Nets Notes: Durant, Championship Odds, Irving
With the dust settled (for now) on a dramatic summer full of trade and personnel demands from Nets superstar Kevin Durant, Zach Harper of The Athletic has compiled a list of the five “winners” and five “losers” following a torrid two months in Brooklyn.
Team president Sean Marks and the young players mentioned as possible centerpieces in Durant trades score high marks from Harper, while Celtics wing Jaylen Brown and Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash are among the folks involved in the rumor mill who suffered in the saga, with Nash’s long-term future with the Nets and Brown’s standing in Boston now less certain than they were at the start of the summer.
Net Income of NetsDaily penned a similar piece unpacking the winners, losers and “innocent bystanders” of the Durant chatter. Nash fares more favorably in Net Income’s appraisal.
There’s more out of Brooklyn:
- With Durant seemingly in the fold at least to start the 2022/23 NBA season, Brooklyn’s title odds instantly improved at various sportsbooks, per Lance Pugmire of USA Today. Pugmire writes that Tipico Sportsbook projects the Nets as having the third-best odds to win the championship among Eastern Conference teams, behind only the 2022 finalist Celtics and 2021 champion Bucks.
- Net Income of NetsDaily wonders if star Nets teammate Kyrie Irving‘s decision to opt in to the final year of his contract with Brooklyn – and a subsequent truce between Irving and the team – helped the club quell its issues with Durant for the time being.
- In case you missed it, the Nets are considering free agent big men Markieff Morris and Tristan Thompson as possibilities to shore up their frontcourt.
Hawks Sign Chris Silva
The Hawks have signed free agent power forward Chris Silva, the team announced in a press release. Terms of the contract have not been disclosed.
Atlanta has 13 players signed to guaranteed contracts, plus Tyrese Martin on a partially guaranteed deal. Should Martin stick with the Hawks through January 7, his contract will become fully guaranteed for the rest of the 2022/23 season.
Since going undrafted in 2019, the 25-year-old Silva has played sparingly in 69 contests for the Heat, Kings, and Timberwolves. He holds NBA career averages of 2.9 PPG (on 60.6% shooting) and 3.9 RPG. In 29 NBAGL games with Iowa last season, the 2018 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year posted averages of 16.5 PPG and 10.2 RPG.
The Hawks have two players on two-way contracts, with former Wichita State guard Tyson Etienne on a training camp contract. Given the timing of Silva’s deal, it seems possible the 6’8″ big man out of South Carolina is also joining Atlanta on an Exhibit 10 agreement.
The Timberwolves’ G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, announced today that they’ve received the returning player rights to guard Nik Stauskas from the Hawks’ NBAGL club, the College Park Skyhawks, in exchange for Silva’s rights. That trade is a signal that Atlanta may plan on Silva heading to College Park to start the 2022/23 season.
Lakers/Jazz Trade Notes: Beverley, Next Steps, Trade Grades, THT
Veteran point guard Patrick Beverley has had quite the jet-setting summer. He was involved in a second offseason trade today when the Lakers acquired him from the Jazz, who had landed him as part of their return package for Rudy Gobert. Los Angeles sent Utah swingman Talen Horton-Tucker and forward Stanley Johnson in the exchange.
Due to his involvement in that Gobert trade, Beverley couldn’t have be been aggregated with the contract of another player prior to September 6 this year, when his aggregate restriction expires. However, as Bobby Marks of ESPN (YouTube video link) notes, the Jazz didn’t have to wait until September to move Beverley because he was traded on his own in the deal with the Lakers.
Marks opines that the 6’4″ Horton-Tucker – whom Marks considers essentially a small forward more than a shooting guard – and the 6’6″ Johnson, who played mostly at power forward with L.A., are the better players in the deal and says their athletic upside is worth the risk for the Jazz. However, Marks believes that, as long as he is able to stay healthy, Beverley will be a better fit with Los Angeles than Horton-Tucker or Johnson proved to be.
Here’s more news and notes following the deal:
- In the wake of the Beverley trade, HoopsHype’s Yassi Gozlan considers possible next steps for both the Lakers and Jazz. Gozlan views Russell Westbrook as the next potential trade domino to fall in L.A., and expects Utah to consider offloading other veterans on its roster.
- Both the Jazz and the Lakers benefited from the deal, per Zach Harper of The Athletic, who grades both clubs on the transaction. He notes that, in Beverley, the Lakers are adding a proven veteran poised to reinvigorate the club with contributions that go beyond the box score. On the Utah side of the equation, Harper writes that the Jazz are essentially banking on the 21-year-old Horton-Tucker’s potential.
- Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated also weighed in with his own trade-grade column, giving both clubs mediocre, passing scores.
- Talen Horton-Tucker will get plenty of opportunities to play with the ball in his hands in Utah, which could be the best use of his unique skill set and physical gifts, opines Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Horton-Tucker was a clunky fit in Los Angeles as a below-average three-point shooter who failed to consistently defend at a high level. As an athletic creator, Horton-Tucker has shown flashes of intrigue with his drive-and-kick playmaking. The Jazz will be able to give him more time to develop and improve in his current areas of strength, away from the win-now pressures of L.A.
NBA Announces 2022 Preseason Schedule
The NBA recently released its full 2022 preseason schedule, featuring 70 games from September 30 to October 14. In addition to all 30 NBA teams, a couple of international clubs will also participate in two games apiece: Maccabi Ra’anana of Israeli National League, and the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League.
The schedule tips off on September with the Warriors facing the Wizards in Japan at the Saitama Super Arena, while the Clippers face Maccabi at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Several nationally televised games are on tap:
- October 4: Detroit at New York, followed by New Orleans at Chicago (TNT)
- October 6: Miami at Brooklyn, followed by the Timberwolves at the Lakers, with the latter taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN)
- October 12: Brooklyn at Milwaukee, followed by the Timberwolves at the Lakers (ESPN)
- October 14: Denver at Golden State (ESPN2)
With All-Stars like Zion Williamson and Ben Simmons set to return in 2022/23 after missing all of last season, the Pelicans and Nets will be interesting teams to watch. The same goes for the Clippers (Kawhi Leonard) and Nuggets (Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.), though Denver’s duo falls more in the “rising stars” category, as neither player has been named an All-Star yet.
Of course, it’s not a given that all of those players will participate in the preseason.
The Hawks and Timberwolves will also be intriguing to monitor, as they both made major trades in the offseason. All-Star guard Dejounte Murray is now on Atlanta, while three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert is on Minnesota.
The full schedule can be found right here for those curious about the preseason action.
Chet Holmgren Injury Notes: Surgery, Details, More
After announcing that big man Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2022 draft, will miss his entire rookie season after sustaining a right foot injury, Thunder general manager Sam Presti held an impromptu media session (video link) to provide more details and insight on the situation, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
The 20-year-old will undergo surgery in the “coming weeks,” said Presti, adding that Holmgren is expected to make a full recovery by the start of 2023/24. The GM said the long-term outlook is “very positive,” described the injury as bad luck, and added that Holmgren suffered a “rupture of the tendon” and “not a fracture,” according to Mussatto.
Presti also dismissed a question asking whether Holmgren’s thin frame might have been a factor in the injury.
“I understand there’s a lot of first-level thinking going on out there,” Presti said. “We can’t really control that. It’s a figment of the alternate reality that is the internet. But that’s not where reality resides. There are opinions and there are facts, and we are dealing with the facts.”
While the injury took place during a Seattle pro-am that was later called off due to unsafe (slippery) court conditions, Presti doesn’t believe that led to the incident.
“I don’t think the condensation on the floor was a factor,” Presti said, per Mussatto. “Obviously this happened pretty early, and I don’t believe that issue came up until later.”
Presti said Holmgren will work with longtime former Thunder veteran Nick Collison during the recovery process, Mussatto notes. Like Holmgren, Collison also missed his entire rookie season with an injury. He now works in the team’s front office.
Here are a few more notes regarding the unfortunate news:
- Because the pro-am league, called “The CrawsOver” in honor of founder Jamal Crawford, is on the list of sanctioned events by the NBA, Holmgren’s future earnings will not be impacted, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The Thunder will receive an insurance reimbursement worth 80% of Holmgren’s per-game salary after he misses 41 games, for a total of $4MM, Marks relays in a separate tweet.
- The injury shouldn’t be an indictment on NBA players who participate in pro-am leagues, argues Law Murray of The Athletic. The events are free and take place in more intimate venues, which allows players to connect to fans in local communities, and they’ve been going on for decades without an issue, Murray writes. The fact that the injury took place at a pro-am league was just a random occurrence that shouldn’t “validate the concerns” of the minority who think players should only play in NBA games, says Murray.
- Presti agrees with Murray’s assessment that it was a one-off incident, according to Mussatto. “Players are going to play in these (pro-ams),” Presti said, “because the NBA is saying that they are okay to play in. The other thing is, guys are playing all over the place all the time everywhere. If you have players that love to play, they are going to play basketball. Every time you step on a basketball court, something like this could happen. It could happen in a game. It could happen in a practice. It could happen in a scrimmage.”
Jazz Trade Patrick Beverley To Lakers
2:10pm: The trade is now official, the Jazz announced in a press release.
5:39am: The Lakers and Jazz are finalizing a trade that will send guard Patrick Beverley to Los Angeles in exchange for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Sources tell Wojnarowski that the deal is on track to be completed on Thursday.
Beverley, 34, is a talented perimeter defender who can be a positive contributor on offense as well. He helped get the Timberwolves back to the playoffs last season, averaging 9.2 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game in 58 appearances (25.4 MPG). He’s also a career 37.8% three-point shooter across 10 NBA seasons.
Beverley, who is on an expiring $13MM contract, was traded from Minnesota to Utah as part of the Rudy Gobert blockbuster last month. However, he was always viewed as a candidate to be flipped to a new team, given that the Jazz are in retooling mode.
According to Wojnarowski, Beverley – who was in Los Angeles as a Clipper from 2017-21 – was enthusiastic about the idea of joining the Lakers in a trade and was “thrilled” to learn of the agreement between L.A. and Utah.
The Lakers had long been viewed as a potential suitor for Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, who was considered the team’s top trade target this offseason. However, once Kevin Durant withdrew his trade request and it became clear that Irving would likely remain in Brooklyn, Los Angeles pivoted to acquiring another point guard without having to include Russell Westbrook and draft compensation in the deal.
Johnson, who is on an expiring minimum-salary contract for 2022/23, is an NBA journeyman, so Horton-Tucker is the centerpiece of the package headed to Utah. The former second-round pick had an up-and-down 2021/22 season for the Lakers, averaging 10.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 2.7 APG in 60 games (25.2 MPG), but struggling to score efficiently, with a modest shooting line of .416/.269/.800.
Horton-Tucker is still only 21 years old, so the Jazz presumably view the athletic wing as a player with some untapped potential. He’s under contract for $10.26MM in 2022/23, with an $11.02MM player option for the ’23/24 season.
Both the Lakers and Jazz are candidates to make additional deals before the season begins.
L.A. still has Westbrook and its 2027 and 2029 first-round picks to dangle in trade discussions, and the idea of making a play for the Pacers duo of Buddy Hield and Myles Turner is even more intriguing now that the club has fortified its backcourt by agreeing to acquire Beverley. For now, the Lakers have $34MM in cap room for the summer of 2023, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), which will be a factor the team considers as its weighs additional trades.
In Utah, meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell remains a trade candidate, and the Jazz would likely be open to discussing deals involving veterans like Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson, Malik Beasley, Mike Conley, and Rudy Gay as well.
Terrance Ferguson Signs With Polish Team
Free agent wing Terrance Ferguson has signed in Poland with GTK Gliwice, the team announced in a press release.
The 21st overall pick of the 2017 draft, Ferguson spent his first three NBA seasons with the team that drafted him, the Thunder. In 191 games with Oklahoma City from 2017-20, including 124 starts (20.7 MPG), he averaged 4.8 PPG and 1.4 RPG on .406/.337/.753 shooting.
Ferguson was traded to the Sixers during the 2020 offseason, but couldn’t crack Philadelphia’s rotation and only appeared in 13 games for a total of 47 minutes in 2020/21. He was later dealt to the Knicks in March of 2021 and was waived a few days later, so he never played a game for New York.
The 24-year-old joined a team in Greece, Lavrio BC, for three games last season, but ended up leaving and returning stateside to pursue an NBA comeback. He ultimately signed a G League contract with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s affiliate. However, he struggled mightily for the Vipers, appearing in 21 games (17.8 MPG) with averages of 3.0 PPG and 2.2 RPG on .295/.128/.636 shooting.
Ferguson is an electric athlete and decent defender, but has so far been unable to round out his game in order to land a second NBA contract. He’ll be making his third international stop, having played for the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League back in ’16/17 prior to being drafted.
And-Ones: Bjelica, Offseason Business, 2023 Draft, More
Serbian forward Nemanja Bjelica has been ruled out for this week’s World Cup qualifiers due to a calf injury and is considered questionable for the upcoming EuroBasket tournament, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops details.
Bjelica, who signed with Turkish club Fenerbahce this offseason after winning a title with Golden State, will miss Serbia’s contest against Greece today, as well as Sunday’s game vs. Turkey. Serbia’s EuroBasket schedule will tip off on Friday, September 2 against the Netherlands.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- With the Kevin Durant saga settled, at least for now, John Hollinger of The Athletic considers what leftover offseason business we could see addressed in the coming weeks. The Lakers, Pacers, Jazz, Heat, Raptors, and Nets are among the teams that may still have some roster moves to make, Hollinger writes.
- Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report shares scouting reports for his top 15 prospects in the 2023 NBA draft class, breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of players like Texas big man Dillon Mitchell and Duke center Dereck Lively in addition to the usual suspects like Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.
- Exactly how much does an NBA win cost? Mike Vorkunov and Seth Partnow of The Athletic make an effort to answer that question, with Partnow outlining a “wins/dollars efficiency model” and then explaining why such a model has its shortcomings.
- Katie Heindl of GlobalSportMatters.com takes a look at how the NBA has increased the diversity in its coaching ranks without the need for a rule like the NFL’s “Rooney Rule.”
Community Shootaround: NBA Head Coaches On Hot Seat?
Nets head coach Steve Nash participated in the recent meeting between Kevin Durant and team leadership that ended with all parties agreeing to “move forward” with their partnership and focus on basketball. Nash also received a vote of confidence from team owner Joe Tsai earlier this month when word first broke that Durant had asked Tsai to trade him or to fire Nash and general manager Sean Marks.
Still, while Nash’s job may be safe for now, it’s hard to imagine he feels fully secure heading into a season in which the Nets are under pressure to finally deliver on their tantalizing potential and make a deep playoff run. Tsai wasn’t going to give in to Durant’s public request to fire Nash this summer, but it’s not as if Nash’s résumé in his two years coaching the club is spotless — if Brooklyn gets off to a slow start this season, his seat could start to get very hot.
Of the NBA’s 30 head coaches, Nash might be the one whose hold on his job is most tenuous, but there are others who will be worth keeping an eye on over the course of the 2022/23 season.
There was some chatter about Tom Thibodeau‘s job security during a disappointing Knicks season in ’21/22, and while it didn’t amount to anything at the time, that chatter will likely pick up again if New York underachieves for a second straight year after signing Jalen Brunson in free agency.
The Sixers are also under some pressure to take a major step forward this season, and while I’d be a little surprised if Doc Rivers is fired, it’s worth noting that he joined the team before president of basketball operations Daryl Morey did, so he wasn’t a Morey hire. If the 76ers fall short of their expectations and exit the postseason early, I could envision Rivers and the team agreeing to “mutually” part ways.
Chauncey Billups only has one year under his belt as the Trail Blazers‘ head coach, so he shouldn’t be in any immediate danger, but expectations will be significantly higher for Portland this year than they were at the end of last season. The same goes for the Hawks and head coach Nate McMillan, as well as Wizards and head coach Wes Unseld Jr.
Dwane Casey of the Pistons and Stephen Silas of the Rockets have been tasked with overseeing rebuilding projects, so it’s difficult to assess their job performances based on win-loss records. As those teams’ rebuilds begin to move into a new stage, it will be interesting to see if Detroit and Houston remain happy with the jobs that Casey and Silas are doing.
We want to know what you think. Are there any head coaches you believe are already on the hot seat, or ones whose jobs might be in danger if they get off to poor starts this season? Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts and predictions!
Chet Holmgren Out For 2022/23 Season Due To Foot Injury
Thunder big man Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft, will miss his entire rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury in his right foot, the team announced today in a press release.
Holmgren is believed to have sustained the injury during a pro-am contest in Seattle on Saturday. He left the game – which was ended early due to slippery court conditions – after rolling his ankle, and a report on Wednesday indicated that the Thunder feared the injury was more serious than initially thought.
“Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season,” Thunder executive VP and general manager Sam Presti said in a statement. “We know Chet has a long career ahead of him within our organization and the Oklahoma City community.
“One of the things that most impressed us during the process of selecting Chet was his determination and focus. We expect that same tenacity will carry him through this period of time as we work together and support him during his rehabilitation.”
Holmgren, 20, was drafted behind only Paolo Banchero this June after averaging 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game in 32 appearances (26.9 MPG) for Gonzaga during his first and only college season.
Holmgren’s ability to protect the rim and knock down three-pointers (.390 3PT%), along with his rare blend of length and athleticism, made him perhaps the most tantalizing prospect of the 2022 draft class and a cornerstone piece in the Thunder’s ongoing rebuild. While Oklahoma City hadn’t been expected to be in the playoff picture in 2022/23, it’s still a brutal blow to both the player and team that Holmgren won’t get a chance to play at all this season.
As Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN observes (via Twitter), a number of top draft picks within the last 10 or 15 years have missed their entire rookie seasons due to injuries and eventually went on to make All-NBA teams, including Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Blake Griffin. The Thunder will hope that Holmgren can follow a similar career path.