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Southeast Notes: Westbrook, Wizards, McMillan, Heat

May 27th, 2021 at 10:32am CST by Luke Adams

It was a rough night for Russell Westbrook in Philadelphia on Wednesday. The Wizards guard left the blowout loss in the fourth quarter after injuring his right ankle, then had popcorn dumped on him by fan as he limped toward the locker room. Addressing the incident after the game, Westbrook called on the NBA to better protect its players with fans now permitted back in arenas, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes.

“To be completely honest, this s–t is getting out of hand, especially for me. The amount of disrespect, the amount of fans just doing whatever the f–k they want to do — it’s just out of pocket,” Westbrook said. “There are certain things that cross the line. Any other setting … a guy were to come up on the street and pour popcorn on my head, you know what happens. … In these arenas, you got to start protecting the players. We’ll see what the NBA does.”

The Sixers announced today in a press release that the fan who poured popcorn on Westbrook has had his season ticket membership revoked and will be banned indefinitely from attending events at Wells Fargo Center. While that’s a good first step, it’ll be interesting to see if the league takes any further action.

LeBron James (via Twitter) echoed Westbrook’s call for the NBA to protect its players, and the incident in Philadelphia isn’t the only one involving fans this week. A Knick fan appeared to spit on Hawks guard Trae Young on Wednesday (link via Bleacher Report), and Jason Quick of The Athletic notes (via Twitter) that multiple Trail Blazers players took issue with some Nuggets fans as the team was leaving the court in Game 2.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

  • Westbrook’s impressive play in the second half of the season was crucial in propelling the Wizards into the playoffs, but the team will need more from him in this series in order to have a chance at upsetting Philadelphia, writes Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. First and foremost, the Wizards will need Westbrook healthy — his status remain up in the air after Wednesday’s ankle injury.
  • Hawks head coach Nate McMillan found his rotation decisions under the spotlight following Wednesday’s loss, but he said he was happy with his game plan, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. “Our starters played 35-plus minutes. That’s a lot of minutes for those guys,” McMillan said. “Trae plays 35. Bogi (Bogdan Bogdanovic) plays 35. Clint (Capela) is at 36. That’s a lot of minutes for starters. … I thought we got a little gassed in that first half. I think we have to give those guys a little breather. They’re not going to be able to play 40-48 minutes.”
  • Heat president of basketball operations Pat Riley was aware that his club probably needed more firepower to have a chance to return to the NBA Finals this year, says Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. However, Riley was unable to land Kyle Lowry at the deadline and his acquisition of Victor Oladipo didn’t work out, which could contribute to an early postseason exit for the defending Eastern champs.
  • With the Heat trailing the Bucks 2-0, Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald explore whether a frontcourt pairing of Bam Adebayo and second-half addition Dewayne Dedmon might be a viable solution to counter Milwaukee’s size.
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Southeast Notes: Gafford, Lowry, Magic, Wiz Arena

May 25th, 2021 at 7:42pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

During a recent media session, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks responded to growing fan interest in athletic, defensive-oriented reserve center Daniel Gafford receiving a heavier minutes load, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.

“There’s always other things to consider; foul situations that we have to be aware of,” Brooks said. “One thing I love about Gaff’ is he understands and he wants to get better. He’s very coachable, he listens to our veterans, he listens to our coaches. He’s a really, really talented young player that’s going to continue to grow into a really good player.”

Gafford is currently averaging 17.7 MPG for the Wizards this season, more than starter Alex Len (15.8 MPG) but fewer than fellow bench big Robin Lopez (19.1 MPG).

