Thunder Notes: SGA, J-Dub, Win Mark, Caruso, Topic
While the Thunder were disappointed to drop Saturday’s game to San Antonio — Oklahoma City’s first loss in five-plus weeks — they were more focused on areas of improvement afterward rather than hanging their heads, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
“Personally, I think it’s exciting,” superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s easier to learn when you don’t feel the way you want to feel. It stings a little bit more.
“We’ll also see these guys [twice in the next five] games. So, it will be a good challenge. Kind of like an automatic test, almost like in school. You fail the test, you get to retest a couple days later. That’s what it will probably feel like. Losing is where you find growth and where you really get better.”
Oklahoma City had its preferred starting lineup available on Saturday for the first time since the team won the championship in June, MacMahon notes. The Thunder were up 16 points late in the second quarter, but the Spurs rallied before halftime and wound up winning by two points.
Gilgeous-Alexander took responsibility for his part in the team’s “stagnant” offense — he finished with a game-high 29 points but also committed a season-high five turnovers.
“We can’t be spoiled,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, per MacMahon. “We can’t think we’re above anything. Us, along with every team in the league, if you show up on a night and don’t do the necessary thing to win, you probably won’t win, no matter how talented or no matter what your record looks like. That was the case for us tonight.”
Here’s more on the defending champions:
- The Thunder went 68-14 last season and won the NBA championship. However, they fell in the final of last year’s NBA Cup and were eliminated in the semifinals on Saturday. Star forward Jalen Williams, who finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals but shot just 5-of-17 from the field, admitted the team was hoping to add to its trophy case, relays Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “Yeah, it’s frustrating,” said Williams. “There’s perspective on it, for sure. I think an average team would probably be like, ‘Oh, it’s the Cup, whatever, we lost one.’ What are we, 24-2? I mean, we can go home and just hang our hat on that, or we can look at it as a way to get better and understand that we played against a playoff team that beat us and gave us a two on our (loss record). So that’s how we’ll look at it from a competitive standpoint.”
- Entering Saturday’s game, the Thunder were tied with the 2015/16 Warriors for the best 25-game start in NBA history. Golden State went on to break Chicago’s regular season win mark by compiling a 73-9 record, but fell in the 2016 NBA Finals to Cleveland. As MacMahon writes for ESPN.com, Gilgeous-Alexander said on Friday that it would “absolutely” be meaningful if the Thunder were able to break the Warriors’ record, but he also cautioned that the team was more focused on repeating as champions and continuing to make day-to-day improvements.
- The reigning MVP was asked about the win record again after Saturday’s loss, according to Vardon. “Seventy-three and nine? I mean, the position we’re in right now, what are we, 24-2? My goal is to get better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So if we get better than what we are now, that should take care of itself. That’s kind of how I see it. Goals to me are pointless trying to reach at when they are so far away. You have to take care of everything step-by-step, and tonight we didn’t. If we stack nights like we did tonight, we won’t even come close to it.”
- Veteran guard Alex Caruso was one of the standouts for the Thunder in Saturday’s loss, observes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscription required). On a night in which the offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders, Caruso did his best to will the team to victory in crunch time, Martinez writes, recording seven points, three rebounds and two steals in eight fourth-quarter minutes. The two-time champion finished with 11 points (on 5-of-9 shooting), eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, with the Thunder outscoring the Spurs by 22 points in his 24 minutes.
- Williams was recently asked about 2024 lottery pick Nikola Topic, who is undergoing treatment for testicular cancer. The Serbian guard missed his entire rookie season with a torn ACL prior to the cancer diagnosis this fall. “He doesn’t come in like, ‘It sucks.’ He’s going in, working out and shooting and trying to get better, which is insane to me. … He’s been really strong about the situation. He doesn’t feel sorry for himself,” Williams said of Topic (Twitter link via Martinez).
Knicks, Spurs Advance To NBA Cup Final
Behind game highs of 40 points and eight assists from star guard Jalen Brunson, the Knicks defeated the Magic by 12 points on Saturday in Las Vegas to advance to the final of the NBA Cup, also known as the in-season tournament.
“When you have an MVP of the league candidate in Jalen Brunson, you know, 16-for-27, 40 points, he makes the game easier for everybody,” head coach Mike Brown said, per Vincent Goodwill of ESPN. “That’s what MVPs are supposed to do, and he definitely did that tonight.”
Karl-Anthony Towns (29 points on 9-of-11 shooting, nine rebounds) and OG Anunoby (24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, six rebounds, four assists, three steals) were among the other standouts for New York.
Jalen Suggs led Orlando with 26 points and seven assists, but he was forced to leave the game in the third quarter due to a left hip injury.
The other semifinal matchup featured San Antonio and Oklahoma City. The Spurs emerged with a two-point victory over the defending champions, ending the Thunder’s 16-game winning streak in the process.
As Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com details, while four Spurs finished with 20-plus points, the primary takeaway from the game was the play of big man Victor Wembanyama, who was making his first appearance in a month after missing the past 12 games due to a left calf strain. Coming off the bench for the first time in his career, the French star finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, with San Antonio outscoring OKC by 21 points in his 21 minutes.
“It’s our first time playing [with] everybody [healthy],” Wembanyama said. “We were already a solid team already more than 20 games ago. It’s just experience. We’re just figuring it out. And the difference with us and [Oklahoma City] is we haven’t had this many reps recognizing what it takes to win. And this is our next step.
“This OKC team, they’re not just first in the league. They’re way ahead of everybody. And when you watch them, no matter who, whether it’s the 12th man or the starting five, whether they’re playing against the 15th seed or any kind of game, they’re playing the same way. They’re enjoying the little things that make them win, and this is the next step we have to pass.”
The final between New York and San Antonio will take place Tuesday at 7:30 pm CT in Las Vegas, the NBA announced (via Twitter). Both teams are currently 18-7.
Spurs Notes: Wembanyama, Guard Trio, Castle
While Victor Wembanyama is technically listed as probable for Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal against Oklahoma City, Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson was certainly talking on Friday as though the star big man would be playing, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News.
“He’s going to be tired, the excitement, the mental fatigue. He was tired the first time I saw him play live against video guys. … I would expect an early sub and not his normal minutes,” Johnson said of Wembanyama, who has been out since November 14 due to a left calf strain.
Johnson added that Wembanyama was pushing hard behind the scenes to return to action, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN (Twitter link).
Here’s more on the Spurs:
- Wembanyama admitted he was hoping to return sooner than Saturday, according to Orsborn (Twitter link). “I would have come back earlier, but it is more reasonable to listen to (the team’s medical staff),” Wembanyama said. The French center also discussed San Antonio’s surprising 9-3 record without him, Orsborn adds (via Twitter). “The brand of basketball we were playing … it’s getting closer to the ideal basketball. … And everybody has something to eat,” Wembanyama said. “Everybody can step up at any time. … Everybody trusts the next teammate, so it’s just beautiful to see.”
- They’ve only shared the court together for two games, but the backcourt trio of De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper have already developed chemistry both on and off the floor, Orsborn writes for The Express-News. In 78 total minutes during Wednesday’s quarterfinal win over the Lakers, Fox, Castle and Harper combined for 63 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists and three steals, Orsborn notes. “It’s been great,” forward Harrison Barnes said. “Each of them are different and their games complement each other. They’re all trying to make the right play, investing in the time off the court for that chemistry. So for us as a group, it’s great as we continue to evolve this thing and continue to get healthy, that those three continue to figure out ways to be effective.”
- Former UConn star Castle has purchased a stake in two professional expansion soccer teams in Connecticut, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “It was the right choice just to start at my age and to also give back to the state of Connecticut for what they’ve done for me,” Castle told Andscape in a phone interview Thursday. “I just wanted to put my name out there as well and just have it build up as my career goes on. Just to have this on the back end is another great idea.”
Afseth’s Latest: Mavs, AD, Klay, Giannis, Morant, Kessler, More
Although Dallas’ front office is open to listening to offers on Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford and D’Angelo Russell, the Mavericks aren’t “aggressively shopping” any of those four veterans, sources tell Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com.
As Afseth details, rival teams have gotten the impression that the Mavericks are currently evaluating not only their play to this point in the season but also their options on the trade market. They’re viewed as being “opportunistic” instead of a seller, Afseth writes, and whatever moves Dallas makes will be geared toward improving the team’s “long-term outlook.”
According to Afseth, the Mavs want to see Kyrie Irving play alongside Cooper Flagg and believe the star guard can complement the rookie forward and assist in Flagg’s development. Irving’s name is notably not among the aforementioned group.
While the Pistons, Hawks and Raptors are reportedly expected to among the suitors for Davis, sources who spoke to Afseth expressed skepticism about Davis’ fit in Detroit and Atlanta, with Toronto viewed as the best on-court landing spot of the group. Still, as Marc Stein recently reported and Afseth confirms, a Davis trade shouldn’t be viewed as an inevitability.
“The Mavericks are going to want to see how this team looks with AD and Kyrie,” one source told Afseth. “There is no sense in trying to just get rid of AD. The market has to be where they want to make a deal. If there isn’t a good enough deal on the table, I don’t see a deal getting done. They’d get another look at the trade market or evaluate an extension in the summer.”
Here are a few more highlights from Afseth’s rumor round-up:
- While Thompson’s on-court contributions have been up and down during his time in Dallas, he has remained a “positive” presence despite the organizational turmoil following the Luka Doncic trade, Afseth reports. If Dallas does end up having serious discussions about Thompson, the team is expected to be “considerate” of Thompson’s desire to play for a contender, Afseth adds.
- The future of Giannis Antetokounmpo is the biggest storyline on the trade market, but Afseth hears there haven’t been any new developments on that front. Some rival executives still view the Knicks as the favorites to land Antetokounmpo if he’s made available, but the Heat and Spurs are among the other potential suitors for the two-time MVP.
- Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, who returned from a 10-game absence on Friday, is not currently available on the trade market, per Afseth. Should that change, the Heat are not viewed as being a strong fit for the two-time All-Star, Afseth continues.
- The Rockets, Timberwolves and Kings are among the teams keeping an eye on point guards ahead of the February 5 deadline, according to Afseth.
- The Pacers have done background work on Jazz center Walker Kessler, according to Afseth, who says Tyrese Haliburton is a fan of the fourth-year big man. Kessler, who is out for the year following shoulder surgery, was seeking $120MM+ on a long-term rookie scale extension before the season began, Afseth reports. Kessler will be a restricted free agent next offseason.
Spurs Sign Kyle Mangas To Two-Way Deal, Waive Riley Minix
The Spurs have signed guard Kyle Mangas to a two-way contract, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. Two-way forward Riley Minix was waived in order to make room on the roster for Mangas, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (via Twitter).
Mangas, who went undrafted out of Indiana Wesleyan in 2021, has signed non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contracts prior to each of the last three seasons, but has yet to appear in an NBA game. Since going pro, the 6’4″ guard has played in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Canada, and the G League.
Mangas has been playing this fall for the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s NBAGL affiliate. In 10 games, he has averaged 18.5 points, 5.0 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 35.8 minutes per contest, with a strong shooting line of .500/.411/.727.
Minix had also been playing well at the G League level, with averages of 15.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 3.3 APG on .463/.394/.813 shooting in 11 games for Austin. However, the 25-year-old has only made four total NBA appearances for the Spurs since first joining the team on a two-way contract during the fall of 2024.
Mangas joins David Jones Garcia and Harrison Ingram as the two-way players on the Spurs’ roster. As our tracker shows, he’ll be eligible to be active for up to 35 NBA games on his new two-way deal.
Spurs’ Wembanyama Expected To Return On Saturday
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is expected to return to action on Saturday for the team’s NBA Cup semifinal matchup with Oklahoma City, per ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). San Antonio has officially listed Wembanyama as probable to play.
Wembanyama has missed the Spurs’ past 12 games due to a left calf strain he sustained on November 14. However, there was a sense this week that he was in the final stages of his recovery from that injury.
Asked after his team’s NBA Cup quarterfinal win on Wednesday whether there was a chance Wembanyama could be back for the semifinal, head coach Mitch Johnson replied, “Very much so.”
Wembanyama, who will turn 22 in January, was playing at an MVP-caliber level prior to his injury, averaging 26.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.6 blocks in 34.6 minutes per game as San Antonio won eight of its first 12 games.
Despite losing their defensive anchor, the Spurs have remained firmly in the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture by going 9-3 in his absence. At the time of Wembanyama’s injury, the Spurs ranked 12th in the NBA in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating. Since November 15, the team has the league’s 20th-best defense but the sixth-best offense.
Barring a late setback for Wembanyama, it appears as if Saturday will be the first time that the Spurs have De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and Wembanyama active for the game game. Whether that will be enough to topple the 24-1 Thunder and earn a spot in Tuesday’s NBA Cup championship contest remains to be seen.
