Lowe’s Latest: Hart, Hachimura, Crowder, D. Green, T. Davis, More
Trail Blazers forward Josh Hart “is a name that is very, very hot right now,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe said in the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast.
In a conversation with ESPN colleague Bobby Marks about Portland’s possible approach to this season’s trade deadline, Lowe stated that there are “a lot” of teams around the NBA who would like Hart, specifically citing Miami as a possible suitor since the 27-year-old is a “Heat kind of guy.”
Hart is playing a crucial role this season for the Blazers. In addition to starting all 45 games he has played, he’s averaging 34.0 minutes per contest and ranks third on the team in total minutes played (1,530). However, his contract situation has made him the subject of trade speculation — he holds a player option on his contract for 2023/24, so he could become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Here’s more from Lowe and Marks:
- Both Marks and Lowe have heard rumblings that the Wizards and Rui Hachimura had discussions prior to the season about a rookie scale extension worth in the neighborhood of $12MM annually, but Hachimura opted to play out his contract year. The forward was traded to Los Angeles on Monday, so the Lakers will have to find common ground with him in free agency if they intend to keep him beyond this season.
- A source from a team with interest in Jae Crowder told Lowe that the Suns are seeking two of the following three things in exchange for the veteran forward: A first-round pick, a good young player, and a solid rotation player. Both Marks and Lowe are skeptical about Phoenix’s chances to get that sort of return, with Lowe remarking that the asking price is why Crowder is still a Sun.
- Lowe keeps hearing that the Grizzlies love Danny Green‘s locker room presence and don’t want to trade him. Green is on track to make his season debut next Wednesday.
- In a discussion about possible deadline moves for the Kings, Lowe said that he’s not sure guard Terence Davis is “loving his playing time” this season and suggested that Davis could be a trade chip. The fourth-year guard is averaging a career-low 12.7 minutes per contest.
- Echoing a recent report from Marc Stein, Lowe indicated that the Hornets appear motivated to hang onto forward P.J. Washington and re-sign him as a restricted free agent this offseason rather than moving him at the deadline.
- Lowe believes the Clippers are a good bet to make a deadline move, but suggests it might be more around the edges than anything major, since the team is reluctant to move Terance Mann and doesn’t have many movable first-round picks left.
Rory Maher contributed to this post.
Bob Myers’ Future With Warriors Remains Uncertain
With Bob Myers‘ contract as the Warriors‘ president of basketball operations set to expire later this year, people around Myers are wondering whether – or even predicting that – his time in Golden State could be coming to an end, according to Anthony Slater, Marcus Thompson II, and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
The Athletic’s trio cites team and league sources who say that Myers believes he should be among the NBA’s highest-paid front office executives, if not the highest, after having built a roster that has won four titles since 2015.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who previously stated that the team has made two contract extension offers to Myers, has referred to the executive’s last deal as one that made him one of the NBA’s top three highest-paid general managers, but Slater, Thompson, and Amick suggest that’s not the case.
According to The Athletic, Myers is among the top six or top eight highest-paid basketball executives, but Daryl Morey (Sixers), Masai Ujiri (Raptors), Pat Riley (Heat), Tim Connelly (Timberwolves), R.C. Buford (Spurs), and Leon Rose (Knicks) are believed by industry experts to be paid more.
Myers is well-liked by the Warriors’ stars, including Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and Lacob and the team’s ownership group have shown a propensity over the years to spend to retain talent wherever possible, so the two sides could certainly still work out a new deal that keeps Myers atop Golden State’s front office for years to come.
If that doesn’t happen, the Wizards, Suns, and Knicks are worth watching as possible suitors for Myers, according to The Athletic’s trio, who also name the Clippers as a possibility being discussed in front office circles. A source with knowledge of the Clippers’ situation pushed back on that idea, however.
Slater, Thompson, and Amick have heard that Lacob has become more involved than ever in the Warriors’ personnel moves in recent years, including scouting draft prospects and creating big boards.
The Athletic’s report doesn’t indicate that Myers has chafed at Lacob’s involvement, but suggests Myers has essentially had to play the role of mediator between the Warriors’ ownership group – which has encouraged the development of young prospects and pushed a “two-timeline” plan – and his veteran stars and head coach Steve Kerr, who may favor more experience on the club’s bench.
Sources close to Myers who spoke to The Athletic wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the veteran executive leaving the NBA altogether and pursuing other opportunities, especially if burnout is a factor.
With several months left until Myers’ contract expires, it’s too early to say how the situation will play out. Two years ago, Ujiri and the Raptors didn’t agree to a new deal until well into the summer, just as his contract was about to expire — it’s possible the Myers situation in Golden State could follow a similar trajectory. For now, it’s worth monitoring as an under-the-radar storyline that could be resolved without further drama or could result in a major shake-up for the defending champs.
Bulls Notes: LaVine, Team Meeting, Green, Williams
Bulls guard Zach LaVine has been playing through a right hand contusion, and it has been affecting his performance. Including Tuesday’s loss to Indiana, in which Chicago blew a 21-point lead, LaVine has gone 6-of-36 (16.7%) from three-point range over his past five games.
K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago asked him about his struggles after the game.
“I’m playing with a messed-up finger obviously on my shooting hand,” LaVine said. “You can see by the numbers I’m not shooting the ball well from three. I can still get to the cup and shoot free throws, shoot mid-range. Obviously, you can see by the numbers it’s affecting my shot. But it’s not going to keep me from trying to go out there and help and contribute.”
As Johnson notes, LaVine wasn’t on the injury report prior to the game and was previously only listed as probable after suffering the injury on January 11. The 27-year-old is getting regular treatment and is playing with a brace, and while he says it’s painful at times, he’s not using it as an excuse.
“If I’m out there, I’m healthy enough to play,” he said, per Johnson.
Here’s more out of Chicago:
- The Bulls held a team meeting after their three-game win streak came to an end in disappointing fashion against Indiana on Tuesday night, but it remains to be seen whether it will help get the team out of a cycle of inconsistency and mediocrity, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “Honestly, there’s not much to be said,” Nikola Vucevic said after the Bulls were outscored by 22 points in the second half of a six-point loss. “There’s nothing you can say. It’s just a lot of frustration. We did all the talking. So we’ve just got to do it or this is where we’re going to be.”
- There’s still some uncertainty surrounding Javonte Green‘s recovery following knee surgery, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times relays. The Bulls forward has yet to resume running or jumping, according to head coach Billy Donovan. “I’ll probably get a better idea of where he’s at physically once they say he can get on the court and start moving around a little bit, but he has not been able to do any of that,” Donovan said.
- Former fourth overall pick Patrick Williams hasn’t necessarily developed at the rate the Bulls had hoped, but the team views performances like Monday’s 18-point, 10-rebound showing as a sign that he’s continuing to move forward, even if the progress is slow, Cowley writes for The Sun-Times. “One of the most versatile players on this team,” DeMar DeRozan said of Williams. “Once he gets comfortable and realizes what he’s doing now it’s going to help us even more.”
Rory Maher contributed to this post.
Brandon Ingram On Track To Play Wednesday
After spending the last two months on the shelf due to a toe injury, Brandon Ingram will be available for the Pelicans on Wednesday night when they host the Timberwolves, barring any last-minute setbacks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Ingram has been limited to just 15 games so far this season after sustaining a contusion affecting the big toe on his left foot during a November 25 loss in Memphis. Prior to the injury, he was his usual productive self for the ascendant Pelicans, averaging 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 32.1 minutes per game on .472/.467/.868 shooting.
Ingram’s return couldn’t come at a better time for New Orleans. The team got off to an 18-8 start this season, but has struggled in recent weeks with Ingram unavailable and Zion Williamson dealing with his own health ailments.
The Pelicans have lost 10 of their lost 13 games, including their last five, and are now just 26-22. They still hold the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, but their margin of error has disappeared — the nine teams currently holding the Nos. 5-13 seeds in the West are all within four games of New Orleans.
With Williamson ruled out for at least two more weeks, getting Ingram back should give the Pelicans a shot in the arm as they look to snap their losing streak and hang onto their top-four spot in the conference standings.
Danny Green Plans To Make Season Debut On February 1
Grizzlies swingman Danny Green is targeting February 1 for his return from an ACL tear, he announced in the latest episode of his Inside The Green Room podcast. Memphis will be hosting the Trail Blazers on that date, one week from today.
Green, who spent last season with the Sixers, tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee during Philadelphia’s season-ending Game 6 loss to Miami in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last May.
The 35-year-old was attached to a first-round pick in the offseason trade that sent De’Anthony Melton to the 76ers, but the Grizzlies made it clear they didn’t just view him as a salary-matching piece. Despite a preseason roster crunch and the fact that he wouldn’t be ready to return for several more months, Green made Memphis’ 15-man roster to open the regular season in October.
Now, Green – who has already won titles with the Spurs, Raptors, and Lakers – believes he can help a young Grizzlies team realize its championship potential, as he tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“What I bring is definitely needed here: perimeter shooting and perimeter defense,” Green said. “I think I can bring maturity and help a young team understand what it takes to win. This has been an A-1 organization from top to bottom in handling this entire rehab with me.”
In recent years, many NBA players who have suffered torn ACLs have missed a full calendar year, or even longer, but Green will be making his return just eight-and-a-half months after sustaining his injury. He noted in his podcast that he’s fortunate to have been able to accelerate his recovery timeline.
“It’s not realistic (to come back from this injury this quickly),” Green said, per Wojnarowski. “Everybody’s body is very different, but I’ve been lucky … to have a pretty good surgeon, a pretty good body that healed really well and quickly, and the right people around me to help me get there. A lot of things had to fall in place for this to happen this way.”
As Green ramps up for his Memphis debut, it’s worth noting that he’s on an expiring $10MM contract and the Grizzlies have already been quite successful without him (their 31-16 record places them second in the West), so he could become a trade candidate at the February 9 deadline if the team wants to acquire another piece and needs to send out some salary.
However, general manager Zach Kleiman and head coach Taylor Jenkins have praised the veteran wing for the leadership he has brought to the franchise. And for his part, Green doesn’t sound like someone who would welcome a change of scenery.
“This is a place I hope that I can call home for the next couple years,” he told Wojnarowski. “I’m lucky to be in a great situation with a winning team.”
Anthony Davis Set To Return On Wednesday
Lakers star Anthony Davis is on track to make his return from a foot injury on Wednesday night, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
According to McMenamin, Davis intends to suit up in Los Angeles against the Spurs as long as he doesn’t experience any setbacks in his pregame warmups.
Davis has been sidelined since December 16 due to a bone spur and stress reaction in his right foot. The Lakers, who were 12-16 when Davis went down, have held their own without one of their two superstars available, going 10-10 in their last 20 games and remaining very much in the play-in hunt.
At 22-26, the Lakers are 13th in the Western Conference, but they’re only three games back of the fifth-seeded Clippers.
As McMenamin outlines, the plan on Wednesday is for Davis to be on a restriction of about 20-to-24 minutes. The Lakers’ next game isn’t until Saturday in Boston, so the team will have a couple days off to assess how the big man’s foot responds to his return to action.
In addition to getting Davis back, the Lakers will have more reinforcements in their frontcourt when they host the Spurs — newly acquired forward Rui Hachimura will be available to make his debut with his new team, head coach Darvin Ham told McMenamin and other reporters on Tuesday.
With Davis just coming off a major injury and Hachimura working on getting acclimated to a new situation, the Lakers’ rotation on Wednesday will be a work in progress. According to a previous report, the plan is for Hachimura to join the starting frontcourt alongside Davis and LeBron James, but that may not happen right away.
Atlantic Notes: Fournier, Durant, Tatum, Raptors
Asked directly if he wants to remain with the Knicks, Evan Fournier paused to consider his answer before responding, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. As the veteran wing eventually explained, while his preference would be to stay in New York, that may not be the case if he’s going to remain out of the team’s rotation.
“Best-case scenario, I want to stay here. I want to play here,” Fournier said. “I had a bunch of different choices in free agency and I wanted to be a Knick. I love New York. I wanted to play for (head coach Tom Thibodeau). So I’d love to stay, but I’d love to play.”
Fournier went on to say that he feels like he’s in the best shape of his career and that he’d rather not spend some of his prime years sitting on the bench.
“I should be in my prime. I am in my prime,” he said, per Braziller. “You want to play, for sure. Especially as a competitor. It’s not like I forgot how to play. Last year I had a different role and somehow I was able to break a 30-year-old franchise record (most three-pointers in a season). So I am going to find a way to adapt to any situation.”
The veteran wing has been ruled out of Tuesday’s game vs. Cleveland for personal reasons, the Knicks announced (via Twitter). According to Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link), Fournier’s wife gave birth today.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- It’s uncertain after today’s update from the team whether Kevin Durant will be healthy in time to play in next month’s All-Star Game, but if the decision is up to him, the Nets star would like to suit up in Salt Lake City, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I want to play tomorrow if I can,” Durant said. “So that’s what my sense of urgency is. Obviously, I don’t want to rush anything. I want to make sure I’m 100%. But yeah, I want to play. I want to be a part of all these events.”
- Celtics forward Jayson Tatum didn’t rule out the possibility that his sore left wrist will require surgery after the season, but indicated that he has no plans to miss extended time during the season, using rest and injury management to play through the ailment, per Bobby Manning of CLNS Media.
- Eric Koreen and John Hollinger of The Athletic teamed up to take a closer look at the Raptors‘ approach to the trade deadline and various factors the team should be considering as it weighs its options. Hollinger views the Lakers as one logical trade partner for Gary Trent Jr., pointing out that L.A. would be in position to re-sign the veteran swingman to a new contract this summer.
And-Ones: Faried, CBA, Wembanyama, Thompson Twins
In a conversation with Sam Yip of HoopsHype, Kenneth Faried admits that it has been “extremely difficult” to be out of the NBA since 2019, since he believes that he’s still capable of playing at that level and helping a team. Faried is currently suiting up for the Mexico City Capitanes in the G League as he seeks an NBA comeback.
“At the same time, patience is a virtue. I’m very patient,” Faried said. “I’m working hard towards showing that I can still do it at that level. … I’m ready, I’m focused, I’m locked in, I’m a better vet, a better person, a better leader and I don’t even need to be a leader. I can be quiet and sit back and just follow whoever the leader is.”
As Yip points out, Faried is one of several NBA veterans playing for Mexico City’s G League team. Shabazz Napier, Gary Clark, and Mason Jones are among the other Capitanes players hoping for a call-up.
“For us to now be on a team, and all trying to have the same kind of goal to make it back to the NBA and try to find a way is great, because we’re not trying to be selfish to each other,” Faried said. “We’re trying to help each other. And everyone’s here trying to help each other get better, trying to showcase that we’re still good enough in great shape and ready for whatever may happen, ready for a contract for real.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Don’t expect the NBA’s next Collective Bargaining Agreement to include an upper spending limit (ie. a hard cap), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during the latest episode of his Hoop Collective podcast. The NBA was reportedly pushing a de facto hard cap earlier in CBA discussions, but Windhorst believes negotiations between the two sides would be far more contentious if the league was still prioritizing that concept. He does think there will be changes made to the luxury tax system, however.
- Although the 2017 CBA improved the guidelines for veteran contract extensions and led to a huge uptick in those deals, the rule limiting players to a 20% raise for the first year of an extension is outdated, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN, who notes that it makes it virtually impossible for clubs to extend players who are coming off team-friendly deals. Marks suggests tweaking the rule to allow teams to offer the same amount in an extension that they’d be able to in free agency.
- Top prospect Victor Wembanyama is expected to play for France’s national team in two World Cup qualifying contests next month, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops writes. The February 23 and 26 games conflict with the EuroLeague schedule, but Wembyanama’s Metropolitans 92 aren’t a EuroLeague team.
- Twins Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, projected top-10 picks in the 2023 NBA draft, are looking forward to competing against other top players from their draft class and showing how the Overtime Elite program has benefited them, writes Jacob Polacheck of ZagsBlog.com.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 1/24/2023
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today.
Click here for today’s transcript, and join us on Thursday when Dana Gauruder hosts our next live chat!
Trade Rumors: Suns, Holmes, Reid, Raptors, Bamba
Suns point guard Chris Paul has missed 21 of 48 games this season due to injuries and has seen his production dip even when he’s healthy — his 13.4 points per game would be a career low, while his 42.7% field goal percentage is the second-worst mark of his career.
Paul’s limitations have prompted the Suns to begin considering their post-CP3 future at point guard, according to Marc Stein, who reports at Substack that Phoenix has identified the Raptors‘ Fred VanVleet, the Hornets‘ Terry Rozier, and the Knicks‘ Immanuel Quickley as potential trade targets.
As Stein outlines, the Knicks are considered unlikely to move Quickley and it remains to be seen what Toronto’s intentions are for VanVleet, but Rozier is widely believed to be very much available for a struggling Hornets club that will likely be one of the deadline’s top sellers.
Here are a few more trade-related rumors from around the NBA:
- Teams with a need for frontcourt help are keeping an eye on Kings center Richaun Holmes as a possible buyout candidate if Sacramento can’t move him before the trade deadline, says Stein. That seems like a long shot, given that Holmes is still owed $12MM in 2023/24 and $12.9MM on a ’24/25 player option after this season.
- Following up on Michael Scotto’s reporting on Naz Reid, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer cites league sources who say that the Nets are among the teams who have inquired on the Timberwolves big man. Scotto identified the Clippers and Nuggets as teams with interest in Reid.
- League sources are skeptical that the Raptors will move Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby unless the return is massive, but view Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet as more viable trade candidates due to their contract situations, writes O’Connor. Both Trent and VanVleet have 2023/24 player options which they’re expected to decline.
- Magic center Mohamed Bamba is considered “readily available” via trade, sources tell O’Connor. Bamba re-signed with Orlando in the offseason but has played a modest reserve role, averaging 17.4 minutes per game in 37 appearances. His $10.3MM salary for 2023/24 is non-guaranteed.