Trail Blazers Rumors

Central Notes: Haslam, Hield, Omoruyi, Bulls

March 28th, 2023 at 6:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing at the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona this week, Jimmy Haslam spoke publicly for the first time about his impeding purchase of Marc Lasry‘s stake in the Bucks, writes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Because the sale hasn’t been officially finalized, Haslam declined to get into specifics, but he did tell reporters that Bucks co-owner Wes Edens would reclaim his role as the team’s governor while the Haslams learn the ropes of NBA ownership. Under the previous agreement, Edens and Lasry traded the governor title every five years — Edens held it from 2014-19.

Haslam, the owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns along with his wife Dee, described his purchase of a stake in the Bucks as “opportunistic,” Owczarski relays.

“I mean listen, we never thought we’d own 10% of the Steelers. Never thought we’d own the Browns. Dee and I had never been, beside watching (daughter) Whitney play high school soccer, had never been to a soccer game,” said Haslam, who also owns the Columbus Crew (MLS). “So it’s just opportunistic. It was straightened set of circumstances; we were called on this opportunity. Business, sports, you tend to be optimistic. I have no idea what will happen next. First thing’s first, let’s get this done and then let’s get the Browns winning games.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield was sidelined for Monday’s game due to a non-COVID illness, marking just the fourth time since he entered the NBA in 2016 that he has missed a game, writes Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Hield started Indiana’s first 73 games this season, but has come off the bench since then so that the team can get a look at different lineup combinations, with an eye toward next season, tweets Agness.
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), Eugene Omoruyi‘s new contract with the Pistons covers two seasons — it’s guaranteed for the rest of 2022/23, with a team option for ’23/24. In order to give Omoruyi more than the prorated minimum for the rest of this season, Detroit used a portion of its room exception to complete the signing, Hoops Rumors has learned. Instead of the $169,445 he would’ve gotten on a minimum-salary deal, the 26-year-old received $269,445 for ’22/23.
With the Trail Blazers set to miss the postseason again, the Bulls won’t get the lottery-protected first-round pick owed to them by Portland this season, and Chicago’s own top-four protected first-rounder appears ticketed for Orlando. However, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago wonders if the Bulls could end up with a first-rounder in 2023 by negotiating a trade with the Blazers, who are on track to receive the Knicks’ first-round pick. As Johnson observes, Portland may want to reacquire its own first-rounder, which remains lottery-protected through 2028, in order to regain flexibility for future trades.

Trail Blazers Shut Down Damian Lillard For Rest Of Season

March 28th, 2023 at 4:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 28: Lillard will be shut down for the rest of the season, sources tell Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link). In an article for the Athletic, Charania says he expects “serious conversations” between Lillard and the Blazers about what’s next for the two sides.

MARCH 25: All-Star guard Damian Lillard may be shut down for the rest of the regular season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Sources tell Charania that the Trail Blazers are leaning toward ending the season for Lillard, who missed Friday night’s game with tightness in his right calf.

Portland has been in the midst of a tight Western Conference playoff race for most of the season, but a recent downturn has dropped the team into 13th place. The Blazers have lost seven of their last 10 games — including a 28-point defeat against the Bulls Friday night with Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons all sidelined — to fall to 32-41, three-and-a-half games out of the 10th spot.

Lillard is having one of his best seasons at age 32, averaging a career-high 32.2 points per night in 58 games, along with 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He bounced back from core surgery that limited him to 29 games last season and earned his seventh career All-Star appearance.

Although Portland is sliding out of the postseason battle, the team is moving up in the race for a high lottery selection. The Blazers currently own the league’s sixth-worst record and are just a game-and-a-half away from Orlando for the fifth-best lottery odds.

A decision to shut down Lillard, and possibly hold out some of the other rotation members, could have a significant impact on the Western Conference playoff picture. Portland will host the Thunder and Pelicans Sunday and Monday and then has two home games with the Kings to wind up the month. The Blazers will also face the Timberwolves, Grizzlies and Clippers before the season ends.

Warriors Won’t Pursue Grievance Against Trail Blazers

March 25th, 2023 at 3:34pm CST by Rory Maher

4:05pm: The Blazers released a statement confirming the news, tweets Aaron J. Fentress of The Oregonian.

“The Golden State Warriors have decided to not pursue a grievance against the Blazers over the Payton trade. We are moving on, and glad to put this behind us.”

3:34pm: The Warriors have decided not to pursue an NBA investigation against the Trail Blazers following the four-team trade at last month’s deadline, league sources tell Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

The trade was held up for multiple days after the Warriors failed Gary Payton II‘s physical due to an adductor injury, but they ultimately decided to go through with it.

Payton has yet to play for the Warriors since the trade, but he is officially listed as probable for Sunday’s game and he intends to play against Minnesota barring a last-minute setback, per Kendra Andrew of ESPN (Twitter links). The veteran guard will be on an undisclosed minutes restriction, Andrews adds.

Payton, who helped the Warriors win the championship in 2021/22, signed a three-year, $26.1MM contract with Portland last summer, but only appeared in 15 games for the Blazers after offseason adductor surgery. He started for Portland the day before the trade.

A formal league inquiry into the Portland’s alleged failure to provide sufficient medical information was expected to be opened, but according to Haynes, the Warriors have decided against that course of action. It certainly doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Haynes’ report coincides with Payton’s imminent return to the court.

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Joe, Ingles, McDaniels

March 25th, 2023 at 7:47am CST by Luke Adams

As Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (subscription required) writes, the Trail Blazers looked ready on Friday to pull the plug on the 2022/23 season.

Having slipped out of the play-in race during a recent six-game losing streak, Portland ruled out Damian Lillard (right calf tightness) and Jusuf Nurkic (right knee soreness) for Friday’s game vs. Chicago and ran out a starting lineup made up of Ryan Arcidiacono, Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Trendon Watford, and Drew Eubanks. The outcome was predictable, with the Blazers losing to the Bulls by 28 points.

With the Trail Blazers now sitting at 32-41, three-and-a-half games back of the No. 10 seed in the West with nine games to go, there’s little reason to believe the team will resume its push for a play-in spot down the stretch — and it’s possible we won’t see a whole lot more of banged-up vets like Lillard and Nurkic this season. That would be good news for playoff hopefuls like the Thunder and Pelicans, who will visit Portland on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Given the team’s lack of impact moves on the free agent market since relocating to Oklahoma City, Isaiah Joe may be the most important free agent addition in Thunder history, declares Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link). While Joe won’t become a star and may never even be a starter in OKC, he has enjoyed a breakout season and looks like a potential rotation player for years to come, Lowe writes. Joe has knocked down 42.0% of his three-point attempts this season and the Thunder have a plus-6.6 net rating when he’s on the court, easily the best mark by any player who has spent the entire year with the club.
Bucks forward Joe Ingles admits that he took it hard when he was traded by the Jazz at the 2022 trade deadline, but he has since comes to terms with it and now appreciates the fact that he got to spend eight years with the franchise, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. The roster overhaul that the Jazz have undergone since Ingles’ departure made it easier for him to move on. “We had a hell of a run; at some point, they always come to an end,” he said. “Ours did — not by the players’ choice, but that’s how it works.”
In an interview with Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link), Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels says he thinks he’s the best defender in the NBA.

Nassir Little Placed In Concussion Protocol

March 23rd, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Nassir Little missed Wednesday’s game after entering concussion protocol, the Trail Blazers announced (via Twitter).

Trade Breakdown: James Wiseman To The Pistons (Four-Team Deal)

March 22nd, 2023 at 7:34pm CST by Rory Maher

This is the 10th entry in our series breaking down the significant trades of the 2022/23 season. As opposed to giving out grades, this series explores why the teams were motivated to make the moves. Let’s dive into the most controversial trade of the deadline, a four-team deal between the Pistons, Warriors, Trail Blazers and Hawks.

Trade details

On February 9:

The Hawks acquired Saddiq Bey.
The Pistons acquired James Wiseman.
The Warriors acquired Gary Payton II, the Hawks’ 2026 second-round pick, and the Hawks’ 2028 second-round pick.
The Trail Blazers acquired Kevin Knox, either the Hawks’ or Nets’ 2023 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Hawks), the Hawks’ 2024 second-round pick, the Hawks’ 2025 second-round pick (protected 41-60), the Grizzlies’ 2026 second-round pick (top-42 protected; from Warriors), and the Warriors’ 2028 second-round pick.
Notes: The Hawks previously traded their 2024 second-round pick to the Trail Blazers with top-55 protection. Those protections were removed as part of this deal. This trade technically wasn’t finalized until February 12, which we’ll cover below.

The Pistons’ perspective:

Wiseman was reportedly atop Detroit’s draft board in 2020, when he was selected No. 2 overall by Golden State. The Pistons wouldn’t have traded for him if they didn’t believe in his talent and potential.

Interestingly, Wiseman is the second former No. 2 overall pick that general manager Troy Weaver has traded for in the past two years, joining Marvin Bagley III. They have several similarities, including being left-handed big men who have struggled with inconsistency and injuries since entering the NBA.

Wiseman was something of a mystery prospect, as he only played three college games at Memphis before being ruled ineligible. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the truncated offseason, he didn’t have a full training camp entering his rookie season, which certainly wasn’t ideal for a player who already was lacking in high-level experience.

He showed some flashes of upside in 2020/21, averaging 11.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 0.9 BPG while shooting 51.9% from the floor and 62.8% from the free throw line in 39 games (27 starts, 21.4 MPG). He also shot 31.6% from three-point range on one attempt per night.

Unfortunately, he sustained a torn meniscus in his right knee that required surgery in April 2021. Wiseman had a lengthy recovery process, which included multiple setbacks and a second surgery – an arthroscopic procedure – in December 2021. He ultimately missed the entire ‘21/22 season.

Prior to the trade, Wiseman had appeared in just 60 NBA contests. In 21 games (12.5 MPG) this season with the Warriors, he averaged 6.9 PPG and 3.5 RPG while shooting 62.8% from the field and 68.4% from the line.

Wiseman, who turns 22 at the end of the month, needed more reps. Weaver said as much after the trade. There’s a lot of pressure on top draft picks like Wiseman, but he’s still early in the learning process, as head coach Dwane Casey noted earlier this month. It’s not something that can be rushed.

The Warriors didn’t have time to be patient with Wiseman. They won the title without him contributing last season, and he was struggling when he played for them in ’22/23. The Pistons are in the midst of a rebuild and can afford to be patient, at least in the short term.

At 7’0″ and 240 pounds with a 7’6″ wingspan, Wiseman has an inherent edge in two areas that can’t be taught: size and length. Those factors, combined with his plus leaping ability, make him a natural lob threat, and he has posted above average rebounding numbers with Detroit. He also has long strides and runs the floor well for a center.

Through 15 games (13 starts, 26.3 MPG) with Detroit, Wiseman is averaging 13.3 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 0.9 BPG while shooting 55.1% from the field and 68.8% from the line. He’s just 3-of-14 from deep.

It was a risky trade, to be sure. Bey had been a solid contributor for the Pistons and rarely missed games. But they’re in a position where they need to acquire star-level talent if they want to be competitive in the future, and they think Wiseman has the upside to reach that level.

The fit is a bit clunky and will be interesting to monitor going forward. The Pistons seem intent on running a two-big lineup, as they also have Isaiah Stewart (likely out for the season with a shoulder injury) and Jalen Duren, a couple of recent first-round picks. Wiseman, Bagley, Stewart and Duren will all have to improve in multiple areas for it to work.

That frontcourt will be even more crowded if Detroit wins the lottery again and drafts Victor Wembanyama. Still, that would be a good problem to have and would be one the team can figure out later if it happens.

Wiseman will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason. Given how rough around the edges he is, I would think the Pistons will wait on that decision until after ‘23/24, when he could be a restricted free agent if Detroit gives him a qualifying offer.

Ultimately, this trade was a home run swing on Wiseman’s talent. The Pistons had a long look at Bey, but they think Wiseman can be a real difference-maker while viewing Bey as having relatively less upside.

The Warriors’ perspective:

Did Golden State sell low on Wiseman? I don’t think so. Just because he was a top pick a few years ago doesn’t mean he’s still valued as such – if he was, the Warriors would have received more in return.

Golden State’s motion offense requires bigs who can set solid (sometimes illegal) screens and make quick decisions with the ball. Neither of those things are strengths of Wiseman’s at the moment.

The Warriors initially tried to cater to Wiseman as a rookie by clearing out the side and giving him isolation post-up touches. That’s never been their style though, and it totally disrupted the flow of their offense (he also was largely ineffective in those situations, often struggling with getting pushed off his spot, which is something he’s still working on).

After he returned from injury this season, they were using him the same way they’ve used their other centers over the years. He just wasn’t playing well.

Even more troubling than the poor offensive fit was how much he struggled defensively. Wiseman runs the floor well in the open court, but he doesn’t have good body control in tight spaces, especially when backpedaling.

Opponents are shooting 70.3% at the rim against Wiseman, which is the worst mark in the league among centers who contest at least four rim attempts per game, according to NBA.com‘s data. DunksAndThrees.com‘s defensive estimated plus-minus ranks him as the third-worst defender in the NBA. It’s really tough to have the backbone of your defense be that much of a negative.

It’s a small sample size (only 262 minutes), but Wiseman’s net rating with the Warriors in ’22/23 was minus-19.3, with the equivalent of the worst offense and defense in the league (he’s at minus-11.1 with the Pistons). Golden State was plus-2.3 in 2,403 minutes with him off the court.

It just wasn’t working for either side. Wiseman looked confused and was visibly losing confidence, and the Warriors had a healthy player making $9.6MM this season who was detrimental to the team’s success when he played.

Payton, meanwhile, was an excellent fit with the Warriors, helping them win their fourth title in eight seasons in ’21/22. A tremendous athlete, the 6’3″ Payton fit well as a pseudo-big man offensively, recording 55 dunks out of 212 made field goals last season, a remarkably high percentage for a guard.

The 30-year-old had a great understanding of the team’s schemes on both ends, with many of those dunks coming off scripted plays on slipped screens. When healthy, he is a top-tier defensive player often tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player.

The problem was, according to the Warriors’ doctors and Payton himself, he wasn’t healthy. He failed his physical, which held up this four-team deal for three days after the deadline, at which point Golden State ultimately decided to go through with it. He had just started against the Warriors night before the trade, so there’s no way they could’ve known he was going to be sidelined as long as he has.

Payton only played 15 games with the Trail Blazers after signing a three-year contract with them last summer. He was slow to recover from abdominal surgery, which is the same injury that was flagged on his physical. Owner Joe Lacob said Portland was “disingenuous” and broke an “honor code” by not disclosing the extent of Payton’s injury.

This is an unfortunate example of why it’s risky to make a deal at the last minute just before the deadline. If it had been made a few days earlier, the Warriors could have asked to amend the terms of the trade, but they didn’t have that option once the deadline passed.

It’s true the Warriors could have re-signed Payton in the offseason without giving anything up. But due to the way the repeater tax works, his $8.3MM contract would have added about $60MM to their already record-breaking luxury tax bill — an exorbitant amount for a role player.

This trade saved them money both this season and next, as Wiseman is scheduled to make $12.12MM next season in the final year of his rookie deal, while Payton will earn $8.72MM in ‘23/24.

Hopefully Payton is able to return and contribute to close the season, as he has been sidelined since the Warriors approved the deal. He’s an exciting player to watch and played a key role in last season’s title run.

The Trail Blazers’ perspective:

Was it a red flag that Portland was willing to trade Payton so soon after signing him? The Blazers need defensive help and he is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league when active.

Still, I highly doubt there was anything nefarious going on. Differences of opinion happen all the time when it comes to medical issues, which is why players often seek out multiple doctors before undergoing surgery.

If it turns out the Blazers intentionally withheld information about Payton’s injury, then it would rightfully impact their reputation around the league and they might lose a second-round pick. I don’t see why they would risk that just to add a handful of second-rounders and move off Payton’s salary.

The Blazers created an $8.3MM traded player exception as part of the deal, which is what Payton makes this season. They will have until next February to use it.

Portland also added Knox, who makes $3MM this season. The former lottery pick is now on his fourth team in 14 months. His $3MM team option for next season is reasonable enough if the Blazers want to bring him back, but he’s only played 55 minutes in 10 games thus far with Portland.

The Hawks’ perspective:

This trade could be viewed in three parts for the Hawks. First, they sent out five second-rounders to acquire Bey (and Knox, who was then flipped to Portland).

Second, they created about $3MM in salary cap relief by making a four-player trade with Houston at the deadline, dealing away two second-rounders (via the Thunder) in the process. That allowed them to take on Bey’s salary while remaining under the luxury tax line.

Finally, they were able to absorb Bey’s $2.96MM contract with a trade exception they generated last summer when they moved Kevin Huerter to Sacramento.

If you want to look at it in total, they basically shuffled around some end-of-bench players and dealt away seven second-rounders to add Bey, a third-year forward.

You could certainly make the case that Bey was the best player involved in this deal at the time it was made, even if he isn’t a household name. He appeared in 204 of a possible 210 games with Detroit (30.0 MPG), averaging 14.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.0 APG and 0.9 SPG on .400/.357/.843 shooting in two-plus seasons.

