Paolo Banchero, Keegan Murray Named Rookies Of The Month
Magic forward Paolo Banchero and Kings forward Keegan Murray have been named the NBA’s Rookies of the Month for January, the league announced today (via Twitter).
It’s the first time either player has won the award. Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin and Thunder guard Jalen Williams were the winners for October/November.
The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Banchero averaged 19.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game in 15 December appearances (33.5 MPG) for the Magic, who enjoyed a rare winning month. Orlando’s 8-7 record in December was its best mark in a month since the team went 4-1 in Dec. 2020, per Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
Murray’s Kings, meanwhile, went 8-6 in December as the rookie forward started all 14 of the team’s games. This year’s No. 4 overall pick, Murray averaged 12.7 PPG and 3.5 RPG in 28.6 MPG and made an impressive 46.4% of his three-point attempts (2.8 makes per game).
Mathurin and Williams were among the nominees for this month’s award. Hawks wing AJ Griffin, Pistons guard Jaden Ivey, and Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard were the other nominees in the Eastern Conference, while Jazz big man Walker Kessler, Rockets forward Jabari Smith, and Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan were nominated in the West (Twitter link).
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 1/3/2022
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 12:00pm Central time (1:00pm Eastern).
Certain Suns Roster Moves Require Robert Sarver’s Approval
Suns owner Robert Sarver isn’t involved in the franchise’s day-to-day operations as he serves the one-year suspension handed down by the NBA in September. He’s also in the process of selling the team to billionaire Mat Ishbia, so it’s just a matter of time until he’s not part of the organization at all.
However, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Insider link), Sarver will still likely have the final say on certain Suns roster moves before he surrenders control of the club.
As Windhorst explains, Ishbia’s purchase of the franchise is unlikely to receive official approval prior to this season’s February 9 trade deadline. Until Ishbia formally takes over, the guidelines regarding Sarver’s involvement with the team call for the longtime Suns owner to sign off on any deals involving a player whose salary is worth more than the NBA’s average player salary, sources tell ESPN.
The estimated average salary for the 2022/23 season is $10,792,000, while top Suns trade candidate Jae Crowder is earning just $10,183,800. But the provision calling for Sarver’s approval on a roster move involving a player earning more than the league average includes the associated luxury tax costs, according to Windhorst. Phoenix’s team salary is currently well into the tax.
While the specifics aren’t entirely clear, Windhorst says that just about any trade involving Crowder will require Sarver’s sign-off. Acting governor Sam Garvin still has the ability to approve smaller deals without Sarver’s involvement, but Crowder has long been considered the Sun most likely to be moved. The veteran forward has been away from the club all season as president of basketball operations James Jones attempts to find a suitable trade.
As Windhorst acknowledges, if the sale of the Suns is approaching the finish line by the time a trade is sent to ownership for approval, Ishbia could end up having a significant voice in the process, despite not technically being the controlling owner yet. After all, there would be little incentive for Sarver to veto a deal that the incoming owner is fine with, since Ishbia will be the one on the hook for the end-of-season luxury tax payments.
Still, Windhorst suggests that the Suns’ “ownership morass” has been a factor in the slow-moving Crowder process, since the front office has had to attempt to negotiate possible deals while not having any contact with the person who could ultimately make the final decision.
Mitchell’s 71-Point Game Latest Highlight In Historic Offensive Season For NBA
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell exploded for 71 points (and 11 assists!) in Cleveland’s overtime win over Chicago on Monday night, marking the highest-scoring night for an NBA player since Kobe Bryant poured in 81 points against Toronto in January 2006, nearly 17 years ago.
“In my 15 years, that’s the best performance I’ve ever seen,” said veteran forward Kevin Love, who spent several seasons playing alongside all-time great LeBron James and saw Kyrie Irving score 55-plus points multiple times (link via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com).
Including Bryant, there were just six players in NBA history who had scored at least 70 points in a game before Mitchell did it on Monday — Wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson, David Robinson, Elgin Baylor, and Devin Booker are the others.
“It’s humbling. I’m speechless to be honest with you,” Mitchell said, per Fedor. “Not only did I do that but I did it in an effort where we came back and won and it’s how we won. This is nuts. I’m extremely blessed and humbled that I’m in that company, in that group.”
As Marc J. Spears of Andscape tweets, Mitchell scored or assisted on 99 Cavaliers points, which is the second-highest total in NBA history, topped only by Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962.
Mitchell’s performance stands above the rest of the class as the best single game of the 2022/23 season, but he has faced plenty of competition, and was hardly the only player to have a huge night on Monday. Klay Thompson scored 54 points in a double-overtime victory for the Warriors; LeBron James had 43 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists en route to a win in Charlotte; Joel Embiid went for 42 points and 11 rebounds in a win over New Orleans; and DeMar DeRozan, whose Bulls lost to the Cavs, saw his 44-point showing get overshadowed in a major way by Mitchell’s night.
According to NBA.com, Monday represented the third time since December 23 (11 days ago) that at least five players have scored 40-plus points on the same day. Prior to December 23, that had only happened four times in NBA history.
As Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer observes (via Twitter), Mitchell’s and Thompson’s outbursts on Monday represented the 12th and 13th times this season that a player had scored at least 50 points in a game. That means we’re on pace for 28 such performances this season, which would be the most the NBA has seen since 1962/63 — there were 34 that year, and 30 of them were from Chamberlain.
It hasn’t just been a historic year so far for individual offense. Team offense is also reaching a high water mark that the NBA hasn’t seen in the last 50-plus years. According to Basketball-Reference, teams are averaging 113.7 points per game so far in 2022/23, which would be the highest league-wide scoring average since the 1969/70 season.
While it may not appeal to fans who love defensive slugfests, this season’s brand of basketball has been ideal for those who favor shootouts. It’s also forcing us to rethink how we evaluate a player’s stat line relative to the league average.
It’s still impressive for a player to average 20 points per game, for instance, but it’s not nearly as rare a feat as it was even 10 years ago, when teams were scoring just 98.1 points per game. In 2012/13, only nine qualifying players averaged 20 PPG for the season — this year, 43 are doing so.
Paul George’s Status TBD After Hamstring Tweak
Clippers forward Paul George was limited to playing just five minutes in the fourth quarter of Monday’s loss to Miami after tweaking his right hamstring, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
George said after the game that he’ll receive treatment on the injury on Tuesday and see how it responds. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be available for the team’s brief road trip to Denver on Thursday and Minnesota on Friday.
As Youngmisuk observes, George missed seven games in late November and early December after straining that same right hamstring, so it has been a recurring issue this season for the Clippers star.
“Often hamstrings are very, very serious injuries,” George said on Monday, per Youngmisuk. “So, I thought the first approach when I was dealing with my hamstring (during the previous absence) was just good, smart. We waited until it felt better and I didn’t have any issues, once I returned. “We won’t know more until (Tuesday). But my job is to do the best that I can and go from there.”
The Clippers have been relatively cautious this season with health issues, especially those affecting George and Kawhi Leonard, who missed Monday’s game due to a non-COVID illness. The team is taking the long view and its top priority to be at full strength entering the postseason, so we likely won’t see George or Leonard back in action until they’re feeling 100% or very close to it.
Lakers Notes: LeBron, Supporting Cast, Davis
Just two days after he made comments widely interpreted as a call to the Lakers‘ front office to improve the roster, LeBron James had his best game of the season on Friday in Atlanta. James celebrated his 38th birthday by piling up 47 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists en route to 130-121 victory.
James didn’t do it all by himself though — five of his teammates scored in double digits, with Thomas Bryant grabbing 17 rebounds and Russell Westbrook nearly registering another triple-double (14 points, 11 assists, and eight boards). As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, James’ teammates could’ve taken offense to his comments alluding to the roster’s shortcomings, but instead seemed to be galvanized by them.
“I don’t think anyone took that as a slight,” head coach Darvin Ham said. “I think they took it as, ‘You know what? He’s right. We need to pick up our stuff up and really try to apply it in unison, all pulling in the same direction and go compete our butts off.'”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Rohan Nadkarni of SI.com and Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times responded differently to James’ comments from earlier this week about not wanting to finish his career “playing at this level, from a team aspect.” Nadkarni believes the onus is on the front office to listen to LeBron and upgrade the roster, while Plaschke says the Lakers should tell their superstar “no” and focus on retooling the roster by trading him in the offseason. As we outlined earlier today, James is ineligible to be traded during the season.
- On paper, the contract extension James signed in August seemed like it should take some pressure off the Lakers and give the front office some additional time and freedom to operate as it sought roster upgrades. However, that hasn’t really been the case, according to Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group, who notes that the team is now under scrutiny for how it manages the end of an all-time great player’s career when he’s dissatisfied with how things are going.
- The Lakers “desperately need a shooter,” an executive tells Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, but Anthony Davis‘ recovery timeline will play a large part in dictating the team’s path at the trade deadline. “The question is, can another big-time player put them in the mix, because they’re not going anywhere with the way they are currently constructed,” the exec said. “So they have to ask, do you want to borrow against the future to see if you can maximize the present? And then you deal with the future when it comes up. But if Davis isn’t going to be able to play, or he’s playing but not himself, then none of this will really matter anyway.”
- In case you missed it, Davis spoke to reporters about how his recovery from a foot injury is progressing.
Knicks Notes: Quickley, Toppin, Randle, Dolan
While Evan Fournier and Cam Reddish are considered the most available trade candidates in New York, one league executive who spoke to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com pointed to another Knicks player who would bring back a far greater return if the team were willing to move him.
“The one guy who is really their trade asset is the one guy they’d like to keep, and that’s (Immanuel) Quickley,” the exec said. “Great kid. But he sees himself as a starting point guard, and the Knicks see him as a combo guard. Thibs (head coach Tom Thibodeau) doesn’t like to play young guys, but he’s embraced Quickley.
“The problem is Quickley sees what Tyrese Maxey is doing 80 miles south of there and he thinks, ‘Hey, I’m every bit as good as Tyrese. The only difference is he’s had opportunity and I haven’t.’ So he’s worried that the Knicks will never commit to letting him do what he wants to do. But he would bring back some value if they ever decided to trade him.”
It’s probably safe to take the anonymous executive’s commentary on Quickley with a grain of salt, since there’s no reason to think he’d have any inside insight on the 23-year-old’s thinking. Still, it’s worth noting that Quickley has posted some of the best numbers of his career in the Knicks’ last two games with Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett unavailable, racking up 15 assists on Tuesday and 36 points on Thursday.
“He’s not going to get those opportunities when they’re whole,” the exec added.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- An Eastern Conference executive who spoke to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com believes the Knicks have spoken to the Pacers about a possible Obi Toppin trade. “There has been some talk between the Pacers and Knicks about Obi,” the exec said. “He fits in Indiana, especially if they keep (Myles) Turner. Obi is a rim-runner, he has some toughness, he has athleticism. He needs minutes and a team that is rebuilding with young talent like Indy is a really good match.”
- A productive December has increased Julius Randle‘s season-long averages to 23.8 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 3.7 APG, but he’s not thinking about the possibility of earning a second All-Star nod, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. “I’m just trying to focus on the team, helping us get wins, day by day, how I can improve as a player and a leader, and how we can improve as a team,” Randle said. “Those things, if they happen, whatever it is, it’s great. But I’m more focused on the team.”
- Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News identifies five moments that defined a disappointing 2022 for the Knicks.
- Writing for his Substack (subscription required), Ethan Strauss takes a closer look at troubling reports and stories about Madison Square Garden security using facial recognition technology to turn away fans based on James Dolan‘s personal vendettas. Botte passes along some of the highlights of Strauss’ story in an article for The New York Post.
NBA Players Who Can’t Be Traded This Season
As we explained when we identified the players who will become trade-eligible on unique dates this season, there’s a small group of players whose trade restrictions won’t lift until sometime after the February 9 trade deadline. These players meet one of the following criteria:
- They signed a free agent contract after November 9.
- A player who signs a free agent contract doesn’t become eligible to be traded for at least three months.
- They signed a veteran contract extension (meeting certain criteria) after August 9.
- A player who signs a veteran extension that keeps him under contract for more than three total years (including his current contract) and/or includes a raise exceeding 5% doesn’t become eligible to be traded for six months.
- They signed a super-max contract.
- A player who signs a super-max contract (or a designated veteran contract) doesn’t become eligible to be traded for one year.
We identified all the players who fell into these three categories in our previous story on unique trade dates, but they may have slipped through the cracks amid the larger list of players we discussed in that article.
For that reason, we want to specifically single them out today to make sure it’s clear which players won’t become trade-eligible at all until sometime after the 2022/23 regular season.
Here are the players who fall into the three aforementioned groups and who can’t be traded this season:
Players who have signed free agent contracts since November 9:
- Stanley Johnson (Spurs)
- Kemba Walker (Mavericks)
There has been little action on the free agent market since the regular season began, with most players who have signed with NBA teams receiving two-way contracts rather than standard deals. Technically, three players have signed standard free agent contracts since November 9, but one of those players (Alize Johnson) was waived since then.
More names will join this list if more free agents sign standard contracts between now and February 9.
Players who have signed veteran contract extensions meeting certain criteria since August 9:
- LeBron James (Lakers)
- Maxi Kleber (Mavericks)
- CJ McCollum (Pelicans)
- Larry Nance Jr. (Pelicans)
- Dean Wade (Cavaliers)
- Andrew Wiggins (Warriors)
This is the most notable group of the three, if only for the presence of James at the top of the list.
It’s extremely unlikely that the Lakers would ever trade LeBron unless he asked to be moved, but his recently signed extension eliminates even the remote possibility of a deal until at least the 2023 offseason. If you’re advocating for the slumping Lakers to blow up their roster, you’ll have to leave James out of any hypothetical pre-February 9 trade scenarios.
Before they signed extensions, any of the rest of the players in this group – with the exception of McCollum – could have become viable trade candidates this season. Now, they’re all ineligible to be dealt until after the season.
Players who have signed super-max contracts:
- Devin Booker (Suns)
- Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves)
Booker and Jokic were never going to be traded this year, and the same can probably be said for Towns, even as messy as Rudy Gobert‘s integration has been so far. Still, their newly signed super-max extensions make them officially ineligible to be moved until at least next July.
Bulls Notes: LaVine, Ball, Inconsistent Play
After getting off to an up-and-down start this fall and resting his surgically repaired knee multiple times in the first month of the season, Bulls guard Zach LaVine hasn’t missed a game since November 6 and appears to be hitting his stride. LaVine scored a season-high 43 points in Friday’s win over Detroit, emphatically showing that he’s in midseason form, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.
“Go look at my last 10, 15 games,” LaVine said after the game. “I been feeling good.”
In his last 13 games, LaVine has averaged 25.5 points, 4.2 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in 35.8 minutes per night, with a scorching hot shooting line of .536/.432/.830.
One of the most encouraging signs, Collier writes, has been LaVine’s soaring field goal percentage around the rim — he has shot 79.5% in the restricted area in December, a major step up from his 58.8% mark in October and November.
“I give him a lot of credit of just sticking with the process and just continuing to work,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “I think when you’re as elite as he is offensively and you start the year off the way he did offensively and just trying to find himself. He put a lot of work into it just to stay the course.”
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Should LaVine’s best stretch of the season restore faith in this Bulls core? That remains to be seen, but his “noticeably improved health” is the best reason for optimism that the club is better than it showed in the early part of this season, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic.
- Donovan provided an update on Lonzo Ball‘s recovery from left knee surgery on Friday, telling reporters that the point guard has been doing some light jogging, shooting, and a “little bit” of jumping while shooting, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. “(Since) we last talked, it is progressing, it’s just really slow,” Donovan said. “But there has definitely been some improvements and he’s actually doing more physically than the last time we spoke.” As Schaefer observes, there are still several major hurdles for Ball to clear in the rehab process, including sprinting, cutting, and taking contact without pain.
- The most frustrating part of the Bulls’ season to date has been their inexplicable losses to some of the NBA’s worst teams despite impressive wins against several contenders, says Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago has a 5-8 record against sub-.500 opponents, including losses to Orlando, Houston, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio, but has gone 5-1 against Boston, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee, the East’s top three seeds.
Anthony Davis Discusses Foot Injury, Recovery
After head coach Darvin Ham spoke to reporters on Friday about Anthony Davis‘ foot injury, the Lakers big man held his own media session for the first time since being sidelined, echoing Ham’s optimism about how the recovery is progressing.
“Feeling a lot better, pain has subsided tremendously,” Davis said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I think the next step is (the foot) healing right now. I don’t want to use timetables because that’s a whole different thing, but it’s healing pretty quickly. So when we get back to L.A., we’ll do another image of the foot, and see how far it’s healed.”
According to Davis, the injury initially felt like a nine out of 10 in terms of pain, but that number has decreased to a one or two within the last couple weeks. He’s dealing with a bone spur fractured off the navicular bone in his right foot, as well as a stress reaction in that same bone.
“The stress reaction (can lead to) a stress fracture, and that’s a whole different ballgame,” Davis said in explaining why he and the Lakers are being careful with his recovery process.
As McMenamin details, the plan is for Davis to undergo another MRI on the injury next week — if it comes back clear, he’ll begin to undergo treatment on the injury, including shockwave and bone stimulation therapy.
When Davis first underwent an MRI on the injury earlier in the month, the Lakers shared the results with five different doctors and foot specialists in an effort to determine a recovery plan, McMenamin writes. Undergoing a procedure to remove the bone spur was one option presented, but Davis doesn’t view the bone spur as the most pressing issue in the short term, explaining that he hopes to avoid surgery for now, though he’s open to going under the knife after the season.
“Something to consider, in the offseason, to remove (the bone spur),” he said. “I think the biggest thing is the stress reaction though, just monitoring that. Because that can definitely lead to six, seven, eight months out — I would rather take four weeks than seven months. I’m not saying I’ll be back in four weeks — but hopefully.”
Davis was playing some of the best basketball of his career prior to suffering the injury on December 16 vs. the Nuggets. In his last 12 full games, he had averaged an eye-popping 35.0 points, 14.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.5 blocks, and 1.3 steals on 64.1% shooting.
The 29-year-old admits that it has been “tough mentally” to deal with this ailment just as he was rounding into peak form, but expressed confidence that he’ll be able to pick up where he left off once he returns.
“I’m just really excited to get back on the floor,” Davis said. “(It) hasn’t been a ‘Man, it’s going to take me X amount of games to get back in rhythm,’ or, ‘Might not be the same.’ That’s not even been a thought in my mind. My thought has been, ‘Whenever that day is, it’s go time.'”