Asked by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith during an appearance on First Take about rumors that there has been some friction between Mavericks teammates Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, head coach Jason Kidd dismissed the idea that there are any issues between the team’s two leading scorers (video link).
“I think we all heard in the NBA circle that there was tension between the two, but I would have to say that’s fake news,” Kidd told Smith. “… There were some other issues that I thought they did a great job of keeping in-house that had nothing to do with those two.
“I’m excited, I think the relationship between the two of them is at a high level. They’re basketball players who want to compete and who want to win. For a coach, I have to put them in that position to be successful. But I think their relationship is great.”
Smith didn’t press Kidd on what those “other issues” in Dallas were that didn’t involve Doncic or Porzingis, but it’s possible the Mavs’ new head coach is referring to some of the conflicts that were outlined in a report from The Athletic back in June. Presumably, given the way the front office and coaching staff were overhauled this summer, the franchise believes those issues are in the rear-view now.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison spoke to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News about how Mark Cuban first approached him about taking a front office job with the team, his view of the Doncic/Porzingis tandem, and how he’ll pitch players on coming to Dallas.
- Some people around the NBA believe the 2021/22 season could be Gregg Popovich‘s last as the Spurs‘ head coach, but others say he has been revitalized by the team’s influx of young talent, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. In his look at potential contenders to succeed Popovich in San Antonio, Fischer mentions former Spurs assistants Brett Brown and Jacque Vaughn, along with several of the same candidates identified last week by ESPN’s Zach Lowe.
- Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal evaluates whether Kyle Anderson or Desmond Bane makes more sense as a fifth starter for the Grizzlies, assuming Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson, Dillon Brooks, and Steven Adams occupy the other four spots.
- In a pair of stories for The Houston Chronicle, Jonathan Feigen examines the positive steps Kevin Porter Jr. is taking as a play-making point guard and notes that Kenyon Martin Jr.‘s versatility could help him carve out a rotation role.
Both KJ Martin and Jae’Sean Tate give the team a lot of versatility in their second unit. Unless they decide to start Tate, which is a possibility if Gordon remains in his usual 6th man role. Augustin and Exum have both gotten a lot of minutes in the first two preseason games, but I don’t expect either of them to be in the rotation. It will be interesting to see how much playing time Tate and David Nwaba end up getting once the regular season starts. The team really needs their defense in the rotation.
1 of Tate or Martin should start, instead of these multi big lineups. I also think its arguable to start Theis over Wood, for defensive purposes, and Wood becomes a go to scorer in that 2nd unit, mostly b/c of starting multiple guys that will have the ball in their hands, and also to keep the spacing in those other units. Wood would obviously play a lot more total…obviously, I would assume they dont go with that, but it is at least arguable, assuming their other starters
Wall, Porter, Green, Tate, Theis
Wood, Martin, Christopher, Nwaba, Sengun, Lamb
Trade Gordon and House
Or if they really are sticking to this ridiculous thing sitting Wall
Porter, Green, Tate, House, Theis
Wood, Gordon, Martin, Nwaba, Christopher, Sengun
Or if you think at least 1 of Tate/Martin will shoot it well enough, you could go with
Porter, Green, Tate, Martin, Wood
Gordon, House, Nwaba, Theis/Sengun (matchup), Christopher/Exum/Augustine (matchup)
The starting lineup has already been set in 4 spots with Porter, Green, Wood, and Theis. They’re not changing any of those.
However starting KJ Martin at SF does make a lot of sense, he had a great rookie year that no one talks about. He had great numbers for a rookie shooting .509/.365/.714 while averaging 9.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 0.9 BPG in 23.7 MPG. They want both Wood and Theis starting together so Sengun can come off the bench as the backup center.
Well then maybe my pick of them in the 10 spot before training camp, fighting with some other teams, was actually terrible…b/c if that’s their plan, they wont be that good, and that placement will significantly change when I revisit it before the regular season starts
That being said, we’ve already seen some other dumb team decisions elsewhere, so maybe it doesnt hurt them that much
Jr of Houston
Martin Jr
Porter Jr
Tate Jr
Welcome to the Junior club! A few more and we have starting 5! Anyways, I hope Wood, Exum, and Augustin stay healthy on on the court for at least 90% of the games this year. Rockets should be better than the mess we saw last season. I think the Harden drama took the air out of the locker room and they couldn’t put the pieces together to fix it. It should be quite entertaining to watch these young guys through the good and bad. Mistakes are bound to happen, but I expect that with a very young team. Go Rockets!
Memphis has so many options at the 4, with a couple of those guys also probably more suited at the 5/capable of playing there. I thought they had some questionable moves this offseason, and I’m not entirely sure of the fit of Steven Adams there
I would bet my entire life savings that neither Brett Brown nor Jacque Vaughn will be the next HC of the Spurs. Talk about clueless.
It’s going to be Becky (unless she gets a HC job elsewhere before Popovich retires). That will be Pop’s grand finale.
Why do people keep speculating that the next year will be Pop’s last?— isn’t the last several prediction fails educational enough?
Will Hardy is most likely new replacement, per the HR link to Zach Lowe; maybe Ginoboli or Hammon. Popovich needs 26 wins to be all-time #1 in wins. He has assembled the current young players, he is going to want to let things play out and he should get that many. I doubt he retires though…
Ironically he could get fired if he comes up short with a bad season that says he has not been doing it right.
Outside of Pop being the next Jerry Sandusky, the Spurs would never fire him.