NBA Announces Fines For Beverley, Hill, Nurkic
Three players have been fined for their actions over the weekend, according to press releases from the NBA.
Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley was fined $20K and Bucks guard George Hill was docked $15K for their altercation in Saturday’s game that resulted in both players being ejected (video link).
Taurean Prince and Serge Ibaka were entangled while battling for a rebound late in the first quarter when Beverley shoved Ibaka from behind. Hill responded by pushing Beverley.
Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, who is sidelined with plantar fasciitis, received a $40K fine for taking a fan’s cell phone after Sunday’s game in Indiana and throwing it into the crowd.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), the fan in question allegedly made disparaging comments about Nurkic’s mother and grandmother. Nurkic’s grandmother passed away of COVID-19 in 2020.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 3/22/2022
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 12:00 pm Central time.
Click here for the transcript.
Our next live chat will take place on Thursday at 11:00 am CT with Dana Gauruder. Our next Tuesday chat will be on April 5 at noon CT.
Pacific Notes: Bridges, Curry, Payton, Lakers
Centers have dominated the NBA’s list of Defensive Player of the Year winners over the years, but Suns head coach Monty Williams and star guard Devin Booker believe forward Mikal Bridges has been the best defensive player in the league this season, as Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports relays (Twitter links).
“He should be the Defensive Player of the Year, number one,” Williams said, noting that Bridges has taken on the toughest defensive assignments for the Suns while playing heavy minutes (35.3 MPG without missing a game).
Rudy Gobert is a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but voter fatigue could work against the Jazz center, who has won the award in three of the last four seasons. Currently, Heat big man Bam Adebayo is considered the betting favorite by BetOnline.ag and Bovada.lv, with Bridges lurking among the top challengers.
Here are a few more notes from around the Pacific:
- Reports have indicated that the Warriors are optimistic Stephen Curry will return from his foot injury by the time the playoffs begin next month, and Curry confirmed on Sunday that’s the plan. “Yeah, we’ve got enough time for that … but I’m an optimist,” Curry told reporters, including Joe Stiglich of The Associated Press. Curry added that he didn’t view the Marcus Smart dive that caused his injury as “malicious or dirty.”
- Warriors guard Gary Payton II, who initially hoped to return on Sunday from a left knee injury, remained sidelined for that game, but is no longer listed on the injury report and will play on Tuesday in Orlando, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Payton has missed the team’s last eight games.
- Although it has been a disappointing season overall for the Lakers, LeBron James was in good spirits after leading the club to a 131-120 over his old team in Cleveland on Monday night, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I’m literally having the time of my life right now,” James said after the game. “… Because I couldn’t care less what the narrative about our team is. At my point in my career, I don’t get involved in that stuff. I don’t read about it, I don’t hear it too much. … None of that stuff matters to me, I’m having a blast playing the game of basketball.”
- The Lakers, who won in Toronto on Friday and Cleveland on Monday, appear to finally be gaining some confidence, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic, who explores whether fans should have any faith in L.A. to make some noise in the play-in tournament and the playoffs.
Isaiah Thomas Signs With Hornets For Rest Of Season
MARCH 22: The Hornets have officially signed Thomas for the rest of the season, the team announced today in a press release.
MARCH 21: Veteran guard Isaiah Thomas will sign with the Hornets for the remainder of the season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Charlotte signed Thomas to a pair of 10-day contracts, the second of which was set to expire after Monday’s victory over New Orleans. He’ll now receive a standard contract, likely for the prorated veteran’s minimum.
Thomas had 15 points in 14 minutes off the bench on Monday. That was Thomas’ fifth double-digit scoring outing in seven games with the Hornets.
Overall, he’s averaging 9.9 PPG for his latest team. He has also made a strong impression as a locker room voice and mentor to the team’s young guards. Charlotte has a 7-2 record since Thomas’ arrival.
The 33-year-old also played for the Lakers and Mavericks this season under the hardship exception. The Hornets have an open 15-man roster spot and won’t need to make another roster move to retain Thomas.
Magic’s Isaac Suffers Setback, Undergoes Minor Procedure
When the Magic announced last Tuesday that forward Jonathan Isaac would miss the remainder of the season as he continues to recover from a left ACL tear, both the team and Isaac himself said there had been no setbacks in his rehab process.
However, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel, Isaac suffered a setback hours after that announcement, sustaining an injury to his right hamstring. Isaac subsequently underwent a minor surgical procedure, the team announced in a press release.
“Obviously, this was unexpected,” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in a statement. “No one will work harder than Jonathan in the goal to return for the start of next season.”
Neither Price’s report nor the team’s official announcement offers many details on the new injury. The statement from the Magic – who are always cagey about injuries and recovery timelines – doesn’t even explicitly confirm that the minor surgery addressed the hamstring issue, though that’s strongly implied.
According to Price, Isaac is still expected to be ready for the start of the 2022/23 season. But it’s another discouraging development for a player who will have been off the court for more than two full calendar years by the time he suits up again. The 24-year-old forward hasn’t played since he tore his ACL in August 2020,
It’s perhaps a silver lining that the setback didn’t affect Isaac’s left knee. A player recovering from a major leg injury sometimes overcompensates by leaning too heavily on another part of one leg or the other, which may be what happened with Isaac.
Magic Sign Jeff Dowtin To 10-Day Contract
The Magic have signed guard Jeff Dowtin to a 10-day contract, reports Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). The team has officially confirmed the move (Twitter link).
A G League regular for much of his professional career since going undrafted out of Rhode Island in 2020, Dowtin was a member of the Lakeland Magic team that won the NBAGL’s bubble season in 2020/21.
This season, he has appeared in 22 games for Lakeland and six for the Wisconsin Herd, averaging 21.7 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 4.6 RPG on .580/.398/.732 shooting in 28 total G League games (32.8 MPG). He also played in 12 games for the Santa Cruz Warriors during the NBAGL Showcase in the fall.
Dowtin earned a look from a pair of NBA teams earlier in 2021/22. He began the season on a two-way contract with the Warriors before being waived in January, then joined the Bucks on a 10-day hardship deal less than a week later. He appeared in five total games for Golden State and Milwaukee, but has been an NBA free agent since mid-January and has been playing for the Lakeland Magic since then.
Orlando had an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move was necessary to sign Dowtin, whose 10-day deal will run through March 31, covering the club’s next five games. He’ll earn $53,176 over those 10 days.
Atlantic Notes: Curry, Siakam, Sixers, Fitts
In his second game back from a left ankle injury, Nets guard Seth Curry re-injured the same ankle, leaving Monday’s game late in the second quarter with what the team has initially diagnosed as a sprain, per Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post. Brooklyn is hopeful that Curry’s latest injury isn’t too significant.
“We’ll see what it’s like [Tuesday], but speaking to him at halftime, it didn’t sound like he thought it was doom and gloom,” head coach Steve Nash said after the Nets’ win over Utah. “Hopefully, it’s a quick recovery, but you never know how these things respond, if they balloon up over night. … I think he feels optimistic that it’s not too bad.”
Although Ben Simmons was ostensibly the centerpiece of the Nets’ James Harden trade last month, Curry has provided the most value so far, averaging 15.5 PPG on .493/.471/.846 shooting in 13 games (30.3 MPG) since arriving in Brooklyn.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Raptors forward Pascal Siakam has reemerged as an All-NBA candidate this season, averaging 22.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 5.1 APG with a .488 FG% through 59 games (37.7 MPG). However, as Eric Koreen of The Athletic outlines, Siakam’s odds of making an All-NBA team will be slim if voters view DeMar DeRozan as a forward and/or list Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid at forward to squeeze both onto the First Team.
- The Sixers have performed very well when both Embiid and Harden are on the court, but have struggled in recent weeks with just one of their two stars playing, according to Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com, who says the team will need to find a way to address that issue. Both Embiid (back soreness) and Harden (left hamstring injury recovery) missed Monday’s game, but Philadelphia pulled out a 113-106 upset over the top-seeded Heat.
- Malik Fitts‘ new two-year contract with the Celtics is, as expected, worth the minimum salary and is non-guaranteed for next season. Fitts will receive a partial guarantee of $50K if he’s still under contract beyond September 1, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.
