Southeast Notes: Knueppel, Hornets, Heat Bigs, Kispert
On Thursday night, Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel set the rookie record for made three pointers when he hit his 207th of the season against the Pacers, per ESPN. He managed to achieve the feat in just 59 games, shattering the mark previously set by Keegan Murray, who needed 80 games to establish that record in 2023. Knueppel, who leads the entire NBA in threes, claimed he wasn’t hunting for the record during the game.
“It’s really just about making the right basketball play,” Knueppel said. “My teammates are setting good screens and setting me up in good spots. The coaches as well. I’m just out there looking to make the right play for my team.”
The rookie’s shooting display caught the attention of the greatest shooter of all time, Stephen Curry, who holds the single-season record with 402 made threes.
“He can obviously shoot the ball at a high level,” Curry said after playing the Hornets. “You can’t really leave him open at all as he has such a quick release and shoots with confidence. And his play-making is very underrated. His game just suits the NBA style, whether it’s fast-paced or a slowed-down possession game.”
We have more from around the Southeast Division:
- While Knueppel’s individual play has caught fans’ attention, it’s just one of many reasons for optimism in Charlotte this season, Roderick Boone writes for the Charlotte Observer. The Hornets are currently one of the hottest teams in the league, having gone 17-6 in their last 23 games. After years of struggles to put a competitive team together, there is a palpable sense of excitement from the team and fanbase as Charlotte looks to keep climbing the Eastern Conference standings. “It’s a different vibe,” said Miles Bridges. “We’ll go to away games, their teams be loud, cheering along. And we didn’t have the same at home. Some people showed up, but now it’s like everybody’s showing up, showing us love… Shout out to the fans that’s been down with us before and shout out to the fans now.”
- Heat big men Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware want to play more minutes together, but they know the numbers need to justify it, Anthony Chiang writes for the Miami Herald. For much of the season, Adebayo/Ware duo has been one of the team’s worst two-man groups statistically, but that has started to turn around recently, Chiang notes. Against the Rockets, the pair was unleashed and the Heat won the 16 minutes they played together by 21 points. “I mean, it felt good,” Ware said. “It felt like the days when I’ve played alongside him recently. So, I mean, it felt good.” One wrinkle coach Erik Spoelstra introduced to make the pairing more effective was to use them in a zone defensive scheme, Ira Winderman writes for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Both of those guys were really good in our zone,” Spoelstra said. “Kel’el, that was one of his better jobs in the zone, just communicating, and protecting in that inner circle… Bam was super dynamic at the center position in the zone, and when you play him in the wing (in the zone), he’s our best wing defender, as well.”
- Corey Kispert recorded his career high in points in his first time playing against his former Wizards as a member of the Hawks, Lauren Williams writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kispert had 33 points and six rebounds as Atlanta won the game without ever trailing. “This game meant more to him. He’d been there for a long time,” teammate CJ McCollum said. “For me, I had a cup of coffee, some tea there. I just figured out my directions on how to get the facility without a GPS when I got traded. He spent some real time there, so I’m glad he’s doing that.”
Warriors Notes: Porzingis, Curry, Santos, Richard
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he made a “stupid mistake” while discussing Kristaps Porzingis‘ health issues during an appearance Friday on a local radio show, writes Evan Webeck of The California Post. Kerr explained on 95.7 FM that Porzingis, who missed a fourth straight game on Saturday, has been suffering this week from a contagious illness that’s causing him to lose “a lot” of fluids. The Warriors coach said it’s not related to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), the condition Porzingis said last October that he had been diagnosed with.
During that radio appearance, Kerr referred to Porzingis having POTS as “misinformation,” explaining that he was relaying what he’d been told by Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh, who formerly worked in Golden State’s front office and traded Porzingis to the Warriors at the deadline.
“I called (Saleh) and I said, ‘Is this POTS story real?’ He said it’s actually not POTS. That was some misinformation that was out there,” Kerr said on Friday. “I don’t know if anybody’s asked him about it. Bottom line is whatever was bothering him in Atlanta that was keeping him out has nothing to do with the illness last week. He was just sick.”
A day later, Kerr walked back the comments he made during that radio interview, telling reporters that Porzingis is being afflicted by a “medical issue way beyond my capabilities of explaining.”
“It was a stupid mistake by me to talk about something that I’m not qualified to talk about,” Kerr added. “So I regretted even trying to discuss the diagnosis. That was my mistake. I need to leave that to the professionals.”
Porzingis has only made one 17-minute appearance for the Warriors since the trade, but Webeck states that he returned to practice on Friday and Kerr said he’s feeling better.
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Stephen Curry said he’s not quite ready to return in an interview during the telecast of Saturday’s game, relays Angelina Martin of NBC Sports Bay Area. He missed his 10th straight game due to runner’s knee. “It’s going to be a little longer, but, like I said, right now with this one, it’s just about each day,” Curry told ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “Can you stack good days, and I’ve done that, so hopefully they can unleash me on the court soon, and like I said, get back out there sooner than later.”
- Gui Santos, who signed a three-year extension on Saturday, said it’s a result of doing what the Warriors have asked of him, per Nick Friedell of The Athletic. Santos has been able to work his way into the starting lineup after being drafted with the 55th pick in 2022. “I think the key word for that is patience,” he said. “Because when I got here, I was a point guard. Playing back in Brazil was like playing as a point guard, having the ball in my hand. Then I spent the whole year in the G League just learning how to fit in the system here. Because my goal always was playing in the NBA, playing for the Warriors. And I asked them what I got to do to do that, and they said, ‘We’re gonna give you the way. You got to play hard on defense, you got to be crashing the boards all the time, and you just got to find Steph — it’s easy.’ So I said, ‘All right, I’m doing that.’ I was just working at that in my first couple years.”
- The Warriors’ injury list grew longer when guard Will Richard was forced out of Saturday’s game with a sprained right ankle, the team announced (via Twitter).
Community Shootaround: Who Will Come Out Of The East?
The Pistons have held the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference since early November and have maintained a firm grip on that spot. At 42-14, Detroit has a 4.5-game lead on its next-closest competitor in the conference and has a 10-2 record against the other Eastern teams currently in playoff (ie. top-six) position.
However, there are still questions about the Pistons’ ability to win three consecutive playoff series and represent the Eastern Conference in the 2026 NBA Finals. A relative lack of postseason experience is one potential concern. Detroit’s first-round exit last spring represented the team’s first playoff appearance since 2019 and the only taste of the postseason that young stars like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren have gotten so far.
A lack of offensive firepower is another possible red flag for the Pistons. The team leans heavily on Cunningham for scoring and shot creation and lacks reliable play-makers and knock-down shooters alongside him. Detroit ranks 28th in the NBA in three-point makes per game (11.1).
Monday’s loss to San Antonio exposed those flaws and cast a spotlight on Trajan Langdon‘s decision not to be more aggressive at this month’s trade deadline, notes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required). The Pistons’ only real pre-deadline acquisition was wing Kevin Huerter, who has struggled with his outside shot this season and fallen out of the team’s rotation in the past three games.
If not the Pistons, who else could come out of the East this spring? Well, the Celtics hold the No. 2 seed despite being without Jayson Tatum all season as the All-NBA forward recovers from an Achilles tear. With Jaylen Brown taking on the primary role, Boston has built the best offense in the conference without its usual leading scorer, writes Esfandiar Baraheni of The Athletic, posting a 120.0 offensive rating that exceeds the team’s mark from 2024/25.
Still, there’s no guarantee Tatum will be able to return to action before the end of this season, and the Celtics would miss him more in big postseason moments than they do in a typical regular season game. And even if Tatum does make it back in the coming weeks, is it realistic to expect him to be back to his old self in time for the playoffs after such a lengthy layoff and challenging rehab process?
