Knicks Notes: Towns, Robinson, Hart, McBride, Backup PG, Anunoby, Oakley
More than a year after being traded from Minnesota to New York, Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns still has trouble processing the deal.
“I’m still stunned, I mean, I’m still stunned. It’s weird,” Towns said, per Vince Goodwill of ESPN, after the Knicks defeated his former club 137-114 on Wednesday. “I feel more like a Knick now after everything we went through last year, but it’s weird to see that Wolves jersey — especially the fire black one — and not see ‘Towns’ on the back of it.”
Towns believes the Timberwolves will remain one of the Western Conference’s elite teams.
“Built something special there,” Towns said. “It’s different when you’re in process and now you’re going against the process. They’re a great team. To see what they’re doing right now, special, and I expect nothing less than greatness from them.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Mitchell Robinson is on a load management plan that has included sitting out games and a minutes restriction when he suits up. He proved why he’s so essential to the club against Minnesota, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes. Robinson’s size, rebounding, defense, and rim protection were all impactful in a 16-minute stint. He finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and a steal. “I was just out there being me,” he said.
- Despite battling some nagging injuries, Josh Hart delivered his best performance of the season, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post notes. He posted a season-high 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Miles McBride was also key off the bench with 14 points. “I gotta give a lot of credit to Deuce,” coach Mike Brown said. “Deuce was aggressive the right way. He played under control. If they tried to pick up full-court, he drove it by them. He touched the paint. He played off two [feet] and he sprayed it. And guys got great looks when he got us into our offensive. Josh was also a big catalyst in terms of trying to get us to push the pace and play the right way.”
- With Brown already losing faith in Tyler Kolek, the Knicks once again find themselves in a familiar spot — seeking a reliable backup to Jalen Brunson. They are now using several players who aren’t true point guards in that role. Bondy identifies Jose Alvarado and Dante Exum as two options the club could consider on the trade market.
- OG Anunoby is averaging a career-high 7.3 three-point attempts and making 41.4% of them. The Knicks want their versatile wing to keep firing away. “He’s a good shooter, and we want him to shoot the ball,” Hart told James Edwards III of The Athletic. “The offense is a little bit more ball movement, body movement. We want guys to put shots up and we’ll crash and do that. We want to, obviously, generate 3s.”
- Former Knicks star Charles Oakley must pay more than $642K in lawyer fees to Madison Square Garden for deleting text messages during a court battle over his ejection from a game eight years ago, Priscilla DeGregory and Natalie O’Neill of the New York Post report. Oakley filed a defamation lawsuit against the arena firm and Knicks owner James Dolan in September 2017.
Northwest Notes: Dudley, Jazz, Ainge, Thunder
Jared Dudley had a lengthy NBA career. As an assistant coach with the Nuggets, Dudley now finds himself in charge of Denver’s defensive schemes. His main mission is a simple one.
“Coming up with a defense that protects (Nikola Jokic),” he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.
Dudley is doing so by having Denver’s guards and wings take on more responsibilities at that end of the floor, so that Jokic can conserve his energy for the offensive side.
“I can’t teach (him) anything offensively. You’re already this. You’ve got that,” Dudley said. “But defensively, I can teach you. I’ve played with different centers. I’ve played with Boban (Marjanovic), who’s bigger than you and slower than you. … I only want him to think about going back to the rim, Point A to Point B. I don’t want him having him to go guard these guards on the wings, in rotations.”
We have more on the Northwest Division:
- How are the Jazz‘s young players faring thus far? Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune takes a closer look, breaking down the team’s last three draft classes and evaluating each of those players’ performances.
- Austin Ainge is the Jazz‘s new president of basketball operations and Larsen spoke with the Celtics’ top executive, Brad Stevens, about the son of longtime Celtics and Utah executive Danny Ainge. Stevens is confident that Austin will step out of his father’s shadow and build a winner in Utah. “He’s always been a guy that I think has a good sense for putting a team together and what wins, both in the regular season and then certainly in the playoffs,” Stevens said.
- The undefeated Thunder will be playing without several rotation players in Portland tonight. Alex Caruso (rest), Luguentz Dort (right upper trapezius strain) and Chet Holmgren (lower back sprain) are all listed as out, Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman tweets.
Southeast Notes: Hawks Employee Indictment, Young, Larsson, Ball
A former Hawks employee has been charged with fraud and embezzling $3.8MM from the franchise, according to an indictment brought last week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov, Joe Vardon and Sam Amick report.
Lester Jones, who was the team’s senior vice president of financial planning and analysis, reportedly charged trips to the Bahamas, Hawaii, Thailand, Switzerland and other countries; paid for a Porsche; and bought tickets to concerts and other events on corporate credit cards. Jones was in a romantic relationship with another team employee and allegedly bought her expensive gifts via corporate funds.
Evidence of his alleged crimes was uncovered through a team-backed audit. Jones pleaded not guilty and was released on a $10K bond last week.
We have more on the Southeast Division:
- Hawks star guard Trae Young has a sprained MCL and will miss at least four weeks, but head coach Quin Snyder said the team was relieved that there’s no major structural damage, which would have sidelined Young for even longer, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk tweets. Snyder added that “other guys will have to be more involved as play-makers, and that requires different actions,” Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks tweets. Young excels in the pick-and-roll game, but Atlanta will alter its schemes until he returns.
- Norman Powell returned to the Heat lineup after a three-game absence on Monday, but his fill-in Pelle Larsson remained in the starting five. Head coach Erik Spoelstra moved struggling big man Kel’el Ware to the bench as the Heat went small against the Clippers, a game which Miami won by a point. “I know probably people will point to Kel’el and say it’s a demotion. It’s not,” Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “I know there will be some teams that it makes more sense to play big. We have a team that it makes more sense to use our versatility. Sometimes it changes the starting lineup to do that.”
- LaMelo Ball was sidelined for the Hornets’ game against New Orleans Tuesday due to a right ankle injury, according to NBA.com. Ball also missed the Hornets’ previous game, a 23-point win over Utah on Sunday. He is averaging 23.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per contest while shooting 43% overall and 33.3% on three-pointers. Charlotte lost to the previously winless Pelicans, 116-112.
Knicks Notes: Towns, Rotation, Robinson, Bridges, Hart
Karl-Anthony Towns seems to be growing comfortable with new coach Mike Brown‘s schemes. The Knicks big man racked up 33 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in a 119-102 victory over the Wizards on Monday.
“KAT was a monster. He was a monster on the glass, he was really good defensively, he was a monster inside, outside,” Brown said, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “He’s starting to feel and find his rhythm in what we’re trying to do.”
Towns had scored fewer than 20 points in half of New York’s first six games.
“Really, we’re all figuring it out. Getting better every day, understanding what our roles are and what we’ve got to do,” Towns said. “It’s good, we’ve got two wins in a row but we’re obviously still a work in progress.”
We have more on the Knicks:
- Brown has trimmed the rotation to nine players in the past two games, Winfield notes. Against the Bulls on Sunday, Brown went with Josh Hart, Landry Shamet, Miles McBride and Jordan Clarkson off the bench. On Monday, with Mitchell Robinson sitting for load management purposes, Shamet moved into the starting lineup and Guerschon Yabusele played on the second unit. “The last two nights were the best I’ve done for them in terms of rotations. They kinda sorta knew when they were coming out or going in, who was going to play together,” Brown said.
- Robinson’s availability remains something of a mystery, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post writes. Robinson has only played a combined 33 minutes through the first seven games. Left ankle injury management is the club’s reasons for limiting his minutes and game appearances. Don’t expect that to change. “We’ll keep doing that throughout the course of the year. Whatever they tell me, I’m gonna do,” Brown said.
- Mikal Bridges‘ all-around game has been on display this season, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post writes. He has also been a lot more vocal in his second year with the club. Bridges, who signed a four-year extension in the offseason, is averaging 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals per night.
- Despite dealing with hand and ankle injuries, Hart contributed 12 points with 10 rebounds and five assists in just 26 minutes on Monday. “Basically been banged up and hurt for what, three months?” Hart said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “Little frustrating, but it comes with the territory. It comes with being in a contact sport, so it is what it is.”
Community Shootaround: Ja Morant
Ja Morant’s days with the Grizzlies appear to be numbered.
The controversial guard served a one-game team suspension on Sunday after he expressed frustration with the team’s coaching staff following their previous game, a loss to the Lakers in which Morant played poorly at both ends of the floor.
Morant wasn’t any cheerier after returning to action against the Pistons on Monday. He was held to 18 points after another subpar shooting performance, going 5-for-16 from the field. He also committed five turnovers, while counterpart Cade Cunningham took over the game in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 of his 33 points.
When asked if he had any joy playing basketball right now, Morant responded, “No.”
Morant’s career has nosedived after a very promising start. He was the second overall pick in the 2019 draft and quickly emerged as one of the league’s top point guards.
However, off the court issues stained his reputation. He was twice suspended in 2023 for conduct detrimental to the league for brandishing weapons in social media videos.
Injuries have also marred his career. After serving those suspensions, he was limited to nine games during the 2023/24 season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Last season, he appeared in just 50 games, mainly due to an ankle injury. Since his rookie year, he’s never played in more than 63 regular season games.
With Morant leading the way, the franchise seemed poised to be a perennial powerhouse after the Grizzlies reached the conference semifinals in 2021/22. In the last three seasons, they’ve been knocked out in the first round, sandwiching the 27-55 campaign when Morant was limited to nine games.
It’s not a novel concept for the Grizzlies to consider dealing their floor leader, even if he doesn’t request a trade. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the idea of the Grizzlies moving Morant is a possibility that rival teams have been monitoring since at least the summer. However, ESPN’s Marc Spears reported on Tuesday that executives he’s spoken to have no interest in dealing for Morant, citing his off the court conduct and contract issues.
“Four of the execs I talked to today say they really have no interest in trading for him. One said it was because it’s a combo of contract and off the court issues,” Spears said on NBA Today (YouTube link). “Another suggested that if Ja is traded it’ll probably be a problem star for a problem star. I asked one current NBA coach if he would like to coach Ja Morant and he said I’m not sure I’d want to.”
Salary considerations would be a big factor for any team pondering a trade for Morant. He has two more years left on his current five-year, $197.22MM contract. He’s also due a 15% trade bonus (capped at his maximum salary) if he’s dealt.
His new team would have to believe Morant would be the missing piece to a championship. That team would also have to be convinced that Morant would benefit from a change of scenery and come in with a more mature, focused approach.
That brings us to today’s topic: Do you think the Grizzlies will deal Ja Morant this season? If so, which teams would be a logical fit for him?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Devin Booker Wants To Finish Career With Suns
The Suns are no longer considered a serious contender in the Western Conference following their failed big three experiment with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal joining forces with Devin Booker. Durant and Beal are now playing for the Rockets and Clippers, respectively.
Despite that, Booker is content to remain with the organization long-term, he told Nick Friedell of The Athletic. Booker believes there’s something special about an elite player remaining on the same team and playing in the same city throughout his career, as Stephen Curry is doing with the Warriors.
“I was adopted as an 18-year-old coming in,” Booker said of Phoenix before playing Curry’s Warriors in Golden State. “I was embraced through tough times, all the way to making a Finals run. The city watched me grow up. I enjoyed growing up in the city. I’m sure Steph can say a lot of similar things about this area.”
Booker, who is in his 11th season, can’t see Curry leaving the Warriors for the remainder of his career. Booker, who just turned 29, wants it that way with the Suns.
“I don’t think he’s going anywhere,” Booker said of Curry. “And I don’t think I am either.”
Contractually, Booker is tied to his organization. He signed a two-year extension this summer worth an estimated $145MM that runs through the end of the 2029/30 season.
Booker embraces his role of being the team leader and spokesman.
“It’s a lot of pride,” Booker said. “It’s a lot of responsibility. It’s something that I try to communicate to the young guys. Having those couple deep playoff runs, and just getting the city to become electric, is a feeling that I’m chasing, want to get back to.”
Anthony Edwards Listed As Questionable To Play On Wednesday
Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, the team’s PR department tweets.
Edwards has missed the past four games due to a right hamstring strain. Last Monday, when the injury was revealed via an MRI, the team announced Edwards would be reevaluated in one week. At the time, there was reporting suggesting that Edwards would be out for at least two weeks.
Edwards was cleared to resume contact basketball activities on Monday, according to a press release. The fact that Edwards could suit up on Wednesday is a huge boost for the Timberwolves, who have gone 2-2 without him. They have recorded road wins at Charlotte and Brooklyn heading into their trip to Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks.
Edwards notched a 41-point outing against Portland and a 31-point performance against the Lakers before departing after three minutes against Indiana on Oct. 26. The three-time All-Star averaged a career-best 27.6 points and 4.5 assists per game last season while appearing in 79 regular season contests.
SGA, Maxey Named NBA’s Players Of The Week
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to the league (Twitter links).
Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City to a 4-0 record during the week of October 27 to November 2, averaging 28.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. He was especially effective over the course of a three-game stretch vs. the Kings, Wizards, and Pelicans, scoring at least 30 points in all three contests and committing just four total turnovers.
Maxey carried the Sixers to a 3-1 record by averaging 33.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game this past week. The sixth-year guard, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on Tuesday, began the week by scoring a season-high 43 points against Orlando, then had 39 points and 10 assists in an overtime win over Washington.
The Trail Blazers’ duo of Deni Avdija and Jrue Holiday, the Suns’ Devin Booker, the Lakers’ duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and the Rockets’ Alperen Sengun were the other Western Conference nominees.
The Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham, the Bulls’ Josh Giddey, the Hawks’ Jalen Johnson and the Bucks’ Ryan Rollins were also nominated in the East.
Pistons Notes: Duren, LeVert, Thompson, Stewart
Pistons center Jalen Duren didn’t come to a rookie scale extension agreement with the front office prior to last month’s deadline, which means he’ll be a restricted free agent after the season. Duren has pumped up his value in the early going, including a career high 33-point outing in Mexico City on Saturday against Dallas.
He shot 13-of-16 from the field and added 10 rebounds, two assists and a block vs. the Mavericks and is now averaging 17.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest.
“I mean, he’s such a beast. He makes me look good,” Cade Cunningham said of Duren, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “He makes my job easy.”
“Domination,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff added. “He was phenomenal at putting pressure on the rim. He ran the floor; he scored in a bunch of different ways. (He was) working the offensive boards. He dominated the interior.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Caris LeVert is still trying to get into a groove after missing most of the preseason due to a hamstring injury. LeVert, who signed a two-year contract as a free agent during the summer, has only averaged 5.7 points in 18.3 minutes while appearing in three of the team’s six games. However, Bickerstaff is enthusiastic about the veteran’s potential impact going forward. “He takes a lot of pressure off me. It’s more about the type of person Caris is,” the coach said, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “Because he’s always been so adaptable, it makes it easier on me to kind of put him in a place and he can fit any place we decide to put him and he’s the type of guy who doesn’t take away from others’ growth and development. He just wants to compete and play with his teammates.”
- In a post on ThePlayersTribune.com, Ausar Thompson discusses his first two seasons in the league. Blood clotting issues marred his rookie season and his offseason routine last summer but he was able to come into this season without any restrictions. “It was my first full healthy offseason, so I put in a lot of work this summer. I felt a lot more freedom,” he wrote. “I could go harder. And I got to sharpen my mentality, just thinking about how I want to feel after games. Basically, I always want to feel like I gave it my all. Like I didn’t hold anything back and was aggressive every chance I got. I have even more drive as a player, now. I want to take it further.”
- Rim protection has been a key to the Pistons’ 4-2 start entering Monday’s contest at Memphis. They lead the NBA with 7.0 blocks per game and Isaiah Stewart is tied for fourth in the league with 12 blocks. Stewart is sixth in the NBA with 47 contested two-point shot attempts and second with opponents shooting just 41.7% at the rim against him, according to the team’s PR staff.
Heat Notes: Ware, Defense, Powell, Lawsuit, LaRoche
Heat second-year big man Kel’el Ware is experiencing growing pains and his playing time has been shaved. He was on the court for just 11 minutes and 30 seconds in a loss to the Lakers on Sunday, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes.
“I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating,” Ware said of his usage. “I feel like you got to trust the coach and the decisions that he comes up with. And then you got to go from there and be ready when your name is called.”
Entering Monday’s matchup against the Clippers, the Heat have been outscored by 10 points per 100 possessions with Ware on the court this season, according to Chiang. No other Miami rotation player has a worse net rating.
“We’re not going to give up on him,” frontcourt partner Bam Adebayo said. “We know how great he can be. He moves the needle for this team.”
Here’s more on the Heat:
- The Heat’s defense in general was poor against the Lakers, as they gave up 130 points. They are 0-2 on their current road trip. “It really boiled down to a lack of effort on plays that we’re accustomed to doing and making, and/or mindless plays,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, per Chiang. “Either fouls or just things that we haven’t been doing. So you do have to credit them, but we’re much better defensively than we showed (Sunday). That’s probably what’s really frustrating.”
- Norman Powell missed his third straight game on Sunday because of a right groin strain, Chiang adds. Powell was listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest before being ruled out a few hours before tip-off. He’s considered questionable to play against the Clippers, who dealt him to the Heat in July as part of a three-team trade.
- Will the Heat sue the Hornets for their failure to disclose gambling allegations against Terry Rozier before they traded him to Miami in January 2024? The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson believes it’s unlikely, noting that Heat owner Micky Arison and his son, team CEO Nick Arison, are not predisposed to filing lawsuits. The NBA was immediately informed of the suspicious betting activity the day it happened and did not inform the Heat at that time or before it approved the trade, according to Jackson’s sources. However, the Arisons have a strong relationship with commissioner Adam Silver.
- Noah LaRoche has been a significant addition to the staff, Chiang writes. He was brought in this season as a consultant after being an assistant with the Grizzlies before last season. LaRoche was credited with helping to install a more free-flowing, motion-based offense with Memphis and is doing the same with the Heat.