Paul George Puts Podcast On Hold To Focus On Rest Of Season
The latest episode of Paul George‘s ‘Podcast P’ podcast, which featured guest Dwight Howard and came out on Monday, will be the last one for the foreseeable future, according to George, who announced that he’s taking a hiatus from the podcast in order to focus his full attention on the home stretch of the Sixers‘ season.
“I want to let the Podcast P family know that after today’s episode with Dwight, I plan to take a break from the pod just to focus on getting my body right, getting mentally right, and helping this squad make a push towards our goal to finish the season out and give ourselves a chance to be in contention to compete for a championship,” George announced (Twitter video link).
On the heels of that announcement, George went out and scored 25 points, his highest total since Jan. 24, on Wednesday in New York. The Sixers were unable to hang onto a late lead following a 19-point comeback and ultimately lost to the Knicks, but George had his best game in weeks, complementing his scoring by contributing eight rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. He was asked after the game about his decision to pause his podcast, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN relays.
“It was more so just to focus on here,” George said. “I haven’t been the healthiest, so it’s just been putting a ton of work towards getting my body as healthy as possible, and to keep focus of obviously being here and trying to turn things around here and the full focus is trying to get this team together.
“But we got to give ourselves a chance. Take it one game at a time, but we got to give ourselves a chance to see what we can do down the stretch.”
George, who signed a four-year, maximum-salary contract with Philadelphia last July, has had one of his worst seasons as a pro in 2024/25, averaging just 16.4 points per game, his lowest mark in a full season since 2011/12. His .432 FG% and .358 3PT% are also below his career rates.
Like fellow Sixers star Joel Embiid, George has been hampered by injuries this season and has faced criticism from some fans for regularly putting out podcast episodes while the team’s record has plummeted to 20-38. He said on Wednesday that he’d been thinking about temporarily stepping away from his side project for some time.
“It was something that was kind of racking in my head a little bit just because of [being] new to the city, being acclimated to Philadelphia,” George said, per Bontemps. “It just came to the point where it was like, ‘All right, this is the time to kind of take a step back for a second.'”
Despite their ugly 20-38 record, the sixth-worst mark in the league, the 76ers aren’t out of play-in contention. They currently sit 2.5 games back of the No. 10 Bulls. Of course, George himself acknowledged on Monday that Philadelphia has shown “no signs” of being a playoff-caliber team.
According to Bontemps, the Sixers are expected to make a decision in the coming days on whether or not Embiid will be shut down for the season due to his nagging knee injury. If he is, it will be interesting to see whether the club takes similar steps with George and Tyrese Maxey, who is battling a right finger injury that’s affecting his ball-handling and shooting. Maxey shot just 12-of-32 from the floor on Wednesday, including 0-of-10 on three-pointers.
Saben Lee Signs Multiyear Deal With Olympiacos
Veteran guard Saben Lee has signed a multiyear contract with Olympiacos, according to the Greek team, who announced in a press release that Lee’s new deal will run through the 2026/27 season.
Lee finalized his agreement with Olympiacos just “minutes” before the EuroLeague signing deadline on Wednesday, according to BasketNews.com.
The 38th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Lee spent four seasons playing for the Pistons, Sixers, and Suns from 2020-24. The 6’2″ guard finished last season on a two-way contract with Phoenix, having appeared in 24 NBA games for the Suns.
Across his four seasons in the NBA, Lee appeared in 134 total regular season games, averaging 5.2 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per contest. An unreliable jump shot hindered his ability to earn regular rotation minutes, as he posted a career shooting line of just .421/.271/.734.
Lee has spent an eventful 2024/25 season in Europe, bouncing around from team to team since signing with Manisa Basket in Turkey last August. He was bought out in October and joined Maccabi Tel Aviv, but parted ways with the Israeli club in November after a disagreement about where he would live and practice. The 25-year-old rejoined Manisa at that time, but has now once again been bought out of his contract with the Turkish team.
Lee will have an opportunity to compete for championships in the Greek League and the EuroLeague with Olympiacos, who are in contention for the top spot in both leagues. The club – which also features former NBA players Evan Fournier, Sasha Vezenkov, Tyler Dorsey, Nathan Mensah, Naz Mitrou-Long, Nigel Williams-Goss, Alec Peters, Kostas Papanikolaou, and Moses Wright – is 16-2 in domestic league play and 19-7 in EuroLeague competition.
Northwest Notes: Nnaji, DiVincenzo, Clark, Avdija
Big man Zeke Nnaji has largely been outside of the Nuggets‘ rotation in 2024/25. However, a knee injury to Peyton Watson has opened up minutes at backup power forward, and Nnaji has been performing well of late, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscriber link).
“This is probably the first time in a while that he has an opportunity to play big minutes, important minutes and a lot of minutes. He’s good,” Nikola Jokic said of Nnaji. “He’s decisive. When he’s open, he shoots. He’s aggressive. He’s attacking the boards. He’s still probably trying to kind of figure it out, but I think he’s doing a really good job.”
Nnaji, 24, was involved in trade rumors leading up to the deadline earlier this month in part because he has fifth-highest salary on the team. General manager Calvin Booth later confirmed that Nnaji came up in trade talks, but since he was rarely playing, his long-term contract was almost certainly viewed as a negative asset.
With Watson sidelined and Nnaji playing his preferred position, he has averaged 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.4 blocks on .566/.368/.700 shooting over the past 10 games (21.4 minutes per contest). Would Michael Malone be comfortable turning to Nnaji for spot minutes if he’s needed in the postseason?
“Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, just continue to be present,” Malone said when asked if there’s a path to playoff minutes. “Continue to be in the moment. And I think Zeke’s done that. Ever since Peyton Watson went out, Zeke’s been called upon. … He’s stayed ready. He’s gone out there and done his job. And he’s shown that he belongs out there. So I have all the confidence in the world if I have to call upon Zeke Nnaji at any point the remainder of this season, I feel really confident about doing that. And so do his teammates. I think that’s even more important.”
Here’s more from the Northwest:
- Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo has been out since Jan. 15 due to a left great toe sprain, but he has a chance to return to action soon. He’s officially listed as questionable for Thursday’s contest at the Lakers, the Wolves announced (via Twitter). ESPN’s Shams Charania reported earlier this week that both DiVincenzo and Julius Randle (right groin strain) could return at some point this week. Randle will be out Thursday, with two additional games (at Utah on Friday, at Phoenix on Sunday) scheduled on Minnesota’s road trip.
- Jaylen Clark will reportedly be converted from a two-way contract to a standard deal, with Bones Hyland taking Clark’s old two-way spot. Asked about his impending promotion on Wednesday, the Timberwolves guard said he was thrilled by the news, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link). “I love being in Minnesota, I’m excited,” Clark said. “It feels like I’m officially a part of everything. I can play in the playoffs. It’s been cool. The journey has been long, but it’s been well worthwhile.”
- Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija sustained a quad injury in the first half of Wednesday’s win in Washington. After initially being listed as questionable to return, he was later ruled out for the remainder of the contest (Twitter link). It’s unclear if the injury will cause Avdija to miss additional time, but hopefully it’s good news that he wasn’t immediately ruled out.
Windhorst: Suns Are Going To Trade Kevin Durant In Offseason
The Suns continue to slide down the Western Conference standings, having lost nine of their past 11 games. After starting the season 8-1, Phoenix is currently just 27-31, two-and-a-half games behind Sacramento for the final play-in spot in the West.
In addition to several blockbuster trades, including arguably the most stunning deal in league history, one of the big storylines of this season’s deadline was Phoenix’s near-trade of Kevin Durant to Golden State before the two-time Finals MVP essentially nixed an in-season reunion with the Warriors. While he took the trade rumors diplomatically, Durant admitted he was “blindsided” to see his name surface in reports.
Considering the Suns have the most expensive payroll in the league and have been a major disappointment this season, it’s only natural that they’re almost certainly going to be actively looking to retool their roster in the offseason. Even before their recent run of poor play, multiple reporters indicated Phoenix would likely revisit trade talks involving Durant this summer, particularly if the rest of 2024/25 did not go well.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has speculated multiple times post-deadline that Durant and the Suns are likely to part ways this offseason. And Durant hasn’t exactly shut down that speculation.
Appearing on NBA Today on Wednesday (Twitter video link), Windhorst once again predicted that Durant will be on a new team next season. The 36-year-old is entering the final year of his contract, which will pay him $54.7MM in ’25/26.
“They’re going to trade him,” Windhorst said of the Suns and Durant. “And he knows that. … There’s been a couple opportunities where he could have criticized them for trying to trade him — he has not done that. He has been very professional about this and I expect that to continue throughout the rest of the regular season.”
Windhorst made his comments on the heels of Durant appearing on Draymond Green‘s podcast, which he co-hosts with former NBA guard Baron Davis. Asked directly by Davis if he wants his career to end in Phoenix, Durant sounded more ready to move on than anything else (Twitter video link).
“I want my career to end on my terms, that’s the only thing,” Durant said (hat tip to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports). “That’s the only thing I’m worried about. ‘Cause I see a lot of dudes that don’t get that opportunity, so I want to keep putting in that work to make that choice on my own.
“But as far as the Warriors, I didn’t want to move. … I get why (the Suns) want to trade me, simple fact that’s just business, but for me looking at it … we (can) just play the season out and if that’s the decision you want to make in the offseason, then we figure it out. But if I can stop (the Warriors trade), then why not.”
Durant went on to explain that it was important to him to finish the season with the Suns, saying he was “committed to his coaches and teammates” and that he wanted to “see it through.”
Southwest Notes: Wells, Boston, Pelicans, VanVleet
Grizzlies wing Jaylen Wells has been one of the pleasant surprises of last year’s rookie class. As Spencer Davies of RG.org writes, the 21-year-old has been not just a rotation mainstay but a starter for the West’s No. 2 seed, averaging 11.4 points and 3.2 rebounds on .451/.382/.824 shooting in 25.8 minutes per game while taking on challenging defensive assignments. He also hasn’t missed a game thus far in 2024/25.
Wells is used to being underestimated, having played at Division II Sonoma State prior to transferring to Washington for the ’23/24 campaign. Despite being a second-round pick (No. 39 overall), he currently has the second-best betting odds for Rookie of the Year, only trailing Stephon Castle of the Spurs.
“I mean, I don’t really focus on it,” Wells told Davies of the ROY race. “I’m focused on getting a championship. And if it just so happens… I feel like if I’m playing winning basketball, it should fall right into my hands. So that’s kinda how my mindset is.”
According to Davies, Wells’ play has gotten the attention of several stars, including Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell, who recently faced off against Wells and Memphis.
“On the offensive end, I didn’t know he shot it as well as he did, with confidence. He’s kind of made himself a staple over there,” Mitchell said. “They really rely on him to disrupt a lot of different things. He’s definitely really talented, and he’s only gonna get better. I give him a lot of credit for continuing to be that player and not really tripping on if I score or he gets scored on, or if he makes shots, doesn’t make shots. He’s been that way. I’ve been watching it all year, first time in person.”
Here are a few more notes from the Southwest Division:
- Fourth-year guard Brandon Boston Jr. received a two-year, minimum-salary contract with a team option for ’25/26 when he was promoted by the Pelicans, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). As Scotto notes, it’s possible New Orleans could decline that option in order to give Boston a longer-term deal in the offseason, though he couldn’t be made a restricted free agent in that scenario.
- Boston (left ankle sprain), Bruce Brown (return to play reconditioning) and Kelly Olynyk (rest) are among seven Pelicans who will be sidelined for Thursday’s contest at Phoenix, per Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. It will be the seventh straight missed game for Boston, who last played on February 8. Veterans Brown and Olynyk, who were acquired from Toronto in the Brandon Ingram trade, are likely being held out of the first end of a back-to-back for precautionary reasons after missing most of the season while recovering from injuries.
- Rockets guard Fred VanVleet has been sidelined since Feb. 1 due to a right ankle strain. His ankle’s range of motion is around 80% right now, according to head coach Ime Udoka, so he’ll be out again Wednesday, with the earliest he could return being Saturday vs. Sacramento (subscriber-only story via Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle). VanVleet is averaging 14.6 points, 5.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 45 games this season (35.5 MPG).
Atlantic Notes: Brown, Robinson, Towns, Raptors
Celtics star Jaylen Brown suffered a bone bruise in his left quad during Tuesday’s victory over Toronto. After the game, he told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscriber link) that he wasn’t sure whether or not he’d play in Wednesday’s back-to-back in Detroit.
After initially being listed as questionable, Brown was later ruled out against the red-hot Pistons, who have won seven straight games, one more than Boston’s current streak. Center Luke Kornet will also miss his second straight game due to personal reasons, per the Celtics (Twitter link).
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- The Knicks are optimistic that Mitchell Robinson will be able to make his season debut this weekend, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv. New York plays two games this weekend, on Friday vs. Memphis and on Sunday against Miami. Assuming he keeps progressing without issue, either date is a possibility for Robinson to make his first appearance of 2024/25 following offseason ankle surgery, according to Begley.
- Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau stated after Tuesday’s practice that Robinson was “projected to be the starting center on the team.” On Wednesday, Thibodeau clarified that Robinson will not immediately enter the starting lineup — he was referring to before the season began, and presumably before New York’s blockbuster trade for Karl-Anthony Towns, as James L. Edwards III of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).
- Speaking of Towns, the Knicks big man was ruled out of Wednesday’s game after having his left knee flare up near the end of Sunday’s loss to Boston. He was initially listed as questionable. Rookie center Ariel Hukporti will get his first career start in Towns’ stead, per Edwards of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Eric Koreen of The Athletic lists several Raptors trends to monitor for the remainder of the season, as well as some to ignore. Koreen is keeping close tabs on Immanuel Quickley‘s three-point volume and accuracy, Gradey Dick‘s defense, and the overall play of Ochai Agbaji. On the other hand, he says the team’s defensive rating and RJ Barrett‘s dip in offensive efficiency aren’t particularly important as the season winds down.
Southeast Notes: Anderson, Suggs, Anthony, Smith, Hornets
Although Kyle Anderson has been on five different teams over the course of his 11 NBA seasons, the deal that sent him from the Warriors to the Heat earlier this month was the first time he’d been traded, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Anderson says it’s been an adjustment period as his wife and five-year-old son stayed in California to finish the school year.
“It was a big one,” Anderson said of the whirlwind since the trade to the Heat. “I underestimated it, getting traded. I salute anybody that’s been traded multiple times in this league. There was just a lot going on with my experience in Golden State, then getting traded to a new team, not being with my family, being alone. It’s only been a few days and obviously Miami is a great city, but it still has some type of effect on you.”
Anderson wasn’t actually sure which team he’d end up on after it was reported that he might be rerouted to Toronto as part of the blockbuster Jimmy Butler trade. Instead, he wound up in Miami. The veteran forward said it was important to him to land with a team where he was “appreciated and wanted,” and he got a call from president Pat Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra letting him know the Heat valued him.
“That meant a lot,” Anderson said. “Just letting me know they were happy to have me. That’s all I needed to hear. I didn’t want to go somewhere where I wasn’t really wanted.”
With Nikola Jovic out at least four weeks with a fractured hand, Anderson should continue to see an uptick in minutes. Spoelstra recently praised the 31-year-old’s two-way versatility and basketball IQ, according to Chiang.
Here’s more from the Southeast:
- Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley shared injury updates today on guards Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links). According to Mosley, neither player was able to practice on Wednesday. Suggs will miss his 14th straight on Thursday due to a left quad contusion, while Anthony is questionable vs. Golden State and considered day-to-day. Anthony sustained a hyperextended left knee in Tuesday’s lopsided loss to Cleveland, Beede notes.
- After being buried on the depth chart early on in 2024/25, second-year Hornets guard Nick Smith Jr. was thrust into a significant rotation role as a result of injuries. As Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer writes, Smith has shown flashes of offensive upside as a starter over the past several weeks, but head coach Charles Lee says he needs to make progress on the other end to level up his game. “Defensively, that’s going to be his next kind of mission to improve upon,” Lee said. “We’ve had some good conversations and he’s been challenged in that area. And knowing Nick and knowing the competitor he is, he’s going to respond with a little more resistance, a little more physicality. The grit, the toughness, the energy that he has on the offensive end, I just want to see that same kind of mindset — how the young kids say, ‘Keep that same energy’ — I want that same energy down at the defensive end, too.”
- Will the high-post screening and passing of Jusuf Nurkic be beneficial for Hornets star LaMelo Ball? The veteran big man believes so, according to Boone, who says the pairing should prove fruitful on offense — assuming Ball is able to return soon from an ankle injury. The former No. 3 overall pick is not listed on the injury report for Thursday’s game in Dallas (Twitter link), so he’s considered likely to suit up after appearing in just five of the past 14 contests.
Pacific Notes: LaVine, Ellis, Kawhi, Kuminga
It was an up-and-down first couple weeks in Sacramento for Zach LaVine, who was making just 43.0% of his shots from the floor – including 26.4% of his three-point tries – and had a -6.6 net rating as a member of the Kings entering Monday’s matchup with Charlotte.
However, LaVine enjoyed his best game of the season as either a King or a Bull on Monday, pouring in 42 points on 16-of-19 shooting in a blowout win over the Hornets. Sacramento outscored Charlotte by 36 points during his 31 minutes of action.
“I was just waiting,” said teammate DeMar DeRozan, who also played with LaVine for three years in Chicago (story via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee). “It took long enough. I kept telling him the whole game, ‘Just shoot it,’ and that’s the outcome. … It’s nothing new for me. I think it was just cool to have the bench going and the crowd going as well.”
Interim Kings head coach Doug Christie said after the game that he believes LaVine has been focused more on fitting in and deferring to teammates than playing his own game. While Christie acknowledge that’s a commendable approach, he hoped to see the two-time All-Star be more assertive offensively.
“I’ve known Zach and the way he plays and what he’s capable of,” Christie said. “I have had conversations, and to his credit, I thought he’s been trying to fit in, but we need him to be himself so we can figure out how to best support him. That doesn’t mean he’s going to come out and get 42 every night, but be aggressive and stay aggressive.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Kings guard Keon Ellis exited Monday’s win over Charlotte after just nine minutes of action due to a right ankle injury, but the team has gotten good news on that front. The injury was considered minor and Ellis has been upgraded to available for Wednesday’s game in Utah, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat.
- After missing games on Sunday and Monday – both Clippers losses – due to left foot soreness, star forward Kawhi Leonard isn’t on the injury report for Wednesday’s game in Chicago, according to the team (Twitter link). That suggests Leonard will be active as the Clippers, in the midst of a long road trip, look to snap their three-game losing streak.
- Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga will remain sidelined for Thursday’s game in Orlando, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kuminga is in the final stages of his recovery from an ankle sprain that has sidelined him since January 4 and has been scrimmaging, according to Slater, but the 22-year-old is still waiting for the final green light from trainer Rick Celebrini. A return in the middle of Golden State’s five-game road trip, which begins tomorrow and runs through next Thursday, looks like a possibility, Slater adds.
Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year
More than any other NBA end-of-season award, Coach of the Year depends in large part on the preseason expectations for a given team. The top candidates for Coach of the Year recognition almost always come from the teams that surpass the win totals projected for them in the fall by the greatest margin.
It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that a pair of head coaches from the Central Division are currently considered the frontrunners for this season’s award.
Oddsmakers pegged Cleveland’s over/under for this season at 48.5 wins, but the 48-10 Cavaliers are on the verge of surpassing that total with six-and-a-half weeks left in the regular season. New head coach Kenny Atkinson, hired away from the Warriors last spring, has unlocked the Cavs’ offense, which has posted a league-leading 122.2 offensive rating this season after finishing at 114.7 (16th) in 2023/24.
In an unusual twist, Atkinson’s stiffest competition may come from the man he replaced in Cleveland. J.B. Bickerstaff was let go by the Cavaliers last spring and their results this season suggest it was the right move. But Bickerstaff has been a revelation in Detroit, where the Pistons, projected for an over/under of 24.5 wins, currently hold a 32-26 record.
We knew coming into the season that the Pistons probably weren’t going to go 14-68 again, like they did under Monty Williams a year ago, but there weren’t too many experts or fans who expected them to make a strong push for a guaranteed (top-six) playoff spot in the East. As of today, they holds the No. 6 seed, with a four-game cushion on the No. 7 Magic.
After finishing 27th in offensive rating and 25th in defensive rating last season, the Pistons rank in the top 13 in both categories in ’24/25, with Bickerstaff pressing all the right buttons to unlock first-time All-Star Cade Cunningham and to keep the team on course after its second-leading scorer (Jaden Ivey) went down with an injury on New Year’s Day. The Pistons haven’t just stayed afloat in Ivey’s absence — they’ve thrived, going 17-8 in the 25 games since he broke his fibula.
A pair of Southwest teams have exceeded expectations this season too, with Taylor Jenkins of the Grizzlies and Ime Udoka of the Rockets guiding their teams to 38-20 and 36-22 records, respectively. There was a sense coming into the season that Memphis would bounce back with better health luck and that a young Houston team would take another step forward, but I don’t think many of us were betting on both teams maintaining a 50-win pace beyond the All-Star break.
Of course, while it’s less of a surprise, given that they were the West’s top seed last spring, it’s impossible to overlook the job Mark Daigneault has done with the Thunder, whose 46-11 record puts them hot on Cleveland’s heels as the NBA’s No. 1 overall team. Oklahoma City’s +12.6 net rating is the league’s best mark and would be the second-best net rating of all-time, behind the 1995/96 Bulls (+13.4).
In the East, Joe Mazzulla has done a good job making sure the Celtics don’t succumb to a post-championship hangover, leading the team to a 42-16 record.
A pair of Los Angeles-based head coaches deserve credit too — oddsmakers projected the Lakers and Clippers to be the bottom two teams in the Pacific standings this season, but they hold the division’s top two spots to date. J.J. Redick‘s Lakers are 35-21, while Tyronn Lue‘s Clippers are 31-26 despite missing star forward Kawhi Leonard for a good chunk of the season.
We want to know what you think. Who would your Coach of the Year pick be at this point in the season? Which three coaches would be on your Coach of the Year ballot? Who do you think will ultimately win the award?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Northwest Notes: Jokic, MPJ, Blazers, Timberwolves
Nikola Jokic continued to bolster his case for a fourth MVP award on Monday by racking up a career-high 19 assists in a road win over the Pacers.
Jokic, who grabbed nine rebounds in the victory, narrowly missed his 27th triple-double of the season, but the Nuggets star is now averaging a triple-double on the year, with 29.2 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 10.4 assists per contest. If he can maintain those averages, it would be the first time in his career that he has averaged a triple-double for a full season.
“The guy is just an amazing, complete basketball player,” head coach Michael Malone said, per ESPN. “And I think the most remarkable thing is not just 19 assists, but the satisfaction and joy that Nikola gets from making his teammates better. … He’s a humble person and understands that this whole thing is always much bigger than the individual. It’s the collective.
“But 19? … What is that? … He’s just an incredible player. And what a luxury to have when you can just play through him down the stretch of a close game and you know something good is going to happen each and every time.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., who missed the final three games before the All-Star break due to a minor hamstring injury, struggled upon returning last week, scoring 19 total points on 7-of-25 shooting (28.0%) in his first two games back. After contributing 19 points and 11 rebounds in Monday’s win over Indiana, Porter explained that he’s still working on getting his conditioning back to normal, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “I hadn’t ran at all for those three games I missed before the break, and then over the break, I didn’t run, so the first time I really ran was that first game back (last Thursday),” Porter said. “Now I’m just kind of getting my wind back and getting my groove back. It’s still not ‘a hundred a hundred’ percent, but it’ll be back in probably the next couple of games.”
- How do the Trail Blazers stack up against the NBA’s other rebuilding teams? Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (Substack link) considers that question, evaluating how the Blazers compare to Brooklyn, Utah, Charlotte, Toronto, and Washington in terms of young talent, future draft assets, and a few other variables. Although the Blazers have a solid base of young talent, they don’t have a clear-cut franchise player, their cap sheet isn’t clean as some of the others, and it’s unclear whether Chauncey Billups will be their long-term answer at head coach, Highkin writes.
- The Timberwolves pulled off arguably the most impressive comeback in franchise history on Monday, rallying from a 25-point deficit to knock off the West-leading Thunder in overtime. Chris Hine of The Star Tribune has the story on the improbable, galvanizing victory, exploring how the Wolves got crucial contributions from role players like Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr.