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Poll: Which Team Will Win Western Conference?

February 18th, 2022 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

On Thursday, we asked you which Eastern Conference team will make the NBA Finals this season. At the moment, no team in that poll has more than 24% of the vote, and five clubs have at least an 11% vote share.

While the East has been the conference of parity this season, the Western Conference has been something quite different. Two teams, the Suns (48-10) and Warriors (42-17), have controlled the top of the standings for essentially the entire season — no other club has cracked the top two since November 10.

Teams that have a ton of regular season success but haven’t yet proven themselves in the playoffs are often regarded with skepticism, not considered true contenders until they make a deep postseason run. But Golden State’s current core, led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green – has a long history of playoff success. And while Phoenix certainly can’t match the Warriors’ recent track record, the Suns showed last spring that they were no fluke, making it all the way to the NBA Finals and coming within two wins of a title.

In other words, these two teams are legit, and look like the odds-on favorites to meet in the Western Conference Finals. But that’s obviously not a foregone conclusion yet, with a handful of intriguing clubs filling out the playoff picture.

The Grizzlies, for one, are putting pressure on Golden State for the No. 2 seed in the conference — their 41-19 record puts them just a game-and-a-half back of the Dubs. Memphis is one of those teams we alluded to above, whose lack of recent playoff success means they’ll have plenty of skeptics to win over. But Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson, and company have shown they’re not willing to back down from anybody and have made the Grizzlies one of the NBA’s most exciting teams.

The Jazz (36-22) have championships aspirations and look great when they’re firing on all cylinders, but they’ve been up and down this season and have been exposed at times by smaller lineups. The Mavericks (35-24) are hoping that this year’s supporting cast is a better fit for Luka Doncic, but they’ll still only go as far as their All-NBA guard takes them.

The Nuggets (33-25) are one of the Western Conference’s most interesting contenders. Nikola Jokic has kept them firmly in the playoff mix with another MVP-caliber performance, and he could get some help before the end of the season — if Jamal Murray (ACL) and Michael Porter Jr. (back) return for the playoffs and look anything like their 2020/21 selves, Denver will be an extremely tough out.

Like Denver, the Clippers (30-31) and Lakers (27-31) could be dangerous if they’re at full strength, but Kawhi Leonard seems like a long shot to make it back this spring for the Clips, and the Lakers haven’t been able to put it all together even when their stars are healthy.

The Timberwolves (31-28) currently hold the top play-in spot ahead of the two Los Angeles teams and are looking to clinch a playoff spot for just the second time since 2004. It’s too early to rule anything out, but a deep postseason run seems unlikely for a Minnesota team that would’ve been happy entering the season just to earn a playoff berth.

If the nine teams we’ve already mentioned finish in the top 10, that leaves one play-in spot for a group that includes the revamped Pelicans (23-36) and Kings (22-38), the surprisingly-surging Trail Blazers (25-34), and Gregg Popovich‘s young Spurs (23-36). Again, never say never, but it’s a pretty safe bet that none of these teams will be representing the West in the Finals this June.

What do you think? Which Western Conference team do you expect to make it to the NBA Finals? How many legitimate contenders do you think there are in the West?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

And-Ones: Mock Draft, Ownership, Offseason Outlook, Upgrades

February 17th, 2022 at 10:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons could wind up with the No. 1 overall pick for the second straight year. In Chad Ford’s Mock Draft 2.0, they’ll take Auburn freshman forward Jabari Smith with the first pick. According to Ford’s sources, Detroit GM Troy Weaver would love to pair up Cade Cunningham with Smith. Ford throws a curveball with the second pick, with the Magic selecting Purdue wing Jaden Ivey. That leaves Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren for the taking at No. 3, where the Rockets snap him up.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Private equity firms have increasingly become a force in NBA ownership, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic notes. Private equity firms have purchased stakes in five teams, and their influence will continue to increase as the value of franchises continues to climb.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks not only takes a look at potential buyout candidates this month, he also turns his attention to the offseason, breaking down the free agent class, teams with significant cap space and significant players eligible for extensions. Regarding cap space, he notes that the Pacers and Trail Blazers have moved onto the list due to their trades. The Pistons, Magic and Spurs were already projected to have cap space.
The Nets, Sixers and Celtics did the most to upgrade their 2021/22 rosters before the trade deadline, according to The Athletic’s Seth Partnow. The Bucks, Jazz and Suns made slight alterations that could help them in the postseason, in Partnow’s evaluation.

