Players’ Union Has Own Anti-Tanking Proposals
As the NBA considers implementing new rules aimed at deterring tanking prior to next season, the National Basketball Players Association has proposed a three-pronged approach to the issue, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
The NBPA’s suggestions are as follows:
1. Flattening the draft lottery odds
The players’ union is generally in favor of the first of three lottery reform proposals that the league reportedly presented at the NBA’s Board of Governors. That proposal would expand the lottery field to 18 teams – folding in the four play-in teams who earn playoff spots – and would give the bottom 10 teams identical odds at the No. 1 overall pick.
However, the NBPA suggested some modifications to that concept, according to Fischer (Twitter link). Rather than each of the bottom 10 teams having an 8% chance to land the top pick, the players’ union would like to see those odds reduced to 7%. And instead of using descending odds for the No. 11 through No. 18 teams in the lottery, the union has proposed flat odds (including a 3.75% chance at the first overall pick) for each of those clubs.
2. Strictly enforcing meaningful tanking penalties
Reporting earlier today indicated that the NBA would like to expand its ability to enact penalties on teams who manipulate player availability and rotations in an effort to lose games. The union is in favor of that idea, Fischer reports (via Twitter), writing that key members of the NBPA are pushing for “additional penalties to punish blatant tanking.”
Fischer confirms that moving a team’s pick to the end of the lottery or the end of the first round – or even taking it away altogether – are among the more extreme measures that have been suggested. Reducing a team’s lottery odds is another potential penalty that has been floated, Fischer adds. Earlier reporting from The Athletic stated that larger fines – into the millions – have also been discussed as an anti-tanking measure.
3. Financially rewarding wins and penalizing losses
The most interesting NBPA proposal mentioned by Fischer is one that hasn’t otherwise been reported to this point. According to Fischer (Twitter link), the union has suggested that teams who perform better in the regular season should be entitled to larger shares of the NBA’s national television revenue.
This is a system used in the Premier League — Philip Buckingham of The Athletic provides an explainer on how these “merit payments” work in Europe’s top soccer league, where top clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal received exponentially higher distributions last season than last-place finishers Southampton.
That sort of change would be far more significant than just altering the draft lottery rules. It would also conflict with the NBA’s current rules related to revenue sharing, so it’s perhaps no surprise that it’s not a concept we’ve heard the league advocate for to this point. It sounds like a longer shot than the other two aspects of the NBPA’s plan.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Early Bird Rights
Bird rights offer teams the chance to sign their own free agents without regard to the salary cap, but they don’t apply to every player. Other salary cap exceptions are available for teams to keep players who don’t qualify for Bird rights. One such exception is the Early Bird, which applies to players formally known as Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agents.
While the Bird exception is for players who have spent three seasons with one club without changing teams as a free agent, Early Bird rights are earned after just two such seasons. Virtually all of the same rules that apply to Bird rights apply to Early Bird rights, with the requirements condensed to two years rather than three.
Players still see their Bird clocks restart by changing teams via free agency, being claimed in an expansion draft, or having their rights renounced. A player who is traded can also have his Bird clock reset if he approves a move after having re-signed with his previous team on a one-year contract (or a one-year contract with a second-year option) earlier in the league year.
As is the case with Bird rights, a player’s clock stops when he’s released by a team and clears waivers, but it would pick up where it left off if he re-signs with that same team down the road without joining another club in the interim.
For instance, if the Pacers were to re-sign Tony Bradley to a rest-of-season contract, he would have Early Bird rights this offseason because – even though he was waived earlier this season – he would be on track to finish a second consecutive year with Indiana and didn’t join another team in the interim.
The crucial difference between Bird rights and Early Bird rights involves the limitations on contract offers. Bird players can receive maximum-salary deals for up to five years, whereas the most a team can offer an Early Bird free agent without using cap space is 175% of his previous salary (up to the max) or 105% of the league-average salary in the previous season, whichever is greater.
