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Zion, Holiday, Jackson Meet 65-Game Criteria For Award Eligibility

April 4th, 2024 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson met the criteria for end-of-season award eligibility on Wednesday by appearing in his 65th game of the season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

It’s a career high for Williamson, who appeared in 61 games in his second NBA season in 2020/21 but had otherwise never played more than 29 times in a season. The former No. 1 overall pick has built a legitimate case for All-NBA consideration this season, averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 31.3 minutes per contest, with a .581 FG%.

The bad news for Williamson and the Pelicans is that he didn’t play the final seven-plus minutes of Wednesday’s loss to Orlando due to a finger injury on his left hand. As Andrew Lopez of ESPN details, Zion had his left middle finger taped up after the game, but declined to speculate on the severity of the injury when he spoke to reporters.

“I don’t want to say anything that’s not right, to be honest,” he said. “But yeah, I tweaked it a little bit. I’ll have more information on it [Thursday] morning and I’m going to get it looked at and go from there.”

Appearing in 65+ games and potentially earning an All-NBA spot this season wouldn’t have any real impact on Williamson’s contract situation, though as Marks outlines in a YouTube video, the 23-year-old is on a unique deal and his games played in future seasons will help determine how much of his salary is guaranteed or non-guaranteed going forward.

Williamson was one of three notable players to reach the 65-game threshold for award consideration on Wednesday, according to Marks, who points out (via Twitter) that Celtics guard Jrue Holiday and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. also got there. It was technically Jackson’s 66th outing of the season, but he played fewer than 15 minutes in one of those contests, so it didn’t count toward the 65-game minimum.

Neither Holiday nor Jackson is a legitimate candidate for an All-NBA spot or for any other major award except for All-Defense. Holiday has made the All-Defensive First Team three times, including last season, and has also earned a pair of Second Team nods, while Jackson is the league’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year and has made the First Team in each of the past two seasons.

There’s essentially no chance that Jackson will repeat as Defensive Player of the Year for the lottery-bound Grizzlies, but it’s worth noting that if he did – or if he wins the DPOY award next season – he would become eligible for a super-max extension in July 2025.

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And-Ones: West, MVP Race, All-NBA, Comanche

April 3rd, 2024 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA legend Jerry West is being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for a third time, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Previously enshrined as a player (1979) and as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team (2010), the 85-year-old has now been elected as a Hall of Fame contributor.

The latest induction into the Hall of Fame recognizes West’s work as a team executive, including general manager stints with the Lakers and Grizzlies, as well as time spent as a consultant for the Warriors and Clippers. West won eight championships in those roles, per ESPN, and won Executive of the Year awards in 1995 and 2004.

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

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Southwest Notes: Green, Ivey, Wemby, Popovich, Pelicans

April 3rd, 2024 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Early-morning workouts and late-night phone calls with assistant coach Royal Ivey have been a factor in Jalen Green breakout this season, according to the Rockets guard, but Ivey is happy to give all the credit to Green, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

“It’s all kudos to Jalen,” Ivey said. “I’m just empowering him and encouraging him. He’s doing the work. At the end of the day, that’s a credit to his resiliency, his determination. And not being in that situation before, facing adversity, sitting down at the end of games, not being in (the game) in defensive possessions, he took that personally. This is the result of that.”

Green’s play earlier in the season was up and down, but he has been one of the league’s top scorers in recent weeks, averaging 28.0 points and 3.9 assists on .479/.394/.798 shooting in his past 17 games. Ivey said the former No. 2 overall pick has had the ball in his hands more lately and has looked more comfortable reading defenses and being aggressive.