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wonders if the Heat will make another run at current Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, a free agent this summer. Miami considered trading for the former six-time All-Star at this season’s deadline, but instead opted to add guard Victor Oladipo, who only appeared in four games for the club before requiring another surgery on the right quadriceps tendon he initially ruptured in 2019. Winderman notes that Heat star swingman Jimmy Butler and Lowry are close, as Lowry is the godfather to Butler’s daughter. Winderman adds that adding a high-level veteran point guard to upgrade the position could help the Heat convince Butler to ink a contract extension, which he will be eligible to do this summer.
  • With the Magic potentially in position to make two lottery selections in this summer’s tantalizing draft, Josh Robbins of The Athletic examines which Orlando players seem most likely to stick around into the 2021/22 season, and which seem liable to leave. Robbins predicts that shooting guard Dwayne Bacon, forward Ignas Brazdeikis, and big man Donta Hall will all be moving on this summer.
  • The Wizards will be boosting the crowd capacity of their home court, the Capital One Arena, to 50% of its total capacity, writes Ava Wallace of the Washington Post. The venue had previously permitted just 25% capacity due to coronavirus-era indoor attendance restrictions. Now, approximately 10,000 fans will be able to watch the Wizards’ first postseason home games in three seasons when the team’s current first-round matchup against the Sixers moves to D.C. on Saturday.
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Community Shootaround: Eastern Conference First-Round Series

May 25th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

As we discussed on Monday, the postseason is off to a fascinating start in the Western Conference, where the underdogs in all four series won Game One. The results in the Eastern Conference haven’t been quite as surprising so far.

The No. 1 Sixers and No. 2 Nets took care of the Wizards and Celtics in their respective Game Ones. Although Washington and Boston were competitive, the star power of the higher seeds may be too much for the two play-in teams — Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris racked up a combined 67 points for Philadelphia on Sunday, while Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden scored 82 of Brooklyn’s 104 points on Saturday.

Meanwhile, after upsetting the Bucks in last year’s second round, the Heat have dug themselves a 2-0 hole in this year’s first round, and Monday’s loss was especially one-sided. Milwaukee poured in 46 first-quarter points and 22 total three-pointers en route to a blowout victory.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, the most exciting Eastern Conference series in the first round should be the one featuring two teams that have spent the last few years out of the postseason. The Knicks and Hawks went down to the wire on Sunday, with Trae Young clinching an Atlanta victory by hitting a floater with less than a second left in regulation.

The Celtics, Wizards, and Heat still have plenty of time to turn things around, but oddsmakers view it as a long shot that any of these three clubs will pull off a comeback. BetOnline.ag currently lists the Nets as -2750 favorites, meaning that if you want to bet on Brooklyn to win the series, you’d have to risk $2,750 in order to win just $100. The Sixers (-1800) and Bucks (-1000) are also heavy favorites.

The Hawks’ Game 1 upset has made them the frontrunners over the Knicks, but Vegas still views that series as practically a toss-up compared to the other three — Atlanta is only a -255 favorite.

We want to know what you think. Will the East’s top three seeds hold on and win their respective series with relative ease, or will the Celtics, Wizards, and/or Heat come alive and make things interesting? Do you expect a long series between the Hawks and Knicks? Who are you picking to win that one?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

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Wizards Notes: Len, Gafford, Neto, Brooks

May 23rd, 2021 at 9:57am CST by Arthur Hill

After eight years in the NBA, Wizards center Alex Len is finally ready for his playoff debut, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Len has the longest active streak with no postseason appearances, and it’s a distinction that he’s eager to get rid of.

“The play-ins kind of felt like the playoffs,” he said. “Every possession counts. You could feel the intensity was way higher than the regular season. It’s just probably the most exciting part of my career.”

It didn’t look like Len was headed to the playoffs when he arrived in D.C. in January. The Wizards were far out of the race when they claimed him off waivers after he had been cut loose by the Raptors. He turned out to be a valuable addition in the wake of a season-ending injury to starting center Thomas Bryant.

“When I came here, it was probably at the bottom or the second-worst team in the East,” Len said. “Then, climbing all the way back and making the eighth seed, it was a lot of fun. We battled through and guys stuck together.”

There’s more on the Wizards:

  • Daniel Gafford is another member of Washington’s center rotation who is happy to be in the playoffs, Hughes writes in a separate story. Gafford spent his first season and a half with the Bulls before the Wizards acquired him at the trade deadline. “I was overwhelmed with a lot of emotion after (beating the Pacers in the play-in tournament),” he said. “I had to kind of just hold it in. … I would say this trade was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
  • Raul Neto is looking forward to facing his former team in a playoff setting, Hughes notes in another piece. Neto was a back-up point guard for the Sixers last season, and he believes that familiarity will be an asset for the Wizards. “I know every one of them; how they play, how they mentally approach the game,” he said. “So, I think I’m going to try to use that during the series and try to help my teammates if they need to know something else.”
  • Coach Scott Brooks found success with a three-guard starting lineup that he began using in late April. Fred Katz of The Athletic examines how that group will match up against a much larger Sixers team.
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Latest On NBA’s Lottery Standings, Draft Order

May 21st, 2021 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, we took an in-depth look at what we knew about the NBA’s 2021 draft lottery standings and projected draft order so far based on the regular season standings, and what was still to be determined based on play-in results, random tiebreakers, and the lottery results.

With the play-in tournament nearly over, we can fill in a few more gaps. Let’s dive in…

Lottery standings

Having been eliminated from playoff contention, the Pacers will be at No. 13 in the lottery standings, giving them a 1% chance at the first overall pick and a 4.8% shot at a top-five selection, per Tankathon.

A tiebreaker will be necessary to determine whether the Spurs or Hornets get the edge in the lottery standings, but they’ll occupy the Nos. 11 and 12 spots in the lottery standings. The winner of the tiebreaker – to be conducted next Tuesday – will have a slightly higher chance of earning the first overall pick (1.8% to 1.7%) and a top-four pick (8.5% to 8.0%).

The No. 14 spot in the lottery will be held by the loser of Friday’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game.

Draft order

Having clinched playoff spots, the Wizards and Celtics will draft 15th and 16th, respectively, in the first round.

The winner of tonight’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game will draft 17th, while the Lakers will be part of a Tuesday tiebreaker to determine their exact position — they could draft as high as 21st and as low as 23rd.

If the Lakers had missed the postseason, teams like the Heat, Knicks, and Hawks each would have been pushed down one spot in the draft. Since L.A. made it, those teams will stay put, starting with Miami at No. 18.

Notable traded second-round picks

On Monday, we focused on what would happen with 2021’s traded first-round picks. So many of this year’s second-round picks have been traded that we’re not going to run through all of them in this space (you can check our tracker for the full details), but here are a few notable second-round swaps worth flagging:

The Pacers traded their second-round pick to the Nets with 45-60 protection. Because Indiana’s second-rounder is going to land at No. 44, that pick will be sent to Brooklyn rather than being protected.

The Bulls, who will be involved in a first-round tiebreaker with the Pelicans (and Kings) to determine their spots in the lottery standings, also have the ability to swap second-round picks with New Orleans. In the event of a random tiebreaker, the second-round order is always the inverse of the first-round order — for instance, if Team A wins a first-round tiebreaker over Team B, then Team B would get the higher pick in the second round. But in this case, the Bulls could win the first-round tiebreaker, then use their second-round swap to make sure they pick ahead of the Pelicans in both rounds.

Because the Warriors‘ first-round pick will fall in the top 20, Golden State will keep it and will instead have to send the Timberwolves’ second-round pick to the Thunder to complete last year’s Kelly Oubre trade. That pick will be No. 36.

The Suns had agreed to send their second-round pick to the Grizzlies if it landed between 31-35 and to the Nets if it landed between 36-60. It’ll go to Brooklyn, since it’s the No. 59 overall selection. Memphis is simply out of luck, as Phoenix’s obligation to the Grizzlies is now extinguished.

The Bucks will get the first pick of the second round (No. 31), since the Rockets have the ability to swap their second-rounder for Milwaukee’s first-rounder (No. 24).

Other early second-round picks that will change hands include the Pistons‘ No. 32 pick (to the Knicks), the Cavaliers‘ pick at either No. 34 or 35 (to the Pelicans), and the Raptors‘ No. 37 pick (to the Pistons).

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Finalists For Major 2020/21 NBA Awards Announced

May 20th, 2021 at 6:42pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

During a TNT broadcast ahead of tonight’s Wizards-Pacers play-in matchup, the finalists for six big end-of-season 2020/21 awards were announced. Here is the full list, as voted on by reporters.

NBA Most Valuable Player:

NBA Defensive Player of the Year:

NBA Rookie of the Year:

NBA Most Improved Player:

NBA Sixth Man of the Year:

NBA Coach of the Year:

  • Quin Snyder (Jazz)
  • Tom Thibodeau (Knicks)
  • Monty Williams (Suns)

Some of these current contenders are familiar with the hardware they’re up for again. Curry is a two-time MVP, having won the award previously in 2015 and 2016. Gobert and Green have both previously won Defensive Player of the Year awards — Green in 2017 and Gobert in 2018 and 2019. Thibodeau was voted Coach of the Year a decade ago while with the Bulls.

The winners for the awards will be announced during the 2020/21 NBA playoffs.

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Poll: Play-In Winners For No. 8 Seeds

May 20th, 2021 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

While some games in the NBA’s play-in tournament have been a little more exciting than others, the end result of all four has been the same so far: the higher seed has advanced.

That means we’ve got a pair of No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchups on tap, with the final playoff spot in each conference on the line, starting on Thursday night with the Eastern Conference….

Indiana Pacers (9) at Washington Wizards (8)

Given the way the last month of their respective seasons played out, the red-hot Wizards looked like a safe bet to earn a playoff spot, while the inconsistent, injury-plagued Pacers seemed to be a candidate for an early exit. But Washington couldn’t knock off Boston on Tuesday, and a shorthanded Indiana squad dominated Charlotte, setting up an elimination game between the two teams for Thursday.

Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook fueled the Wizards’ 17-6 finish to the season, but neither player looked quite like himself on Tuesday. Beal, still bothered by a hamstring injury, scored 22 points on 10-of-25 shooting, a subpar night by his lofty standards. Westbrook was worse — after averaging a monster line of 23.0 PPG, 14.0 APG, and 13.5 RPG in Washington’s final 23 games, he shot just 6-of-18 on Tuesday and had nearly as many turnovers (4) as assists (5).

To advance on Thursday, the Wizards will need more from their two backcourt stars and from $80MM man Davis Bertans, who missed all seven of his 3-point attempts on Tuesday and was a game-worst minus-23.

As for the Pacers, even without key players like Caris LeVert, Myles Turner, and T.J. Warren available, they put up 144 points in their win over Charlotte. But the Hornets had backed into the play-in tournament, losing 15 of their last 21 games of the regular season, and were dealing with injury absences of their own, including standout forward Gordon Hayward. Indiana will face a more difficult challenge on Thursday and will no longer benefit from home-court advantage.

What do you think? Will the Wizards or Pacers win on Thursday and clinch the East’s No. 8 seed?

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Memphis Grizzlies (9) at Golden State Warriors (8)

The Warriors defeated the Grizzlies on the last day of the regular season to earn the No. 8 seed in the play-in tournament. On Friday, just five days later, they’ll be looking to repeat that result to clinch the No. 8 seed for the playoffs.

Although the Warriors couldn’t pick up a win on Wednesday, their performance against the defending-champion Lakers showed why they’ll enter Friday’s game as the favorites. The Dubs held the Lakers to 40.7% shooting and led for most of the night, but a miracle LeBron James three-pointer broke a tie in the game’s final minute.

Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, who combined for 58 of Golden State’s 100 points on Wednesday, may need a little more help on Friday, but the fact that Los Angeles couldn’t slow down Curry (37 points on 12-of-23 shooting) even with so much defensive attention on him is an encouraging sign for the Warriors.

The Grizzlies shouldn’t be ruled out, however. While the final score in Wednesday’s 100-96 win over San Antonio was close, Memphis dominated the minutes that Ja Morant (+20) and Jonas Valanciunas (+26) played and figure to lean heavily on that duo again on Friday.

The Grizzlies’ chances of hanging with Golden State and pulling off the upset hinge not only on Valanciunas’ ability to punish the Warriors inside like he did the Spurs (23 points, 23 rebounds), but on Memphis’ ability to play good defense while the veteran center is on the court. In Sunday’s loss, Valanciunas racked up 29 points and 16 boards, but the Grizzlies posted an awful 127.0 defensive rating during his 36 minutes.

What do you think? Will the Warriors or Grizzlies win on Friday and lock up the No. 8 seed in the West?

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Beal Playing Through Injury; Bertans Struggling

May 19th, 2021 at 9:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After initially straining his hamstring just under two weeks ago, Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal braced himself to play through the injury in this week’s play-in tournament, writes David Aldridge of The Athletic.

“I’m a strider,” Beal said on Monday, in advance of the Wizards’ eventual 118-100 blowout play-in loss to the Celtics yesterday. “It restricts a lot of my movements, for sure. But when you’re … on the court you find ways to manage it. You’re in control of a lot of stuff. The reactionary stuff, you’re not, especially like on defense and things like that. But the things you can’t control, you try not to put yourself in harm’s way.”

The Wizards will play the Pacers tomorrow for the No. 8 seed in the East.

  • Candace Buckner of the Washington Post asserts that, in order to win their second play-in game and qualify for the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Wizards will need to get more offense from power forward Davis Bertans, who is in the first year of a costly $80MM deal he signed during the 2020 offseason.
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No Draft Tiebreaker Required For Pacers, Wizards

May 19th, 2021 at 8:31am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers won their play-in game on Tuesday night, while the Wizards lost theirs, meaning the two teams will face one another on Thursday in the Eastern Conference’s final play-in contest with the No. 8 seed up for grabs. The winner will earn the East’s last playoff spot, while the loser goes home.

The Pacers and Wizards had identical 34-38 records in the regular season, but since only one can make the playoffs now, no random tiebreaker will be required to determine which of them has the higher first-round draft pick or the higher spot in the lottery standings. The team that makes the playoffs will end up with the 15th overall pick (or No. 16, if the Spurs make the postseason). The team eliminated on Thursday will get a spot in the late-lottery.

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Monty Williams Wins Coaches Association Award

May 18th, 2021 at 11:45am CST by Luke Adams

Suns head coach Monty Williams has won the 2020/21 Michael H. Goldberg award, as voted on by the National Basketball Coaches Association, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

This award, introduced in 2017 and named after longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg, is voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches, none of whom can vote for himself. However, it isn’t the NBA’s official Coach of the Year award, which is voted on by media members and is represented by the Red Auerbach Trophy. The winner of that award will be announced later in the year.

Williams earned the Coaches Association’s award after leading the Suns to a 51-21 record, good for second in the NBA. The club had the league’s sixth-ranked defense and seventh-ranked offense, Wojnarowski notes.

The Suns, who were 19-63 in 2018/19, became just the fifth team in NBA history to improve by at least 15 games in back-to-back seasons, per Woj. Williams accomplished that feat in his first two years in Phoenix despite dealing with pandemic-shortened seasons, making the feat even more impressive.

According to Wojnarowski, Scott Brooks (Wizards), Michael Malone (Nuggets), Nate McMillan (Hawks), Doc Rivers (Sixers), Quin Snyder (Jazz), and Tom Thibodeau (Knicks) were among the other coaches who received votes.

The previous winners of this award are as follows:

  • 2020: Mike Budenholzer and Billy Donovan
  • 2019: Mike Budenholzer
  • 2018: Dwane Casey
  • 2017: Mike D’Antoni and Erik Spoelstra
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