Suns Sign Bouyea To Two-Way Contract, Waive Huntley
November 18: The Suns have officially signed to Bouyea to a two-way deal, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets.
November 17: The Suns are signing guard Jamaree Bouyea to a two-way contract, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Bouyea has been toiling in the G League with the Austin Spurs while awaiting another NBA opportunity. San Antonio signed and waived him on Oct. 18 with the intent of having him play with the club’s G League affiliate. Bouyea had a two-way contract with the Bucks before they waived him in October.
Bouyea has appeared in a total of 19 NBA games for five teams. He had brief stints with Miami, Washington, Portland and San Antonio before making five appearances with Milwaukee last season. Bouyea, who went undrafted in 2022, has averaged 2.8 points and 1.3 assists in 12.0 minutes per game during those NBA appearances.
CJ Huntley, Koby Brea and Isaiah Livers had been occupying Phoenix’s two-way contract slots, but the Suns waived Huntley to open up room for Bouyea, the team announced (via Twitter).
A 23-year-old forward, Huntley was signed as an undrafted rookie out of Appalachian State and has yet to appear in an NBA game.
Central Notes: White, Davis, Siakam, Martin, Cunningham, Duren
Bulls guard Coby White made his long-awaited season debut and he didn’t disappoint. White, who was sidelined by a calf strain, scored 27 points and delivered eight assists in a double overtime loss to Utah on Sunday.
“The coaching staff talked to me about coming back and being aggressive, being who I was,” White said, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times. “Not kind of tiptoeing. I focused on that.”
White will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Mavericks big man Anthony Davis was born in Chicago. Would the Bulls consider trading for the highly productive but oft-injured Davis? Cowley doubts that, noting that executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said at the start of training camp, “We have to be patient, we have to do it the right way and we can’t skip steps.” Davis has two guaranteed seasons remaining on his three-year, $175.3MM deal, which includes a player option for 2027/28.
- The Pacers have been decimated by injuries, but forward Pascal Siakam says that’s not a strong enough excuse for a 1-12 start. “We are playing in the NBA, the best league in the world,” he told The Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak. “There shouldn’t be a reason why you’re out there every single night and not giving your best or trying to be the best that you can be and giving it your all. There’s thousands and millions of people who would give everything they have to be in the situation that we’re in. There’s no excuse. Obviously, it’s been tough on us. We have injuries every single day. Guys are in situations that they’re not supposed to be in. But we can’t find it as an excuse and just go out there every single night and be like, ‘Whatever happens happens.’ It has to matter. We have to fight.”
- Cody Martin‘s 10-day contract under the hardship exception expired on Saturday and the Pacers couldn’t sign him to another, according to Dopirak, since they currently don’t qualify under the hardship rules. Martin appeared in four games during his brief stay with Indiana.
- The Pistons could have three starters back on Monday against Indiana, including star guard Cade Cunningham. Cunningham has missed the last two games due to a left hip contusion, while Ausar Thompson (right ankle sprain) has missed the last three — both players are listed as questionable. Jalen Duren, who has also missed the last two games due to a right ankle sprain, is listed as probable, according to The Detroit Free Press’ Omari Sankofa II.
Ja Morant Out At Least Two Weeks Due To Calf Strain
Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant has a Grade 1 right calf strain and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the team’s PR department tweets.
Morant injured his calf on Saturday during the team’s road game at Cleveland. He played just six minutes in that contest, then underwent an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
It’s just the latest development in what has already been a tumultuous season for Morant. He had been dealing with right ankle soreness prior to the calf strain.
Trade speculation surrounding Morant began a couple of weeks ago after he had a disagreement with the coaching staff during a loss to the Lakers. Head coach Tuomas Iisalo reportedly confronted Morant about his effort level and focus during halftime and following the game, and Morant expressed frustration over Iisalo’s unorthodox substitution pattern.
The situation has been calmer since Morant returned from a one-game team suspension. The Timberwolves are one of the teams reportedly keeping an eye on Morant, who is in the third season of a five-year extension worth $197.2MM. He’s averaging 17.9 points, his lowest output since his rookie year, and 7.6 assists.
Morant has gained a reputation of being susceptible to injuries. He hasn’t appeared in more than 61 games in any of the past four seasons. He served an NBA suspension to open the 2023/24 campaign, then appeared in only nine games before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. He was limited to 50 games last season.
Given the timeline of his last injury, Morant will miss a minimum of eight games, beginning with a nationally televised game against San Antonio on Tuesday.
Central Notes: Nesmith, Pistons, Mitchell, Bucks
The injury-riddled Pacers suffered another one on Thursday as forward Aaron Nesmith suffered a left knee sprain. He won’t play in Saturday’s home game against the Raptors but head coach Rick Carlisle believes the team may have “dodged a bullet” regarding his injury, The Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak reports.
The Pacers think Nesmith avoided a “very serious” injury, according to Carlisle. Nesmith is averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game.
We have more from the Central Division:
- The injury-depleted Pistons made it nine in a row with a win over Philadelphia on Friday. They rallied from a 12-point, third-quarter deficit despite Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Tobias Harris watching in street clothes from the bench. “They’ve just got a nastiness to them, and that’s the fun part about our group,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “They like it when it gets thick. They like it when it gets messy and it gets ugly. That’s where they thrive. We like to take people there; we like to push people’s buttons and see how they respond. We’ve just got a bunch of nasty dogs in that locker room, and they love it.”
- The Cavaliers didn’t reach the Finals last season despite being a top seed. That’s why Donovan Mitchell isn’t concerned about regaining the No. 1 seed this season. “Playing well at the right time (is what’s important),” Mitchell told D.J. Siddiqi of VideoGamer.com. “Would we love to do both? 1,000%. I’m not going to sit here and say we wouldn’t want to be the No. 1 seed. At the same token, we saw last year that you can do all the things, but if you’re not ready when that time goes and if you’re not necessarily healthy, it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done during the regular season. Would I love to be the No. 1 seed? Sure. But if we’re not, am I going to be panicking? No. As long as we’re playing our best basketball at the right time, that’s all that really matters.”
- The Bucks are off to an 8-5 start and The Athletic’s Eric Nehm shares his thoughts on what he’s seen from the team this season.
Pelicans Dismiss Head Coach Willie Green
10:55 am: Borrego will remain the interim coach for the remainder of the season, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets.
8:41 am: The Pelicans have fired head coach Willie Green, NBA insider Chris Haynes reports (via Twitter). James Borrego will take over as the team’s interim coach, per Marc J. Spears of ESPN (Twitter link).
The change comes as no surprise. New Orleans has lost four straight and sits at the bottom of the Western Conference standings with a 2-10 record.
It was reported last month that they were having “serious” internal discussions about Green’s future. Team owner Gayle Benson told NOLA.com this week that any decision on Green’s job status would be made by executive VP of basketball operations Joe Dumars.
The Pelicans released a statement confirming Green’s dismissal and Borrego’s promotion.
“After careful evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to make a change at head coach,” Dumars said in the statement. “I have the utmost respect for Willie Green, and I’m sincerely appreciative of his contributions to the Pelicans organization and the New Orleans community. We wish him and his family all the best in the future.”
Benson also confirmed that Dumars made the decision to relieve Green of his duties.
“As I have stated, Joe Dumars is in charge of basketball operations decisions, and as one of the best basketball minds in the business, I trust him to make the right decisions for our franchise,” she said. “I have tremendous admiration and respect for Willie Green, and I truly appreciate all he has done for our organization over the last few years. This is a tough business and these are difficult decisions. My expectation is to be a winning team that competes for championships, and I remain steadfast in our commitment to building a championship-caliber organization for our players, partners, and above all, our fans.”
Green was named New Orleans’ head coach prior to the 2021/22 season and the team’s record steadily improved during his first three seasons. The Pelicans posted 36 wins in his first year, 42 the next and 49 in 2023/24. They made the playoffs in two of those seasons, falling in the first round both times.
Everything fell apart last season with injuries to multiple rotation players greasing the skids for a 21-61 season. Dumars was hired afterward and chose to stick with Green in the short term, but the club’s disastrous start led to his dismissal.
Pivoting to Borrego is also not a surprise.
Earlier this month, Marc Stein reported that Borrego was retained as New Orleans’ lead assistant in anticipation of a possible head coaching change. Stein noted that the Pelicans denied a request from the Knicks to interview Borrego to become the lead assistant on Mike Brown‘s staff.
Borrego, of course, has plenty of head coaching experience. He was Orlando’s interim coach in 2014/15, then had a four-year stint as Charlotte’s head coach from 2018-22. He has compiled a 148-183 record during his head coaching career.
Community Shootaround: Pistons’ Hot Start
Are the Pistons for real?
They were two seasons ago – really, really bad. Historically bad, in fact, in terms of franchise history.
They made a stunning turnaround last season under a new regime headed by president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. They qualified for the playoffs without having to go through the play-in round, then gave the Knicks a tough battle before falling the first round.
During the preseason, the Cavaliers and Knicks were considered the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Through the first four weeks of the season, the Pistons have a better record than both of those teams, though one of their two defeats came at the hands of the Cavaliers.
The Pistons possess plenty of good young talent with a sprinkling of veterans to help them along. Cade Cunningham reached All-Star status last season and has entered the early conversation for the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Not only has Cunningham posted big numbers, but he has usually saved his best for last. Cunningham is among the league leaders in fourth-quarter output.
Center Jalen Duren, a restricted free agent next summer, has stepped up his production at both ends of the floor.
Ausar Thompson’s offensive game still needs work but he’s a stat stuffer and defensive stopper who has served as the team’s secondary ball-handler this season. Second-year player Ron Holland remains a steady contributor off the bench. Backup big man Isaiah Stewart is one of the league’s elite rim protectors and interior defenders.
Tobias Harris and offseason additions Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert provide shooting, poise and leadership.
Even the end of the bench guys have played big roles. With the entire starting lineup in street clothes on Wednesday, the Pistons defeated the Bulls behind veteran big man Paul Reed and two-way player Daniss Jenkins. Under-the-radar free agent addition Javonte Green and Jenkins led them to an NBA Cup win over the Sixers on Friday, the team’s ninth consecutive victory.
The Pistons should get Cunningham’s projected backcourt partner – Jaden Ivey – back from a knee injury sometime next month. He’ll provide another element to the team’s offense with his quickness and play-making.
The Pistons are a middle-of-the-road shooting team but they make up for it by ranking high in many defensive statistical categories, including field-goal percentage, turnovers forced, and blocks.
That brings us to today’s topic: What is the Pistons’ ceiling this season? Are they at the level of the Cavaliers and Knicks, who are considered the co-favorites in the Eastern Conference? If not, what type of player should Detroit acquire to reach that level?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Sixers Notes: Maxey, Oubre, Barlow, Edgecombe
Tyrese Maxey felt the Sixers lacked mental toughness against a depleted Pistons team on Friday. Philadelphia led by 12 in the third quarter but fell apart down the stretch in a 114-105 loss.
“You’ve got to be physical back,” Maxey told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “You got to be extremely physical. You got to be mentally tougher than them. I don’t think we were mentally tough. Early on we did a good job, but once they were on a couple of runs you got to stay with it. Got to stay mentally tough.”
Sixers forward Dominick Barlow looked at the outcome as a missed opportunity.
“They outworked us,” Barlow said. “They made shots, credit to them. But we got to win that game.”
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- Kelly Oubre Jr. didn’t play in the second half due to a left knee injury. He’s scheduled to undergo an MRI on Saturday, Pompey reports. Oubre came into the contest averaging 18.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 11 games.
- Barlow returned after missing nine games due to a right elbow laceration. He racked up 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. “It was fun,” Barlow said. “Obviously, disappointed with the outcome. We’ve got to be better as a group. But it’s great playing. I love playing.”
- VJ Edgecombe scored 18 points in the loss. The third overall pick in the draft is averaging 15.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists along with 1.3 steals in his first season. “He’s the first player I’ve had that, at this age, has this much poise,” president of basketball operations Daryl Morey told James Herbert of CBS Sports. “He sort of plays like a guy who’s been in the league for a bit, which is pretty remarkable, given it’s very, very hard to be good early in the NBA.”
Magic Notes: Banchero, Suggs, Bane, Da Silva
How did Magic forward Paolo Banchero celebrate his rookie scale extension this summer? By going back to the gym that night, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I definitely signed it right away. There was no real thought. Just where do I sign?” Banchero said. “It was a surreal feeling. The day it got announced and everything, the day it got done, I didn’t know what to even do. My phone was blowing up. Everybody wanted to congratulate and call me and it was like the middle of the day and I was just sitting in the house and I was just like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Am I supposed to go celebrate or am I supposed to respond to everybody? I don’t know.’
“So, I had worked out that morning and I ended up just going back to the gym that night. And I was just like, ‘I’ll just go say thank you to the game and just go get some shots up.’ And that’d be my way of celebrating, kind of paying it back to the game for blessing me in that way. So that’s kind of what I did. I didn’t really know how else to handle it.”
Banchero signed his five-year, maximum-salary extension in early July. He’s averaging 23.3 points, a career-high 9.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game so far this season.
Here’s more on the Magic:
- Jalen Suggs didn’t play on Monday against Portland due to left knee injury management and still hasn’t been cleared for back-to-backs, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Suggs had 20 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes during Sunday’s 111-107 loss to Boston. Suggs, who underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee in March, is not on the injury report for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.
- Slumping Desmond Bane, the team’s big offseason acquisition, hit a three-pointer at just the right time. Bane knocked down his first career game-winning buzzer beater against the Trail Blazers in Monday’s 115-112 victory. Bane has missed his five previous three-point tries during the contest. “I just want to be a part of winning,” Bane said, per Youngmisuk. “But I think moments like tonight really help you settle into a new situation.” Bane, a career 40.7% three-point shooter, has made only 27.7% of his long-distance tries this season.
- Tristan Da Silva had just two points and three rebounds in 17 minutes on Monday but generally, he’s shown growth offensively during his second NBA season, Beede notes. The 24-year-old forward is averaging 10.9 points on 46.7% shooting from the field and 39.2% from distance. As a rookie, he averaged 7.2 points on 41.2% shooting (33.5% on threes).
All-Star Game To Feature U.S. Vs. World Three-Team Format
This season’s All-Star Game will have a U.S. vs. World format, the NBA confirmed today in a press release. The game is scheduled to be played Sunday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. ET at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
Two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games. The three teams will each have a minimum of eight players.
The NBA has experimented with an number of different formats to make the All-Star Game more entertaining and encourage players to take the game more seriously. This is the latest attempt by the league and Player’s Association to make that happen.
As in the past, 24 NBA All-Stars (12 from each conference) will be selected as follows: The five starters from each conference will be selected by fans (50% of the vote), current NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%). The seven reserve players from each conference will be chosen by NBA head coaches.
This year, the All-Stars will be selected without regard to position. The process for assigning players to the two U.S. teams will be determined at a later date.
According to the release, if All-Star voting does not result in the selection of 16 U.S. players and eight international players (which can include American players with ties to other countries, if necessary), commissioner Adam Silver will select additional All-Stars to join either group to reach that minimum.
In the round-robin tournament, Team A will play Team B in Game 1. The winning team from Game 1 will take on Team C in Game 2, followed by the losing team of Game 1 meeting Team C in Game 3.
After Game 3, the top two teams by record will advance to face each other in the championship game (Game 4). If all three teams have a 1-1 record after Game 3, the tiebreaker would be point differential in each team’s two round-robin games.
The All-Star Game will be played earlier in the day than usual because it will be broadcast by NBC, which is building All-Star Weekend around the network’s coverage of the Winter Olympic Games, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps points out.
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Injuries, Harris, Jenkins, Green
Cade Cunningham, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, scored a career-high 46 points in the Pistons’ wild 137-135 overtime win over the Wizards on Tuesday. With a handful of regulars sitting out, Cunningham attempted 45 field goals and made 14. He went 16-of-18 from the foul line.
Cunningham also recorded his first triple-double of the season — he contributed 11 assists, 12 rebounds, five steals and two blocks, becoming the first player in NBA history with those numbers in a single game since the league began tracking steals and blocks in 1973/74, according to the team’s PR department (Twitter link).
Cunningham also took a hard fall in the fourth quarter when he was fouled by Wizards forward Cam Whitmore but he stayed in the game, which was the Pistons’ seventh straight win.
“I didn’t like the way that it happened,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Whitmore’s foul, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “When you take a guy out of the air like that, you don’t walk up on him. I thought (the officials) could have done a better job of controlling that situation. … It shows the courage of Cade, the resilience of Cade, the want to not let his teammates down. He could’ve stayed in the back, very easily, with what he was going through. But he didn’t want to give up. He wanted to continue to fight even when we were down, and he led us to the victory.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Detroit played without Ausar Thompson (right ankle), Tobias Harris (right ankle), Jaden Ivey (right knee), Isaiah Stewart (left ankle), Caris LeVert (left knee) and Marcus Sasser (right hip). Harris has missed five consecutive games. “It’s a high ankle sprain and he’s progressing,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s just those things that take a little longer than you would like, but he’s progressing day to day. We’re hopeful he’ll be back soon.” Harris and Thompson are listed as out against Chicago on Wednesday, while Stewart is doubtful, Patterson tweets.
- Two-way player Daniss Jenkins logged 34 minutes and finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists in what was just his 13th career NBA game. Jenkins sent the game into overtime on a corner three-pointer in the final second of regulation. “You dream of stuff like this,” Jenkins told Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “To come out and really hit that type of shot, I didn’t know what to do. I was just filled with a lot of joy and excitement and just congratulating myself, staying true to the journey, staying true to everything. I have to practice what I preach. This life is a marathon, everything is a marathon. My journey is a marathon.”
- Due to the injuries, Javonte Green made his first start with the Pistons, notching his first double-double of the season and second of his career with 11 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal in 38 minutes. Detroit signed Green, who played for New Orleans and Cleveland last season, to a one-year, partially guaranteed deal in the summer. “He blocked [two] threes, which is hard to do…Again, It’s top to bottom. These guys care about winning, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to win. [Green] knows who he is and understands how he impacts winning,” Bickerstaff said.