Community Shootaround: Portland Trail Blazers
After a disappointing 2021/22 season saw the Trail Blazers go 27-55 and miss the postseason for the first time in eight years, Portland hopes to turn things around next season. The issue is, the NBA is as deep as its ever been, so even just returning to the playoffs in the Western Conference will be difficult.
The Blazers revamped their roster last season, trading a couple of starters (Norman Powell and Robert Covington) to the Clippers in a move that was primarily about freeing up cap space and moving off long-term money. They also dealt away CJ McCollum, Damian Lillard‘s longtime backcourt partner, and backup big man Larry Nance Jr. to the Pelicans for Josh Hart, salary filler, and draft picks.
Of course, perhaps the primary reason the team struggled was Lillard’s abdominal injury, which ultimately required surgery. However, despite the disappointing results, there might be some reasons for optimism next season.
Injuries to McCollum (he suffered a collapsed lung prior to the trade) and Lillard allowed guard Anfernee Simons to shine in their stead, averaging 22.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 5.5 APG on .452/.415/.871 shooting (.600 true) in 30 games as a starter (34.3 MPG). Hart was also exceptional in his brief stint with Portland, averaging 19.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.3 APG and 1.2 SPG on .503/.373/.772 in 13 games (32.1 MPG).
With the additional draft assets from the trades, as well as a large traded player exception generated in the McCollum deal, the Blazers acquired Jerami Grant from Detroit. Grant had long been rumored as a target due to his versatility on both ends of the court.
The poor on-court results last season also led to a high draft pick, No. 7 overall, which the Blazers used on a high-risk, high-upside prospect in Shaedon Sharpe. The team’s main addition in free agency, aside from re-signing Simons and Jusuf Nurkic to lucrative deals, was signing Gary Payton II to help improve Portland’s last-ranked defense.
The Blazers’ projected starting lineup is likely Lillard, Simons, Hart, Grant and Nurkic, though there are other options. The bench features a lot of young players and should be fairly flexible depending on who is performing the best, but Payton, Sharpe, Nassir Little, Justise Winslow, Trendon Watford and Drew Eubanks will all be vying for minutes, with Keon Johnson and Jabari Walker a couple of wild cards.
Of the bench group, Little will be an interesting player to monitor. He was having a breakout season prior to tearing the labrum in his left shoulder, causing him to miss the remainder of ’21/22. He’s also eligible for a rookie scale extension.
Overall, I think the Blazers have some solid depth, especially at forward, which has been a position of weakness for several years. However, I’m skeptical that building the foundation of a team around two smaller guards who struggle defensively (Lillard and Simons) was the right move, considering the Blazers had already gone through a similar experiment with Lillard and McCollum for many years, and the team only advanced past the first round three times in those eight playoff berths.
We want to know what you think. Did the Trail Blazers improve enough to return to the postseason? Is there enough talent on the roster for more than that? Will the team’s last-ranked defense improve? How will new additions like Payton and Grant fit in? Can Sharpe contribute right away (and is he expected to)?
As you can see, there are many question marks surrounding the Blazers, but not a lot of answers right now.
John Wall Contemplated Suicide Amid Personal Tragedies
In a video interview with Donal Ware of BOXTOROW (hat tip to The Associated Press), new Clippers guard John Wall revealed that he contemplated taking his own life after a series of personal tragedies.
“Darkest place I’ve ever been in,” Wall said of the past few years. “At one point in time, I thought about committing suicide. I mean, just tearing my Achilles, my mom being sick, my mom passing, my grandma passed a year later, all this in the midst of COVID and at the same time, me going to chemotherapy, me sitting by my mom taking her last breaths wearing the same clothes for three days straight laying on the couch beside her.”
Wall tore his Achilles tendon in January 2019 when he slipped and fell in his home. According to the AP, Wall’s mother passed away in December 2019 after battling breast cancer.
The five-time All-Star said the support of his team and the mother of his two boys helped him get through the dark times. He also said his children helped motivate him.
“I’m looking at all that and I’m like, ‘If I can get through this, I can get through anything in life,'” he said. “And I don’t like to brag about it because everybody goes through something. We’re all going through times, nobody’s got it easy, but I don’t think a lot of people could get through what I went through.
“And to me to get back on top where I want to be and seeing the fans still want me to play, having the support from my hometown, this important period means a lot. There was a time when I had to go find a therapist. A lot of people think, ‘I don’t need help, I can get through it at anytime,’ but you’ve got to be true to yourself and find out what’s best for you.”
Despite the extremely challenging events of the recent past, Wall said he’s feeling better these days and is excited to play basketball again.
“Even though I was in a dark place the last couple years, I’m super excited and you can kinda tell, I’m smiling a lot more, all those types of things,” Wall said. “… I get an opportunity to play with two great players and the sky’s the limit.”
Wall signed a two-year, $13MM+ contract this offseason with the Clippers after being bought out by the Rockets. He’s expected to be part of a deep L.A. rotation led by star forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Knicks/Jazz Rumors: Barrett, Grimes, Toppin, Mitchell
The Jazz are high on Knicks wing RJ Barrett and were “pushing” for him to be included in a potential trade for Donovan Mitchell, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. Prior to agreeing to an extension, sources tell Jones that Barrett’s camp was “bracing” for the 22-year-old to be dealt away.
The extension will make including Barrett in a deal extremely difficult due to the “poison pill provision,” though the possibility reportedly remains. As Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype explains, the Jazz don’t have the necessary cap space or a trade exception big enough to absorb Barrett’s incoming salary, so for him to be included, a third team would likely have to be involved for salary-matching purposes.
As Steve Popper of Newsday writes, not everyone in the Knicks organization viewed Barrett as being worth $107MM over four years ($120MM with incentives), and others thought including him in a proposal for Mitchell might make the Jazz less likely to ask for additional draft compensation, which obviously wasn’t the case.
In addition to Barrett, Utah also values second-year guard Quentin Grimes and third-year forward Obi Toppin, according to Jones, who notes that both young players will likely have to part of the trade package if Barrett is not. However, New York has been “very hesitant” to part with Grimes to this point, sources tell Jones.
Like Marc Berman of The New York Post, both Popper and Jones hears the Knicks are still optimistic about landing Mitchell, but as with Grimes, Jones says they have been reluctant to include a “significant number” of unprotected first-round picks because they want to keep their options open for the future.
Jones still views the Knicks and Jazz as the most logical trade partners for Mitchell, but writes that both teams have questions that need answered first. Popper views Mitchell as a questionable fit with Jalen Brunson, and thinks the Knicks shouldn’t trade away all of their own unprotected first-rounders to land him.
According to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com, Mitchell removed the Jazz from his Twitter bio on Tuesday, fueling speculation about the trade talks.
RJ Barrett Hasn’t Been “Ruled Out” Of Donovan Mitchell Trade
Despite an agreement on a lucrative extension and significant complications from the “poison pill provision,” sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link via The Rally) that Knicks wing RJ Barrett could still be offered in a trade for Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell.
“It’s not expected that he is going to be ruled out of any potential trade, and I’m told through various sources that RJ Barrett could very well end up being in a potential deal and being in offers depending on the framework of a deal,” Charania said.
According to Charania, New York’s latest offer for Mitchell included Barrett and two unprotected first-round picks, but the Jazz wanted more in return for the three-time All-Star, so the Knicks wound up giving Barrett an extension.
As we outline in our glossary entry, a player who signs a rookie scale extension but remains on his rookie contract has different outgoing and incoming salary-matching figures, which is referred to as a “poison pill” — in Barrett’s case, the gap between his outgoing and incoming figures will reportedly exceed $15MM. That would make it extremely challenging for both the Knicks and Jazz to send out and take back a legal amount of salary if Barrett is part of a package for Mitchell.
As Charania notes, the Knicks still have other assets to include in a deal that doesn’t involve Barrett, with the Jazz reportedly prioritizing landing as many unprotected first-rounders as possible. New York remains “hopeful” that it can still land Mitchell without including Barrett, and wouldn’t have extended him if the team thought it would nix a potential deal, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.
According to Berman, the Lakers are “open to discussions” about a potential three-team trade, and still have interest in Knicks wing Cam Reddish, who received scant playing time after being acquired from Atlanta in January. Charania previously reported that the Lakers are also interested in Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic.
Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News reports (Twitter links) that Barrett’s extension is a straight four-year deal with no options and includes $107MM in guaranteed money. Barrett could earn as much as $120MM from incentives, but he’ll still be making an average of $26.75MM per season from 2023-27.
Jazz Trying To Get Best Mitchell Offers Before Training Camp
The Jazz are trying to get the best trade offers for Donovan Mitchell, particularly from the Knicks, before training camp opens in September, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon said on the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast
Windhorst characterized training camp as an “arbitrary deadline” for the Jazz, noting that it’s a typical negotiating tactic to apply pressure in order to get the best offers.
“Basically they’re trying trying to get the Knicks to put the kind of offer that it will take to get Donovan Mitchell on the table before training camp,” MacMahon said, adding that the Jazz would prefer to avoid first-year head coach Will Hardy having to deal with a “circus” in camp.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps observed that it would behoove both teams to make the trade before camp opens, and MacMahon explained why that’s the case.
“If you’re the Knicks, you’re trying to get this guy and have him be your franchise player, him and (Jalen) Brunson be your new backcourt for now and for years to come,” MacMahon said.
“You want as much time with those guys in the gym together practicing as possible. So I think it’s in both teams’ best interests to get a deal done before camp starts. But it is an artificial deadline, and we all understand that (Jazz president) Danny Ainge is not going to pull the trigger until he gets his price.”
Despite it being less than ideal, holding onto Mitchell into the season is still a viable option for Utah because he still has three years left on his contract, with a fourth-year player option in 2025/26.
While the Cavaliers have reportedly “removed themselves” from Mitchell talks, Windhorst provided an interesting tidbit about the situation before that report came to light.
“Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, those three guys, I heard the Cavs told the Jazz they’re not available,” Windhorst said.
It makes sense that the Cavs would be reluctant to part with their three core players. Both Garland and Allen were first-time All-Stars last season, Mobley was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year, and all three are under contract for multiple seasons.
It’s possible the Jazz said we need one of these three players in return to make a deal and the Cavs ended the discussions, though that’s pure speculation on my part.
Pelicans Notes: Zion, Offseason, Hernangomez
What’s the best way for the Pelicans to use Zion Williamson, who missed all of last season while recovering from a broken foot? Christian Clark of NOLA.com (subscriber link) tackles that question, examining how Williamson’s previous coaches utilized him on the court.
Under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, Williamson primarily scored out of post-ups, put-backs, and lobs, averaging 22.6 points on just 13.2 shot attempts per game due to his outstanding 68% field goal percentage. As Clark writes, Williamson was a dynamic defender in his lone college season, though that hasn’t translated to the NBA.
As a rookie under Alvin Gentry, Williamson’s season was disrupted, appearing in a total of 24 games. When healthy, Williamson was again primarily utilized down low, averaging the seventh-most post-ups per game (6.9) in the NBA, Clark notes.
Things changed fairly dramatically in 2020/21, Williamson’s most healthy season to date. Stan Van Gundy allowed Williamson more on-ball opportunities, and he responded with an All-Star appearance while averaging 27 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists on .611/.294/.698 shooting.
According to Clark, Williamson’s drives per game more than doubled in his second season (5.0 to 12.9), and after not logging a single possession as a pick-and-roll ball-handler as a rookie, he recorded 3.2 per game in ’20/21.
Williamson has yet to play under head coach Willie Green, but Green is known for preaching ball movement and asking players to making quick decisions, Clark adds.
Ultimately, Clark says he’d be surprised if Williamson is used as an initiator as frequently as he was a couple of years ago due to the addition of CJ McCollum in February. He also notes that individual statistics will likely have to be sacrificed amongst the team’s leading scorers (Brandon Ingram, Williamson, McCollum, and Jonas Valanciunas).
Here’s more from New Orleans:
- Andrew Lopez of ESPN takes a look at how Williamson has spent his offseason thus far, including signing a maximum-salary rookie scale extension and a trip to Las Vegas to support the Summer League squad.
- In a separate article for NOLA.com, Clark interviews reserve center Willy Hernangomez. Most of the Q&A session is focused on international competition, as Hernangomez is set to play for Spain in the upcoming EuroBasket tournament, which begins September 1. The 28-year-old averaged 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 50 games (16.8 minutes) for New Orleans last season. As we noted last week, Valanciunas (Lithuania) will also be competing at EuroBasket.
- In case you missed it, Luke Adams took a look at the Pelicans’ pre-camp roster situation within an article earlier today about the Southwest Division.
And-Ones: Players With Most To Prove, Trade Market, GL Trades
The Athletic’s staff released an article this week focused of one player with the most to prove for each of the NBA’s 30 teams in 2022/23. Interestingly, several players mentioned are current or former All-Stars, including a trio who missed all of last season: Ben Simmons of the Nets, Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers, and Zion Williamson of the Pelicans.
Simmons’ head coach, Steve Nash, also made the list, as Alex Schiffer wonders whether or not Nash can finally show he’s a solid coach if the roster stays healthy.
In addition to more established veterans, eight former first-round picks who are still on their rookie contracts made the cut, including De’Andre Hunter of the Hawks, Killian Hayes of the Pistons, and James Wiseman of the Warriors, amongst others.
Here are a few more odds and ends from the NBA world:
- One league executive of tells Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com that he expects more transactional activity, like the recent Lakers/Jazz trade, to transpire now that the Kevin Durant saga is over — at least for now. “I think we’ll see some things,” the executive said. “I don’t think L.A. thought it had a chance at Durant, but they had to see how that played out. You had to be on the whole ‘Let’s keep hope alive for the possibility of being involved in this,’ thing. Teams have been like, ‘Something may fall to us if a deal for KD gets expanded to include other teams.’ But now I think teams return to sanity and say, ‘OK, what do we need to do?’“
- The Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, recently made a couple of returning player rights trades, the team announced in a press release. The Skyforce acquired the G League rights to Jared Harper from the Birmingham Squad (Pelicans’ affiliate) for Javonte Smart. They also acquired Cheick Diallo from the Motor City Cruise (Pistons’ affiliate) for Micah Potter, with Potter subsequently signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Detroit. Both deals involved G League draft picks swapping hands. All four players have NBA experience, and Harper, Smart and Diallo remain NBA free agents, these moves only impact their G League rights.
- The Motor City Cruise made a separate trade (Twitter link) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s affiliate. The Cruise sent Cassius Stanley‘s returning player rights to the Vipers in exchange for the Vipers’ 2022 first-round pick. Like previously mentioned with the players above, Stanley remains an NBA free agent.
Raptors Sign Second-Rounder Christian Koloko
The Raptors have signed second-round pick Christian Koloko to a multiyear contract, the team announced today in a press release.
According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter link), Toronto used a portion of its mid-level exception to give Koloko a three-year contract. He’ll earn $1.5MM in 2022/23 and minimum salaries the following two seasons, Murphy reports.
Since the Raptors already gave Otto Porter Jr. $6MM of their mid-level exception in free agency, using an additional $1.5MM on Koloko will push them over the taxpayer portion ($6,479,000) of the MLE, so Toronto will be hard-capped for the rest of the season, meaning the team will be unable to surpass the tax apron of $156,983,000. Currently, the Raptors’ team salary is below the luxury tax line of $150,267,000, so the hard cap shouldn’t be a pressing issue.
The 33rd pick of June’s draft, Koloko was one of only three remaining players who was drafted, had yet to be signed, and wasn’t expected to play overseas. The other two players are Pelicans forward E.J. Liddell, who unfortunately suffered a torn ACL in Summer League, and Pacers forward Kendall Brown.
The long delay in Koloko’s signing was speculated to be tied to Kevin Durant‘s trade request out of Brooklyn, as the Raptors likely wanted to keep their options open in case of a deal. However, Durant and the Nets are said to be “moving forward” together, and now Toronto has signed its lone 2022 draft pick.
A 7’1″ big man from Cameroon, Koloko most recently played for the Raptors in Summer League, appearing in five games (22 MPG) while averaging 7.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.8 SPG and a team-high 2.2 BPG.
Koloko played three seasons of college ball at Arizona, earning numerous accolades for his breakout junior season in ’21/22, including Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and first-team All-Pac-12. In 37 games (25.4 MPG) for the Wildcats last season, he averaged 12.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 2.8 BPG while shooting 63.5% from the floor and 73.5% from the line.
NBA Announces 2022 Preseason Schedule
The NBA recently released its full 2022 preseason schedule, featuring 70 games from September 30 to October 14. In addition to all 30 NBA teams, a couple of international clubs will also participate in two games apiece: Maccabi Ra’anana of Israeli National League, and the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League.
The schedule tips off on September with the Warriors facing the Wizards in Japan at the Saitama Super Arena, while the Clippers face Maccabi at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Several nationally televised games are on tap:
- October 4: Detroit at New York, followed by New Orleans at Chicago (TNT)
- October 6: Miami at Brooklyn, followed by the Timberwolves at the Lakers, with the latter taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN)
- October 12: Brooklyn at Milwaukee, followed by the Timberwolves at the Lakers (ESPN)
- October 14: Denver at Golden State (ESPN2)
With All-Stars like Zion Williamson and Ben Simmons set to return in 2022/23 after missing all of last season, the Pelicans and Nets will be interesting teams to watch. The same goes for the Clippers (Kawhi Leonard) and Nuggets (Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.), though Denver’s duo falls more in the “rising stars” category, as neither player has been named an All-Star yet.
Of course, it’s not a given that all of those players will participate in the preseason.
The Hawks and Timberwolves will also be intriguing to monitor, as they both made major trades in the offseason. All-Star guard Dejounte Murray is now on Atlanta, while three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert is on Minnesota.
The full schedule can be found right here for those curious about the preseason action.
Chet Holmgren Injury Notes: Surgery, Details, More
After announcing that big man Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2022 draft, will miss his entire rookie season after sustaining a right foot injury, Thunder general manager Sam Presti held an impromptu media session (video link) to provide more details and insight on the situation, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
The 20-year-old will undergo surgery in the “coming weeks,” said Presti, adding that Holmgren is expected to make a full recovery by the start of 2023/24. The GM said the long-term outlook is “very positive,” described the injury as bad luck, and added that Holmgren suffered a “rupture of the tendon” and “not a fracture,” according to Mussatto.
Presti also dismissed a question asking whether Holmgren’s thin frame might have been a factor in the injury.
“I understand there’s a lot of first-level thinking going on out there,” Presti said. “We can’t really control that. It’s a figment of the alternate reality that is the internet. But that’s not where reality resides. There are opinions and there are facts, and we are dealing with the facts.”
While the injury took place during a Seattle pro-am that was later called off due to unsafe (slippery) court conditions, Presti doesn’t believe that led to the incident.
“I don’t think the condensation on the floor was a factor,” Presti said, per Mussatto. “Obviously this happened pretty early, and I don’t believe that issue came up until later.”
Presti said Holmgren will work with longtime former Thunder veteran Nick Collison during the recovery process, Mussatto notes. Like Holmgren, Collison also missed his entire rookie season with an injury. He now works in the team’s front office.
Here are a few more notes regarding the unfortunate news:
- Because the pro-am league, called “The CrawsOver” in honor of founder Jamal Crawford, is on the list of sanctioned events by the NBA, Holmgren’s future earnings will not be impacted, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The Thunder will receive an insurance reimbursement worth 80% of Holmgren’s per-game salary after he misses 41 games, for a total of $4MM, Marks relays in a separate tweet.
- The injury shouldn’t be an indictment on NBA players who participate in pro-am leagues, argues Law Murray of The Athletic. The events are free and take place in more intimate venues, which allows players to connect to fans in local communities, and they’ve been going on for decades without an issue, Murray writes. The fact that the injury took place at a pro-am league was just a random occurrence that shouldn’t “validate the concerns” of the minority who think players should only play in NBA games, says Murray.
- Presti agrees with Murray’s assessment that it was a one-off incident, according to Mussatto. “Players are going to play in these (pro-ams),” Presti said, “because the NBA is saying that they are okay to play in. The other thing is, guys are playing all over the place all the time everywhere. If you have players that love to play, they are going to play basketball. Every time you step on a basketball court, something like this could happen. It could happen in a game. It could happen in a practice. It could happen in a scrimmage.”