, Towns believes his familiarity with head coach Tom Thibodeau, his former coach with the Wolves, should make the transition to New York a little smoother.

“I think it gives us a little bit of a head start,” Towns said of his relationship with Thibodeau. “I know the offense he likes to run. I know the way he likes to play defense and what he expects from his players.”

Towns, who is from New Jersey, has several other ties to the Knicks — president of basketball operations Leon Rose is his former agent, another executive, William Wesley, has known Towns for over a decade and remains a family friend, and senior VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas was Minnesota’s top basketball executive after Thibodeau’s exit. Towns’ first stint with Thibodeau was rocky, but the 28-year-old said they settled their differences “years ago,” and a source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Post that Thibodeau was fully on board with the trade.

“He’s a lot more experienced,” Thibodeau said of Towns. “I think all those experiences teaches you a lot. He’s been through a lot of different things now, so he’s bringing all those experiences here.

“I think as with most players, now he’s had experience being deep in the playoffs. He knows what that’s like. As much as you try to prepare for it, until you go through it, you don’t fully understand what it is and I think his understanding is much further along now than it was his second year in the league, and his skill set is so unique. I think he fits well with everybody.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

James L. Edwards III and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic take an in-depth look at how Towns and Thibodeau repaired their relationship and now have a second chance to find success together. “There is some benefit to having coached him before and to know who he is as a person, but, also, that was more than five years ago,” Thibodeau said. “He’s in a different place, he’s a different player. There is going to be a learning curve and we have to adjust quickly.”
Rookie Kevin McCullar, who sustained a knee injury at Kansas prior to the draft, traveled with the Knicks to Charleston, South Carolina, for training camp. However, he hasn’t been an active participant as he continues to rehab from the injury, league sources tell Edwards of The Athletic (Twitter link). A 6’5″ wing who was selected 56th overall in June, McCullar is on a two-way contract with New York.
Donte DiVincenzo, who was sent to Minnesota in the Towns trade, recently sent out a thank you message to Knicks fans, as Ian Begley of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter).
In case you missed it, the Knicks have reunited with Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing. You can find the full story right here.

New York Notes: Finney-Smith, Load Management, Kolek, Towns, Tsai

October 3rd, 2024 at 9:20am CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith is irritated by the notion that the team will just mail it in this season, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes.

“Me, Dennis Schröder, we were talking and we just want everybody to know that we ain’t deferring to just tank or whatever,” Finney-Smith said. “They’re saying we’re going to win 17 games. I feel like this team should take that as disrespect, and use it as motivation. People don’t know how healthy Ben (Simmons) is going to be. But we’ve been seeing him for the last four weeks and he looks great. So, if bro gets back on the court I feel like it’s gonna help our team a lot, and we’re going to shake the NBA.”

We have more on the New York teams:

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t a fan of load management. Despite some injuries late in the regular season and playoffs last season, Thibodeau isn’t planning to give players nights off if they’re healthy enough to take the court, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “Every team has injuries. You just deal with them,” he said. “That’s part of pro sports. So some years you don’t have any injuries, some you do. So whatever your reality is, you deal with it.”
Second-round pick Tyler Kolek made a strong impression during Summer League competition and continued to endear himself to the Knicks‘ coaching staff prior to camp. “Obviously, we drafted him (with the 34th pick), there’s a lot of things we liked about him so we’re anxious to see him in training camp and we’ll see where it goes from there,” Thibodeau said, per Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. “I’ve always said the first step for a rookie coming in is to learn how to be a pro and he’s already exhibited great qualities. He’s in the gym all the time, hard worker, coming in multiple times a day, so he’ll give himself the best shot possible and he’s already adding value to the team.”
With the Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster deal official, the Knicks regulars can soon start building chemistry with the high-scoring big man. Josh Hart has already got a picture in his mind of how Towns can make them more dangerous, Bondy writes in a separate story. ““For me, I haven’t played with that many shooting bigs in my career so I’m looking forward to someone we can isolate on the post, make good decisions, put the ball in the basket,” Hart said. “I’m going to tell him whenever I get a rebound and run, just trail to the 3-point line. I’m sure he’ll get some open 3s that way. It’s going to take some time just to get the feeling down. Obviously (Jalen Brunson), Mikal (Bridges), myself, we played together for a while. OG (Anunoby) played with [Brunson] and myself for a handful of games. It’s going to take a little bit and that’s what training camp and preseason are for — so we can hit the ground running on opening day.”
Nets owner Joe Tsai is close to acquiring a 3% stake in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Net Income relays via a Bloomberg News report. Tsai’s investment company is making the purchase from New York real estate developer Steve Ross. The Miami Grand Prix, Ross’ Formula 1 racing event, is also part of the deal.

Knicks’ Thibodeau Talks Offseason, Randle, Centers, More

September 17th, 2024 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau acknowledged that losing Isaiah Hartenstein leaves a hole to fill in his rotation but expressed satisfaction with the front office’s work this offseason on the whole.

“Obviously the OG signing was huge for us. And then adding Mikal was phenomenal,” Thibodeau said of re-signing OG Anunoby and trading for Mikal Bridges. “Getting Julius (Randle) back will be huge as well. We lost Hartenstein, which is what we’ll have to replace. But I think we have versatility, where we can play smaller at times because of OG’s ability to guard big. Julius and (Josh) Hart can guard big as well.”

As Thibodeau pointed out, the fact that players like Anunoby and Bridges are capable of defending a wide range of positions will give the Knicks the ability to switch frequently on defense and force opponents to settle for lower-percentage shots.

The Knicks’ head coach discussed several more topics with Aschburner, including what makes Jalen Brunson special, Randle’s return to action following his shoulder surgery, and how he envisions replacing Hartenstein’s production in the frontcourt.

The conversation is worth checking out in full for Knicks fans, but here are a few highlights:

On how adding Bridges to Anunoby on the wing will help the defense:

“What it adds to us is the versatility of both allows us to give different looks to a primary ball handler. We’ve been playing Donte (DiVincenzo) on those guys to start. Now we can come after that with Bridges, then OG, then Hart. We can constantly change up our look for who’s guarding that ball-handler. Also, OG and Hart are very disruptive off the ball, so I like to use them that way. The versatility of the defense will be a big thing for us.”

On why he’s optimistic about Randle’s outlook for 2024/25:

“I think Julius has always adapted to whatever challenge he’s faced each year. People forget the level that he’s played at. Four years ago, he had a monster season and we didn’t have the shooting we have now, so the floor is going to be more open. We got a glimpse of that in January, which was his last month of basketball.

“People forget the guy was 25 (points), 10 (rebounds), and five (assists per game). He’s had a lot of success and he’s been a big part of winning the last four years in New York. The more good players you have, the more sacrifices you have to make. Not only by Julius, by everybody.”

On what he expects the frontcourt rotation to look like without Hartenstein to back up starter Mitchell Robinson:

“We’ll probably have to do it by committee. We’ll look at some different things, because we have versatility — we could see Julius more at the five. I don’t want to do that for long stretches, it would take its toll, but to have him do it for 10 or 15 minutes, I think he can do it well. He also would create a lot of (offensive) advantages.”

And-Ones: 2024/25 Awards, Gaston, Underrated Offseason Moves, Thomas

August 21st, 2024 at 6:15pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Entering the 2024/25 season, the top three finalists for last year’s MVP appear to once again be the leading candidates for the award. A panel of ESPN’s sportswriters and analysts predict how the upcoming season’s award season will pan out and Luka Doncic received 48% of first-place votes for Most Valuable Player (ESPN+ link). Nikola Jokic, the reigning MVP, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander round out the top three.

Neither of the 2024 draft’s top two picks crack ESPN’s top five Rookie of the Year predictions. Houston’s Reed Sheppard is the overwhelming favorite among the finalists, earning 62% of first place votes. Zach Edey and Donovan Clingan round out the top three. As explained in the article, Sheppard potentially playing big minutes right away for a team with playoff aspirations may have factored into the voting.

Another race ESPN’s writers don’t think will be close is that of the Defensive Player of the Year award. Victor Wembanyama is the overwhelming favorite with 67% of first-place votes, with Bam Adebayo (14%) and Rudy Gobert (5%) rounding out the top three. Wembanyama made an immediate impact on the defensive end last season, putting up multiple outings with video game-level box scores en route to averaging 1.2 steals and 3.6 blocks as a rookie.

