And-Ones: Theis, Little, Award Races, Roster Decisions
When veteran center Daniel Theis was traded from New Orleans to Oklahoma City and then waived by the Thunder last month, there was a sense that he might draw some NBA interest from teams in need of center depth. But just days after clearing waivers, Theis reached an agreement to sign with AS Monaco.
In six EuroLeague games with his new team, Theis has posted impressive averages of 13.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 24.0 minutes per contest, helping to lead Monaco to a 4-2 record as the club looks to secure a top-four spot in the regular season standings. Given his individual and team success so far in Europe, the German big man isn’t having any second thoughts about his decision to head back overseas after seven-and-a-half NBA seasons.
“I feel great. I have no regrets at all,” Theis told Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. “We have a great a team and we have a big goal ahead of us. It’s all I’m thinking about right now.”
Theis’ contract with Monaco is said to run through the 2025/26 season, so there’s no indication he’ll be looking to return to the NBA this summer.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former first-round pick Nassir Little has been playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League this season. He spoke to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link) this week about his experience in the NBAGL, why he opted against playing overseas, and whether he has received NBA interest during the season. “Multiple teams called,” Little said. “But a lot of this comes down to tax stuff and roster spots and all that stuff, so it just hasn’t happened so far.”
- A handful of ESPN’s NBA reporters discuss a series of questions related to the award races, including which players they’d pick for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, which Most Improved Player candidate is on a superstar track, and whether or not the NBA should tweak its 65-game rule. ESPN’s panel favors Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over Nikola Jokic for MVP, but is divided on which player is most deserving of DPOY honors.
- Keith Smith of Spotrac highlights some late-season roster situations to keep an eye on, identifying which teams still have open 15-man roster spots and which two-way players might still be candidates for promotions to standard contracts.
- Kevin Pelton of ESPN takes a deep dive into the rise in three-point attempts in recent years, explaining why the NBA hasn’t viewed it as an issue that needs to be addressed and exploring whether the number of outside shots could continue to increase going forward.
Mavs’ Lively, Gafford Reportedly On Track To Return Next Week
Neither Dereck Lively nor Daniel Gafford is expected to play on Saturday in Chicago, but the two Mavericks big men are trending in the right direction in their injury recoveries.
Lively and Gafford were upgraded from “out” to “doubtful” for Saturday’s game, a sign that their returns aren’t far off. According to NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link), both players are on track to be reactivated at some point next week.
Lively, who took over as Dallas’ starting center in November, hasn’t played since January 14, having sustained a stress fracture in his right ankle. Reporting at the time indicated that he would likely be sidelined for two-to-three months, so he’ll fall right in that window if he’s able to make it back in the coming days.
Gafford, who has shared starting duties with Lively this season, sustained a Grade 3 MCL sprain in his right knee on February 10 and has been on the shelf for the Mavericks’ past 20 games. A report on Feb. 13 stated he would likely miss six weeks — it has been six weeks and two days since then.
While Lively’s injury occurred earlier in the year, Gafford’s was part of a wave of health issues that devastated the Mavericks shortly after February’s trade deadline. In addition to missing Lively and Gafford, the Mavs were without Anthony Davis for 18 games due to an adductor strain, rendering the club’s top three big men unavailable for well over a month.
Davis returned to action on Monday and with Lively and Gafford apparently not far behind, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel in Dallas as the team pushes for a play-in spot. Of course, as a result of Kyrie Irving‘s season-ending ACL tear, the championship aspirations the Mavs had at the trade deadline are likely no longer realistic, but they would be a tough out in the play-in tournament if their frontcourt is fully healthy.
After visiting Chicago on Saturday, the Mavericks will host the Nets on Monday and the Hawks on Wednesday before facing the Clippers in Los Angeles next Friday and Saturday. Entering play on Saturday, Dallas holds the No. 10 spot in the West with a 36-38 record. The team is just a half-game behind the No. 9 Kings and one game ahead of the No. 11 Suns.
Atlantic Notes: Wright, Maxey, Pritchard, Raptors
Veteran guard Delon Wright had been glued to the Knicks‘ bench during his first month-and-a-half in New York after being acquired from Milwaukee in the Jericho Sims trade at February’s deadline. But with Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride both injured this week, Wright got the call from head coach Tom Thibodeau, entering the starting lineup for Friday’s game in Milwaukee.
While the Knicks were outscored by nine points during Wright’s 30 minutes on the floor, he held his own in just his second 30-minute game of the season, contributing 12 points, four assists, and three rebounds as New York registered a nine-point win. As Jared Schwartz of The New York Post writes, Thibodeau had the option of starting rookie Tyler Kolek at point guard, but opted for Wright’s experience and defensive ability over Kolek’s play-making.
“His defense you can always count on,” Thibodeau said of Wright. “That’s his strength, and he’s not afraid. He’s aggressive, and he knows how to play off people. I think he reads the game well. I think we got terrific point guard play. I was going back and forth on (who to start) and I was comfortable with both. A lot of it was based on I wasn’t quite sure who they were gonna start. Their size was a factor in it. But I was comfortable. And then you read the game like, ‘What do you need? What do you need more of?’ Both guys are really good players, they have different strengths, so you can adjust as the game goes.”
Wright, who entered the league in 2015/16, is averaging just 13.9 minutes per game in 34 outings this season and had logged only 37 total minutes in seven appearances for the Knicks before Friday. It’s his smallest role since his rookie year and he admitted this week that it’s difficult not knowing if or when he’ll play.
“It’s tough, I’m not going to lie. It’s easier said than done,” Wright said, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required). “I try to tell young guys that — just stay ready, stay ready. But when you’re going through it, it’s tough. Some days are harder than others. But you got to continue to get your conditioning, continue to lift, continue to try to stay as engaged as possible.”
We have more from around the Atlantic:
- The Sixers aren’t yet shutting down injured guard Tyrese Maxey for the season, but he’ll miss at least two more games as a result of his sprained finger, head coach Nick Nurse said on Friday (story via ESPN). That means Maxey, out since March 3 due to back and finger ailments, will be unavailable on Saturday vs. Miami and Sunday vs. Toronto. Philadelphia has seven more games on its regular season scheduled after that, starting with Tuesday in New York.
- Two years after requesting a trade out of Boston, Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is a fan favorite who appears headed for a Sixth Man of the Year award. Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston takes a closer look at why a trade never happened and how Pritchard emerged as a crucial contributor for the defending champions. The 27-year-old, who averaged just 13.4 minutes per game in 2022/23, tells Forsberg that he “didn’t see a future” for himself in Boston when he asked to be dealt, but admits, “It ended up working out.”
- The Raptors have been one of the NBA’s least effective outside shooting teams this season, ranking 29th in three-pointers made per game (11.5) and 26th in three-point percentage (34.5%). Toronto would like to change that by surrounding Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl with more floor spacers, which is one reason why the team targeted Cole Swider for a 10-day contract. For his part, Swider hopes that 10-day deal leads to something more, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca relays. “They’ve had a great track record of having two-ways get converted to contracts and guys with contracts getting converted to bigger contracts,” he said after Friday’s win over Charlotte. “So super excited to be here. I think it could be a great opportunity.”
Heat Notes: Herro, Wiggins, Robinson, Two-Ways, Butler
After dropping 10 games in a row for the first time in 17 years, the Heat appear to have found their footing within the past week. They ended their losing streak on Sunday with a 17-point win over Charlotte, played spoiler in Jimmy Butler‘s return to Miami on Tuesday in a blowout victory over Golden State (story via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN), and won a third straight game on Thursday vs. Atlanta.
Entering Sunday’s game, Tyler Herro had been struggling with his efficiency since the trade deadline, making just 43.5% of his attempts from the floor – including only 27.9% of his three-pointers – during that 19-game stretch. But he has been on fire in these three victories, averaging 28.3 points per night on 67.4% shooting.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra had nothing but praise for Herro after he poured in 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting on Thursday against the Hawks, lauding the sixth-year guard for the way he has become more of a well-rounded offensive threat.
“Tyler was so efficient.” Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “And the best part about it is he did this entire game mostly off the ball. I didn’t run one specific play for him. He got 36 just on the move, within the context of the game. He’s learning how to manipulate when guys are really being aggressive with him. He can be a great screener, he can play off the ball, he can back cut, he can do a lot of those different things. That’s great growth to see.”
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Heat forward Andrew Wiggins, who has already missed eight games due to ankle injury, a leg injury, and an illness since arriving in Miami last month, didn’t travel with the team for the start of its three-game road trip due to right hamstring tendinopathy, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Wiggins and forward Duncan Robinson, who is out with a back issue, have been ruled out for Saturday’s contest in Philadelphia but could join the team at some point on its road trip, which also includes games in Washington on Monday and Boston on Wednesday.
- According to Spoelstra, Robinson’s back issue is unrelated to the one that sidelined him at the end of last season and isn’t as significant as that one was. “It’s different than last year,” Spoelstra said, per Jackson. “We think we will be able to manage it. We want to be responsible and give as much treatment and then appropriate ramp-up.”
- After the Sioux Falls Skyforce – Miami’s G League affiliate – fell just short of qualifying for the NBAGL playoffs, Heat two-way players Josh Christopher and Isaiah Stevens, along with roster player Keshad Johnson, are rejoining the NBA team and will be prepared to play roles for the banged-up squad if needed, according to Jackson. “They’re ready,” Spoelstra said. “They just have to be plug and play if they do get an opportunity. The way things have gone with guys out, those minutes could be available. They’re ready physically, mentally, emotionally. Everybody is disappointed they didn’t make the playoffs but they made a heck of a run.”
- Heat big man Bam Adebayo spoke to reporters this week about how he has handled his most trying stretch as the team’s captain. Chiang has the story and the quotes for the Herald.
- Although the Heat got the best of the Warriors on Tuesday, columnist Omar Kelly of The Miami Herald argues that Butler still came out ahead in his divorce with Miami.
Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Cap Room, Nets, Wolves FAs, Connelly
Given the lack of cap room available around the NBA this season, it’s not a great time to be entering the market as a restricted free agents, Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes in an Insider-only story.
“There’s only one team that has a lot of cap space and they may want to do a slower rebuild and aren’t looking to spend it all now,” a veteran agent told ESPN. “I’ve never seen a free agency where only one team has real cap space in my career. These free agents are f—ed.”
That “one team that has a lot of cap space” is Brooklyn — the Nets are expected to operate with between $45-60MM in room, according to Windhorst, and could open up additional space beyond that if they let certain players go. However, there’s an expectation around the league that the Nets won’t necessarily be looking to make win-now moves in free agency this summer.
“They’ve sent the message that if they do anything major with their space, it’s likely going to be through trade, not signings,” one rival executive told Windhorst. “Even if that trade doesn’t happen this summer, they’ll want to keep their options open.”
Nets general manager Sean Marks has shown in the past that he’s willing to pursue restricted free agents and give them aggressive offer sheets. During the team’s initial rebuild, Marks and his front office took that route with Allen Crabbe, Tyler Johnson, Donatas Motiejunas, and Otto Porter Jr. in a span of two years (2016-17). But there’s no indication at this point that Brooklyn plans to pursue an RFA such as Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, Quentin Grimes, or Santi Aldama in the same way, which means those players may have limited leverage.
“Actually it’s no leverage,” another agent told ESPN. “I’ve prepared my clients for a free agent recession this summer. Next year will be different, the cap will be going up and teams will clean up their books as they deal with the new spending rules. So you may have to wait and try again.”
Here’s more from Windhorst and his ESPN colleague Tim Bontemps:
- Examining the Timberwolves‘ upcoming free agent decisions, Bontemps says multiple scouts and executives believe that guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker could command a deal in the range of the full mid-level exception, since he has been a reliable three-and-D role players and is entering his prime years. As our projections show, a full four-year mid-level contract in 2025/26 is expected to be worth in excess of $60MM.
