Central Notes: Cavaliers, Thompson, Pacers, Vucevic
The Cavaliers have taken note of the blockbuster additions made by Milwaukee and Boston. They remain firm in their belief that they’re ready to join the Eastern Conference’s elite, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveleland Plain Dealer.
“I feel like we’re right there,” Donovan Mitchell said. “I think obviously with Milwaukee adding Damian Lillard, who is one of the best guards to play this game, on top of having Giannis, who is one of the best players, it makes it tougher for sure. And then adding Jrue Holiday to an already stacked Celtics team makes it tougher. But at the end of the day, we have high hopes. We continue to have high goals and a high ceiling.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- Could the Pistons insert lottery pick Ausar Thompson into the starting lineup ahead of several veteran options? It’s a possibility, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic. The wing’s defensive prowess and willingness to do the little things has impressed his teammates. “He plays winning basketball,” Cade Cunningham said. “He plays super hard. He connects the floor very well. His play-making ability is something I feel like should be talked about more. He’s a willing passer. He’s able to read the floor really well. Obviously, the way he gets after it on the defensive end is what’s going to make him a huge impact on Day 1.”
- Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle says it’s time for the franchise to “take competitive steps,” Akeem Glaspie of the Indianapolis Star relays. “We anticipate a highly, highly competitive camp,” Carlisle said. “We’ve spent two solid years in a true development mode. We’re going to keep an eye on development, but we’re looking to take competitive steps. We had a meeting with the guys last night, we told them to expect it to be hard and to embrace it being hard. For us to make strides, we’re going to have to do a lot of the little things. We’re gonna have to do it in the margins, we’re gonna have to be very, very together like we were last year.”
- Nikola Vucevic had discussions with coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls front office regarding his offensive role prior to his decision to sign an extension, he told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Yeah, there was a lot of discussions about that,’’ Vucevic said. “That was a big thing for me. A lot of stuff we talked about was more with Billy because he’s the head coach and he’s the one that makes those decisions. But it was finding ways to utilize me more. Not so much only for me shooting the ball and scoring but using my play-making ability to help the team in different ways.’’
Wizards Notes: Jones, Gallinari, Poole, First Practice
Tyus Jones was acquired by the Wizards as part of the three-team blockbuster that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Washington. The point guard is already bringing a calming presence to the young team, Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes.
“He’s essentially a coach on the floor,” coach Wes Unseld Jr. said.
Jones will take over as a starting point guard after serving as a backup for a majority of his career.
“This is what you strive for. You always want more, right? If you’re not striving and working towards more responsibilities, I feel like you’re in the wrong profession,” he said. “So, this is what I’ve been working for, going into year nine, for eight seasons now. But, at the same time, the work’s just getting started now. (There’s) more responsibility, more pressure — all those things.”
We have more on the Wizards:
- With Daniel Gafford out two-to-four weeks due to an elbow sprain, veteran forward Danilo Gallinari is willing to play center in his absence, Robbins tweets. “Whatever needs to be out on the court, whatever position I need to play, I just want to play basketball. So any position is good,” Gallinari said.
- Jordan Poole doesn’t want to dwell on the past, particularly the incident last training camp with the Warriors when he was punched by teammate Draymond Green, he told Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. “We in the era where people feel the need to express themselves. I don’t need that. I quite frankly don’t care,” he said. “I really only care about hooping. All the extra stuff? It’s going to come — no matter how cool or how chill of a person you are, they’ll find something to talk about.”
- Unseld was pleased how the team looked in its first practice on Tuesday, Robbins tweets. “I thought the energy was terrific. That’s been great carryover for us kind of through the open runs. We’ve seen those guys get after it,” he said.
Pacific Notes: LeBron, Green, Jackson-Davis, Sabonis
As last season ended, Lakers superstar LeBron James hinted he would consider retiring. With training camp opening this week, James struck a much different tone, Jovan Buha of The Athletic writes.
James says he’s ready for another run at a championship. “I feel like I got a lot more in the tank to give,” he said.
However, he’s not ready to commit to playing beyond this season. He holds a $51.4MM option for the 2024/25 season.
“I don’t know what the end of this road looks like, or at the end of the season. I have no idea,” he said.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- While some people look at the Warriors’ roster and conclude they need more beef up front, Draymond Green has a different take, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN. “They said we didn’t have enough size in 2022, and we won,” Green said. “I’ve been told I wasn’t the right size forever, and I’ve won. … I can show you where we didn’t have enough size and we won. In saying that, I’m not totally against having another big.” Golden State doesn’t have a traditional center to back up Kevon Looney.
- Late second-round pick Trayce Jackson-Davis knows what he must do to get playing time in his rookie year with the Warriors, Anthony Slater of The Athletic relays. “I’m going to screen for some of the best shooters in the world, and I’m going to get rebounds,” the forward out of Indiana University said. “I’m going to try to be a lob threat, and I’m going to try to bring energy.”
- Kings star big man Domantas Sabonis says his thumb is fully healed and didn’t require surgery, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee tweets. Sabonis suffered an avulsion fracture in his right thumb last season and played through the injury.
New York Notes: Simmons, Claxton, Brunson, Quickley
Ben Simmons spent the offseason trying to show Nets coach Jacque Vaughn and his staff that he’s physically and mentally ready to be the team’s point guard, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports writes. Simmons believes he can regain the All-Star form he displayed in Philadelphia before things went sour.
“Show him that I want to play at this level and be the point guard and do these things,” Simmons said, adding “I think that comes with, we speak about it, is grace. When you put that work in, you really get grace from the surrounding people. Your teammates, your coaches and staff.”
We have more from the New York teams:
- Nets big man Nic Claxton believes his hopes for the Defensive Player of the Year award ended last season when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were dealt, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “I went from being top three in the Defensive Player of the Year to an end of the season, nothing at all. KD and Kyrie, when they left, it’s like my name just fell off the map. It makes my blood boil,” Claxton said with a laugh. “I was robbed of [an All-]Defensive team [spot], not even saying Defensive Player of the Year. It definitely is motivating. It’s an even bigger chip on my shoulder, and I’m ready to be there for my team to prove to everybody, proving myself who I am as a defender and as a player in this league.”
- The Knicks didn’t add any star power so improvement will generally have to come from within, Jalen Brunson told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “It’s pretty much the same group, but we’ve got to continue to find ways to get better,” Brunson said. “It may be the little things, little mental edges, just concentration on the little things. Just our chemistry is going to get a lot better from knowing each other for a year now.”
- One of the big questions looming over the Knicks in training camp is whether they’ll reach a rookie scale extension agreement with Immanuel Quickley. The reserve guard brushed aside questions about it on media day on Monday, according to Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “Whatever happens, happens because it’s all up to my agent and the Knicks at that point,” he said, adding “I feel like I can be better. I feel like I can be a lot better. I feel like there’s a lot of untapped potential that I have in my game. And I’m going to do everything I can, like I’ve always done, to reach that.” A recent report indicated there’s optimism an agreement will be reached.
Central Notes: Mitchell, Stewart, Holiday, Middleton, Hield, Edens, Cunningham
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has notified the front office he will not sign a contract extension before the season opener, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports.
“I still have the opportunity to sign an extension next summer,” Mitchell said. “My primary focus is this. Just trying to go out there and trying to be the best team we can be and bring a championship to the city and go from there. We added new additions. We obviously had a season that you could kind of rate went really well until it went really poorly. So, for us, that’s where all of our heads are at. That’s where my head is at.”
Mitchell’s current contract runs through the 2025/26 season, though the last season includes a player option.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Pistons general manager Troy Weaver said character played in a role in the front office’s decision to extend Isaiah Stewart this summer, Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press tweets. “You always want to have a player or players on the team who are symbols for what you want to be about, and he’s that on and off the floor. Who he is as a person and what he brings to practice, what he brings as a teammate,” Weaver said. Stewart signed a four-year, $60MM extension despite only appearing in 50 games last season.
- While the Bucks are thrilled that Damian Lillard is on their team, they admit it’s strange not to have Jrue Holiday around anymore, according to Ben Steele of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I had just got done with a workout (when he found out),” Khris Middleton said. “I would say just mixed emotions. First, knowing if it was really real or not because it came out of the blue. But then, it sucks to see our guy go. What he did for our organization, what he did for me as a person and my family. It was tough. It was tough to have that conversation and see him go the other way. But to get somebody like Dame in, you got to be excited for a guy like that.”
- Buddy Hield came to Pacers camp ready to go, despite stalled extension talks, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star reports. “It’s basketball. It’s fun. I approach it as every training camp, especially like I did last year, coming focused and ready and just get the work in,” Hield said. “I’m excited to work with these guys. It’s a fun group of guys. There’s a lot of competition and it’s fun. We have a great coaching staff and great team that’s ready to put in the work and teammates that love each other. I’m excited and I can’t wait.”
- Bucks co-owner Wes Edens says he’s fine paying the luxury tax for a championship contender, JR Ratcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. “We are absolutely in the luxury tax. I think we’re one of the highest luxury-tax payers in the league. For one of the smallest markets in the league, we are one of the biggest payers of the luxury tax,” Edens said. “From an economic standpoint, we can firmly say we are all in. The windows when you have a team the quality we have are relatively short, and we want to do everything we can to not take it for granted.”
