Jericho Sims Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
Knicks center Jericho Sims had surgery Wednesday on his injured right shoulder, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The recovery process will take about five months, and Sims is expected to be ready for the start of training camp, sources tell Wojnarowski.
Sims missed New York’s entire first-round series against the Cavaliers and hasn’t played since April 7. He appeared in 52 games this season and averaged 3.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game while shooting 78% from the field.
Wojnarowski notes that Sims moved into a rotation role during the middle of the season while Mitchell Robinson was sidelined following thumb surgery, adding that the Knicks were 15-11 when Sims played at least 15 minutes.
Sims, 24, signed a two-way contract after being selected by New York with the 58th pick in the 2021 draft. It was converted to a standard deal last summer that includes a partial guarantee for next season and a $2MM team option for 2024/25.
He took part in the Slam Dunk Contest during this year’s All-Star Weekend.
Knicks Notes: Brunson, Randle, Toppin, Robinson
Jalen Brunson was the best player on the court during his first playoff series with the Knicks, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN. Brunson was New York’s top offseason addition, joining the team on a four-year, $104MM contract in free agency. The Knicks were docked a second-round pick in 2025 for early negotiations with Brunson, but it seemed like a small price to pay on Wednesday as he led the franchise to its first series victory since 2013.
“It’s a really cool experience knowing that my dad (Knicks assistant Rick Brunson) played here — he was on that team that got to the Finals (in 1999),” Brunson said. “It’s special. The connection that me and my dad have, everything, all the full circle, it’s really special.”
Brunson had 23 points, four rebounds and four assists in the close-out victory at Cleveland and made big plays to hold off several Cavaliers rallies. He quickly emerged as a team leader after coming to New York and has provided stability at point guard that the team lacked for years.
“He’s a star player,” Josh Hart said. “He showed that last year in the playoffs. He showed that this whole season, and he’s continuing to show it, continuing to prove people wrong, and none of us in that locker room or in that front office or coaching staff is surprised by how he’s playing.”
There’s more on the Knicks:
- The only downside to Wednesday’s victory was Julius Randle reinjuring his left ankle, Friedell adds. Randle didn’t return to the game after limping off in the second quarter, and coach Tom Thibodeau said he will be reevaluated today. Randle, who had struggled with his shot during the series, was back in All-Star form before the injury with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds in 16 minutes
- The Knicks got a lift from Obi Toppin, who replaced Randle after he left the game, per Peter Botte of The New York Post. Toppin scored all 12 of his points in the third quarter and thrilled his teammates with a breakaway windmill dunk. “I feel like my approach is the same every time I enter the game. I feel like I know what I got to do,” Toppin said. “Be aggressive, bring a lot of energy and have fun and definitely play defense. I feel like we all did that today.”
- Mitchell Robinson‘s work on the boards helped the Knicks survive despite shooting just 21.1% in the fourth quarter on Wednesday, states Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Robinson finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds and 18 overall as he continued his domination of Cleveland’s big men. “I’ve said this all along, I think he’s the best offensive rebounder in the league,” Thibodeau said. “Oftentimes, he’s got two bodies on him and they’re making a conscious effort to keep him off the glass. And now his defensive rebounding is coming along also. That rebounding piece is huge. The shot blocking, the rim protection, the pick-and-roll defense, and his offense is starting to come as well.”
Bucks Notes: First-Round Loss, Budenholzer, Free Agency, Antetokounmpo, Crowder
After winning a league-best 58 games during the regular season, the Bucks could only manage one victory against a determined Heat team in the postseason, writes Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The betting favorite to win the title heading into the playoffs saw its season end in shocking fashion Wednesday night with an epic fourth quarter collapse and an overtime loss.
“For me, I think this has been the worst postseason ever,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t think, you know, like we have a number in there, like every other team has a number (of games to win a title) like 16, 15, 14, and this like, we’re stuck at 15. I don’t think we’ve ever, as long as I’ve been in the playoffs, been stuck – maybe we lost in the first round – but not stuck at 15. Which is kind of hard to deal with.”