- Sources around the NBA believes that both Julius Randle and Naz Reid will return to the Timberwolves next season, according to Bontemps. Both power forwards hold player options for 2025/26, with Randle’s worth $29.5MM (plus incentives) and Reid’s worth $15MM. Even if both players remain in Minnesota, it’s unclear what form that would take — opting out to sign a new deal would be one path, as would opting in, with or without a new extension.
- The Timberwolves have another important free agent in their front office, having pushed back Tim Connelly‘s opt-out clause from 2024 to 2025. Team sources tell Windhorst that prospective owner Marc Lore has “made it a priority” to sign the president of basketball operations to an extension if and when he and Alex Rodriguez gain full control of the franchise.
- In case you missed it, we also passed along reporting from Windhorst and Bontemps on the Pacers and starting center Myles Turner. That story can be found here.
Pacers Will Look To Re-Sign Turner Without Going Into Tax
The Pacers “absolutely” want to re-sign center Myles Turner when he reaches unrestricted free agency this summer, team sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Insider link).
However, as Windhorst details, the Pacers’ cap situation would complicate those negotiations. Indiana already has approximately $165MM in guaranteed salaries on its 2025/26 books for just 10 players, not including Turner. The luxury tax line projects to come in at just under $188MM and Indiana has no plans to surpass that threshold next season, sources tell ESPN.
Turner, meanwhile, is making $19.9MM in ’24/25 and will likely be seeking a raise on the heels of another strong season. The big man is averaging 15.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.6 assists in 30.6 minutes per game across 65 outings. He’s also making a career-best 40.2% of his three-pointers on a career-high 5.5 attempts per contest.
As ESPN’s Tim Bontemps observes in the same story, a lack of league-wide cap room could hurt Turner in negotiations, since there will be few rival suitors in position to make a competitive offer for the 29-year-old. Still, it’s hard to imagine Indiana bringing him back at a price that would allow the team to fill out its roster and remain out of tax territory without shedding at least a little salary elsewhere.
Windhorst and Bontemps don’t identify any specific players who might emerge as trade candidates for salary-dump purposes, but the team may soon have to make decisions on swingman Bennedict Mathurin ($9.2MM salary in 2025/26; extension-eligible this offseason), who has been in and out of the starting lineup, and forward Jarace Walker ($6.7MM salary in ’25/26; $8.5MM team option for ’26/27), who hasn’t been a consistent part of the rotation since January.
Forward Obi Toppin, who is owed about $45MM over the next three seasons beyond this one and is averaging fewer than 20 minutes per game, could also be an odd man out, though his longer-term deal might make it harder for the Pacers to maximize his value on the trade market.
Grizzlies Rumors: Jenkins, Bane, Aldama, Morant, Iisalo, LaRoche
Taylor Jenkins‘ dismissal as the Grizzlies‘ head coach on Friday came as a major surprise, especially given the timing and the fact that he was under contract beyond this season. However, the team’s decision to overhaul his coaching staff a year ago was among the first signs that Jenkins’ days in Memphis may be numbered, according to Sam Amick, Fred Katz, and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Last July, executive VP of basketball operations Zach Kleiman and his front office unilaterally decided to replace five of Jenkins’ assistants: Blake Ahearn, Brad Jones, Scoonie Penn, Sonia Raman and Vitaly Potapenko. Team and league sources tell The Athletic that Jenkins became emotional during his final exchanges with those outgoing coaches, and while he had consulted with the front office on the new hires, those last interactions with his former assistants set an “uneasy tone” for the 2024/25 season, per Amick, Katz, and Vardon.
That coaching overhaul may have signaled a declining level of organizational support for Jenkins, but the Grizzlies’ inconsistent play in the second half of this season and against playoff teams was the main reason he was let go, according to The Athletic’s reporting.
Memphis has gone just 9-13 since starting the season 35-16 and has lost nine games in a row to teams at or above. 500, with an average margin of defeat of 12.8 points per game in those contests.
The defensive drop-off during the recent slump has been troubling, Amick, Katz, and Vardon say — the Grizzlies have a defensive rating of 116.7 in their last 22 games, 19th in the NBA, after playing at a top-five level for much of the first half, and league sources tell The Athletic that the organization “worried greatly about buy-in.”
