Nets Notes: Simmons, Claxton, Aldridge, Durant
Nets guard Ben Simmons is dealing with a herniated disc in his back but he wants to make his season debut as soon as he can, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports. Simmons received an epidural injection last week to relieve the soreness. He has dealt with back issues since February 2020, when he missed time due to a nerve impingement, Charania notes.
Simmons is expected to continue to work toward a return and would make his debut whenever he is fully cleared to play. However, it’s not certain that will happen this season.
We have more on the Nets:
- Nic Claxton has seen his playing time expand since LaMarcus Aldridge was sidelined earlier this month, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes. Aldridge will miss at least another week with the hip injury that has kept him out of action since March 6. Claxton has averaged 10.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 1.2 BPG over the last five games heading into Monday’s home game against the Jazz. Claxton will be a restricted free agent this summer if the team extends a qualifying offer.
- Kevin Durant doesn’t think the window of opportunity will close if the Nets come up short in the playoffs this season, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN. Durant, who signed a four-year, $198MM extension in August, says he expects Brooklyn to be serious contenders for years to come. “If you’re looking at it as if, like, this is our only chance to ever do something special with this group — and other people looking at it that way — then I can see why,” Durant said. “But to be honest, I signed here for five years to play. You know what I’m saying? Looking at, obviously this year’s important, but no matter what happens this year I still want to do it again. And again.”
- Andre Drummond missed Monday’s game due to a non-COVID illness, Chris Milholen of Nets Daily tweets.
Domantas Sabonis Has Bruised Left Knee, No Structural Damage
6:57pm: Sabonis has a bruised left knee and will be reevaluated when the Kings return from their upcoming five-game trip, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Imaging shows no structural damage but the Kings will only have four games left after the re-evaluation on April 2.
12:53pm: The Kings are awaiting the results of an MRI on Domantas Sabonis‘ knee after the big man left Sunday’s game in the fourth quarter due to an injury, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.
Sabonis hit the floor following a collision with Suns forward Mikal Bridges, clutching his left knee in “obvious pain,” writes Anderson (video link). Sabonis was able to walk to the bench under his own power and stayed in the game for another 28 seconds, but headed to the locker room at the next stoppage and didn’t return.
Head coach Alvin Gentry, who confirmed that Sabonis would undergo an MRI, told reporters there would be an update on Monday or Tuesday, adding that the Kings would have to “wait and see” whether the injury is anything serious.
“We don’t know anything other than that,” Gentry said. “But, obviously, he’s a key to what we’re doing, and, if nothing else, we’re trying to have growth with the chemistry and everything on this team and learning to play with each other, so obviously when he goes down like that, there’s always concern.”
Even if the injury turns out to be a minor one, the Kings likely won’t be in a rush to get Sabonis back on the court. The team is six games out of a play-in spot with just nine games remaining on its schedule, so a lottery finish is a near certainty. The priority would be making sure Sabonis – Sacramento’s big in-season acquisition – is 100% healthy for next season.
The Kings announced last week that Richaun Holmes will be out for the rest of the season for personal reasons, so if Sabonis has to miss time too, the club will be without its top two centers. That would result in more playing time for Chimezie Metu, Damian Jones, and possibly Alex Len down the stretch.
Lonzo Ball To Stop Running For 10 Days
The news regarding Lonzo Ball‘s potential return from left knee surgery this season is increasingly gloomy. Ball will not run for the next 10 days. Instead, he’ll focus on strengthening the knee, Bulls coach Billy Donovan told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link) and other media members on Monday.
Ball has been sidelined since January 14. He was expected to return in six-to-eight weeks after undergoing a procedure to repair torn meniscus in his left knee. It’s a near certainty now he won’t be back in the regular season and his postseason status is also in jeopardy due to the slow recovery.
Asked about Ball’s ability to return this season, Donovan said, “I think we’ll have a better feel of that once they get through this next 10 days,” according to NBC Sports Chicago’s Rob Schaefer (Twitter link).
Donovan indicated last week that Ball’s recovery wasn’t going smoothly.
“He has not been able to do anything full speed. And anytime we get him close to that, there’s discomfort,” the coach said.
Prior to the injury, Ball averaged 13.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 5.1 APG as the Bulls got off to a hot start. Ball received a four-year, $85MM contract in a sign-and-trade between Chicago and New Orleans in August.
Without him, the Bulls will continue to rely on rookie Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White and Alex Caruso at the point.
Knicks Notes: McBride, Grimes, Draft, Mitchell, Hunt
Quentin Grimes absorbed most of Miles McBride‘s minutes after Grimes returned from a knee injury on Friday. However, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau will still try to find ways to play the rookie second-rounder despite having a more crowded backcourt, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.
“I love what ‘Deuce’ has done. We’ll try to figure out how to work that out,” Thibodeau said of McBride. “He’ll probably be going back and forth. He’s done a really good job. We’ll see how this unfolds.’’
