Pistons Rumors: Noel, Bey, Bogdanovic, Burks
The Pistons are looking to move big man Nerlens Noel, sources tell James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Noel has been the subject of a handful of rumors already this fall, with one report indicating he’s unlikely to finish the season in Detroit and another suggesting the Mavericks have talked to the Pistons about a possible deal.
Edwards confirms that the Mavericks have been one of the teams engaged in discussions on Noel, but names a handful of other potential suitors as well, reporting that the Trail Blazers, Kings, and Heat have also talked to the Pistons about the veteran center.
Noel has appeared in just 31 games since the start of the 2021/22 season due to a combination of injuries and a crowded Pistons frontcourt, so he’s unlikely to have much trade value. Still, his contract isn’t onerous — he’s earning $9.24MM this season and has a team option for 2023/24 that could be declined without his team owing him any additional money.
According to Edwards, Noel’s camp and the Pistons have agreed that a deal is in both sides’ best interests.
Here’s more on the Pistons from Edwards:
- The Pistons have received inquires on Saddiq Bey and had discussions about the third-year forward, league sources tell The Athletic. Based on his conversations with people around the NBA, Edwards believes Bey is “gettable” at the right price, but he’s unsure of what the “right price” would be. Presumably, Detroit would still value the 23-year-old highly as a trade asset despite his struggles and his demotion from the starting lineup this season.
- Following up on Monday’s Bojan Bogdanovic rumors, Edwards reiterates that the idea of keeping the forward beyond this season is appealing to the Pistons, who extended Bogdanovic in the hopes of retaining him, not increasing his trade value. Detroit hopes to turn a corner by next season, so the team isn’t enthusiastic about simply selling off a productive veteran like Bogdanovic.
- Similarly, the Pistons like having veteran guard Alec Burks around, according to Edwards, who says “current signs point toward” the 31-year-old staying in Detroit beyond the trade deadline. Burks has a $10.5MM team option for next season, which is a reasonable price to pay based on his current production, and would give the club some flexibility if cap room needs to be created in the summer.
NBA Rebrands Major End-Of-Season Awards
Beginning in 2023, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player will receive the Michael Jordan trophy, named after the current Hornets owner and former Bulls guard who received five MVP awards during his time as a player, the league announced today in a press release.
The NBA’s Most Valuable Player previously received the Maurice Podoloff Trophy. However, as we noted last week, that trophy will now be awarded to the team that finishes the regular season with the NBA’s best record.
The new MVP trophy is part of the NBA’s wider rebranding of its major awards. The league also announced the following changes:
- The Defensive Player of the Year will receive the Hakeem Olajuwon trophy in honor of the former Rockets center who won a pair of DPOY awards and was named to nine All-Defensive teams.
- The Rookie of the Year will receive the Wilt Chamberlain trophy in honor of the Hall-of-Famer who led the league with 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game as a rookie for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1959/60.
- The Sixth Man of the Year will receive the John Havlicek trophy in honor of the Celtics legend who came off the bench for the first seven years of his career and made four All-Star teams during that time.
- The Most Improved Player will receive the George Mikan trophy in honor of the late Hall-of-Famer who played from 1948-56. The NBA notes in its press release that “a layup and footwork exercise known as the ‘Mikan Drill’ has been used for decades by players at all levels to improve their game.”
The NBA also announced the introduction of the Clutch Player of the Year award — the winner will receive the Jerry West trophy, named after the former NBA star who is currently an executive board member for the Clippers and was nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” by Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn.
According to the NBA, the new award will “honor the NBA player who best comes through for his teammates in the clutch.” Like the other major awards, it will be voted on by a media panel, though the nominations will be provided by NBA head coaches.
“Our new collection of trophies celebrates some of the greatest and most impactful players in the history of the NBA,” commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As we recognize the league’s top performers each season, we also pay tribute to the legends who embody these prestigious awards.”
Images of the new trophies can all be viewed within the NBA’s press release.
Community Shootaround: Dallas Mavericks’ Future
After throwing in the towel on the Kristaps Porzingis experiment at last season’s trade deadline and then watching Jalen Brunson leave for New York as a free agent during the offseason, the Mavericks don’t have a great candidate on their roster to emerge as a second star alongside Luka Doncic.
Christian Wood is a gifted scorer and rebounder, but his defensive shortcomings limit his two-way impact — Dallas hasn’t even been comfortable inserting him into the starting lineup for that reason. Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Maxi Kleber are among the Mavericks’ other top rotation players who are solid in their roles, but not won’t be making any All-Star teams.
As great as Doncic is, the Mavs probably need to add at least one more impact player to be a legitimate title contender, but they’re not in a great position to make that sort of trade this season. They owe their 2023 first-round pick to New York as a result of the original Porzingis trade and have traded away four future second-rounders. Their roster also lacks a top young prospect who could be the centerpiece of a trade for a star.
Dallas’ future outlook was the primary topic of discussion on the most recent episode of Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast. As Windhorst and ESPN colleagues Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps observed, the Mavs will be facing increased pressure to connect on their next big roster move, given that Doncic is now on his second contract.
While it wasn’t an ideal outcome, the Mavs could afford to swing and miss on Porzingis because they made that move while Doncic was still on his rookie scale contract and they knew they’d be able to extend him beyond that. Now that his rookie scale extension – which has an opt-out after year four – has begun, the clock is ticking for the franchise to prove to the All-NBA guard that he should want a long-term future in Dallas.
“I think they have a two-year window here,” MacMahon said (hat tip to RealGM). “This season and next season going into that summer (of 2024). I think they’ve got a two-year window where, you know, like Milwaukee did with Giannis (Antetokounmpo), I think in that window they really need to convince Luka that he has a chance to contend year in and year out right here in Dallas.
“If they can’t get it done in that two-year window, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that he’s going to force a trade or ask for a trade. I’m just saying at that point if he’s not happy, he has all the leverage in the world if he would be looking to leave.
“I’m also not going to pretend like I know his innermost thoughts, but obviously I’m around this team on a regular basis. I know people who do know Luka well. I don’t think Luka will look for reasons to leave. I think he’d be perfectly happy spending his entire career in Dallas. But if he doesn’t have to look for reasons and they’re slamming him in the face, that’s a problem.
“He’s also a guy who is a ruthless competitor, which means he loves winning. He’s used to winning. He won championships with Real Madrid. He’s won a EuroBasket championship with the Slovenian national team. He also detests losing. Like, can’t handle it. Whether it’s cards, ping pong, but especially NBA games.”
MacMahon went on to say that he thinks it will be “awfully hard” for the Mavs to acquire a second star as long as they still owe the Knicks a first-round pick. That means Dallas could end up waiting until the 2023 offseason or the 2024 deadline to make its next big move, especially since more stars could land on the trade block by that time.
We want to know what you think. Is there a path for the Mavs to contend for a title by simply tweaking their roster and making smaller moves, or do they need to find a way to acquire another impact player? Should they be worried at all about Doncic’s eventual flight risk at this point, or are they in a strong position to prove to him that they can be a perennial contender?
Head to the comment section below to let us know your thoughts!
Pacific Notes: Wall, Booker, Green, Westbrook
Having previously contemplated suicide amid a series of personal tragedies, Clippers guard John Wall is in a much better place now as he prepares for his D.C. homecoming on Saturday night, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Describing the basketball court as his “sanctuary,” Wall said he believes he still has a lot left in the tank.
“(If) the money and all that s–t go out the window, I could come here and play the game I love,” he said. “… Just being here around the guys, in an environment where I know I’m on a team, that calms a lot of it out.”
As Youngmisuk details, tonight will be the first time since his last home game as a Wizard in December 2018 that Wall has played in front of fans in Washington. He returned to the city as a Rocket during the 2020/21 season, but no fans were in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The veteran point guard, who bought 50 tickets for the game, told Youngmisuk that it will be an “emotional” night for him.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Suns guard Devin Booker is considered day-to-day due to left hamstring tightness, head coach Monty Williams said today, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. With Phoenix in a three-game losing streak and another showdown with the Pelicans on tap for Sunday, Booker will presumably do his best not to miss any time.
- Tweaking the rotation to ensure that Draymond Green is playing with the second unit might go down as the move that saved the Warriors‘ season, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. As Andrews outlines, Golden State had been attempting to find ways for its young players to emulate Green, but ultimately decided that Green himself was the only player capable of filling that role alongside the reserves.
- Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group checks in on how Russell Westbrook has settled into his reserve role, suggesting that the Lakers guard seems comfortable with his place in the rotation after coming off the bench for the last 21 games.
Central Notes: Love, Mitchell, Bulls, Ingles
Don’t expect Kevin Love to be on the move before this season’s trade deadline, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes in a subscriber-only mailbag. While the Cavaliers will likely peruse the trade market in search of a small forward upgrade, Love’s cap hit of nearly $29MM makes him unlikely to be dealt, according to Fedor, who points to Cedi Osman and Caris LeVert as more logical trade candidates for the team.
The Cavaliers and Love actually have mutual interest in extending their relationship beyond 2022/23, sources tell Fedor. Love will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, and Fedor wouldn’t be surprised if the veteran power forward ends up re-signing with Cleveland at that point on a “more reasonable number that works for both sides.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- The Cavaliers will be without Donovan Mitchell for a second consecutive night on Saturday due to right lower leg soreness, per Kelsey Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Love, who is battling low back soreness, will also miss his second straight game.
- The Bulls have no interest in acquiring Russell Westbrook from the Lakers, even if it means adding multiple draft picks, a source tells Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. While Cowley doesn’t explicitly say so, this report appears to be a response to the rumor about the Lakers internally discussing whether Chicago might become open to the idea of moving DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic for Westbrook and draft assets. Cowley acknowledges that the Bulls’ thinking could change before the February trade deadline, but says the focus for now is getting Lonzo Ball back and pushing for a playoff spot.
- Bucks forward Joe Ingles, who continues to work his way back from an ACL tear, has been assigned to the Wisconsin Herd for a second time for practice reps, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Jordan Nwora and rookie MarJon Beauchamp were also sent to the Herd, Nehm notes.
Injury Notes: Nets, Conley, Prince, Adams
The Nets will be extremely shorthanded when they visit Indiana on Saturday for the second half of a back-to-back set. As Ian Begley of SNY.tv tweets, Brooklyn has ruled out eight players, including their entire regular starting lineup.
Kevin Durant (right knee injury management), Kyrie Irving (left adductor tightness), Ben Simmons (left knee/calf injury management), Royce O’Neale (personal reasons), Joe Harris (left ankle injury management), Seth Curry (left ankle injury management), Nic Claxton (right hamstring tightness), and T.J. Warren (left foot injury management) will all be unavailable for the Nets.
Those are eight of Brooklyn’s top nine players in terms of minutes per game, so we could see some wonky lineups from the team tonight. The ninth player on that list, Yuta Watanabe, is set to make his return after missing 10 games due to a hamstring injury, so the Nets will likely be hesitant to push him too hard in his first game back.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- After returning from a nine-game injury absence on Friday, Jazz guard Mike Conley will sit out Saturday’s game vs. Denver, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Conley didn’t suffer a setback on Friday — this is a planned rest game to ease him back into things following his knee injury, Jones explains.
- Having already missed seven games due to a right shoulder subluxation, Timberwolves forward Taurean Prince is expected to be out for at least one more week, head coach Chris Finch said on Friday. As Dane Moore of Blue Wire Pods tweets, Prince is doing on-court work and making progress, but still has a ways to go.
- Grizzlies center Steven Adams had a Pistons player roll into his ankle while he was trying to corral a defensive rebound in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game, writes Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Adams, who limped off the court and didn’t return, will be reevaluated this weekend, but said after the game that he felt OK, per Barnes. Memphis isn’t back in action until Monday, so Adams will have at least a couple days off to rest the ankle.
NBA Trade Floodgates Often Slow To Open After December 15
A total of 74 NBA players who signed new contracts this past offseason will become trade-eligible next Thursday, on December 15.
A handful of players will remain ineligible to be traded until January 15 or other specific dates, but December 15 is considered the unofficial start of NBA trade season, with all but a handful of players free to be included in deals.
While it’s true that teams may start to get more serious about making trades after December 15, the notion that the floodgates will immediately open on the trade market is misguided. Generally speaking, the market is slower to develop, with most deals not being completed until much closer to the February trade deadline — or at least until after the holidays.
Here’s a look back at how the trade market has developed in recent seasons, as we look to get a sense of what to expect in the coming weeks and months:
With the NBA back to its normal schedule following a pair of seasons affected by COVID-19, dozens of players became trade-eligible on December 15, but no in-season deals were completed until January 3.
On January 3, nearly three weeks after he became trade-eligible, Rajon Rondo was sent from the Lakers to the Cavaliers in a three-team deal that also involved the Knicks.
In an abridged NBA season, the trade eligibility date for most offseason signees was February 6 rather than December 15. A pair of trades were completed before February 6, though both of those deals involved unusual circumstances — the Rockets granted James Harden‘s long-standing trade request by sending him to Brooklyn and the Cavaliers sent Kevin Porter Jr. to Houston following a locker-room incident.
On February 8, the Pistons and Knicks agreed on a trade that sent Derrick Rose to New York, but no one involved in that trade was newly trade-eligible, so the timing looks like a coincidence. After that deal, no trades were finalized until March 13, more than a month later.
The first in-season trade completed in 2019/20 occurred on December 23, eight days after the December 15 trade eligibility date. However, neither player involved in that swap – Jordan Clarkson heading to Utah and Dante Exum going to Cleveland – was among the players who became trade-eligible on the 15th.
Following that Clarkson/Exum deal, the next trade wasn’t made until January 16.
In an unusually eventful fall, three trades were made prior to December 15 in 2018/19, including the blockbuster that sent Jimmy Butler from Minnesota to Philadelphia.
The ’18/19 season also featured a rare December 17 trade, involving a player who was newly eligible to be dealt: Trevor Ariza. However, it’s worth noting that the agreement sending Ariza from Phoenix to Washington was preceded by an aborted three-team deal that would have involved the Grizzlies along with the Suns and Wizards. Those trade talks, which were first reported on December 14, fell apart due to confusion over whether the Grizzlies were including MarShon Brooks or Dillon Brooks.
While we may never see that mistake repeated by another NBA team, it’s possible that the embarrassment of that situation has since served as a cautionary tale for teams eager to make trades right away on December 15.
Two trades were made before December 15 during the 2017/18 season, but all was quiet on the trade market for several weeks after Dec. 15 came and went.
The season’s third deal wasn’t finalized until January 29, when the Pistons acquired Blake Griffin from the Clippers. Griffin had become trade-eligible on January 15.
Outside of an early November trade that sent Jerami Grant from Philadelphia to Oklahoma City, the 2016/17 in-season trade market was quiet until the new year. The second trade of the season was made on January 6, and didn’t involve any players who became trade-eligible on December 15.
Previous years
If we were to keep going further back, we’d find that the pattern is typically similar, with little action occurring immediately after offseason signees become trade-eligible on December 15.
We have to go all the way back to 2010 to find the last time a trade was made on December 15. That three-team deal involving the Rockets, Nets, and Lakers included Joe Smith, who had become trade-eligible that day.
It’s possible that next Thursday will bring our first December 15 trade in 12 years, but recent NBA history suggests the odds are against it — we’ll likely have to wait a little longer for the trade market to really heat up.
Sixers Notes: Melton, Rivers, Harden, Embiid
De’Anthony Melton had his best game since joining the Sixers – and arguably the best game of his career – on Friday night. The fifth-year guard established new career bests by scoring 33 points, making eight 3-pointers, and racking up seven steals in Philadelphia’s overtime victory over the Lakers.
As Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com writes, Melton was a difference-maker in a game the 76ers almost gave away and continues to show why the team was willing to give up a first-round pick for him in the offseason. Melton is averaging 11.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.3 APG, and 2.3 SPG in his first 23 games in Philadelphia (29.5 MPG), making 38.5% of his 3-point attempts and playing strong perimeter defense.
Melton has enjoyed a career year despite battling a back issue — he has hardly practiced at all this season, Joel Embiid told reporters on Friday. Melton has instead used the team’s off days to take care of his body and go through what he calls a “maintenance” process, according to Neubeck.
“I’ll take (Melton not practicing) every time if he’s going to show up to the game and do what he does every single night,” Embiid said. “He knows it, I appreciate the effort, because I find myself in that same situation quite a bit, and every single chance that I can even when I’m hurt, I want to be on the floor. So to be able to do the same even though he’s dealing with a back injury, I appreciate the effort.”
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- In two more articles for PhillyVoice.com, Neubeck considers why the Sixers have been hard to watch this season and fields readers’ mailbag questions, discussing Doc Rivers‘ job security, among other topics. Although he doesn’t believe Rivers is a lock to make it through the season, Neubeck does think the veteran coach has “more security than people on social media want him to have.”
- James Harden has been a Sixer for only 10 months and has played with Joel Embiid in just eight games so far this season, so head coach Doc Rivers is preaching patience, telling reporters this week that the pairing is “going to take time” to fully jell, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. As Pompey observes, Harden favors an isolation-heavy style of play and is ball-dominant, while Embiid thrives when the offense flows through him. The duo had perhaps its best game this season as a tandem on Friday, totaling 66 points and 17 assists.
- There has been plenty of speculation about whether Embiid will choose to play for the U.S. or France in the 2024 Olympics, but the star center isn’t interested in discussing his FIBA future during the NBA season, as Marc Stein writes at Substack. “I don’t want to talk about international stuff,” Embiid told Stein. “I’m focused on us getting better as a team and me getting better as a player. I’m focused on making it to the playoffs and doing something there. I’m gonna worry about the rest later. For now, it’s all about trying to do whatever is possible to win a championship.”
Atlantic Notes: O. Porter, Achiuwa, R. Williams, Nets, Warren
Raptors forward Otto Porter Jr. is scheduled to meet next week with a specialist about his dislocated toe, head coach Nick Nurse said on Friday (Twitter link via Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca). The hope is that the appointment will bring some good news on Porter’s potential return to action — he has been sidelined since November 14 due to the injury and still isn’t doing any on-court work.
Meanwhile, Raptors big man Precious Achiuwa is targeting late December for his return to the court, Grange adds. Achiuwa has been on the shelf since November 9 after sustaining partial ligament tears in his right ankle.
Here are a few more notes from around the Atlantic:
- Despite some speculation that he could make his season debut on Saturday vs. Golden State, Celtics big man Robert Williams has been listed as out on the team’s official injury report, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Williams repeatedly referred to himself as “day-to-day” and didn’t rule out the possibility of returning from his knee injury during Boston’s current West Coast road trip, which continues in Los Angeles on Monday (vs. the Clippers) and Tuesday (vs. the Lakers).
- Within a look at the Nets‘ rebounding struggles, Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber link) cites two sources – NBA analyst Stan Van Gundy and a veteran Eastern Conference executive – who believe the club needs to add another big man to address the issue. “They need help,” the Eastern Conference exec told Lewis. “They absolutely need another big.”
- Kevin Durant has liked what he’s seen so far from teammate T.J. Warren, who scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting while chipping in three assists and a pair of steals on Friday in his best game since joining the Nets. “We’re over there on the bench saying like, man, he just finds his way to the basketball, to the rim a lot, cuts, he just feels like he’s in the right position on the offensive side of the ball. And defensively, he’s good at getting into the ball, creating turnovers,” Durant said, according to Lewis. “So yeah, I mean he looked good. It’s going to get even better as he gets more comfortable and gets his legs up under him.”
Warriors Notes: Lamb, Wiseman, Curry, Poole
Warriors two-way wing Anthony Lamb was named in a civil lawsuit filed this week against the University of Vermont, according to reports from The Athletic and ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
Lamb isn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit, which accuses the school of mishandling reports of sexual harassment and violence on campus. However, the suit does revisit a sexual assault allegation against Lamb related to a 2019 incident. The Warriors addressed that allegation when they signed Lamb in the fall and did so again on Thursday.
“Anthony is not a defendant in this recent lawsuit and, to our knowledge, he has never been charged with any wrongdoing in any legal case,” the team said in a statement. “Prior to signing Anthony in September, we did our due diligence with the NBA and his prior teams, as we do with all players. If any new information comes to light, we will certainly evaluate it and act accordingly.”
Lamb, who never faced any criminal charges as a result of the accusation, referred to the allegations as “patently false” and said he would welcome any investigation into the matter. His accuser stated in the lawsuit that she was dissuaded from seeking a formal investigation by Vermont’s athletic department.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Third-year center James Wiseman was reassigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors following a brief return to the NBA, tweets Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Poole adds in a follow-up tweet that Wiseman figures to continue spending time in the G League until there’s a “broad belief” he’s ready to contribute at the NBA level.
- Asked at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year awards how much longer he expects to play in the NBA, Stephen Curry suggested that retirement isn’t something he’s thinking about yet. “I don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon,” he said (Twitter video link via Charlie Walter of KPIX 5).
- In an in-depth feature, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports looks at how Jordan Poole, who signed a four-year extension in October, is preparing to help bridge the Warriors’ present to their future as the team’s stars exit their primes. “Steph’s doing a really good job of mentoring him,” Kerr said. “… There’s a lot of growth ahead for Jordan, which is exciting because he’s already very good.”