Mavs Notes: Carlisle, Luka, Porzingis, Offseason
The Mavericks fell to the Clippers in Game 7 on Sunday after holding leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the first-round series. However, despite the disappointing finish to the 2020/21 season, Mavs owner Mark Cuban told Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link) that the team isn’t considering replacing head coach Rick Carlisle.
“Let me tell you how I look at coaching,” Cuban said. “You don’t make a change to make a change. Unless you have someone that you know is much, much, much better, the grass is rarely greener on the other side.”
Here’s more out of Dallas in the wake of the team’s first-round loss:
- Although Luka Doncic was good enough to beat the Clippers, the rest of the Mavericks’ roster wasn’t, writes Tim Cato of The Athletic. Improving Doncic’s supporting cast will be the focus of the team’s offseason. “This is going to be an important offseason on many levels,” Carlisle said on Sunday, per Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. “We have a lot of guys who are free agents or who have opt-ins or opt-outs with their deals, so there’s a chance that there will be a lot of change, but we don’t know.”
- The Mavericks have difficult decisions forthcoming on players like Tim Hardaway Jr., Jalen Brunson, and others, but their decision on Doncic will be an easy one, writes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) in his offseason preview. Doncic will be eligible for a maximum-salary rookie scale extension that starts at 30% of the salary cap in 2022/23, and Dallas will likely waste no time in signing him to that deal. It projects to be worth about $201.5MM over five years based on 3% cap increases in 2021 and 2022.
- The Mavericks acquired Kristaps Porzingis in the hopes that he’d complement Doncic as the team’s second star. However, it hasn’t worked out that way and it remains to be seen how Porzingis fits into the organization’s long-term plans, says Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who hears from sources that the big man has often felt “more like an afterthought than a co-star.” Porzingis spent much of the Mavs’ first-round series standing in the corner or on the wing as a floor-spacer and said after the series that it was a “mental battle” to play a role that wasn’t comfortable for him, MacMahon adds.
- In a column for The Dallas Morning News, Kevin Sherrington wonders if Carlisle needs to make changes to his offensive scheme to better accommodate Porzingis. As Sherrington writes, moving on from Porzingis is also an option the Mavs could explore, but it would be hard to get great value in a trade given the 25-year-old’s injury history and contract (three years, $101.5MM remaining).
And-Ones: Vanterpool, Mack, Championship, Jones
Longtime Blazers assistant David Vanterpool could receive strong consideration for multiple head coaching vacancies across the league, Jordan Schultz of ESPN tweets.
The Celtics, Magic and Blazers all recently opened up their head coaching positions, with more teams potentially on the horizon. Many league observers are monitoring the Pacers and Pelicans after both clubs finished with underwhelming campaigns.
Vanterpool, who has been linked to past coaching vacancies, served as Minnesota’s associate head coach this season, but he won’t return to the team for 2021/22. Prior to joining the Wolves, he spent five years as an assistant with CSKA Moscow and seven years as an assistant with Portland.
Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Shelvin Mack has left Panathinaikos in Greece, according to SDNA.com (hat tip to Sportando). Mack departed from the club due to personal reasons. The 31-year-old was drafted at No. 34 overall in 2011 and holds eight years of NBA experience, the most recent of which was with Charlotte in 2018/19.
- David Aldridge of The Athletic examines how the past failures of some teams could provide fuel in the championship race this season. The Bucks and Clippers are two prime examples of such, with Milwaukee getting revenge against Miami in the first round and Los Angeles avoiding another playoff collapse on Sunday.
- Michigan transfer DeVante’ Jones has received an invite to the G League Elite Camp, which is set to be held from June 19-21 in Chicago, a source told Hoops Rumors. Jones remains an intriguing mid-major prospect for the draft, averaging 19.3 points per game with Coastal Carolina last season. The 23-year-old also averaged 7.2 rebounds per game and finished third in the NCAA in steals per game (2.8). For more information on draft-related dates and deadlines this year, click here.
Atlantic Notes: James, Knicks, Harden, Celtics
Nets guard Mike James stepped up in the absence of James Harden (hamstring) during the team’s Game 1 victory oevr Milwaukee, Jonathan Lehman of the New York Post writes.