Even in the team’s only win for the last two weeks, a Tuesday blowout of the Jazz, Desmond Bane and Santi Aldama had an altercation on the bench, exchanging shoves after Bane called out Aldama’s defensive effort, according to a source who spoke to The Athletic.
Here’s more on the Grizzlies:
- A Memphis offense once built around pick-and-rolls now sets fewer screens than any other NBA team and relies more on “clever cutting and off-ball movement,” according to The Athletic’s reporters, who say that the offensive changes came in large part from the new assistants. Star point guard Ja Morant hasn’t been a huge fan of the changes, since he’s playing off the ball more and seeing fewer pick-and-roll opportunities. “Some days he looks like he’s ready to play, and some days he looks like he doesn’t want to be there … because he hates the offense,” one league source tells The Athletic.
- The Athletic’s report credits assistants like Tuomas Iisalo and Noah LaRoche with playing pivotal roles in introducing the new offensive system while noting that Jenkins had recently begun reinstalling some of the screen plays Morant likes to run. It’s unclear, then, what sort of message the front office is sending by firing both Jenkins and LaRoche while elevating Iisalo to the role of interim head coach.
- League sources tell The Athletic that Morant was upset about the decision to let go of Ahearn last summer and that he “remained supportive” of Jenkins until his firing on Friday.
- The Grizzlies paid an above-market salary – along with a buyout – in order to hire Iisalo away from Paris Basketball in 2024, according to Amick, Katz, and Vardon. Paris reportedly liked Iisalo’s offense so much that the team made it a requirement when seeking his replacement that the new coach wouldn’t be allowed to change the system.
- Kleiman put out a statement last month strongly refuting the idea that the Grizzlies would consider trading Morant this summer, but firing the only head coach Morant has ever played for will likely reignite speculation about the guard’s long-term future in Memphis, per Amick, Katz, and Vardon. For what it’s worth, two league executives who spoke to The Athletic questioned how much demand there would be for Morant on the trade market, given his injury history, his past off-court transgressions, and a dip in production this season.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Early Bird Rights
Bird rights offer teams the chance to sign their own free agents without regard to the salary cap, but they don’t apply to every player. Other salary cap exceptions are available for teams to keep players who don’t qualify for Bird rights. One such exception is the Early Bird, which applies to players formally known as Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agents.
While the Bird exception is for players who have spent three seasons with one club without changing teams as a free agent, Early Bird rights are earned after just two such seasons. Virtually all of the same rules that apply to Bird rights apply to Early Bird rights, with the requirements condensed to two years rather than three.
Players still see their Bird clocks restart by changing teams via free agency, being claimed in an expansion draft, or having their rights renounced. A player who is traded can also have his Bird clock reset if he approves a move after having re-signed with his previous team on a one-year contract (or a one-year contract with a second-year option) earlier in the league year.
As is the case with Bird rights, a player’s clock stops when he’s released by a team and clears waivers, but it would pick up where it left off if he re-signs with that same team down the road without joining another club in the interim.
For instance, if the Lakers were to re-sign Christian Wood this week, he would have Early Bird rights this offseason because – even though he was waived in February – he would be on track to finish a second consecutive season with Los Angeles and didn’t join another team in the interim.
Conversely, Lamar Stevens is an example of a player who won’t have Early Bird rights this offseason even though he’s finishing a second consecutive season with the Grizzlies. Stevens signed a contract with the Pistons between his stints in Memphis, resetting his Bird clock.
The crucial difference between Bird rights and Early Bird rights involves the limitations on contract offers. Bird players can receive maximum-salary deals for up to five years, whereas the most a team can offer an Early Bird free agent without using cap space is 175% of his previous salary (up to the max) or 105% of the league-average salary in the previous season, whichever is greater.
These offers are also capped at four years rather than five, and the new contracts must run for at least two years — the second season can be non-guaranteed, but can’t be a team or player option. Raises are maxed out at 8% per season.
Ty Jerome (Cavaliers) and Bruce Brown (Pelicans) are among the notable free agents who will have Early Bird rights during the 2025 offseason. Fred VanVleet (team option; Rockets) and Kelly Oubre (player option; Sixers) would join that group if their options are declined.
