Knicks Notes: Anunoby, Flynn, Achiuwa, Thibodeau, Skapintsev
When OG Anunoby decided to leave Klutch Sports this past offseason, he had meetings with several agencies and told prospective representatives that he would like a larger offensive role, one that would be commensurate with an annual average salary of $40MM, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
Anunoby is earning $18.6MM this season and has the ability to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason, at which point he’ll be in line for a substantial raise.
But the Knicks didn’t acquire the forward without a clear understanding of his contract situation, according to Fischer, who suggests that Anunoby may be more willing to sign a team-friendly deal with New York than he would have with another team. Sources tell Yahoo Sports that agents who met with the 26-year-old in the offseason got the impression he’d be willing to accept less than $40MM per year if he were to end up in New York.
As Fischer observes, it’s also worth noting that Anunoby ultimately ended up signing with CAA, an agency that works closely with the Knicks. One of Anunoby’s representatives is Sam Rose, the son of Knicks president Leon Rose.
Here’s more out of New York:
- Posing 10 pressing questions for the Knicks in the wake of the Anunoby deal, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post explores the motivation for the move, considers whether Malachi Flynn or Miles McBride will become the backup point guard, and examines what to expect from Precious Achiuwa, among other topics.
- It was apparent that the Knicks’ pre-trade roster had reached its ceiling, says Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post, arguing that the acquisition of Anunoby is exactly the sort of core shakeup the team needed. The deal also sets up the Knicks well for a follow-up trade, Vaccaro adds, given that the front office still has Evan Fournier‘s expiring contracts and all of its first-round picks to work with.
- The newly acquired Knicks players won’t be active tonight in Indiana, but should be available for Monday’s game vs. Minnesota, assuming all goes well with their physicals, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.
- Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau seems likely to hear from the NBA after criticizing the officiating following Friday’s loss to Orlando, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Thibodeau said that he was “sick and tired” of Jalen Brunson getting “hammered” and not earning foul calls. “Like, I watch. I send it in. I see it all. And they’re fouls. It’s plain and simple, they’re fouls and there’s no other way to say it, except they’re fouls. They’re fouls,” Thibodeau said. “No one drives the ball more to the rim than this guy does. And if you rake across his arm, you rake across his arm. And if you hit him in the head, you hit him in the head. Those are fouls. Those are fouls. [I’m] sick and tired of it.”
- In a story for The Athletic, Mike Vorkunov takes a closer look at the journey that new Knicks two-way player Dmytro Skapintsev has taken from Ukraine to the G League to the NBA club.
Raptors To Continue Exploring Pascal Siakam Trades
After agreeing to send OG Anunoby to New York, the Raptors are expected to continue exploring trades involving forward Pascal Siakam, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
While Wojnarowski reports that there’s currently no traction on any deal involving Siakam, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) says league sources expect the two-time All-Star to be on the move at some point.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports also writes that league personnel anticipate a Siakam trade following today’s Anunoby deal. As Fischer observes, many rival executives had long believed that Siakam was more likely to be traded than Anunoby, with the Hawks, Kings, and Pacers frequently mentioned as potential suitors. Toronto and Atlanta had serious conversations about the 29-year-old over the summer.
Like Anunoby, Siakam can become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, so the Raptors will have to make a decision soon on whether or not he’s part of their long-term plans. Toronto’s cap situation going forward will allow the team to re-sign both Siakam and Immanuel Quickley to new contracts that begin in ’24/25, but the club would, of course, gain significantly more cap flexibility by not having to commit to a new maximum-salary – or near-max – contract for Siakam.
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan observed this afternoon (via Twitter), the Raptors are in position to generate more than $36MM in cap room in 2024 and then go over the cap to re-sign Quickley, but that projection would require Siakam to not be on the books beyond this season — it would also mean not taking back any multiyear money in a Siakam trade, which may not be realistic.
From a basketball perspective, there had been questions about the long-term on-court fit of the Anunoby/Siakam duo alongside franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes. Led by those three forwards, the Raptors had gotten off to a 12-19 start this season.
Removing Anunoby from the equation could give Barnes and Siakam an opportunity in the coming weeks to show that they can thrive alongside one another, but Anunoby is a better shooter and floor-spacer than Siakam and was widely considered to be the better complementary piece for Barnes.