- Cade Cunningham made a strong impression playing for the U.S. Select Team this summer. The Pistons guard ready to break out his All-Star potential after undergoing shin surgery early last season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. “What people saw (at USA Basketball camp, where Cunningham starred with the Select Team) this summer was Cade just being healthy,” Weaver said. “He didn’t do anything we didn’t think he couldn’t do. He was just healthy for the first time. He’s able to really explode off that leg and play with his mind free of not worrying about his leg. He’s the lynchpin of what we’re doing and we’re excited that he’s healthy.”
Blazers Add Knox, Reath, Smith, Davis, Minaya
The Trail Blazers officially signed Kevin Knox, Duop Reath, Malachi Smith, Antoine Davis and Justin Minaya, according to a team press release announcing the training camp roster.
Knox agreed to a one-year deal in early September. The 24-year-old forward became an unrestricted free agent after Portland declined to pick up his $3MM option for the upcoming season.
Knox began last season with the Pistons, but was sent to Portland in a four-team deal at the trade deadline. He appeared in 21 games with the Blazers, averaging 8.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per night.
Reath also agreed to a one-year contract in September. He played for Portland’s Summer League team, averaging 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in five games, and started for Australia during the World Cup. He has played overseas since going undrafted out of LSU in 2018, spending time in Serbia, Australia and China.
Smith and Davis agreed to Exhibit 10 contracts after going undrafted in June. Smith, a shooting guard, was named WCC Sixth Man of the Year this season after averaging 8.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 37 games with Gonzaga. He played one season for the Zags after transferring from Chattanooga.
Davis, a guard, finished his career at Detroit Mercy as the second all-time leading scorer in Division I history. He capped off his college career by averaging 28.2 PPG last season.
The addition of Minaya was not previously reported. A 6’7” forward, he finished last season with Portland on a hardship 10-day contract. Minaya went undrafted out of Providence in 2022 and spent most of his first professional season playing for the Mexico City Capitanes in the G League. In 27 NBAGL regular season appearances (35.1 MPG), he averaged 12.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.1 steals with a shooting line of .487/.339/.472.
Portland now has a full 21-man squad.
Suns Notes: Ishbia, Nurkic, Booker, Watanabe, Ayton
Forget about the defending champion Nuggets. Forget about what the Bucks and Celtics have done in recent weeks. Suns owner Mat Ishbia confidently declares his team the best in the league, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic reports.
“We’ve got a great team. I think we’ve got the best team in the league,” Ishbia said. “Obviously, we’ve got to play it out. We’re really excited.”
Ishbia believes that Jusuf Nurkic, acquired in the three-team Damian Lillard blockbuster, is a “better fit” than Deandre Ayton, who was dealt to the Trail Blazers.
“We wish Deandre nothing but the best,” Ishbia said. “He was a great part of the organization, he’ll do great things in Portland, but for us, Nurkic is the better fit and it wasn’t my decision or a one-person decision. It was a unanimous decision that we think it was the right fit for our team.”
We have more on the Suns:
- General manager James Jones is confident Devin Booker will feel comfortable as the main ball-handler, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets. “Devin’s a player. He’s figured out how to be effective on the ball, off the ball….He’s not gonna complain about having the ball in his hands more, so we’re looking forward to that,” Jones said. Jordan Goodwin and Eric Gordon will also serve as ball-handlers, he added.
- Yuta Watanabe said one of the reasons he signed as a free agent was that he wanted to play again with Kevin Durant, Rankin tweets. They were teammates in Brooklyn. “I really enjoyed playing with him,” Watanabe said. “He’s a great teammate, great guy, great leader. After he was traded I was really sad.”
- Ayton took a verbal shot at his former organization, hinting the Suns didn’t want him to succeed, Rankin tweets. “I’m with an organization that wants me and wants me to succeed,” Ayton said. “It’s a lot more passion when you feel that mentally and you’re seeing that physically as well. It’ll be a lot more grit and a lot more DominAyton this year.”
Lakers Notes: James, Russell, Wood, Davis
LeBron James says he’s no longer the face of the Lakers franchise. He gives that title to Anthony Davis, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.
“He is the face [of the franchise],” James said. “You look at all these [retired] numbers that surround this facility, all the greats that have come here and AD is one of them.”
Davis, who signed a three-year max extension in August, says he feels the need to be a leader.
“I think I’m going to be the second-oldest guy here now so guys lean on me a lot,” he said. “I feel like it’s my responsibility, being one of the leaders of the team alongside Bron. It’s my job to help those guys and help the young guys and continuously being on them. Let them know what we need and what we need to get better and giving them advice so we can all be together and unified to be able to compete for a championship.”
We have more on the Lakers:
- D’Angelo Russell offered a simple explanation as to why he re-signed with the Lakers this summer, McMenamin tweets. “They made me feel wanted,” he said. Russell signed a two-year, $37MM contract at the start of free agency.
