Central Notes: Stephenson, Irving, Williams
There’s no denying that Lance Stephenson has had an impact on the Pacers since returning to their lineup for the first time since he left via free agency in 2014. Clifton Brown of the Indianapolis Star writes that the 26-year-old is now giving Indiana exactly what the team needs.
“When your teammates believe in you, and the organization believes in you, the game becomes easy,” Stephenson said of his return to the Pacers.
In his first game back, the swingman nearly instigated a brawl by driving home a layup in the waning seconds of a game the Pacers already won. Days later he fanned the flames of animosity with an Instagram post calling out the Raptors for being hypocritical in their response.
More important than any contributions as an instigator is the fact that Stephenson has helped the Pacers to their first back-to-back victories since February. With that two-game win streak, the club has laid claim to the Eastern Conference’s eight-seed (for now).
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- A flare-up in his surgically repaired left knee had Kyrie Irving limping off the floor in Friday night’s loss to the Hawks, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. “It just, I don’t want it to feel sore anymore but it’s just the realization of it,” the Cavaliers guard said. “I’m doing everything possible to take care of my body, I’ve got a clear conscience with that. But also understand that sometimes it’s gonna hurt. And I gotta be able to deal with it.”
- The Cavaliers may not be using free agent addition Deron Williams to his full potential but don’t fault them for it. Williams was the best and cheapest option available to the team when he was signed but often requires the ball in his hands to be his most dominant, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. For the most part, the Cavs would prefer to keep the ball in the hands of LeBron James or Irving.
- A second-round pick currently helping guide the Bucks to a six-seed in the Eastern Conference is in the running for the Rookie of the Year award, but Malcolm Brogdon has asked the club to donate the money it would have spent on an extravagant campaign on his behalf to charity instead. Per Alysha Tsuji of USA Today, Brogdon, who averages 10.3 points and 4.3 assists per game, sits second on the publication’s rookie tracker.
- Veteran Cavaliers forward Richard Jefferson has struggled with asthma throughout his life and changes to how he combated the condition have led to his prolonged career, AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today writes.
Mavs May Add Point Guard Before Wednesday
The Mavs could look to add a veteran pass-first point guard prior to the end of the season, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. Team owner Mark Cuban hinted at as much after Friday’s contest.
[RELATED: Cuban: Mavs to target pass-first point guards in offseason]
Though there would be little benefit to bolstering the roster for the final five days of the regular season, the lottery-bound Mavs would at least have an option of keeping whoever they pick up through the summer to gauge if he’ll fit in the future.
Neither Cuban nor president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson gave any indication of who the late-season add might be but a cursory look at the available free agents that fit the specific niche reveal a few possibilities that the club could pursue.
Mario Chalmers, Jarrett Jack and Rodney Stuckey are among the number of available options that the Mavs could kick the tires on. Chalmers and Jack, of course, actively pursued a comeback this season while Stuckey was a member of the Pacers up until his release late last month.
Currently the Mavs roster sits at 14 after the club opted not to re-sign 10-day contract signee Manny Harris to a longer-term deal.
Kevin Durant Won’t Have Minutes Restriction In Return
Warriors star Kevin Durant will make his long-awaited return from a left MCL sprain tomorrow night against the Pelicans, and he will do so without a minutes constraint. As AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today reports, Durant will be given a long leash in his comeback from a 19-game absence.
“Obviously I wanted to be out there playing,” Durant said. “That’s my favorite thing to do, play basketball. To be away was different, it was tough, but I looked at the big picture and figured that at some point I would get better. That day is here and I’m thankful.”
Durant claimed to have become restless during his prolonged absence. In a report from Chris Haynes of ESPN, the eight-time All-Star said he almost went “over the deep end” while rehabbing.
“If I had to wait until the playoffs, I would have waited,” he said. “At some point, I would just have to throw myself in the fire. It doesn’t matter if it’s the regular season or playoffs. It’s still basketball. Guys are still out there competing. No matter if it’s the 80th game or the first game of the playoffs.”
While Durant’s injury removed him from any serious MVP consideration, his first season with Golden State has largely been a success. KD’s 53.7% shooting is a career-best total, as are his 8.2 rebounds per game. With just three regular season games remaining, Durant will look to regain his bearings before playing in the postseason.