And-Ones: Marjanovic, NBA Cup, Under-25s, FAs, Collins
Former NBA center Boban Marjanovic has signed with KK Ilirija, the Slovenian team announced in a press release.
Marjanovic, 37, made his NBA debut with San Antonio in 2015 and spent nine seasons in the league, appearing in 331 total regular season games for the Spurs, Pistons, Clippers, Sixers, Mavericks, and Rockets. After playing for Houston in 2023/24, he split last season between Fenerbahce in Turkey and the Zhejiang Lions in China.
Marjanovic’s new team competes in Slovenia’s domestic league and the ABA League, but isn’t part of the EuroLeague.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- How do players and coaches around the league feel about the NBA Cup? Most of the ones who spoke to The Athletic’s staff about the tournament offered positive feedback, with Bucks head coach Doc Rivers referring to it as “a benefit” for the league, while Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch called it a “perfect shot in the arm” for the first half of the season. “I think everybody’s taking it pretty serious, with what the stakes are, what the rewards are,” said Stephon Castle, whose Spurs advanced to the semifinals. “And again, being able to play in big-time games, it just amplifies the regular season a little bit.”
- Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama took the No. 1 spot in ESPN’s list of the top 25 players under 25 years old, just ahead of Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards and Detroit guard Cade Cunningham. San Antonio, which also has Castle and Dylan Harper in the top 25, is one of four teams with three players on the list, along with the Rockets, Pistons, and Magic.
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report ranks the top 20 free agents currently on the market, with Malik Beasley, Ben Simmons, and Tristen Newton leading the way. Newton has only played 16 total minutes in eight NBA appearances, but he’s averaging 26.3 points and 8.1 assists per game in the G League this fall.
- Former NBA center Jason Collins, whose family announced in September that he was being treated for a brain tumor, has revealed that he has Stage 4 glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. Collins, who told his story via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, said the average prognosis for his condition is just 11 to 14 months.
Southwest Notes: Queen, Poole, Rockets, Morant, K. Johnson
Pelicans head of basketball operations Joe Dumars has heard the criticisms of his decision to trade an unprotected 2026 first-round pick (the most favorable of New Orleans’ and Milwaukee’s selections) in order to move up from No. 23 to No. 13 in the 2025 draft to nab Derik Queen. In fact, Dumars says he “gets it,” telling Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN that “so much of today’s NBA narrative is around (draft) picks.”
However, the Pelicans’ top basketball executive has no regrets about that deal, since it allowed the team to leave the draft with both Jeremiah Fears and Queen, two prospects the front office badly wanted, rather than having to decide between them at No. 7.
“We looked at the lottery this year and said, ‘Wow, it’d be great if we could get both of those guys, and it may cost us,'” Dumars said. “But if you truly believe they can be foundational pieces for your success long term, then we’ll do what we have to do. It simply came down to we have this guard that we really, really love and this young big that we really, really love. Let’s go for it. I know we paid a big price for it, but it’s not like we’re unhappy with what we got. We like what we have as foundational pieces for the long term here.”
As we noted earlier this week, while the 3-22 Pelicans look increasingly likely to convey a high 2026 draft pick to Atlanta as a result of that draft-night trade, Queen’s performance in recent weeks, including a 33-point double-double on Monday, has shown there’s reason to believe the deal can work out for both teams.
“I know it probably weighs on his mind and on (Queen’s) shoulders a lot,” Fears said of the reaction to the trade. “As long as he knows what he can bring to the table and proves it every single time, there’s not really much you can say. He’s going to continue to prove to Joe D, to prove to everybody else that (Dumars) made the right decision.”
We have more from around the Southwest:
- Jordan Poole, who has missed the Pelicans‘ past 18 games due to a left quad strain, has a chance to play on Thursday for the first time since November 4. The veteran guard has been upgraded to questionable for New Orleans’ game against Portland, per the team. Poole started four of the club’s first seven contests before going down with that quad injury.
- Even though they lost starting point guard Fred VanVleet to an ACL tear before the season, the Rockets aren’t interested in pursuing Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, league sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic. Houston has the NBA’s fourth-best offense this season with Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard, and Aaron Holiday running the point.
- He has become somewhat overlooked in San Antonio as the Spurs added top-five picks Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper to their roster in recent years, but Keldon Johnson is routinely described by people within the organization as the heart of the team, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Johnson, who had 17 points in the Spurs’ NBA Cup quarterfinal win over the Lakers on Wednesday, has scored double-digit points in 20 of 24 games this season despite coming off the bench in each one of those contests. “He puts his body in harm’s way for the betterment of the team every game,” head coach Mitch Johnson said. “We got a lot of big personalities, and we got a face of the franchise, but that guy’s the heart and soul of the team, and I think you can see it when you watch this team long enough.”
Thunder, Spurs Advance In NBA Cup: League Announces Schedule Changes
The Thunder and Spurs will meet in the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas on Saturday after winning their respective quarterfinal matchups on Wednesday.
The Thunder improved to 24-1 on the season with a blowout home victory over the Suns. The game was never close, as Oklahoma City won each quarter by double-digits and defeated Phoenix by 49 points, making it the most lopsided loss in Suns history.
Oklahoma City made 55% of its three-pointers, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28 points) and Chet Holmgren (24 points) leading the way and no Thunder player logging more than 27 minutes.
In the late game, the Spurs overcame 35 points from Lakers star Luka Doncic and 26 from Marcus Smart in his return from a back injury to pull off a 132-119 win on the road. Stephon Castle had 30 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in his second game back from a hip injury, while six other Spurs scored in double digits.
The Thunder and Spurs will face one another on Saturday at 8:00 pm Central time for the right to advance to the NBA Cup final on Tuesday. Players on the losing team in that game will receive bonuses of roughly $106K apiece, while the winning team will face either the Magic or Knicks in the championship game a shot at the top prize ($531K per player).
Notably, Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has a shot to return from his calf strain for that game vs. the Thunder, per head coach Mitch Johnson.
“Very much so,” Johnson said after Wednesday’s win when asked if a Saturday return is in play for Wembanyama (Twitter link via Mark Medina). “He had a very good day today. He had a very intense day this morning. We’ll have to see how he responds and reacts tomorrow.”
The Thunder and Spurs will now play each other five times this season, including three times in December. The two clubs are scheduled to square off on December 23 in San Antonio and on Christmas Day in OKC.
The NBA also announced a handful of scheduling updates on Wednesday night, per Medina (Twitter link). The Suns and Lakers, who only had 81 games apiece on their respective regular season schedules, will face one another on Sunday in Phoenix at 7:00 pm CT.
The Thunder and Spurs had both been scheduled to play games on December 17, but those contests have been pushed back one day to Dec. 18 in order to give them an extra day of rest following the NBA Cup. OKC will now host the Clippers next Thursday, while San Antonio hosts the Wizards that night.
And-Ones: Front Offices, I. Mobley, NBA Europe, Quaintance
The Thunder are coming off a championship and are just the third team in NBA history to open a season with at least 23 wins in their first 24 games, so it comes as no surprise that general manager Sam Presti came out on top in The Athletic’s annual poll on the league’s best front offices.
A group of The Athletic’s NBA writers asked 36 executives around the NBA to rank their top five front offices, and Oklahoma City received an overwhelming 31 first-place votes.
The rest of the top five wasn’t simply made up of the teams at the top of the NBA’s standings. Brad Stevens and the Celtics placed second, followed by Rafael Stone and the Rockets at No. 3, Pat Riley and the Heat fourth, and Kevin Pritchard and the Pacers rounding out the top five. Each of those front offices received at least one first-place vote.
The Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Spurs, and Warriors finished in the top 10, with another 15 teams cited at least once, either as a top-five front office or as a group considered to be “on the rise” and earning an honorable mention. According to The Athletic, the five clubs not to be mentioned at all were the Mavericks, Kings, Pelicans, Suns, and Bulls.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Isaiah Mobley, the older brother of reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley, is in the process of finalizing an agreement with Hapoel Jerusalem, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (Twitter link). Mobley, a 2022 second-round pick who spent parts of three seasons in the NBA with Cleveland and Philadelphia from 2022-25, has been playing this fall with Manisa Basket in Turkey.
- The fall of 2027 continues to be viewed as a “realistic target” for the launch of the NBA’s European league, according to FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis. Joe Vardon of The Athletic passes along some of the other comments Zagklis made about the prospective league during a news conference on Tuesday, including the fact that the goal is to give more teams across Europe a pathway to qualifying for the NBA’s league than can currently qualify for the EuroLeague.
- Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance has cracked the top five in the latest 2026 NBA mock draft from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, behind the usual suspects at the top. The 6’10” sophomore forward is making his way back from an ACL tear he sustained while playing for Arizona State last season.