The Knicks, who have the NBA’s third-best offensive rating, hold the No. 3 spot in the East at 37-22 and are coming off a conference finals appearance in 2025. New York is a good team, but under new head coach Mike Brown, the club has also looked “like a world beater one quarter and a bottom-feeder the next,” according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, who suggests we may not know for sure until the playoffs how good the Knicks really are.
Interestingly, none of those three teams are currently the betting favorites to win the East, according to most sportsbooks. That honor belongs to the Cavaliers, who have looked resurgent in recent weeks after a shaky start to the season and have pulled into a tie with the Knicks at 37-22. The Cavs, winners of 13 of their past 15 games, have “renewed confidence” following the deadline acquisition of James Harden, head coach Kenny Atkinson said following his team’s victory over New York on Tuesday (story via Jamal Collier of ESPN).
“We understand we’re a better team,” Atkinson said. “That spirit, that confidence for some strange reason, it makes you play harder, compete harder, compete harder defensively. I felt like we were kind of missing that edge, that belief. I feel like we’re regaining that. A lot of it has to do with who we added in the trade.”
The Cavaliers were widely viewed as a favorite to win the East in the fall after winning 64 regular season games in 2024/25 and being derailed by injuries in the playoffs. Enthusiasm about their ceiling waned as they hovered around .500 through Christmas, but it has been building again as of late. For what it’s worth, the Cavs are also the only one of the East’s projected playoff teams that doesn’t have a losing record against the Pistons so far in ’25/26 — the teams have split their two matchups.
The Raptors, Sixers, Magic, Heat, Hawks, and Hornets are all lurking in the Eastern Conference playoff picture as potential threats.
A Philadelphia team that has Joel Embiid and Paul George wouldn’t be an easy out. The same is true of a fully healthy Orlando squad, though we haven’t seen that very often in the past year or two. Charlotte still has a ways to go to even make the playoffs and would be an underdog in a first-round series, but few teams have been hotter in recent weeks — since January 22, only the Cavs (12-2) and Spurs (11-2) have a better record than the Hornets (12-3).
We want to know what you think. Which team do you expect to represent the East in the NBA Finals this season? Is Tatum’s potential return the wild card that could swing your decision or are there other factors you think will ultimately determine how the postseason plays out in the Eastern Conference?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Hawks Notes: Kuminga, Young, Johnson
Jonathan Kuminga‘s first game with the Hawks on Tuesday was a resounding success, writes Paul Newberry of The Associated Press.
In 24 minutes off the bench, the former Warriors forward – who was dealt to Atlanta at the trade deadline – scored 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. The Hawks outscored the Wizards by 16 minutes with Kuminga on the floor en route to a 119-98 victory.
As Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays, head coach Quin Snyder told reporters after the game that Kuminga showed “a lot of maturity” by sharing the ball with his new teammates and letting the game come to him. The 23-year-old, whose Hawks debut was delayed due to a left knee bone bruise, said it hasn’t taken him long to get comfortable as he adjusts to his new club.
“I think is very simple,” Kuminga said. “It’s basketball at the end of the day. I try to be a student of the game, as much as I can to kind of be learning from other players here, from JJ (Jalen Johnson) and Nickeil (Alexander-Walker), just asking them questions about pretty much everything, just trying to pick their brain.”
We have more on the Hawks:
- Before Kuminga enjoyed a big Atlanta debut, the story entering Tuesday’s Hawks/Wizards matchup was Trae Young‘s return to his longtime NBA home. The veteran point guard, who made four All-Star teams during his time in Atlanta, still hasn’t played since being traded to Washington due to knee and quad issues, but he was on the Wizards’ bench and got emotional when the Hawks played a tribute video during the second quarter, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I just wanted the Hawks fans to know how much I love and appreciate them,” Young said before the game. “… The fans showed us so much love throughout the years that I was here, even the years that we were down. It felt like there was still a lot of love. So, I’ve got so much love for this city and these fans.”
- An otherwise positive night for the Hawks was marred to some extent by Jalen Johnson exiting Tuesday’s win in the first quarter due to a left hip flexor injury. The All-Star forward was ruled out for the rest of the game after being evaluated by the team’s training staff. “There was enough there not to send him back in the game,” Snyder explained, per ESPN. It’s unclear whether Johnson will miss additional time as a result of the injury.
- In case you missed it, former Hawk Nikola Djurisic is reportedly nearing a deal with the Serbian team Crvena Zvezda after having been waived by Atlanta last week.
Jonathan Kuminga Ready To Make Hawks Debut Tuesday
February 24: The Hawks list Kuminga as available for Tuesday’s game (Twitter link).
February 23: New Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga has been upgraded to questionable ahead of Tuesday’s game vs. Washington, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks. According to Anthony Slater of ESPN, Kuminga is expected to make his Hawks debut tomorrow against the Wizards (Twitter link).
Kuminga last played on January 22, when he suffered a bone bruise in his left knee after hyperextending it. Atlanta acquired the 23-year-old along with Buddy Hield ahead of the trade deadline in the move which saw Kristaps Porzingis head to Golden State.
The seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft, Kuminga had a prolonged contract standoff with the Warriors as a restricted free agent last offseason. He ultimately signed a two-year, $46.8MM deal that includes a $24.3MM team option for next season.
The final 23 games of the season will be important for Kuminga, as that team option means he could be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Through 20 games this season, he has averaged 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 23.8 minutes per contest, with a shooting slash line of .454/.321/.742.
Atlanta, which made a noteworthy change to its starting lineup for Sunday’s win over Brooklyn, is currently 28-31, the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference. This is the fifth straight season in which the Hawks project to make the play-in tournament.
Southeast Notes: McCollum, Herro, Carter, Penda
CJ McCollum replaced Zaccharie Risacher in the Hawks‘ starting lineup for Sunday’s game against the Nets, a move that shifts the former No. 1 overall pick to the bench for the first time since the second game of his NBA career. Previously, Risacher had started in 117 of his first 119 games.
This decision to promote McCollum to the starting five reflects Quin Snyder‘s trust in the veteran guard. Recently, the Hawks’ head coach discussed closing games with McCollum over Risacher.
“That is, by far, our best lineup from a plus-minus standpoint,” Snyder said of the group that features McCollum alongside Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Onyeka Okongwu, per Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com (Twitter link). “You could make an argument that we should start that lineup … How can we best use CJ?”
According to Lauren L. Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes (via Twitter), people around the league believe Risacher puts a lot of pressure on himself and that this move could help relieve some of that pressure.
The Hawks fell behind against the Nets but completed a fourth-quarter comeback, winning 115-104. McCollum had 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while Risacher scored seven points off the bench.
We have more from around the Southeast:
- After missing over a month with a rib injury, Tyler Herro has come off the bench for the Heat‘s last two games, both of which were wins. It’s a role the former Sixth Man of the Year is very familiar with, Ira Winderman writes for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “It doesn’t really feel like I’m out of place, because we got guys that can start and I’m comfortable in my role and in myself,” Herro said. “So I’m happy where I’m at.” Herro scored 24 points in 23 minutes as a reserve in his return to action against the Hawks, and 14 points on 15 shots against the Grizzlies. His role and minutes will likely be determined by how his body reacts to returning to play. “We are going to manage the minutes. I’m not overthinking it. I’m not putting anything in cement. I don’t have a timeline for anything,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re how many ever games into the season right now and we finally have our full roster. We’re just going to try to maximize these next 25 games as much as possible and we just want everybody just to pour into the team, pour into the role, don’t overthink things at this point.”
