De’Aaron Fox, Julius Randle Named Players Of The Week
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox and Knicks forward Julius Randle have been named the NBA’s players of the week, the league announced (via Twitter). Fox won for the Western Conference, while Randle won for the East.
It’s the second weekly award thus far in 2023/24 for Fox, who led Sacramento to a 2-1 record last week. The 25-year-old averaged 31.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.7 steals in his three games (38.7 minutes per night). The Kings host the Pelicans tonight in the quarterfinal of the league’s inaugural in-season tournament.
Randle, meanwhile, averaged 24.7 points, 13.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists in guiding New York to a perfect 3-0 record last week (36.0 minutes). As Tommy Beer tweets, Randle joins Jalen Brunson — who won two weeks ago — as the first pair of Knicks teammates to win the weekly award in the same season since 2012/13, when Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith were honored.
The Knicks will play the Bucks in Milwaukee on Tuesday for their quarterfinal matchup.
According to the NBA, Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic, Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic and Shaedon Sharpe were nominated in the West, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Patrick Beverley, Mikal Bridges, Donovan Mitchell, Franz Wagner and Coby White were nominated in the East (Twitter links).
Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Mazzulla, Thomas, Barrett
Kristaps Porzingis has already been ruled out of Monday’s in-season tournament quarterfinal at Indiana, but the Celtics are optimistic he’ll return to action this week, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).
According to Woj, there’s “increasing confidence” that Porzingis will be available for the semifinal against either Milwaukee or New York if Boston advances past the Pacers. That would take place on Thursday if the Celtics win tonight, but if they lose and are eliminated, their next game would be a normal regular season contest on Friday.
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has ruffled some feathers amongst rival teams this season with some of his decisions, including intentionally fouling Bulls center Andre Drummond in the fourth quarter of a blowout victory last week when Boston was trying to secure a berth in the quarterfinal via point differential. Mazzulla says he’s not worried about being friendly with opposing coaches, per Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscriber link). “How do I say this nicely? I don’t care,” he said. “But I also have respect for people. Like I learn from every coach, I think they’re a lot of great coaches in the league. I’ve studied what other teams do. But as far as having an off-court relationship with a coach? I don’t. That’s like last on the list.”
- Nets guard Cam Thomas shot just 7-of-23 from the floor in Saturday’s victory over Orlando, which snapped the Magic’s nine-game winning streak. However, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes, Thomas contributed in other ways in his second game back from an ankle injury, drawing double-teams while recording seven rebounds and a season-high five assists. “Look at the passes that he threw. He can play-make. He’s more than a scorer,” said head coach Jacque Vaughn. “He’s really taken a step on the defensive end of the floor, which makes me extremely happy as a coach that he wants to defend. He’s gotten better at defending.” Vaughn also praised Thomas’ preparation and ability to draw fouls.
- Knicks forward RJ Barrett had a strong start to the 2023/24 season interrupted by migraines, which caused him to miss three games, and he’s still trying to regain his prior form, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. The 23-year-old is shooting just 34.4% from the field and 25.0% from long distance over the past seven games. “Having a week where you don’t play, it’s not ideal,” Barrett said. “But at the end of the day, I’ve also had a [few] weeks where I’ve been playing. No excuses; I’m kind of getting back to it.”
Injury Notes: Haliburton, Bam, K. Murray, Nuggets, Suns, Hornets
Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton is expected to be out for Saturday’s game against Miami, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. Indiana’s best player is officially listed as questionable.
As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star tweets, Haliburton missed the team’s shootaround this morning due to a right knee bone bruise and an upper respiratory infection. The Pacers went just 6-20 without Haliburton last season, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter).
Haliburton, who signed a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension in the offseason, is off to an All-NBA-caliber start to 2023/24, averaging career highs of 27.0 points and a league-leading 11.8 assists per game while posting an elite .519/.447/.880 shooting line. The Pacers host the Celtics on Monday for the quarterfinal of the league’s inaugural in-season tournament, so hopefully he’ll be back in time for that contest.
Heat center Bam Adebayo has also been ruled out of Saturday’s contest due to a left hip contusion, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscriber link) wouldn’t be surprised to see Orlando Robinson get the starting nod in his place, with Kevin Love continuing to come off the bench due to the synergy he’s developing with the second unit.
Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Kings forward Keegan Murray, the No. 4 overall pick of last year’s draft, will return on Saturday against Denver after missing four games due to lower back soreness, sources tell Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL (Twitter link). As for the Nuggets, Jamal Murray (ankle) and Aaron Gordon (heel) are questionable after missing Friday’s game against Phoenix, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link).
- Suns star Devin Booker is questionable for Saturday’s contest vs. Memphis, notes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Booker, who is dealing with an ankle sprain, missed Friday’s game against Denver. Eric Gordon is also questionable due to a right knee contusion.
- Hornets backup center Nick Richards will return to action on Saturday after missing the previous six games while in the league’s concussion protocol, the team announced (via Twitter). No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller will also be available after missing Charlotte’s last game with a left ankle injury.
Davon Reed To Join Grizzlies’ G League Affiliate
Free agent guard/forward Davon Reed is signing an NBA G League contract to play with the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies‘ affiliate, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
The 32nd overall pick of the 2017 draft, Reed spent his first two seasons with the Suns and Pacers before spending time in the NBAGL and playing professionally in Taiwan. He returned to the NBA in 2021/22 with the Nuggets and re-signed with Denver as a free agent last summer.
Reed was traded to the Lakers in February in a multi-team deal that sent Thomas Bryant to the Nuggets. The 28-year-old wing was waived by Los Angeles on the last day of the regular season to create roster space.
Reed, who averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game while shooting 40.9% from deep over the past two seasons (91 games, 11.1 minutes), signed with Ukrainian team Prometey BC as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
His stint with Prometey — which is currently in the EuroCup tournament and competes in the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League due to the ongoing war in Ukraine — was short-lived, however, as he’ll reportedly be returning stateside in an effort to make it back to the NBA.
It’s worth noting that Reed holds four seasons of NBA experience and is thus ineligible for a two-way contract. In order to return to the league, he’ll have to be offered a standard deal.
It’s possible Reed could be competing for a chance at a 10-day contract with Memphis — the Grizzlies currently have guards Shaquille Harrison and Jaylen Nowell on 10-day deals after qualifying for a couple extra roster spots via the hardship provision. Those contracts expire on December 3.
Latest On Knicks’ Lawsuit Against Raptors
Since resigning from his Board of Governors committee positions, owner James Dolan and the Knicks launched a lawsuit against the Raptors seeking more than $10MM in damages over an issue that would typically be arbitrated by the NBA.
The suit, which alleges that a former team employee illegally took “confidential” files with him to his new position in Toronto, accused commissioner Adam Silver of bias due to his friendship with Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum and Tanenbaum’s position as chairman of the Board of Governors.
As Baxter Holmes writes in an in-depth story for ESPN, Dolan also has a lengthy history with Raptors president Masai Ujiri. Back in 2011, when Ujiri was Denver’s lead basketball executive, he traded Carmelo Anthony to New York — a deal in which Dolan was later criticized for giving up too much on a player who wanted to sign with the Knicks in free agency.
Ujiri had another famous trade with the Knicks a couple years later while he was running the Raptors, Holmes notes, sending Andrea Bargnani to New York for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak and multiple first-round picks. Bargnani only played 71 games over two seasons with New York.
Dolan reportedly nixed a deal between Toronto and New York that same year — 2013 — that would have sent Kyle Lowry to the Knicks because he “didn’t want to get fleeced again by Masai,” a source told The New York Daily News.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported a few years ago that Ujiri was Dolan’s “dream candidate” to run the Knicks, but he wound up returning to the Raptors on a long-term deal in 2021.
As far as the ongoing lawsuit, legal experts, analytics staffers and rival executives alike are skeptical and “generally dismissive” of the Knicks’ claims, according to Holmes.
“If you were concerned about privacy and the loss of proprietary information, the last place you would be pursuing that is in a court proceeding seeking only monetary damages — because whether it’s actually proprietary is going to be an issue,” said Robert Boland, a professor of sports law at Seton Hall University Law School who also maintains a practice focused on sports labor and governance issues.
“You have to prove your damages in this circumstance and you’re going to have to tell the court, and by extension the public, what they took from you and what its value was. So more of that becomes public, which likely means the Knicks don’t care about it. I’m assuming by the time we get through the court hearings, all this information will be out of date. I’m not sure the subject matter is proprietary or that it’s even timely anymore.”
Executives in particular cited Dolan’s “litigious reputation,” Holmes adds.
“I think this is a complete middle finger from Dolan to Larry Tanenbaum — and I think it’s nothing more than that,” one Eastern Conference executive told ESPN.
According to Holmes, the Raptors are expected to file a response to the Knicks’ latest filing on December 11. Boland — one of the legal experts Holmes spoke to — is unsure what will happen next.
“I don’t see a settlement in this case, but I don’t know if the Knicks are going to win,” said Boland, an admitted Knicks fan. “I don’t really see a clear strategy. I think the attention is the desired outcome.”
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is also named in the lawsuit. He once again defended himself amid the allegations and said he’s looking forward to the case being resolved, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.
“Support from the beginning was just fine because we talked about it, we explained what happened or what did not happen. I know who I am, I know my integrity, I know who I represent,” Rajakovic said. “I represent one amazing organization and people in the front office and the players. I’m really looking forward for all of this to be solved and for everybody to find out the truth. I’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Veteran NBA Wing Terrence Ross Retires
Veteran wing Terrence Ross, who played 11 NBA seasons from 2012-23, officially announced his retirement on Friday evening via his podcast (YouTube link).
Ross spent the first four-plus seasons of his career with the Raptors, who selected him eighth overall in the 2012 draft. He was traded to Orlando in 2017 in the deal that sent Serge Ibaka to Toronto and spent parts of seven seasons with the Magic prior to being bought out and waived in February, ultimately signing with the Suns to finish out the 2022/23 season.
The 32-year-old was an unrestricted free agent this past offseason after his deal with Phoenix expired and didn’t end up signing another NBA contract. He confirmed a rumor back in August that he was offered a deal by a Serbian club, but obviously he didn’t accept it.
Ross, who played college ball at Washington and won the 2013 dunk contest, cited injuries and a desire to spend more time with his family as motivating factors in his decision to retire.
Overall, Ross appeared in 733 regular season games, including 187 starts, averaging 11.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 36.2% from three-point range in 24.5 minutes per night.
After the Magic won their ninth straight game on Friday night, head coach Jamahl Mosley was asked about Ross’ retirement, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel relays (via Twitter). Ross sat courtside at the game.
“He just brought such a great joy to this group. … They look up to him, they’re still in chats together,” Mosley said. “I think he’s such a great veteran for our guys with a young group when he was here, it was great to have him.”
Spurs Notes: Wembanyama, Vassell, Sochan
Spurs No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama missed his first regular season game on Friday night against the Pelicans. The 7’4″ big man has been dealing with right hip tightness and considers himself “day-to-day,” writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
Friday was the second of back-to-back games for San Antonio, which lost to the Hawks on Thursday night. Wembanyama was questionable for that contest, but wound up playing, Lopez notes.
In 18 games (30.0 minutes) in 2023/24, the 19-year-old has put up very impressive counting stats of 19.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals and a league-leading 2.7 blocks per night, though like many rookies he has struggled at times with turnovers (3.5) and scoring efficiency (.437/.271/.829 shooting line).
Here are a few more notes on the Spurs, who have lost 13 straight games entering Friday’s contest:
- Devin Vassell hasn’t gotten much recognition this season because San Antonio is just 3-15 and ranks last in the Western Conference. But the fourth-year wing is shooting career highs of 58.0% on twos and 41.9% on threes, and the spacing and attention he draws are essential to the team’s offense, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who says Vassell “increasingly looks like the perfect complementary piece to Wembanyama.”
- Vassell has missed five games this season due to an adductor injury, causing the Spurs to place him on a minutes restriction and bring him off the bench of late. He was a reserve again on Friday night, but head coach Gregg Popovich said Vassell will return to the starting lineup in the near future, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.
- Transitioning to point guard after playing power forward as a rookie last season has been a bumpy adjustment for Jeremy Sochan, but he had his best game of the season on Thursday, McDonald writes for The Express-News (subscriber link). The 20-year-old had a career-high 33 points (on 12-of-14 shooting) while also contributing eight rebounds, six assists and a steal. “It’s a process,” Sochan said. “But as every day goes on, it’s getting easier. I’ve just going to keep going. And if I have the trust of my coaches and my teammates, that’s the most important thing.”
Lauri Markkanen (Hamstring) To Be Reevaluated Next Week
Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen will miss his fifth consecutive game on Saturday vs. Portland due to a left hamstring strain.
According to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter links), Markkanen is set to be reevaluated at some point next week, with Utah saying its leading scorer “continues to make progress” from his injury.
A first-time All-Star in 2022/23, Markkanen had a breakout season with the Jazz, winning the Most Improved Player award in the process. He’s off to a strong start in ’23/24 as well, averaging 23.7 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.1 SPG and 0.9 BPG on .484/.383/.840 shooting in 15 games (34.1 MPG).
It’s unclear when Markkanen suffered the injury, but he last played on November 22 against the Trail Blazers. The 26-year-old is on a bargain contract relative to his production, as he’ll earn about $35.3MM over the next two season until he hits free agency again in 2025.
After tomorrow’s game, Utah has multiple days off — the team doesn’t play again until next Wednesday.
Guards Jordan Clarkson (thigh) and Kris Dunn (personal reasons) will also be out on Saturday, per Larsen. It will be Clarkson’s second straight missed game, while Dunn will miss his fourth consecutive contest.
The Jazz are currently 6-13, which is the third-worst record in the Western Conference.
Lakers’ Vanderbilt, Hachimura To Return On Saturday
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt will make his 2023/24 season debut on Saturday against Houston, the team announced (Twitter link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic). Vanderbilt has missed the first 20 games of the season with left heel bursitis.
Vanderbilt, 24, was one of two players sent from Utah to Los Angeles at the 2023 trade deadline, along with Malik Beasley (D’Angelo Russell arrived from Minnesota in the same three-team deal). Vanderbilt started 24 of 26 regular season games for the Lakers down the stretch in ’22/23, averaging 7.2 points and 6.7 rebounds in 24.0 minutes per night while shooting 52.9% from the field and 78.4% from the free throw line.
Although he was one of the few Lakers who wasn’t a free agent this past offseason, Vanderbilt still cashed in, agreeing to a four-year, $48MM veteran extension that will keep him under team control through at least the 2026/27 season. He’ll hold a player option for ’27/28.
Los Angeles will also have Rui Hachimura back in the lineup — he’s available after missing the past four games following surgery to repair a nasal fracture.
According to Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link), the Lakers could have a third wing back in action on Saturday, as Cam Reddish is listed as probable. The 24-year-old has missed four of the past five games with a groin strain.
The Lakers are currently 11-9, the No. 7 seed in the West.
Bulls Notes: DeRozan, Options, Dosunmu, Phillips, Williams
Chicago figures to be at the center of many trade conversations around the league after a disappointing start has the team sitting with a 6-14 record — 13th in the East — after 20 games.
Along the same lines, scouts and executives Sam Amick of The Athletic has spoken to believe Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan is “very likely” to be traded prior to the February deadline. According to Amick, the Heat and Knicks are teams that appeal to DeRozan, who is on an expiring $28.6MM contract.
DeRozan, 34, was an All-Star each of the past two seasons for Chicago and earned an All-NBA Second Team nod in 2021/22. His numbers are down a bit this season, but he’s still averaging 21.3 PPG, 4.6 APG, 3.2 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .450/.364/.810 shooting in 18 games (35.2 MPG).
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- Keith Smith of Spotrac believes the Bulls should tear down their roster and basically start from scratch. Smith takes an in-depth look at Chicago’s assets and salary cap situation, and lists five trade proposals to kick-start a rebuild, though he acknowledges the Bulls are highly unlikely to undergo such a drastic overhaul.
- Third-year guard Ayo Dosunmu got his first start of the ’23/24 season in Thursday’s overtime victory over Milwaukee and played well, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Dosunmu, who finished with 14 points (on 6-of-8 shooting), six rebounds, six assists and three steals in 39 minutes, received praise from head coach Billy Donovan. “He was great because his tempo and pace in pick-and-roll was really good. He wasn’t rushed,” Donovan said. “He read the floor. He read the defense. He made really good decisions, not only for himself but he generated shots for other guys. He got Vooch (Nikola Vucevic) a lot of opportunities.” Dosunmu is likely to continue to receive more run with Zach LaVine set to miss the next week due to foot soreness, Johnson adds.
- Julian Phillips, a second-round pick who was selected 35th overall in this year’s draft, played a season-high 14 minutes on Thursday with both LaVine and DeRozan (ankle) sidelined, Johnson notes in another story. The 20-year-old small forward missed all three of his field goal attempts, but he played with aggression and had three rebounds and three assists, Johnson writes.
- Fourth-year forward Patrick Williams, a restricted free agent in 2024, is starting to turn things around after an extremely slow start, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “Patrick has done a good job,” Donovan said. “He’s been more consistent (with) being physical and feeling his presence out there.” Williams is averaging 13.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG on .520/.474/.875 shooting over the past five games, including four starts (31.5 MPG).