Texas Notes: Porzingis, Popovich, Dragic, Nix

February 16th, 2022 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks decided to trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Wizards last week because they determined he couldn’t be an effective second star with Luka Doncic, Tim Cato of The Athletic states in a discussion of the deal. Porzingis was in his third season in Dallas, and all three had been disrupted by injuries, leading to concerns about whether he would ever be reliable to stay on the court. The Mavs are 13-9 in the games he has missed this season, so the front office felt it was safe to move on from his contract.

Cato is skeptical about Dallas’ return in the deal, although he says Spencer Dinwiddie will be a welcome addition for a team that has trouble driving to the basket and the Mavericks believe Davis Bertans is a better defender than his reputation would suggest. They plan to use him in larger lineups where his lack of rebounding will be less important.

There’s more NBA news from Texas:

The Spurs are focused on making the play-in tournament and reaching the playoffs, even though their 22-36 record indicates that they might be better off maximizing their first-round draft pick, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News. Dejounte Murray and Devin Vassell both talked last weekend about the importance of getting to the postseason, and coach Gregg Popovich repeated that message on Monday. “If you put yourself in the situation, more as a coach than any other position in the organization, besides players, you can’t go to your team and ask them to lose,” Popovich said. “You can’t do that. It’s an impossibility for all of the logical reasons you can think of on your own. So, you go play your best, you keep teaching, you keep doing what you do. And if you lose and wind up with a high draft pick, well, you accept it and you are glad you got a high draft pick. But it can’t be because you didn’t push them or teach them or demand from them.”
Goran Dragic gave up $819,835 in his buyout agreement with the Spurs, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. The amount is equal to a 54-day minimum-salary contract for Dragic, so he’ll make up roughly all that money once he signs with a new team.
The Rockets used part of their mid-level exception to sign rookie guard Daishen Nix to a four-year contract, according to Smith (Twitter link). Nix will make $612K for the rest of this season and $1,563,518 in 2022/23. The final two years of the deal are non-guaranteed at $1,836,096 and $1,988,598, and the last season is also a team option.

Spurs Buy Out Goran Dragic

February 15th, 2022 at 9:53am CST by Luke Adams

9:53am: The Spurs have officially waived Dragic (Twitter link via Paul Garcia of Project Spurs). As noted below, he’ll clear waivers and become a free agent on Thursday.

8:30am: The Spurs and point guard Goran Dragic have reached a buyout agreement, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Assuming Dragic is officially released today and clears waivers – which is a near-certainty due to his $19.4MM cap hit – he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday. At that point, he’d be free to sign with any team except the Raptors — NBA rules prohibit a team from re-signing a player it traded earlier in the league year if that player is cut by his new team.

Charania doesn’t identify any specific suitors for Dragic, but says “a slew” of teams are expected to pursue the playoff-tested veteran.

Previously, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski named the Bucks, Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, Bulls, and Nets as clubs expected to show interest in Dragic. Wojnarowski later said that Milwaukee, in particular, is expected to aggressively pursue the 35-year-old.

The Mavericks were viewed at one point as a potential frontrunner for Dragic, but acquired Spencer Dinwiddie at the trade deadline and are no longer believed to be in the market for a point guard. General manager Nico Harrison said last week that he thinks Dallas’ roster is “set.”

The Heat, meanwhile, are no longer ineligible to reacquire Dragic, since he was traded for a second time after Miami moved him in August. The guard has been working out in Miami for much of the season and the Heat have two open roster spots, so a reunion seems plausible, even though the club wasn’t mentioned by Wojnarowski over the weekend as a likely suitor.

Dragic averaged 13.4 PPG, 4.4 APG, and 3.4 RPG on .432/.373/.828 shooting in 50 games (26.7 MPG) for the Heat in 2020/21. However, he appeared in just five games for the Raptors this season after being sent to Toronto as part of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade.

Dragic hasn’t played since November, having taken a personal leave of absence from the Raptors up until he was traded to San Antonio at last week’s deadline.

Southwest Notes: Mavs, Rockets, Brooks, McCollum, Murray

February 14th, 2022 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks project to go well into the luxury tax in 2022/23 if they re-sign point guard Jalen Brunson, but team owner Mark Cuban sounds prepared for that scenario.

“We’re going to be in luxury tax hell next year, but that’s OK; it frees up the year after that,” Cuban said after the trade deadline, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.

The Mavericks have several contracts on their books that expire in 2023, including Dwight Powell‘s and Maxi Kleber‘s. Additionally, Spencer Dinwiddie and Reggie Bullock only have partial guarantees for 2023/24 on their respective deals.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Rockets general manager Rafael Stone explained after the trade deadline that the decision to move Daniel Theis was related in part to the emergence of rookie Alperen Sengun. “Positionally, it makes sense for us,” Stone said, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “It’s not a secret that Alperen has been really good, really early. It has been since his first practice a priority to play him. That made it challenging to play Daniel Theis the amount we wanted, he wanted, that he should be playing. He’s a really, really good established NBA player.” Stone added that the team is excited about acquiring Dennis Schröder and has liked him for “a long time,” suggesting a buyout probably isn’t in the cards for the veteran point guard.
A handful of teams have inquired on Armoni Brooks, who cleared waivers over the weekend after being waived by the Rockets, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Iko adds that the door remains open for Brooks to return to Houston. The team will have an open spot on its 15-man roster once Enes Freedom is officially waived.
CJ McCollum did plenty of research on the Pelicans before signing off on the trade sending him to New Orleans. According to Will Guillory of The Athletic, McCollum spoke to Chris Paul about Pelicans head coach Willie Green, talked to J.J. Redick about his experience with the franchise, and got intel about the roster from current Pelicans wing Garrett Temple. McCollum didn’t have a no-trade clause, but told reporters last week that Portland involved him in the trade process.
Spurs guard Dejounte Murray was initially shocked that the team traded away his backcourt partner, but by the time he spoke to reporters about the Derrick White trade, he had come to terms with it, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “You start to realize you’re a player and not the GM or the front office,” Murray said. “You realize, just be a player and focus on that.”

Goran Dragic Likely To Reach Buyout Deal With Spurs

February 12th, 2022 at 7:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs are expected to begin negotiations on a buyout agreement with newly-acquired guard Goran Dragic this week, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The Lakers and Warriors will be among the teams pursuing Dragic in free agency, sources tell Wojnarowski, along with the Clippers, Bucks, Bulls and Nets. Dallas was previously viewed as a frontrunner to sign the point guard, but the acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie seemingly took the Mavericks out of the mix.

Dragic appears to be the top name on this year’s buyout market, and teams are confident that he remained in top shape during his long absence, Woj adds. After being dealt to the Raptors last offseason, Dragic played just five games before he and the team reached a mutual agreement that allowed him to work out on his own until he could be traded again.

San Antonio acquired Dragic, along with a 2022 second-round draft pick, shortly before Thursday’s trade deadline, sending Thaddeus Young and Drew Eubanks to Toronto in return.

Dragic, 35, is attractive to contenders because of his long history of success in the playoffs. He helped the Heat reach the NBA Finals in 2020 before being sidelined by plantar fasciitis.

Dragic currently has $6.1MM left to be paid on his $19.4MM contract, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN, although because the number is prorated it will decline each day. Whatever money Dragic gives up in San Antonio, he will presumably be able to replace when he signs with his new team.

Southwest Notes: White, Hernangomez, McCollum, Spurs

February 12th, 2022 at 3:54pm CST by JD Shaw

Spurs guard Derrick White was shocked by the team’s decision to trade him to the Celtics this week, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News writes. By trading White, San Antonio acquired Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a 2022 first-round pick (top-four protected), and the right to swap first-round picks with Boston in 2028 (top-one protected).

“The whole coaching staff, training staff, front office – I had a lot of love for everybody, all my teammates and everything,” he said. “So, I can’t really put into words how much I love all of them. It was hard for me, but I knew once I got here, it’s a new chapter and I am ready to get after it.”

White will add backcourt depth to a Celtics team that also traded Dennis Schröder on Thursday. He made his debut on Friday against Denver, recording 15 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Pelicans center Willy Hernangomez has exited the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez (Twitter link). Hernangomez is expected to be available for the team’s game against San Antonio on Saturday. He originally entered protocols on February 3.
The Pelicans and Trail Blazers didn’t require any physicals in the trade that featured star guard CJ McCollum, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report tweets. ESPN’s Bobby Marks said on The Lowe Post that New Orleans waived McCollum’s physical (hat tip RealGM), so it’s still unclear if physicals were waived for all of the players involved in the deal. As Marks notes, it’s unusual for a team to waive a physical when the player has significant money left on his contract. McCollum will make $30.9MM this season, $33.3MM in 2022/23 and $35.8MM in 2023/24. He missed time due to a collapsed lung back in December.
The Spurs are entering a new phase of its rebuild, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes. In addition to trading White, the team also made some other moves on Thursday, including sending veteran forward Thaddeus Young to Toronto. San Antonio currently ranks 12th in the Western Conference at 21-35.

Lowe’s Latest: Gasol, Bucks, Suns, Pacers, Kings, Sixers, More

February 11th, 2022 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

With Brook Lopez sidelined indefinitely, the Bucks and center Marc Gasol, who is currently playing for Girona in Spain, had discussed the possibility of a possible late-season deal, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link). However, Lowe suggests that a union “does not appear to be in the cards” now that Milwaukee has acquired Serge Ibaka.

It’s worth noting that the Bucks have three open spots on their 15-man roster following the trade deadline, so there still could be room for Gasol down the road, and it’s not like he and Ibaka haven’t had success teaming up in the past — the two vets played key roles for the 2019 champion Raptors. Still, Milwaukee may be looking to address other positions with those open roster spots, and there’s no guarantee Gasol will look to return to the NBA when his season is over in Spain.

Here are a few more highlights from Lowe’s post-deadline roundup:

Sources confirmed to Lowe that the Suns and Pacers had brief discussions about Deandre Ayton and Domantas Sabonis, which was first reported by Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Fischer suggested the two teams might be exploring the idea of an offseason sign-and-trade involving Ayton, and Lowe agrees that the talks seem to have been just exploratory and informal, possibly aimed at the future rather than present. Indiana subsequently traded Sabonis to Sacramento, which could eliminate the possibility of any future deal with Phoenix for Ayton, but Lowe points out that the Suns’ willingness to consider shaking up their roster – even in the offseason – is noteworthy.
Before acquiring Sabonis, the Kings approached the Hawks about John Collins, but they didn’t discuss Tyrese Haliburton or De’Aaron Fox in that context, says Lowe.
Lowe expects the Sixers to explore the buyout market for a backup center, since there’s no guarantee that Paul Millsap will bounce back in Philadelphia and Charles Bassey is unproven.
The Spurs explored ways to move up in last year’s draft, according to Lowe, who notes that San Antonio has since gained more draft ammo to potentially revisit that idea going forward.
Lowe contends that Kristaps Porzingis should take his trade to the Wizards “as a huge slap in the face,” given the modest return the Mavericks received. As Lowe writes, Dallas appeared to be trying to gain more flexibility for future moves by taking back two (relatively) smaller contracts for Porzingis’ max deal, which could pay off down the road. But it “seems to be selling unthinkably low” on Porzingis, Lowe says.

Celtics Notes: White, Theis, Roster Openings, Pick Swap

February 11th, 2022 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters on Friday about the Celtics‘ deadline-day trade for Derrick White, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the team has thought for years that the longtime Spurs guard would fit with Boston’s best players (Twitter link via Keith Smith of Spotrac). Stevens referred to White as a strong defender who also “makes the right play on offense over and over” (Twitter link via Jared Weiss of The Athletic).

Confirming a previous report that the acquisition of Daniel Theis came together quickly right before the deadline, Stevens said the Celtics were happy to get two players who will be under contract for multiple years to come (Twitter link via Weiss). Both White and Theis are under team control through 2025.

“Neither move was a short-term deal,” Stevens said (Twitter link via Smith). “When trading away two really good perimeter players, we had to get perfect fits. We want to maintain the stretch we’re on, but this is about the long-term. We know these guys can be on the floor in a seven-game playoff series.”

The Celtics’ series of trades opened up five spots on their 15-man roster, so Stevens will remain busy after the deadline as he looks to fill those openings.

According to Weiss (Twitter link), Stevens expects to sign a couple players as soon as today, telling reporters that the front office is looking for “skilled” players, with an eye on outside shooting. He later said during an appearance on the Toucher and Rich radio show in Boston that his immediate focus is on frontcourt players (Twitter link via Weiss).

Here are a few more notes on the Celtics:

The 2028 first-round pick swap the Celtics gave the Spurs in the White deal will be top-one protected, sources tell Brian Robb of MassLive.com (Twitter link). In other words, if Boston gets the No. 1 overall pick in ’28, San Antonio won’t be able to swap first-rounders, but otherwise the Spurs will have that option.
Asked today about the decision to give up a 2028 pick swap in addition to a lightly-protected 2022 first-round pick for White, Stevens acknowledged that risk, but expressed a belief it was worth it. “That can go either way, right? That’s the one you lose sleep over for a couple of days,” Stevens said (Twitter link via Weiss). “But I think the analysis of that is we’ve got some really good players and we’ve got a person who fits in perfectly with them.”
In a story for The Athletic, Weiss and Jay King assessed the Celtics’ deadline moves. Weiss doesn’t think the deals made Boston a legit title contender in the East, but says the gap between the C’s and the East’s top teams has gotten smaller.
In his own breakdown of the Celtics’ trades, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston acknowledges there’s no guarantee the roster changes will make the team better right away, but notes that Stevens has proven he’s certainly not risk-averse in his new front office role.

Mavericks Notes: Dragic, Porzingis, Bertans, Dinwiddie

February 11th, 2022 at 8:05am CST by Luke Adams

Asked on Thursday night whether the Mavericks will go shopping on the buyout market, general manager Nico Harrison said he believes the team’s roster is “set,” as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets.

Dallas has long been viewed as a potential landing spot for buyout candidate Goran Dragic, but the team’s acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie and Harrison’s post-deadline comments suggest a pursuit of the Slovenian may no longer be in the cards, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

According to Marc Stein (Twitter link), Dragic and the Spurs may take a little time to negotiate a buyout agreement. If and when the veteran point guard becomes available, he’ll likely have suitors who are able to offer him a more significant role than Dallas, Stein notes.

Here’s more on the Mavs:

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban explained that his team was willing to trade Kristaps Porzingis to Washington on Thursday because the deal helped address two weak spots on the roster, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “I think KP’s an incredible talent. But we needed that shooter [Davis Bertans] and we needed another ball handler [Dinwiddie] who could create a shot, and unfortunately that was the only way we were going to get them,” Cuban said. “It was that simple — getting two guys who fill roles that we really needed, and the fact that we have played OK without KP. But I think that doesn’t take anything away from KP being a great talent, and I actually think he’s going to be better with the Wizards than he was with us.”
Mavericks star Luka Doncic described the Porzingis trade as “shocking,” but stressed that he trusts the front office to do what’s best for the team, writes ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “Obviously, we’re going to miss KP,” Doncic said. “We were building something great here. It didn’t obviously work out. I wish him the best, and we’ve got two new guys who are welcome. Bertans is a great shooter. Dinwiddie can put the ball on the floor and he can score. The NBA is a business.”
In case you missed it, the Mavericks are set to officially lock up Dorian Finney-Smith to a four-year contract extension. Multiple reports have pegged the value of Finney-Smith’s new deal at $52MM, while others have said it’ll be worth $55MM. If the extension includes incentives, there would be a difference between the base value and the maximum value, which could explain the discrepancy between those reported figures.