James pitched in 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists off the bench in the win, shooting 5-of-11 from the floor in 30 minutes. The team will continue to rely on his production as it plays without Harden, who has already been ruled out for Game 2 on Monday.
“It’s happened to us all year where something’s happened, some sort of adversity, someone goes down and the next man’s up,” head coach Steve Nash said. “Mike, who would have thought before the game he’d play 30 minutes?
“Scored the ball, rebounded, made a few plays and hustled. It was great to see guys who haven’t been in the rotation get an opportunity, step up and play well.”
Here are some other notes from the Atlantic tonight:
- Despite making good progress this season, the playoffs showed that the Knicks must continue making upgrades for the future, Steve Popper of Newsday writes. New York finished with the fourth-best record in the East at 41-31, though the team lost its first-round series against Atlanta in just five games.
- Alex Schiffer of The Athletic examines whether the Nets could continue to win without James Harden available. In addition to Mike James‘ strong play, Brooklyn also received solid production from Kevin Durant (29 points and 10 rebounds), Kyrie Irving (25 points and eight assists), and Blake Griffin (18 points and 14 rebounds), winning the contest 115-107.
- Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe explores where new Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens could turn to fill the team’s head coaching job. Boston will consider multiple candidates for the position — both internally and externally — as Stevens looks to find someone for his old role.
Southeast Notes: Wizards, Bridges, Heat, Hall
Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard won’t be afraid to take “big swings” to improve his roster this offseason if the opportunities present themselves, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes.
The Wizards dealt with several COVID-19 and injury-related issues this season, finishing with just a 34-38 record. The team was eliminated by the Sixers in a five-game series after making it out of the play-in tournament.
“We’ve gotta continue to add talent everywhere we can, and I think we’ve shown that I’m not afraid to take big swings,” Sheppard said. “We’re not afraid to go out and acquire players in trades, to do whatever it takes.”
Prior to the season, Washington dealt John Wall and a future first-round pick to the Rockets in exchange for Russell Westbrook, a prime example of a big-swing move.
There’s more from the Southeast Division tonight:
- Hornets forward Miles Bridges emerged as a well-rounded threat for the team this season, Sam Perley of NBA.com writes. Bridges averaged 12.7 points and a career-high six rebounds per game, serving as a key cog in the club’s rotation. “I feel like I can always get better at everything,” Bridges said during his exit interview, as relayed by Perley. “For this team, I play a lot of positions, a lot of different roles. I want to get better at everything – my IQ mainly. Learn how to finish games better, creating shots for myself and my teammates. I can always get better at defense, so for me, it’s just the full package.” Bridges will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.
- The Heat‘s early playoff exit will allow the team to spend more time reflecting on the season and planning for the summer, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. Team president Pat Riley — much like Tommy Sheppard — has never been afraid to take big swings to improve his team, something worth monitoring this offseason.
- While Donta Hall provided relentless energy as a depth piece during his time with the Magic, he’s not under contract for 2021/22 and it remains to be seen whether he’ll have a place in the team’s future, notes Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel.
James Harden To Miss Game 2 Due To Hamstring Injury
All-Star Nets guard James Harden will miss the second game of his team’s second-round playoff series against the Bucks tomorrow due to his hamstring injury, tweets Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.
The team has listed the injury as right hamstring tightness, per Goodwill. Harden exited Game 1 of the series after just 43 seconds, when he re-aggravated the right hamstring injury that had kept him out for much of the second half of the 2020/21 season, his first in Brooklyn.
Harden’s absence did not have an adverse impact on the ultimate result of the game, as the Nets beat Milwaukee in Brooklyn 115-107. The final margin does not reflect how one-sided the contest really was during most of its 48 minutes. The Nets were leading 115-101 with 1:26 of game action remaining when head coach Steve Nash took out his rotation players and emptied his bench.
Guard Bruce Brown started the second half in Harden’s stead, and should get extended run while the bearded one remains sidelined. Reserve point guard Mike James is expected take on more ball-handling duties now alongside All-Star Kyrie Irving. The Nets have not indicated how long Harden will be absent, tweets Mark Medina of USA Today.
Adam Zagoria of Forbes writes that an MRI on Harden’s injured hamstring did not indicate any structural damage to the ligament.
“James has high hopes and he wants to be back ASAP… but it has to be right to take those risks,” Nash told reporters during a Zoom call Sunday. “Only time can tell where he’s at in the coming days.”
Magic Notes: MCW, Ennis, Fultz, Coach Search
Veteran Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams provided helpful on-court production and off-court leadership during the first season of his two-year, $6MM deal with the club, writes Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel.
After missing the first half of the year due to a foot injury, Carter-Williams stepped in as the starting point guard on February 12 with Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony both injured for much of the season. He started in 25 of his 31 games for the club, averaging 8.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 4.2 APG.
Carter-Williams’ 2021/22 salary is guaranteed, though it remains to be seen what sort of role he’ll have with a team that has shifted into rebuilding mode.
There’s more out of Orlando:
- Veteran Magic wing James Ennis helped supply 3-and-D contributions when healthy during a difficult 2020/21 season in Orlando, per Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. Ennis is a free agent, having signed a one-year, $3.3MM contract with Orlando in the offseason after the team traded for him while he was finishing up his prior contract with the Sixers in February 2020. Various injuries (most persistently, a calf ailment) limited Ennis to just 41 total games (37 starts) with the Magic, averaging 8.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.5 APG and 0.8 BPG. He boasted a solid shooting line of .473/.433/.805. Parry notes that the Magic currently do not have a small forward signed for the 2021/22 season, and may look to the 30-year-old Ennis to fulfill that position in the immediate future.
- Magic point guard Markelle Fultz was frustrated by yet another injury-abbreviated season, the final under his rookie-scale contract, reports Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. Fultz, who underwent surgery for a torn ACL in January, signed a three-year, $50MM extension with Orlando in the 2020 offseason. He helped power the team to a 5-2 start to kick off the 2020/21 season before suffering his injury. A solid finisher and defender, Fultz has yet to develop his outside shooting. Parry notes that rookies Cole Anthony and R.J. Hampton could compete for the long-term starting point guard position in the years ahead, and cautions that an exact timeline for Fultz’s anticipated return next season remains unclear. A standard 12-month ACL recovery would push Fultz’s return to January 2022.
- The Magic’s newly-opened head coaching job should appeal to candidates eager to develop young players, writes Josh Cohen of Magic.com. The Magic have an intriguing core of under-24 youth, and will add to that tally in a hurry, with possibly two lottery selections and one early first-rounder (the No. 33 selection) in next month’s draft. “This job has tremendous growth potential, which is very attractive,” team president Jeff Weltman said. “It has organizational strength and ownership behind it. We are moving into a new practice facility next year. There are a lot of good things happening here. Most importantly, we have a lot of bright young talented players.”
Southwest Notes: Winslow, Mavs, Wood, Marshall
Grizzlies executive VP of basketball operations Zach Kleiman has until August 1 to make a decision on the team’s $13MM option on Justise Winslow, and may still see the forward as part of the team’s future, writes Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“There’s a lot of encouraging things that we saw from Justise,” Kleiman said. “I think he’s a player who can be very valuable and could potentially fit with what we’re doing.”
The oft-injured 25-year-old appeared in just 26 of a possible 72 games this season for Memphis due to a variety of maladies. He was out of the Grizzlies’ rotation in their first-round playoff series loss to the Jazz.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged that, after a 45-point outburst from Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard in Game 6 of the teams’ first-round series, Dallas will need to get creative in a crucial Game 7, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “We have done everything in this series, and we’ll have to be ready with the kitchen sink in Game 7.” The Mavericks’ lone All-Star, Luka Doncic, has pushed his team to the brink of an upset thanks to his incredible play. Thus far in the series, he is averaging 40.8 PPG, 9.7 APG, 9.5 RPG, and 1.5 SPG.
- When he was available, Rockets center Christian Wood proved his mettle during his first season with the club, says Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The 25-year-old Wood, who has two years and $28MM left on the three-year contract he signed with Houston before the season, averaged 21.0 PPG (shooting 51.4% from the field and 37.4% from deep) and pulled down 9.6 RPG in 41 games.