- Christian Wood says he’s motivated to disprove the “false narrative” about him, he told Spectrum SportsNet (video link). Wood lingered in free agency much longer than expected before accepting a two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Lakers. “Just ready to prove a lot of people wrong,” he said.
- Davis believes the Lakers are primed for another championship due to the moves the front office made this offseason, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “A lot of teams around the league have made a lot of good moves to improve their teams. We did as well,” Davis said. “So we know every night, going into every game is going to be a battle. I think we’re prepared for it. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do. But I like our chances against anybody. We have depth, we have speed, we have shooting, we have ball-handling, we have play-making. We have it all. Now it’s just time to get on the floor.”
Clippers Notes: Leonard, Primo, Mann, Covington
Kawhi Leonard said he’s unaffected by the league’s new rules regarding load management, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN.
Leonard had his games limited during his lone season with Toronto and the Clippers have also employed the strategy with him and other players. He hasn’t played more than 60 regular-season games since the 2017/18 season.
“I’m not a guy that’s sitting down because I’m doing load management — well, when I was with the Raptors, it was different; like, I was coming [off] an injury,” he said. “And you have to know the details from the doctor. But if the league is seeing or trying to mock what I did with the Raptors, they should stop because I was injured during that whole year. But other than that, if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball. I work out every day in the summertime to play the game. So, no league policy is helping me to play more games.”
We have more on the Clippers:
- Newcomer Joshua Primo said he’ll let his actions speak for him as he tries to clean up his image, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Primo will serve a four-game league suspension for indecent exposure. Primo signed a two-way contract with the Clippers late last month. “Talking’s cheap, guys,” he said. “Obviously it’s going to be my actions each and every day that proves my character.”
- Apparently, the possibility of starting Leonard at power forward and inserting Terance Mann in the backcourt alongside Russell Westbrook is in play. Coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged he’s been thinking about, Greif tweets. “You’re a smart man,” Lue responded when asked about it during media day.
- The Clippers were uninterested all summer in putting Mann in potential trade packages for Philadelphia’s James Harden, according to Greif.
- Lue hinted he plans to give Robert Covington more playing time this season, Greif added in another tweet. He said Covington deserved to play “a little bit more last year, and that’s my fault.” The veteran forward appeared in only 48 games off the bench last season, averaging 16.2 minutes per night, his fewest since his rookie season.
Bulls Notes: DeRozan, LaVine, Ball, Vucevic, Carter, Luxury Tax
Bulls wing DeMar DeRozan is headed to unrestricted free agency next summer unless he signs an extension. He said he’ll let his agent, Aaron Goodwin, concentrate on that issue, according to ESPN News Services.
“I have an agent. He deals with it and I tell him to leave me the hell alone so I can focus on my five kids,” DeRozan said. “I’m not kidding you. I try not to focus on that and let him handle what he needs to handle.”
Executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas says he’s in active discussions with Goodwin regarding an extension for DeRozan, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
DeRozan is hoping to stay with the Bulls and lift them to greater heights rather than pushing to join an established contender.
“For me, it’s all about understanding what we can do to win. How we can win,” he said. “Obviously, this is a place I want to be. You can take that out of the equation.”
We have more on the Bulls:
- The Zach LaVine trade rumors never completely go away, but he feels he showed his loyalty to the organization last year when he signed a long-term contract, Bulls Talk tweets. “I committed to the Bulls when I signed here, and I’ll be committed to the Bulls until I leave,” he said. “That’s not my decision. I made my decision to be here.”
- Lonzo Ball, who will miss the season after undergoing cartilage transplant surgery, said he’s “about halfway through the rehab process,” Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic tweets. Ball is aiming to return for the 2024/25 season.
- Nikola Vucevic felt an obligation to return to the Bulls, noting they gave up a lot of assets to Orlando when they acquired him, Mayberry tweets. “Chicago traded for me. They brought me here. They gave up a lot for me,” he said. “And so I felt a responsibility to come back and help the team do better than we did. I don’t know what that will be in the end. But that’s just kind of how I felt.” He inked a three-year, $60MM contract extension prior to free agency.
- The Bucks and Celtics have stolen the headlines in the East with blockbuster trades just before training camp. Jevon Carter, who played for Milwaukee last season, said he’s not concerned about what’s going on outside of Chicago, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago writes. “Thoughts on Milwaukee and Boston? I don’t really care. I’m a Chicago Bull,” he said. “I’m not really thinking about Boston or Milwaukee.”
- Karnišovas said the team’s performance will impact whether or not ownership enters luxury tax territory, Johnson adds in the same story. “I think we’re at the point where we’re going to go into the luxury tax if we’re confirming this is the group. I think this is just giving more time for this group to figure it out. And I think once you have consistent success, you can go for it,” Karnišovas said.