Here are Sunday’s assignments and recalls from the G League:
Here are Saturday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
Here are Friday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
The NBA announced today the reserves for the 2019 All-Star Game, releasing the pool of players eligible to be drafted by captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo for the contest.
For the Eastern Conference, Washington’s Bradley Beal, Detroit’s Blake Griffin, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic were all selected.
Indiana guard Victor Oladipo was also chosen, but he’ll miss the game due to injury. The NBA could name a replacement for Oladipo, with Eric Bledsoe or D’Angelo Russell among the most likely candidates.
New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Golden State’s Klay Thompson, Portland’s Damian Lillard, San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns were chosen to represent the Western Conference.
James and Antetokounmpo will draft their respective teams next Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7:00pm ET. The draft will air on TNT and commence just hours after the NBA’s trade deadline. Each captain must first finish selecting from the pool of starters — announced last week — before choosing from this list of reserves.
The All-Star Game is set to take place on Sunday, Feb. 17 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The starters for the game were chosen by votes from fans, players and media, while the reserves were selected by the 30 NBA head coaches.
After meeting with Knicks management to express his concern about the team’s direction, Kristaps Porzingis left the franchise with the impression that he prefers to be traded, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Knicks are expected to begin discussions about possible Porzingis trades ahead of next week’s deadline, the ESPN duo reports.
As we relayed in our earlier Porzingis story, the injured big man – along with his brother (and agent) Janis – reportedly spoke to the Knicks today about his frustration with the team’s losing, the franchise’s history of dysfunction, and his concern about whether sustainable organizational success is possible.
While ESPN’s report suggested that Porzingis would like to win in New York, it seems that he’s not confident that can happen anytime soon. He’ll be a restricted free agent during the summer of 2019, so the Knicks are in position to hang onto him for at least another season, if they so choose, but it sounds like the club is willing to test the market to see what kind of offers are out there. The Knicks previously considered trading Porzingis when Phil Jackson was in charge of basketball decisions.
An All-Star a year ago, Porzingis averaged 22.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 2.4 BPG with a .439/.395/.793 shooting line in 48 games in 2017/18, displaying franchise-player potential. However, a torn ACL ended his season early and has sidelined him for the entire 2018/19 campaign so far.
Considering Porzingis still hasn’t returned to action following that ACL tear, it’s not clear what the trade market for him would look like at this point. If he’s able to get back on the court during the final couple months of the season and prove he’s healthy, it would increase his value, but it’s not clear when he’ll return — plus, it may be tricky for the Knicks to pull off a sign-and-trade deal in the offseason.
The Celtics, Clippers, Thunder, and Spurs figure to be among the teams with interest in trading for Porzingis, tweets Frank Isola of The Athletic. Wojnarowski names the Clippers and Spurs as well, adding the Nets, Heat, and Raptors to the list of potential suitors (Twitter link). Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer (Twitter link) throws the Mavericks into the mix as well.
As we noted earlier today, Porzingis will have a limited ability to jump ship anytime soon if he’s not traded during the season or in a sign-and-trade. He could accept his qualifying offer this summer and become an unrestricted free agent in 2020, but settling for a one-year, $4.5MM deal would be a big risk for a 7’3″ player coming off an ACL tear.
His other option would be to sign a shorter-term offer sheet with a rival suitor — the Knicks would almost certainly match it, but Porzingis would have the opportunity to get back on the open market sooner than if he signs a four- or five-year contract with New York.
If the Knicks don’t move Porzingis before the deadline, it will be interesting to see if he reconsiders his stance at all in the coming months. New York has a good deal of cap flexibility and is in position to land a top-five draft pick, so it’s not as if the club is poised to stay stuck in lottery territory forever. Some good luck in the draft lottery or on the free agent market could substantially accelerate the Knicks’ rebuilding process.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Lakers are hoping for a scenario in which they can add both Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi. In an appearance with Scott Van Pelt yesterday, Wojnarowski broke down the latest Davis rumors and said L.A.’s front office has even bigger things in mind.
If the Lakers can acquire Davis before the start of free agency and the Warriors aren’t willing to make a full maximum offer to Thompson, the All-Star guard will think about heading south to form a new Big Three, according to Woj.
“We’ll see what Golden State does there. They’ve got a lot of players to pay going forward,” Wojnarowski said. “They want to re-sign Kevin Durant. They certainly want to re-sign Klay, they’ve got Draymond Green coming up in free agency the following year.”
The Lakers project to have about $36MM in cap space this summer, so they should be considered a serious contender for Thompson if he’s ready to part ways with the Warriors.
There’s more Lakers news to pass along:
Here are Saturday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
Here are Friday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
Kawhi Leonard will sit out his third consecutive game tonight, once again because of “load management,” tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. After playing just nine games last season because of a quad injury, Leonard’s health has been a priority in Toronto ever since he was acquired in an offseason trade. Eric Koreen of The Athletic examines how this decision has affected the Raptors and why it’s the best strategy to keep him healthy enough for the playoffs and maybe happy enough to re-sign this summer.
“I think he said it from day one that health is most important to him, so being attentive, listening, pushing him, all the things you’d want to do with your own health for your long-term future (are important),” GM Bobby Webster said recently. “… Anything we can do health-wise and medical-wise to progress him is great, so I think that’s a big one for us.”
Koreen notes that Leonard is getting considerations that aren’t extended to other players. For more than a month, Fred VanVleet has worn a wrap on his back when not playing, and Kyle Lowry skipped a planned night off last Thursday. However, VanVleet said the players understand the situation and aren’t resentful toward Leonard.
“He doesn’t have to prove anything if there’s three (games) in four nights, back-to-backs,” VanVleet said. “It’s from a health standpoint, from what we are told. He’s important. We’d much rather have him fresh and ready later than wearing him out right now.”
There’s more from Toronto: