New York Notes: Payton, Harden, MSG Capacity, KD
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau has come out in support of starting point guard Elfrid Payton, despite the vet’s shooting difficulties during the final month of the regular season, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. Popper notes that Derrick Rose and Alec Burks have been taking on an increasing amount of minutes at Payton’s position, especially late in games. Payton will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
“There’s things that Elfrid provides for us that are a big asset to our team,” Thibodeau said of the Knicks guard. “His size, his defense, those are important factors. … You don’t have to shoot well to play well.”
There’s more out of the Big Apple:
- Nets All-Star guard James Harden has not been his normal high-scoring self during his first two games back from a hamstring strain, per Malika Andrews of ESPN. Harden, who was sidelined for five weeks, seemed optimistic despite averaging just 11.5 PPG in the contests. “My impact doesn’t have to show up on the stat sheet for us to win,” Harden said. “I think my job as a leader is to make sure everybody’s playing well. If I’m doing that, I can focus on myself last. That’s not a problem at all.”
- The Knicks are hoping to house approximately 13K fans when the playoffs kick off, tweets Ian Begley of SNY. “We’re incredibly excited to bring playoff basketball back to [Madison Square Garden, New York’s home arena] and to have the best fans in the league give us a true home court advantage,” team president Leon Rose said. As the fourth seed, the Knicks will be able to play four of their playoff series’ seven potential games at home.
- The Nets will need sharpshooting All-Star forward Kevin Durant to also give his all on defense for the team to best sharpshooting All-Star forward Jayson Tatum and the Celtics during the teams’ first-round playoff series, says Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
Southeast Notes: Beal, Collins, Bertans, Magic
After initially straining his hamstring just under two weeks ago, Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal braced himself to play through the injury in this week’s play-in tournament, writes David Aldridge of The Athletic.
“I’m a strider,” Beal said on Monday, in advance of the Wizards’ eventual 118-100 blowout play-in loss to the Celtics yesterday. “It restricts a lot of my movements, for sure. But when you’re … on the court you find ways to manage it. You’re in control of a lot of stuff. The reactionary stuff, you’re not, especially like on defense and things like that. But the things you can’t control, you try not to put yourself in harm’s way.”
The Wizards will play the Pacers tomorrow for the No. 8 seed in the East.
There’s more out of the Southeast:
- Hawks power forward John Collins, a restricted free agent this summer, can help secure himself a huge payday with a strong performance against Knicks All-Star Julius Randle in Atlanta’s first-round matchup, writes Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Collins has stepped up in a crucial season, proving his mettle on both sides of the ball, though Cunningham notes that the stretch four can still afford to develop as a ball-handler. “If I know one thing, I am going to watch a lot of (game) film, get my body ready and I’m going to be laser-focused,” Collins said of his preparation for the upcoming series. “I don’t necessarily think I have anything to prove, but I’m coming to compete.”
- Candace Buckner of the Washington Post asserts that, in order to win their second play-in game and qualify for the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Wizards will need to get more offense from power forward Davis Bertans, who is in the first year of a costly $80MM deal he signed during the 2020 offseason.
- Magic team president Jeff Weltman discussed Orlando’s offseason roster-building plans ahead with a loaded NBA draft looming, writes Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. Weltman alluded to prioritizing the best player available over fit with the current young roster ahead of the draft, in which the Magic could very well have two lottery picks. “The draft is about talent,” Weltman said. “You always ask ‘fit or best talent.’ We’re in a great position right now. We’re not going to have 15 players 23 and under. We’ll add some vets to help us grow. We don’t even know if we’ll have one or two (lottery) picks yet.”
Northwest Notes: Lillard, Deck, Mitchell, SGA
Trail Blazers All-Star point guard Damian Lillard still hopes to eventually lead the team that drafted him to a title, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. In an interesting bit of trivia, Quick says that Lillard has gone above and beyond in researching what it takes to do this. He has spoken with championship-winning players (including his new teammate Norman Powell, who won with the Raptors in 2019) and coaches with the goal of integrating their wisdom into his title quest.
“I want that more than anything,” Lillard said of winning a title for the Trail Blazers. “Not just to say I won a championship. But I want to do it in this city. I want to have a parade on Broadway and ride past El Gaucho (steakhouse). That’s what I think of. Every time the playoffs [are] starting, I’m going into it like, ‘Is this going to be the year that we shock the world or that we come up big?’
“I mean, I see every year when we get to this point as pivotal,” Lillard told Quick. “Because at every point, it’s an evaluation: Where do we go from here? Like, can we get the job done as we are? And if not, where do we go from here? What is the change that needs to be made? And I don’t know where that change comes from, you know, maybe we … I don’t know if it’s moving players, I don’t know if it’s a coaching change … whatever it is that happens in the NBA, the changes that are made when you look at the postseason and what you consider success and failure, and things like that, and what changes you have to make to improve or give yourself a better chance.”
