Bulls Notes: LaVine, Roster Decisions, Offseason
Speaking today to reporters, including K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter links), Bulls president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said his hope is to have Zach LaVine in Chicago going forward and that he’s confident the two sides can work out a new deal, given their strong relationship. LaVine will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Addressing LaVine’s left knee injury, which was a nagging issue for much of the 2021/22 season, Karnisovas suggested it’s unlikely to be a major factor in free agency negotiations and that a final determination hasn’t been made on whether the All-Star guard will require surgery. As Johnson notes, an MRI on the knee showed nothing structurally wrong that would create long-term concern, but surgery still appears likely.
In his own session with the media, LaVine confirmed that he’s going to meet with his doctor in Los Angeles to determine the best plan of action for his knee (Twitter link via Johnson). He also stated that free agency is a “big decision” for him and his family and that he intends to take his time to consider all his options (Twitter link via Johnson).
While LaVine said he’ll leave it to his agent and the Bulls’ front office to try to work out a deal, he admitted that being a maximum-salary player is important to him, tweets Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago: “I see myself as a top guy in this league and I think I’ve proven that over the last four years.”
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Besides retaining LaVine, Karnisovas likes the idea of keeping the Bulls’ roster mostly intact and making minor changes around the edges, tweets Schaefer. “Hopefully we can keep the core together and work around the margins,” Karnisovas said.
- Lonzo Ball is on board with Karnisovas’ plan to maintain the current core, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. “I would love to run it back,” Ball said. “I was unhealthy this year. (Alex) Caruso went down. Pat(rick Williams) was pretty much out all the way until the playoffs. Everyone knows Zach was playing hurt pretty much this whole year. If everybody can get healthy and come back, I don’t see why we couldn’t run it back.” DeMar DeRozan added that he has “the utmost trust and faith in the front office to do the job,” Smith writes.
- In his Bulls offseason preview, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype examines LaVine’s free agency, a possible extension for Nikola Vucevic, and more.
Zion Williamson Enthusiastic About Potential Extension With Pelicans
Asked during his end-of-season media session on Friday about the possibility of signing a rookie scale extension with the Pelicans when he becomes eligible this offseason, forward Zion Williamson expressed enthusiasm, tweets William Guillory of The Athletic.
“Of course,” Williamson said. “I couldn’t sign it fast enough.”
[RELATED: Players Eligible For Rookie Scale Extensions In 2022]
There are a couple caveats worth noting here. For one, it’s not uncommon for a player speaking to reporters to express platitudes about wanting to sign a contract extension with a team and for that deal not to ultimately materialize.
It also seems likely that Williamson is talking about a maximum-salary contract offer, or something close to the max, rather than suggesting he’d accept any offer the Pelicans put in front of him.
No player eligible for a rookie scale extension has ever turned down a maximum-salary offer, but given that Zion missed the entire 2021/22 season due to a foot injury and has appeared in just 85 games since entering the league in 2019, putting a max deal on the table won’t be an automatic decision for the Pelicans.
Still, Williamson’s comment is noteworthy since there has been ongoing speculation about whether or not he’s committed to New Orleans for the long term. This is a promising sign that he’s not looking for an exit ramp.
As we noted earlier today, the Pelicans’ impressive second-half performance and tough playoff battle with the NBA-best Suns will strengthen their case when they enter negotiations with Williamson this summer — adding the former Duke star to the mix would make New Orleans one of the most intriguing teams in the West.
According to Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link), Williamson said today that he felt like he could’ve returned from his foot injury and played at the end of the season, but the coaching staff and front office ultimately decided that holding him out of action was the right call for the sake of his career longevity.
Pelicans Notes: Offseason, Jones, Murphy, Alvarado, Zion
When the Pelicans got off to a 1-12 start this season, it looked like the team was headed for another lottery finish and some difficult offseason questions. Instead, New Orleans managed to turn things around, earned a playoff berth via the play-in tournament, and gave the NBA-best Suns all they could handle in the first round of the playoffs.
“To get to the playoffs, we continued to believe in ourselves. Continued to get better, believing in this organization,” Brandon Ingram said after Thursday’s Game 6 loss, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic. “New coach. New players. Figuring it out so fast. You don’t think about it in the moment because we just lost, but we definitely came a long way from the beginning of the season.”