We have more on the Knicks:
- Thibodeau is focused on his team but he’s finding some time to watch prospects in the NCAA Tournament, Berman adds in the same story. “I’ll get an opportunity to watch a little bit here, little bit there,’’ Thibodeau said. “Then, when the season’s over, I’ll go back and dig in a lot deeper. It’s an exciting time of year.”
- There are some intriguing connections between Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell and the Knicks. Mitchell was previously represented by Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose, while New York assistant Johnnie Bryant was one of Mitchell’s favorite coaches in Utah, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News notes. If Mitchell comes to a point where he wants out of Utah or the Jazz are willing to trade him, Berman speculates the package would have to include RJ Barrett and multiple first-rounders.
- Feron Hunt‘s two-way contract is a two-year deal, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Hunt signed the contract on Friday. Hunt had 16 points and eight rebounds playing for the G League’s Westchester Knicks on Sunday.
Western Notes: Snyder, Lakers, Warriors, Nurkic, Hayes
After writing last week that he has heard Quin Snyder‘s name mentioned as a possible Gregg Popovich successor in San Antonio, Marc Stein says in his latest Substack article that he has also heard Snyder suggested as a probable candidate to replace Frank Vogel if and when the Lakers seek a new head coach.
Stein cautions that Snyder won’t necessarily be available this offseason. The details of the Jazz head coach’s contract aren’t publicly known, but his deal is believed to run for at least one more season beyond 2021/22.
However, according to Stein, coaching sources have said Utah has been unsuccessful in its attempts to further extend Snyder, creating the sense that he “might be more gettable than advertised.” There’s a sense that major changes could be in store for the Jazz if they don’t make a deep playoff run this spring — it remains to be seen if Snyder’s job could be among those potential changes.
Here are a few more notes from around the Western Conference:
- With James Wiseman‘s return up in the air following a recent setback, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said on Sunday that head of basketball operations Bob Myers and the front office are “constantly looking at options” for frontcourt help (Twitter link via Kerith Burke of NBC Sports Bay Area). Golden State hasn’t made a change to its 15-man roster since re-signing Gary Payton II to be the team’s 15th man on October 19.
- The NBA has yet to announce anything, but Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic could be facing a fine after a video surfaced showing him grabbing a fan’s phone and tossing it away following Sunday’s game in Indiana.
- Jaxson Hayes‘ shift from center to power forward has allowed him to defend more on the perimeter and become an ancillary shot-blocker and rebounder instead of having to anchor the Pelicans‘ defense, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Hayes, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason, has played some of his best basketball since adopting his new role. “I feel like playing the four, I’m out guarding more guards and switching one through four instead of playing in my actual drop coverage like the other bigs,” Hayes said. “… I can showcase more of what I can do on the defensive end.”
Damian Lillard Out For Rest Of Season
2:51pm: The Trail Blazers have confirmed that Lillard’s season is over, announcing the news in a press release.
“(Lillard) has met several key performance benchmarks to date and will continue end-stage rehab over the next few weeks,” the team said in a statement.
8:57am: Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard will miss the remainder of the season as he continues to recover from abdominal surgery, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources tell Charania that Lillard is “making tremendous progress” and looks good in workouts, but Portland has decided to have him sit out the remaining 12 games on the team’s regular season schedule.
The news comes as no surprise. If the Blazers were in the playoff picture, it might be a different story, but the club pivoted to retooling mode when it traded CJ McCollum, Norman Powell, and Robert Covington away prior to last month’s deadline and is prioritizing lottery positioning rather than pushing for a play-in spot.
The club hasn’t issued a recent update on Jusuf Nurkic, who is sidelined due to plantar fasciitis, but it won’t be a shock if he is also ruled out for the rest of 2021/22.
The Blazers, who will continue to take an extended look at some of their young players down the stretch, are currently 26-44 and have lost 10 of 11 games since shutting down Nurkic at the All-Star break. As our reverse standings show, they’d be seventh in the draft lottery standings if the season ended today.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Jayson Tatum Named Players Of The Week
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns has been named the Player of the Week for the Western Conference, while Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has won the award for the Eastern Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Oddly, this is the third time this season that Towns and Tatum have earned Player of the Week honors for the same week. Both players won the award on December 20 and again on March 7.
Towns’ numbers during the week of March 14-20 were buoyed by his 60-point, 17-rebound outburst in San Antonio last Monday, but he also led the Timberwolves to blowout victories over the Lakers and Bucks. He averaged 38.3 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .569/.600/.925 shooting in just 31.4 minutes per contest in those three wins.
Tatum’s Celtics also enjoyed a dominant 3-0 week as they continued their climb up the Eastern standings, winning by 20 or more points in Golden State, Sacramento, and Denver. The All-Star forward put up 29.3 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 5.0 APG with a .592/.571/.933 shooting line in those three games (34.6 MPG).
The other nominees for this week’s Player of the Week awards were Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker, and Donovan Mitchell in the West, along with Kevin Durant, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro, Pascal Siakam, and Tatum’s teammate Jaylen Brown in the East (Twitter link).
Heat Notes: Beal, Butler, Martin, Oladipo, Haslem
The belief around the NBA is that signing a new contract with the Wizards is the most likely offseason outcome for veteran guard Bradley Beal, writes Shams Charania of The Athletic. However, multiple sources tell Charania that the Heat are considered a “legitimate” suitor for Beal if he decides to seek a change of scenery in free agency.
Even if Beal were interested in going to Miami, it would be a challenge for the capped-out Heat to acquire him. As Charania writes, a sign-and-trade would almost certainly be necessary, and it’s a safe bet the Wizards would drive a hard bargain if they were sending their franchise player to a division rival. Reacting to the report, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald says he’d be surprised if the Heat were willing to move Tyler Herro in a sign-and-trade for Beal.
The entire scenario remains hypothetical for now. Although the Heat are one of several teams that have monitored Beal for years in case he asks to be dealt – Charania reports the Sixers also did plenty of work this season on a possible Beal trade before acquiring James Harden – the longtime Wizard has always remained committed to D.C. It sounds like there’s a good chance that trend will continue this summer.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Caleb Martin (hyperextended left knee) said on Monday that he’ll play vs. Philadelphia tonight, and head coach Erik Spoelstra said that Jimmy Butler (right ankle sprain) will warm up with the intention of playing (Twitter links via Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald). Sixers center Joel Embiid, meanwhile, will sit on the second night of a back-to-back set due to back soreness, tweets ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
- Victor Oladipo didn’t travel to Philadelphia due to back spasms, but the Heat don’t seem concerned about the veteran guard, tweets Chiang. “He’s just rehabbing and trying to get ready for Wednesday,” Spoelstra said of Oladipo.
- Heat big man Udonis Haslem remains interested in getting involved in the franchise’s ownership group after he retires, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relays. “This is always the place I wanted to win. This is always the place I wanted to retire. This is always the place I felt I could make the biggest impact,” Haslem said, noting that he took discounts earlier in his career to stay with the Heat. “… You don’t give up $40, $50, $60 million dollars temporarily because it [isn’t] temporarily coming back. So everything I’ve done is to be part of this organization for the rest of my life.”
Pelicans Sign Tyrone Wallace To Second 10-Day Deal
12:03pm: The Pelicans have officially signed Wallace to a second 10-day contract, the team confirmed today (via Twitter).
9:34am: The Pelicans are signing guard Tyrone Wallace to a second 10-day contract, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Wallace’s initial 10-day deal with the team expired overnight following Sunday’s game in Atlanta.
Wallace signed a standard 10-day contract with New Orleans on March 11 after CJ McCollum entered the health and safety protocols. Even after McCollum returned, Wallace saw some action for the club, averaging 4.3 PPG and 1.8 RPG in four appearances (15.8 MPG).
Wallace struggled a little with his shot, making 7-of-18 field goals (38.9%), including 2-of-8 three-pointers (25.0%) and just 1-of-5 free throws (20.0%). However, the Pelicans – who won three of the four games in which Wallace played – apparently liked what they saw enough to commit to him for at least 10 more days.
The Pelicans will take on a cap hit of $95,930 for Wallace’s 10-day deal, which will pay him $99,380. If he officially re-signs before Monday’s game, he’ll be under contract through March 30, making him eligible for New Orleans’ next five games.
Once Wallace’s new contract expires, the Pelicans will either have to sign him for the rest of the season or let him walk, assuming the team doesn’t qualify for a hardship exception.
Bryce McGowens, Others Declare For 2022 NBA Draft
Nebraska freshman shooting guard Bryce McGowens has opted to declare for the 2022 NBA draft and will go pro, reports ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
“I am planning on forgoing my college eligibility and hiring agent Drew Gross of Roc Nation Sports,” McGowens told ESPN.
In his first and only college season, McGowens averaged 16.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game in 31 appearances (33.3 MPG) for the Cornhuskers. He got the opportunity to play with his brother, junior guard Trey McGowens, en route to earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Rookie team.
Bryce McGowens is the No. 30 prospect on ESPN’s big board for 2022, with Givony writing in his scouting report that the 6’7″ wing looked like a potential lottery pick on some nights and a second-rounder on others. McGowens told ESPN that he hopes to “squeeze into the lottery.”
Givony praised McGowens as a “fluid, versatile scoring threat” who can finish with either hand around the basket and has deep range on his pull-up jumper. However, he had some trouble scoring efficiently as a freshman, making just 40.2% of his field goal attempts, including 27.2% of his three-pointers.
Saint Joseph’s sophomore forward Jordan Hall (Instagram link) and Rutgers freshman guard Jaden Jones (press release) have also declared for the 2022 draft in recent days. The wording of their statements suggest they both plan to forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility rather than simply testing the draft waters. Hall tested the waters in 2021 before returning to school.