Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 1/16/2025
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 2:00 pm Central time (3 pm Eastern).
And-Ones: G. Williams, Harlan, Yang, Trade Deadline
Former SuperSonics star Gus Williams passed away on Wednesday nearly five years after suffering a major stroke, writes Tim Booth of The Seattle Times. Williams was 71 years old.
A 6’2″ point guard whose nickname was “The Wizard,” Williams played 11 seasons in the NBA with the Warriors, SuperSonics, Bullets (Wizards) and Hawks. He spent six seasons in Seattle, helping guide the team to its lone championship in 1979.
Williams made two All-Star and two All-NBA appearances with the Sonics, averaging 20.3 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 477 regular season games (34.1 minutes per contest).
The former USC star was even better in the postseason, averaging 23.2 PPG, 5.3 APG, 3.8 RPG and 2.0 SPG in 69 playoff games during his time with Seattle, including 29.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.6 APG and 1.0 SPG in the ’79 NBA Finals.
Our condolences go out to Williams’ family and friends.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Kevin Harlan is nearing a deal to call NBA games for Amazon Prime Video starting with the 2025/26 season, sources tell Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Harland, 64, has been with TNT Sports for decades, but the network is in its final season as an NBA media rights holder. Harland would be Amazon’s No. 2 play-by-play announcer behind Ian Eagle, Marchand adds.
- Chinese prospect Hansen Yang, who has aspirations of entering his name in the 2025 NBA draft, has signed with Klutch Sports Group and will be represented by CEO Rich Paul, among other agents, reports Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). A 7’1″ center, the 19-year-old Yang is averaging 16.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 blocks in 31 games this season with the Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association.
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines what every NBA team would do if the trade deadline were today, while ESPN insiders Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, Andre Snelling and Chris Herring (subscription required) come up with five hypothetical trades that could change the title race. Pelton’s three-team proposal involves Jimmy Butler landing with the Kings and DeMar DeRozan heading to the Heat.
Scotto’s Latest: Warriors, Vucevic, Centers, Connaughton, Suns
After telling reporters earlier this week that he doesn’t want the Warriors to make a “desperate” trade that compromises the team’s long-term future for short-term gain, Stephen Curry clarified on Wednesday that his comments don’t mean he’s content playing on a .500 team that’s not trying to improve.
“Anyone who thinks I’m OK being on an average basketball team is insane,” Curry said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Take whatever I said, I still stand on it. But that doesn’t mean we’re not in a situation where we are trying to get better, make appropriate moves that help you do that. (General manager) Mike (Dunleavy Jr.) knows that. We’ve talked about it. That’s the expectation from me. It doesn’t mean you’re reckless.”
As Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports, Dunleavy and the Warriors are indeed exploring their options on the trade market, with a focus on upgrades in the frontcourt rather than on the wing. Golden State has looked into centers like Nikola Vucevic, John Collins, Jonas Valanciunas, and Robert Williams, according to Scotto, who says the odds of the team making a trade for a forward like Jimmy Butler or Cameron Johnson have decreased.
While the Warriors want to give Curry and Draymond Green a chance to compete for another title, they won’t mortgage their future to make it happen, Scotto writes, adding that the front office still remains reluctant to part with forward Jonathan Kuminga.
Here’s more from Scotto:
- Following up on the trade market for centers, Scotto says some NBA executives believe the Bulls could land a first-round pick in a deal for Vucevic, who is having a strong season in Chicago. The Wizards and Trail Blazers are expected to command second-rounders for Valanciunas and Williams, respectively, while Collins’ value is hard to pin down, Scotto notes, given the $26.6MM player option the Jazz big man holds for 2025/26.
- Rival executives who spoke to Scotto are monitoring Bucks wing Pat Connaughton as a trade candidate, since Milwaukee could duck below the second tax apron and create more roster flexibility by moving off of his $9.4MM salary. Connaughton is having a down year and holds a $9.4MM player option for ’25/26, so the Bucks would have to attach draft picks and/or cash to move off of him. While the Bucks can’t trade cash as long as they remain above the second apron, they could do so in a trade that moves them below that threshold.
- After trading for Nick Richards, the Suns are expected to continue gauging Jusuf Nurkic‘s trade market and trying to figure out a Butler deal as they seek out win-now upgrades, Scotto writes. Scotto points out that role players Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen would both have positive value as trade chips, but there has been no indication that Phoenix would have interest in moving either player.
Central Notes: Jackson, Beal, Hardaway, Mitchell
Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr. suffered a right hip contusion late in the first half against Orlando on Wednesday, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jackson did not return in the second half. Milwaukee is currently playing without Gary Trent Jr., who strained a left hip flexor against the Magic on Jan. 12.
We have more from the Central Division:
- What are the chances that the Pistons — the only team currently with cap room — will acquire Bradley Beal from the Sunsl? Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois writes in his latest mailbag that he doubts Beal would waive his no-trade clause to come to Detroit. Langlois is also skeptical that the Pistons’ front office would want to hamstring their cap flexibility by taking on Beal’s contract, which has two more years remaining.
- Tim Hardaway Jr. has not only become a valuable part of the Pistons’ rotation, he’s also embraced the role of veteran leadership. Hardaway, a free agent after the season, was acquired from Dallas in an offseason trade. “We’re here for a great cause,” he told Hunter Patterson of The Athletic regarding the team’s veteran acquisitions. “We’re here to help the young guys and do the best we can to make their jobs easier out there on the floor. They’re doing a great job of listening and being sponges.”
- In a subscriber-only story, Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor describes how Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell delivered a vintage performance against Indiana on Tuesday to avenge a loss to the Pacers two days earlier. Mitchell, who has focused more on spreading out the offensive wealth this season, scored 35 points in the victory, his highest output since Dec. 1.
New York Notes: Towns, Hart, Embiid, Nets, Johnson
Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns missed Wednesday’s overtime victory over Philadelphia due to a thumb injury. He has a bone chip in the thumb, which he injured during a loss to Detroit on Monday, but plans to play through it, Peter Botte and Stefan Bondy of the New York Post report.
The thumb is also sprained but surgery isn’t necessary or anticipated, either during or after the season, the Post duo adds. Towns is averaging 25.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game in his first season in New York.
We have more on the New York City teams:
- Josh Hart called out unnamed Knicks teammates after recent losses for letting “egos” and “individual agendas” get in the way of team goals. Coach Tom Thibodeau said on Wednesday that Hart needs to choose his words more carefully, Bondy writes. “I think oftentimes the next day after you look at the film, you’re putting a mic in front of someone right after a game. And sometimes they may say things, we all may say things that we wish we had not said until you watch the film the next day,” the coach said. “And then there’s usually a pretty good reason why something occurred. So before you say something, you probably should think.”
- The Knicks are fortunate they didn’t go all in and trade for Joel Embiid when rumors circulated last season about the team’s interest in the Sixers center, Bondy opines. They would have squandered their draft capital and other assets for an oft-injured center still owed $300MM due to his extension without injury protections. Of course, Philadelphia never actually made Embiid available.
- The games just keep getting uglier for the rebuilding and tanking Nets, as they suffered the worst loss in franchise history on Wednesday. The 126-67 pummeling by the Clippers was also one of the 10 biggest routs in NBA history, Brian Lewis of the New York Post notes. “This is not the time to point or deflect anything,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “It’s time for everybody to own, and I will own first. The guys kept fighting; I don’t think that they quit. And it’s one of those days that you don’t do anything right, you don’t have that right energy and togetherness. But you try and you just need a little bit more focus and all these things.” Cameron Johnson, who could be moved before the trade deadline, missed the second game of a back-to-back due to a sprained right ankle, Lewis adds.
- With the front office clearing more cap space than any other team for next offseason and hoarding draft picks in trades, the Nets have the flexibility to make a franchise-altering move, Lewis writes for the New York Post (subscription required). The big prize would be Giannis Antetokounmpo if he ever asks out of Milwaukee, as the Nets covet the superstar forward.
Jeff Peterson: Hornets Will Continue To ‘Listen To Everything’
After finalizing a deal to send Nick Richards to the Suns on Wednesday, Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson suggested in a Zoom call with reporters that the team isn’t done exploring its options on the trade market, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
“We’ve received calls on multiple of our players,” Peterson said. “Nick Richards, we received multiple calls on him. We have good players. I think some of the injuries from a synergy standpoint have made it really tough to jell and see what this group can do.
“But, yeah, I think at this point, look, we are going to listen to everything. We are not going to do anything to compromise the future, but we are going to do what’s best for the organization that we see going forward in order to be sustainable going forward.”
Richards had been a productive contributor for the Hornets in recent years and was on a team-friendly contract, with a $5MM salary this season and a $5MM cap hit for 2025/26. However, as Boone details, Charlotte was comfortable sacrificing some depth in the middle due to the fact that starting center Mark Williams is healthy and looking like his old self, while two-way big man Moussa Diabate has emerged as a regular part of the rotation.
“We feel good about it,” Peterson said. “(Head coach) Charles (Lee) and me are lockstep in what a deal like this means for the roster.”
As Peterson explained, his goal is to build a “sustainable” contender and to avoid “taking shortcuts,” which is why he remains focused on stockpiling assets that will benefit the team in the long run.
“I have zero interest in making the playoffs for one year, and then being out for the next four or five, and then in for two and out again after that,” he said. “So, we want to again build something that has sustainability to it. So, at the same time, we’ve got to continue to take advantage of deals like this that’s adding picks to our treasure chest, if you will, or whatever it may be for us to have that optionality.”
Here’s more on the Hornets on the heels of their first in-season deal of 2024/25:
- Josh Okogie may not end up being part of the Hornet’ long-term plans, but Peterson’s comments on Wednesday indicated that the club isn’t necessarily looking to flip him right away. As Boone relays, Charlotte’s head of basketball operations referred to Okogie as the kind of player “we want to bring into this organization,” lauding his character and competitiveness. “He’s having a career year shooting the basketball this year,” Peterson added. “It speaks to his work ethic and amount of time he puts into the gym. So he’s physical, he’s a great defender. We are just excited to get him into the organization.”
- Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms that the Suns and Hornets explored a bigger deal involving Richards and Jusuf Nurkic before agreeing to their Richards/Okogie swap. According to Scotto, Phoenix coveted Hornets swingman Cody Martin, but Charlotte wasn’t willing to take on Nurkic’s sizable contract, which includes a $19MM+ guaranteed salary in 2025/26.
- Scotto says the Hornets will continue to prioritize adding draft capital in the coming weeks while positioning themselves for a high pick in the 2025 draft. Scotto identifies Martin, point guard Vasilije Micic, and possibly Okogie as some trade candidates to watch.
Dennis Smith Jr. Signs With Real Madrid
JANUARY 16: Real Madrid has officially announced its rest-of-season deal with Smith.
JANUARY 15: Free agent point guard Dennis Smith Jr. has traveled to Spain and is expected to sign with Real Madrid, pending a physical, according to reports from Nacho Duque of Marca and Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.
Ricardo Gonzalez of AS.com initially reported on Tuesday that the possibility of Smith joining Real Madrid was gaining steam. The EuroLeague club had previously been linked to another veteran NBA guard, Devonte’ Graham, but Smith reportedly became the team’s priority in recent days.
Smith reposted several stories on his Instagram about his impending deal with Real Madrid, including a photo from Madrid’s airport.
The ninth overall pick in the 2017 draft, Smith has appeared in a total of 326 regular season games for the Mavericks, Knicks, Pistons, Trail Blazers, Hornets, and Nets over the course of seven NBA seasons. He made 56 appearances last season for Brooklyn, averaging 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 18.9 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .435/.294/.741.
Smith isn’t much of a scorer or shooter, with career marks of 40.7% from the floor and 29.8% on three-pointers. However, he’s a solid ball-handler and distributor and a strong point-of-attack defender.
Smith signed a G League contract last month, expecting to be claimed by the Austin Spurs. However, the Bucks’ affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, claimed him instead. It’s unclear if the 27-year-old ever reported to the Herd — either way, he didn’t play in a game for the team.
Assuming he officially completes his deal in the coming days, Smith will be joining a Real Madrid team that features a handful of former NBA players, including Facundo Campazzo, Mario Hezonja, Dzanan Musa, Serge Ibaka, and Usman Garuba.
Bulls Notes: LaVine, Ball, Williams, Donovan
Although Bulls swingman Zach LaVine is in the midst of a career year, the two-time All-Star’s teammates feel he is getting short shrift from national media and fans, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune.
“I don’t understand it,” guard Lonzo Ball said. “(He’s) definitely a top-three shooting guard in the NBA right now. I don’t understand why people talk down on him. He’s a true professional.”
Bulls guard Coby White, LaVine’s longest-tenured Chicago teammate, believes LaVine’s excellence has been under-appreciated for the entirety of their partnership.
“He’s been overlooked since I’ve been here,” White told Poe.
LaVine is shooting with remarkable efficiency as the top scorer on the 18-23 Bulls. Through 36 games, the 29-year-old is averaging 23.8 points per game on a .516/.455/.807 slash line. He’s also chipping in 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 0.9 steals per night.
Poe notes that Chicago has had just three games on national television this year, which could be partly to blame for why LaVine has been somewhat unheralded in 2024/25.
“Unfortunately, sometimes it’s out of sight, out of mind,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “When guys are not necessarily out there all the time, it’s hard. You’re not really watching them or seeing them or thinking about them.”