“We just wanted to get (Durant) in the flow of the five-on-five, which we haven’t played until today,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He looked good. It was a good day at work.”
Atlantic Notes: Rodriguez, Lowry, McConnell
Sergio Rodriguez, who has been a rotation mainstay in his first NBA season since 2009/10, stated his desire to remain with the Sixers beyond this season.
“It’s going to be a special thing in the coming years in Philadelphia,” Rodriguez told Keith Pompey of Philly.com. “You always want to be a part of that. It’s been a good season for me, a great season for the team.”
With only three games remaining this season, Rodriguez was uncertain whether he would play again in 2016/17.
“It’s feeling better. But the injury is kind of tricky because you never know when you are 100 percent,” Rodriguez said of his hamstring injury. “The way that we are not practicing, it makes it hard to recover well.”
More from around the Atlantic…
- Kyle Lowry is in postseason form, logging 42 minutes in the Raptors’ 105-102 win over the Pistons on Wednesday. In a post-game interview, Lowry told Doug Smith of The Toronto Star he has no fear of wearing himself out before the playoffs. “That’s one thing about me . . . if I’m going to come back, I’m going to come back and play basketball. No limitations, no restrictions, I’m going to go hoop,” said Lowry, who had missed a 21-game stretch with a wrist injury. “The game of basketball is fun for me. It’s what I love to do and I just wanted to go out there and help my guys and help my team get a win.”
- While T.J. McConnell emerged as Brett Brown‘s “primary ball-handler” with the Sixers, he projects to play behind Ben Simmons and Jerryd Bayless in 2017/18. When asked about the possibility of being a third-string point guard, McConnell told Keith Pompey of Philly.com it wouldn’t impair his outlook. “Look, I’m not here to make coaches’ or players’ or front offices’ life more difficult. I’m here to do what they want me to do,” McConnell said. “They want me to be third string, I’m not going accept it. I’m going to work hard to try to be first and second string. But I’m not going to moan and complain about it. I’m going to work hard like I did this year.”
Southeast Notes: Sefolosha, Reed, Porter, Georges-Hunt
Thabo Sefolosha settled his civil lawsuit with five members of the New York City Police Department, Thabo and his attorney announced Wednesday. Sefolosha’s attorney – Alex Spiro – told Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he is “glad this matter is resolved.”
While financial terms of the settlement were said to be confidential, James C. McKinley Jr. of the New York Times reported a $4MM settlement from New York City, resulting from false arrest and using excessive force. Sefolosha released a statement through the Hawks‘ official website, announcing his intent to make a donation to a nonprofit organization.
“While I alone can’t bring the type of change needed to eliminate these issues, I want to help make a difference,” Sefolosha stated. “A substantial portion of my settlement will be donated to Gideon’s Promise, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that helps support and train public defenders across the country…It is an extremely gratifying feeling to know that justice has been served and that now, finally, I can truly put this behind me.”
More from around the Southeast…
- Willie Reed won’t comment on his impending opt out clause decision this offseason, claiming he’ll make that decision once the season’s over. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Reed’s excellent play may have placed him out of the Heat‘s price range. While Reed could stay in Miami for $1.5MM in 2017/18, he may command twice that amount on the open market, or more. “I think I’ve proved that I belong, that I can be a factor in this league for time to come. All I wanted to do was play in the NBA since I was a kid. I want to continuously show everyone I belong and I can be a factor in this league,” Reed said.
- Otto Porter‘s “unassuming” game has lifted the Wizards to postseason contention, Dan Feldman of NBC Sports writes. Porter, who ranks 19th in the NBA in Win Shares, will be “coveted” as a restricted free agent this summer. Still just 23 years old, Porter may command a max contract- projected to be worth more than $146MM over five seasons.
- Marcus Georges-Hunt has settled in with the Magic in his first NBA season, rewarding Frank Vogel for giving him a late-season look. An undrafted rookie, Georges-Hunt earned his NBA promotion by averaging 15.8 points over 45 games with the Maine Red Claws. “Marcus is a big-time scorer,” Vogel told Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. “[He] really has the ability to score, especially in a game like this where you have so many exceptional drivers and the ability to move his feet and have some toughness to him and contain the basketball. That is a skillset our team has lacked this year.”