In some instances, teams can benefit from having Early Bird rights instead of full Bird rights if they’re trying to preserve cap space. The cap hold for an Early Bird player is 130% of his previous salary, significantly less than most Bird players, whose cap holds range from 150-300% of their previous salaries.
However, having a player’s Early Bird rights instead of his full Bird rights puts a team at a disadvantage in other cases. For example, when Isaiah Hartenstein reached free agency in 2024, his Early Bird rights limited the Knicks to a maximum four-year offer of $64.2MM ($72.5MM after incentives), a figure the Thunder had no problem topping when they signed Hartenstein to a three-year, $87MM deal.
In order to match or exceed Oklahoma City’s offer, New York would have had to use cap room, which the team didn’t have available — having Hartenstein’s full Bird rights would’ve allowed the Knicks to give him a far more substantial contract without requiring cap space.
Meanwhile, some players with limited NBA experience are subject to a special wrinkle involving Early Bird rights, called the Gilbert Arenas provision, which applies to players who have only been in the league for one or two years. We cover the Arenas provision in a separate glossary entry, so you can read up on the details there.
Essentially, the Arenas provision protects teams from a situation like the ones the Knicks found themselves in with Hartenstein, allowing them to match offer sheets on their restricted free agents without necessarily using Bird rights or cap room to do so.
During the 2023 offseason, Lakers guard Austin Reaves and Pelicans forward Herbert Jones were both Arenas free agents. Another Laker, Max Christie, and Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio were among the RFAs who fit the bill a year ago. There are no notable restricted free agents in 2025 on track to be subject to the Arenas provision, though there might be a small handful who fall into that category if they receive qualifying offers after having team options declined.
Finally, one more distinction between Bird rights and Early Bird rights applies to waivers. Players who are claimed off waivers retain their Early Bird rights, just as they would if they were traded. Those who had full Bird rights instead see those reduced to Early Bird rights if they’re claimed off waivers.
This rule stems from a 2012 settlement between the league and the union in which J.J. Hickson was given a special exception and retained his full Bird rights for the summer of 2012 even though he had been claimed off waivers that March.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.
Western Notes: Curry, Kuminga, Collier, Fertitta
Stephen Curry‘s pelvic contusion only forced him to miss two games, but the Warriors star said after making his return on Friday vs. New Orleans that he expects to “feel it for a while,” as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN notes. Still, Curry, who suffered a hairline fracture in his tailbone when he fell hard onto courtside stairs during the 2020/21 season, was relieved not to get a similar diagnosis this time around.
“I think that (this time it didn’t) break anything or have any bone damage, was mostly just a deep serious contusion that I’ll feel it for a while,” Curry said. “But I can play and I can’t make it worse as long as I don’t land on it again.”
Curry made just 7-of-21 shots across 34 minutes in Friday’s win over the Pelicans and spoke after the game about needing to work on his timing and endurance. But head coach Steve Kerr believes that getting a week off at this point of the season – even if he spent most of it recovering from an injury – will benefit Curry this spring.
“I thought he looked great,” Kerr said, per Youngmisuk. “He was moving really well. Took care of the ball. I thought Steph played an excellent game. He probably missed his last five or six threes, so the numbers don’t look great, but he looked like himself. And I think the week off did him a lot of good.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- With Warriors guard Gary Payton II sidelined due to a thumb injury, Kerr believes there’s an opening for forward Jonathan Kuminga to step up and take on some of the defensive responsibilities that the team had given to Payton (Twitter video link via Anthony Slater of The Athletic). “It opens up an opportunity for JK to be that defensive stopper, the guy we’ve relied on Gary to be,” Kerr said. “JK’s the obvious guy. Put him on the best offensive player, pick up full (court), harass people like Gary does. I’m going to ask JK to do that. It definitely opens up more minutes for him if he’s effective with that.” Kuminga, who have averaged just 23.4 minutes per game in eight contests since returning from an ankle sprain, didn’t have one specific defensive assignment on Friday against a New Orleans team missing most of its top scorers.
- Speaking to NBA insider Chris Haynes on the first episode of the Haynes Briefs YouTube show, Jazz guard Isaiah Collier said that not being selected to participate in last month’s Rising Stars game at All-Star weekend motivated him and added “fuel to the fire” (Twitter video link). As Andy Larsen writes for The Salt Lake Tribune (subscription required), the Jazz are making a strong promotional push to get Collier a spot on an All-Rookie team, dedicating a section of their website to making his case for consideration. It has been up-and-down season for the first-year guard, but since he entered Utah’s starting lineup on January 5, Collier has more assists than anyone in the NBA besides Trae Young, Nikola Jokic, and James Harden.
- While Tilman Fertitta has indicated that he’ll resign as CEO of Landry’s Inc. if he’s confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino, the Rockets owner won’t be stepping away from his controlling interest in the NBA franchise, writes Erica Grieder of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “I have been advised that during my service as Ambassador, the Embassy may address particular matters affecting the financial interests of the National Basketball Association, of which the Houston Rockets professional basketball team is a member,” Fertitta wrote in a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. “The agency has determined that it is not necessary at this time for me to divest my interests in the Houston Rockets because my recusal from particular matters in which these interests may pose a conflict of interest will not substantially limit my ability to perform the essential duties of Ambassador.”
Grizzlies Notes: Spencer, Assistant Coaches, Jenkins, Kleiman
Two-way Grizzlies rookie guard Cam Spencer has seen an uptick in minutes of late. The UConn alum has thrived in his expanded rotation role with the club. The 6’3″ pro spoke to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype about how he’s relishing the extra run.
“As a competitor, you want to get as many minutes as you can to help contribute to winning for the team,” Spencer said. “It’s the NBA, so guys are in and out of the rotation. It’s cliché, but you do have to control what you can control a lot of times. With injuries and moving pieces, sometimes you get 20 minutes a game, and sometimes you get none or five minutes where the team needs a spark, so you really have to control what you can. You continue to work hard, control your attitude, and be ready when your number is called.”
Spencer reflected on the realities of life on a two-way contract, where young players are toggled between teams’ NBA and G League affiliate rosters.
“As a two-way player, your schedule is changing by the hour at times,” Spencer said. “You will literally be on a road trip, maybe going to practice or planning to go to practice, and then you get a call, and you have to leave the city within an hour to get back to the Grizzlies from being with the Hustle (Memphis’ G League affiliate). You play in the Hustle game for 30 minutes, then come back up top, and maybe you only get a few minutes. It’s a lot of just staying ready for your opportunities when they come, and that’s a lot of the NBA, especially on the two-way contract.”
Across 20 NBA games with the Grizzlies, Spencer has averaged 3.9 PPG, 1.4 RPG and 1.3 APG in 10.0 MPG. He has a solid .421/.371/1.000 shooting line.
There’s more out of Memphis:
- In addition to firing head coach Taylor Jenkins on Friday, the Grizzlies have let go a pair of his assistants. Sources tell ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Shams Charania (Twitter link) that assistant coaches Noah LaRoche and Patrick St. Andrews were also axed. MacMahon notes that LaRoche had been a key contributor to the Grizzlies’ new offensive approach in 2024/25. Another one of Jenkins’ assistants, Tuomas Iisalo, was promoted to serve as his replacement in an interim capacity.
- Although the decision to move on from Jenkins may have seemed sudden, fissures had apparently been forming for a while, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. The Grizzlies let Jenkins go after having lost four of their last five contests. A source tells Cole that several Memphis players were “shocked” to hear the news. Tensions had also developed between rookie center Zach Edey and Jenkins, according to Cole, who notes that the rookie had been removed from the starting lineup for the Grizzlies’ last three games. “[General manager Zach Kleiman] blamed Taylor,” a source told Cole. “Taylor blamed Zach. No one takes accountability for absolutely anything.”
- In case you missed it, injured two-time All-Star Grizzlies guard Ja Morant is considered “day-to-day” to return from a left hamstring strain that has cost him Memphis’ last six games. He’s listed as questionable to play vs. the Lakers on Saturday.