Pacific Notes: Booker, Lakers, Doncic, Butler, Curry
The Suns’ disastrous season didn’t change Devin Booker‘s feelings about the organization. He wants to remain in Phoenix for years to come, he told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.
“I’ve spoke on it plenty of times,” Booker said. “I’m sure the people are sick of hearing my Phoenix love story, but I’m deeply rooting into this community. I take a lot of pride in it. We’ve built it from the ground up before. I didn’t think I’d be back in this situation, but it shows you how hard the league is. Once we get back to that championship level, I’ll be able to shed light on people that it can change very quickly.”
It seems unlikely Booker will be playing with both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal again next season. There’s heavy speculation that Durant will be traded and the front office will try to do something regarding Beal’s onerous contract. Booker has no issues with either player.
“I love playing with both of them,” Booker said. “Even the moments that we played together, they haven’t been to what we expected or wanted out of it, but good things do take some time to build and they take experience. We haven’t had a lot of that, but that’s not a good excuse to fall back on.”
Booker is eligible to sign a two-year, maximum-salary extension this offseason, even though he just completed the first year of his four-year super-max extension. He seems tempted to take it if it’s offered.
“I’ve been in long enough where I’ve watched some of my heroes and idols just slowly get out of the league, and you see how it hurts them,” he said. “I don’t want to think about the day that I have to do that. It’s nice to be up for an extension.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers‘ best source of information as they prepare for the Timberwolves in the opening round could be their superstar newcomer. Coach JJ Redick will consult with Luka Doncic, who led the Mavericks to a series win over Minnesota in the Western Conference Finals last season. “There are nuances to what teams are trying to do against certain opponents,” Redick said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The third-seeded Lakers will use their time off this week to heal up and gradually work on their game plan for the best-of-seven series. “It’s not necessarily going to be everything at once this week. We’ll have to slow drip, and I think that’s the approach that I think is going to work best for our group,” Redick said. “Tuesday will be more about us. Wednesday, we’ll introduce Minnesota.”
- Speaking of Doncic, he became the first international player to have the best-selling jersey in the league, according to Mike Vornukov of The Athletic. Since the 2013/14 season, either LeBron James or Stephen Curry led the NBA in that category. The Lakers also had the league’s top-selling merchandise.
- Jimmy Butler gave the Warriors fans a glimpse of “Playoff Jimmy” when he played 48 minutes, scored 30 points and matched up with Kawhi Leonard in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Clippers, Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic writes. Golden State was relegated to the play-in tournament but Butler gives the Warriors another player who can take over and assert his will, Thompson notes. “You have a guy who can kind of slow the pace of the game down for us, get us into good things,” forward Draymond Green said. “Just having that extra added weapon. Having another No. 1 next to Steph is different.”
- The Warriors have a clean injury report for their matchup with Memphis on Tuesday night, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Curry has a sprained right thumb and Butler took a knee to the thigh on Sunday, but both will play.
Southeast Notes: Heat, Wizards, Magic, Play-In, Nance
There are a lot of moves the Heat, who face the Bulls in the play-in tournament on Wednesday, need to make to become true contenders again, says Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
Not only do the Heat need to add an elite scorer, Jackson writes, they also need an elite shot creator and a better floor leader to prevent the late-game slides that plagued the team this season. However, the pairing of Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware worked well and should be the team’s power duo going forward, according to Jackson, who adds that they also have a solid second unit to bring back next season.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Wizards general manager Will Dawkins was pleased with the growth of his young players this season but knows they have many more steps to take to become a playoff contender, he told Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I would say that we discovered through a lot of different assessments and lineups that there’s a style of play that, if we’re rowing in the right direction, can be successful. And we have the type of players here who were bought into that,” he said. “We’re far from where we need to be — still at the ground level. But we feel good about the camaraderie of the group, the work ethic of the group, and the direction we’re headed. But (there’s) a lot of work ahead of us.”
- After an injury-marred season, the Magic still wound up as the highest seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. A victory over Atlanta on Tuesday would clinch the No. 7 seed and a matchup with Boston in the first round. “With everything we’ve gone through, with the bodies being down, with guys being in and out of lineups and the adversity that we’ve hit this year, for this group to get to .500, [it] says a lot about their character, their care factor, and the coaching staff,” coach Jamahl Mosley said, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “We’re going to have to put that behind us in this moment and move onto Tuesday and make sure we’re ready to take care of business.”
- Forward Larry Nance Jr. won’t be available for the Hawks against the Magic, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. He’s still recovering from a right medial femoral condyle fracture.
Central Notes: Cunningham, Pacers, Bulls, Connaughton
Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham expects a heated battle in the first playoff series of his career, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post relays via an ESPN interview. Detroit will match up against the Knicks in the opening round.
“It’s going to be a war,” he said. “It’s going to be highly physical games — defense, battling it out on the glass, all of those different things. I think it’s going to be a super exciting series for people at home to watch, and it’s going to be a great test for us as far as first round, first series in a long time for the organization. So it’s exciting, and I think it’s going to be a great one for us.”
The Knicks’ game plan will undoubtedly center around making Cunningham uncomfortable.
“He’s had a terrific season. It’s not just [against] us, he’s done it against everybody. We understand that. … With great players you don’t guard them individually, you guard them collectively,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “So we have to understand what goes into that.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Pacers reached the 50-win mark with the biggest comeback in franchise history, The Associated Press reports. They erased a 27-point deficit for a 126-118 victory over Cleveland in double overtime on Sunday. Both teams sat out most of their rotation players. Over the game’s final 18:05, Indiana’s Quenton Jackson, Enrique Freeman, RayJ Dennis, Tony Bradley and Johnny Furphy outscored Cleveland 53-24.
- The Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe reveals her seven takeaways from the Bulls’ regular season, including the emergence of Josh Giddey, the building of a young core, and the realization that Lonzo Ball cannot be a building block. Chicago hosts Miami in the play-in tournament on Wednesday.
- Pat Connaughton had a career day in the Bucks’ regular-season finale, pouring in 43 points in an overtime victory against Detroit. “I just wanted to win the game,” Connaughton said, per Ben Steele of the Milwaukee Journal. “Unfortunately we didn’t do it in regulation, which I’m sure brought some entertainment value for ESPN and everything. Which was fun.” Connaughton holds a $9.42MM player option on his contract for next season.
Pelicans Notes: Benson, Griffin, Green, Williamson, Offseason Approach
What are the implications for the Pelicans’ hugely disappointing season? Only owner Gayle Benson knows that answer, Rod Walker of NOLA.com writes.
The futures of top exec David Griffin and head coach Willie Green hang in the balance after the Pelicans’ second-worst season in franchise history. Griffin has held his job for six seasons, while Green is wrapping up his fourth. The way the offseason plays out could also determine whether New Orleans retains franchise player Zion Williamson and other key pieces.
The Pelicans lost four games by at least 40 points and had three losing streaks of at least nine games.
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- The team is more likely to make moves with an eye toward playoff contention, rather than a reset, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith opines in his offseason preview. The Pelicans have 12 players under contract next season, including Antonio Reeves‘ non-guaranteed deal. They’ll also have a high lottery pick to add to their talent pool.
- The Athletic’s Will Guillory believes abrupt changes are necessary for the Pelicans to grow. They can’t afford to run it back with Griffin, Green and Williamson all remaining in the organization, in his estimation. Moving on with a new front office leader and head coach might be the best course of action in order to catch up with the contenders in the West.
- The Pelicans finished with a 21-61 record after their loss to Oklahoma City on Sunday. New Orleans completed its season on a seven-game losing streak and will be in the No. 4 spot entering the draft lottery.
Sixers President Daryl Morey, Head Coach Nick Nurse To Return Next Season
The Sixers’ disastrous year won’t lead to changes at the top. Following the team’s season-ending loss to the Bulls on Sunday, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said he and coach Nick Nurse will return next season, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reports.
Morey divulged that news during a postgame press conference.
“We expect more. We really feel for the fans who put their heart and soul into this team, and we know we’ve let you down,” Morey said. “Ownership gave us the resources to make aggressive moves this offseason to put a championship roster around Joel [Embiid] and Tyrese [Maxey] and sometimes those aggressive moves don’t initially work out, but we feel good about [them].”
Morey hoarded salary-cap space to make a big splash last offseason and landed the biggest free agent on the market, Paul George. The front office also added Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon, Guerschon Yabusele, and Andre Drummond while re-signing Maxey, KJ Martin, Kyle Lowry, and Kelly Oubre Jr. with sights on a championship.
Instead, the season disintegrated due to injuries. Promising rookie Jared McCain went down early and the team’s “big three” barely had any time to develop chemistry. Embiid was limited to 19 games and eventually underwent another knee procedure. George only appeared in half of Philadelphia’s 82 games and Maxey was limited to 52 appearances. They suited up together in just 15 games.
“In my opinion when you have an MVP-level talent, you need to make aggressive moves to upgrade around that talent in that window,” Morey said. “That’s what we did last offseason, and we feel good about it going forward. I think it’s such a unique thing to have a player of that caliber. Are we somewhat indexed to talented players who are a little bit more injured? Yes, but that’s why we need to have a younger, deeper roster on them and then have them healthy going into the playoffs next year.”
Despite Embiid’s knee issues and George’s multitude of injuries in recent seasons, Morey expressed optimism that they’ll be “100%” next season.
Given their contractual obligations, the Sixers can only hope that’s the case. Embiid signed a monstrous three-year extension in September worth nearly $193MM that runs through the 2028/29 season with a player option. George has three years and more than $162MM remaining on his contract, which also includes a player option.
Morey says he’ll retool one of the oldest rosters in the league. The Sixers will hold onto their first-round pick if it’s in the top six. Otherwise, it will be conveyed to Oklahoma City.
“If everything sets up well, we’ll have a younger, more dynamic roster around a healthy Joel, Tyrese and Paul,” Morey said. “I never felt like Coach had a healthy literally one game with all three of ’em. I know they played some games together, but they didn’t finish all of ’em and even the ones where it was like their first game back. It was tough … for me personally it was obviously the toughest season of my career, and I’ll just say personally I will spend every waking hour figuring out how turn this team around going into next season.”
Postseason Seeding Set For Western Conference
The seedings for the Western Conference playoffs came down to the very last game — the Clippers‘ 124-119 overtime victory over the Warriors on Sunday afternoon. That outcome assured L.A. of a playoff spot and pushed Golden State into the play-in tournament.
The red-hot Clippers, winners of eight straight, nailed down the No. 5 seed. The Timberwolves, who won their last three games, grabbed the last automatic berth into the first round, joining the Nuggets, who secured the No. 4 seed with their win over Houston on Sunday.
Here’s how the top 10 teams in the West finished the regular season, as the NBA confirms (via Twitter):
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Houston Rockets
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Denver Nuggets
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Golden State Warriors
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Sacramento Kings
- Dallas Mavericks
The play-in tournament in the Western Conference will feature the Warriors hosting the Grizzlies on Tuesday and the Kings hosting the Mavericks on Wednesday. The Golden State/Memphis winner will claim the No. 7 spot in the playoffs and face the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. The loser of that game will host the Sacramento/Dallas survivor on Friday for the No. 8 spot and the right to face the top-seeded Thunder in round one.
The Lakers will have home court advantage in the first round and face the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. The Nuggets will also have home court advantage in their first-round series against the Clippers.
The seedings for the Eastern Conference playoffs were decided prior to Sunday’s action and can be found here.
Pacific Notes: Zubac, Monk, Warriors Loss, Podziemski
Ivica Zubac recorded the first triple-double of his NBA career in the Clippers’ win over the Rockets on Wednesday, compiling 20 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. The veteran center achieved the feat when he assisted on Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s late three-pointer.
Zubac, who signed a three-year extension in September, almost didn’t get a chance to make some personal history.
“I wanted it,” Zubac told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “T. Lue (coach Tyronn Lue) wanted to sub me out, then everyone was like, ‘No, no, no.’ He asked me and I was like, ‘I’ll stay.’ I wanted it. I told Bogie ‘I’ll get it to you and you got to shoot it no matter what,’ and he did. Bogie is a big-time shot maker. So, I told him he’s never paying for dinner again. I’m glad he made that shot.”
