Green had been a key part of Dallas’ rotation in recent weeks, averaging 10.2 points per game on .522/.438/.826 shooting in his past 24 games leading up to Thursday’s contest in Oklahoma City, which he exited after just four minutes when he injured his ankle.
The Mavericks did share some more positive injury news on Sunday, announcing that Luka Doncic will be available vs. Denver this afternoon after missing Thursday’s game due to a hamstring ailment (Twitter link via MacMahon).
Let’s round up a few more items from around the Western Conference:
Responding in French to a reporter from his homeland on Thursday, Wembanyama said that Gobert has earned the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024, but suggested he intends to supplant his fellow Frenchman as the favorite in future seasons, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).
“I know that Rudy has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved,” Wembanyama said. “Let him win it now, because after that, it’s no longer his turn.”
Wembanyama is one of the most talented rim protectors to enter the NBA in years. Besides racking up blocked shots, he frequently uses his 7’4″ frame and eight-foot wingspan to force opposing players to alter their shots.
“He makes guys think about shooting layups that are usually just gimmes, easy shots, little bunnies around the rim,” teammate Tre Jones said. “He’s making guys question it, dribble out. And it’s been some of the best players in the league. We all see his dominance on the defensive end and it’s only going to get better.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
An MRI performed on Doncic’s hamstring “came back clean,” Kidd told reporters, adding that it’s “great news” and that the NBA’s leading scorer will be reevaluated when the team is back in Dallas.
The Mavericks are off Friday and Saturday before hosting the Nuggets on Sunday afternoon. It sounds like there’s at least a chance that Doncic will be able to return for that game.
Here’s more on the Mavs:
Mitchell has been dealing with a left knee bone bruise that required a PRP injection to promote healing. He would have been in strong contention for an All-NBA team, but he missed his 18th game of the 2023/24 season on Monday, and is no longer eligible for postseason awards.
Led by a strong performance from Darius Garland and excellent team three point shooting (20-45, 44.4%), the Cavs were victorious in Mitchell’s return, defeating New Orleans by 21 points.
Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:
“I don’t pretend to know what we’re going to do,” he said. “We have a lot of possibilities ahead of us, whether it’s money in the bank or draft picks or being creative trade-wise. All those things are on the table. But aren’t they for every team? I don’t know why we’re any different. We’re just younger.”
There has been some speculation that Wembanyama’s rapid development might make the Spurs feel more urgency to build a competitive roster around the rising young star, but Popovich made it clear that he and general manager Brian Wright aren’t feeling any pressure from team ownership to make win-now moves.
“If your organization is unable to understand that rebuilding takes time, then you just never get there,” Popovich said. “We’re fortunate because we’ve always had under the leadership of the Holt family the ability to do what we think has been best. So we’re always grateful for that.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
DeRozan, the Eastern Conference’s winner, averaged 29.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists on .551/.412/.923 shooting across four games last week (39.4 MPG). Chicago went 3-1 in those contests.
A six-time All-Star, DeRozan is one of the most noteworthy players who can hit free agency this summer. He’s earning $28.6MM in the final year of his contract and is eligible for a veteran extension until June 30.
Doncic earned his third Player of the Week award for the West in 2023/24. He’s also the reigning Player of the Month for the Western Conference. He helped guide Dallas to a 2-1 record last week, averaging 37.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 10.7 assists and 1.3 steals on .513/.385/.900 shooting (39.7 MPG).
Doncic has recorded a 30-point triple-double in each of the past six games. He’s having an incredible season, posting career-best averages in multiple categories, including leading the NBA in points per game at 34.7.
According to the NBA, Jarrett Allen, Dejounte Murray, Pascal Siakam and DeRozan’s teammate Coby White were the other nominees in the East, while Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Trey Murphy, Zion Williamson and Anfernee Simons were nominated in the West (Twitter link).
]]>The Mavs have dropped their last five games by an average of 14.6 points and have the worst defensive rating in the league by a wide margin since the All-Star break. Townsend says Kidd “bristled” when asked if changes were needed before Tuesday’s game, but he was more open to the possibility after watching his team give up 137 points in a home loss to Indiana.
“We can look at different rotations,” he said. “We can look at different starting lineups. … We have options and we’ll explore those.”
Townsend suggests starting Daniel Gafford at center instead of rookie Dereck Lively II as an obvious change. Gafford had 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench against the Pacers, while Lively went scoreless and struggled on defense against Myles Turner.
“We’ve got a 20-year-old who’s starting at center and has never seen this before,” Kidd said. “… And there’s a rookie wall. He’s a young man who’s seeing the NBA for the first time. There’s gonna be ups and downs. But that’s why it’s called a team. And that’s why Gafford picked him up tonight. … Lively’s had a heck of a rookie season, and he’s going to only get better, but he could be tired. He’s never played this many games or minutes.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) details, Sengun didn’t just get the best of Wembanyama on Tuesday — he dominated him, pouring in a career-best 45 points to go along with 16 rebounds and five steals, both personal season highs. After the game, he admitted that he was motivated to go up against the Spurs‘ young star, who went scoreless in the second half and had just 10 points on the night.
“I didn’t play that good last game against him, I can say,” Sengun said. “And I didn’t see that much double-teams. They just leave me one-on-one with Wemby. I just did what I do. When you score, and score and score at some point, you get some emotion. It was great for me. He is so tall, he’s really tall, but he’s not that strong, yet. So, I was going at his chest and put him under the rim.”
Sengun, who is still just 21 years old (and younger than Holmgren), has taken his game to new heights in his third NBA season, averaging 21.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 32.4 minutes per game across 60 starts. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2024 offseason.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
While Lawson’s 2023/24 salary of $1MM – which is well above his prorated minimum – is guaranteed, he’s not necessarily assured of any money beyond this season. His minimum salaries for the following three years are fully non-guaranteed. If he plays out the full contract, the Mavericks wing would earn approximately $7.91MM.
]]>After knocking down just 33.6% of 2.3 attempts per game from beyond the arc in his first 144 NBA games, Jones has taken a career-high 3.5 three-pointers per game in his third NBA season and made 42.9% of them.
“Above anything else, the guy is a worker. No one could ever question his commitment to the game,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said. “It’s no shock to us to see him improve as much as he has this season because he’s done what it takes to get those results.”
Jones’ improved three-point shot, which has helped boost his scoring average to a career-best 11.4 points per game, has made the 25-year-old a more well-rounded offensive player, but most of his value still comes on the defensive end of the court. As Rod Walker of NOLA.com details, while Jones isn’t particularly interested in making his own case for All-Defensive recognition, his teammates and coaches are happy to do it for him.
“I don’t know who is first-team All-Defense if it’s not Herb Jones,” Green said. “He’s one of the best in the league. The beauty is the guys he plays against, his peers, they understand that. When you have one of the best guys defensively, he should be rewarded for that.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
Doncic, the Western Conference’s winner, continues to put up eye-popping statistics in 2023/24, averaging 33.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 10.3 assists, and 1.8 steals on .517/.398/.787 shooting in 11 games last month (37.2 MPG).
He helped guide Dallas to an 8-3 record in February, though the Mavs have since lost two straight and currently hold a 34-27 record, good for the No. 8 seed in the West.
Tatum, meanwhile, led the way for a Boston team that was 9-1 in February, averaging 27.2 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 6.7 APG and 1.1 SPG on .480/.351/.887 shooting in 36.0 MPG.
Tatum is the first repeat Player of the Month winner this season, having also earned the honor for October/November. After claiming spots on the All-NBA First Team each of the past two seasons, the 26-year-old appears on track for another all-league spot in 2023/24, with the Celtics currently 48-12, the No. 1 seed in the East (and the NBA).
The other nominees in the West were Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner and Franz Wagner were nominated in the East, per the NBA (Twitter links).
]]>10:17am: Alex Fudge will join the Mavericks on a two-way contract, agent Shayaun Saee of One Legacy Sports tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The 20-year-old small forward began the season on a two-way deal with the Lakers, appearing in four games before being waived in early January. He returned to the G League’s South Bay Lakers, where he’s averaging 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 18 regular season games.
Fudge signed with L.A. last summer after going undrafted out of Florida. He played one season at LSU before joining the Gators.
Dallas will have a full 18-man roster once Fudge’s signing becomes official.
Today marks the last day this season that players can be signed to two-way contracts. Dallas’ deal with Fudge leaves Atlanta, Indiana and New York as the remaining teams that currently have openings.
]]>3:05pm: Two-way Mavericks shooting guard A.J. Lawson is being elevated to a standard roster deal, his agent, Elias Sbiet of Tandem Sports + Entertainment, informs Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Lawson has already appeared in 28 contests with Dallas this season. The 23-year-old is averaging 3.8 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 8.3 minutes per game. For the Mavericks’ NBAGL affiliate club, the Texas Legends, he’s averaging 20.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG and 1.9 APG.
Dallas has one open spot on its 15-man standard roster, so the team won’t need to make any corresponding move on that end to accommodate Lawson.
Promoting Lawson will open up a two-way slot, which the Mavs will have until Monday at the latest to fill. Greg Brown and Brandon Williams occupy the club’s other two-way roster slots.
A 6’6″ swingman, Lawson went undrafted out of South Carolina in 2021 and joined the Hawks’ NBAGL affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, in 2021/22.
In ’22/23, he signed a pair of short-lived two-way contracts with the Timberwolves. He then inked a two-way deal with Dallas and returned to the club in the 2023 offseason.
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