These offers are also capped at four years rather than five, and the new contracts must run for at least two years — the second season can be non-guaranteed, but can’t be a team or player option. Raises are maxed out at 8% per season.
Tobias Harris (Pistons), Quinten Post (Warriors), Spencer Jones (Nuggets), and Andre Drummond (Sixers) are among the free agents who will have Early Bird rights during the 2026 offseason. Isaiah Hartenstein (Thunder) is another notable player who would join that group if his team option is declined.
In some instances, teams can benefit from having Early Bird rights instead of full Bird rights if they’re trying to preserve cap space. The cap hold for an Early Bird player is 130% of his previous salary, significantly less than most Bird players, whose cap holds range from 150-300% of their previous salaries.
However, having a player’s Early Bird rights instead of his full Bird rights puts a team at a disadvantage in other cases. For example, when Hartenstein reached free agency in 2024, his Early Bird rights limited the Knicks to a maximum four-year offer of $64.2MM ($72.5MM after incentives), a figure the Thunder had no problem topping using cap room when they signed Hartenstein to a three-year, $87MM deal.
In order to match or exceed Oklahoma City’s offer, New York would have had to use cap room of its own, which the team didn’t have available — having Hartenstein’s full Bird rights would’ve allowed the Knicks to give him a far more substantial contract without requiring cap space.
Meanwhile, some players with limited NBA experience are subject to a special wrinkle involving Early Bird rights, known as the Gilbert Arenas provision, which applies to players who have only been in the league for one or two years. We cover the Arenas provision in a separate glossary entry, so you can read up on the details there.
Essentially, the Arenas provision protects teams from a situation like the ones the Knicks found themselves in with Hartenstein, allowing them to match offer sheets on their restricted free agents without necessarily using Bird rights or cap room to do so.
Post, Jones, and Knicks center Ariel Hukporti are among the restricted free agents on track to be subject to the Arenas provision in 2026, though it’s unclear whether any of them will command a significant enough offer to bring that rule into play.
Finally, one more distinction between Bird rights and Early Bird rights applies to waivers. Players who are claimed off waivers retain their Early Bird rights, just as they would if they were traded. Those who had full Bird rights instead see those reduced to Early Bird rights for their next free agency period if they’re claimed off waivers.
This rule stems from a 2012 settlement between the league and the union in which J.J. Hickson was given a special exception and retained his full Bird rights for the summer of 2012 even though he had been claimed off waivers that March.
Here’s an example from last season that combines a pair of Early Bird rules: former Sixers big man Paul Reed had full Bird rights with Philadelphia before being waived by the team in July of 2024. Reed was claimed off waivers by the Pistons at the time, was waived again several months later, then was re-signed by Detroit, ultimately finishing the 2024/25 season with the Pistons.
As a result of being claimed off waivers, Reed lost his Bird rights but retained Early Bird rights. He was able to hang onto those Early Bird rights when he was subsequently waived and re-signed by Detroit, since he didn’t join another team in between those transactions, which would have reset his Bird clock. The Pistons eventually used the Early Bird exception to re-sign Reed during the 2025 offseason.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.
NBA Seeking More Punitive Anti-Tanking Penalties
In addition to planning to reform the draft lottery in an effort to deter teams from tanking, the NBA is also interested in expanding its ability to penalize teams who manipulate player availability and rotations in an effort to lose, reports Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
The Jazz were fined $500K in February for what the NBA deemed “conduct detrimental to the league” after they sat star forwards Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarters of consecutive games.
Under the proposed policy changes, the NBA would have the latitude to increase those fines into the millions of dollars, Vardon writes, as well as either moving a team’s draft pick to the end of the lottery or the end of the first round — or taking it away entirely.
The NBA is considering implementing one of three lottery reform proposals presented to its Board of Governors at this week’s meetings, but apparently recognizes that none of those concepts would entirely eradicate tanking on its own. It sounds as if the goal would be to implement more punitive penalties for tanking in concert with those changes to the lottery.
“Without stricter penalties, you could still have crazy behavior,” one league source told The Athletic. “You have to have something in place that is so drastic, a team would actually think twice about tanking. And if a team tries it and gets caught, then the other teams need to see the penalties and realize it isn’t worth it to try.”
This proposal is short on details for now, but presumably the NBA would like to implement an anti-tanking policy along the lines of its player participation policy, which lays out specific guidelines and calls for increasingly harsher penalties for teams who repeatedly violate those guidelines. In other words, any anti-tanking policy would likely start with fines before rising to the level of draft pick devaluation or forfeiture.
The NBA’s Board of Governors is scheduled to meet again in May to discuss and vote on the issue.
Southeast Notes: Heat, Larsson, Knueppel, White, Vukcevic
Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Heat made a starting lineup change on Wednesday in Cleveland, bringing forward Pelle Larsson off the bench for the first time since January 13. The early returns on the adjustment were positive, as Miami snapped its losing streak with a 120-103 road victory over the Cavaliers.
As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald relays, head coach Erik Spoelstra suggested the new starting five – Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Bam Adebayo – is his preferred group when everyone’s healthy, which often hasn’t been the case this season.
“There really wasn’t a lot of thought to it. It’s just now we have finally everybody available,” Spoelstra said. “So we’re able to get to the normal plan. Sometimes you can’t necessarily get to what you want to do based on injuries.”
Although Larsson was moved to the second unit, he still played just over 34 minutes in Wednesday’s win, which was easily his highest mark in a reserve role this season. After the game, Spoelstra praised Larsson for the energy he brought off the bench and made it clear the second-year forward will continue to be featured prominently even if he’s not starting.
“Pelle is undeniable, you can’t take him off the floor,” Spoelstra said. “So I didn’t think anything of (the role change), he didn’t think anything of it that we made the change. Because I know, and I know that he knows that I know that he’s going to play. He led us in minutes tonight. … I just love the way he competes, how he impacts the game, and his teammates really appreciate him as well.”
We have more from around the Southeast:
- Hornets wing Kon Knueppel is battling through some back soreness, but he nearly had the first triple-double of his NBA career in a win over New York on Thursday. Knueppel had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists, and became the youngest player in league history to make at least 250 three-pointers in a single season, notes Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “I think sometimes he gets labeled as just a shooter, but we feel his impact in so many different ways,” head coach Charles Lee said of the rookie standout.
- Speaking to Boone for a separate Charlotte Observer story, new Hornets guard Coby White suggests the three weeks he spent recovering from a calf strain following his trade from Chicago to Charlotte last month allowed him to adjust to his new NBA home without getting thrown into the deep end right away. “I think what helped me was just – when I was out – picking up a lot of stuff, learning stuff, and then so I didn’t really have to learn it on the fly,” White said. “So it’s been good for me, just breaking down the film when I was out. It’s going to take time, but I feel like I’m getting accustomed to it for sure.” White has averaged 16.0 points in just 20.0 minutes per game in his first 13 outings for the Hornets.
- When he was promoted from his two-way contract to the standard roster last month, Wizards center Tristan Vukcevic signed a three-year, $8.86MM contract that is fully guaranteed through the 2026/27 season. The next step for the young big man will be proving he deserves a place in Washington’s long-term plans, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I’m obviously happy for my deal, but it doesn’t stop here,” Vukcevic said. “I’m still (only 23), I have a whole career in front of me. I think the contract is more motivation for me to work harder this summer and just get better. I don’t think I’m perfect. Everybody says I’m a shooter, but I have a lot of work there. This year, I haven’t shot the ball the way I’m supposed to.”
NBA Presented Three Anti-Tanking Proposals To Board Of Governors
During this week’s Board of Governors meetings, the NBA presented team owners with three proposals aimed at discouraging tanking, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania.
According to Charania, the expectation is that those concepts may undergo some tweaks and then will be the subject of a vote in May in order to determine what changes the league makes ahead of the 2026/27 season.