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- Recently-added Thunder rookie power forward Gabriel Deck hopes to represent Team Argentina in this summer’s rescheduled Olympics, but will remain in Oklahoma City for the next few weeks, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.
- The top-seeded Jazz will face the Western Conference’s yet-to-be-determined eighth seed when they begin their postseason this weekend, but the health of All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell remains in question, writes Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune. Mitchell has been unable to play through a full team practice since spraining his ankle in a 119-111 defeat of the Pacers on April 16. “Whenever he’s healthy, we’ll have him back,” Mitchell’s teammate Joe Ingles said, delivering an expert non-answer.
- As Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to recover from a foot injury, he is holding out hope that he will be healthy enough to suit up for the Canadian national team in this summer’s Olympic qualifiers, tweets Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman.
Rockets Notes: Silas, Offseason, Stone, Sheirr
Rockets coach Stephen Silas dealt with a pandemic and frequent roster churn during his inaugural season as an NBA head coach. Kelly Iko of The Athletic details how Silas handled coaching a team that suddenly found itself shifting into rebuild mode midway through the 2020/21 season, and what he’s expecting out of the club moving forward.
“I’m definitely encouraged,” Silas said of the team’s future prospects. “It was a tough year for sure but going into next year I’ll be a better coach than when I first came in the door. We’ll have dealt with a lot of things that I haven’t dealt with before. To be discouraged isn’t even in the realm of things.”
Silas intends to utilize standout young guard Kevin Porter Jr. more at the point next season. Silas appears excited to explore the abilities of center Christian Wood, who looked promising when healthy during the first season of the three-year, $41MM contract he inked in the 2020 offseason.
There’s more out of Houston:
- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle takes a look at what could be a productive offseason for the Rockets. Feigen appears optimistic that Kevin Porter Jr., and rookies Kenyon Martin Jr. and Jae’Sean Tate could serve as intriguing players if they continue to develop along the trajectory that Houston management is anticipating.
- Rockets team president Rafael Stone discussed the team’s ongoing rebuild and its offseason, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. It appears Stone is opening to trading future draft equity if it can yield team improvement. “For sure, draft picks are at least as valuable as trade assets as they are as picks,” Stone said, though he tempered that note by painting a long-term perspective. “We’re really committed to building something to give us a chance to win a championship. We’re not packaging a bunch of picks to barely make the playoffs for a year or two, not at all. We’re trying to build something sustainable and with players that will be good now and great later.”
- The Rockets have promoted Gretchen Sheirr as their new president of business operations, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Sheirr will enter her 21st season with the club next season, having started as an account executive before eventually becoming the team’s CRO, then COO.
Northwest Notes: Conley, Rosas, Pokusevski, Gobert
Jazz All-Star point guard Mike Conley enjoyed a solid comeback game after missing nine contests with a sore right hamstring, writes Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune. In what amounted to a playoff tune-up game for Conley, an unrestricted free agent this summer, he scored 10 points in just 16 minutes during the first half of a 109-93 victory against the Thunder. Conley, 33, could be in line for one last big multiyear payday thanks to his stellar season in Utah.
“It was great to have him back,” Conley’s All-Star Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert said. “I feel like he was quick, he was making the right decisions. Obviously, he didn’t play the second half, but I thought in the first half, he really gave us a lift. That’s what we expect him to do. He’ll find his rhythm and hopefully get back to the level that he is comfortable playing [at]. If he plays the way he played tonight every night, I’m totally fine with that.”
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- Timberwolves team president Gersson Rosas is confident that he is building a long-term winner in Minnesota, writes Chris Hine of the Star Tribune. “We’ve had what we’ve had the last two years for whatever reasons there are,” Rosas said. “Things we can control, things we can’t control, and our record is what it is and that’s who we are. We really feel confident about the core, the roster we have in place. … Even though it’s a small sample size, when our top guys are on the floor, we’re a winning team and that’s our belief.” The Timberwolves are currently 22-49, tied with the Cavaliers for the league’s fifth worst record. The team’s 2021 draft pick will be sent to the Warriors unless it moves into the top three during the draft lottery.
- Thunder rookie power forward Aleksej Pokusevski, the No. 17 pick in the 2020 draft, saw his season trajectory benefit from a G League assignment, per Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman. “The first 10-15 [NBA] games I was just shooting the ball, wasn’t even reading the defense,” Pokusevski said. “The game slowed down after the G League for me. I started reading the game.”
- Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert has unlocked his second consecutive $250K bonus for having his minutes-to-rebounds ratio being less than 3.2, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Gobert, the likely Defensive Player of the Year, will make an additional $500K if he is named an All-Defensive First Teamer. Marks adds (Twitter link) that none of Gobert’s potential bonuses will impact the team’s projected luxury tax bill, since those incentives were deemed likely entering the season.
Oubre To Miss Play-In With Lingering Wrist Injury
Warriors forward Kelly Oubre Jr. will miss the next seven-to-10 days of on-court action as he continues to recover from a small avulsion fracture and ligament tear in his left wrist, the team announced today (via Twitter). The injury has kept him sidelined for the past nine games.
Golden State will re-assess Oubre’s wrist in the next seven-to-10 days, so there is a distinct possibility he would be available should the team advance to the first round of the playoffs.
As Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets, this update means Oubre will miss the team’s first play-in tournament appearance. Depending on the outcome of today’s season finale against the Grizzlies, the Warriors will either finish as the No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the Western Conference.
Both Golden State and Memphis sport identical 38-33 records at present — a win today for the Warriors would ensure they just need to win one of two play-in chances to make the playoffs, rather than two of two.
The 6’7″ Oubre was the team’s starting small forward for most of the season, starting in 50 of the 55 games in which he appeared. He will wrap up the 2020/21 regular season with averages of 15.4 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.0 SPG and 0.8 BPG across 30.7 MPG, with a shooting line of .439/.316/.695. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Heat Notes: Butler, Yurtseven, Long-Term Outlook, Bam
Heat star wing Jimmy Butler has had an outsized impact on the club during the games he has been available this season, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. As Chiang observes, the Heat are 6-13 in games played without Butler this year. Miami is 33-19 when Butler has suited up.
The veteran swingman is averaging 21.5 PPG and career highs of 6.9 RPG, 7.1 APG and 2.1 SPG for the club, though Chiang notes that Butler’s impact goes beyond these basic counting stats — his on/off-court net rating differential is 11.4 points per 100 possessions. Chiang posits that Butler, whose early-season injuries kept him out of making his sixth All-Star team, will earn significant consideration for All-NBA and All-Defensive team honors.
“I think if we had a complete year and a full year and health and everything, yeah Jimmy Butler, in my mind, has to be in that conversation for [league] MVP,” head coach Erik Spoelstra raved, while taking into consideration the fact that Butler and several of his teammates have missed significant time due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols and injuries during a truncated 2020/21 season. “I think his game is just continuing to grow, that’s as a winner, as a throw back player. A guy that really impacts the game on both ends of the court. He truly does, it’s not just talk. He has as much of an impact on the defensive side as he does the offensive side.”
The 39-32 Heat, currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, will conclude their season today against the 20-51 Pistons. Butler missed yesterday’s loss to Milwaukee due to lower back stiffness, and Chiang tweets that he will sit out the season finale as well.
There’s more out of South Beach:
- The Heat’s latest addition, 275-pound seven-footer Omer Yurtseven, inked his deal with Miami Friday. Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reveals that the 22-year-old big man’s contract covers the 2021/22 season, though next year’s salary will be non-guaranteed. Yurtseven was undrafted out of Georgetown in 2020. “I think that will be the biggest thing, the rebounding and the defending,” he said during a video call with reporters Friday. “And on the other side of the floor, being able to stretch the floor, being a hybrid big.” Yurtseven played for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate, during the 2020/21 NBAGL “bubble” season in Orlando. Across 14 games for the Blue, he averaged 15.2 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.4 BPG during 21.1 minutes. He also boasted a solid slash line of .626/.381/.680.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel suggests that thinking too long-term could hurt the Heat’s short-term aspirations. Winderman points to the club’s decision to sign unproven rookie Yurtseven to its 15th and final roster spot over a veteran who could help the club in the playoffs.
- Heat center Bam Adebayo could net a major payoff if he earns end-of-year awards honors during the span of his maximum five-year, $163MM rookie extension with the club, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes. If Adebayo is named to the All-NBA First Team, the value of his deal increases to $186MM over the length of the contract. If he nets the Defensive Player of the Year award, his cumulative salary would increase to $179MM. Neither of those outcomes seems particularly likely this season, however.
Khyri Thomas Inks Multiyear Deal With Rockets
MAY 14: Thomas’ contract is official, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
MAY 13: New Rockets shooting guard Khyri Thomas will ink a multiyear deal with Houston, per Kelly Iko and Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Houston first added Thomas on a 10-day deal via hardship extension last week, and since that time he has proven to be a bright spot in what has been a tough season for the Rockets, forced to part with their signature star James Harden earlier this year. Houston possesses the worst record in the NBA, with a 16-54 mark thus far. In so doing, the team have given itself the best odds at nabbing the top pick in what is supposed to be a loaded 2021 draft.
The No. 38 pick in the 2018 NBA draft out of Creighton, Thomas spent his first two seasons as a reserve with the Pistons, averaging just 7.5 MPG and 7.6 in 2018/19 and 2019/20, respectively. In seven games (all starts) for the Austin Spurs during the 2020/21 NBAGL season, the 6’3″ guard averaged 13.9 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 1.0 SPG.
In four games (including one start) with the injury-depleted Rockets, Thomas has logged major minutes. He is averaging 16.3 PPG, 5.0 APG, 3.8 RPG, 2.3 SPG, and 0.8 BPG in 30.8 MPG. He boasts a shooting line of .436/.308/1.000.
Thomas’ 10-day contract is technically scheduled to run through the end of the season, so Houston will have to terminate it early in order to re-sign him to a new deal. A multiyear contract wouldn’t be possible if he was still occupying an extra roster spot using the hardship exception, but the team has waived DaQuan Jeffries in order to create room on the 15-man roster for Thomas.
Southeast Notes: Gafford, Harris, Oladipo, Hampton
Standout Wizards center Daniel Gafford has enjoyed his new opportunity with Washington, writes Spencer Davies of Basketball News.
The athletic second-year big man has seen an increased role with the Wizards, who are currently the No. 10 seed in the East with a 32-38 record. Washington is 13-6 since Gafford became a regular part of the lineup.
Gafford averaged 12.4 minutes per game in 31 contests for the Bulls. In 21 games for the Wizards, Gafford is averaging 10.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and an astronomical 1.8 BPG, even though his minutes have increased by just 5.3 MPG a night (to 17.7).
“When I got here, it clicked automatically because you got two point guards who really know the game, and really know how to facilitate and play-make,” Gafford said of his perspective on the trade to the Wizards. He hopes to continue to expand his defensive attributes with his new team. “I’m good at blocking shots, [but] at the same time, I can be able to contain the ball up at the key if I put my mind [to it].”
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- New Magic wing Gary Harris has proven to be a locker room leader during his brief time with Orlando, writes Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. “When you have time to spend with him and you watch him in practice, you watch the way he integrates with his teammates and everything, he has character both on the court and off the court,” head coach Steve Clifford raved. “Obviously those are the guys that you want talking in the huddles, talking in the locker room because he believes and he talks about the right things.” Harris will earn $20.48MM in 2021/22 before becoming eligible for free agency next summer.
- Heat guard Victor Oladipo had a successful season-ending surgery on the pesky right quadriceps tendon that he initially injured in 2019, per a team press release. A timeline for his return has not been disclosed, but he’ll miss the entire 2020/21 postseason. Oladipo will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and his checkered injury history figures to hurt his value.
- In a wide-ranging interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball News, rookie Magic guard R.J. Hampton discussed his first NBA season and his tenures in Denver and Orlando thus far. Hampton averaged just 9.3 MPG across 25 games with the championship-contending Nuggets. Since being dealt to the Magic in March, Hampton has seen a significant increase in all his counting stats. He is averaging 24.8 MPG, and putting up 10.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 2.5 APG a night. “Now, I’m getting an opportunity to play, but I think throughout my whole season, I’ve progressed a little bit day-by-day and just gotten better over the course of these months,” Hampton told Kennedy. “I don’t think there are really any cons for me in Orlando; this is what I wanted. I wanted to be on a team where I could play and grow and help my team get wins. Those were the biggest pros and cons, and differences.”
Texas Notes: Murray, Gordon, House, Samanic
Defensive-oriented young Spurs guard Dejounte Murray overcame a tough upbringing to make the NBA and become a key part of San Antonio’s future, writes Michael Pina of Sports Illustrated in an extremely detailed profile.
Pina notes that Murray’s offensive game is a bit of a throwback, as he, like his Spurs teammate DeMar DeRozan, favors jump-shooting from the midrange over the three-point shooting that has overtaken shot profiles league-wide.
“This is my first year in the NBA being free to just, you know, play,” Murray said. “(Spurs) Coach (Gregg Popovich), he let me off the leash a little bit.
“As far as carrying the legacy on, the winning culture, yeah, I think I’m responsible for that,” Murray added. “I’m part of it. It’s a team game, but I’m a natural-born leader.” At 33-36, the Spurs currently occupy the tenth seed in the Western Conference, and are in position to appear in the play-in tournament.
There’s more out of the Lone Star State:
- Rockets guard Eric Gordon, absent with a groin injury since March 11, will not rejoin the team for its final two games of the 2020/21 season, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “Eric was doing everything he could to come back, working out with [assistant coach John Lucas] and working out with the performance team,” head coach Stephen Silas said. “Although I would have loved to see Eric play, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”
- Rockets small forward Danuel House has been able to showcase his versatile game beyond just being a reliable long-range sniper during an otherwise frustrating Houston season, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
- The official Spurs injury report ahead of tonight’s Knicks game indicates that second-year power forward Luka Šamanić has fractured the fourth metacarpal in his left hand, tweets Paul Garcia of Project Spurs.