- Undrafted Pelicans rookie small forward Naji Marshall grew up as an underdog, which has served him well on his journey to the NBA, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Clark notes that the Pelicans are hoping that Marshall could prove to be a sharpshooting swingman capable of fulfilling a variety of needs. Last month, New Orleans inked Marshall to a four-year contract (including the rest of the 2020/21 season). The deal is non-guaranteed for the 2023/24 season.
Sixers Center Joel Embiid Will Play In Game 1; Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter Out
Joel Embiid will be in the Sixers‘ starting lineup for today’s opener of their second-round series with the Hawks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Embiid, who was diagnosed with a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee, was considered a game-time decision. He went through warm-ups before the team determined he was ready to play.
He suffered the injury in Monday’s playoff game against the Wizards, and the medical staff has been doing treatments on the knee all week. Embiid was limited to individual workouts during practices the last two days.
The Hawks announced that De’Andre Hunter will miss today’s game with soreness in his right knee, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team’s top perimeter defender was able to play all five games in the first-round series with the Knicks, but he has been dealing with pain in his knee since having surgery in February.
Jason Kidd Won’t Seek Trail Blazers’ Coaching Job
Jason Kidd has decided not to be a candidate for the Trail Blazers’ vacant head coaching job, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“Portland’s a first-class organization and will have great candidates for its head coaching job, but I’ve decided not to be one of them,” Kidd said. “Whoever they choose will have big shoes to fill from Terry (Stotts).”
According to Wojnarowski, Kidd became uncomfortable with seeking the Trail Blazers’ job after star guard Damian Lillard said Friday that Kidd was his top choice. Kidd was concerned that Lillard’s public comment would put the team in an awkward position if he interviewed for the post.
“Jason Kidd is the guy I want,” Lillard said after news broke that Stotts won’t be returning next season.
Kidd, a former head coach with the Nets and Bucks, has been the top assistant to Frank Vogel with the Lakers for the past two seasons.
Sources tell Wojnarowski that the Blazers haven’t talked to any potential candidates yet or reached out for permission to interview anybody, but that process should begin once the last first-round series wraps up today.
Portland is expected to consider Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups, former Knicks and Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy and Michigan coach Juwan Howard, sources tell ESPN.
Lakers Notes: Pelinka, Schröder, Centers, Kidd
When a defending champion gets knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, it usually means changes are coming, but Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka hopes to keep the core of this year’s team intact, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Injuries played a large role in L.A.’s downfall this season, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis both missing long stretches and being less than 100% for the playoffs.
The Lakers will have eight free agents this summer and possibly nine if Montrezl Harrell turns down a $9.7MM player option. Pelinka indicated that he will try to re-sign most of those players and said the front office is committed to paying the luxury tax to keep the team in title contention.
“I’m convinced that, again, without some of the unforeseen circumstances this year, the challenges that we had to face, that we’d be a championship-caliber team,” he said. “So the goal is to try to keep that core group together.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- At Friday’s exit interviews, Dennis Schröder made it clear that his decision to turn down an $84MM extension during the season wasn’t in retaliation for being part of trade talks involving Kyle Lowry, McMenamin adds. Schröder has expressed a desire to return to the Lakers, but he will see what offers are available in free agency. “I didn’t decline the extension because I was in trade talks,” he said. “I own a (basketball) team in Germany as well. I try to run my organization in Germany as fair as possible, but end of the day, it’s still business. … That’s what Rob did as well. He told me the story. He listened to it. It wasn’t even right by the trade deadline, but he talked to them to see. … I would listen to offers as well. … You don’t know what you can get, and you see what your options are.”
- Finding a dependable center should be the focus of the Lakers’ offseason, states Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. They installed Andre Drummond as their starter after signing him in March, but he wasn’t used in Thursday’s close-out game. Marc Gasol signed a two-year contract during the offseason, but his role diminished significantly after Drummond was added.
- With three NBA head coaching jobs now open, Frank Vogel said he believes Jason Kidd deserves another shot, according to Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. The Lakers’ assistant is Damian Lillard‘s first choice to take over the Trail Blazers and may be a candidate for other teams. “Jason has become one of my closest friends, you know, really a trusted advisor on my coaching staff and someone that has just been integral to our success in the last two years,” Vogel said. “He should be at the top of everybody’s list that has an opening in the NBA.”