There’s more out of Chicago:
- Ball, meanwhile, has been impressive in his first healthy stretch since 2021/22, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Following three surgeries to address a recurring knee issue, he is finally back in action for Chicago, on a minutes limit. Cowley notes, however, that Ball is now consistently playing more minutes off the bench. “I didn’t know what to expect [of Ball] because a lot of the workouts that I watched were one-on-one, and I didn’t see him play five-on-five,’’ Donovan said of Ball’s gradual return ahead of the season. ‘‘I got pretty optimistic when training camp started. I was able to see he was running and doing the things he was doing. He [just] needed to get his timing back.”
- Bulls forward Patrick Williams has been only sporadically available to Donovan this season. When Williams does hit the floor, the head coach wants to see steadier production from the fifth-year wing out of Florida, Cowley notes in another Sun-Times story. “My expectations for him, even in my conversations with him, is, and this is going to be kind of a broad statement, but you got to feel him out there,” Donovan said. “That’s not necessarily scoring. He’s shot the ball pretty well. You gotta feel him on the glass, feel him in transition, feel him with the activity with his hands, feel him at the rim. That. I think he’s capable of doing that. That’s really been the message more than anything else, of him getting his body size, physicality into the game.”
- Williams inked a five-year, $90MM deal as a restricted free agent to stay with Chicago long-term over the summer. On Wednesday, he became trade-eligible.
Lakers Sign Trey Jemison To Two-Way Deal
10:00 pm: Jemison’s two-way deal is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
5:15 pm: Hot off the heels of waiving former two-way point guard Quincy Olivari, the Lakers intend to sign free agent center Trey Jemison to their newly available two-way slot, sources tell Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and Marc Stein (Twitter link).
The 6’11” big man out of UAB had most recently been on a two-way deal with the Pelicans. New Orleans waived him last week.
Across 16 bouts with the injury-plagued Pelicans at the NBA level this year, Jemison averaged 2.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 10.4 minutes per game.
Jemison went undrafted in 2023 and joined New Orleans’ G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron, as an affiliate player at the start of the 2023/24 season. He subsequently signed 10-day contracts with the Wizards and Grizzlies, and was later picked up by Memphis on a two-way deal to close out the season. Jemison was cut by the Grizzlies this past summer, before being picked up by the Pelicans.
Playing for Birmingham last season, Jemison averaged 10.9 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 31.6 minutes per contest across 25 total outings.
Jemison is now the second center inked to a two-way deal for Los Angeles, joining Christian Koloko. The Lakers have been dealing with long-term injuries to several of their reserve big men this season. It makes sense that the team’s front office is seeking out immediate, short-term help at the five spot to spell All-NBA center Anthony Davis.
Forward Armel Traore is the Lakers’ third rostered two-way player.
Shams Charania of ESPN tweets that Jemison helps bolster the club’s frontcourt as a physical post presence. As a two-way player, he’ll likely split his time between L.A.’s G League club, the South Bay Lakers, and the NBA squad.
Reserve Lakers center Christian Wood and forward Jarred Vanderbilt have been sidelined all season while recuperating from offseason surgeries. Backup Los Angeles center Jaxson Hayes has been in and out of the lineup for much of the year with his own ailments. Koloko has had to log significant time as occasionally the team’s only legitimate healthy center behind Davis. Meanwhile Davis, who has his own history of injuries, has been the Lakers’ steadiest rotational big man.
NBA Suspends Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin For One Game
Pacers swingman Bennedict Mathurin has been suspended for one game without pay for his behavior towards a referee during a 127-117 loss to the Cavaliers on Tuesday night, the NBA announced in a press release (Twitter link).
With about four minutes remaining in regulation during Tuesday’s game, Mathurin fouled Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley on a look near the rim. Upon being whistled for an infraction, Mathurin took umbrage with the decision and approached the official who made the call (Twitter video link). After he made physical contact with the official, he was immediately whistled for a technical foul and ejected from the bout.
Mathurin had been a critical contributor for the Pacers throughout the night. He finished with 19 points while shooting 8-of-12 from the floor. The Arizona alum also notched four boards, two dimes, one swipe and one rejection.
Mathurin has been starting in the stead of Indiana forward Aaron Nesmith, who has missed all but six contests this year with an ankle injury.
Mathurin will serve the suspension on Thursday when the 22-19 Pacers face the rising Pistons.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter), Mathurin will lose $41,642 by sitting out Thursday’s game, which represents 1/174th of his $7,245,720 salary for the season. The Pacers, meanwhile, will earn a $20,821 tax variance credit through Mathurin’s suspension, 50% of his lost salary.