“I can say his decision-making is A-1, making the right reads,” Ivey said. “And the finishing, it’s been (about) concentration, not looking for fouls. He’s so athletic, if he gets to his launchpad, good things happen. He’s working with his finishing every day. He’s been more assertive to get to that rim. I just think it’s confidence. It goes back to his mindset. That’s everything.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Spurs star rookie Victor Wembanyama admitted he was a bit surprised to be hit with a $25K fine for throwing the game ball into the stands at the end of last Friday’s win over New York, calling it “funny,” according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “When I threw the ball, I thought, ‘Yeah, I remember players being fined for this,'” Wembanyama said. “But they always threw it in a bad way. I threw it to please somebody. It’s not like I was trying to hurt anybody.”
  • Warriors head coach Steve Kerr doesn’t expect long-tenured Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to call it a career anytime soon, as Orsborn relays. “He was supposed to have retired five years ago, so why would we predict he is going to retire any time soon?” Kerr said when asked if he expects Popovich to fulfill the five-year contract he signed in 2023. “He is still going strong and still doing a great job and loving his work, so I can see it.”
  • Pelicans head coach Willie Green is still figuring out how to distribute minutes at center as the postseason nears, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. The team has gone back and forth between Jonas Valanciunas and Larry Nance Jr. at the five for much of the season, depending on the matchup. However, Green has also experimented with other options, including using Zion Williamson in that role for the last five minutes of Monday’s game vs. Phoenix, Clark notes.
  • Green was critical of his defense after it allowed Devin Booker to score 52 points in New Orleans for a second time this season on Monday. “Quite frankly, we were soft guarding him,” the Pelicans‘ head coach said after the game, per William Guillory of The Athletic. “We just had a soft mentality.”
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Southwest Notes: Williamson, Pelicans, Clarke, Popovich

March 24th, 2024 at 9:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans got a tasty matchup against the depleted Pistons on Sunday and Zion Williamson took full advantage. Williamson made all but one of his 14 field-goal attempts while racking up 36 points.

“He had it going tonight in the first quarter,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green told Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “He kind of got it going midway through. We wanted to let him go a little bit. That’s all that was.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

  • Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr., who has passed through numerous franchises, is impressed by what New Orleans has established. The Pelicans are currently fifth in the Western Conference standings. “This is how you build a winning franchise,” he told Clark. “Those franchises that go from low wins to 60 wins, that’s not sustainable. You build a successful franchise, a successful roster, a successful team by steadily growing. Steady improvement. Keeping the core together. And really, being willing and able to play alongside each other. That’s what Denver did. That’s what Milwaukee had done. Golden State. You build. You start slow, and you build.” Nance is in the first year of a two-year, $21.6MM contract.
  • Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke is listed as doubtful to play against Denver on Monday, but that’s significant, as Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com tweets. Clarke has been rehabbing from a left Achilles tendon tear all season and this is the first time he’s been listed as something other than out this season. It means that Clarke is likely on track to return in the next game or two.
  • Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has urged his players to curtail their activity on social media, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News writes. “I don’t follow them around day and all night, see how many minutes they’re spending on their phones,” he said. “But we’ve brought in people to talk to them about that so they understand there are ways they can spend their time a whole lot more efficiently and meaningfully. Hopefully, they are paying attention.”
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And-Ones: Jones, All-NBA, Bad Contracts, Replays, Stackhouse

March 21st, 2024 at 9:33am CST by Dana Gauruder

Big Sky Player of the Year Dillon Jones is declaring for the 2024 NBA draft and is expected to sign with the Roc Nation agency, according to basketball analyst Jeff Goodman (Twitter link).

The 6’6” Jones averaged 20.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists for Weber State. He’s a potential first-round pick — Jones is currently listed as No. 32 overall and No. 9 among small forwards on ESPN’s Best Available list.

We have more news from around the basketball world:

  • With the new CBA stipulating that players must appear in 65 games to be eligible for postseason awards, there could be numerous newcomers to the All-NBA teams. HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina lists several players who could be first-time All-NBA honorees, including Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards and Zion Williamson.
  • Bradley Beal tops Keith Smith’s list at Spotrac of the worst value contracts in the league, opining the Suns wing isn’t worth an average annual value of over $50MM per season, considering his production level and injury issues. Jordan Poole and Zach LaVine also rank high on Smith’s top 10 list.
  • Following a contest against the Lakers in which the last two minutes took 20 minutes in real time due to clock malfunctions and replay reviews, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said replays are destroying the rhythm of the game. “I’m not a fan of replay. I think we should have replay just for the buzzer beaters,” he said, per Sportskeeda. “The whole goal with replay is to try to get everything right. There’s 100 plays at each end every night that are subjective. It’s not a game. It’s not tennis. It’s not a Hawk-Eye on whether it’s in or out. There’s all kinds of subjective stuff. We’re never going to get everything right. But I think the flow of the game is way more important.”
  • Being a former NBA star isn’t enough to attract top recruits and transfers when it comes to Division I coaching. In recent weeks, Michigan fired Juwan Howard and Vanderbilt parted ways with Jerry Stackhouse. NIL and the transfer portal have completed altered the college landscape, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe notes. “Used to be where you could go, you make all the calls, you go show kids as much interest as you can, do all those type things,” Stackhouse said. “Now you’ve got to reach out to their agents. You know what I’m saying? That’s where it is in order to really get in the door.”
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Southwest Notes: Zion, Daniels, Pelicans, Rockets, Gabriel

March 18th, 2024 at 1:53pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans have been on a roll lately, going 6-1 since the start of March and 15-5 since January 31. Former No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson has played his best basketball of the season of late, coinciding with the team’s surge up the standings — New Orleans is currently 41-26, the No. 5 seed in the West, one game back of the slumping Clippers.

On his Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said he’s heard from people around the team that Williamson has lost a considerable amount of weight since December, when the Pelicans were embarrassed by the Lakers in the semifinal of the in-season tournament.

“I’ve got people in New Orleans telling me that since December when the in-season tournament happened, that Zion Williamson has lost 25 or more pounds, and his performance has been excellent,” Windhorst said (hat tip to Doric Sam of Bleacher Report). “He’s playing fewer minutes and I think that helps as well, but I’ve got people telling me he’s lost 25 pounds. And I don’t mean like in the past where they say, ‘Oh, he’s added muscle’ and it’s like, ‘Has he?’”

Windhorst’s ESPN colleague Andrew Lopez has heard the same from his own sources, noting that Williamson “looks completely different,” both physically and as a player.

While Williamson has mostly been known for his offensive ability to this point in his career, he played impressive defense on Kawhi Leonard late in Friday’s victory over the Clippers, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Leonard finished with just two points on 1-of-3 shooting in seven minutes in the final period.

“At the end of the game, I was like, ‘I got Kawhi,’” Trey Murphy said. “He was like, ‘Nah, I got it.’ I was like, ‘You got it then. I’m not going to fight you then.’ That’s what you want out of your stars. You want them to take on the challenge.”

Here’s more from the Southwest:

  • Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, who is recovering from a torn meniscus in his left knee, was a full participant in Monday’s practice, head coach Willie Green told reporters, including Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). Daniels was doing 3-on-3 work post-practice as well, Guillory relays (via Twitter), which is another positive sign for the second-year guard, though Green said the 21-year-old still has to check a few more boxes before being cleared to return. Herbert Jones (back) and Larry Nance Jr. (non-COVID illness) were also full practice participants after missing Saturday’s game, Guillory adds.
  • The Rockets have gone 7-1 over their last eight games and now trail the Warriors and Lakers by 3.5 games for the final spot in the play-in tournament. It’s a stark contrast from the past few seasons, when the team was stuck at the bottom of the standings. As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link) writes, the Rockets know playing in high-pressure games is the next step in their development. “I’ve been on teams myself where you knew you were done by December, January,” head coach Ime Udoka said. “That’s not the best feeling. To have something to play for, but also change the mindset and mentality around here, was one of the main objectives this year. I think we did that from the start. To have a chance to play for something still at this point in the season but also finish on a strong note, guys are continuing to grow. It’s year one with me, and I think we’ve seen the progress. Things are starting to round out a little bit here and there. We’d like to have that momentum going into next year regardless of where we land.”
  • Wenyen Gabriel‘s 10-day contract with the Grizzlies expired overnight, notes Keith Smith of Spotrac (via Twitter). The Sudanese forward/center is now an NBA free agent, though Puerto Rico’s Vaqueros de Bayamon announced last week that Gabriel had signed a contract with the team for the coming season. The 26-year-old averaged 3.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in five games with Memphis.
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Southwest Notes: Whitmore, Zion, Williams, Luka, Sochan

March 12th, 2024 at 10:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rockets rookie wing Cam Whitmore is expected to be out for approximately three weeks with a sprained right knee, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Whitmore is averaging 12.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game through 38 NBA appearances this season after the Rockets drafted him late in the first round.

“He has a sprained (lateral collateral ligament), the ligament in the knee and outside the knee,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “So, it’s a three-week timetable as well. Felt some tightness in his knee in the game. Got that checked out. Kind of played through that. We’ll wee how he progresses with rehab and treatment, as well. They say three weeks, but it could be a shorter timetable based on how he reacts to it.”

The Rockets lost star center Alperen Sengun over the weekend due to a severe ankle sprain and bone bruise to his knee.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

  • After injuries marred his first four NBA seasons, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson is finishing strong this season, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune notes. He has appeared in 53 games, averaging 22.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and a career-high 5.2 assists per night. Getting in better shape has been the key. “I’m getting there,” Williamson said. “Just stacking my days. Extra conditioning over time. I’m starting to see some of those results. I just have to maintain and keep going.”
  • Before Grant Williams was dealt to the Hornets, he trash-talked Mavericks star Luka Doncic during practice. In a radio interview relayed by Brian Robb of Masslive.com, Dallas assistant GM Michael Finley said it didn’t go well for the power forward. “He decided he wanted to get under Luka’s skin. He felt Luka didn’t come that day ready to practice,” Finley said. “To make a long story short, they had a scrimmage going and he was talking trash to Luka up and down the court. So finally, Luka says ‘Okay,” and Luka went on a 26-6 run by himself. You can ask anybody, I’m not exaggerating. He showed everything, the threes, the postups, the floaters, everything by himself.”
  • The Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan is developing a reputation as an agitator and he has an admirer in a player who often gets under opponent’s skin — the Warriors’ Draymond Green, according to Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News. “Not caring what anybody thinks, that’s a skill in this league,” Green said. “Jeremy, he don’t give a (bleep). You can tell.”
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Southwest Notes: Sengun, Zion, Mavs, Lawson, Grizzlies

March 6th, 2024 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

He hasn’t gotten the same sort of press this season as Rookie of the Year candidates Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, but going up against Wembanyama on Tuesday, Rockets big man Alperen Sengun provided a reminder that there’s another young center on the rise in the Western Conference.

As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) details, Sengun didn’t just get the best of Wembanyama on Tuesday — he dominated him, pouring in a career-best 45 points to go along with 16 rebounds and five steals, both personal season highs. After the game, he admitted that he was motivated to go up against the Spurs‘ young star, who went scoreless in the second half and had just 10 points on the night.

“I didn’t play that good last game against him, I can say,” Sengun said. “And I didn’t see that much double-teams. They just leave me one-on-one with Wemby. I just did what I do.
 
When you score, and score and score at some point, you get some emotion. It was great for me. He is so tall, he’s really tall, but he’s not that strong, yet. So, I was going at his chest and put him under the rim.”

Sengun, who is still just 21 years old (and younger than Holmgren), has taken his game to new heights in his third NBA season, averaging 21.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 32.4 minutes per game across 60 starts. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2024 offseason.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Asked on Tuesday if he could see himself participating in the NBA’s annual slam dunk contest at some point, Pelicans star Zion Williamson didn’t rule out the possibility. “I gotta do my part and make the All-Star game,” Williamson said with a smile (Twitter video link via Pelicans Film Room). “If I’m in the All-Star game, I’ll do the dunk contest. But if I’m not, not doing it.”
  • On Tuesday, for a third straight time, Luka Doncic had a triple-double and scored 37+ points in a game the Mavericks lost. It’s a troubling trend for the Mavs, who are running out of time to prove they’re better than they’ve shown as of late, according to Tim Cato of The Athletic and Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Dallas has – by far – the NBA’s worst defensive rating since the All-Star break, and Doncic isn’t sure how to reverse that trend. “I don’t know, honestly,” he said. “We know we got to fix it.”
  • Mavericks wing A.J. Lawson had a hard time playing it cool when he found out he was being promoted to the team’s standard roster on a new four-year contract that will guarantee him $1MM for the rest of this season, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “I was trying to keep my emotions down at the gym. I didn’t want anybody to see me super-excited or tear up or anything,” Lawson said. “But I got to the crib and I just said ‘Thank God.’ And I screamed off my balcony. Probably the whole uptown area heard it. It was a great feeling and definitely something I’m going to remember the rest of my life.”
  • It has been over a year since the Grizzlies announced on the same day (March 4, 2023) that Brandon Clarke had suffered a torn Achilles and that Ja Morant would be away from the team after a video on social media showed him brandishing a firearm in a Colorado nightclub. As Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, the impact of those events carried over to 2023/24 and were factors in derailing the team’s season before it really got going.
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Southwest Notes: Wembanyama, McCollum, Mavs, Exum, Hill

February 26th, 2024 at 10:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Victor Wembanyama has been posting eye-popping numbers across the board but the Spurs coaching staff knows he’s just scratching the surface of his true potential, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes.