- In his third game with his new team, Jevon Carter hit a massive three-pointer in double overtime for the Magic before a Jalen Green shot won it for the Suns. After the game, Paolo Banchero spoke about Carter’s impact. “Just coming in here and taking advantage of his opportunity, just fitting in, playing both sides of the ball,” Banchero said, per Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). “He hit a big shot, I wish we could have pulled the win out for him, because that was a huge shot.” While Carter’s late-game shot was his biggest moment of the game, it’s his defense that has most impressed coach Jamahl Mosely, Beede writes. “As soon as he stepped on the court, it was pick-up full-court, talking in the huddles, getting guys in the right spots, stepping in with confidence to his shot,” Mosley said. “He’s about all the right things. He’s about winning. He’s about toughness. He fits exactly what we do here with the Magic, just being able to (play) hard-nose defense, creating your offense on the other end.”
- When the Magic drafted Noah Penda 32nd overall last June, they likely didn’t expect him to become a crucial piece in year one, but amidst an injury-plagued season, he has become an important factor in keeping the team afloat, Spencer Davies writes for RG. Davies adds that Penda has maintained the same mindset and effectiveness whether coming in for a four-minute run off the bench or closing games as a starter. Penda’s rebounding has been a crucial part of his impact — when the rookie goes to the bench, the team’s offensive rebounding rate drops by nine percent, Davies notes. The rookie forward says the entire team has helped him learn the ropes in his first NBA season, but cites Tyus Jones, who was traded at the deadline, as a veteran who really took Penda under his wing when he wasn’t playing and helped him focus on what he needed to do to be ready when his number was called.
Seven NBA Teams Have An Open Two-Way Slot
After a busy trade deadline, we’ve reached the portion of the season where teams make changes to the back ends of their roster in preparation for the playoffs and the future. That often involves promoting players from the G League to either 10-day deals or two-way contracts, and converting two-way standouts to standard deals.
While 16 two-way standouts have been promoted in the past few weeks, that’s not always the case. Minnesota recently waived Johnny Juzang after he reached his 50-game active limit, for example, and Oklahoma City did the same a few weeks ago with Chris Youngblood.
Teams can convert players on two-way contracts to standard deals until April 12, the last day of the regular season. However, March 4 is the final day for a team to sign a player to a two-way contract, and several clubs currently have a two-way opening ahead of that deadline.
As our tracker shows, a total of seven two-way spots are vacant around the NBA, and each opening is for a different team. Here’s the full list:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Sacramento Kings
Each of these seven teams is virtually certain to fill its open two-way spot in the next several days. Two-way contracts don’t count against the salary cap, so there’s no financial reason to not have all three spots filled by March 4.
Players on two-way contracts generally bounce back and forth between the NBA and G League, but remain under team control and can’t be poached by rival franchises. You can learn more about two-way deals in our glossary entry.
Contract Details: Gardner, Highsmith, Houstan, Jones, Two-Ways
Heat swingman Myron Gardner will receive a minimum salary ($395,029) for the rest of the 2025/26 season after being promoted from his two-way contract. However, Miami had to use a portion of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception in order to complete his deal, since it includes two additional years beyond this season.
Gardner’s second year features a partial guarantee of $500K, and he’ll receive his full minimum salary of $2,150,917 for 2026/27 if he remains under contract through January 7 next year, Hoops Rumors has learned. The third year of the deal is fully non-guaranteed, but the Miami wing would receive his full $2,525,901 salary if he isn’t waived on or before July 15, 2027.
Here are a few more details on the contracts recently completed around the NBA:
- Haywood Highsmith‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Suns includes a $1MM partial guarantee for 2026/27, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). It also features language protecting the team in the event that the veteran wing re-injures his surgically repaired right knee, Hoops Rumors has learned.
- As expected, both Caleb Houstan of the Hawks and Spencer Jones of the Nuggets were unilaterally converted from their two-way contracts to rest-of-season, minimum-salary contracts rather than negotiating new deals. Houstan will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, while Jones will be eligible for restricted free agency.
- The two-way contracts recently signed by Tyrese Martin (Sixers), Trevor Keels (Heat), and Jeenathan Williams (Warriors) are each for one year, while Riley Minix‘s new two-way deal with the Cavaliers will cover two seasons, Hoops Rumors has learned.
Hawks Convert Caleb Houstan To Standard Contract
February 19: The Hawks have officially converted Houstan to a standard deal after waiving Djurisic, the team confirmed today in a press release.
February 18: The Hawks are converting Caleb Houstan‘s two-way contract to a standard, rest-of-season deal, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
A 2022 second-round pick who spent his first three NBA seasons in Orlando, Houstan signed an non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract with Atlanta and then had it converted to a two-way deal at the end of the preseason. Of the eight players whose Exhibit 10 deals were converted to two-ways before the season, Houstan will be the first one to be promoted back to a standard contract.
Houstan, 23, averaged 14.4 minutes per game in 168 outings for Orlando and made 37.2% of his three-point tries. However, he has played a very limited role for the Hawks, logging just 49 total minutes in 10 appearances.
Presumably, Atlanta envisions a more significant role at the NBA level for Houstan in the final two months of the season. The 6’8″ forward has spent most of the season in the G League, averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 32.9 minutes per contest across 30 appearances. He has knocked down 37.5% of 9.1 three-point attempts per game for the College Park Skyhawks.
The Hawks have a full 15-man roster, so they’ll need to waive someone in order to open up a spot for Houstan. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the odd man out will be Nikola Djurisic, a 2024 second-round pick who signed his first NBA contract during the 2025 offseason but has yet to make his NBA debut.
Although Djurisic signed a three-year contract, only the first year was guaranteed, so Atlanta won’t carry any dead money on its books beyond this season as a result of waiving him.
Southeast Notes: Herro, Kuminga, Wagner, Ball
Heat guard Tyler Herro has been sidelined since January 15 due to what the team referred to as a rib injury. According to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, Herro suffered a buckle rib fracture affecting three ribs during a January 10 game in Indiana. He was able to play for three more games after that, receiving Toradol shots to treat his pain, but an MRI revealed the extent of the injury, prompting the club to shut him down for several weeks.
Herro’s time on the inactive list appears to be nearing an end, however. He’s expected to practice on Thursday and return to game action at some point in the coming days, assuming he doesn’t experience any setbacks, Chiang writes.
Injuries have been an issue all season long for Herro, who has been limited to just 11 outings. He has looked like his usual self when he’s been available, averaging 21.9 points in 31.7 minutes per game, with a .497/.358/.902 shooting line.
As Chiang observes, the former All-Star should provide a boost for an offense that has struggled following a strong start to the season. Miami ranks just 22nd in the NBA in offensive rating since December 5, with Herro appearing in just six games during that stretch.
We have more from around the Southeast:
- Recently acquired Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga isn’t yet ready to suit up for his new team — Atlanta announced on Wednesday (via Twitter) that Kuminga will be reevaluated in one week as he continues to rehabilitate a left knee bone bruise. Still, Ken Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required) is intrigued by what the former seventh overall pick could bring to the team once he’s healthy, suggesting that the transition-oriented style favored by Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker could be a good match for Kuminga’s skill set.
- Magic forward Paolo Banchero said on Wednesday that it’s “unfortunate” teammate Franz Wagner is facing another extended absence due to a troublesome ankle issue, but he stressed that he doesn’t want Wagner coming back “before he’s ready.” As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel writes (subscription required), head coach Jamahl Mosley echoed that message. “It’s so important — his ability to get it all the way right where he’s not trying to be in, then out, and then the soreness continues to get to him,” Mosley said. “Just making sure it’s right … It’s the long haul for him. It’s the long part of his career that we’re looking at more than anything.”
- Hornets star LaMelo Ball was involved in a car accident in uptown Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon, but he wasn’t injured, according to a report from Joe Marusak, Alex Zietlow, and Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Witnesses described Ball’s camouflage Hummer crashing into a silver sedan in the middle of an intersection and said he eventually exited his car and was escorted into another car.