As usual, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player and Coach of the Year had less of a consensus in terms of preseason favorites. Malik Monk and Alex Caruso lead the way for the Sixth Man award, but Naz Reid, Jaime Jaquez, T.J. McConnell and Bobby Portis all earned at least 10% of the first-place votes. Wembanyama and other young players were atop the list of Most Improved candidates, while Coby White, who finished second in MIP voting last season, also ranked highly. After his team made several moves this offseason, New York’s Tom Thibodeau led the way in votes for the top coach spot.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Former CEO of Family First agency, Chris Gaston, is making the move to Octagon Basketball, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Gaston is the agent of former NBAers Damyean Dotson, Chris Smith and Josh Gray. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo are among current NBA players repped by Octagon.
The Mavericks trading Tim Hardaway Jr. and second-round picks for Quentin Grimes is one of the more underrated moves of the offseason, John Hollinger of The Athletic opines. Moving Hardaway not only brought in a young wing in Grimes but it also set the stage for Dallas to have enough cap flexibility to sign Naji Marshall and acquire Klay Thompson. Another underrated move in Hollinger’s eyes was Phoenix adding Tyus Jones, which gave the Suns a starting-caliber point guard without sacrificing any further draft capital. Other moves Hollinger liked were the Warriors‘ additions, The Rockets‘ draft capital maneuvering and the Timberwolves‘ trade to move into the top 10 of this year’s draft.
Brodric Thomas is the latest player to join the G League United roster for the September exhibition tournament, as announced by the league (Twitter link). Thomas has appeared in 44 games across two NBA seasons with Houston, Cleveland and Boston. The tournament is set to take place on Sept. 4 and 6 against KK Mega Basket.

Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Brown, Celtics, Mogbo, Raptors, Thibs

July 25th, 2024 at 10:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Chris Mannix of SI.com about his relationship with longtime teammate Jaylen Brown, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said he never wanted Brown traded, but admitted that he could have expressed that sentiment more vocally earlier in his career as trade rumors swirled around the 2016 lottery pick.

“I’ve always told him that maybe I could have done a better job of voicing my feelings in the public eye,” Tatum said. “He always knew that I wanted him here. I would always tell him like, ‘Man, I don’t get involved with any of those talks.’

“I never went to (Celtics president of basketball operations) Brad (Stevens) or went to any player like, ‘Yo, I want this guy in, I want this guy out of here.’ I show up and I want to do my job and play basketball. And looking back on in those moments, I didn’t know how that could affect somebody, because I was never in that situation. I feel like maybe I could have done a better job of publicly saying, ‘No, we don’t want anybody, we want JB.’ I just was always like, ‘I want to stay out of it.'”

The Celtics made it to the Eastern Conference Finals or NBA Finals in five of Brown’s first seven seasons, but were unable to break through and win a championship until 2024. Now that they have that title under their belt, Tatum is relieved that he and Brown should no longer have to face questions about whether it can thrive together and win at the highest level.

“We’ve figured out that we need each other,” Tatum told Mannix. “We have learned how to coexist. And we know we need to be the best version of ourselves in order for all of this to work. We weren’t necessarily the best play-makers early in our careers but we developed into guys that really bleed the game. We want to be a great example of guys that play on both ends as a floor and guys who are the best teammates that we can be.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

After locking up most of their rotation players to multiyear deals, the Celtics project to have the NBA’s first ever $500MM roster in 2025/26, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes. That $500MM+ figure, which includes both player salaries and luxury tax penalties, will loom large over the organization as the team looks to defend its title and the ownership group looks to sell a controlling stake in the franchise.
Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca takes a closer look at the unconventional path that Raptors rookie Jonathan Mogbo – the No. 31 pick in this year’s draft – took to the NBA and details how the 6’7″ forward boosted his stock significantly during the pre-draft process. According to Lewenberg, entering the second day of the draft, the Raptors did some extra homework on the projected first-round picks who were still available after day one – such as Kyle Filipowski and Johnny Furphy – but ultimately decided they preferred Mogbo, whom they’d ranked in the early 20s. Eventual No. 41 pick Adem Bona was also high on Toronto’s board and received some consideration at the start of the second round, Lewenberg adds.
Tom Thibodeau‘s new three-year extension with the Knicks doesn’t include any option years, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv. While Begley doesn’t have the full salary details on Thibodeau’s new deal, he says it’s is “in line with the current market for head coaches” (Twitter link).

Knicks, Tom Thibodeau Agree To Three-Year Extension

July 24th, 2024 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau have reached an agreement on a three-year extension, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Thibodeau had one year left on his current contract, so the new deal will begin 2025 and will run through the 2027/28 season.

An extension for Thibodeau had been expected for much of the offseason after he led a banged-up roster to its second consecutive Eastern Conference semifinal this spring.

The Knicks have finished at least 10 games above .500 in three of Thibodeau’s four years at the helm, compiling a 175-143 (.550) regular season record during that time, including a 50-32 mark in 2023/24, which was the team’s best single-season record in over a decade.

As Wojnarowski observes (via Twitter), New York was one of just four teams to finish in the NBA’s top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency in ’23/24. The NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2011 (with the Bulls) and 2021 (with the Knicks), Thibodeau finished fifth in voting for the award this season.

Thibodeau’s extension is the latest major move in what has been an eventful offseason for the Knicks’ front office. The team kicked off the summer by making a deal with the cross-town Nets to land Mikal Bridges, then locked up top free agent OG Anunoby to a five-year contract and signed All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson to a below-market, long-term extension.

The financial terms of Thibodeau’s extension aren’t yet known. There has been speculation that his new contract will exceed $10MM per year, given the eight-figure annual salaries that coaches like Monty Williams, Erik Spoelstra, Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, Mike Budenholzer, and Tyronn Lue have received since last spring.

Stein’s Latest: Kuminga, Podziemski, Markkanen, Jones, Thibodeau, Dinwiddie, Morris

July 21st, 2024 at 5:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

There’s a growing belief in league circles that the Warriors are more willing to trade Jonathan Kuminga than Brandin Podziemski in a blockbuster deal for Lauri Markkanen or another impact player, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack notebook.

Rumors of Golden State’s interest in Markkanen have been floated for weeks. According to Stein’s sources, the Jazz have enough interest in a package of Podziemski and future draft compensation that they could move Markkanen before Aug. 6, when Markkanen becomes eligible to renegotiate and extend his contract. He has an expiring $18MM deal.

The Warriors are reluctant to part with Podziemski not only because of how highly they value his on-court contributions but also for financial reasons. He has three years left on his rookie contract while Kuminga is eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason. Any raise for Podziemski wouldn’t come onto the books until the contracts of Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins expire in the summer of 2027.

Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes and Franz Wagner — members of the same rookie class as Kuminga — have all signed max extensions. It’s unlikely Golden State will make that type of offer to him, but he’s due for a large raise.

It remains to be seen if adding Kuminga to a trade package would move the needle for Utah’s front office. Thus far, Golden State’s offers for Markkanen have centered around a combination of Moses Moody and other contracts, plus draft compensation, without including Podziemski or Kuminga, Stein adds.

The Warriors wouldn’t be able to immediately extend Markkanen since renegotiation-and-extension scenarios are only available to teams with cap space. But their continued interest in him suggests they’re confident they can lock him up long-term next offseason if they acquire him.

Here’s more from Stein:

Carlik Jones‘ triple-double for South Sudan against Team USA could lead to renewed interest from NBA teams. Jones recently signed a two-year deal with Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade but the contract includes an NBA escape clause, valid through Thursday. Jones was the NBA G League MVP for the 2022/23 season, when he had a two-way deal with the Bulls. Last season, Jones played in China for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls.
Expect a contract extension for Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau in the near future. Thibodeau would be entering the final season of his original five-year contract without an extension but he’s expected to sign a new deal with a value of at least $10MM annually.
The Mavericks have a roster opening and they’re interested in re-signing Spencer Dinwiddie. Two other guards, Dennis Smith Jr. and Talen Horton-Tucker, are also under consideration but Dinwiddie is believed to be the team’s top choice. They’re also interested in retaining forward Markieff Morris, who is considered a lock to return, says Stein.

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