Southwest Notes: Boogie, Davis, Curry, Anderson, Diallo
Having been eliminated from the playoffs, the Pelicans will regroup and focus on 2017/18, Justin Verrier of ESPN writes. As Alvin Gentry notes, the Pels will benefit from Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins having a full preseason to learn how to play off one another.
“You can see he [Davis] and DeMarcus are going to be fine together,” Gentry said. “You put them in a training camp and you’re able to really hone in on what you want to do and how they can play together. They can be very, very effective. I think we have a chance to move forward.”
Aside from questions surrounding Jrue Holiday‘s free agency, the Pelicans will also have to sort out a roster shuffled by the Cousins trade. Over the season’s remaining four games, Verrier points out, the Pels would be best served to showcase Cheick Diallo and Quinn Cook over their frontcourt veterans.
More from around the Southwest…
- Mavs coach Rick Carlisle isn’t sure Seth Curry will return by the end of the regular season, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News reports. Depending on the condition of Curry’s left shoulder, the team could shut down the former Blue Devil. “Seth’s doing all right,” Carlisle said. “I’m not sure at this point (about him playing in the final three games). It’s not something that we just rubber stamp and send him back out there. I hope he can play a couple of games, but if it’s not the right thing, he won’t do it.”
- Ryan Anderson will play limited minutes in tonight’s matchup with Detroit, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. An ankle injury had sidelined Anderson for Houston’s last six games. As the postseason nears, Anderson is eager to get back on track. “I’m going to play limited minutes, but that’s the plan,” Anderson told Feigen. “I’m excited about it. I feel strong. I feel good. I feel ready to go. It’s going to take a game or two to get back. That’s why we have these last few games to get ready and get mentally prepared for the playoffs, and physically.”
- The Pelicans not having a designated D-League affiliate resulted in an “unorthodox” year of development for Diallo. A former Kansas Jayhawks standout, Cheick was assigned to the D-League seven times, playing for three different teams in 2016/17. “I just want to play, you know?” Diallo told Scott Kushner of The Advocate. “I go to any place and I don’t even know the coaches or the players on some of these D-League teams. Sometimes I didn’t even know where I was, whether in North Carolina or Texas or wherever. I just know the D-Leagues helped me a lot and it would help anyone a lot.”
And-Ones: Robinson, Billups, Schedule, Alie-Cox
After briefly seeing some action for the Pelicans in two games last season, Nate Robinson hasn’t caught on with an NBA team in 2016/17. That doesn’t mean he has given up on the possibility of continuing his career though. Robinson, who is still just 32 years old (33 next month), tells Nina Mandell of USA Today Sports that he believes there’s no shortage of teams right now that could use him, including one of his former clubs.
“Playoff teams, that could use me right now: The Chicago Bulls for sure, I’m going to say them first because that was one of my favorite places to play,” Robinson said. “I was just disappointed they didn’t give me a contract that they should have after I helped them get to the playoffs (in 2013) and did everything that I did.”
While the odds of Robinson catching on with an NBA team this season are very slim, it’s possible a club will take a shot on the veteran free agent in the offseason — as he tells Mandell, Robinson is “not a money guy” and would play for free if he could, so he’d represent an inexpensive flier. For now, the 5’9″ guard continues to work out two or three times a day in hopes of attracting NBA interest.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Over at ESPN.com, Zach Lowe has an interesting piece on an outside-the-box proposal that would change the way late-game basketball situations played out, potentially reducing intentional fouling and speeding up the endings of games. The NBA isn’t ready to try the idea, even in the D-League, but the league will have an eye on The Basketball Tournament as it experiments with the new rule this summer.
- In a conversation with Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, Chauncey Billups discusses how the point guard position has changed since his NBA heyday, and shared his excitement about the new BIG3 league. As our comprehensive list shows, Billups will be playing on a BIG3 team this summer with Stephen Jackson and Charles Oakley.
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver said today that the league hasn’t seriously discussed the idea of shortening the 82-game regular season, but ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh lays out the case for why it might be the league’s best move.
- Former VCU basketball standout Mo Alie-Cox is attempting to earn a spot on an NFL roster. Zach Links has the story over at our sister site, Pro Football Rumors.
Adam Silver Discusses Rest Issue, 2019 ASG, Dolan
NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke today at the league’s Board of Governors meetings about a few items of interest, including the subject of teams resting healthy stars, which he called the most important issue facing the league at the moment (Twitter link via Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today).
According to Silver, the NBA hopes to avoid having teams play four games in five nights next season and will also aim to further reduce back-to-backs in general (Twitter links via Frank Isola of The New York Daily News and Zillgitt).
Noting that the issue is a “complex” one, Silver added that owners agreed teams should avoid resting multiple players during nationally televised games, and the league’s preference is to rest players for home games rather than road contests (Twitter link via Howard Beck of Bleacher Report).
Adjusting the 82-game schedule is one potential idea that has been thrown out as a potential solution to the issue of teams resting players. While Silver acknowledged that it’s possible the league, at some point, could come together and agree to reduce the number of regular season games, that’s not on the table for now and wasn’t discussed this week (Twitter link via Isola). The commissioner pointed out that there’s also no hard data indicating that slashing a few games from the schedule would help improve players’ health or eliminate the rest issue (Twitter link via Beck).
The rest issue wasn’t the only one addressed by Silver, who also said that Charlotte is back in the running to potentially host the 2019 NBA All-Star Game. Per the commissioner, North Carolina’s adjustments to the so-called “bathroom bill” don’t entirely resolve the league’s concerns, but Charlotte will still receive strong ASG consideration (Twitter link via Chris Mannix of The Vertical). The Hornets issued a statement this afternoon expressing enthusiasm about the possibility of hosting the 2019 contest.
Finally, Silver also discussed Knicks owner James Dolan, who recently had a verbal altercation with a fan who told him he should sell the franchise. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com details, the commissioner didn’t seem particularly concerned and didn’t suggest the league would get involved. Dolan “is as frustrated as any Knicks fan” with the state of the team, Silver said (Twitter link via Isola).
Purdue’s Vince Edwards Tests Draft Waters
Purdue small forward Vince Edwards has decided to enter his name in the 2017 NBA draft pool, according to an announcement from the school. Edwards won’t hire an agent immediately, giving him the opportunity to withdraw his name before the May 24 deadline and return to the Boilermakers for his senior year.
Edwards, who also tested the draft waters a year ago before eventually heading back to Purdue, enjoyed a solid junior season in 2016/17, averaging 12.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.2 APG, with career-high shooting percentages of .486/.423/.820. Although he was somewhat overshadowed by teammate Caleb Swanigan, who declared for the draft this week too, Edwards is considered a solid prospect in his own right.
Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com both have Edwards on their top 100 lists, with the 21-year-old coming in at No. 87 on DraftExpress and No. 98 on ESPN. According to Ford, Edwards will be on the second-round bubble if he remains in the draft, with a solid showing in this year’s NCAA tournament helping to boost his stock a little.
Our full list of early entrants for the 2017 NBA draft can be found right here.
New York Notes: Porzingis, Dolan, Nets, Bogdanovic
With just three games left in the season and his team long eliminated from playoff contention, head coach Jeff Hornacek said late on Thursday night that the Knicks will be “careful” with Kristaps Porzingis down the stretch this season. As Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets, Porzingis – who has missed the club’s last two games with back spams – may ultimately sit out those final three games as well and focus on getting healthy for the summer.
As we wait to see how the Knicks proceed with Porzingis, let’s round up a few more notes on the league’s two New York teams…
- In the wake of a report that Knicks owner James Dolan confronted and yelled at a fan who told him to sell the franchise, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News and Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post take Dolan to task. Isola suggests that the Knicks owner ought to focus more on ways to improve his struggling team rather than protecting his own image, while Bontemps argues that Dolan hasn’t learned a thing since he assumed ownership of the team in 1999.
- A year after aggressively pursuing – and striking out on – multiple restricted free agents, the Nets are expected to be in the RFA market again. With that in mind, could Brooklyn target Bojan Bogdanovic just a few months after sending him to Washington? Brian Lewis of The New York Post explores that subject and gets some quotes from a noncommittal Bogdanovic, who says he remains focused on basketball for now.
- Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders makes the case that, if they want to move forward as a franchise, the Knicks need to ditch the triangle and adopt a more modern offensive system.
- Earlier today, we passed along Brandon Jennings‘ comments on how this year’s Carmelo Anthony trade rumors took a toll on the Knicks.