Stein’s Latest: Nash, Hornets, Pacers, Wall, Turner, Mavs
The Nets‘ season could be over in a matter of hours, as the team faces an elimination game at home on Monday night, down 3-0 to Boston in its first-round series.
While a first-round sweep would be a disastrous outcome for a club that entered the season as a championship favorite and would certainly increase scrutiny on head coach Steve Nash, one source close to the situation tells Substack writer Marc Stein that he doesn’t expect Nash to become a fall guy for a disappointing playoff run.
As Stein and his source observe, Nash has faced an inordinate number of challenges during the 2021/22 season, including Kyrie Irving‘s vaccination decision, James Harden‘s trade request, and injuries to players like Kevin Durant and Joe Harris. Stein suggests that Nash shouldn’t avoid blame for the Nets’ struggles, but says there are many larger issues in play as well.
Here’s more from Stein:
- A concern about player discipline both on and off the court was among the factors in the Hornets‘ decision to part ways with head coach James Borrego, league sources tell Stein.
- The Pacers expressed some interest in Rockets guard John Wall early in the 2021/22 season, but it didn’t go anywhere and it happened before they acquired Tyrese Haliburton, according to Stein. In other words, Indiana is probably an unlikely offseason suitor for Wall.
- After seriously considering trading Myles Turner during the ’21/22 season, the Pacers now hope to keep the big man long-term, sources tell Stein. Turner will be extension-eligible this offseason as he enters a contract year.
- While some Jazz staffers were reportedly upset about seeing Knicks executive William Wesley and Julius Randle courtside at Game 1 of their series vs. Dallas, the Mavericks weren’t particularly bothered by it, since it “didn’t really change anything” in their view, Stein writes. The Knicks are believed to have interest in Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and Mavs guard Jalen Brunson, and Dallas is aware of New York’s interest in Brunson. Of course, Brunson is an unrestricted free agent this summer, while Mitchell is under team control for at least three more years.
- Some teams have asked the NBA to consider making qualification for the play-in tournament contingent on the Nos. 9 and 10 teams finishing within a certain distance of the No. 8 seed, says Stein. It’s unclear whether the league will tweak that rule going forward or leave the format as is.
Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert, Taylor Jenkins Fined By NBA
12:05pm: Sixers center Joel Embiid has also been fined $15K for publicly criticizing the officiating following a loss on Saturday, according to the NBA. Embiid mockingly applauded the referees as he left the court following a Game 4 loss to Toronto, then sarcastically praised them during his post-game press conference, insinuating they wanted to push the series to a Game 5.
“I’m going to take my own advice and not complain about fouls,” he said, “but like I was doing at the end of the game: They did a great job. I admire the job that they did today. To me, it felt like they had one job coming in here tonight. And they got it done. Congrats to them, tonight.”
11:57am: Jazz center Rudy Gobert was fined $25K by the NBA on Sunday for “using profane language during a live television interview,” the league announced in a press release.
The fine stems from Gobert’s comments in a live, post-game interview following Utah’s Game 4 win over Dallas on Saturday. Asked by Matt Winer of NBA TV about the Jazz’s potential in this postseason, Gobert replied, “Man, f— the talk,” referring to the ongoing speculation about the team being headed for an early playoff exit and a summer roster overhaul (video link).
Meanwhile, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins was hit with a $15K fine by the NBA on Monday for his own comments to the media after Memphis lost Game 4 in Minnesota on Saturday. The league said in its statement that Jenkins was penalized for “public criticism of the officiating.”
“In my opinion, one of the most poorly officiated games I’ve ever seen in my NBA career,” Jenkins said on Saturday, noting that many of his starters were in foul trouble from the first quarter onward (video link). “… I’ve never seen a more inconsistent and arrogant officated game.”
Jenkins expected to be fined when he made those comments after the loss, telling reporters that he’d “take whatever hit’s coming my way” in order to protect and advocate for his players.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Early Bird Rights
Bird rights offer teams the chance to sign their own free agents without regard to the salary cap, but they don’t apply to every player. Other salary cap exceptions are available for teams to keep players who don’t qualify for Bird rights. One such exception is the Early Bird, which applies to players formally known as Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agents.
While the Bird exception is for players who have spent three seasons with one club without changing teams as a free agent, Early Bird rights are earned after just two such seasons. Virtually all of the same rules that apply to Bird rights apply to Early Bird rights, with the requirements condensed to two years rather than three. Players still see their Bird clocks restart by changing teams via free agency, being claimed in an expansion draft, or having their rights renounced.
As is the case with Bird rights, a player’s clock stops when he’s released by a team and clears waivers, but it would pick up where it left off if he re-signs with that same team down the road without joining another club in the interim. For instance, Gary Payton II will have Early Bird rights this offseason because – even though he was waived last fall – he has finished two consecutive seasons with the Warriors and didn’t join another team between his stints in Golden State.
The crucial difference between Bird rights and Early Bird rights involves the limitations on contract offers. Bird players can receive maximum-salary deals for up to five years, while the most a team can offer an Early Bird free agent without using cap space is 175% of his previous salary (up to the max) or 105% of the league-average salary in the previous season, whichever is greater.
These offers are also capped at four years rather than five, and the new contracts must run for at least two years — the second year can be non-guaranteed, but can’t be a team or player option.
Besides Payton, some notable free agents who will have Early Bird rights during the 2022 offseason include Bobby Portis (Bucks), Nicolas Batum (Clippers), and JaMychal Green (Nuggets).
In some instances, teams can benefit from having Early Bird rights instead of full Bird rights if they’re trying to preserve cap space. The cap hold for an Early Bird player is 130% of his previous salary, significantly less than most Bird players, whose cap holds range from 150-300% of their previous salaries.
However, having a player’s Early Bird rights instead of his full Bird rights puts a team at a disadvantage in other cases. For instance, when Christian Wood reached free agency in 2020, his Early Bird rights only allowed the Pistons to offer a starting salary of up to about $10.05MM, a figure the Rockets topped in their three-year, $41MM offer.
In order to match or exceed that number, Detroit would have had to use cap room — having Wood’s full Bird rights would’ve allowed the Pistons to make a far more substantial offer without requiring cap space.
Meanwhile, some players with limited NBA experience are subject to a special wrinkle involving Early Bird rights, called the Gilbert Arenas Provision, which applies to players who have only been in the league for one or two years. We cover the Arenas Provision in a separate glossary entry, so you can read up on the details there. It would apply this offseason to a player like Bucks wing Jordan Nwora, though he seems unlikely to get a huge contract offer.
Finally, one more distinction between Bird rights and Early Bird rights applies to waivers. Players who are claimed off waivers retain their Early Bird rights, just as they would if they were traded. Those who had Bird rights instead see those reduced to Early Bird rights if they’re claimed off waivers. This rule stems from a 2012 settlement between the league and the union in which J.J. Hickson was given a special exception and retained his full Bird rights for the summer of 2012 even though he had been claimed off waivers that March.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.
Fred VanVleet Ruled Out For Game 5
Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet won’t be available for Monday’s Game 5 vs. the Sixers, he told reporters today, including Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).
VanVleet suffered a left hip flexor strain in Game 4 on Saturday and was forced out of action in the first half. The All-Star guard said today that he’s taking the injury day by day and isn’t sure whether he’d be available to play in Game 6 on Thursday if the Raptors – currently down 3-1 – can extend the series tonight (Twitter link via Bontemps).
“I’m always going to leave that window open, but it’ll probably take some time,” VanVleet said (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca). “… I would feel great about maybe playing in the next round. Nobody believes we can do it, but I think we can. I’m going to stay positive and get as much rehab as I can.”
While it’s very possible VanVleet has played his last game of the season, he said he was relieved that an MRI on the injury didn’t show any serious damage, per Bontemps. The 28-year-old told reporters today that surgery this offseason shouldn’t be necessary, per Eric Koreen of The Athletic (Twitter link). He added that he has dealt with the issue on and off throughout the season (Twitter link via Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca).
With VanVleet sidelined, it’s possible Malachi Flynn will see an expanded role in Philadelphia on Monday night. However, Flynn barely played on Saturday, even after VanVleet’s exit, as Toronto instead opted to lean on long, versatile lineups that featured forwards like Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes as the primary ball-handlers.
For what it’s worth, those longer VanVleet-less lineups have given Philadelphia a little trouble over the course of the series. Through four games, Toronto has a 104.2 defensive rating and a +8.4 net rating in 57 minutes without its starting point guard on the court.
Mavs’ Brunson Continues To Boost Value Ahead Of Free Agency
After enjoying the best year of his NBA career during the 2021/22 regular season, Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson has taken his game to another level so far in the playoffs, averaging 29.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 4.8 APG on .483/.409/.857 shooting in four games (38.5 MPG). He played a key role in helping Dallas take a 2-1 lead in the series without Luka Doncic before the All-NBA guard returned in Game 4.
According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, pro personnel scouts and executives polled by ESPN believe the floor for Brunson – an unrestricted free agent this summer – is now $20MM per year on his next contract. Some people believe the 25-year-old could get upwards of $25MM annually, MacMahon adds.
For his part, Brunson told ESPN that he isn’t thinking about his next contract with the Mavs engaged in a battle with the Jazz for a spot in the second round of the playoffs.
“Not at all. Not at all. I promise you,” Brunson said. “My dad, we’ll joke about it, but (my family knows) that I don’t want to talk about it until the season’s over. That’s really not going to help me right now. … I know it’s a weird situation. People don’t believe that I don’t talk about it, but it’s not a topic of conversation until I guess we get there.”
Brunson said he has “loved every second” of his time in Dallas, and it seems likely the Mavs will get the first shot at re-signing him. Although Brunson isn’t restricted, Dallas holds his Bird rights and can offer him more years and more money than any other suitor — additionally, team owner Mark Cuban has talked about wanting to lock up the point guard long-term. However, Brunson’s father Rick Brunson suggests the Mavs shouldn’t expect to get a team-friendly rate.
“We’ve got to figure out if Dallas wants him. Not words,” Rick Brunson said, per MacMahon. “Ain’t no discount. So don’t put it on us. Don’t tell me you love me. Show me.”
Here’s more on Brunson:
- Brunson was eligible for a four-year, $55.6MM in-season extension in 2021/22, but the Mavericks didn’t offer it to him until after the trade deadline, according to MacMahon. By that point, Brunson had decided to wait until the offseason to sign a new deal. “I told him once the season is started, that’s it,” Rick Brunson said. “I told the Mavericks, ‘Once the season is started, there’s no contract talk,’ and I went back against my word. In January, I thought he did enough where he deserved (the extension). I said, ‘Hey, take the money, man.’ He wants security. He wants to live here. And (the Mavs) declined. He didn’t turn s–t down. Y’all declined first. When y’all came back to him (in February), we said, ‘Hey, we just want to finish out the season and go from there.'” Signing Brunson to a long-term extension in January would’ve made him ineligible to be traded this season, so the Mavs may have wanted to keep their options open.
- The Pistons and Knicks are widely considered to be potential suitors for Brunson, as previous reported have indicated. League sources tell MacMahon that Detroit likes how Brunson fits alongside Doncic and believes he could play a similar role next to Cade Cunningham. Knicks president of basketball operations and former CAA agent Leon Rose, meanwhile, has several ties to the Brunson family — Rick was his first client and he previously represented Jalen. Now, Leon’s son Sam Rose is one of the agents who reps Jalen at CAA.
- Despite those links to the Knicks, Rick Brunson insists the familial connections won’t be a deciding factor in his son’s free agency. “I’ve made it very clear to Leon, ‘I love you to death. Your son works for Jalen, represents Jalen, but this is about Jalen,'” Rick Brunson said. “… Leon wouldn’t never talk to me again (if Jalen signs elsewhere). The question I have, is it a good fit in New York? We don’t know, because we have to sit down and figure it out (and evaluate the) draft. July 1 is a long way away.”
- Further complicating matters for the Knicks? League sources tell MacMahon that the Mavericks have no intention of accommodating a sign-and-trade scenario, so any team that wants to sign Brunson will likely need cap space to do so. That shouldn’t be a problem for the Pistons, but the Knicks would have to shed some salary to create cap room.
- Interestingly, the Knicks had an opportunity to acquire Brunson in 2020, according to MacMahon, who says the Mavs were dangling a package of Brunson, the No. 18 overall pick, and the No. 31 overall pick that year in an effort to trade up for Tyrese Haliburton. Dallas was unable to find a taker, including the Knicks, who used the No. 8 pick that year on Obi Toppin.
AJ Griffin, Yannick Nzosa Enter 2022 NBA Draft
Duke forward AJ Griffin officially announced on Sunday that he’ll be entering the 2022 NBA draft (Twitter link). Based on the wording of the announcement from the school, it sounds as if Griffin will forgo his remaining college eligibility and go pro.
Griffin’s decision comes as no surprise, as he’s considered a potential lottery pick, ranking No. 8 overall on ESPN’s big board. As a freshman, he averaged 10.4 PPG and 3.9 RPG with an impressive .447 3PT% in 39 games (24.0 MPG).
In his scouting report on Griffin, Mike Schmitz of ESPN refers to the 18-year-old as one of college basketball’s best shooters and says he has the type of physical frame NBA scouts love (6’6″ with a seven-foot wingspan). While Griffin looked like a potential top-five pick at times, there were other games where he looked like a “one-dimensional gunner,” according to Schmitz, who says the former Blue Devil will have to prove he can be a “willing, engaged” defender.
Griffin joins his Duke teammates Paolo Banchero, Mark Williams, Trevor Keels, and Wendell Moore in the 2022 draft pool.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Congolese center Yannick Nzosa has also declared for the draft, a source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). Nzosa, who has spent the last couple seasons playing for Unicaja in Spain, is the No. 46 prospect on ESPN’s board and projects as a second-round pick, according to Givony.
Sunday night was the deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2022 NBA draft, so we should get an official preliminary early entry list from the league at some point this week. We’ve been tracking this year’s early entrants right here, but our list is unofficial and could grow significantly when the NBA puts out the full list of names.
Draft Notes: Braun, Wilson, Diop, Santos, Edey, Pack, Miller
After winning a national championship with the Jayhawks this season, Kansas junior shooting guard Christian Braun is entering his name in the 2022 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
Ranked as the No. 30 overall prospect on ESPN’s big board, Braun took a major step forward in his third college season, averaging 14.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .495/.386/.733 shooting in 40 games (34.4 MPG). He also played a big role in this month’s title game, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to help Kansas secure the victory.
“It is hard to follow a season where you win every championship that’s in front of you, but I’m excited to explore the options in front of me and enjoy this process,” Braun told ESPN. “I’ve worked my whole life to show the NBA who I am and what I’m about, so I will continue to put my head down and work to achieve my dream of playing in the NBA.”
Meanwhile, Braun’s teammate Jalen Wilson will once again test the waters, according to Andrew Joseph of USA Today (Twitter link), who notes that the 6’8″ forward has signed with an NCAA-certified agency. A redshirt sophomore, Wilson first tested the draft waters in 2021.
Here are a few more draft-related updates as the early entrant deadline nears:
- Senegalese center Khalifa Diop, who currently plays for Gran Canaria in Spain, is entering the draft, per Global Scouting (Twitter link). Diop is the No. 40 prospect on ESPN’s board.
- Brazilian forward Gui Santos, the No. 84 prospect on ESPN’s top-100 list, has declared for the draft, according to a Super Esportes report. Santos has been playing for Minas in the Brazilian league.
- Purdue big man Zach Edey, the No. 67 prospect on ESPN’s board, has announced (via Instagram) that he’ll remain with the Boilermakers for his junior year.
- After entering the transfer portal while testing the draft waters, Kansas State’s Nijel Pack has committed to Miami, he announced on Saturday (Twitter link). Having secured a lucrative NIL deal, Pack appears committed to playing at least one more college season rather than keeping his name in the draft.
- Canadian forward Leonard Miller, from the Fort Erie International Academy, is entering the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). Givony notes that Miller made an impression at the Nike Hoop Summit earlier this month.
Heat Notes: Butler, Herro, Morris, Oladipo
Jimmy Butler‘s 45-point outburst on Tuesday in Game 2 of the Heat‘s series vs. Atlanta was reminiscent of the big performances he turned in during Miami’s 2020 run to the NBA Finals in the Orlando bubble. However, Butler said after the game that he’s a different player now than he was then, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“I’m not as ball-dominant as I was in the bubble,” Butler said. “We got a point guard, and that’s Kyle (Lowry), and I love him being a point guard. I just get to go out there and try to score. And if I can’t score, pass the ball. We’re a different team; I’m a different player.”
While Butler may feel as if he has changed as a player since two years ago, the Heat will welcome more playoff outings that resemble what he did in 2020, as opposed to a repeat of 2021, when he averaged 14.5 PPG on 29.7% shooting in a four-game sweep at the hands of Milwaukee.
As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald writes, the more games Butler has like Tuesday’s, the better the Heat’s decision to sign him to a new long-term, maximum-salary contract extension last offseason will look. That deal is expected to pay Butler a salary exceeding $50MM in 2025/26, his age-36 season.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- In an in-depth feature for ESPN, Israel Gutierrez details Tyler Herro‘s growth over the last two seasons, from his struggles in 2020/21 to his probable Sixth Man of the Year win in 2022. Within the story, the Heat guard dismissed the rumors that surfaced a year ago about the team being concerned by his so-called celebrity lifestyle. “There were so much rumors floating around my name,” Herro said. “The lifestyle stuff, the girls, and saying I’m getting caught up in that, which was never true.”
- Markieff Morris has recovered from the neck injury he suffered when he was hit from behind by Nikola Jokic in November, but the way that situation played out still doesn’t sit well with head coach Erik Spoelstra, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Markieff’s story has been probably frustrating,” Spoelstra said, “Something that shouldn’t have happened, and it’s only a one-game suspension for that, and he had to miss months of time. It makes no sense, but he’s handled that with great grace and class.”
- Joe Vardon of The Athletic takes a look at the Heat’s “high-class” problem of having a roster so loaded with contributors that they pulled Duncan Robinson from their starting five and removed Morris and Victor Oladipo from the rotation entirely. Spoelstra still expects to lean on Morris and Oladipo at some point in the postseason, per Winderman. “You see how quickly things can change,” Spoelstra said, pointing to Caleb Martin‘s emergence in Game 2 vs. Atlanta. “All of sudden Caleb played and had really significant and important minutes in that second half. I anticipate the same thing will happen for Vic and Markieff.”
Kings To Interview Mike D’Antoni, Mark Jackson, Others
The Kings will interview former NBA head coaches Mike D’Antoni and Mark Jackson for their open head coaching position, sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Sacramento has also received permission to interview former coaches Mike Brown and Steve Clifford, as well as Celtics assistant Will Hardy and Bucks assistants Darvin Ham and Charles Lee, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Of the former head coaches, D’Antoni currently serves as an advisor to Pelicans head coach Willie Green, Jackson is an ABC/ESPN broadcaster, Brown is an assistant with the Warriors, and Clifford is a consultant for the Nets.
The Kings have done their homework on a wide range of candidates and narrowed their list down to a smaller group, according to Charania and Amick, though the above list of candidates isn’t necessarily complete, tweets Sean Cunningham of ABC10 in Sacramento.
The Kings will begin conducting virtual interviews with candidates next week, according to James Ham of ESPN 1320, who tweets that in-person meetings will take place after that first round of Zoom interviews.
Sacramento is in the market for a new head coach after firing Luke Walton near the start of the 2021/22 season and then opting not to retain his interim replacement, Alvin Gentry, last week.
When word first broke that the Kings weren’t bringing back Gentry, Wojnarowski said they would consider candidates who have previously turned lottery teams into playoff clubs. D’Antoni (Phoenix), Jackson (Golden State), Brown (Cleveland), and Clifford (Charlotte and Orlando) all technically fit that bill.
Ham, Lee, and Hardy don’t have head coaching experience, but have all interviewed for head coaching positions in recent years. Ham and Lee reportedly received consideration from multiple teams in 2021, while Hardy was in the mix for multiple jobs in 2020.
Celtics’ Robert Williams Targeting Game 3 Return
1:58pm: Barring a setback, Williams intends to return in Game 3 on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wonjarowski, who tweets that the big man will be on a minutes restriction. If everything goes according to plan, Williams would take on something closer to his normal role in Game 4 on Monday, Wojnarowski says.
12:17pm: Celtics center Robert Williams is close to returning to action, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Williams could potentially play vs. the Nets in Game 3 on Saturday or Game 4 on Monday.
A final determination will be based on how Williams is feeling from day to day as he goes through the final stages of his recovery process, Charania adds. A league source who spoke to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) stressed that it remains possible the 24-year-old will need a little more time and won’t return for the upcoming games in Brooklyn.
When Williams underwent a partial meniscectomy to address the torn meniscus in his left knee on March 30, the Celtics announced a recovery timeline of four-to-six weeks, and have repeatedly stated since then that the big man remains on track. It has only been 23 days since that timeline was confirmed, so if Williams is able to make it back for one of the next two games, he’ll be returning ahead of schedule.
Celtics head coach Ime Udoka said on Thursday that Williams was progressing well and would travel with the Celtics after participating in some 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 scrimmages and doing contact work this week (Twitter links via Jay King of The Athletic).
The Celtics have a 2-0 lead over the Nets as the series moves to Brooklyn, so there’s no urgency to rush Williams back if he’s not quite ready yet. Still, it sounds like there’s a decent chance both teams could get reinforcements by Game 4, with Ben Simmons also targeting a return on Monday.