The three proposed ideas are as follows:
Proposal No. 1:
- The draft lottery would expand from 14 teams to 18, adding the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference.
- The draft odds would be flattened for the bottom 10 teams, giving them each an 8% chance at the No. 1 overall pick.
- The remaining 20% odds for the top pick would be spread out in descending order among the remaining eight teams; within that group, the worst team (ie. the 11th-worst overall) would have the most favorable odds.
- All 18 picks would be drawn via lottery.
Proposal No. 2:
- The draft lottery would expand from 14 teams to 22, incorporating non-playoff teams and the teams eliminated from the playoffs in the first round.
- Teams’ lottery odds would be determined based on their records over the previous two seasons. For instance, a team that won 45 games one year and 25 the next would be slotted in the lottery as a 35-win team.
- A minimum win floor would be implemented. If the floor were to be set at 20 wins, for example, a team that went 15-67 in a season would be considered to have gone 20-62 for lottery purposes.
- The top four spots would be drawn via lottery, like the current system.
Proposal No. 3:
- The draft lottery would expand from 14 teams to 18, adding the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference.
- The bottom five teams would each have the same odds for the No. 1 pick, with each team’s odds descending from there (starting with the sixth-worst team).
- The top five spots would be drawn via lottery.
- After the top five picks are determined, there would be a separate lottery for the remaining 13 teams.
- A bottom-five team would be prohibited from falling past 10th in the draft order.
Some aspects of the proposals, as outlined by Charania, may require some clarification. For instance, he describes the 22 teams involved in proposal No. 2 as “the bottom 10 teams that miss the play-in tournament, the eight that qualify for it and the four playoff teams that lose in the first round.” But that doesn’t account for the fact that one or more play-in teams could advance beyond the first round, eliminating a top-two seed.
According to Charania, team owners and front offices are expected to discuss the ideas in greater depth over the next few weeks in order to better understand what exactly these changes might look like and what unintended consequences might arise. The NBA is prepared to maintain an open dialogue with executives around the league in order to potentially modify each proposal before a vote in May.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has repeatedly vowed to address the issue of tanking, which has been especially noticeable this season ahead of a loaded 2026 draft. Silver said three weeks ago that “substantial changes” would be coming in an effort to deter tanking. At a press conference this Wednesday, he stated, “We are going to fix it … full stop.”
Magic Notes: Wagner, Black, Isaac, Suggs, Cain
Magic forward Franz Wagner has missed 20 consecutive games and has only made four total appearances since December 7 due to a left high ankle sprain, but he has taken some positive recent steps toward a return, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Wagner has been able to take contact and practiced with the Osceola Magic while on a brief G League assignment this week, according to Beede.
With just nine games left on Orlando’s regular season schedule, time is running out for Wagner to return during the regular season in the hopes of ramping up for the playoffs. However, head coach Jamahl Mosley said on Thursday that there’s no minimum number of regular season games Wagner must play in order for him to be available for the postseason.
“That’s not a rule I’m putting in,” Mosley said. “If he’s available, he’s playing.”
We have more on the Magic:
- Anthony Black (left lateral abdominal strain) missed an 11th consecutive game on Thursday, while Jonathan Isaac (left knee sprain) sat out for an eighth straight contest. Both players are doing on-court work but aren’t yet taking contact, Mosley told Beede. “Just kind of getting some light shooting in, but not much movement,” the Magic coach said.
- After missing two games due to an illness, Jalen Suggs was able to return to action for Thursday’s game and took on his usual workload, reentering the starting lineup and logging 34 minutes in a 121-117 win over Sacramento. Although he scored just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting, Suggs made one of the most important baskets of the night, hitting a three-pointer with 27 seconds left to extend the Magic’s lead to four points. “Huge shot,” teammate Desmond Bane said, per Beede (subscription required). “Welcome back, J. It’s good to have him back in the lineup, for sure.”
- Since being promoted from a two-way deal to a standard contract last week, forward Jamal Cain has submitted several of his best performances of the season — he has averaged 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per night in his past four outings, registering eight assists vs. a single turnover during that stretch. He had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in Thursday’s victory and earned praise from teammate Paolo Banchero for his contributions. “He’s making big time energy plays out there,” Banchero said, according to Beede. “Cuts, rebounds, transition finishes … He’s athletic. He has a solid feel for the game out there.” Orlando holds a minimum-salary team option on Cain for 2026/27.
Nuggets Notes: Murray, Jokic Watson, Johnson, Bench
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic put up historic numbers in Wednesday’s win over Dallas, writes Michael Kelly of The Associated Press. On the second night of a road-home back-to-back, Murray had a season-high 53 points (on 19-of-28 shooting) and Jokic had 23 points, 21 rebounds and 19 assists.
According to Kelly, the Nuggets are the first team in NBA history to have one player score 50-plus points and another record at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in the same game.
“Fifty-three from your point guard and 23, 21, 19 from your center. Just outrageous numbers from the best tandem in the NBA,” head coach David Adelman said. “They really are the history book of this franchise when it comes to the longevity together, and also the playoffs and all these wars they’ve been through in a basketball sense, it’s just super special.”
Jokic, who has a league-high 30 triple-doubles, had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 17 assists in Tuesdays win at Phoenix. He’s currently leading the NBA in both rebounds (12.8) and assists (10.8) per game.
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- Peyton Watson has improved his play-making in his fourth season ahead of restricted free agency this summer, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. In his first two games back after missing several weeks because of a hamstring strain, Watson has averaged 17.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 3.0 APG (zero turnovers) on .565/.370/.750 shooting in 21.5 MPG. “It starts with establishing your aggression offensively, though. I think that every team in the NBA has to know that I’m a big threat, that if they don’t send multiple guys at me, I’m going to get going, and I’m going to be effective. When they start to do that and make those adjustments, it’s all about me seeing the next defender and making that play ahead of me,” Watson said. “For me, right now, (it’s) just establishing myself as a scorer and as an offensive presence. I think that’s doing a lot for our team.”
- Forward Cameron Johnson and the rest of Denver’s starters seem to be clicking at the right time, Benedetto writes in another story. Johnson is averaging 12.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.6 on .524/.466/.800 shooting splits in 12 games this month. “When we get going offensively, we’re really, really tough to stop. Now, we’ve got to match that with defensive intensity, transition defense, hitting the boards, boxing teams out,” Johnson said. “(There’s) a lot of room for us to grow defensively and little ins and outs of the game. If we continue to improve on those areas, I think the ceiling for this team is extremely high, so it’s encouraging.”
- Adelman recently made a significant change to the Nuggets’ rotation, per Benedetto. Veteran center Jonas Valanciunas has been a DNP-CD each of the past four games, with Adelman instead going with a small-ball bench unit featuring Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Spencer Jones and Watson alongside Murray. “It just gives us another dimension for this team to deploy whenever we want,” Jones said. “It definitely allows us to switch on ball, which makes a lot of our defenders a lot more aggressive. Obviously, we have a lot of good defenders out there, so we’re able to pick pockets, get steals, get some easy runouts and apply more pressure.”
Southwest Notes: Fox, Murphy, Alexander, Kyrie
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra recently praised Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox for being willing to sacrifice his individual statistics in pursuit of the team’s goals, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio-Express News.
“I think you have to really commend Fox,” Spoelstra said before Monday’s game in Miami. “He’s been a 25-plus point scorer for four straight years, and then sacrificing to win, he’s averaging 19 a game. People say, ‘Oh, you do whatever it takes to win.’ But I don’t know a lot of players who want to sign up and have their scoring average drop by seven and be great with it.”
For his part, Fox said the scoring dip was by design.
“I knew what I was signing up for,” Fox told the San Antonio Express-News. “Ultimately, I wanted to come and win a championship, and this is definitely the best place for it.”
