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Mavs Notes: Gobert, LaVine, Brunson, Doncic

May 27th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks remain focused on acquiring another All-Star caliber player to complement Luka Doncic after tacitly acknowledging by trading Kristaps Porzingis in February that he wasn’t the right fit, sources tell veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein. The Mavs won’t have salary cap space to sign a player of that caliber outright anytime soon, so if they’re going to try to acquire a star this summer, it will probably have to be via trade.

Dallas has been linked to Jazz big man Rudy Gobert, but Stein’s sources say the Mavs’ interest in the three-time Defensive Player of the Year has been overstated. As Stein explains, the team knows it needs to improve its rim protection and rebounding, but had success with a five-out approach this postseason and will likely pursue a more “cost-efficient” option at center.

According to Stein, Bulls guard Zach LaVine is a potential target that intrigues the Mavericks, who apparently like the idea of adding another wing slasher and scorer, particularly after seeing how effective Spencer Dinwiddie was this season alongside Doncic.

However, LaVine is a free agent this summer and it would be a challenge for the Mavs to sign-and-trade for him and re-sign Jalen Brunson, since team salary would be well beyond the projected tax apron — any club that acquires a player via sign-and-trade becomes hard-capped at the apron for the rest of that league year. If acquiring LaVine isn’t realistic, Dallas will likely pivot to other options on the wing, Stein says.

Here’s more on the Mavs, whose season ended on Thursday in Golden State:

  • President of basketball operations Nico Harrison downplayed the need to bring in another All-Star caliber player. “There’s teams … that have a bunch of All-Stars, and they were sitting at home watching us play,” Harrison said during his end-of-season presser on Friday (Twitter link via Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News). “Yeah, you need to keep upgrading the roster, but I don’t think it’s just about getting a bunch of All-Stars. It’s about getting people that fit.”
  • Harrison said that re-signing Jalen Brunson will be the Mavericks’ “top priority” this offseason (Twitter link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype). “We want to re-sign him. He knows it,” Harrison said. “We want him back. He’ll be a big part of our future.” Mavs owner Mark Cuban also spoke about the team’s desire to retain Brunson, as we outlined earlier today.
  • As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News relays, Cuban admitted that he didn’t know what to expect entering the 2021/22 season after the team underwent front office and coaching changes. He was pleased to see the Mavs establish an identity over the course of the year. “Hard-playing. Physical. Multi-talented, able to complement Luka,” Cuban said in describing the type of player that fits that identity. “Knowing how to play with Luka. That probably is number one. But yeah, you saw how we played it. Guys like Reggie Bullock. Spencer, when he came, got it. Davis Bertans. (Dorian Finney-Smith). Dwight (Powell). Everybody. There’s nobody that you can name that that wasn’t just playing as hard as they possibly can and knew their role.”
  • An Eastern Conference executive who spoke to Tim MacMahon of ESPN believes the Mavericks are “one player away” from being a legitimate title contender. According to MacMahon, that opinion is shared by other rival coaches, executives, and scouts he has spoken to about Dallas’ outlook. For his part, Doncic said after Thursday’s loss that he thinks the Mavs are “on a great, great path.”
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) and Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype have published their offseason previews for the Mavericks, while Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report and SI.com’s Chris Mannix and Howard Beck also took a closer look at the team’s roster situation going forward.
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Central Notes: LaVine, Hill, Carter, Bucks

May 26th, 2022 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Recent reports suggest that it’s no slam dunk Zach LaVine will re-sign with the Bulls. However, execs around the league believe the chatter is agent-driven and he’ll likely stay put, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. The thinking is that his agency, Klutch Sports, is trying to ensure he’s considered the franchise player in Chicago and that he gets a max deal. An NBA source told Deveney, “It is still Zach’s team, Klutch just wants to make sure everyone knows it.”

We have more from the Central Division:

  • If LaVine does indeed leave, the Trail Blazers or Spurs would be the logical move for him, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report writes. LaVine could join forces with Damian Lillard in Portland or Dejounte Murray in San Antonio. Re-signing with the Bulls is still the likely outcome, Fischer echoes, but the fact that DeMar DeRozan was often the crunch-time go-to scorer this season may play a role in LaVine exploring other options.
  • Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer made a mistake playing George Hill over Jevon Carter against Boston, Eric Nehm of The Athletic opines. Budenholzer overestimated Hill’s postseason impact as he battled through an abdominal injury. Nehm explores numerous topics in his mailbag, including how Milwaukee could improve defensively in future postseasons.
  • With the Bucks near the luxury-tax threshold for the 2022/23 season, they’ll once again be looking for players who will sign at the veteran’s minimum, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes. Owczarski looks at all of the team’s free agent decisions this summer, pointing out Milwaukee will only have the taxpayer mid-level exception at its disposal to sign outside free agents beyond those minimum-salary roster fillers.
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Southeast Notes: Hawks, Beal, Wizards, Magic

May 25th, 2022 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks, who are widely expected to be one of the more active NBA teams this summer, are believed to be open to discussing possible trades involving nearly all the players on their roster, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who says rival executives view Trae Young as Atlanta’s only untouchable player.

The Hawks had trade conversations prior to this year’s trade deadline about John Collins, Kevin Huerter, and Danilo Gallinari, among others, Fischer notes.

Although Fischer says that restricted free agent center Deandre Ayton has been a “popular rumored target” for the Hawks, he cites multiple league sources with knowledge of the team’s thinking that believe the front office will prioritize adding a wing scorer over a big man.

K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago previously reported that “league gossip” had linked the Hawks to Zach LaVine, a point Fischer reiterates, writing that multiple sources have mentioned Atlanta as a possible destination for LaVine. Since they’ll be well over the cap, the Hawks would likely have to try to work out a sign-and-trade if they get serious about pursuing LaVine.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

  • After indicating in early March that he’s leaning toward re-signing with the Wizards, Bradley Beal recently suggested his position hasn’t changed. According to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, Beal – who said his recovery from season-ending wrist surgery has gone well – confirmed that he’s still leaning toward remaining in Washington. “This injury also gave me a mental break, a time to evaluate life, and I haven’t changed my mind-set,” Beal said. “I enjoy being in D.C.; I enjoy being on this team.”
  • In a mailbag for The Athletic, Josh Robbins considers whether or not Wizards fans would embrace a full-fledged rebuild and explores whether the team could trade up from No. 10 in the draft. Of course, if Washington re-signs Beal, it’s a safe bet the team isn’t shifting into rebuilding mode this summer.
  • The Magic have a history of trading out of the second round of the draft, but they’re expected to use at least one of the No. 32 and No. 35 picks this year, writes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Price notes that Santa Clara’s Jalen Williams, who has a 7’2″ wingspan despite being just 6’4″, is the type of player the Magic typically like, and he spoke to the team at last week’s combine.
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Zach LaVine Undergoes Arthroscopic Surgery On Left Knee

May 24th, 2022 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

As expected, Bulls guard Zach LaVine has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, the team announced today in a press release. The procedure took place on Tuesday at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, according to the Bulls.

LaVine battled soreness in his left knee for most of the season. He missed 10 games in January and February while dealing with the injury and had fluid drained from his knee around the All-Star break. The 27-year-old, who didn’t feel 100% healthy in the second half due to that knee issue, first acknowledged in early March that offseason surgery might be necessary.

Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times reported last month after the Bulls’ season ended that LaVine was expected to undergo a procedure on his left knee, and Shams Charania of The Athletic confirmed it a couple weeks later.

LaVine’s knee issue isn’t viewed as a long-term problem and there has been no indication that the surgery will delay his 2022/23 debut, though the team didn’t specify a recovery timeline in today’s announcement. K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, who notes that Bulls executives have been in L.A. for various pro days and have been in close contact with LaVine, says the former UCLA standout is expected to begin rehab work “shortly.”

Bulls president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has stated that the knee injury won’t impact negotiations between the team and LaVine’s camp when the two-time All-Star reaches free agency this summer.

Multiple recent reports have stated that LaVine is no longer viewed around the NBA as a lock to remain in Chicago, but the Bulls are still considered the favorites to sign him this offseason. Many of the teams linked to LaVine recently don’t have the cap flexibility to offer him a maximum-salary contract outright and would likely need to try to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal if they want to pry him away from the Bulls.

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Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Kidd, Fines, Offseason

May 23rd, 2022 at 8:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Luka Doncic poured in 40 points in Game 3 but he still had a team-worst plus-minus when he was on the floor. Doncic admits the Western Conference Finals has turned into a learning experience for him and his Mavericks teammates, Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes.

“I’m still learning,” Doncic said. “I think the first two quarters, I played very bad. That’s on me. But I’m still learning. I think after this season is done, whatever we are, I think we’re going to look back and learn a lot of things. It’s my first time in the conference finals in the NBA. I’m 23, man. I’m still learning a lot.”

Jason Kidd had a similar take on his team falling behind 3-0 in the series.

“This is just the beginning of this journey,” Kidd said. “I know you guys had us winning the championship before the season started. And that’s a joke if you didn’t get it. But this is a lot bigger than just this one game or this one series. This is huge for our franchise because none of you guys had us here.”

We have more on the Mavericks:

  • The franchise has racked up $175K in fines for bench decorum violations during the postseason. The league believes the conduct of the Mavs bench impacts player safety, competitiveness and fan consideration, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports. After the season, the NBA will explore ways to address bench decorum during games in real time, Zillgitt adds. Dallas bench players standing up for long periods of time and an incident in which Stephen Curry made a turnover because the Mavs’ Theo Pinson was wearing a white shirt on the bench were particularly irksome to league officials.
  • How can Dallas reach Golden State’s level in the future? One area to upgrade is center, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer opines. Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber have been unable to stop the Warriors from attacking the basket. The Mavericks also needs more perimeter threats around Doncic, according to O’Connor, who believes the Mavs should pursue the likes of Rudy Gobert, Jusuf Nurkic and Deandre Ayton at center and/or consider a sign-and-trade for Zach LaVine. They also shouldn’t rule out a sign-and-trade involving Jalen Brunson, O’Connor writes.
  • The Doncic-Curry matchup is an apples to oranges comparison because they’re at different stages of their careers and play in different systems, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News writes. Doncic is also surrounded by mainly spot-up shooters while the Warriors have a multitudes of creators around Curry in their rotation.
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“League Gossip” Links Zach LaVine To Rival Teams

May 20th, 2022 at 10:59pm CST by Rory Maher

“League gossip” at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago this week indicates that Zach LaVine returning to the Bulls as an unrestricted free agent this summer is no longer considered a foregone conclusion like it once was, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The two-time All-Star has been linked to the Lakers, Trail Blazers, Mavericks and Hawks at the combine, with more suitors likely to follow, according to Johnson.

Marc Stein has heard similarly, writing in his latest Substack article that “there is much more hope in circulation than anticipated” that the star wing might be convinced to join a rival team in free agency.

The 27-year-old is expected to undergo a relatively minor knee scope early next week, but that won’t diminish interest in LaVine’s free agency, Johnson relays. Some rival executives think Chicago might be reluctant to offer LaVine a full max contract. The Bulls can give him a projected $212.3MM over five years, while any other team would be limited to a max offer of $157.4MM over four years.

The Bulls have expressed a public desire to retain LaVine long-term, and he said he was pleased with the moves the team made last offseason (separate sign-and-trades for Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan, and signing Alex Caruso), which helped the club reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016/17.

“It just shows that they (the Bulls front office) were ready to win. Obviously my first couple of years here it was tough to have that feeling. This year has been incredible,” LaVine said in late April, per Johnson. “You’ve got to take everything into consideration. And obviously the team we have here is something you’ve got to consider, how good that we were this last year and moving forward.”

The Lakers, Mavs and Hawks don’t currently have the cap space to sign LaVine outright — they’d have to pull off a sign-and-trade to acquire him, which is much more complicated. And while the Blazers technically can create enough room to sign him, they’d have to execute several moves first.

Ultimately, Johnson believes a return to the Bulls is still the most likely outcome — assuming that’s what LaVine wants.

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Central Notes: LaVine, Pacers Workouts, White, Pistons Draft

May 12th, 2022 at 7:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Zach LaVine‘s decision to have knee surgery in the offseason shows his commitment to the game and the Bulls, according to NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson. LaVine’s decision to play through his knee injury this season with Chicago heading to the playoffs proved how much he wanted to experience the postseason for himself and give his teammates a chance to do the same. He’ll still get paid this summer in unrestricted free agency, likely a maximum deal, Johnson adds.

We have more on the Central Division:

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Zach LaVine To Undergo Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

May 12th, 2022 at 1:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Bulls star Zach LaVine will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in the coming weeks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). LaVine is expected to make a full recovery.

The news was anticipated, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times relayed at the end of April that a surgical procedure for LaVine was imminent after Chicago’s season ended. The Bulls reached the playoffs for the first time since 2016/17, but fell to the Bucks in the first round. It was LaVine’s first postseason appearance.

LaVine battled soreness in his left knee for most of the season. He missed 10 games in January and February while dealing with the injury and had fluid drained from his knee in early March, which is when he initially indicated that offseason surgery might be necessary.

Although LaVine said that he felt like he was still one of the best players in the NBA even at 70% or 80% of his usual self in March, a source close to the situation told Cowley that LaVine was “more like 50%, and that’s on a good day,” noting that the knee maintenance required to keep LaVine on the court was often an “all-day ordeal.”

There’s no sense that LaVine’s knee problem is degenerative or that it will affect him long-term, according to Cowley, so the hope is that he’ll be able to get back to his old self following the surgery. It’s worth noting that arthroscopic procedures are considered minimally invasive.

The 27-year-old is an unrestricted free agent for the first time this summer. Some around the league were somewhat surprised by comments LaVine made after the season ended, saying he was looking forward to the process and would go into it “open-eyed” and “look into everything.”

He was also noncommittal when asked if the Bulls were the clubhouse leaders to sign him, which has led to speculation he might join another team after it was considered a foregone conclusion that he would re-up with Chicago. Still, a new deal with the Bulls seems like the most likely outcome, given they have the ability to offer LaVine a projected $212.3MM over five years, while any other team would be limited to a max offer of $157.4MM over four years.

LaVine made the All-Star team both of the past two seasons and appeared in 67 games in 2021/22, averaging 24.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists on .476/.389/.853 shooting despite dealing with the troublesome knee.

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Pacific Notes: Biyombo, LaVine, Holmes, Kings

May 11th, 2022 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Suns center Bismack Biyombo expects to be fined for his altercation with Mavericks big man Marquese Chriss in the closing seconds of Tuesday’s game. They both ran down the same tunnel after being ejected and had to be separated by security. Biyombo explained his side of the incident in a video posted by Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

“I think it was nothing serious,” Biyombo said, adding that Chriss seemed upset that Phoenix was still trying to score with the game already in hand. “… I think when we play here they play all the way until the end, and I think that’s understandable. It’s the playoffs, you know.”

Any fines or suspensions will be announced sometime in advance of Thursday night’s Game 6. Biyombo is only averaging 8.6 minutes in seven games in this year’s playoffs and Chriss is at 3.8 minutes in four games, so any disciplinary action won’t have a significant impact on the series.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • The Lakers may be a long shot to land free agent guard Zach LaVine, but they shouldn’t be discounted entirely, writes Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. There has been speculation this week that LaVine may be interested in joining the Trail Blazers, but L.A. could be another option if he wants to head west, particularly since LaVine is represented by Klutch Sports. Pincus examines potential trades involving the Bulls, Thunder, Pacers and Magic that could clear LaVine’s path to the Lakers if he decides he wants to join them.
  • Kings big man Richaun Holmes has won a court victory in the custody battle that led to him missing the season’s final 11 games for personal reasons, according to James Ham of ESPN 1320. Holmes was accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife, but judges in Los Angeles and Georgia ruled in his favor, granting him sole physical and legal custody of his son.
  • The Kings hosted six players Wednesday in their second round of pre-draft workouts, Ham tweets. On hand were Grayson Murphy of Belmont, AJ Green of Northern Iowa, Jalen Adaway of St. Bonaventure, Buddy Boeheim of Syracuse, Keve Aluma of Virginia Tech and Grant Golden of Richmond. Sacramento owns two second-round picks at No. 37 and 48. Its first-round pick will be determined by next week’s lottery.
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Latest On Zach LaVine’s Upcoming Free Agency

May 10th, 2022 at 3:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Some executives around the NBA who once viewed Zach LaVine as a lock to re-sign with the Bulls are now less certain about what the All-Star guard will do this offseason, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said in his latest Hoop Collective podcast.

“Executives in the league kind of thought that Zach LaVine was off the market, was going to stay in Chicago,” Windhorst said. “And they really thought that after Zach, at midseason, got checked out for three or four days in Southern California and he pretty much admitted he probably needed knee surgery. … Executives in the league thought, ‘Well, if the Bulls and Zach are on the same page about him playing on a hurt knee, they must have an understanding that he’s going to get a contract.’

“… Subsequently, as I’ve talked to league executives, there’s now some belief that Zach could be in play, that what a lot of people thought was a foregone conclusion of Zach staying in Chicago – on whatever deal it was going to be – may not be the case.”

As Windhorst explains, much of that uncertainty among league executives stems from comments LaVine made after the season when he discussed his upcoming unrestricted free agency. The 27-year-old said he was looking forward to being a free agent and would be “open-eyed” and “look into everything.” He was also noncommittal when asked if the Bulls were the clubhouse leaders to sign him.

There aren’t a ton of teams that make sense as suitors for LaVine, since only a small handful of clubs will have significant cap space and most of those clubs don’t project to be contenders. However, Windhorst – noting that LaVine is from Seattle – points to the Trail Blazers as one possible wild card to watch.

Theoretically, the Blazers could clear enough cap space to offer LaVine a maximum-salary deal by waiving Josh Hart and Eric Bledsoe (whose salaries aren’t fully guaranteed), renouncing Jusuf Nurkic‘s free agent cap hold, and forfeiting their $20MM+ trade exception, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks stated on The Hoop Collective. Having that path to cap room could also give them leverage to try to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal with Chicago.

“I’m not saying that’s a done deal,” Windhorst said when his ESPN colleague Nick Friedell questioned whether the Blazers would really want to pair LaVine and Damian Lillard. “I’m just saying that as I’ve talked to league executives, when they saw what LaVine said and what they see the Blazers can do, that scenario has popped up.”

While it’s possible that the Blazers or another team will make a play for LaVine this summer, a new deal with the Bulls still seems to me like the most probable outcome. As Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report observes (via Twitter), it may be in the best interest of LaVine’s camp to float potential suitors like Portland in order to ensure that the Bulls offer him a max contract.

Chicago will have the ability to offer LaVine a projected $212.3MM over five years, while any other team would be limited to a max offer of $157.4MM over four years.

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