Willie Green Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Fire David Griffin

April 14th, 2025 at 10:18am CST by Arthur Hill

The Pelicans have dismissed head of basketball operations David Griffin, the team announced in a press release. Griffin was given the news this morning following a disappointing 21-61 season.

“After considerable thought and evaluation, I have decided to relieve David Griffin of his duties as executive vice president of basketball operations,” team governor Gayle Benson said. “This was a difficult decision, but one that I feel is necessary at this time to bring a fresh approach to our front office and build a culture that will deliver sustainable success, on and off the court.

“I am committed to hiring the right person to lead our basketball operations department and deliver an NBA Championship to our city. That is what our fans deserve. I am truly appreciative of David for his leadership and many contributions to the Pelicans organization and the New Orleans community over the last six years. We wish David and his wife, Meredith, and their family all the best moving forward.”

The move isn’t a surprise, as Griffin had been telling members of his staff to “brace for his exit” over the weekend, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). There had been reports that Griffin’s job was in jeopardy and that the organization wanted a new direction in its front office.

Head coach Willie Green will remain in place for now, per Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), as the Pelicans prepare to conduct a league-wide search for their next lead basketball operations executive. Green told reporters on Sunday that there haven’t been any discussions about his future with the team. His status will be determined after Griffin’s replacement is hired, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic.

Fischer hears that Green could be a candidate to replace Mike Budenholzer if the Suns decide to make a coaching change (Twitter link). Those rumors stem from Green’s relationships with team owner Mat Ishbia and star Devin Booker, adds NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link).

Griffin spent six years with the Pelicans, compiling a 209-263 record with two playoff appearances. The team won the lottery shortly after he was hired in 2019 and drafted Zion Williamson with the No. 1 pick. Although that seemed like incredibly good fortune at the time, Williamson’s injury-plagued career ultimately played a huge role in getting Griffin fired.

Griffin also had a run of bad luck with injuries throughout this season. Dejounte Murray, who was his major offseason acquisition, broke his hand on opening night and suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear in late January. The trade that brought Murray from Atlanta began to look like a huge mistake as Dyson Daniels became a Defensive Player of the Year candidate with the Hawks. Meanwhile, New Orleans dropped near the bottom of the league as Herbert Jones, Brandon Ingram and Trey Murphy also missed significant time due to injuries.

The cumulative effect convinced ownership that a change had to be made.

“While our focus is a championship on the court,” Benson added, “we are also making sure that we do the same off the court, by continuing to prioritize the fan experience, and ensuring our games are easily accessible across our entire Gulf South region on multiple convenient platforms. In addition, we are working to determine the best path forward to transform the Smoothie King Center into the best arena in the NBA. We look forward to delivering on these priorities for our fans.”

Willie Green: No Discussions Yet On Future With Pelicans

April 14th, 2025 at 8:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Head coach Willie Green talked about his uncertain future after the Pelicans closed out the season by losing to Oklahoma City Sunday afternoon, writes Brett Martel of The Associated Press. The loss ended a disappointing year for Green’s injury-ravaged team, which began the campaign with playoff aspirations, but would up with the second-worst record in the West and the fourth worst in the league at 21-61.

“I haven’t had any discussions, any talks yet,” Green said. “I didn’t do great great. I have to take full ownership of where we are as a team. We failed. I failed.”

Green is 148-180 in four seasons with New Orleans with two playoff appearances, advancing through the play-in tournament last year and in 2022. He was 40 when he was hired in 2021 to his first head coaching job after spending three years as an assistant with Golden State and Phoenix. He told reporters that he hopes the team’s decision makers will consider his entire four-year record.

“I think that’s important. You try to look at the body of work,” Green said. “But I didn’t give myself this job. I had to be chosen for this position, and I’m grateful.”

A wave of injuries to key players took away any chance the Pelicans had of being competitive. After playing in 70 games in 2023/24, star forward Zion Williamson was limited to 30 due to several health issues, with a strained hamstring being the worst. Dejounte Murray, who was acquired in a trade last summer, broke his hand on opening night and suffered a torn Achilles in late January, limiting him to 31 games.

A shoulder injury forced Herbert Jones to miss 62 games. An injured ankle limited Brandon Ingram to 18 games before he was traded to Toronto in February. Multiple injuries sidelined Trey Murphy for 29 games.

Although the injuries help to explain the Pelicans’ downfall, that may not be enough to save Green or head of basketball operations David Griffin, whose job is also rumored to be in jeopardy. Griffin didn’t speak to reporters after Sunday’s game, according to Martel.

Whether they involve the front office, coaching staff or players, changes are expected in New Orleans during the offseason.

“We truly don’t know who’s going back. I’m just trying to be honest with you,” Murphy said. “Nobody is safe.”

Stein/Fischer’s Latest: Griffin, Green, Suns, Beal, More

April 13th, 2025 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

There has been buzz around the NBA this weekend about the future in New Orleans, where the futures of Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin and head coach Willie Green appear tenuous, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). League sources tell The Stein Line that some people around the league are “undeniably bracing” for Griffin’s exit from the franchise, with Green also said to be on the hot seat.

While injuries were once again a significant factor this season, it has been a disappointing run in recent years for the Pelicans, who haven’t been able to capitalize on getting the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft and acquiring significant trade hauls for Anthony Davis (in 2019) and Jrue Holiday (2020). The club has made the playoffs in only two of the past six seasons and won just two total games in those postseason appearances.

Dyson Daniels‘ rise in Atlanta this season, after he was sent to the Hawks in last summer’s Dejounte Murray trade, has been a “source of tension” within the Pelicans organization, Stein and Fischer say, noting that Green has been questioned internally for having often leaned on Jose Alvarado over Daniels from 2022-24.

Still, Stein and Fischer caution that there were “whispers” about Green’s job being in danger following New Orleans’ 5-29 start in the fall and he has made it through the season, so there’s a chance he could be retained through the offseason too. He’s known to hold “significant support” from owner Gayle Benson, according to The Stein Line.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein and Fischer:

While it’s somewhat rare for a team to clean house by firing its head of basketball operations and head coach at the same time, Denver did it last week and the Suns have been “painted” as a team that could follow suit, write Stein and Fischer. General manager James Jones has been atop the front office hierarchy since 2018, whereas head coach Mike Budenholzer just joined the organization on a five-year contract in 2024.
In addition to exploring a Kevin Durant trade, the Suns are “known to be trying to extricate themselves” from the final two years of Bradley Beal‘s contract, Stein and Fischer confirm. That will be easier said than done, given his no-trade clause and the $111MM he’s still owed. But for what it’s worth, plugged-in Phoenix insider John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 said last week that there’s a “zero percent change” Beal will be back on the Suns next season (Twitter link).
If Chauncey Billups hadn’t signed a contract extension with the Trail Blazers, there was a belief he might emerge as a candidate in Phoenix and/or Denver, according to Fischer and Stein. It remains to be seen whether the Suns will make a coaching change this spring, but some of their players were said last May to be high on Billups. The Nuggets, meanwhile, will definitely have a coaching vacancy, but it’s unclear whether or not they would have targeted Billups — as Fischer and Stein explain, there was a sense that Billups, a Denver native, would have been interested in that job if Portland hadn’t retained him.
Berlin, Germany and London, England are viewed as the frontrunners among European cities to host NBA regular season games next season, with Manchester also believed to be in consideration, per The Stein Line.

And-Ones: P. Gasol, Head Coaches, Tanking, Incentives

April 1st, 2025 at 10:33am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA star Pau Gasol is gaining momentum to become the CEO of the NBA’s proposed European league, according to a report from Eurohoops. Citing Gasol’s “strong links” to both the NBA and European basketball, a league source tells Eurohoops that the idea of the Spaniard taking on the CEO role for the new league has “universal approval” among the NBA’s governors.

A six-time All-Star and two-time champion in the NBA, Gasol played for FC Barcelona at the start and the end of his professional career, winning Spanish League championships in 1999, 2001, and 2021. He also compiled a lengthy list of accomplishments in international tournaments, winning three Olympic medals (two silvers, one bronze), a World Cup title, and three EuroBasket championships with Spain’s national team.

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

The Grizzlies and Kings currently employ interim head coaches and will be looking to name a permanent coach after the season. Tim Bontemps of ESPN breaks down the pros and cons of the jobs in Memphis and Sacramento, while Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers which other head coaches might be on the hot seat this spring, including Willie Green of the Pelicans and Chauncey Billups of the Trail Blazers.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic is the latest NBA writer to propose suggestions for how the league could address its tanking problem. Vorkunov’s ideas include having the lottery determine the top eight picks (instead of four), further flattening the lottery odds, and automatically assigning the two worst teams the fourth and fifth overall picks.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks highlights some incentive clauses in player contracts to keep an eye on during the season’s final two weeks, including Rockets forward Dillon Brooks ($1MM) and Timberwolves forward Julius Randle ($1.4MM) getting bonuses for their teams making the playoffs. Magic forward Jonathan Isaac must appear in at least four of Orlando’s final six games to reach the 70-game threshold, which would assure him of a $2.6MM bonus, Marks notes.

Southwest Notes: Gafford, Lively, Morant, Bane, Aldama, Borrego

March 30th, 2025 at 8:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks, who hold the ninth spot in the Western Conference, are getting healthy just in time for a possible postseason berth.

Center Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain) has been upgraded to probable for Monday’s matchup against the Nets, Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal tweets. Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture) is considered questionable to play.

As we noted on Saturday, Gafford, who has shared starting duties with Lively this season, sustained a Grade 3 MCL sprain in his right knee on February 10 and has been on the shelf for the Mavericks’ past 21 games. Lively hasn’t played since January 14, having suffered a stress fracture in his right ankle.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant is no longer listed on the injury report, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. Memphis faces the red-hot Celtics on Monday. Morant missed two weeks of action due to a hamstring injury before returning on Saturday, when he racked up 22 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in 31 minutes in a loss to the Lakers.
Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane said there’s no lingering effects from his altercation with teammate Santi Aldama during the team’s win over Utah on Tuesday. Bane shoved Aldama during a timeout and reportedly called out the forward for his defensive effort. “Two competitors,” Bane told Jonah Dylan of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’re scratching and clawing against a Utah team on the road. We’re trying to push each other to be better. And that was pretty much that. I probably took it too far. I love Santi. He was in my wedding, I’ll be in his wedding. We talked right on the bench right after, hugged it out in the locker room and everything’s great.”
In an ironic twist, James Borrego filled in for head coach Willie Green on Sunday when the Pelicans faced for Hornets, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer tweets. Green missed the contest due to personal reasons. Borrego was Charlotte’s head coach from 2018-22.

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Davis, Castle, Morant, Aldama, Thompson

March 19th, 2025 at 6:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

In a season that’s been filled with bad nights for the Pelicans, Monday may have been the worst, writes Rod Walker of NOLA.com. New Orleans tied a record for the largest margin of defeat in franchise history, falling to Detroit by 46 points, and lost Trey Murphy early in the game with a shoulder injury that could affect his availability for training camp.

New Orleans trailed by 23 points after the first quarter and 31 points at halftime as the home crowd loudly booed the poor effort. It was the fifth loss of the season by at least 30 points, according to Walker.

Coach Willie Green called his players “soft” after the game and said they “looked like a team that forgot how to play basketball.” He also stressed the importance of continuing to compete, even though the Pelicans have been eliminated from the playoff race.