From watching him play with the Pistons, I always felt that Bey could really shoot, but he was forced to take difficult shots because they had a team full of young players trying to figure things out, and he was one of the only real threats from deep. I think that experience will make him better in the long run because it helped him develop his off-the-bounce game, and he’s a solid passer who very rarely turns it over. He’s below average on defense, but not a liability or anything.

Frankly, I’m not sure why the Warriors didn’t just take Bey in this deal. He may not have been familiar with the system, and he certainly isn’t nearly the defensive player that Payton is, but I thought they could use another forward instead of another guard, and he seemed like a good fit. He’s also much cheaper than Payton, earning $4.56MM next season in the final year of his rookie contract.

Either way, obviously the Hawks wanted him. Through 15 games (25.1 MPG) in a reduced role with Atlanta, Bey is averaging 10.4 PPG and 4.3 RPG on a strong .466/.456/.789 shooting line.

As with Wiseman, Bey was a first-round pick in 2020 (No. 19 overall) so he will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. The former Villanova product will turn 24 years old on the last day of the regular season (April 9).

Blazers’ Billups Has Support Of Front Office, Players

March 18th, 2023 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Unless they turn things around quickly and drastically, the Trail Blazers will miss the playoffs and the play-in tournament for a second consecutive year since hiring Chauncey Billups as their head coach. However, a high-ranking source within the organization tells Jason Quick of The Athletic that the idea of firing Billups “hasn’t even crossed our minds.”

Billups has also received endorsements from several of Portland’s most important players, including Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, and Jerami Grant, according to Quick. Grant, who is eligible for free agency this summer, said that outsiders calling for Billups to be let go are “stupid,” adding that he’s “ready to run through a wall” for his coach.

For his part, Billups told Quick that he’s in frequent contact with Blazers general manager Joe Cronin and isn’t afraid of losing his job.

“I don’t worry about that, at all,” Billups said. “We have our talks and everything, and that will remain between us, but I don’t worry about that at all.”

Billups, who is in the second year of a five-year contract, has led the Blazers to a 58-94 (.382) record since taking the reins from Terry Stotts in 2021. Portland had hoped the first-time head coach could help stabilize a defense that had been one of the NBA’s worst during Stotts’ last two seasons, but there has been no improvement in that area — the Blazers ranked 29th in defensive rating in 2021/22 and currently sit at 27th in ’22/23.

Still, as Quick points out, Billups hasn’t been dealt an easy hand in Portland. The team underwent a front office overhaul just a few months after he was hired and saw its franchise player (Lillard) limited to just 29 games last season due to a major abdominal injury. Several key players, including CJ McCollum, Norman Powell, Robert Covington, and Larry Nance Jr., were traded at the 2022 deadline, and others – Josh Hart and Gary Payton II – were on the move at this season’s deadline.

“It’s been unbelievable … crazy,” Billups said of the Blazers’ front office turmoil, injury woes, and roster turnover. “How is that my fault? Last year I had so many coaches who are either in the league or past coaches saying, ‘Bro, I’ve coached 15, 17 years and I didn’t go through that once.’

“… The sad part about this season is we never got to see our team play. We had Josh, GP, Justise (Winslow) … veterans we know who were really going to help you win. And early in the season, we had a lot of those guys playing, and we were kicking up some dust, playing well. But an injury here … and all the stuff that happened (trades of Hart and Payton) … it was just tough.”

Acknowledging that his win-loss record hasn’t been strong so far, Billups said that his performance should also be evaluated based on the culture he has cultivated in Portland, the buy-in he has gotten from his players, and the progress he has made in developing the Blazers’ youngsters, including Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, and Nassir Little. According to Quick, Billups rated himself “good” on the first point and “very good” on the other two.

And-Ones: Revenue Sharing, Draft Lottery, NCAA Tourney, MVP Race, Broadcasting

March 18th, 2023 at 11:53am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors and Lakers were the biggest contributors in revenue sharing for the 2021/22 season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

Those franchises combined to pay more than $88MM to smaller-market teams last season. A total of 10 teams paid out $163.6MM in revenue sharing. Adding in approximately $240MM in luxury tax payouts, there were 20 teams collecting a total of $404MM.

Topping the list of revenue sharing beneficiaries was the Pacers, who collected $42.2MM. The Nuggets ($35.5M) and Trail Blazers ($32M) rounded out the top three, according to Wojnarowski.

