James Harden has missed five games due to a hamstring strain, but Nets general manager Sean Marks said the All-Star guard should be back soon, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. “James is progressing well,” Marks said. “He’s looking forward to having at least one or two more play days, which means he’ll play 4-on-4, 5-on-5 with the group in practice. And then hopefully if things go smoothly, he’ll be out and joining the guys in a game.”
We have more on the Nets:
- While it seems doubtful Spencer Dinwiddie could return from a partially torn ACL for the playoffs, Marks would not rule it out, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. “I would never bet against Spencer Dinwiddie,” he said. “We saw four years ago with him. He has a chip on his shoulder. He loves to prove people wrong.”
- Coach Steve Nash plans to mix and match DeAndre Jordan, Nicolas Claxton, Blake Griffin and Jeff Green at center in the aftermath of LaMarcus Aldridge‘s retirement, Lewis relays in a separate story. “I don’t think it makes sense to just pencil something in if the matchups aren’t more favorable for us,” he said. “They all bring something different. They all have a different profile.”
- Jordan’s role was reduced dramatically prior to Aldridge’s departure. He’s back in that mix now but he was never going to be a distraction, Lewis tweets. “Selfishly, individually, it’s obviously not ideal for me,” Jordan said. “But being on a team, you have to be able to sacrifice and put the team first, and I’ve done that night-in, night-out. And I’ll continue to do that.”
- Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving started in the 130-115 win over Charlotte on Friday and Marks is confident his big three will be ready to go for the postseason, he said in a Sirius XM NBA Radio interview (Twitter link).
There’s no point in paying DeAndre Jordan $10M to sit on the bench.
There is no point to trade Chris Paul and a few Rockets own first round picks for John Wall
I’d sit John Wall and his $133 million on the bench now as young players need playing time
Both of the picks the Rockets gave up in that trade with OKC were recouped over the past year, and then some. If the Rockets get one of the top 4 picks in the lottery, then the first of the two pick swaps will be worthless (as the swap in 2025 will likely be as well).
The two picks they end up sending to OKC in ’24 and ’26 will be late in the draft and won’t help the Thunder in their drawn-out rebuild.
Rockets didn’t recoup anything. They have Bucks and Nets picks, which are likely to be late firsts. They gave up their own picks, which are likely to be high in the lottery. Lying to yourself wont help – just face the fact that Fertita and Harden put the Rockets in a real hole with that Russ trade.
There’s no point to paying him 10M, period – besides the fact he’s buddies with KD
All due respect, but it would be foolish for Dinwiddie to try and come back this season.
I’m no fan of load mgmt, but the guy will be a FA this summer and has some real suitors it seems. He comes back and re-injures himself and he’ll be really screwed.
Agree mostly. Stay off the court until late, hopefully their last game, just to exhibit his repair to GMs. Make KI and JH not skip games, maybe pick up a ring, then go for the payoff. He does have salary investors though I have not read of it lately.
Mark’s pseudo-compliments are scripted to get him on the court bc he may leave anyway. I hope Dins does not fall for it. Marks has been proven wrong bc he doesn’t always get it.
Dumb move for Dinwiddie to come back now. Knicks should have traded for him at TD. I don’t think it would of took much. Dinwiddie will get contract offers next yr. Best for him to get healthy and ready for next yr. Jordan was a DPY. Time for him to step up and give that 30-34 mins of rim protection they need. Claxton is capable of solid mins. He can give Noel type backup mins for Nets. He gives them 20 mins of solid D and rebounding. They will be more than fine. No reason why Jordan n Claxton can’t hold down the center position. Blake too should be able to give solid backup mins 12-16 mins. Nets at full force should have enough as long as they play together. Biggest key for them is having a Big 3 for playoffs. Not just Big Noise
DeAndre hasn’t played 30 MPG since he was with the Clippers.
He was knocked out of the rotation completely by Aldridge. Players like him and Drummond that can’t shoot threes are quickly becoming obsolete.
Shooting is a fantasy for the new fan. Highest % shot is a dunk. Jordan played 31 mins for Dallas. Played 26 mins for Knicks. Mitch played 31 mins for Knicks. The anchor of a defense has to to play at least 30 mins. DPY plays 32 mins a game, Rudy. Jordan should be able to give them 30 mins. Who shoots on the Nets besides the 3 anyway.
Dinwiddie isn’t stupid. He’s essentially saying that he’s going to be OK by next year (since he “might” even be ready this year). If he can (actually) play again this year with medical clearance, why wouldn’t he? Is a surgically repaired ACL (medically cleared) at risk of re-injury? It helps his market value if he plays, even nominally. Nobody doubts it will heal, but the longer term impact, if any, won’t be known until he suits up. Anyway, these decisions aren’t made by the player alone. He has an agent and other advisors. It’s likely that they aren’t stupid either.
Only this that is obsolete is small ball in Houston.
That was micro-ball that failed last season.
Small ball is tried-and-true, it worked fine for Golden State.
True, officially, exceept, they were not that small. Dray does fine physically with good “width”.