The back injury that Antetokounmpo suffered in Game 1 affected the direction of the series, but there were plenty of other explanations for Milwaukee’s first-round defeat. There were turnovers, missed free throws, rebounding lapses and a lack of focus at critical times.
Several players refused to talk to the media after being eliminated, but those who did expressed severe disappointment.
“I feel like we had the roster to do more than what we’ve done,” Jae Crowder said. “We came up short. Obviously we had a championship in mind and that’s the only conversation we always had, is championship. So we came up short big time. And we failed.”
There’s more from Milwaukee:
- Among the lapses were questionable coaching decisions by Mike Budenholzer, who was heavily criticized in the press and on social media following Wednesday’s loss. Budenholzer failed to call a timeout after Jimmy Butler tied the game with 0.5 seconds left in regulation or as the Bucks failed to get off a shot as the final buzzer sounded in overtime. There were rumors that Budenholzer might be fired before the Bucks won the title in 2021, and Tim Cato of The Athletic considers it unlikely that he’ll survive Wednesday’s performance.
- Brook Lopez, who will be a free agent, and Khris Middleton, who has a $40.4MM player option, will be the names to watch this offseason, per Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link). If the front office brings back both players, the Bucks will be a tax team for the fourth straight year.
- Antetokounmpo will become eligible for an extension in September, but that could just be a formality, according to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Gozlan expects the two-time MVP to wait and seek a new long-term contract once his current deal expires.
- Crowder is among several free agent bench players who face uncertain futures this summer. After the Bucks gave up five second-round picks to acquire him in February, he got into just three games and played 40 total minutes during the series, notes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer (Twitter link).
Timberwolves Notes: Gobert, Towns, Edwards, McDaniels, Free Agents
The Timberwolves‘ experiment of playing two big men together has been questioned ever since Rudy Gobert was acquired from Utah last summer to team with Karl-Anthony Towns. Even though Minnesota was eliminated from the playoffs in five games, coach Chris Finch‘s comments show that the organization is committed to making the pairing successful, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
“They’re both really incredibly good basketball players,” Finch said after Tuesday’s Game 5 loss. “With the skill level that KAT has, for sure, there’s no reason basketball-wise that it shouldn’t work. There’s a lot of things we can talk about about why the learning curve was so steep for it. But the most important thing is we have a big enough body of work, I think we can properly evaluate it. I still remain extremely confident we’re able to maximize those guys.”
Finch indicated that he’ll consider changes to the offense this summer, and Krawczynski notes that Towns and Gobert will have an opportunity to work together during the offseason. Towns had an illness at the start of training camp and missed 52 games during the season with a calf injury, so their acclimation process was interrupted.
Krawczynski observes that the Wolves took a step backward in rebounding despite having two natural centers in their starting lineup. He states that being outrebounded in last year’s playoffs prompted the deal for Gobert, but Minnesota fell to 27th in rebounding percentage this season after finishing 21st last year.
“It’s going to take a lot better habits from our perimeter players boxing out, to be quite honest with you,” Finch said of the rebounding issue. “It has to be a big point of emphasis.”
There’s more on the Timberwolves:
- An extension for Anthony Edwards will be among the team’s offseason priorities, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link). The All-Star guard is eligible for a five-year deal worth a projected $207MM, but that could rise to $249MM if he makes an All-NBA team. Marks points out that a maximum-salary extension for Edwards would make Minnesota the only team with three max players when it kicks in during the 2024/25 season. The Wolves will also consider a rookie scale extension for forward Jaden McDaniels, who is considered a candidate to make an All-Defensive team, Marks adds.
- Trade speculation surrounding Towns, whose four-year, $224MM super-max extension takes effect in 2024/25, could get much louder over the next year, per Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Towns will become trade-eligible in July, and Gozlan points out that he’s a logical trade option if the Wolves want to keep Edwards and McDaniels and there’s no market for Gobert.
- The Timberwolves may find it too expensive to keep both Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell in free agency, Gozlan adds. He expects Reid to get offers for the full mid-level exception, which is projected to be $52.5MM over four years.
Trail Blazers To Add G League Team
The Trail Blazers will start operating a G League affiliate next season, the team announced in a press release. The new team will play home games at the University of Portland and will practice at the Blazers’ facility.
The team name and other information such as the front office and coaching staff will be revealed at a later date, the Blazers added.
“I’m excited to welcome Jody Allen and the Trail Blazers ownership group to the NBA G League family,” said G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim. “The NBA G League continues to grow to meet the developmental demands of NBA teams, and today’s announcement is further proof of the value the league provides to the NBA every day. I can’t wait to watch the team tip off at the Chiles Center next season.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski notes that it usually takes 18 to 24 months to launch a G League franchise, but the Blazers are determined to have a team in place when the 2023/24 season begins this fall. Allen wants the organization to place a priority on player development, with Portland holding two first-round picks and a second-rounder in this year’s draft.
Wojnarowski adds that having their own affiliate will streamline the process when the Blazers send players to the G League. Currently, their players end up with teams run by rival organizations, such as the Kings and Clippers.
The move will leave the Suns, who sold their G League affiliate to the Pistons in 2020, as the only NBA team without a minor league operation. New owner Mat Ishbia is working to change that and hopes to add a G League team soon, sources tell Wojnarowski.
If Phoenix were to establish an expansion NBAGL affiliate, the league would have 32 teams — 30 affiliated with NBA franchises, plus the G League Ignite and Mexico City Capitanes.
Kawhi Leonard Has Torn Meniscus In Right Knee
The right knee injury that Kawhi Leonard suffered during the Clippers‘ playoff series was a torn meniscus, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Coach Tyronn Lue revealed on Monday that Leonard was injured in L.A.’s Game 1 victory and the condition became worse as he played through it in Game 2. The medical staff made the decision to shut him down for the rest of the series, according to Charania.
The torn meniscus is in the same knee where Leonard suffered a partially torn ACL during the 2021 playoffs. That injury forced him to miss all of last season and limited his availability this year.
Leonard was spectacular in the first two games against the Suns, averaging 34.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists as the Clippers left Phoenix with a 1-1 split. They lost the next three games with Leonard sidelined.
The recovery time from a meniscus tear can vary depending on the severity and the treatment. Two recent examples are Cameron Johnson, who was injured in early November and resumed playing in mid-January, and Collin Sexton, who didn’t return last season after tearing his meniscus in November 2021, but was fully healthy this year.
The Clippers took a gamble when they signed Leonard to a new four-year, $176.3MM contract in 2021. He will make $45.6MM next season, then has a $48.8MM player option for 2024/25. Given Leonard’s injury history, the Clippers’ disappointing playoff record and the financial restraints imposed by the new collective bargaining agreement, his long-term future in L.A. appears to be uncertain.
Southeast Notes: Young, Murray, Washington, Wizards
Trae Young saved the Hawks‘ season with a game-winning shot Tuesday night, and their series with the Celtics no longer seems like a mismatch as they head back to Atlanta, writes Jeff Schultz of The Athletic. Young drilled a 30-footer with 2.8 seconds left to cap off an improbable victory in Game 5. He scored the team’s final 14 points on a night where he played 44 minutes and didn’t check out of the game in the second half.
“I’ve been owning the moment my whole life. That’s what I do,” he said.
The heroic performance was gratifying for Young, who got off to a miserable start in the series, making 14 of 40 shots and committing 10 turnovers in the first two games in Boston. He has scored 35 and 38 points in the last two contests and has the Hawks believing they can pull off an upset.
“You look at his eyes and there was a calm,” coach Quin Snyder said. “Sometimes that happens in the middle of a storm.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks won Game 5 without Dejounte Murray, who was serving a one-game suspension for making contact with an official following Sunday’s contest. At Tuesday’s shootaround, Murray indicated that his issues with referee Gediminas Petraitis date back to his time in San Antonio, but added that he takes responsibility for the incident (video link from Coley Harvey of ESPN).
- Re-signing restricted free agent P.J. Washington will likely be an offseason priority for the Hornets, according to Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez of The Charlotte Observer. After not receiving a rookie scale extension last fall, Washington responded with his best NBA season, averaging a career-high 15.7 PPG and ranking fourth in the league in clutch field goal percentage. Charlotte’s front office considers Washington part of the team’s young core and he has expressed a desire to stay there, Melvin-Rodriguez adds. She examines the entire roster, stating that Dennis Smith Jr. will likely get a new contract this summer, Kelly Oubre‘s fate will depend on what offers he gets in free agency and Gordon Hayward may not be moveable right away but could be more attractive at the trade deadline due to his expiring contract.
- As the Wizards search for a replacement for dismissed general manager Tommy Sheppard, the NBA issued a memo stating that VP of player programs John Thompson III and assistant GM Brett Greenberg are currently running the basketball operations department, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
Tyronn Lue Expects To Remain Clippers’ Coach; Russell Westbrook Addresses Free Agency
Tyronn Lue plans to return next season as the Clippers’ head coach and he hopes to have Russell Westbrook with him, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Lue addressed two of L.A.’s biggest offseason questions after his team was knocked out of the playoffs Tuesday night in Phoenix. There have been whispers that he might consider resigning if the Clippers suffered an early exit, but he showed no uncertainty after Game 5 about his plans for 2023/24.
Youngmisuk notes that this has been a particularly difficult season for Lue because of the frequent unavailability of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George due to injuries and load management. L.A. was considered one of the favorites in the West last fall, but had to go on a hot streak late in the season to finish at 44-38 and avoid the play-in tournament.
Leonard played just 52 games in his first season back from a partially torn ACL and was only available for two games in the playoff series. George played 56 games during the regular season, but he suffered a sprained knee in March that forced him to miss the playoffs entirely. Youngmisuk points out that the Clippers were 24-14 in the 38 games that Leonard and George played together.
“I think the encouraging thing, with PG and Kawhi healthy, we haven’t lost a series yet,” Lue said. “It’s always in the back of your mind, ‘What if.’ It’s easy to say, ‘What if,’ because a lot of guys get hurt. It’s just been our luck the last three years.”
“If you look back to my first year taking over, we did some really good things. Kawhi tears his ACL then he misses the whole next season. … I think just taking some time and let our coaches get a break, let everybody get a break, reflect on the season, come back and just try to be better than we were this year.”
One of the reasons the Clippers were able to salvage their season was the unlikely comeback by Westbrook, who became a pariah with the cross-town Lakers before being traded to Utah in February. Leonard, George and other veterans lobbied the front office to sign Westbrook after his buyout, and he turned in several vintage performances late in the season and in the playoffs.
Westbrook signed a veteran’s minimum contract for the rest of the season and will be a free agent again this summer. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes, the best offer the Clippers can make to Westbrook under the new collective bargaining agreement is $3.8MM using the Non-Bird exception.
After Tuesday’s loss, Westbrook said he has enjoyed his time with the Clippers and is grateful to the organization for giving him a chance to revive his career.
“One thing I do tell you is that I love it here,” he said. “I love the people, just the fans overall embracing not just me but my family and close friends. I know a lot of things have happened (this season), but I’m grateful. I definitely love being here. As far as making a decision, I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I don’t really know my process because it’s kind of my first time doing this. So we’ll see what happens.”
Raptors Notes: Ujiri, Poeltl, Coaching Search, Nurse
The Raptors lost in the play-in tournament and parted ways with their head coach, but comments from president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri at last week’s press conference indicate that he believes the team is close enough to being a contender that he won’t try to rebuild, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
Ujiri emphasized the parity throughout the league this season, noting that 26 teams still had a path to the playoffs heading into the final two weeks. He also pointed out that Toronto was 15-10 after acquiring Jakob Poeltl from the Spurs at the trade deadline.
“I think Jakob has a lot of high basketball IQ and he’s a pass-first center,” Ujiri said. “I call players like that a championship piece because you can put him on any of the teams (still playing) except the one’s that already have great centers. But you can put a player like that on that team and he fits in right away.”
Grange notes that Ujiri appears to have more belief in the Raptors’ future than Nick Nurse, who didn’t seem to mind being replaced as head coach with a year left on his contract, or Ime Udoka, who accepted an offer from the Rockets on Monday without giving Toronto an interview.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be changes this summer. Ujiri faces significant decisions on potential free agents Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr. and Otto Porter Jr. as well as possible trades involving Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, but he seems to believe the organization is capable of turning around quickly.
“We’ve got to build spirit back here, the culture, those things that bring us together to move like we’ve always done here. We need that back,” Ujiri said. “This is very crucial for us. With our culture here, I’ll continue to say that. It’s very vital for us to have incredible energy that lifts people and gets us to work together.”
There’s more from Toronto:
- The Raptors don’t appear close to finding their next coach, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Udoka’s deal with the Rockets takes away the presumed leading candidate, so the team may wait to see if any prominent coaches unexpectedly become available as the postseason plays out. Lewenberg notes that Ujiri wants to have his next coach in place before the draft, so the process could take up to two months.
- The front office sounds willing to shake things up, but the Raptors will be working with a few limitations, per Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Toronto doesn’t have an obvious path to clear cap room, leaving the team with just the $10MM mid-level exception to pursue free agents. The Raptors’ first-round pick is likely to be in the late lottery, and they don’t have a second-rounder this year and probably won’t have a first-round selection in 2024.
- In another Toronto Star story (subscription only), Smith takes an inside look at what went wrong during Nurse’s final season as head coach.
NBA To Phase In Second Tax Apron
The second tax apron that’s included in the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be phased in over two seasons, sources tell John Hollinger of The Athletic.
The new financial provision is designed to discourage excessive spending by the league’s wealthiest franchises. It is set at $17.5MM above the luxury tax threshold and places severe restrictions on teams that go above that figure.
Penalties for exceeding the second apron include the loss of the mid-level exception, a ban on including cash as part of trades and the inability to accept more salary in a trade than the team sends out. A team in the second apron will also be unable to aggregate salary in trades and cannot trade its first-round pick seven years in the future (ie. its 2030 pick in 2023/24) or sign players on the buyout market.
Also, if a team exceeds the second apron and remains there in two of the four subsequent years, its frozen draft pick (the one that was initially seven years out) will get moved to the end of the first round, regardless of the team’s record in that season.
Hollinger points out that the Clippers and Warriors face the most immediate concerns about the second apron. Both teams are currently about $40MM above the luxury tax line and are locked into payrolls at the same level for next season. Hollinger notes that the only way for either team to substantially reduce its payroll over the next few years is to downgrade its roster.
He adds that the Bucks, Celtics, Mavericks, Lakers and Suns are also more than $17.5MM above the tax line this season, but they have easier paths to avoiding the second apron in the future.
There’s more on the new CBA:
- Teams that exceed the first apron by going $7MM above the tax will see their taxpayer MLE reduced to $5MM with a two-year maximum for signings, Hollinger adds. Like teams above the second apron, they will also be unable to take back more salary than they send out in any deal and will be prohibited from signing most players who get bought out.
- Any team that’s below the league’s salary floor on the first day of the 2024/25 season will not receive a tax distribution for that year, Bobby Marks points out in an ESPN writers’ discussion of the CBA provisions. That’s likely to encourage low-spending teams to add an additional free agent or two to make sure their payroll qualifies. Marks notes that the union also benefits from the addition of 30 more jobs with each team adding a third two-way slot, as well as growth in the non-taxpayer and room mid-level exceptions.
- The number of players that teams can have under contract during the offseason and training camp will increase from 20 to 21, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.