“I think the start of the game with Trey going down, it kinda rocked us from there,” Green said. “We didn’t have a rhythm offensively and we kinda felt sorry for ourselves a bit. You can’t do that. But it shook our guys up, especially with all we’ve been through this season.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Mavericks were encouraged by Anthony Davis‘ first practice session with their G League affiliate, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. However, coach Jason Kidd cautioned that Davis still has a long way to go in his recovery from a left adductor strain. “He’s trending in the right place,” Kidd said. “He had a positive experience in the practice. He’ll continue to do things this week. Hopefully the outcome continues to be positive. A lot of good things, but he’s still some time away for him being in a game.”
The Spurs have been impressed by Stephon Castle‘s ability to handle the challenges of his rookie season, per Mark Medina of Athlon Sports. The fourth overall pick has experienced the typical ups and downs that most rookies face, but he has managed to stay focused on developing his overall game while playing elite-level defense. “There are definitely All-Defensive awards in his future,” teammate Harrison Barnes said. “It’s just with his ability to guard one through four. And he’s strong. There’s still years before he’s going to fill out his body and be the type of player that he is going to become. But I think that he shows a great aptitude to defend at a very high level.”
Grizzlies guard Ja Morant will miss his third straight game tonight due to left hamstring soreness, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). Santi Aldama has been upgraded to questionable after missing seven of the last eight games with a strained right calf.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka said Amen Thompson was able to participate in contact drills on Tuesday as he attempts to return from a sprained left ankle (Twitter link from Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle). It still hasn’t been decided whether Thompson will play Friday at Miami.

Southwest Notes: Grizzlies/Nets Talks, Green, Wesley, Sengun

December 29th, 2024 at 3:24pm CST by Rory Maher

Before Brooklyn accepted the Lakers’ package, the Grizzlies offered Luke Kennard, John Konchar and a 2025 first-round pick (top-15 protected) to the Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and “second-round considerations,” reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Marc Stein, who first reported Memphis’ interest and subsequent active negotiations with Brooklyn regarding Finney-Smith, stated on Sunday afternoon (Twitter links) that the first-round pick was protected past the lottery. Stein also reported multiple times that Memphis was seeking unspecified second-round compensation in return.

If the 2024/25 season ended today, the Grizzlies’ 2025 first-round pick would land at either No. 26 or No. 27, per Tankathon, as they have the same record (22-10) as New York.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

The injury-ravaged Pelicans continue to struggle mightily this season, currently holding an abysmal 5-27 record. Fair or not, head coach Willie Green will almost certainly be under pressure if and when the roster is healthy, but he says head of basketball operations David Griffin has been supportive to this point in ’24/25, according to Rod Walker of NOLA.com (subscription required). “He’s been great,” Green said of Griffin. “Just staying consistent with hoping our guys continue to get better. We understand the uphill battle that we face as a group with the amount of injuries that we’ve faced this season. Trying to have different lineups, shuffling guys in and out of the lineup. That’s what we are facing this year. Griff’s been great and been supportive. We’ll continue on that path as we progress.”
Third-year guard Blake Wesley has been one of the players squeezed out of playing time with acting Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson choosing to play nine players instead of 10, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscriber link). Wesley got some sporadic minutes with Tre Jones and other regulars injured, but now that Jones is back and the rotation has been shortened, the former first-round pick says he’s going to “stay ready” for when his name is called again. “I’m staying encouraged, staying positive, cheering on the guys,” Wesley said. “Because when my time comes, I want the guys cheering on me too.”
Rockets center Alperen Sengun has been regularly double- and even triple-teamed this season, and he showed why when Minnesota tried to stop him one-on-one on Friday, per Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link). Despite Houston losing the game by one point, Sengun was largely excellent, recording 38 points on 16-of-25 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds in 41 minutes. “We just go game by game,” Sengun said. “When they’re doubling me, I’m just reading the right game, passing. And today they were just letting me play one-on-one so it was my day to go. And then I was aggressive start of the game. I kept that in all game.”

Western Notes: Malone, Brown, Suns, Mavs, Pels, Morant, Kawamura

December 27th, 2024 at 11:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, who was the head coach in Sacramento for a season-and-a-half from 2013-14, didn’t hold back in his criticism of his former employer for the way the Kings handled Mike Brown‘s dismissal, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post relays.

“What really pissed me off about it was that they lost (Thursday) night, fifth game in a row, I believe — tough loss, fouling a jump-shooter — they have practice this morning, he does his post-(practice) media, and he’s in his car going to the airport to fly to L.A.,” Malone said. “And they call him on the phone (to fire him). No class. No balls. That’s what I’ll say about that.”

Malone said he was initially “really shocked and surprised” when he heard that Brown had been fired, but quickly realized the news wasn’t all that unexpected for two reasons.

“One, because as an NBA head coach, ultimately you’re going to get the blame,” Malone said. “When they win, it’s going to go to (Domantas) Sabonis and (De’Aaron) Fox. When you lose, it’s gonna go to Mike Brown. That’s the way it works. And two, who he works for. So I’m not surprised that Mike Brown got fired, because I got fired by the same person.”

We have more from around the Western Conference:

Fines and/or suspensions could be coming after Suns center Jusuf Nurkic and Mavericks forwards Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington were ejected from Friday’s game for their roles in a fourth-quarter altercation (Twitter video link). As Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic details, Nurkic was called for an offensive foul and began heading toward his basket before turning back and exchanging words with Marshall and Washington. The incident escalated when Nurkic slapped Marshall in the side of the head. Marshall responded by throwing a punch at Nurkic as the Suns big man was shoved to the floor by Washington.
In the wake of Thursday’s 17-point home loss to Houston, Pelicans head coach Willie Green bemoaned his club’s “lack of competitiveness,” telling reporters, “We were just soft tonight. Period” (Twitter link via Will Guillory of The Athletic). New Orleans followed up that performance with another loss – its ninth in a row – on Friday at home vs. the Grizzlies and now has a 5-27 record.
Grizzlies star Ja Morant exited Friday’s win over New Orleans early due to a right shoulder ailment. While it didn’t look in the moment like a significant injury, it’s the same shoulder that Morant had surgically repaired last January, so the team figures to play it safe with its franchise player. According to head coach Taylor Jenkins, Morant will be reevaluated within the “next couple days” to determine the severity of the injury, tweets Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com.
Two-way guard Yuki Kawamura has only logged 41 total minutes across 14 outings for the Grizzlies, but the Japanese rookie has made Memphis the NBA’s most popular team in his home country this season. Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal has the story.

Knicks Notes: Cap Situation, Starting Five, Hart, Anunoby

December 23rd, 2024 at 4:40pm CST by Luke Adams

After waiving Matt Ryan and signing Landry Shamet, the Knicks are operating approximately $535K below their hard cap for the 2024/25 season.

Ryan will count toward the cap for $621,439 in dead money, while Shamet’s new cap hit is $1,343,690, though he’ll technically earn $1,682,008 if he remains under contract beyond January 7 on his minimum-salary deal (or if it’s already fully guaranteed, which has not been confirmed).

Due to that small gap between their team salary and the second tax apron, New York will be unable to fill their 15th roster spot until later in the season, once the prorated veteran’s minimum dips low enough to fit below the hard cap.

Their cap situation could change if they continue to swap players in and out of that 14th spot, if they sign anyone to a 10-day contract, or if they make an in-season trade. But based on their current team salary, the Knicks would be able to add a veteran as a 15th man as of March 1, when the cap hit for a prorated minimum deal would be $527,878.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

Good injury luck – along with an aversion to load management – has allowed the Knicks to establish cohesion with their new-look starting lineup, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The team’s five starters have missed a total of just three games (two for Karl-Anthony Towns and one for Josh Hart) and the group has played a league-leading 459 minutes together, posting a +7.0 net rating. Only two other five-man lineups around the NBA have logged more than 250 minutes so far this season.
While the Knicks were in New Orleans over the weekend for a game against the Pelicans, Hart credited his former head coach Willie Green for “changing the trajectory” of his career. Hart was a Pelican when Green took over as the team’s coach in 2021. “He was my third coach in three years,” Hart said, according to Bondy. “Coming off Stan (Van Gundy), where I probably had one of the worst years of my career. And Willie just kind of believed in me. I didn’t want to come back (to New Orleans), but I talked to him and we got on the same page at the beginning of that year. … He trusted in me as a player, but more so as a person. And that really gained my confidence. … He changed things for me.”
The Knicks raised eyebrows over the offseason when they re-signed OG Anunoby to a five-year deal worth $212.5MM, the most total guaranteed money any team committed to a free agent in 2024. But Anunoby is rewarding the team’s belief in him so far — he hasn’t missed a game this season, has increased his scoring averaged to 16.6 points per game, and – as Steve Popper of Newsday writes – has continued to play his usual form of lock-down defense. “I know OG puts a lot of guys in jail,” Hart said on Saturday. “He’s someone we’re good with putting him on the island with whoever, big or small, and he’s going to change shots. I don’t understand how he does half of it. … He’s a monster to a defense all by himself and he should be a first-team or second-team All-Defense for sure. We’re comfortable with that matchup against him and anybody.”

Pelicans Rumors: Ingram, Tax, Green, Missi, Health

December 6th, 2024 at 6:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Confirming a Michael Scotto report from earlier in the week, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) says Brandon Ingram spent the offseason seeking a maximum-salary contract extension (which could’ve been worth as much as $208MM over four seasons), while the Pelicans would have been comfortable with a deal more in the vicinity of $40MM per year.

Fischer also provides some details on the trade opportunities involving Ingram that the Pelicans explored over the summer, noting that the Kings initially had the forward on their radar before landing DeMar DeRozan and that the Cavaliers weren’t interested in a deal centered around Ingram and Jarrett Allen. While there were some talks with the Jazz, Fischer classifies those discussions as “preliminary,” suggesting Utah’s pursuit of Mikal Bridges got much further down the road.

A return to the Lakers has been mentioned by scouts as a possibility for Ingram, but Fischer says he’s been given no indication Los Angeles is seeking a reunion with their former No. 2 overall pick. The Lakers, according to Fischer, are more focused on adding more frontcourt depth and perimeter defense to their roster.

Given that there doesn’t appear – at this point, at least – to be a team eager to do a long-term, maximum-salary contract for Ingram, league sources expect the forward and his new reps at Klutch Sports to be open to lucrative shorter-term deals, Fischer writes, pointing to Fred VanVleet‘s three-year deal with Houston as an example. That contract is worth the max but features a third-year team option.

It’s still possible the Pelicans will be the team to work out a new agreement with Ingram, but there’s a ceiling on what they’re willing to pay him, Fischer adds.

Here’s more on the Pelicans:

Executives around the NBA talk about the Pelicans making a move to get out of luxury tax territory as if it’s an inevitability, per Fischer. The team is currently operating about $1.4MM above the tax line, so it might be as simple as shedding a minimum-salary contract at the deadline, though a deal involving Ingram could also potentially get New Orleans out of the tax.
Fischer doesn’t expect New Orleans to make a head coaching change anytime soon, despite some speculation around the NBA about Willie Green‘s job security. “Ownership is loyal to their people,” a New Orleans figure tells Fischer.
People within the Pelicans organization have raved about how quickly rookie center Yves Missi is learning and progressing, according to Fischer, who compares it to the way that people in Dallas were talking about Dereck Lively last season. Nonetheless, Fischer has heard New Orleans remains in the market for frontcourt depth.
Although Zion Williamson, Jose Alvarado, and Jordan Hawkins remain on the injured list, the Pelicans were as healthy as they’ve been since opening night on Thursday, with Ingram, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herbert Jones, and Trey Murphy all active together for the first time. The result – a hard-fought 126-124 win over Phoenix – was an encouraging one, as William Guillory of The Athletic writes. The Pelicans are still just 5-18, but Thursday’s game provided a glimpse of what the team thought it could be, with the first-time starting lineup of Ingram, Murray, McCollum, Jones, and Missi outscoring the Suns by 14 points in 11 minutes of action.