The Spurs wants the star rookie to grow at a comfortable pace.

“We want to continue the process. We consistently remind him to be disciplined, and to do the little things. We want him to be strong when he’s catching the ball. We go over different nuances on the scouting report, things like that,” Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson said. “One of the hardest things for us is knowing that he’s capable of doing so much. So, we don’t want to open up the floodgates and put too much on him. We want him to figure things out as he goes. We want to provide the structure where he can continue to grow.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

  • Pelicans guard CJ McCollum didn’t play against Chicago this weekend due to a sore left ankle but he went through a full practice on Monday, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets. McCollum and Zion Williamson (left foot contusion) are listed as questionable to play against the Knicks on Tuesday, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets.
  • The Mavericks have an open roster spot but that may change in the near future. Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News hears that the front office is definitely looking to add a player if it finds the right fit.
  • Mavericks swingman Dante Exum hasn’t played since Jan. 26 due to a knee injury but he’s close to returning. Exum practiced on Monday, though he’s listed as doubtful to suit up against Cleveland on Tuesday, Townsend tweets.
  • Malcolm Hill‘s two-way contract with the Pelicans is a two-year deal, Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets. Hill, a third-year swingman, signed his two-way deal on Thursday.
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Southwest Notes: Pelicans, McCollum, Doncic, Mavericks

February 19th, 2024 at 9:31pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Pelicans are 33-22 and have the same record as the fifth-seeded Suns. Still, they’ve got room to improve, as evidenced by several close games against some of the league’s bottom teams, according to The Athletic’s William Guillory. New Orleans won three games in a row against the Trail Blazers, Grizzlies and Wizards, but they were all decided by single digits. In the wins over Memphis and Washington, the Pelicans squandered 20-point leads before coming back late to win.

“When we get a lead, especially if we want to make a deep run in the playoffs, we’ve got to be able to maintain leads,” Zion Williamson said. “If we were able to maintain leads, we would probably be 14, 15, 16 games over .500. I think we’re in an OK spot. But when we come back from break, we’ve got to be able to fine-tune some of those small nuances in the game.”

The team’s offense and defense has been a mixed bag, according to Guillory, and neither Williamson nor Brandon Ingram has been consistent with his dominance. While the Pelicans are deep with young players and solid rotation pieces, they’re still attempting to build consistency, which will be crucial as the playoff approach.

“I think we’re learning to grow with each other,” coach Willie Green said of the team. “This group is still pretty young in terms of [our starters] being on the floor together for this long in the season. Along the way, we’re starting to figure it out, but I think that plays a role in some of the inconsistencies we’ll see from time to time. We just have to stay committed to working the kinks out.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

  • Pelicans guard CJ McCollum is pleased with how Williamson and Ingram have progressed since he joined the team in 2022, according to Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina. “They have a better understanding of their game and their bodies with what they need to do each day to be ready to play, when to rest and when to workout,” McCollum said as part of an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda. “Their IQ is continuing to improve as well as their decision making. They’re just playing their total games with scoring, rebounding and passing. Defensively, I think they have gotten better and have been more aggressive. The more they rebound on defense, the better we are on offense.“
  • Mavericks star Luka Doncic, like many other All-Stars, had no intention of being offensively assertive during the East’s 211-186 victory over the Western Conference in the 2024 All-Star Game, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News writes. Doncic had seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the game and was content to let others shine. “People come in here and play 40 minutes, they don’t want to get injured,” Doncic said. “Everybody just gets out of the way. I don’t know how to fix that. I just follow the lead.“
  • The Mavericks are in a much better position at this All-Star break compared to last season, even if there’s been less buzz surrounding the team, Townsend writes. The Mavs are 32-23 and are tied for the longest winning streak in the league at six games whereas last year they were 31-29 and were five games into the Kyrie Irving-Doncic pairing. After acquiring P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford at the deadline, Dallas looks more capable of approaching 50 wins this season, according to Townsend.
  • In case you missed it, Grizzlies forward Lamar Stevens and Spurs forwards Marcus Morris and Cedi Osman are among players we’re monitoring as possible buyout options.
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