Gobert Repeats As Defensive Player Of Year
Jazz center Rudy Gobert was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season at the league’s annual awards show on Monday.
Gobert topped two players who are also finalists for the Most Valuable Player award, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Paul George. The anchor of the Jazz’s defense averaged 2.3 blocks for the second straight season. Utah’s 105.2 defensive rating was second only to Milwauekee’s 104.9. The Jazz also allowed the fourth fewest points.
Kawhi Leonard was the last player to win back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards (2015, 2016).
Budenholzer Named Coach Of Year
The Bucks’ Mike Budenholzer was named Coach of the Year at NBA’s annual awards show on Monday.
The former Hawks coach was hired last summer and guided Milwaukee to the league’s best record. The Bucks became an offensive juggernaut under his watch, scoring a league-best 118.1 points per game.
The Nuggets’ Michael Malone and Clippers’ Doc Rivers were the other finalists.
Budenholzer was also named Coach of the Year in 2015 with Atlanta. He was also Hoops Rumors’ consensus choice this year.
Lou Williams Named Sixth Man Of Year Again
For the third time in five seasons, Clippers guard Lou Williams was named the league’s Sixth Man of the Year. The announcement was made at the NBA’s annual awards show on Monday.
There was little suspense that Williams would gain the honor for the second straight year. While the other finalists, Williams’ teammate Montrezl Harrell, and Pacers’ big man Domantas Sabonis, had plenty of big games, no bench player made a bigger impact than the veteran guard, who seems to get better with age.
Williams, 32, averaged 20.0 PPG and a career-high 5.4 APG in 26.6 MPG, more than six minutes less per game than the previous season when he averaged a career-high 22.0 PPG. He’s signed for two more seasons, though his $8MM salary for 2020/21 is not guaranteed.
He was Hoops Rumors’ unanimous choice for the award as well.
Pascal Siakam Named Most Improved Player
Raptors forward Pascal Siakam earned the league’s Most Improved Player award. The announcement was made at the annual NBA awards show on Monday.
Nets guard D’Angelo Russell and Kings guard De’Aaron Fox were the other finalists.
Siakam emerged as a major component for Toronto in his third season, as he averaged 16.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 3.1 APG for the champions. He posted averages of 7.3/4.5/2.0 in the same categories while mainly coming off the bench in 2017/18. He also became a 3-point threat, connecting on 36.9% of his long-range tries compared to 22% in his second NBA season.
Siakam was also Hoops Rumors’ choice for the award.
Luka Doncic Claims Rookie Of Year Honors
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic was named Rookie of the Year at the league’s annual awards show on Monday.
The flashy Euro playmaker held off a late charge by Hawks point man Trae Young. Suns center Deandre Ayton, the top pick in the 2018 draft, was the other finalist for the prize.
Doncic was a triple-double threat on a nightly basis, posting averages of 21.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 6.0 APG in 32.2 MPG. Doncic and Young, who averaged 19.1 PPG and 8.1 APG in 30.9 MPG, will forever be linked since they were essentially traded for each other in last year’s draft.
Dallas moved up to the No. 3 pick to select Doncic. Atlanta moved down two slots and chose Young and also got the Mavs’ first-rounder this year, which it used to select Duke forward Cam Reddish.
Doncic was also Hoops Rumors’ unanimous choice for the award.
Knicks Notes: Free Agency, Fine, Iguodala, Kings Trade
The Knicks are hoping to land at least one of the marquee free agents — Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard or Kyrie Irving — but if they come up short, they won’t eat up their cap space with multi-year contracts, Ian Begley of SNY TV reports. They don’t want to take on a bad contract in order to accumulate more assets. It’s uncertain if they’d trade for a player with a big contract in his walk year.
Instead, they will most likely sign free agents to one-year deals, much like the Lakers did last summer after LeBron James committed to them, in order to retain cap flexibility. The New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy reiterates that sentiment, adding that the Knicks could shift gears and go after Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Draymond Green, Ben Simmons and Pascal Siakam next summer.
We have more on the Knicks:
- The team was fined $50K by the league for violating rules regarding equal access for media, according to a league press release. The Knicks did not allow Bondy access to their post-draft press conference on Friday while allowing all other credentialed media who cover the team to attend. The organization has agreed to comply with media access rules in the future.
- Warriors forward Andre Iguodala took a jab at the organization and its pursuit of major free agents, including his teammate Durant, Ethan Sears of the New York Post relays. In an interview with CNBC, Iguodala said, “Nobody’s gonna sign with the Knicks, sorry.”
- The Knicks gave up $1MM in cash along with the No. 55 pick to the Kings on Thursday, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. New York moved up to the No. 47 spot and chose University of Michigan forward Ignas Brazdeikis. The Kings selected Virginia’s Kyle Guy.
Arcidiacono To Get Qualifying Offer From Bulls
The Bulls will extend a qualifying offer to guard Ryan Arcidiacono but don’t plan to give one to Wayne Selden, Cody Westerlund of 670TheScore.com tweets.
In his second season with the Bulls, Arcidiacono appeared in 81 games and started 32, averaging 6.7 PPG and 3.3 APG in 24.2 MPG while shooting 37.3% from long range. His qualifying offer is a modest $1,818,486 and the Bulls, who hold his Early Bird rights, can now match any offer for the 6’3” Villanova product.
Selden appeared in 43 games, including 13 starts, with the Bulls after being acquired in early January from the Grizzlies. The Kansas alum averaged 8.0 PPG and 1.7 APG in 22.9 MPG. His qualifying offer was $1,931,189 but now he’ll head into unrestricted free agency unless the Bulls have a last-minute change of heart.
By making efforts to retain Arcidiacono and drafting point guard Coby White, Kris Dunn‘s status on the team is all the more precarious.
Sixers Waive Haywood Highsmith
The Sixers have waived swingman Haywood Highsmith, Serena Winters of NBCSPhilly tweets.
That opens up a two-way contract slot, since Highsmith was signed in that manner during January.
The 6’7” Highsmith got a taste of NBA action, appearing in five games and averaging 1.8 PPG in 8.0 MPG. The 22-year-old Highsmith, a former Division II standout who played his college ball at Wheeling Jesuit, spent most of last season with the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League affiliate. He appeared in 46 G League contests, averaging 12.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 2.7 APG in 32.2 MPG.
And-Ones: Wiseman, Barrett, Dedmon, Barbosa, DeMarco
The latest 2020 mock draft has Memphis freshman center James Wiseman going to the Knicks with the No. 1 pick. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has Georgia guard Anthony Edwards going to the Cavaliers at No. 2 and North Carolina guard Cole Anthony heading to the Suns at No. 3.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Top pick Zion Williamson and his former college teammate R.J. Barrett could face each other in the Las Vegas summer league opener, the Associated Press reports. The Pelicans’ summer squad will face the Knicks on July 5.
- Dewayne Dedmon, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gay are among the underrated free agents heading to the market, Ameer Tyree of the Sporting News writes.
- Former NBA guard Leandro Barbosa will return to the Brazilian league and re-sign with Minas Storm, Sportando reports.
- Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco has agreed to become the head coach of the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s national team, according to a report from ESPN’s Marc Spears. The Bahamas did not qualify for the FIBA World Cup this summer but it does have some NBA talent, including Deandre Ayton and Buddy Hield.
Northwest Notes: Russell, George, Porter, Adams, Nuggets
Could the Timberwolves figure out a way to sign D’Angelo Russell? ESPN’s Zach Lowe hears that Minnesota will try to make a run at the Nets guard, who will be a restricted free agent unless Brooklyn renounces his rights (hat tip to RealGM). “There has been a lot of Minnesota (signing) D’Angelo Russell noise,” Lowe said. “And it’s not all Karl Towns commenting on Instagram because they’re friends. Minnesota has communicated to the league, not the NBA league, just the league at large that they believe they have a pathway to get D’Angelo Russell.”
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- The Thunder will get a better read on Paul George‘s status in late September, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman reports. He’s expected to miss most of the preseason after undergoing offseason surgeries to his right rotator cuff and left labrum. “He’s doing well,” GM Sam Presti said. “He’s going to make a full recovery.” Shooting guard Andre Roberson, who hasn’t played since January 2018 after suffering a serious knee injury, has been training in Texas, Horne adds.
- Forward Michael Porter Jr. will make his Nuggets debut in the Las Vegas Summer League next month and he’s ready to go, Parth Upadhyaya of Denver Post relays. After being selected at the end of the lottery last season, Porter sat out last season to rehab from back surgery. “He’s been in the gym twice a day for a long time,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. “He’s been fully cleared for several months.”
- Thunder center Steven Adams won’t play for New Zealand in the FIBA World Cup this summer, according to Sportando.
- The Nuggets did not retain assistants Mark Price and Bob Weiss, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets.