And-Ones: 2022 Cap Room, Stephenson, G League, More
Only four NBA teams currently project to have significant cap room in the 2022 offseason, writes Danny Leroux of The Athletic. Not only is that number lower than usual, but none of those four teams appear likely to have enough space for a maximum-salary player worth 30% of the cap, Leroux adds.
The Pistons currently project to have the most space, with Blake Griffin‘s dead money coming off their books. According to Leroux, the Magic, Spurs, and Grizzlies join them as the other clubs likely to have at least $15MM in room. Teams like the Wizards and Bulls could have room too, but that would be a worst-case scenario for those clubs, since it would mean losing Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine, respectively, in free agency.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Veteran NBA swingman Lance Stephenson spoke to Jack Green of Betway about his decision to play in the G League and the role he expects to have with the Grand Rapids Gold, the Nuggets‘ new affiliate. Stephenson, who worked out for several NBA teams during the offseason, hopes to show in the NBAGL that he still has plenty left in the tank. “My body feels amazing,” he said. “I don’t feel like an older guy, I still feel like a young guy. So I think I’ve got a couple more years left.”
- The original plan for the Mexico City Capitanes was to join the NBA G League for the 2020/21 season. However, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed their debut back by a year, and the team has now been uprooted from its home in Mexico due to pandemic-related travel concerns. Eric Gomez of ESPN takes an in-depth at the new G League franchise and the adjustments it has had to make over the last couple years.
- Former CAA agent Michael Tellem has joined Excel Sports, the agency announced (via Twitter). Danilo Gallinari, Jakob Poeltl, and Daniel Theis are among the most notable NBA clients for Tellem, whose father is Pistons vice chairman and former agent Arn Tellem.
- It’s not just NBA scouts and executives who have been impressed so far by the new Overtime Elite league — the program’s level of professionalism and credibility has also made an impact on its players, writes Kyle Tucker of The Athletic. “It’s even more than I thought it would be,” said 2022 draft-eligible forward Kok Yat. “If I didn’t come here, no NBA scouts would know who I am. You want to be seen, so this feels like a huge step.”
Towns “Very Happy” In Minnesota, Says Twitter Account Was Hacked
After the Timberwolves dropped a third straight game on Wednesday, falling 126-115 to the Clippers, Karl-Anthony Towns‘ Twitter account liked a tweet that included the #FreeKAT hashtag. However, Towns said on Thursday that he wasn’t responsible for that “like,” which happened when he was asleep.
“Honestly, I woke up this morning, my agent hit me up and was like, ‘Karl, what is this?'” Towns said on Thursday, per Dane Moore of Blue Wire (Twitter link). “I was like, ‘What the f— are you talking about?’ I hadn’t woke up yet for the whole day.”
Towns went on to explain that only three people – him, his agent Jessica Holtz, and his close friend Chucky Anthony – have access to his Twitter account, and he didn’t believe any of them liked the #FreeKAT tweet.
“I know Chucky didn’t do it because he was in the hospital with his father. I know he didn’t have time to do that,” Towns said. “Jess never has used it. So, got hacked, easy thing, fixed the password.
“Sorry to the Wolves fans. I ain’t want to cause no hysteria or anything like that. But just know I’m very happy. I know we’re on a skid so it came at the worst possible time, that little hacking. I’m excited to hopefully build more years here, not just this year.”
It’s hard to believe a hacker would’ve gained access to Towns’ account simply to like a single tweet. However, as Jon Krawczynski writes for The Athletic, there’s also little reason to think that Towns wants to leave Minnesota, even if the hacking story strains credulity.
Towns has repeatedly stated that he wants to win with the Timberwolves, and spoke at the end of last season about wanting to have a long career with one team, like Tim Duncan with the Spurs or Kobe Bryant with the Lakers. The Wolves also aren’t off to a terrible start this season. Despite the current three-game losing streak, Minnesota has a 3-4 overall record, putting the team in the play-in mix in the early going.
Still, as Krawczynski notes, there are plenty of teams around the league that will continue to closely monitor Towns’ situation in case anything changes. His current maximum-salary contract runs through the 2023/24 season.
2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Portland Trail Blazers
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s offseason moves and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Portland Trail Blazers.
Free agent signings:
Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here.
Norman Powell: Five years, $90MM. Re-signed using Bird rights.- Ben McLemore: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Tony Snell: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Cody Zeller: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Dennis Smith Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Keljin Blevins: Two-way contract.
- Trendon Watford: Two-way contract.
Trades:
- Acquired the draft rights to Greg Brown (No. 43 pick) from the Pelicans in exchange for the Trail Blazers’ 2026 second-round pick and cash ($2MM).
- Acquired Larry Nance Jr. from the Cavaliers in a three-team trade in exchange for Derrick Jones (to Bulls) and the Trail Blazers’ 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected; to Bulls).
Draft picks:
- 2-43: Greg Brown
- Signed to three-year, minimum-salary contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using mid-level exception.
Contract extensions:
- None
Departing players:
- Carmelo Anthony
- Zach Collins
- Harry Giles
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
- Derrick Jones
- Enes Kanter
- T.J. Leaf
Other offseason news:
- Hired Chauncey Billups as head coach to replace Terry Stotts.
- Hired Scott Brooks, Roy Rogers, Steve Hetzel, and Edniesha Curry as assistant coaches; lost assistant coaches Nate Tibbetts, Jannero Pargo, Jim Moran, and John McCullough.
- Newly-hired assistant coach Milt Palacio placed on administrative leave after being accused of defrauding the NBA’s health and welfare benefit plan.
Salary cap situation:
- Remained over the cap and above the tax line.
- Carrying approximately $139.6MM in salary.
- $4,964,742 of taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($925,258 used on Greg Brown).
- Would need to shed salary to use more than taxpayer portion of mid-level exception or any part of bi-annual exception ($3,732,000), since doing either would create a $143MM hard cap.
- One traded player exception ($1,663,861) available.
The Trail Blazers’ offseason:
The addition of Norman Powell at the 2021 trade deadline put the Trail Blazers in position to make some noise in the playoffs — the five-man lineup of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Robert Covington, Jusuf Nurkic, and Powell was one of the NBA’s best down the stretch, and the Blazers drew a fairly favorable first-round matchup, facing a Nuggets team that was missing Jamal Murray.
However, the Blazers couldn’t get past Denver, sending them back to the drawing board this summer. The disappointing finish to Portland’s season also prompted Lillard to do some summer soul searching.
The six-time All-Star professed his loyalty to Portland over and over again during his first nine years in the NBA, but a frustrating 2020/21 season made him question that commitment, if not for the first time then at least more seriously than he has in the past. For several weeks, it seemed as if Lillard might be on the verge of requesting a trade, especially since the Blazers didn’t exactly swing for the fences with their moves in free agency.
Lillard ultimately decided he wanted to remain in Portland, in large part due to the one major change the team did make in the offseason. After parting ways with longtime head coach Terry Stotts, the Blazers chose first-time head coach Chauncey Billups as his replacement.
The move initially received significant push-back from a number fans in Portland due to a perception that the Blazers didn’t look into a 1997 sexual assault case involving Billups as thoroughly as they should have. President of basketball operations Neil Olshey was cagey about the team’s investigation, simply asking fans to trust the organization’s findings and its belief that Billups hadn’t engaged in any wrongdoing.
Despite that shaky start to the Billups era, the team ultimately weathered the PR storm and the new head coach quickly established a strong connection with Lillard, who recommitted to the Blazers after weighing his options for much of the summer.
Of course, Lillard’s decision to stick with Portland came with a caveat — he wants to make sure the front office is doing all it can to build a roster capable of competing for a title. That led to speculation that the capped-out Blazers might make a major splash in the trade market this offseason, perhaps moving McCollum or Nurkic.
Instead, the team was relatively quiet in July and early August, signing Cody Zeller, Tony Snell, and Ben McLemore to minimum-salary contracts while parting ways with free agents like Carmelo Anthony, Enes Kanter, and Zach Collins. The only major move the Blazers made at that point of the offseason was an expected one — they committed to a lucrative new five-year deal for Powell, using his Bird rights to pay him $18MM per year over the course of the contract.
Zeller, Snell, and McLemore are solid veterans, and there was a sense that moving on from offense-first players like Anthony and Kanter might help shore up a defense that ranked 29th in the NBA in 2020/21. Still, it felt like an underwhelming offseason for a front office under pressure to show Lillard it was serious about winning. Even if Billups could make a positive impact, he wasn’t taking over a championship-caliber roster.
Just when it looked like the Blazers’ offseason was over, Olshey ventured into the trade market, getting involved in a three-team trade with the Bulls and Cavaliers in order to land Larry Nance Jr. from Cleveland in exchange for Derrick Jones‘ expiring contract and a lottery-protected first-round pick.
It was a nice bit of business for Olshey and the Blazers. Nance isn’t a star, but he’s an underrated two-way contributor who is on a team-friendly contract (two years, $20.4MM). He gives the team another reliable rotation player who brings plenty of energy and doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective. While Nance may not be the missing piece for a title, he increases Portland’s floor and ceiling for the 2021/22 season.
The Trail Blazers’ season:
The Blazers are off to an underwhelming 3-5 start this fall, but their underlying numbers look a little better than that (they have a positive net rating) and Lillard is mired in a shooting slump that presumably won’t last too much longer.
When the dust settles, I expect Portland to finish somewhere in the neighborhood of where they did last season, when they claimed the sixth spot in the Western Conference and were tied with both the fifth- and seventh-place teams.
As that result showed, there’s little margin for error in the West, so the Blazers will need a couple of their bench players – perhaps youngsters Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little – to step up and complement a strong starting five if the team hopes to clinch a playoff spot without going through the play-in tournament.
It’s easy to write the Blazers off as first-round playoff fodder for the conference’s more dangerous teams, but it’s worth noting that Portland made the Western Conference Finals just two years ago in 2019. The team still has enough talent to a win a playoff series or two if everything breaks right. If everything goes wrong, Lillard’s future could become a hot topic again in 2022.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.
Northwest Notes: Jokic, Wolves, Simmons, Gay, McCollum
With Jamal Murray recovering from an ACL tear and Michael Porter Jr. off to a slow start, the Nuggets are leaning more than ever this season on reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. That’s a problem, in the view of head coach Michael Malone, who says he’d like the team to reduce its reliance on Jokic, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post.
“I told our guys just now, Nikola’s not a good player, (he’s) a great player,” Malone said after a Nuggets loss to Memphis on Wednesday. “But every time he comes out, everything just falls apart. It’s every night. I went to him in the fourth quarter, I called his name, and he looked at me, kind of like, ‘Already?’ And I feel for him. … Nikola’s gonna be worn down by Christmas at this rate.”
The numbers back up Malone’s assertion that “everything just falls apart” when Jokic is out of the game. The Nuggets have +14.5 net rating in Jokic’s 248 minutes so far this season, compared to an abysmal -21.4 net rating in the 136 minutes he hasn’t played. Denver has always played better with Jokic on the court, but the team will need to find a way to at least tread water while he’s resting.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- On a recent episode of his The Scoop podcast, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North stated that it has been a little while since Timberwolves head of basketball operations Sachin Gupta talked to the Sixers about Ben Simmons. “About three-and-a-half, four weeks ago, he did plant the seed with the Philadelphia front office that, ‘Yeah, I’m interested in Ben Simmons,'” Wolfson said, per HoopsHype. “But I’m now told he hasn’t had any dialogue about Ben Simmons with Philadelphia for a couple weeks.”
- The Jazz are off to an impressive 6-1 start this season, but it’s becoming clear that Rudy Gay will fill a “substantial need” on the roster once he’s ready to return from his offseason heel surgery, contends Tony Jones of The Athletic. Gay has the size and athleticism necessary to match up with bigger forwards on defense, and can create his own shot in high-pressure situations on offense, Jones writes.
- Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com takes a look at CJ McCollum‘s mindset after an offseason in which the standout Trail Blazers guard was the subject of much trade speculation.
LeBron James Expected To Be Out At Least One Week
Lakers forward LeBron James is expected to miss at least one week due to his abdominal strain, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The team hasn’t confirmed a timeline for James’ return, but ruled him out for Thursday’s game against Oklahoma City. Charania says the Lakers want to be cautious with LeBron’s ailment, and Dave McMenamin of ESPN has heard the same thing. A source told McMenamin that the medical staff wants to “take their time” with James’ recovery.
James, who missed two games last week due to a sore right ankle, has averaged 24.8 PPG, 7.0 APG, and 5.5 RPG in six games (37.1 MPG) so far this season.
The Lakers have been one of the teams hit hardest by injuries in the early going. Trevor Ariza (ankle), Talen Horton-Tucker (hamstring), Kendrick Nunn (knee), and Wayne Ellington (hamstring) have yet to play at all this season, though Ellington is considered probable for Thursday’s game.
Assuming LeBron misses the next week, he’ll be sidelined for games against Portland (on Saturday), Charlotte (Monday), and Miami (Wednesday) in addition to tonight’s OKC matchup.
Sixers Getting Precautionary COVID Tests After Isaiah Joe Enters Protocols
Sixers shooting guard Isaiah Joe has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who says Philadelphia is now testing the entire team for COVID-19 as a precaution ahead of Thursday’s game vs. Detroit.
While it’s not yet confirmed, it’s possible Joe has tested positive for COVID-19, like teammate Tobias Harris did earlier this week.
With over 95% of the NBA’s players now vaccinated, the league’s testing guidelines aren’t as strict as they were in 2020/21. However, vaccinated players are still required to be tested if they show symptoms or are determined to be a close contact of an individual who tested positive. In this case, the 76ers likely just want to confirm they don’t have an outbreak on their roster before taking the court against the Pistons later tonight.
If Joe has tested positive for the coronavirus, he’ll need to wait at least 10 days or return two consecutive negative PCR tests at least 24 hours apart before he’ll be cleared to return to action.
ESPN Report Portrays Toxic Work Environment Under Suns Owner Robert Sarver
The ESPN report that prompted the Suns and team owner Robert Sarver to issue a series of public statements and denials before its publication is now live. Having spoken to more than 70 current and former Suns employees, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes paints a picture of a toxic workplace culture under Sarver, who is accused of using racially inappropriate language and engaging in inappropriate and misogynistic behavior.
“The level of misogyny and racism is beyond the pale,” a Suns co-owner told ESPN, referring to Sarver’s conduct. “It’s embarrassing as an owner.”
Holmes’ report, which is very much worth reading in full, is jam-packed with anecdotes from over the years, many of which Sarver and his lawyers outright deny or claim are being misrepresented.
For instance, former head coach Earl Watson claims that Sarver entered the coaches’ room after a game against the Warriors to complain about Draymond Green being able to use the N-word, and repeatedly used the word himself, even after Watson asked him not to. Sarver said that characterization is “absolutely untrue.”
“During this conversation, I said ‘N-word’ without saying the full word,” Sarver said. “The word itself never crossed my lips. Let me be crystal clear: I never once suggested on that night (or ever) that I should be able to say the N-word because a player or a Black person uses it.”
According to Holmes, at least a half-dozen Suns staffers recalled instances where Sarver heard a story from a Black player and then retold it using the same language, including the N-word. One high-level team executive said that in 2013, Sarver also used the word to explain why he preferred Lindsey Hunter over Dan Majerle to coach a roster made up largely of Black players.
“These (N-words) need a (N-word),” Sarver said, according to that executive.
Again, Holmes’ story is worth reading in full, since we can’t relay every eyebrow-raising allegation from within it, but here are some of the other notable details from the report:
- According to Watson, he told Sarver during his first year as head coach that the team could benefit from more diversity, to which the owner replied, “I don’t like diversity.” Sarver allegedly told Watson that having a diverse staff makes it more difficult to reach agreements. Sarver denied this claim.
- Over a dozen employees told ESPN that Sarver made lewd comments in staff meetings. He allegedly made comments about his wife performing oral sex on him and claimed he needed to wear extra-large condoms. One female former staffer said she was made to feel as if women had “very little value” to Sarver. “Women are possessions,” she told ESPN. “And I think we’re nowhere close to where he thinks men are.” One former female employee told Holmes that her time with the Suns “wrecked my life” and that she contemplated suicide.
- A former female marketing employee told ESPN that Sarver would often use phrases like, “Do I own you?” when asking whether someone worked for the team. Several employees also recalled instances where Sarver referred to employees as “inventory.” The former marketing employee added: “He makes you feel like you belong to him.”
- Now-former Suns staffers told ESPN that when Phoenix was recruiting LaMarcus Aldridge in 2015, the team knew he had young children in Texas and that playing near them would be appealing. Sarver allegedly suggested to two basketball operations staffers at the time that the Suns needed to have local strippers impregnated by NBA players to give the team an edge in free agency.
- That sort of attempt at humor often made employees feel demeaned and uncomfortable, according to Holmes, who points to another example from the 2009/10 season, when Sarver entered the Suns’ training room and asked forward Taylor Griffin if he shaved his legs, then followed it up with, “Do you shave your balls too?” Former Suns account executive David Bodzin also told ESPN that in 2014, he was “pantsed” by Sarver in front of more than 60 team employees. Afterward, an HR employee allegedly said to him, with a smirk, “Please don’t sue us for sexual harassment.”
- Behavior from other members of the Suns’ executive team also contributed to a toxic workplace environment in Phoenix, as Holmes outlines. Two former employees told ESPN that one white male executive repeatedly referred to a Black co-worker as “Carlton” and asked him to “do the Carlton,” despite being told to stop. “Super racist,” one former employee told ESPN.
- Multiple staffers told Holmes that they were unwilling to bring issues to the Suns’ HR department because they feared retaliation. According to people with direct knowledge of the interactions, some employees who reported allegations of inappropriate conduct to HR were soon told they were no longer fits in the organization.
- One former HR rep said that the Suns were generally quick to settle with employees who threatened legal action. “They didn’t want the press,” the former rep told ESPN. “There were people that were wrongly terminated. And then the people who had the know-how to threaten to sue would get paid. But the ones who just couldn’t maneuver that landscape would just go away. … I would hope they would sue, because I knew they would get money. So whenever we (would) see the claims come in, I would just be like, ‘Well, at least that person’s going to get some money.'”
- During the first decade of Sarver’s tenure as Suns owner, some of the team’s part-owners explored whether it would be possible to have him removed, Holmes says. However, outside legal counsel informed them that Sarver’s position was fairly ironclad, barring serious criminal conduct or similarly egregious actions.
Early NBA Salary Guarantee Dates For 2021/22
There are currently 30 players on standard NBA contracts whose 2021/22 salaries aren’t yet fully guaranteed. In most cases, those players will receive their full guarantees if they remain under contract through January 7. Because the league-wide salary guarantee date is January 10, a player must clear waivers before that date if a team wants to avoid being on the hook for his full salary.
A handful of players have earlier trigger dates, however. Those players will receive either full guarantees or an increased partial guarantee on certain dates before January 7.
These dates are fairly malleable — if a player and team reach an agreement, they can be pushed back. The Raptors took that route with Isaac Bonga and Sam Dekker, for example. Both players were originally on track to have their full minimum-salary contracts for 2021/22 become guaranteed if they made the team’s opening-night roster. However, they agreed to push their guarantee dates back a few weeks, to November 6.
Those agreements between a player and team aren’t always reported right away, so our list of early salary guarantee dates is a tentative one, based on information from Basketball Insiders, Spotrac, and HoopsHype, as well as our own data.
Here are the salary guarantee dates to watch prior to January 7:
November 6:
- Isaac Bonga (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,729,217).
- Sam Dekker (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($350,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,789,256).
December 1:
- Chimezie Metu (Kings): Partial guarantee ($881,398) increases to full guarantee ($1,762,796).
December 11:
- PJ Dozier (Nuggets): Partial guarantee ($400,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,910,860).
December 15:
- DeAndre’ Bembry (Nets): Partial guarantee ($750,000) increases to larger partial guarantee ($1,250,000).
- Kenrich Williams (Thunder): Partial guarantee increases to full guarantee ($2,000,000).
- Note: Williams’ partial guarantee is based on a salary of about $11,494 per day. For instance, 30 days into the regular season, he’ll have earned $344,828.
Pelicans Notes: Zion, Alexander-Walker, Hayes, Jones
Zion Williamson‘s weight and conditioning are receiving increased scrutiny as his recovery from offseason foot surgery drags on, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, who notes that multiple members of the national media have focused on the issue this week.
In a Substack article about the Pelicans star, veteran reporter Marc Stein suggested that Williamson has to be a “more active participant in his own recovery” and must find a way to better manage his weight. Former teammate J.J. Redick, now an analyst for ESPN, stated that Zion “has to be in better shape.” TNT’s television studio analysts also weighed in on the subject on Tuesday, with Charles Barkley joking that recent video of Williamson working out “looked like me and Shaq had a baby.”
Pelicans fans can’t be thrilled that Williamson continues to battle health problems as Ja Morant continues to emerge as one of the league’s brightest young stars in Memphis, but it’s revision history to suggest New Orleans should’ve drafted Morant over Zion with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, Stein notes. According to Stein, he recently asked executives from 10 different teams about that choice and only one said he might’ve been willing to take Morant first overall two years ago — and even that exec acknowledged that team ownership probably wouldn’t have signed off.
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- The 1-8 Pelicans can reasonably expect to be better once Williamson and Brandon Ingram (hip) are back on the court, but it’s a discouraging sign that other young breakout candidates – such as Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaxson Hayes – are off to underwhelming starts this season, writes William Guillory of The Athletic.
- Hayes, who is typically the backup center behind Jonas Valanciunas, was replaced on the depth chart by Willy Hernangomez in Wednesday’s game, Clark writes for NOLA.com. Hayes only logged four minutes and didn’t play in the second half. It’s unclear if that was just a one-game change or if Hernangomez could see more action going forward, says Clark.
- Pelicans rookie Herb Jones was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol on Wednesday after sustaining a concussion in Tuesday’s game vs. Phoenix, the team announced in a press release. He’ll have to show he’s symptom-free before being cleared to return.
Injury Notes: Warren, Brooks, Barnes, LaVine, Giannis
T.J. Warren‘s recovery from a left foot stress fracture has progressed slower than initially expected, but the Pacers forward is taking positive steps toward a return, writes David Woods of The Indianapolis Star. Warren is out of a walking boot and the results of the latest scan on his foot are promising, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
Although Warren’s return isn’t imminent and he still has no set timeline, head coach Rick Carlisle suggested on Wednesday that the club can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“It’s going to be weeks, not days. Weeks, but hopefully not months,” Carlisle said.
Warren was one of the stars of the NBA’s Orlando bubble in 2020, averaging 31.0 PPG in six regular season games at Walt Disney World, but he has been available for just four contests since the 2020/21 season began.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the league:
- Dillon Brooks, who is recovering from a broken hand, was one of five Grizzlies players sent to the G League on Wednesday to participate in a simulated game, according to the team (Twitter link). The move is a sign that Brooks is nearing a return to action.
- Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes will have his sprained right thumb reevaluated when the team gets back to Toronto on Thursday, per head coach Nick Nurse. (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca). [UPDATE: Barnes has been cleared to return on Friday, tweets Lewenberg.]
- Bulls guard Zach LaVine is prepared to deal with the pain from the minor ligament tear in his left thumb for “a while” and is still figuring out how to play through it, he said after Thursday’s loss to Philadelphia. K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago has the story, including quotes from LaVine.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s left knee, which he hyperextended in last season’s playoffs, is still bothering him, he acknowledged on Tuesday night (Twitter link via Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Antetokounmpo is playing through it for now, but the Bucks will likely do their best to manage his workload over the course of the season.