We have more from the basketball world:

For all lottery-bound teams, May 16 is the big night. That’s when the lottery will be held, the NBA’s PR department tweets. The G League Elite Camp will be held May 13 and 14, while the draft combine will take place from May 15-21.
UCLA guard Amari Bailey, Missouri forward Kobe Brown and Furman forward Jalen Slawson were among the draft prospects who helped their cause in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, as Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report details.
While Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic was seemingly pulling away from the pack for the Most Valuable Player award earlier this season, the race has tightened up the last few weeks, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps writes. Joel Embiid has pulled even with Jokic, according to a prominent Las Vegas sportsbook, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is very much in the running due to the Bucks’ surge to the top of the East.
The recent turmoil among regional sports networks affects 18 NBA teams, prompting The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov to detail what changes could be coming to the industry and what steps those franchises might take.

Justise Winslow Had Ankle Surgery, Likely Out For Season

March 17th, 2023 at 7:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Trail Blazers forward Justise Winslow had a second opinion on his Grade 2 left ankle sprain sometime after the All-Star break and underwent a bone marrow aspirate concentrate procedure in March to address persistent pain from the injury, the team announced in a press release.

The Blazers say Winslow will continue to rehabilitate and will be reevaluated “in the coming weeks.” Considering he last played on December 21, it’s pretty safe to say he’ll miss the remainder of the 2022/23 regular season.

It’s another tough setback for Winslow, a former lottery pick (10th overall in 2015) whose career has been severely impacted by injuries. Over the past four years, he has played just 114 regular season games, for an average of 28.5 games per season.

In addition to injuries, Winslow has also struggled mightily with scoring efficiency throughout his eight NBA seasons, posting a .412/.315/.638 shooting line (.477 true shooting percentage) in 344 contests (25.9 MPG). However, he is a solid rebounder and plus passer for a forward, on top of being a strong, versatile defender.

Winslow will turn 27 years old later this month. In 29 games (26.8 MPG) this season, he averaged 6.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.4 APG and 1.0 SPG on .409/.311/.714 shooting (.466 TS%).

A former national champion at Duke, Winslow will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He is earning $4.1MM in the final year of his contract.

Northwest Notes: Clarkson, Sexton, Lillard, J. Williams, More

March 17th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson, who has missed the team’s last four games due to a finger injury, was a partial participant in Thursday’s practice and participated fully in Friday’s practice (Twitter links via Eric Walden and Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune). It remains to be seen whether or not Clarkson will be active when Utah hosts the Celtics on Saturday, but it appears he’s nearing a return.

The news isn’t as promising for Collin Sexton, who hasn’t played since February 15 due to a left hamstring strain. According to Walden, Sexton is progressing, but won’t be reevaluated until next week, so he’ll miss at least a few more games.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Chris Haynes said in the latest episode of the #thisleague UNCUT podcast that he believes the Trail Blazers may shut down Damian Lillard for the rest of the season if they don’t make up ground in the standings over the next five or six games (hat tip to RealGM). While that sounds like speculation, Haynes is pretty plugged-in on Lillard-related matters.
Thunder wing Jalen Williams has climbed to second place in The Athetic’s rookie rankings and is showing legitimate star potential, according to Sam Vecenie. Williams has helped keep Oklahoma City in the playoff race by averaging 19.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, and 2.2 SPG on .563/.467/.873 shooting in his last 15 contests (33.5 MPG).
A spokesperson for Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore told Josh Kosman of The New York Post this week that the duo is prepared to buy another 20% of the Timberwolves. “The money is in the bank and ready to be funded today,” the spokesperson said. There were reportedly some concerns in 2022 about A-Rod’s liquidity and some speculation that the plan for Rodriguez and Lore to assume majority control of the Wolves could be in trouble, but it remains on track. When they officially make this month’s payment, Rodriguez and Lore will control 40% of the Wolves — the plan is for them to exercise their option to increase their stake in the franchise to 80% by the end of 2023.
Nuggets rookie Christian Braun saw his minutes reduced during a stretch of games in late February and early March, but has been back in the rotation this week. Head coach Michael Malone said it’s been hard to keep Braun off the floor, since he has a knack for making “winning play after winning play,” writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “He’s playing with confidence,” Malone said. “He’s running the floor, rebounding, making the most of his opportunity, not getting frustrated when he’s out of the game. We need him to continue to do that and be ready for the playoffs.”

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