The Clippers’ sixth straight win kept them tied with the Nuggets for the fourth-best record in the West.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Kings sixth man Malik Monk won’t be available for at least two weeks due to a calf strain. It’s a case of very bad timing for the club as the postseason approaches, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee notes. “It’s super unfortunate because we depend on him a lot,” interim Kings coach Doug Christie said. “In many ways, he is the leader of the team, definitely on the emotional side. A lot of the energy, the things that go on in the locker room, practice. He’s the head of the snake in many ways. He’ll still be around, obviously, but two weeks is two weeks and we need him. We need Malik’s energy, his shooting, his athleticism.”
- A bad loss to the Spurs on Wednesday left the Warriors in a precarious position. They’re now in seventh place in the West with two games remaining. If the Grizzlies win their final three games against the Minnesota, Denver and Dallas — plus the Clippers beat the Kings on Friday and the Nuggets beat the Rockets on Sunday — then the Warriors would be stuck in the play-in tournament, regardless of whether they win their final two games, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. Golden State has games remaining against the Trail Blazers and Clippers. “A good team takes care of business the next two and goes from there,” Stephen Curry said. “We have to prove we’re a good team.”
- Warriors wing Brandin Podziemski had a rough outing on Wednesday, scoring just seven points in 33 minutes. In his previous four games, Podziemski averaged 23.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists. His surge in the second half of the season has fueled the Warriors’ chase for a top-six spot, Slater writes. “He was pressing early,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He was trying too hard to be an All-Star instead of just taking the next step. And we had a lot of guys who could all play. He didn’t stand out in camp. He didn’t play well enough to earn what he’s earning now.”
Latest On Nuggets’ Dismissals Of Calvin Booth, Michael Malone
Team officials and players had grown weary of the disconnect between Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth and head coach Michael Malone. That, plus a desire to audition top assistant David Adelman for the head coaching job, led to the dismissals of both Booth and Malone, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Tony Jones report.
Booth wanted to fire Malone as the team struggled down the stretch but knew he no longer had the power to make that bold move because of his contract situation. In the last year of his deal after failing to sign extension with ownership, Booth figured he would have to wait until after the playoffs to dismiss Malone, depending upon how the team performed.
Instead, owner Stan Kroenke and team president Josh Kroenke chose to part with both of them. The Kroenkes had made previous efforts to repair the relationship between Booth and Malone to no avail and ultimately decided to get rid of the negativity that was affecting the team. The team’s most important players, including Nikola Jokic, had grown frustrated and weary by Malone’s fiery approach.
Having replaced Malone shortly before the regular season ended, Adelman will have a chance to show whether he should have the interim tag removed after the postseason. Adelman has the support of the team’s regulars due to his steady and calm demeanor.
The ownership group is also aware that Adelman, whose contract is expiring, could have other head coaching opportunities. The Trail Blazers are likely to pursue him if they decide to fire Chauncey Billups, league sources tell Amick and Jones.
Here’s more from The Athletic’s in-depth reporting:
- It’s expected that the Kroenkes will mull a possible reunion with Tim Connelly, the former Nuggets GM who took over as the Timberwolves’ top exec in May 2022. Connelly has an opt-out in his contract for this summer. However, it’s believed that the Timberwolves’ new owners, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, will try to retain him. If the Nuggets can’t pry away Connelly, they could instead make a run at Minnesota GM Matt Lloyd.
- Malone had more input on personnel decisions when Connelly ran the show. Once Booth took over, Malone had much less influence and that irked the head coach. Booth had considered firing Malone prior to the team’s 2023 championship run.
- Booth had extensive discussions with the Kroenkes heading into the season but chose not to sign what he believed was a below-market offer. However, Booth believed that an extension was a mere formality. The Kroenkes pulled their offer when the club got off to a mediocre start.
- As previously reported, Booth wanted Malone to give more minutes to the younger guys that he drafted, particularly Jalen Pickett and Peyton Watson. After the team was eliminated by Minnesota last season, Booth thought Malone should have expanded the rotation during the regular season to keep the top players fresher, while Malone thought Booth should have given him a more well-rounded roster.
- Booth’s offseason decisions to give Zeke Nnaji a four-year contract and sign Dario Saric further strained the relationship. Malone hasn’t used either player in the rotation in recent months. Malone’s decision to stick with Russell Westbrook, another offseason pickup, over Pickett also caused considerable friction.
- Westbrook’s future with the organization, even if he picks up his $3.4MM option, is uncertain. Adelman was quicker to sub out Westbrook for Pickett during the team’s win over the Kings on Wednesday. Jamal Murray is expected to return from his hamstring injury on Friday.
Suns Notes: Elimination, Budenholzer, Booker, Defense, Durant, Future
Head coach Mike Budenholzer wouldn’t speculate on his future after the Suns were officially eliminated from postseason contention with their eighth straight loss on Wednesday.
“It’s pretty raw right now, it’s pretty fresh,” Budenholzer said, per ESPN News Services. “It’s been tough. There’s no doubt about it. We haven’t been as good as we’ve needed to be and expected to be.”
Budenholzer was signed to a five-year, $50MM contract last spring after Frank Vogel was dismissed. Vogel lasted just one season with the franchise and Monty Williams was fired after the 2022/23 season, shortly after Mat Ishbia became the primary owner. Firing Budenholzer would mean four different head coaches in four seasons.
Budenholzer has been in frequent contact with Ishbia.
“He’s always pushing us to win. To try to find ways to win. He’s ultra competitive. It’s always very consistent from him,” Budenholzer said, as Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets.
Devin Booker said after the 125-112 loss to the Thunder that there’s plenty of blame to go around for the team’s collapse.
“There’s not one thing or one person or one player or one coach that’s the problem,” Booker said. “When you’ve had a season this bad, it’s a bunch of things. I think the most frustrating part is being that close a few years ago, and now being back to where we are.”
We have more on the league’s most disappointing team:
- A lack of defensive discipline and toughness was a major reason why the Suns floundered, according to The Atheltic’s Doug Haller and Amos Morale III. With the payroll far above the second tax apron, the Suns were unable to make significant moves to improve the roster. Their failed attempt to acquire Jimmy Butler highlighted that point.
- Kevin Durant was unavailable once again on Wednesday. He hasn’t played this month due to an ankle injury. “He’s making progress but regardless of wins and losses, we’ve got to see if he’s healthy,” Budenholzer said, per Rankin (Twitter link). “I don’t think there may even be a decision to make, but we’ll see how he does over the next 24 to 48 hours.” All signs point to Durant being traded this offseason, Rankin writes.
- Phoenix is just the latest example of a franchise that made reckless moves and sacrificed future success for fleeting short-term gains rather than exercising patience, The Athletic’s John Hollinger opines. The Suns have traded all of their own draft picks through 2031 and have the league’s worst contract, according to Hollinger, who notes that Bradley Beal has a no-trade clause and is still owed more than $110MM over the next two seasons. The only real solution, Hollinger says, is to trade both Booker and Durant for draft capital and start a complete rebuild.
Terence Davis Signs With Kings
April 9: Davis has officially signed with the Kings, the team announced in a press release.
April 8: The Kings are signing guard Terence Davis to fill the open spot on their 15-man roster, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Davis averaged 14.3 points on 40.2% three-point shooting for the NBA G League’s Wisconsin Herd this season. The veteran guard has 227 games of NBA experience, mostly with Sacramento from 2021-23. He has not played in the NBA since the 2022/23 season, when he saw action in 64 games with the Kings, averaging 6.7 points in 13.1 minutes per contest.
Davis ruptured his Achilles while playing for the Rip City Remix in 2023/24. He signed a training camp deal with the Bucks prior to this season, then was waived in mid-October. Davis joined the Herd shortly thereafter while waiting for another NBA opportunity to materialize.
Davis will provide some depth at the wing spots. Sixth man Malik Monk suffered a calf injury against Detroit on Monday and Keegan Murray has missed the last two games due to a back ailment.
The Kings have been carrying just 16 players instead of the maximum 18, with 14 on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals. They aren’t eligible to sign another two-way player before the end of the season, but the addition of Davis will give them a full standard roster.