Knicks Notes: Beasley, Hardaway, Hornacek, Playoff Odds
Michael Beasley got a chance to show he can still contribute Friday night as he produced 10 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter, but performances like that have been rare since he joined the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Beasley has appeared in 11 of the team’s 15 games and is seeing just 13 minutes per night. His averages of 5.4 points and 2.7 rebounds are the lowest of his career.
“I think everybody wishes they played more — except the guys playing 45 minutes a night,’’ Beasley said. “But I’m not here to say what I need or want personally. Whatever the team needs. If they need me to play 40 minutes, I’ll play it. If they want me to clap on the bench, I’ll do it.”
Beasley, who signed for the veterans’ minimum in August, had his name floated as a waiver possibility when Joakim Noah returned from his suspension this week. The Knicks decided to part with Mindaugas Kuzminskas instead. Playing time may be an issue for Beasley all season, as New York is emphasizing defense and Lance Thomas is excelling on that end of the court.
There’s more tonight out of New York:
- Tim Hardaway Jr. has been dealing with pain in his left foot since Wednesday, Berman relays in a separate story. The Knicks’ top free agent addition of the summer played through the problem Friday before being forced to leave with three minutes left. He isn’t sure if he’ll be ready for the team’s next game Monday. “It’s been lingering the last 36 hours,’’ Hardaway said. “When I woke up Thursday, it’s just nagging pain. Normally I like to play through it [with] no excuses. I try to grind it out. I wasn’t feeling good so I came out and make sure it’s OK. It’s all good.’’
- The Knicks early-season success stems from the freedom coach Jeff Hornacek has with Phil Jackson no longer around, notes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. After the former team president was fired over the summer, there was no longer an emphasis on the triangle, allowing Hornacek to implement a faster, more free-wheeling offense. Iannazzone adds that Hornacek was allowed to mix his offense with the triangle at the start of last season, but around the All-Star break he was ordered to use the triangle exclusively. “He’s running his own stuff without anybody coming in and telling him what to do or how to do it,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “I think from the top down you can feel that there’s more confidence in what we’re doing.”
- Hornacek is getting credit throughout the league for the Knicks’ improvement, relays Ian Begley of ESPN. Despite an 8-7 start, New York remains a long shot to end its playoff drought. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gives the Knicks just a 12.7% chance of making the postseason.
No Orlando Summer League Next Year
The Magic won’t host their summer league in 2018, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Instead, Orlando will join most of the rest of the league with an entry in the Las Vegas Summer League.
The Orlando Pro Summer League was virtually an annual event, being held 14 times since 2002. It provided the first showcase of young talent in early July, followed by leagues in Utah and Las Vegas later in the month. The Orlando league was always closed to the public, Robbins notes, so the move won’t impact Central Florida basketball fans.
The Magic brought in a new management team earlier this year with Jeff Weltman as president of basketball operations and John Hammond as GM, and they decided to go in a different direction.
“The pendulum is swinging towards teams playing in Vegas,” Weltman said. “It’s a level of competition and a level of exposure when more or less every team in the league is there and you’re playing in front of 20,000 people as opposed to playing in a gym with a few hundred people. So it better prepares you for what NBA life is really about with the crowds, the pressure, the travel — a lot of what you’re going to have to confront. Obviously, it’s not a true test of an NBA season, but it’s a little taste.”
The Orlando league had only eight teams this year with the Hornets, Mavericks, Pistons, Pacers, Heat, Knicks and Thunder joining the host Magic. Twenty-four teams were in Las Vegas, with three preliminary games followed by a single-elimination playoff to determine a champion, and the NBA hopes to eventually get all 30 teams involved.
“We want to do what’s right for the team, for our players,” Weltman said. “But that being said, when the large portion of the league is there [in Las Vegas], it does kind of create an environment where you want your young guys to be a part of what the league is about.”
Justin Anderson Sidelined By Shin Splints
Sixers forward Justin Anderson will miss at least three weeks because of shin splints in his left leg, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Anderson has appeared in 10 games this season, all off the bench, and is averaging 5.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.6 minutes. He played nearly 22 minutes per night and started eight games at the end of last season after being acquired in a February deal with the Mavericks.
The injury should mean more playing time for second-year forward Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Pompey notes (Twitter link). The small forward out of France has played 13 games this season, producing 6.8 points in 16 minutes per night.
Southwest Notes: Conley, Mejri, Noel, Rondo
The Grizzlies provided an update on injured point guard Mike Conley after Friday’s game, saying treatment and therapy will be used to lessen the pain in his left heel and Achilles tendon, according to an Associated Press story. The team plans to re-examine Conley in two weeks, and coach David Fizdale is optimistic that he will be ready to play by then.
“It’s unfortunate, but watching him play in pain like that and really trying to push through that stuff was worse to watch,” Fizdale said. “For whatever reason, this thing is just not going away on its own.”
While Conley is sidelined, the starting role will go to Mario Chalmers, who signed with Memphis in July after a year out of the league following a torn Achilles tendon. Chalmers is averaging 8.0 points and 3.5 assists through 14 games. Ben McLemore and Wayne Selden may also see increased playing time.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Moving Dirk Nowitzki to center has worsened the logjam in the middle for the Mavericks, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. The other four centers on the roster, Salah Mejri, Nerlens Noel, Dwight Powell and Jeff Withey have all gone through games where they didn’t get off the bench. The problem will work itself out eventually — Withey’s contract is non-guaranteed, Mejri has a player option for next season and Noel will be an unrestricted free agent next summer — but for now there’s frustration over a lack of playing time. “It’s almost like we went to Costco and got a forklift full of centers,” said coach Rick Carlisle. “They’re all good players, but there are a limited number of minutes and with more teams playing hybrid centers, it makes it even harder.”
- Mejri is sympathetic toward Noel, who expected a larger role after being acquired from the Sixers in a February trade, relays Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News. Noel was in a similar situation in Philadelphia, where he was competing for time with Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Richaun Holmes. “I’m trying to tell [Noel] … hey, just go out there and play as hard as you can when you come to practice,” Mejri said. “Practice as hard as you can and then they will see that you’re trying to compete and they have reason to say, “Ah, we didn’t play Nerlens or we didn’t play Salah.’ It goes to everybody, you know?”
- A healthy Rajon Rondo will turn the Pelicans into a different team, claims Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. Rondo returned this week from a sports hernia and made an immediate impact with 8 assists in 14 minutes in his first game in the starting lineup.
Central Notes: Cavs, Bradley, LaVine
The Cavaliers are essentially playing without a true point guard, as both Isaiah Thomas and Derrick Rose are out with injuries and Jose Calderon has been relegated to the bench, averaging only 6.7 MPG. Lately the Cavs have been using Iman Shumpert as their starting point guard, with LeBron James handling ball-handling duties as well.
However, according to a team press release, the Cavs will now also be without Shumpert for at least the next 5-7 days. Shumpert left last night’s game against the Clippers in the first half with left knee soreness. He was examined and did not return.
As first reported by Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, the Cavs will likely recall two-way player John Holland from the Canton Charge to replace Shumpert on the Cavs’ active roster. According to Vardon, Dwyane Wade could also see his role at point guard increase after he filled in admirably during the Cavs’ come from behind victory against the Clippers last night.
There’s more from Cleveland and the rest of the Central Division:
- As detailed by Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Kyle Korver has become an important centerpiece of the Cavaliers’ line-up so far this season. Perhaps most telling is James’ comparison of Korver to former teammate and 10-time NBA All-Star Ray Allen. “You’ve got two of the greatest shooters to ever play this game,” James said. “There’s a lot of similarities in their approach… they take that craft, that marksmanship very seriously.“
- In another piece for Cleveland.com, Fedor analyzes how James is beginning to accept the challenge of defending the opposing team’s best offensive player during crunch time. In the fourth quarter of the Cavs’ recent victories against the Knicks and the Clippers, James was the primary defender in the fourth quarter against both Kristaps Porzingis and Blake Griffin.
- Avery Bradley is slowing becoming one of the best two-way guards in the NBA, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Bradley is averaging career-bests in PPG (17.8) and 3P% (45.2%) this season and Stan Van Gundy has been impressed. “He came in with the respect based on what he had done, but it grows a lot more when you’re out here every day and see the way he goes to work.” The Pistons are currently tied for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 10-5.
- The Bulls’ Zach LaVine is expected to be cleared for practice on Monday, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. LaVine, who has not yet played for the Bulls this season after being traded from the Timberwolves as part of the Jimmy Butler trade, has been out with a torn ACL since February.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 11/11/17 – 11/18/17
Every week, the writers here at Hoops Rumors strive to create interesting original content to complement our news feed. Here are those segments and features from the last 7 days:
- Like we did last season, we’re keeping track of all in-season trades during the 2017/18 campaign.
- We’ve also provided salary cap outlooks for all 30 teams, division by division, based on each team’s current roster.
- While NBA waiver claims don’t happen very often, a waiver order applies when they do. Until December 1, this order is based upon teams’ 2016/17 records. For a current waiver priority list and further analysis of the waiver procedure, click here.
- We analyzed why the current CBA prohibits players signed after November 9 from being traded during the 2017/18 season.
- As part of our Fantasy Hoops content, we examined the performances so far this season of Otto Porter Jr., Tim Hardaway Jr., and Paul Millsap, three players who cashed in big this past offseason.
- In several different Community Shootaround posts, we asked:
- Who has been the most impressive 2017 NBA Draft selection so far?
- Who is the early favorite for the 2017/18 MVP Award?
- How should the Nets approach D’Angelo Russell’s injury?
- We asked you, the readers, to weigh in on two polls:
- Are the Celtics the new favorite to face the Warriors in the NBA Finals?
- Which NBA player is the least expensive star this season?
Five Key Stories: 11/11/17 – 11/18/17
Hoops Rumors has you covered in case you missed any of this past week’s NBA headlines. Below are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last 7 days.
The Sixers and Robert Covington reached an agreement on a four-year extension valued at $62MM. The Sixers made the news official yesterday with a press release from President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo, who hailed Covington as a prime example of someone whose hard work has paid dividends. Covington is expected to receive a raise to this season’s salary for all of the Sixers’ remaining cap room (roughly $15MM).
The Knicks waived Mindaugas Kuzminskas in order to clear a roster spot for newly reinstated Joakim Noah. The Lakers, Bulls, and Hawks are all reportedly said to have interest in Kuzminskas now that he has cleared waivers and become an unrestricted free agent. Given his salary figure, Kuzminskas was not originally expected to be a casualty of Noah’s return, but a public declaration of unhappiness from earlier this month seemed to be the beginning of the end of his tenure in New York.
Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a bone bruise in his right knee. Interestingly, the injury occurred on a play in which the big man collided with Heat guard Dion Waiters, and Gobert suggested after the game that he believed the play was “dirty”. Gobert will be reevaluated in early to mid-December.
Nikola Mirotic has returned to the Bulls after the now-infamous altercation with teammate Bobby Portis. Portis has been open with his willingness to let bygones be bygones, but Mirotic apparently still doesn’t feel the same way, as he and Portis have yet to make contact with one another since the altercation.
Despite impressing the Mavericks during the preseason, Gian Clavell‘s time in Dallas has come to an end. The Mavericks released Clavell yesterday in order to make room for Antonius Cleveland, who the Mavs have signed to a two-way contract in place of Clavell. The Mavericks were recently reported as looking to make roster upgrades, so perhaps they feel that Cleveland can provide a spark to their roster.
Here are 10 more NBA headlines from the last week.
- Given their lack of frontcourt depth and size, the Cavaliers have “strong interest” in Suns center Greg Monroe.
- D’Angelo Russell was expected to miss “several games” after injuring his left knee. However, after undergoing successful arthroscopic surgery, the timetable for his return is now unknown.
- Metta World Peace has signed on to play in the BIG3 next season. Interestingly, he’ll be playing under his former name – Ron Artest.
- USA Basketball announced its 12-man roster for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers.
- Nicolas Batum, JaMychal Green, and Ersan Ilyasova all returned to action this week for the Hornets, Grizzlies, and Hawks, respectively.
- Also returning to the court this week was perennial All-Star Chris Paul. The Rockets have started the season 11-4 almost entirely without Paul’s services.
- Heat forward Okaro White is out indefinitely after breaking a bone in his left foot during practice.
- The NBA and the NBPA formally discussed the one-and-done rule with the federal government’s Commission on College Basketball.
- In addition to the Lakers, Bulls, and Hawks, the Bucks also have interest in Kuzminskas.
- Mike Conley will remain out of the Grizzlies’ lineup for at least two weeks after missing Wednesday’s game with a troublesome left heel and Achilles.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/18/17
Here are the G League moves from around the Association today:
- The Grizzlies announced that forward Jarell Martin and center Deyonta Davis has been recalled from the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ NBA G League affiliate. Martin has started in 12 of his 13 games for the Grizzlies this season and Davis has suited up for the NBA club twice.
- The Sixers will recall Furkan Korkmaz from the Delaware 87ers before tonight’s game against the Warriors, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (link via Twitter). Korkmaz has made one appearance for Philadelphia this season.
Community Shootaround: D’Angelo Russell’s Knee Surgery
D’Angelo Russell‘s original diagnosis of a left knee contusion last Saturday yielded a nightmare outcome for the Nets as their starting point guard underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday, the team announced. No timetable for Russell’s return was given, so Brooklyn will be without its best, youngest, and most valuable player for an extended period.
Russell, 21, was in the midst of his best season to date, averaging a career-best 20.9 PPG, 5.7 APG, and 4.7 RPG in 12 games for Brooklyn. The organization acquired Russell in an offseason trade that saw longtime Net Brook Lopez shipped to the Lakers. While Russell was expected to miss a few games, now he will likely sit out several months due to surgery but general manager Sean Marks did not sound too worried about the procedure.
“This was a direct correlation to the incident that happened in Utah,” Marks said (via ESPN). “I think with any 21-year-old that’s played a lot of basketball you’re going to have a little bit of wear and tear. The good thing is he’s young enough and he’s certainly going to bounce back from something like this. We’re not too concerned in that regard.”
The Nets were pegged for another losing season — despite upgrading with young talent — and thus far, the team sports a 6-9 record. Brooklyn’s prime backup to Russell, veteran Jeremy Lin, suffered his own season-ending knee injury so he will not be able to help. Spencer Dinwiddie will be the Nets’ starter in Russell’s absence, giving the organization an extended look at 24-year-old point guard. Dinwiddie promptly made Nets history in the team’s win over the Jazz on Friday, becoming the first Net to score 25+ points, make 6 three-pointers, dish out 8 assists, and no commit a turnover (via Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily).
At this point, the Nets will be without their best player for several months, but he is expected to return before season’s end. While the Nets are not expected to compete for the playoffs, they are just two games out of a playoff spot through 17 games.
What do you think? Should the Nets be concerned about Russell’s health long-term since he does have a history of knee ailments? Is rushing Russell back to make a run something Brooklyn needs to consider or should they bring him along slowly?Sound off below!
Atlantic Notes: Noah, Carroll, Nets, Anunoby
The Knicks have played three games since Joakim Noah was reinstated from a 20-game drug-related suspension. The former NBA Defensive Player of the Year has been inactive for all three contests. With three centers ahead of Noah on the Knicks’ depth chart (Enes Kanter, Kyle O’Quinn, and Willy Hernangomez), he is patiently waiting for an opportunity that may never come, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.
Noah, 32, signed a four-year, $72MM deal with New York last offseason. That contract has become arguably the most untradeable deal in the NBA, given his declined skillset, recent drug suspension, and high salary. Head coach Jeff Hornacek said he will not change the Knicks’ lineup to insert Noah into the rotation anytime soon. Thus, the former Bulls center has accepted the reality of his predicament.
“Listen, man, you guys understand the situation right now,’’ Noah said. “I’m just trying to be the best that I can be. I don’t know what that is. I’m not playing. I haven’t played in 10 months. I’ve gone through some injuries. I’ve gone through a lot of things. But at the same time this is not — I’m not making an excuse. This is my reality.”
Noah played in 46 games for the Knicks last season, averaging 5.0 PPG, his lowest total in a season where he played at least 30 games. While he does provide some value on defense and he grabbed 8.8 RPG last season, Noah’s best bet to play is if the Knicks cut their losses and stretch him — which we wrote is a possibility earlier this week.
Check out other news across the Atlantic Division:
- DeMarre Carroll has been a vocal and physical presence for the Nets early this season but his work off-the-court defines his legacy, Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily profiles. Caroll overcame a rare liver disease while he was a college player at Missouri and enjoyed a successful near decade-long NBA career. As Puccio writes, Carroll’s Carroll Family Foundation has been a crucial part of his efforts to help others with his coach and fellow teammates speaking glowingly of the ninth-year forward.
- Joe Tsai, who purchased a 49% stake in the Nets recently, had reportedly included a unique stipulation in the sale where he refused to cover any losses associated with player contracts. However, a Nets source denied that to NetsDaily and the original report from Bloomberg News has been altered to state that such a provision was discussed but never agreed upon.
- While P.J. Tucker‘s stint in the Toronto impressed the Raptors, particularly his defensive toughness, head coach Dwane Casey believes the team has another Tucker-type player in OG Anunoby, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes.