Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, says he’s excited to team up with Marcus Smart, who won the award in 2022, writes Jerry Jiang of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Smart was acquired from the Celtics last month in a three-team trade, and Jackson reached out to him when the news broke.
“That doesn’t happen pretty often or ever,” Jackson said, referring to a team having two DPOY winners at the same time. “I just know what he brings to Boston. I’ve seen it before I was in the league and it’s crazy.”
Here’s more from the West:
- The Mavericks intend to hire Eric Hughes as an assistant coach, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Hughes got his NBA start as an assistant with Toronto and previously worked under head coach Jason Kidd with the Nets and Bucks, MacMahon notes. He has been with the Sixers for the past four seasons.
- Thunder big man Aleksej Pokusevski won’t be able to represent his native Serbia in the FIBA World Cup next month, according to Eurohoops.net. The 17th pick of the 2020 draft, Pokusevski suffered a broken arm during an offseason workout at the end of May and won’t receive medical clearance to train with a basketball until late August, the report states. The World Cup starts August 25 and runs through September 10. The 21-year-old was hoping to secure a spot on the Serbian national team’s 12-man roster.
- In a mailbag for The Oklahoman, Joe Mussatto predicts that Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Victor Oladipo, Jack White, Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington are the the most likely players to be on the chopping block due to the Thunder‘s roster crunch. However, Mussatto notes that OKC has a few months to figure things out and more trades could be in order rather than outright waiving all five players.
Only problem is neither Jackson or Smart deserved the DPOY award more than Draymond Green did.
Big fan of both of those guys and Marcus Smart winning defensive player of the year made zero sense last year, based on several variables. I would agree it was between Draymond and Bam that year
Says the biased warriors fan
He’s not a warriors fan. Ignore him
I would be extremely interested in Robinson-Earl, as a Heat fan, and potentially also Garuba
100% Garuba is nice he was a 1st round pick for a reason. Barely got a chance to play under Silas. That shouldn’t affect his stock IMO, but it is. I would love for the Raptors to grab Garuba.
On a side note, a literal monkey could’ve done a better job than Stephen Silas as a head coach of the Rockets. Man should be banished to the gulag.
Marcus Flop wasnt very good on defense last season, and now that his go to flop will now be a foul JJJ is going to have to work harder to cover for it.
Marcus Smart wasn’t the same defensively last year, but should be a great fit in Memphis. Boston as a team lost their defensive identity from the prior year. Memphis will have that type of focus as a team this year.
Steven Adams getting hurt impacted Memphis greatly on both ends. Adams and Jaren Jackson together are a problem for opponents. Memphis beats the Lakers in playoffs in Steven Adams in healthy. Watch how much better Marcus Smart and his defense look with those two guys behind him.
Memphis has a chance to take a major step forward in the leadership department. Steven Adams has always been a voice, but adding a vocal Marcus Smart, in addition to Derrick Rose to the locker room, and getting Dylan Brooks out huge for Memphis.
nobody talking bout clarke. getting him back is just as important.