Reports have indicated that the Raptors have “no appetite” for a teardown or rebuild, and the return in the Anunoby trade reflects that, as the team opted for two young building blocks rather than attempting to load up on future draft picks. If Toronto makes a move with Siakam, the club would presumably seek a similar kind of package.
Raptors/Knicks Trade Notes: Draft Pick, Cap Details, More
While the Raptors won’t acquire a first-round pick in their deal sending OG Anunoby to the Knicks, the one draft pick Toronto is getting is essentially equivalent to a late first, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The 2024 second-rounder initially belonged to the Pistons, which means it projects to be the No. 31 overall selection in June.
In Marks’ view, that pick actually has more value than the protected first-rounders the Knicks are owed from Detroit and Washington. The Pistons first-rounder will be protected through 2027 and would become a single ’27 second-rounder if it’s not conveyed by then, while Washington’s first-rounder is protected through 2026 and would turn into a pair of second-rounders (2026 and 2027) after that.
The protections on the Pistons pick will eventually become top-nine in 2027, while Washington’s will become top-eight in 2026, so those first-rounders still have a chance to convey. But neither Detroit nor Washington appears on the verge of becoming a playoff contender, so from the Raptors’ perspective, there’s certainly some value in getting a pick guaranteed to be in the early 30s in the short term rather than asking for one of those conditional first-rounders.
Here are a few more notes on the deal that will send Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn to New York and Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett to Toronto:
- Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) says his understanding is that the Raptors and Knicks have been working on a potential Anunoby trade since they played one another on December 11. The two teams discussed a couple different iterations and the Raptors canvassed the league at this month’s G League Showcase in Orlando before circling back to the Knicks to finalize an agreement, Grange explains.
- When he discussed a possible extension with the Knicks prior to the season, Quickley was believed to be looking for a deal similar to the one Devin Vassell got from San Antonio (five years, $135MM, plus $11MM in incentives), tweets Grange. Given that Quickley is a crucial piece in the return for Anunoby, the Raptors are presumably prepared to re-sign him as a restricted free agent next summer and have a sense of what the price will be.
- Conversely, Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link) says the Knicks had concerns about re-signing Quickley at a price they felt comfortable with. Begley adds that he doesn’t think New York is done dealing, given that the team still has plenty of excess first-round draft capital to offer up in trade talks.
- Barrett, whom the Raptors were eyeing dating back to before the 2019 draft, will become the eighth Canadian to play for the franchise, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter links). The first seven were Jamaal Magloire, Cory Joseph, Anthony Bennett, Oshae Brissett, Khem Birch, Dalano Banton, and Chris Boucher.
- Following the trade, the Knicks will be $5.1MM below the luxury tax line and $9.9MM under their hard cap, while the Raptors will be $1.95MM below the tax and $4.85MM under the hard cap, tweets Marks.
- As a result of the trade, New York will generate a trade exception worth the difference between Barrett’s and Anunoby’s salaries ($5,241,072) and Toronto will create one worth Achiuwa’s salary ($4,379,527).
- The timing of Toronto’s trade agreement could benefit the Pistons, who are looking to avoid becoming the first team in NBA history to lose 29 consecutive games. As James L. Edwards of The Athletic tweets, the Raptors will be without Anunoby on Saturday when they visit Detroit on the second night of a back-to-back set.
And-Ones: Kohl, Holland, Sellers, G League, Goodwin
Former Bucks owner and Wisconsin senator Herb Kohl passed away this week at age 88, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic, who takes a look back at Kohl’s legacy in Milwaukee. Part of that legacy, Nehm notes, involves selling the Bucks to Marc Lasry and Wes Edens and ensuring that they would keep the franchise in Milwaukee.
“His goal was to make sure that if we bought the team, that the team stayed in Milwaukee. That was the requisite for us owning the team,” Lasry told Nehm. “He cared deeply about the city, about the people and he cared deeply about the Bucks.”
In order to keep the Bucks in town, the team needed to build a new arena to replace the aging Bradley Center. While Lasry and Edens received some public funding and paid a portion of the arena cost themselves after spending $550MM on the franchise, an extra $100MM from Kohl helped push the project over the finish line.
“In an extraordinary gesture, he basically gave to us, towards the building of the arena, a $100 million gift,” Edens said. “And I think it’s one of the most extraordinary acts, philanthropically sports-related that I’m aware of, maybe the most. He gave us $100 million. … And I think that his $100 million was really the pivotal amount at the time. And had that not happened, then it was very likely the Bucks would be in Las Vegas or Seattle or wherever else they might be. So it’s extraordinary.”
“It was very important to him for us to keep the team in Milwaukee,” Lasry added. “He ended up giving us $100 million to build a new arena. And we had said to him, ‘Is there anything you want? Should we name it the Kohl Center? Is there anything you want us to do?’ And he was like, ‘No, no, this is for the community. This isn’t about me. This is about what’s good for Milwaukee.'”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- In a conversation with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, G League Ignite prospect Ron Holland compared himself to NBA players Mikal Bridges and Jaylen Brown and explains why he believe he’s the top player in the 2024 draft class. Holland was atop ESPN’s 2024 draft rankings earlier this year, but has since slipped to No. 6.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic considers which teams will emerge as buyers and sellers in the coming weeks, noting that it would create some clarity if one team from the trio of the Bulls, Hawks, and Raptors begins pulling away with the No. 10 seed in the East, forcing the other two to become sellers.
- Within the same Athletic story, Hollinger observes that the annual G League Showcase in December used to provide teams with an opportunity to scout potential call-up candidates, but with so many of those players now on two-way contracts, the NBAGL talent pool isn’t as deep as it once was. Teams these days are more inclined to use the Showcase to get a closer look at players who are already on NBA contracts in order to gain more information for future transactions, per Hollinger. Still, Brandon Goodwin, the MVP of the event, is one notable free agent who boosted his stock at the Showcase and looks like a candidate for a 10-day deal next month, Hollinger adds.
Bradley Beal Set To Return For Suns
Veteran guard Bradley Beal is ready to return from the right ankle sprain that has sidelined him since December 15, with the Suns confirming today (via Twitter) that he’ll be available for Friday’s game vs. Charlotte. He was previously listed as questionable.
The Suns initially announced on Dec. 18 that Beal would be reevaluated in two weeks, indicating they expected him to be out until January. However, the 30-year-old expressed a desire to beat that recovery timeline and it appears he’ll achieve that goal, returning just 11 days later.
Given that Kevin Durant and Devin Booker aren’t on the Suns’ injury report, tonight’s game against the Hornets should be the third time this year that all three stars are available.
The trio made its debut on Dec. 13 vs. Brooklyn and played together vs. the Knicks two days later, though Beal left that game in the first quarter due to his ankle injury. Both of those contests were Suns losses, so Durant, Booker, and Beal are still seeking their first win together.
Beal, who was sidelined earlier in the season due to back issues, averaged 16.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game with a .433/.400/.696 shooting line in his five appearances prior to his Dec. 15 injury. He and the Suns will be hoping to string together some wins and move up the Western Conference standings — the team currently holds the No. 10 spot at 15-15.
Western Notes: Watson, Lakers, Nance, Rose
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone made a late decision to start Peyton Watson in place of injured forward Aaron Gordon on Thursday and the second-year wing responded in a major way, scoring a career-high 20 points and making four three-pointers as Memphis gave him room on the perimeter, as Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post details.
“They didn’t guard him early but he stayed with it and he didn’t lose confidence,” Malone said. “That can mess with you, but I thought Peyton did a really good job. I think he knows we have faith and confidence in him, and let’s be honest, Peyton Watson knows he’s a huge part of our future.”
Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link) referred to it as a “statement decision” by Malone to insert Watson into the starting five over Justin Holiday, who had started the previous four games that Gordon missed.
Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link) adds that the club had planned to approach that spot in the lineup on a game-by-game basis until Gordon gets healthy, but suggests Watson may have earned the role going forward with his performance on Thursday.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- After linking Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale to the Lakers in the offseason, Jovan Buha of The Athletic said this week in an episode of Hoops Tonight (YouTube link) that Los Angeles still has trade interest in the two Nets forwards. NetsDaily passes along Buha’s comments and explores whether a deal between the two teams is realistic.
- Ankle, groin, and rib injuries sapped Larry Nance Jr. of much of his athleticism earlier in the season, but the Pelicans big man is now feeling as good as he has “in years,” he tells Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Nance, who played on Thursday for the first time since November 27, pointed to a dunk over Walker Kessler as an example of the type of play he wasn’t making a month or two ago. “It just felt good to get back to who I am,” Nance said. “Earlier in the season, I would have got that drop-off and tried to throw up some B.S. hook or some floater. I can make it. But that’s not who I am. That’s not what this team needs from me.”
- Grizzlies guard Derrick Rose is loving being back in Memphis after spending a single college season with the Memphis Tigers 16 years ago, writes Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. Rose and his family had never bought a home in any of the cities he previously played in, but they did so in Memphis this year, with the 35-year-old hoping to stick around for the foreseeable future. “When I did leave (after college), I always wished that I stayed a little bit longer,” Rose said. “That’s crazy, like all the times we’ve had chances to purchase spots and our first purchase was in Memphis.”
Early Check-In On Traded 2024 First-Round Picks
As our list of traded 2024 first-round picks shows, 14 teams have dealt their first-rounders in next year’s draft (either with protections or without) and another two clubs have surrendered swap rights to their picks. That means over half of 2024’s first-rounders could theoretically be changing hands, with more potentially on the move as a result of in-season trades.
In actuality, due to protections on several of those traded picks or the fact that certain swap rights won’t be exercised, several of the first-rounders that could change hands won’t do so. It’s still too early to say with certainty which picks will be on the move and which will stay put, but with the NBA season past the one-third mark, we’re starting to get a clearer picture.
Here’s an early look at the traded 2024 first-round picks:
Picks that will change hands
- Nets‘ pick (unprotected) to Rockets
- Lakers‘ pick (unprotected) to Pelicans
- Clippers‘ pick (unprotected) to Thunder
These three picks don’t include any protections, meaning it’s a lock they’ll change hands. The only source of drama is where exactly they’ll land.
The Brooklyn pick looks like the best asset of the three — the Nets are currently tied for the 11th-worst record in the NBA, which means their pick would be in the lottery unless they earn a playoff spot via the play-in tournament.
The Lakers, currently eighth in the West, have the NBA’s 16th-best record, so their pick would come in around No. 15, though that could move in either direction if they end up in play-in territory. It’s also worth noting that the Pelicans have the option of deferring that pick to 2025 — if it stays around the middle of the first round, I expect New Orleans would have a hard time passing on it.
The Clippers are tied for the NBA’s eighth-best record, so their first-rounder would be at either No. 22 or 23 if the season ended today.
- A Thunder pick (conditional) to Pacers
The Thunder owe the least favorable of their four first-round picks to Indiana, so it’s a sure thing that the Pacers will get a pick from Oklahoma City — we’ll just have to wait to find out which one it’ll be.
That group of first-rounders controlled by the Thunder includes their own selection, the Clippers’ pick (unprotected), the Rockets’ pick (top-four protected), and the Jazz’s pick (top-10 protected). If the season ended today, the Pacers would receive OKC’s own first-rounder at No. 25.
Picks expected to be protected
- Pistons‘ pick (top-18 protected) to Knicks
While it’s not technically official yet, there’s no viable scenario in which the 2-29 Pistons will give up their first-round pick this season. They’ll keep that selection and will instead owe New York their 2025 first-rounder with top-13 protection. Based on how Detroit has looked this season, the Knicks probably won’t be holding their breath to get that pick before at least 2026 (when it’s top-11 protected) or 2027 (top-nine protected).
- Wizards‘ pick (top-12 protected) to Knicks
- Hornets‘ pick (top-14 protected) to Spurs
- Trail Blazers‘ pick (top-14 protected) to Bulls
The Wizards, Hornets, and Trail Blazers haven’t been quite as bad as Detroit, but they’re each among the NBA’s bottom five teams so far and have shown little indication that a play-in push is around the corner.
Barring a huge surprise, the Wizards will keep their 2024 pick and owe the Knicks their top-10 protected first-rounder in 2025; the Hornets will keep their 2024 selection and owe San Antonio their top-14 protected first-rounder in 2025; and the Blazers will hang onto their pick in 2024 and owe Chicago their lottery-protected first-rounder in 2025.
Picks still up in the air
- Raptors‘ pick (top-six protected) to Spurs
Toronto is tied for the seventh-worst record in the NBA right now, so the pick the Raptors owe to San Antonio could turn out to be a worst-case scenario for them by landing at No. 7 or No. 8. If the Raptors end up not making the playoffs, they’ll be rooting hard to move up into the top four on lottery night.
- Jazz‘s pick (top-10 protected) to Thunder
The Jazz are currently the ninth-worst team in the league. If they finish the season that way, they’d hang onto their pick unless two teams below them in the lottery standings leapfrog them. It will be interesting to see how aggressively the front office sells off pieces this season in an effort to keep that first-rounder — or whether that will even be necessary.
- Warriors‘ pick (top-four protected) to Trail Blazers
- Rockets‘ pick (top-four protected) to Thunder
- Mavericks‘ pick (top-10 protected) to Knicks
- Kings‘ pick (top-14 protected) to Hawks
In all likelihood, the Houston, Golden State, Dallas, and Sacramento picks will change hands, but it’s not a lock yet. If the Warriors (currently at No. 11 or 12 in the draft order) and Rockets (No. 14) end up in the lottery, there’s always a chance they could jump into the top four.
The Mavs and Kings, meanwhile, look like probable playoff teams, but there are a lot of contenders in the West, so if those teams don’t secure a top-six seed, anything could happen in the play-in tournament. For now, Sacramento and Dallas hold the fifth and sixth seeds in the Western Conference standings.
- Suns‘ swap rights to Wizards or Grizzlies
- Bucks‘ swap rights to Pelicans
Assuming they keep their top-12 protected pick, which is a safe bet, the Wizards would have the opportunity to swap first-rounders with the Suns. And if Washington passes on that chance, the Grizzlies would get the same opportunity.
It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Wizards will get to exercise that right, and I would’ve said the same thing about Memphis a week or two ago. Suddenly though, the gap in the standings between the Suns (15-15) and Grizzlies (10-20) doesn’t look insurmountable — it’s not entirely out of the question that Memphis will catch Phoenix and take advantage of the chance to swap first-rounders.
The gap between the Suns and Grizzlies is actually smaller than the one between the 23-8 Bucks and the 18-14 Pelicans. While we can’t rule it out yet, it seems unlikely that New Orleans will surpass Milwaukee in the standings and get to use the ability to swap picks with the Bucks.
Southwest Notes: K. Johnson, Smart, Mavs, J. Green
A longtime starter for the Spurs, Keldon Johnson has come off the bench in each of the past three games, and head coach Gregg Popovich expects that to continue for the foreseeable future, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).
As McDonald explains, the thinking is that Johnson can breathe some life into a second unit that hasn’t been as effective as hoped this season. The move will also give starters Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama an opportunity to establish more chemistry as they continue working on their two-man game.
Although he had started 230 of his previous 233 games prior to last Saturday, Johnson has no problem with the role change, indicating that he doesn’t need to be sold on it if Popovich believes it’s in the team’s best interest.
“If that’s what we need and that’s what we’re going to try, then that’s what we’re going to do,” Johnson said. “I don’t have an ego about it.”
Johnson’s performances in his first three games off the bench have been up and down, but he’s certainly not getting any fewer offensive opportunities in the new role. After averaging 13.5 field goal attempts in 33.0 minutes per game in his 26 starts, he has launched 15.7 attempts in 28.0 MPG this past week.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Upon returning this week from a left foot sprain that had sidelined him since November 14, Marcus Smart rejoined the Grizzlies‘ starting lineup and has made an immediate impact, notes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. In Smart’s first two games back – a win over New Orleans and loss to Denver – the Grizzlies outscored their opponents by two points in his 52 minutes of action and were outscored by 38 in the 49 minutes he sat.
- Explaining the decision to sign Brandon Williams to a two-way contract, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said the team wanted to make sure it still had plenty of point guard depth with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving both banged up (Twitter link via Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com). While Kidd indicated that Williams would have a chance to play on Thursday with the two star guards out, he was a DNP-CD, as Jaden Hardy (31 minutes) and Seth Curry (30 minutes) played increased roles.
- After getting a vote of confidence from head coach Ime Udoka earlier in the week, slumping Rockets guard Jalen Green showed signs of progress on Wednesday, scoring 23 points in 26 minutes and making 6-of-12 three-pointers. “He was aggressive, hunting his shots … and getting downhill more aggressively and making the right reads,” Udoka said, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “With their big (Jusuf Nurkic) back, he got some easy ones early on and it snowballed from there. He got aggressive looking for the three. That’s what we want him to do on a nightly basis.”
Raptors Rumors: Siakam, Barnes, Anunoby, Trent, Schröder
Although the Raptors and Pascal Siakam haven’t generated any real traction on a contract extension for the star forward, there have been “framework-type conversations” between the two sides since early in the season, sources tell Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
Grange suggests that December 30 had been viewed as a key date in the extension talks, since reaching a long-term deal by Saturday would make Siakam trade-eligible again at the start of free agency in July. Conversely, a trade by Dec. 30 would put Siakam’s new team in position to sign him to an extension prior to free agency.
However, Grange doesn’t get the sense that there’s any momentum toward a decision on Siakam coming within the next day or two. If the Raptors don’t extend Siakam by Saturday and then want to move him by the trade deadline, his new team would have to be pretty confident in its ability to re-sign him as a free agent, since an extension of more than two years (or featuring a raise greater than 5%) would be prohibited for six months after a trade.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Toronto has “no appetite for a reset, teardown, or rebuild,” according to Grange, who says the franchise’s primary goal is figuring out how to put a successful roster together around Scottie Barnes. In a perfect world, Grange continues, Siakam and OG Anunoby would remain part of the core. But that would require the team finding “better and more complementary pieces” to complement the trio of Barnes, Siakam, and Anunoby.
- Gary Trent Jr. is eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2024, but he hasn’t been a part of any of the team’s contract extension talks so far, sources tell Grange.
- Doug Smith of The Toronto Star believes trades of some sort are inevitable for the Raptors, given their current roster. He explores some possibilities and considers whether the team might make Dennis Schröder available if Barnes shows he can handle point guard duties in the new-look starting lineup.
- Head coach Darko Rajakovic stressed that Barnes isn’t suddenly Toronto’s full-time point guard with Schröder coming off the bench, but he does expect the former Rookie of the Year’s ball-handling responsibilities to increase, as Eric Koreen of The Athletic details. “I think the main reason for doing this is to speed up his development,” Rajakovic said. “When a player is really on the ball a lot, he is just forced to make all of those decisions: how to handle the pressure and how to handle different pick-and-roll coverages, how to set up his teammates. I believe that he has those talents in him.”
Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Nets, Bridges, Knicks
The Raptors made a change to their starting five on Wednesday, inserting Gary Trent Jr. into the lineup in place of Dennis Schröder. As Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca writes, the previous starters are the only five-man group in the NBA this season that has played at least 175 minutes and been outscored, so a change was overdue.
While the new starting lineup was technically outscored in 10 minutes of action on Wednesday, forwards Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby looked more comfortable operating with additional space on the floor and each scored 20-plus points en route to a blowout victory over Washington. Schröder also thrived in his new role off the bench — he was a game-high +29 in his 28 minutes, dishing 10 assists to go along with his nine points.
Head coach Darko Rajakovic said the new lineup isn’t set in stone, notes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, but it should give the Raptors more information on their roster as the trade deadline approaches. As Lewenberg outlines, the team will get to see whether Barnes and Siakam fit better together with another shooter on the floor, as well as evaluating whether Barnes can hold his own operating as the primary play-maker without a point guard alongside him.
According to Lewenberg, the Raptors don’t really have the personnel to play the way that Rajakovic would like to, so he’ll have to be flexible in his philosophies in order to adapt to this roster — the starting lineup tweak, which he long resisted, is a reflection of that.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- The Nets essentially punted away Wednesday’s game vs. Milwaukee, the second in a back-to-back set, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. In addition to holding out starters Cameron Johnson, Nic Claxton, and Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn didn’t use Mikal Bridges, Royce O’Neale, or Cam Thomas after the first quarter, giving them a de facto rest day too. “I’ve got to think short term and long term and make executive decisions for the betterment of the group,” Vaughn told reporters ahead of the 144-122 loss. “So that’s where we’re at tonight. Just being smart about what is presented in front of us.”
- The Nets‘ plan on Wednesday didn’t sit particularly well with Bridges, who extended his games played streak to 423 despite only logging 12 minutes, all in the first quarter, Braziller writes for The New York Post. Bridges said he didn’t want to “just get in there for the streak,” adding that he’s healthy and would’ve been fine playing more. “Didn’t like the choice and whatever that was. But it’s whatever,” Bridges said. “Definitely was not a fan.”
- Echoing a recent story from Ian Begley of SNY.tv, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post cites multiple sources who say Klutch Sports has “made it clear it’d prefer not to do business” with the Knicks. While Klutch obviously couldn’t stop the Knicks from trading for one of its clients, Bondy suggests that “landmines are set and often detonated if a player or his camp don’t want to be there.” Still, Bondy believes there’s a real chance of peace between the two sides, noting that both Rich Paul and the Knicks are open to meeting to work out their issues. The origins of the beef aren’t known, though Bondy speculates within his story about some possible factors.