Bulls Notes: LaVine, Terry, Drummond, Vucevic
The trade market for Zach LaVine has been cold and there’s a real possibility he’ll remain on the Bulls roster through the season, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes.
Word leaked early in the season that LaVine was open to being moved but there’s been little traction in that regard. His recent foot injury and modest production since his return hasn’t helped that cause.
However, LaVine seems to be focused on contributing to the team, rather than a fresh start.
“In my conversations with Zach — and again he’s never really talked about his future, his feelings toward the organization and the team, never anything like that — everything he’s talked about is: How does he help the group? And it’s always been really positive, constructive conversations with him,” coach Billy Donovan said. ‘I know there is a lot of reporting and things that were out there about what potentially may or may not happen, but my conversations with him leading into his return was he needed to come in and help the group any way he could.”
We have more on the Bulls:
- Dalen Terry has received steady minutes and the 2022 first-rounder is earning Donovan’s trust, according to Cowley. “The thing I like about him is [that] as a young player, maybe getting consistent minutes this year where last year he didn’t, you know there’s going to be these moments of down where he’s not going to play well,” Donovan said. “I always try and look at younger players as, ‘How do they come back and respond?’ . . . It’s not even making or missing shots, [but] defensive rotations, assignments, sending a guy left and he doesn’t do that, or [he] forgets to block out, leaves his feet on a shot fake and fouls a shooter. Those are the things that he’s got to get more consistent on. [But] when he’s had games where he’s done those things, he’s always come back and responded really well, and I always think that’s a good sign.”
- Andre Drummond has put up impressive stats while starting the last seven games but he’s headed back to his usual bench role on Wednesday, Cowley reports. Drummond averaged 14 points and a whopping 17.4 rebounds per game during that span as the Bulls went 4-3. Nikola Vucevic has been eased back into the rotation since returning from a groin injury but he’ll start against the Rockets. “Vooch brings a different thing to the table as far as what he does offensively,” Donovan said.
- In case you missed it, the Bulls haven’t dismissed the possibility of including Lonzo Ball‘s contract as part of a trade package to upgrade the team.
Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra Signs Eight-Year Extension
8:04pm: It’s an eight-year deal, a source tells Reynolds (Twitter link). The contract is worth over $100MM, Chiang tweets, while ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski pegs that figure above $120MM (Twitter link).
7:51pm: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has signed a long-term contract extension, according to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press (Twitter link).
Spoelstra had been in the last year of his contract. While the exact terms of the extension are unknown, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that it’s for more than five years at a rate of over $10MM per season (Twitter link).
Spoelstra will be one of the league’s highest-paid coaches, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. Head coaching salaries have risen dramatically over the past year. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich signed a five-year contract worth a reported $80MM and Pistons coach Monty Williams inked a six-year, $78.5MM deal.
Spoelstra, who has been in the Heat organization since 1997, has been the team’s head coach since the 2008/09 season and has two championships to his credit. He has also guided the franchise to the NBA Finals in four other seasons, including last season’s appearance after surviving the play-in tournament.
In total, Spoelstra has compiled a 725-506 (.589) regular season record across his 15-plus seasons in Miami, with an impressive 109-75 (.592) mark in the playoffs.
Popovich is the NBA’s only current head coach who has been with his current organization longer than Spoelstra has been with the Heat.
Central Notes: Morris, Cunningham, Haliburton, Antetokounmpo
With Cade Cunningham sidelined by a left knee strain, the Pistons would love to have guard Monte Morris available. However, Morris has been out all season due to a quad injury.
Morris, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Washington, is making progress but he won’t return to action for at least a couple more weeks, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Morris has started ramping up his basketball activities this week and could make his season debut before the end of the month.
“Monte’s chomping to get back,” coach Monty Williams said. “This is the first time he hasn’t had pain in his leg since he got injured.”
Morris could be a trade chip for the Pistons — he has an expiring $9.8MM contract.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Speaking of Cunningham, Williams doesn’t believe his star guard was injured against Golden State on Friday, as some have speculated, Sankofa adds in another tweet. Cunningham played in the first half against Denver on Sunday. Williams blames himself for the heavy workload he has placed on Cunningham and some other players. “We looked at the film. We don’t think (he was injured against the Warriors). I just think it’s a bit of load,” Williams said. “I’m playing guys way too much in long stretches. It’s something that I have to look at when he comes back to make sure he’s not in this situation again.”
- The Pacers were 1-9 last season when Tyrese Haliburton was sidelined by an elbow injury, but they feel confident that can hold the fort without him this season, according to Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. Haliburton will miss at least two weeks with a hamstring strain. “I think we have a better mentality moving forward than we did last year without him,” forward Aaron Nesmith said. “We have a really good next-man-up mentality, especially because we’re just so deep. Everyone on this team works hard, deserve to play, and they always showcase what they’re able to do when they get the chance. I think we’ll be alright.”
- The Jazz shredded the Bucks’ defense on Monday and Milwaukee heard boos from the home fans. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who criticized the team’s defensive effort after Saturday’s loss to Houston, didn’t mince words again when asked about the team’s performance. “At the end of the day, you gotta play hard,” Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t think it’s about making or missing shots. It’s about giving effort out there and when you don’t, I think people feel that. When you wear a Bucks jersey and you don’t play hard — not just Bucks jerseys, any jersey — I think we have great fans. But around the league, if you don’t play hard and don’t give everything for the team, there are times where you might get booed.”
And-Ones: Dumars, Nwaba, Vildoza, 2024 Draft
Last week, the Nets became the first team to get fined for resting healthy players since the NBA introduced its new player participation policy in September. Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that the rules will continue to be enforced when teams try to sit multiple players who are not legitimately injured.
“We are serious about this,” Dumars said. “We talked to people, we talked to everyone, all parties we talked to before the season started. And to not follow through with this would not be right of us. It would not be the thing to do, to not follow through. So yeah, we are very serious about this. We communicated, we overly communicated with everyone about this, and we made very clear that if your guys can play or we feel that your guys can play, they should be on the court. And it’s gone over extremely well this year.”
We have more from around the international basketball world:
- The London Lions have officially signed former NBA guard David Nwaba, Sportando relays. The Lions’ interest in Nwaba was reported by BasketNews last week. Nwaba’s last NBA stint was with Houston in 2021/22. The six-year veteran appeared in 237 regular season games during his NBA career, averaging 6.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.
- Luca Vildoza, who played seven games with Milwaukee in 2021/22, suffered a ruptured lateral meniscus in his left knee while playing for Greece’s Panathinaikos, according to Sportando’s Allesandro Maggi. The Argentinean guard will undergo surgery on Tuesday, according to the Greek club.
- In his latest mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has the Pistons taking French big man Alexandre Sarr with the top pick. Wasserman compares Sarr, who’s playing in Australia with the Perth Wildcats, with Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. Point guard Nikola Topic, who recently suffered a knee injury while facing EuroLeague competition, goes at the No. 2 spot to the Spurs in Wasserman’s mock, while another European, French wing Zaccharie Risacher, comes off the board at No. 3 to the Wizards.
- ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) have put out another roundup of notes on 2024 draft prospects, exploring what’s gone wrong for UCLA’s top three NBA prospects (Aday Mara, Adem Bona, and Berke Buyuktuncel) and whether recent injuries to Sarr and Topic will hurt their stock, among other topics.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
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Pacers’ Star Haliburton Suffers Left Hamstring Strain
JANUARY 9: Haliburton has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain and is expected to be reevaluated in about two weeks, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Although the star guard will miss some time, there’s a sense of relief that the injury isn’t more serious, Wojnarowski adds.
JANUARY 8: Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a left hamstring strain during the first half of Indiana’s game against the Celtics on Monday and did not return.
Haliburton was injured late in the second quarter while driving to the basket. He slipped in the lane and did the splits. He then twisted around on the court in pain while grabbing the back of his left leg.
Buddy Hield and James Johnson carried Haliburton off the court and into the locker room. He’ll undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the injury, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files writes.
Haliburton leads all Eastern Conference guards in the All-Star voting and it’s much deserved. He’s averaging career highs at 24.2 points and 12.7 assists per game.
If Indiana has to go an extended stretch without him, Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell would take over the essential role of lead ballhandlers.
Agness points out that Haliburton was wearing high-top Kobe shoes, rather than his usual low-top Kobe’s. He also slipped on the court during the first quarter.
The Pacers pulled out a 133-131 victory.
“Really amazing effort from our team,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “A lot of emotions in this game for a lot of reasons. You’re playing the best team in basketball and Tyrese’s injury situation is a very deflating moment. We hope that it’s not serious.”
Cade Cunningham Will Be Reevaluated In 7-10 Days
JANUARY 9: The Pistons announced today in a press release that Cunningham has been diagnosed with a left knee strain and will be reevaluated in about seven-to-10 days.
JANUARY 8: The Pistons got some good news regarding Cade Cunningham‘s latest ailment. He avoided a serious injury to his left knee, according to Shams Charania and James Edwards III of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Cunningham didn’t play in the second half of the Pistons’ loss to Denver on Sunday due what the team described as a knee strain. There was no obvious play in which he was injured and there’s been speculation he might have tweaked the knee in the team’s previous game against Golden State.
“Our franchise player. A guy like that can’t play, it has a trickle-down effect across the board,” coach Monty Williams said during the postgame press conference. “We have different guys stepping up in the pecking order, having to handle the ball and make plays and that kind of thing. Pretty clear how important Cade is to our program.”
Cunningham could miss at least a few games, The Athletic duo adds. Detroit has a back-to-back against Sacramento on Tuesday and San Antonio on Wednesday. The Pistons will complete a three-game home stand against Houston on Friday.
Cunningham, the top pick of the 2021 draft, missed most of last season due to shin surgery. He’s averaging 22.8 points, 7.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds in his third season in the league.
Detroit is 3-33, having dropped four straight since snapping its record-breaking 28-game losing streak.
Wizards Waive Guard Ryan Rollins
10:45pm: The Wizards have officially waived Rollins, the team’s PR department tweets.
10:17pm: The Wizards are waiving guard Ryan Rollins, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
Rollins has appeared in 10 games with Washington, averaging 4.1 points in 6.6 minutes per night.
A second-round pick in 2022, Rollins played 12 games for Golden State last season. He was included in the trade that sent Chris Paul to the Warriors and brought Jordan Poole to Washington.
Rollins had a $1,719,864 salary this season. His deal wasn’t fully guaranteed beyond this season, but it included a $600K partial guarantee for 2024/25, according to Spotrac. The Wizards will be on the hook for that money unless he’s claimed on waivers.
Rollins hasn’t appeared in an NBA contest since Dec. 27. The Wizards are planning to replace him on the roster soon, perhaps with a player on a 10-day contract, according to Robbins.
Jazz Waive Christopher, Sign Preston To Two-Way Deal
The Jazz have waived Josh Christopher and signed Jason Preston to a two-way deal, Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets.
Preston spent training camp with the Grizzlies but was waived prior to the season. He was also cut by the Clippers at the beginning of October before his $1.8MM salary became fully guaranteed. He appeared in 14 games with L.A. last season and spent most of his time in the G League.
Prior to getting a contract with Utah, Preston was playing for the G League’s Memphis Hustle. Preston played in 17 games (16 starts) for the Hustle, averaging 12.4 points (on 48.1% shooting), 8.6 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per contest.
Christopher appeared in 138 games with Houston from 2021-23 but hasn’t seen any NBA action this season. He has appeared in 18 games (17 starts) for the Jazz’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in 29.0 minutes per contest.
He was signed to a two-way deal in mid-October.
Ja Morant To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant has suffered a labral tear in his right shoulder and will undergo season-ending surgery, the team’s PR department announced (Twitter link).
It’s a stunning turn of events for Memphis’ franchise and Morant, who returned last month from his 25-game, league-imposed suspension.
Morant suffered a subluxation of his right shoulder during Saturday’s training session. After he experienced continued soreness and instability, Morant underwent an MRI that revealed the underlying labral tear, per the Grizzlies. He’s expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Morant averaged 25.1 points, 8.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds in nine games since he served out the suspension, including a game-winning shot against New Orleans on Dec. 19 in his return to action.
The Grizzlies won just six games during his suspension. They were 6-3 in games that he played.
Morant sat out Sunday’s win over Phoenix with what the team described at the time as shoulder soreness.
The loss of Morant would seemingly end any realistic hope of the Grizzlies getting into the postseason picture and could also alter the front office’s approach to the trade deadline.
Morant is the first year of a five-year, rookie scale max extension.
The Grizzlies have until January 15 to file for a disabled player exception, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. The exception would be worth approximately $12.4MM, the amount of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Memphis already has a $6.3MM DPE as a result of Steven Adams‘ season-ending injury.