Paul George Shows Progress In Recovery From Elbow Injury
Paul George is progressing in his rehab and Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said he’s willing to play George, Kawhi Leonard or Norman Powell when they’re ready, even if they don’t return before the end of the regular season, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
George has not played since December 22 due to a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He participated in a 4-on-4 practice against assistant coaches with minimal contact on Sunday.
“He’s feeling better,” Lue said. “That is part of his rehab, having minimal contact with the coaches and trying to get his wind and just kind of see how he feels. To get him on the court for the first time was really good to see, got to continue to keep working and see how he is feeling going forward.”
The Clippers, who have lost three straight, are essentially locked into the play-in tournament. They’re currently eighth in the Western Conference, 6.5 games behind the sixth- and seventh-place Timberwolves and Nuggets with nine games to play. They’re 4.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Lakers.
Leonard hasn’t played this season after undergoing knee surgery last summer. Powell, who fractured a bone in his left foot shortly after he was acquired from Portland at the trade deadline, shed his walking boot last week but hasn’t yet cleared been cleared for contact, according to Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register.
Lue won’t hesitate to use any of them in the playoffs.
“To hit the playoffs going at 100, from zero to 100, that is pretty tough. But if the medical guys say they are cleared and they are able to do that, that is totally up to them,” he said.
Nets’ Joe Harris Undergoes Ankle Surgery
Nets forward Joe Harris underwent left ankle ligament reconstruction surgery on Monday, according to a team press release. It’s the second time this season that Harris has undergone surgery on the ankle.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson in Green Bay, Wisc. Harris is expected to make a full recovery prior to next season’s training camp.
Harris appeared in just 14 games this season, averaging 11.3 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 30.2 MPG.
The team’s general manager, Sean Marks, announced early this month Harris would require season-ending surgery. The veteran sharpshooter hasn’t played since November 14 and underwent left ankle surgery later that month. The original prognosis was that Harris would miss approximately four-to-eight weeks. However, he had setbacks during the rehab process.
Harris, who re-signed with Brooklyn on a four-year, $75MM contract in November 2020, will have two years remaining on the contract and could attract attention on the trade market this offseason. The Nets had trade discussions with several teams regarding Harris prior to last month’s trade deadline.
Community Shootaround: Top Prospects In NCAA Tournament
Many of the top draft prospects got a chance to display their skills in the NCAA Tournament’s first and second rounds.
Those performances might help, or damage, their draft stock as they face top competition and defenses designed to hold them down.
Among that group were the three big men considered contenders for the No. 1 overall pick – Gonzaga Chet Holmgren, Auburn’s Jabari Smith and Duke’s Paolo Banchero. The highest-rated guard, Purdue’s Jaden Ivey (No. 4 on ESPN’s Best Available list), was also in action.
Here’s a quick breakdown how they fared:
- Holmgren – The seven-foot freshman had a huge game against overmatched Georgia State, racking up 19 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and seven blocks. He had a much quieter outing offensively against Memphis, taking only seven shots, while finishing with nine points, nine rebounds, two assists and four blocks.
- Smith – The 6’10’’ freshman had a strong performance against Jacksonville State, supplying 20 points (including four 3-pointers), 14 rebounds and four blocks. He struggled mightily with his shooting in Auburn’s second-round flameout against Miami, scoring 10 points while making just 3-of-18 field-goal attempts. He did fill up the stat sheet with 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
- Banchero – Also listed at 6’10’’, Banchero had 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks against Cal State-Fullerton. He followed that up with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists in Duke’s win over Michigan State. He hit the go-ahead jumper with 2:06 left.
- Ivey – The 6’4’’ Ivey opened the tournament with a 22-point performance against Yale. He was only credited with one assist but added two steals. In the Boilermakers’ win over Texas, Ivey made a clutch 3-pointer in the late going and finished with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists.
That leads us to our question of the day: Among the four players considered the top prospects in this year’s draft, which one impressed you the most in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament? Were there any other first-round prospects that made a strong impression on you?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.