We have more from the Southwest:
- After initially being listed as questionable, Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III was ruled out of Thursday’s contest in Detroit due to a right ankle sprain, the team announced (via Twitter). New Orleans lost its third straight game, with all three defeats coming against top Eastern Conference teams, notes Rod Walker of NOLA.com. “Defensively, we just had no hold on them,” interim head coach James Borrego said. “We could not gain any traction defensively. Other than the run at the end of the third quarter and early fourth, we just couldn’t string enough defensive possessions together.”
- Trey Alexander, who is on a two-way contract with the Pelicans, is the G League’s latest Player of the Week, the NBA announced on Tuesday (Twitter link). The second-year guard has only made five NBA appearances this season, but he had a huge week for the Birmingham Squadron, putting up 36.7 PPG and 10.0 APG in leading the team to a 3-0 record.
- The Mavericks have been involved in a league-high 42 “clutch” games this season, defined as a game in which the score is within five points in the final five minutes. However, they have gone just 15-27 in those contests, and have particularly struggled on the offensive end. Head coach Jason Kidd is confident Kyrie Irving will help Dallas improve its record in clutch games when he returns to action in 2026/27, per Christian Clark of The Athletic. “The offensive end of the ball, it will help in all categories,” Kidd said. “Shooting. Scoring. And the biggest (thing) is, you have a closer. A born closer.”
Lakers Notes: Luka, Hachimura, Ayton, Smart, Bronny, LeBron
Lakers superstar Luka Doncic might miss Friday’s game against Brooklyn — he has been listed as questionable due to left hamstring soreness, per Dan Woike of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Doncic has appeared in 61 of the Lakers’ 73 games thus far in 2025/26. He needs to play 20-plus minutes in four of the team’s final nine games to qualify for major postseason awards like MVP and All-NBA.
It’s a little concerning that Doncic is dealing with another soft-tissue injury, but the fact that the 27-year-old is listed as questionable instead of out — and that he’s dealing with soreness and not a strain — suggests it may not be a serious issue. Additionally, the Nets have lost nine straight games and 19 of their past 21, so if Doncic has to miss a game, Friday’s contest may be the right one to sit out.
While Doncic was downgraded to questionable after playing in 19 straight games, the opposite is true for Rui Hachimura, who was upgraded to questionable after missing the last two games due to a right calf injury.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Starting center Deandre Ayton is not on tomorrow’s injury report after he sat out Wednesday’s win at Indiana due to a back issue, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPN (via Twitter). Fellow starter Marcus Smart will miss his third consecutive game due to a right ankle contusion.
- Head coach JJ Redick and Austin Reaves discussed Smart’s impact on the Lakers following Monday’s loss in Detroit, per Benjamin Royer of The Southern California News Group. Reaves praised Smart’s unselfishness, defense and intensity, referring to the 12-year veteran as the team’s “glue guy.” Redick said Los Angeles is focused on being as healthy as possible entering the playoffs, Royer adds. “That’s important for us, that we can get healthy and we can play our rotation,” Redick said Monday night. “Post-Luke (Kennard) trade, I think when all nine guys have played, we’ve been a good basketball team. … You need Smart for his ball-handling, you need Smart for his defense, you need Rui for his shooting. Those pieces are important to complement everybody. And you know, we need to finish the season strong, but we also need to finish the season healthy.”
- With Smart, Hachimura and Ayton out on Wednesday, reserve Bronny James got a chance to play rotation minutes and contributed four points, two steals, one block, one rebound and one assist in 13 minutes. The second-year guard, who is having a strong regular season in the G League with South Bay, has been a standout in stay-ready games for several weeks, Redick said after the victory (story via Royer). James also played alongside his father LeBron James for just the second time this season. “I’m not really thinking about it,” Bronny said. “Just thinking about what I can do to impact the game and pull out a win. I’ve been around him and basketball at the same time for a while now, so it’s not that special. The first couple times were of course, but it’s my second year now. And I’m just trying to prove myself and get better as a player.”
- While Bronny downplayed the moment, LeBron relished it, saying he was “super proud” of his son, according to Woike of The Athletic. Bronny’s suffered cardiac arrest during a July 2023 workout with USC, but he has gradually rebuilt his confidence the past few years after the life-altering incident. “Real, meaningful minutes. I couldn’t dream of better. I couldn’t dream of something better than that. Just couldn’t,” LeBron told The Athletic. “For him to go out and, you know, I mean obviously he’s… he’s shown over this — almost two years, year and a half — his progression. And why he belongs in this league. And what he can do in this league. So, for the coaching staff to trust him tonight, and for him to have significant playing time and make … make plays — and for me to be out there on the floor with him — that’s … I couldn’t, I couldn’t dream of a better feeling than that. I could not.”
Clippers Notes: Garland, Kawhi, Jackson, Zubac
The Clippers won their third straight game on Wednesday in Inglewood, defeating another playoff hopeful in Toronto by 25 points, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Los Angeles is currently three games behind Phoenix for the No. 7 seed in the West and a half-game ahead of No. 9 Portland.
Trade acquisition Darius Garland continued his strong recent play, putting up 24 points (on 9-of-15 shooting), six assists, four rebounds, one steal and one block in 30 minutes. The two-time All-Star point guard has been on fire since he made his Clippers debut on March 2, averaging 21.1 points, 6.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals on .506/.512/.826 shooting splits in 11 games (27.7 minutes per contest).
“You see that he’s enjoying the game and he’s just loving it,” Kawhi Leonard said. “I’ve played with guys like that before and like I said, he’s doing a great job, man. It’s when your hard work pays off, you make one of those shots or you’re just doing good, the excitement comes out of you. So yeah, I’m enjoying it and playing with him.”
Here’s more on the Clips:
- As Carr writes, Garland’s ability to stretch the floor with deep shooting range has created easier looks for his teammates, including Leonard, who finished with 27 points, six rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes. The 34-year-old forward has now scored 20-plus points in 49 straight games, which he attributes to his consistency. “It’s everything,” Leonard said. “That’s how you build championship habits. It’s just coming in every night, playing with the consistent mindset of being in attack mode and wanting to defend. And you want your team to play that way as well. So, I just build off of just trying to win really more than anything because the numbers will change.”
- Fifth-year center Isaiah Jackson was something of an afterthought in last month’s trade that sent Ivica Zubac to Indiana, and he was initially the Clippers’ third-string center. However, as Carr writes in another story, Jackson has been the team’s primary backup five since rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser suffered a season-ending foot injury, and the former Kentucky big man has impressed head coach Tyronn Lue. “He’s been really good,” Lue said of Jackson. “I think rebounding the basketball, his ability to switch one through five on the floor has been really good for us. “(As well as) his ability to run the floor, his offensive rebounds, lob dunks, and being able to post smaller guys when they try to switch. He’s been able to post smaller guys they’ve been throwing at him, and he’s been able to take advantage around the rim.”
- In an interview with Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints, Zubac discussed his time with the Clippers, a tenure which covered parts of eight seasons. Zubac went through a gamut of emotions the week of the deadline — he became a father two days prior to being traded. “It was tough when (president of basketball operations) Lawrence Frank called me to let me know that it was happening and then just kind of being on the phone with people from the Pacers and going through all that,” Zubac said. “Then it hit me that the (Clippers) were going on a trip and it’d be good to go over there so I called Lawrence, he said that anytime I wanted to come by, I’m free to come by. So I went over there, caught a lot of people before they left for the trip and yeah we sat there for five, six hours, I don’t even know, but it just talked about memories and all the stuff that we did and what we went through and a lot of people cried. I cried. It was tough, man. It was tough. You always think it could happen — the trades and stuff — but you never really expect it, you don’t want it to happen. So once it happened, yeah, it was tough.” Injured star Tyrese Haliburton was among the Pacers pushing behind the scenes to acquire Zubac, league sources tell ClutchPoints.