Western Notes: Irving, Wiggins, Poole, Murray
The Mavericks said after the season they intended to re-sign Kyrie Irving and that’s what Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett is hearing from rival executives. However, Luka Doncic will have to get used to not having the ball in his hands all the time and they’ve got to upgrade the roster defensively, Bulpett writes.
“Kyrie was on great behavior — like he was doing everything to try to win over Luka and be a teammate. Every single player on that team and everyone in the organization loves Kyrie from his time there so far,” one GM told Bulpett. “I do think there’s some skepticism going forward for what (the Mavericks are) going to offer him. Like, they’re not completely naïve.”
The Mavericks can offer Irving a five-year contract worth up to $272MM.
We have more from the Western Conference:
- Andrew Wiggins surprised many people by how effective he was against Sacramento despite a long layoff due to personal reasons. The Warriors forward averaged 18.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in the first-round series and told The Athletic’s Sam Amick he should be even better against the Lakers. “I feel like in Game 1, once I scored a couple points, I was like, ‘Pffft, I’m back. I’m good.’ My feel for the game was still there. My rhythm and my conditioning felt good enough to compete,” he said. “So I think I’m only going to get (better), because my conditioning still needs to get better. I feel like there’s still more. I mean, last year I was picking up full court (defensively) the whole playoffs, and I didn’t do that yet. It’s coming though.”
- In contrast, Warriors guard Jordan Poole had a rough series against the Kings, Tim Kawakami of The Athletic notes. He shot 33.8% from the field and struggled defensively against Sacramento’s guards. Poole’s four-year, $123MM extension kicks in next season and the Warriors hope he’ll pick it up against the Lakers. “Wasn’t his best series, obviously,” coach Steve Kerr said.
- Kings rookie forward Keegan Murray came away from the playoffs feeling optimistic about his future, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic writes. The lottery pick averaged 9.7 points and 6.8 rebounds in the first-round series. He’ll work with Domantas Sabonis during the offseason. “This series made me more confident than anything in my ability to move forward and my ceiling of how good I can be in the NBA,” Murray said.
Chris Paul Out At Least One Week
Veteran point guard Chris Paul will miss multiple games in the Suns‘ second-round series against the Nuggets, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). He is expected to be reevaluated in one week after undergoing an MRI on Tuesday.
Paul suffered a groin injury during the second half of Phoenix’s Game 2 loss to Denver on Monday, which left the Suns with a 0-2 deficit in the series. The Suns are preparing to play without their floor leader in Games 3 through 5, Charania adds.
The injury appeared to occur with just under five minutes left in the third quarter when Paul attempted to box out Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and grabbed at his left groin afterward (NBA.com video link).
Backup point guard Cameron Payne, who was dealing with a lower back injury when the postseason began, played nearly 17 minutes on Tuesday after logging just eight minutes in the Suns’ first six playoff games. As long as he remains healthy, Payne figures to take on a larger role, while Devin Booker will likely have more ball-handling responsibilities.
Paul has a history of injuries in the postseason. The future Hall of Famer has previously missed eight career playoff games due to health issues.
Butler Out For Game 2; Randle Returns To Action
Jimmy Butler won’t play in Game 2 of the Heat‘s second-round series against the Knicks on Tuesday, the team tweets. Knicks forward Julius Randle and guard Jalen Brunson will be available, their PR department tweets.
That trio was listed as questionable to play on Monday. Caleb Martin is starting in Butler’s place, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets.
Miami’s Game 1 win gave the Heat more leeway to sit out Butler. He scored 25 points in 43 minutes but only attempted one shot after rolling his right ankle with just over five minutes remaining.
Game 3 won’t be played until Saturday afternoon in Miami, so Butler will have three off-days to heal.
Randle, who is nursing a sprained left ankle, missed Game 1. He only played 16 minutes in the closeout game against Cleveland on April 26 when the ankle flared up.
Brunson, who logged 40 minutes on Sunday, will try to play through a sore right ankle.
Sixers Center Joel Embiid Wins First MVP Award
Joel Embiid has been named the league’s Most Valuable Player, according to the NBA (Twitter link).
The Sixers center surged during the second half of the season and topped Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who won the award the past two seasons, and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who captured the league’s most prestigious individual award in 2019 and 2020.
Embiid, the third overall pick of the 2014 draft, led Philadelphia to the Eastern Conference’s third-best record while topping the league in scoring at 33.1 points per game. He also averaged 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 66 regular-season games.
Jokic, who was considered the frontrunner a majority of the season, averaged 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and a career-best 9.8 assists in 69 games while leading Denver to the Western Conference’s top seed. Jokic’s assist average ranked fourth in the league, an unusual feat for a center.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to the league’s best record by averaging 31.1 points (fifth in the league), 11.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 63 games. Milwaukee’s superstar tied for third in the league in rebounding with Jokic.
The votes were based only on the regular season, so Milwaukee’s first-round playoff exit had no bearing on the voting.
Considering the MVP debate raged throughout the season, it was a little surprising that Embiid won by such a wide margin. He picked up 73 of the 100 first-place votes, while Jokic received 15 and Antetokounmpo got the other 12.
Overall, Embiid had 915 points with Jokic in second place (674 points) and the Bucks star in third (606). The Celtics‘ Jayson Tatum received most of the fourth-place votes and the Thunder‘s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished fifth.
Donovan Mitchell, Domantas Sabonis, Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, De’Aaron Fox, Jalen Brunson, and Ja Morant also received at least one vote apiece.
Embiid is the first Sixers player to win the award since Allen Iverson (2000-01).
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 5/2/2023
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Randle, Brunson, Butler All Questionable For Game 2
Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson are both listed as questionable to play on Tuesday in Game 2 of the Knicks’ second-round series against the Heat, the Knicks’ PR department tweets.
It’s a mixed bag for New York, which trails 1-0 in the series. Randle, who is nursing a sprained left ankle, missed Game 1. His status give the Knicks hope he’ll return to action sooner rather than later. Randle only played 16 minutes in the closeout game against Cleveland on April 26 when the ankle flared up.
The Brunson prognosis, a sore right ankle, is a little more troubling. He played 40 minutes on Sunday and scored 25 points but missed all seven of his 3-point attempts and committed five turnovers. Brunson blamed himself for the loss, calling his performance “terrible.” The Knicks’ offense will be greatly impacted if their floor leader can’t go.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler is also listed as questionable for Game 2 due to a sprained right ankle, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. Butler scored 25 points in 43 minutes but only attempted one shot after rolling the ankle with just over five minutes remaining.
Miami has already lost third-leading scorer Tyler Herro for the remainder of the postseason due to a broken right hand suffered in Game 1 of the first-round series against Milwaukee.
Nets Coach Jacque Vaughn Won’t Retain Three Assistants
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn is shaking up his coaching staff, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Igor Kokoskov, Brian Keefe and Tiago Splitter will not be retained. Kokoskov, the former Suns head coach, is the most notable name in that group. He joined the staff last offseason after a stint with the Mavericks.
Keefe was added to the Nets’ staff in the summer of 2021. He was recently under consideration for the Pistons’ head coaching opening. Splitter, a former NBA center, has been on the Nets’ staff since April 2018.
Brooklyn was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by Philadelphia.
Vaughn took over as the Nets’ head coach following Steve Nash‘s dismissal in November and had his interim label removed about a week later. Vaughn inherited Nash’s assistants and will now surround himself with a staff of his choosing.
Vaughn agreed to a multi-year extension in February that is expected to keep him under team control through the 2026/27 season.
The three coaches that Vaughn is letting go will likely land on their feet soon. There are a number of teams undergoing coaching changes, which will open up more assistant jobs around the NBA as the new head coaches assemble their staffs.
Kings Notes: Sabonis, Fox, Barnes, Monk, Murray, Mitchell
Domantas Sabonis may need surgery for the avulsion fracture in his thumb, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee tweets. The Kings center had an appointment with hand specialists on Monday to discuss whether the thumb needs to be repaired.
While he mends, Sabonis is open to hearing from the front office about potential moves. He said that if general manager Monte McNair and assistant GM Wes Wilcox have questions for him about roster construction, he will provide his input, James Ham of The Kings Beat tweets.
We have more on the Kings:
- De’Aaron Fox will take lessons from his first playoff series, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes. Fox feels he and his teammates have to improve in order to become true contenders. “I know there’s another level I have to get to as a professional and our team has to get as well,” he said. “I’m grateful for this experience. The playoffs are everything that I expected it to be.”
- Harrison Barnes and Trey Lyles are among the players headed to unrestricted free agency. Malik Monk hopes the front office can keep the core group intact, Ham tweets. “I would love to have the same guys here because we’re all like brothers,’ Monk said.
- Sabonis is eligible for an extension this offseason but it’s unlikely he’ll agree to one, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks explains. The big man could get an additional four years and $122MM without a renegotiation but the extension is $132MM less than the five-year deal he could sign with the Kings after becoming a free agent next summer. It would also be $65MM less than a four-year max with a rival team that has cap space.
- In order to acquire another high-level player, the Kings may have to deal Keegan Murray and/or Davion Mitchell, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype opines in his offseason primer.
Lakers Notes: James, Curry, Davis, Bamba, Russell, Roster
The playoff matchup between the LeBron James-led Lakers and Stephen Curry-led Warriors should be a thriller. James has great respect for what Curry, who scored 50 points on Sunday to close out the Kings, has accomplished, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.
“[Curry] puts in the work,” James said. “And when you put in the work, nine times out of 10 you’re going to see the results. And he’s done that throughout his whole, entire career. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Steph and everything he’s been able to accomplish, not only on the floor but also off the floor, too. It’s just great to have people like that in this league to set an example for the generation to come.”
James says that Curry presents an imposing defensive challenge for the entire team.
“You’ve seen some of the shots, the routine shots, that Steph was making in Game 7 that everybody was going crazy after,” James said. “That’s just Steph. When you’re that great, you make tough shots like that. So, we’ve got to be locked in and not hurt ourselves.”
We have more on the Lakers:
- The team comes into the second round in relatively good health. James (right foot soreness) and Anthony Davis (right foot stress injury) are listed as probable for Game 1 on Tuesday, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Mohamed Bamba (left ankle soreness) is listed as questionable.
- D’Angelo Russell, who will be a free agent after the season, poured in 31 points when the Lakers knocked out the second-seeded Grizzlies in Game 6. Performances like that could enhance Russell’s chances of re-signing with the team, Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes. The Lakers are reportedly not interested in signing Kyrie Irving and reuniting him with James.
- Thanks to the changes made in-season, the new-look Lakers have all the pieces in place to win the championship, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer opines. The club now has shot creators who can provide a spark and take pressure off of James and Davis.
Western Notes: Murray, Brown, Gordon, Jokic, Suns
Jamal Murray‘s offensive skill was on full display in Game 1 of the Nuggets’ second-round series with the Suns, as he poured in 34 points. After missing last season due to a knee injury, Murray is all the way back, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes. He’s a three-level scorer, which makes him extremely difficult to contain.
“My mindset wasn’t coming back to be the same player,” Murray said. “My mindset was coming back and being a better player than I was. The biggest thing I had to do was build my body back up, not necessarily the skill. It was a lot of work, almost every day. But, I just wanted to get back to playing the way I thought I could. I didn’t want to get too high or low.”
We have more from the Western Conference:
- While Murray erupted offensively, Bruce Brown and Aaron Gordon were the stars on defense in Game 1, Mike Singer of The Denver Post notes. Gordon was the primary defender on Kevin Durant, while Brown made three steals and generally disrupted the Suns’ offensive flow.
- Nikola Jokic averaged a career-high 9.8 assists during the regular season. His teammates learn quickly they need to be prepared for Jokic’s distribution skills, Jason Quick of The Athletic writes. “He sees the game a couple steps before it even happens,” Gordon said. “They are things that nobody else sees. So we know to be ready, and keep our hands ready, and he’s going to hit us in the oven.”
- Suns coach Monty Williams doesn’t expect his team to commit 16 turnovers again in Game 2 on Monday night, which led to 18 Denver points. “We’ve always been really good at making the right read right away,” Williams told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “I thought we were delayed and hesitant in that. I think we’ll do a lot better (Monday).”