As Guillory writes, the first-round loss to Phoenix was a tough one, given how competitive the Pelicans made the series (they were outscored by a total margin of 668-659 across six games). But after laying a strong foundation of young talent, the franchise looks poised to remain competitive and continue improving in the coming years.
There are still some pressing offseason questions facing the Pelicans, with both Zion Williamson and Jaxson Hayes eligible for rookie scale extensions, but all of the team’s young players are under contract for 2022/23, Guillory notes. And while there has been plenty of speculation about Williamson’s long-term commitment to New Orleans, the team couldn’t have done much more this spring to make him want to be part of the future.
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- The Pelicans wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did this season without the contributions they received from a trio of unheralded rookies, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN, who spotlights Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy, and Jose Alvarado. Jones emerged as a legitimate All-Defensive candidate, Murphy knocked down 38.2% of his three-point attempts, and Alvarado provided energy and hustle plays off the bench. All three players are under contract for multiple years going forward.
- In his Pelicans offseason preview, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) examines the big decision the team must make on a potential Williamson extension and points out that veterans like CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. will be extension-eligible this summer as well.
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype also looks ahead to the Williamson contract negotiations and the other key roster decisions facing the Pelicans this summer. As Gozlan writes, New Orleans doesn’t have much breathing room below the projected luxury tax line, which will affect the club’s ability to make full use of its mid-level exception.
Raptors Notes: Barnes, Offseason, Young, Achiuwa
The Raptors were unable to complete a historic comeback after falling behind 3-0 in their first-round series with the Sixers, getting blown out in the second half of Thursday’s Game 6. Still, Toronto exceeded expectations this season, having come into the year as a projected lottery team.
“I think we took a lot of steps,” standout forward Pascal Siakam said after Thursday’s loss, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. “We got a lot better over the season. It was obviously up and down, but we did get better. Knowing this team and our front office and the people that we have in the organization, I know that the goal is to continue to get better and improve and be a way better team next year.”
Besides getting an impressive bounce-back season from Siakam, who is a legitimate All-NBA candidate, the Raptors saw players like Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and Gary Trent Jr. take another step forward and Precious Achiuwa evolve from a roll of the dice into a potential long-term cornerstone.
The team’s biggest win, according to Lewenberg, was the selection of Scottie Barnes in last year’s draft — it’s “impossible to overstate his importance” to the team and its future on the heels of his Rookie of the Year debut, Lewenberg writes.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Despite the strides the Raptors made in 2021/22, there are important areas that need to be addressed. In particular, the club needs to add more shooting, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Toronto’s lack of shooting was its undoing against Philadelphia, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, who notes that the team made just 7-of-35 (20.0%) three-pointers in Game 6 and 29.9% for the series. While Fred VanVleet‘s injury absence contributed to those struggles, the team could still use another outside threat or two.
- Upgrading the bench will be another top priority for the Raptors this summer, Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) writes in his offseason preview. Toronto has Bird rights on both Thaddeus Young and Chris Boucher and could re-sign them without dipping into its mid-level exception. The front office has also shown a knack for identifying young talent outside of the draft lottery, Marks adds, so the No. 33 pick could be useful for adding an inexpensive contributor.
- Within his preview, Marks notes that VanVleet will become extension-eligible in July and Siakam will become eligible for a new deal in October. Both players are on contracts that run through 2024, though VanVleet has a player option for 2023/24 and could theoretically become a free agent in ’23.
- Speaking on Friday to reporters, Young conveyed how impressed he was with the Raptors after coming over from San Antonio at February’s trade deadline. “This organization is elite,” Young said, per Lewenberg (Twitter link). “One of the top I’ve ever been a part of… I loved everything about this experience. As far as the team, the sky is the limit… This team can be really, really scary.” Young added that his family will be his top priority as he enters free agency and didn’t rule out the possibility of undergoing surgery on his injured thumb (Twitter links via Koreen and Grange).
- The pairing of Achiuwa and the Raptors represents a perfect marriage between a player and an organizational philosophy, Koreen writes for The Athletic. The team’s willingness to experiment with Achiuwa rather than trying to rein him in or pigeonhole him has paid dividends so far, says Koreen.
Poll: Boston Celtics Vs. Milwaukee Bucks
The first of the NBA’s four second-round matchups to be locked in is also one of the most intriguing. The Celtics, the No. 2 seed in the East, will face the No. 3 Bucks, with the series scheduled to tip off on Sunday night.
The Celtics were comfortably the NBA’s best team during the final two-and-a-half months of the 2021/22 regular season. After putting up a .500 record in their first 50 games, the C’s went 26-6 from January 29 onward — no other NBA team lost fewer than nine games during that stretch.
Boston’s advanced statistics backed up the team’s dominant record. The club led the league in both offensive rating (120.7) and defensive rating (105.9), resulting in an eye-popping 14.8 overall net rating. The next-best teams during that stretch were Memphis at +8.8 and Phoenix at +6.8.
The Celtics have carried that momentum into the postseason. With many experts forecasting the No. 7 Nets to pull off the upset, Boston became the only team to complete a first-round sweep. It was Jayson Tatum – not Kevin Durant – who looked like the best player in the series, averaging 29.5 PPG and 7.3 APG with a .456/.419/.868 shooting line, compared to Durant’s 26.3 PPG and 6.3 APG on .386/.333/.8985 shooting.
Tatum will face another serious challenge in round two, when he and the Celtics go up against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending-champion Bucks. The Bucks lost Khris Middleton to a knee injury in Game 2 of their series vs. Chicago, but somehow looked even better after that, making quick work of Chicago as Antetokounmpo led the way with 28.6 PPG, 13.4 RPG, and 6.2 APG on 56.8% shooting.
Middleton isn’t expected to be back in the second round, which is a tough blow for the Bucks. But this is a deep, dangerous team even without the All-Star forward.
The Bucks have shown they’re capable of winning while shorthanded in the postseason, having gone 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals last year without Antetokounmpo before dominating the Bulls in three games without Middleton this year.
It’s Milwaukee, not Boston, that has posted the best defensive rating (94.4) and net rating (+13.8) of the postseason so far. But the Celtics will have home court advantage in the series, which could be a factor — the teams split their four regular season meetings, with each club winning two games at home.
Which team will advance to the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals? We want to know what you think. Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts on Celtics/Bucks!
Which team will win the series?
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Boston Celtics in 6-7 games 52% (920)
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Milwaukee Bucks in 6-7 games 33% (589)
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Boston Celtics in 4-5 games 11% (201)
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Milwaukee Bucks in 4-5 games 4% (73)
Total votes: 1,783
Jazz Notes: Mitchell, Gobert, Snyder, Offseason
Following the Game 6 loss to Dallas that ended their season on Thursday night, the Jazz face an offseason of potential change. Asked after the game about what the future looks like, center Rudy Gobert and guard Jordan Clarkson both expressed a desire to remain in Utah, but acknowledged that decision could be out of their control, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter links).
While forward Royce O’Neale asserted that “this group wants to stay together,” Gobert expressed uncertainty when he was asked whether the current roster has reached its ceiling (Twitter links via Walden).
“I don’t know,” Gobert said. “We have a lot of talent. This year we faced more adversity. I feel like we could be so much better. … You try to ask yourself why we can’t be consistent.”
As for star guard Donovan Mitchell, he said yes when he was asked after the game whether he wants to stick with the Jazz, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. When he was later asked to address speculation about the possibility of him eventually asking for a trade, Mitchell was less equivocal, but gave no indication that such a request is on his mind in the short term.
“My mindset is to win,” he said. “Right now, I’m not really looking at that. I answered (the first) question, and you could take that. But for me, I just want to win, yo. Like, this hurts. And like I said, I’ll think about it in a week and go from there. But right now, I’m not thinking at all about that.”
Here’s more on the Jazz:
- Tony Jones of The Athletic expects significant roster changes in Utah this summer, writing that at least one starter will likely be playing elsewhere next season. However, he hears from sources that the Jazz are committed to building around Mitchell and don’t plan to fully blow up the roster. If the team is open to trading Gobert, there are multiple teams that would be interested, but sources tell Jones that the three-time Defensive player of the Year remains “all in” on the Jazz and would like to spend the rest of his career with the organization.
- Within the same story, Jones says that Quin Snyder‘s future will be determined one way or the other in “the coming days and weeks.” Sources tell The Athletic that Utah’s front office has been happy with the job Snyder has done and that he hasn’t lost the locker room, so if a coaching change occurs, Snyder may be the one instigating it.
- In his offseason preview for the Jazz, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) argues that the team should remain focused on building around Mitchell and Gobert rather than breaking them up. While Utah has been hurt by small-ball lineups in playoff series in recent years, Marks says that’s more an indictment of the club’s perimeter defense than of Gobert.
- Even before Utah’s Game 6 loss on Thursday, Zach Kram of The Ringer contended that it was time for the franchise to admit its roster shortcomings and prepare to shake things up this summer. Kram explores whether it would be in the Jazz’s best interests to consider trading Gobert or Mitchell — or even both.
Lakers Notes: Westbrook, Klutch, Carmelo, Offseason
The Lakers‘ front office is internally blaming pressure from Klutch Sports Group for last summer’s acquisition of Russell Westbrook, multiple sources tell Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.
As has been reported by several outlets since last August, Klutch clients LeBron James and Anthony Davis played a part in recruiting Westbrook, helping convince the Lakers to go after the former MVP instead of trying to sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan or acquire Buddy Hield from Sacramento.
Still, while James, Davis, and their agency may have had a hand in the Westbrook trade, VP of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers’ front office ultimately had the final say. Pincus, who suggests that assigning the blame to Klutch Sports “may be an epic level of passing the buck,” writes that NBA front offices should consider their stars’ input but that the top basketball executives are responsible for making the decisions they feel are best for the team.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- While retirement is a possibility, most people around the NBA expect Carmelo Anthony to play for at least one more season, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, who spoke to multiple league executives about Anthony’s upcoming free agency. Deveney gets the sense that a return to the Lakers is the most likely outcome, but his sources mentioned the Nets, Heat, and Celtics as other potential landing spots.
- In a pair of stories for The Athletic, Jovan Buha hands out grades for all of the Lakers’ players this season and explores which players should – and shouldn’t – be back for 2022/23. Buha identifies Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson, and Wenyen Gabriel as the non-stars who should return, and suggests the team shouldn’t retain Westbrook, Avery Bradley, Wayne Ellington, or Kent Bazemore.
- Buha also published a two-part mailbag at The Athletic, discussing the Lakers’ head coaching search, possible mid-level free agent targets, potential Westbrook trade scenarios, and whether it makes sense for the club to trade its 2027 and 2029 first-rounders.
2022 NBA Offseason Preview: Orlando Magic
After blowing up their roster midway through the 2020/21 campaign, the Magic embarked on the first full season of their rebuilding process in 2021/22. The results were about what you’d expect: Orlando won just seven of its first 42 games and finished the year at the very bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with a 22-60 record.
The Magic’s handling of Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac, who were both recovering from ACL tears, showed just how patient the franchise is willing to be as it rebuilds its roster from the ground up. Fultz didn’t play until he was about 14 months removed from his injury, while Isaac didn’t suit up at all during the 2021/22 season despite having sustained his injury way back in August of 2020.
With Isaac unavailable all year and Fultz missing for most of the season, the Magic didn’t get a chance to see how a couple of their important young veterans fit alongside their new prospects, but they did give those prospects an opportunity to play big minutes.
While No. 5 overall pick Jalen Suggs had an underwhelming rookie season, second-year guard Cole Anthony took a step forward and rookie forward Franz Wagner established himself as a very promising building block for the future. Orlando will be looking to add another long-term cornerstone with its top-six pick in this year’s draft.
The Magic’s Offseason Plan:
In his fourth NBA season, Mohamed Bamba finally stayed healthy and enjoyed a mini-breakout, setting new career highs in points (10.6), rebounds (8.1), and blocks (1.7) per game, while shooting 38.1% on three-pointers. The performance suggested that Bamba, who turns 24 next month, is finally on the way to becoming the player the Magic envisioned when they drafted him sixth overall in 2018.
The timing of his emergence complicates matters though. The Magic signed Wendell Carter last year to a four-year, $50MM extension that will go into effect in 2022/23 and were better this season when Carter was on the court without Bamba (-0.9 net rating) than when they played together (-5.5) or when Bamba played without Carter (-14.8).
Will the Magic be willing to invest heavily in a second young center? Will there be enough competition for Bamba on the free agent market that he even requires a significant investment? Answering these questions will help shape the rest of Orlando’s offseason, since the decision on Bamba will impact whether the team operates over the cap or under it.
Of course, the Magic’s luck in the lottery also may have a major impact on the Bamba decision. If the team brings in a prospect such as Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, or Jabari Smith, the frontcourt rotation will start to get crowded, especially with Isaac on the way back.
Several of the Magic’s other key offseason decisions relate to their veteran players. Gary Harris and Robin Lopez played their roles well, but it’s unclear if the club envisions them as part of its plans going forward now that they’re unrestricted free agents. Terrence Ross is under contract for one more season, but he seemingly wants to be traded and Orlando would presumably love to accommodate him. His down year in 2021/22 will make it difficult to get anything of real value for him, however.
Salary Cap Situation
Note: Our salary cap figures are based on the league’s latest projection ($122MM) for 2022/23.
Guaranteed Salary
- Jonathan Isaac ($17,400,000)
- Markelle Fultz ($16,500,000)
- Wendell Carter ($14,150,000)
- Terrence Ross ($11,500,000)
- Jalen Suggs ($6,922,320)
- Franz Wagner ($5,258,280)
- Cole Anthony ($3,613,680)
- Chuma Okeke ($3,433,320)
- R.J. Hampton ($2,412,840)
- Total: $81,190,440
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Moritz Wagner ($1,878,720)
- Devin Cannady ($1,752,638)
- Total: $3,631,358
Restricted Free Agents
Mohamed Bamba ($10,096,703 qualifying offer / $22,706,229 cap hold): Bird rights- Bol Bol ($2,701,440 qualifying offer / $4,106,189 cap hold): Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $26,812,418
Two-Way Free Agents
- Ignas Brazdeikis ($1,616,044 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Admiral Schofield ($1,616,044 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total: $3,232,088
Draft Picks
- No. 1 overall pick ($10,907,160)
- No. 32 overall pick (no cap hold)
- No. 35 overall pick (no cap hold)
- Total: $10,907,160
Extension-Eligible Players
Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2022/23 season begins.
- Markelle Fultz (veteran)
- Terrence Ross (veteran)
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Gary Harris ($30,723,215 cap hold): Bird rights
- Robin Lopez ($6,000,000 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Fran Vazquez ($4,508,640 cap hold) 1
- Arron Afflalo ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights 2
- Marreese Speights ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights 2
- Vic Law ($1,616,044 cap hold): Non-Bird rights 2
- Total: $46,470,931
Offseason Cap Outlook
The cap hold for the Magic’s lottery pick pushes their total guaranteed salary over $92MM. That still leaves nearly $28MM in cap space if the team lets all its free agents walk and renounces its remaining cap holds, but I’m not convinced the Magic badly want to create cap room, since they’re unlikely to be major players in free agency.
I’d expect them instead to try to retain Bamba and perhaps explore a new deal with Harris. The decision to operate over or under the cap could come down to how successful – and how expensive – those efforts are. One thing to keep in mind: if new deals for Bamba and Harris project to leave the Magic with, say, $10-12MM in cap space, it makes more sense for the club to simply stay over the cap and keep its full mid-level exception.
If one of Bamba or Harris doesn’t return or if Orlando sheds some salary, possibly by trading Ross, the path to cap space is more obvious. But for now we’re assuming the Magic will at least begin the offseason as an over-the-cap team.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Mid-level exception: $10,349,000 3
- Bi-annual exception: $4,050,000 3
Footnotes
- Vazquez was the Magic’s No. 11 pick in 2005. He never signed a rookie contract and has since retired, but the team has yet to renounce its rights to him.
- The cap holds for Afflalo, Speights, and Law remain on the Magic’s books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- These are projected values. If the Magic operate as an under-the-cap team, they would renounce these exceptions and instead gain access to the room exception ($5,329,000).
Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post.
Jokic: If Nuggets Offer Super-Max Extension, I’ll Accept
With Denver’s season officially over as of Wednesday night, Nikola Jokic has just one year left on his contract with the team. However, the star center told reporters after the Game 5 loss to Golden State that if the Nuggets offer him a five-year, super-max extension this offseason, he intends to accept it.
“I would like it, of course,” Jokic said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “… I think if (the) offer is on the table, of course I’m going to accept it because I really like the organization, I really like the people who work here. I’m in (a) really good relationship with everybody from (the) owner to equipment manager.”
A “super-max” is the term we use for a maximum-salary contract worth more than a player would typically be eligible for. Jokic only has seven years of NBA experience under his belt, which would normally qualify him for a maximum salary starting at 30% of the salary cap. By winning last year’s MVP award, he made himself eligible for a maximum salary starting at 35% of the cap, though he wasn’t able to officially sign an extension last offseason when he still had just six years of NBA service.
This offseason, Jokic and the Nuggets are free to move ahead with that deal, if they so choose. It sounds like he’s on board and there’s no reason to believe Denver won’t be as well. Jokic is still very much in his prime at age 27, he appears to be in line for a second consecutive MVP award this spring, and he has proven himself to be extremely durable, appearing in at least 72 games in all seven years since he entered the league.
Jokic’s agent Misko Raznatovic said earlier in the year that he anticipates his client will sign a super-max extension this offseason.
The deal, if completed, would tack on five years to Jokic’s current contract, locking him up through the 2027/28 season. The exact value is not yet known, since it will depend on where the 2023/24 cap ends up. But based on a fairly conservative $125MM cap projection for ’23/24, the five-year super-max extension would be worth $253.75MM.
If Jokic were to play out his current contract without an extension, he could theoretically sign elsewhere in 2023, but his max deal with another team (about $161MM over four years, based on a $125MM cap) would fall well short of the super-max he could get from Denver. Besides, the All-NBA big man doesn’t sound like someone interested in a change of scenery.
“I think we have something that we are building,” he said on Wednesday, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “… We have pieces. We have tools. The only thing is are we going to work together. That’s the only thing.”
Nets Rumors: Simmons, Irving, Harris, Curry, Dragic
When Ben Simmons and agent Rich Paul met with Nets leadership – including GM Sean Marks – earlier this week, Simmons told the people in the room that he’s experiencing a “mental block,” which is creating stress that could be exacerbating his back problems, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The setback Simmons experienced prior to his anticipated Nets debut in Game 4 of the team’s first-round series vs. Boston was initially described as a physical one — he was said to be suffering from renewed back pain. But Charania’s report suggests there are still mental obstacles to clear before Simmons returns to the court.
Reporting this week from Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype backs up that idea. Fischer wrote that it’s “quite clear that the mental aspect of Simmons’ return to game action is the biggest hurdle” he has to overcome, while Scotto has heard from a source close to Simmons that the 25-year-old is “going through it right now mentally.”
According to Charania, Nets officials told Simmons in this week’s meeting that the franchise is willing to do whatever is necessary to support him, and Scotto hears that the team has indeed been “supportive at every turn,” making the three-time All-Star more comfortable than he was in Philadelphia. Simmons didn’t end up making it back this season, but Scotto’s source is “very confident” he’ll return to action next season.
Here’s more on the Nets:
- Echoing Jake Fischer’s reporting from earlier in the week, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer suggests a Simmons trade this offseason is unlikely because teams are warier than ever about his condition. A source from a non-playoff team that was previously interested in Simmons told O’Connor, “We’re at the point we’d want to see him play first.”
- Within his story on the Nets, O’Connor writes that there were “crickets” earlier in the 2021/22 season when the team was reportedly willing to listen to trade inquiries on Kyrie Irving.
- The Nets had some interest in acquiring an athletic wing defender such as Dorian Finney-Smith, Royce O’Neale, or Marcus Smart prior to this year’s trade deadline, according to Scotto, who thinks the team could explore the trade market for that type of player again this offseason. Scotto speculates that Brooklyn might dangle one of its sharpshooters – Joe Harris or Seth Curry – in those talks.
- Goran Dragic, who turns 36 next Friday, isn’t considered retirement. The veteran point guard said this week that he’d like to play for two or three more seasons, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Dragic will be a free agent this summer after signing a rest-of-season contract with Brooklyn in February.