NBA Fines Dillon Brooks $25K
Rockets wing Dillon Brooks was fined $25K by the NBA on Thursday, the league announced in a press release (Twitter link).
According to the statement, Brooks was fined for “recklessly making contact” with Pacers forward/center Daniel Theis in the groin area during a Tuesday preseason game between Indiana and Houston.
“The incident, for which Brooks was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected, occurred with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter of the Rockets’ 122-103 win over the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 10 at Toyota Center in Houston,” the statement reads.
Speaking after the game to reporters, Brooks questioned the ejection, suggesting that he gets “picked on” due to his reputation as an instigator.
The Rockets acquired Brooks via sign-and-trade on a four-year, $86MM deal in July after the former Oregon standout spent the first six seasons of his career in Memphis. He holds career averages of 14.3 points and 3.3 rebounds.
Atlantic Notes: Siakam, Smith, Simmons, Williams
Raptors forward Pascal Siakam can become a free agent after the 2023/24 season, but that hasn’t seemed to impact his approach to the season, Josh Lewenberg of TSN writes. Siakam has been a professional during training camp, Lewenberg says, smiling and joking with teammates and getting in extra reps with the coaching staff.
Siakam’s name came up in trade talks this summer, cementing his uncertain future with the franchise, and team president Masai Ujiri confirmed that the two sides hadn’t discussed an extension.
“We do believe in Pascal,” Ujiri said. “[But] we believe that a lot of our players didn’t play the right way last year and we want to see them play the right way. I said that we were selfish; I’m not running away from that. We were selfish and we did not play the right way. So, let us see it when we play the right way.”
It seemed as though Siakam pushed back in a subsequent comment, Lewenberg writes.
“I’ll speak for me, personally, I’ve never been a selfish player in my life,” Siakam said. “I’ve always played the game the right way and that’s from the first time I started playing basketball. I’ve always been a team player.”
The Raptors finished last season 41-41, ending as the No. 9 seed and losing to the Bulls in the play-in tournament. Despite last season’s disappointment and unsettled contract business, Siakam is ready for the upcoming season under new coach Darko Rajakovic, according to Lewenberg.
“At the end of the day, I think what makes me special is I’m a hooper,” Siakam said. “When people work out in the summer and they do one-on-one workouts, I want to play basketball because I want to be able to understand the game, play off of guys and not just do drills and be a robot. That’s my strength as a player. So I’m definitely not worried about that. I know that my abilities on a basketball court will always prevail in any situation I’m put in.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets are counting on Dennis Smith Jr. being a different player than the last time he was in New York with the Knicks, Dan Martin of the New York Post writes. Smith was sent to the G League during his stint with the Knicks and averaged 5.5 points per game in the year after he was sent there. Now, Smith is one of the more impressive defensive guards in the league and both Martin and Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily note his importance to Brooklyn and explore his evolution. “The biggest thing for me was just checking the ego,” Smith said. “I checked the ego and just learned how to shift my mental into being able to fit whatever role I needed to play and finding a way to stay in it. It’s paying off for me, I’m in a really good spot now.“
- Nets play-maker Ben Simmons has had an eventful past two years since being named an All-Star for three years in a row in Philadelphia. Since being traded to Brooklyn at the deadline in ’21/22, Simmons has appeared in just 42 games, all coming last season, averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists in those contests. Plenty of eyes are on Simmons this year and, as explored in a separate story by Martin, coach Jacque Vaughn said the early results for the 6’10” guard are encouraging. “I think what we’ve seen is his ability to push the basketball and do it over and over again; play with an extreme amount of pace; get to the rim [and] play with force,” Vaughn said. “All the things we were asking and I was searching for last year.“
- While Jrue Holiday is a major addition for the Celtics, Steve Bulpett of Heavy Sports argues that the loss of Robert Williams is bigger than it seems. Williams’ injury history makes it easier to have moved on from him, Bulpett writes, but he’s a fantastic rim protector and lob threat and Boston’s rotation of bigs doesn’t have an easy replacement on the roster.
Southeast Notes: Kuzma, Carter, Sheppard, Bridges
When asked to address the Wizards‘ issues in recent seasons, Kyle Kuzma often spoke about how the team wasn’t “playing winning basketball,” writes The Washington Post’s Ava Wallace. Having won a championship in 2021 with the Lakers, Kuzma is now part of an organization that is making winning secondary to building a top-notch organization, according to Wallace.
That’s why it was intriguing to see Kuzma re-up with Washington this offseason. Wallace writes that while money was a factor – he can earn up to $102MM over four years – Kuzma’s communication with the front office and a chance to be a No. 1 on a team were the primary reasons for coming back.
“I’ve said it before: I want to have a chance to lead people and really have a lasting impact on an organization, and this was the best opportunity for me to do that,” Kuzma said.
Jordan Poole quickly moved to try to help convince Kuzma to stay after arriving in a June trade, according to Wallace, who says Poole valued Kuzma and realized the duo could grow together.
“You feel it — the authenticity, the knowledge, the basketball knowledge, his experience,” Poole said. “Being able to have a running mate like that is huge, especially when we have a new group, new front office, new coaches. As long as you think the right way and have the right perspective, everything else will kind of just fall in place.”
Head coach Wes Unseld Jr. feels Kuzma and Poole have “bought in” to the rebuild, according to Wallace. Kuzma averaged 21.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season and will embark on his seventh season in the league and third with Washington.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Wendell Carter Jr. has had a solid stint with the Magic, but he’s hoping to take things to the next level, as Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel details. Carter is attempting to improve his play-making and shooting in 2023/24, according to Beede, and he’s sometimes been taking over 1,000 shots per day in practice. “His jumper definitely looks cleaner,” Magic forward Paolo Banchero said. “It looks like he’s shooting it more comfortably; less hesitation and letting it rip. It’s been going in.”
- Despite not playing last year after pleading no contest to felony domestic violence in November, Miles Bridges is back with the Hornets and, according to his teammates and coaches, is in game shape, as Roderick Boone writes. “Yeah, it’s been great,” Hornets wing Gordon Hayward said. “Honestly, it’s like he never left, the way he’s fit in just because he knows a lot of the same stuff that we are doing, and he’s going to bring so much versatility to us.“
- While former general manager Tommy Sheppard is out of the picture for the Wizards, his philosophies on defense, pace and attention to detail still ring true, as The Athletic’s Josh Robbins lays out. “You get to the end of the season, and if there’s still questions [about how to play defense], if there’s still confusion or anything, then maybe sometimes you either have to simplify or really go back and say, ‘How much accountability [was there] throughout the year to get us to this point?” Sheppard said in April. “Are we still doing some of the same things?” The Wizards are focusing on using this season as a building block for something bigger, but Robbins opines that if Bilal Coulibaly, Deni Avdija and others don’t make individual strides, it will have been a wasted year.
Trail Blazers Ready To Move On From Damian Lillard Era
After an 11-year partnership between Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers, the two sides moved on this offseason with a trade that sent one of the franchise’s all-time best players to the Bucks. Now, following years of attempts to compete, Portland looks completely different, with players like Scoot Henderson, Deandre Ayton and Shaedon Sharpe heading up its young core.
While Lillard occupied most of the spotlight, general manager Joe Cronin made plenty of headlines during the time in which Lillard’s request seemed in limbo, The Washington Post’s Ben Golliver writes. Media members and fans alike drew different conclusions regarding Cronin, Golliver details, with some accusing Cronin of not sending Lillard to his then-preferred destination of Miami “out of spite” and others calling him a “liar” for drafting Henderson instead of trading the draft pick for a contender. To add fuel to the fire, Lillard didn’t thank Cronin in his lengthy farewell letter to Portland.
“[Lillard] and I went through it this summer,” Cronin said. “It wasn’t always amicable and perfect. To be omitted from that [letter], I didn’t take as anything more than it being a hard summer that we had both gone through. I wasn’t one to be thanked at that moment. … Our directions didn’t line up. Things didn’t work out. We had pure intentions in our desire to build a winner around him. We were just unable to pull it off. I don’t think that was a lie. We just couldn’t get it done.”
One of the most overlooked aspects of the Lillard trade is how it affected local marketing, Golliver explains. Season ticket holders had to make decisions to renew or not and promoters had to make the decision on which players on the team to highlight. Even before Lillard was traded, the Blazers began to turn the page, Golliver writes, moving to feature Henderson and the young core and removing Lillard entirely from promo material.
“We really need to move on,” Trail Blazers president of business operations Dewayne Hankins said in a Zoom call. “We’ve got great young talent. We’re not like other rebuilding teams who don’t have a strong core of young players. It’s time to turn the page.”
Fans came around to Lillard’s exit, according to Golliver, and season ticket holders renewed at a 93% rate, up six percentage points last year.
“We wanted to honor Dame’s trade request,” Hankins said. “If we promote him, are we being true to our fans? That was the moment when we started saying that this was a new era. It’s really hard to lose a legend like Damian whose number will go in the rafters as soon as possible. At the same time, I think we’re prepared. Our next step is getting our fans to fall in love with these guys.”
Even though Cronin didn’t trade Lillard to the Heat, he believes he did right by the star guard by sending him to a contender, according to Golliver. Hankins said his staff is still mulling the right way to honor the guard, Golliver writes, including the possibility of a statue outside Portland’s arena, Moda Center.
“We’ve retired a lot of numbers,” Hankins said. “We’ve had the conversation: Is there another level of honor that we need to create for him?”
The Blazers still have work to do in completing their rebuild, but they’re as high as possible on Henderson, Anfernee Simons and Sharpe taking the reins left by Lillard at the guard spot, according to Golliver. I highly recommend reading Golliver’s piece in full, as there’s some fascinating perspective and quotes from high-ranking Blazers officials inside.
Sixers Notes: Morey, Harden, Embiid, Training Camp
Following the Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday trades, all eyes turned toward James Harden as the next potential star trade before the season. However, Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey won’t rush into any sort of deal involving the star guard, regardless of any potential pushback from Harden, even if that means keeping him into the season.
Mizell writes that Morey isn’t going to be pressured into making a move for the sake of making the trade despite other Eastern Conference rivals adding big pieces like Lillard and Holiday. Morey and the Sixers took a similar approach with Ben Simmons two years ago, holding him all the way until the trade deadline so that they could find the most suitable deal.
While outsiders in Philly are antsy to move on from the 10-time All-Star, Mizell writes that the belief inside the organization is that a move to make a trade now, even if it would end any potential distraction, is too reckless to justify. Mizell explains that sources on both sides are taking things day-by-day, even if that means leaving the door open for Harden to make things uncomfortable leading into the season, something he hasn’t done up to this point.
Morey is unlikely to allow Harden to force his hand, Mizell writes, because head coach Nick Nurse could always bench Harden and start Tyrese Maxey as the team’s lead ball-handler. Several other factors play into a potential decision by the Sixers to hold Harden until the deadline, according to Mizell, including the star guard potentially rescinding his trade request, better prospective trades popping up as the season goes on, and not wanting to take a step back during their window of contention, especially coming off Joel Embiid‘s MVP year.
We have more from the Sixers:
- Harden was a full participant in Philadelphia’s final training camp practice at Colorado State on Friday for the first time since he re-joined the team on Tuesday, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps writes. However, his status for the Sixers’ preseason opener against the Celtics on Sunday is still uncertain, according to Bontemps, who says Nurse’s rotations are still fluid for the first preseason action for the Sixers.
- Embiid reiterated to reporters on Thursday that Harden’s presence for the Sixers was not a distraction, stating that the team’s focus is on learning and installing Nurse’s schemes, Bontemps writes. “As a team, we’re just focused on what we’ve got to learn, and learn as soon as possible,” Embiid said. “We don’t have a lot of time. We want to win, and that’s the goal.“
- While the Harden situation is drawing plenty of attention, there are a handful of other storylines flying under the radar during Philadelphia’s camp. Maxey, in particular, is drawing rave reviews from Nurse, who’s becoming increasingly impressed by the guard’s outside shot and ability to create space, according to PHLY Sports’ Derek Bodner. Bodner also writes that the Sixers’ ball movement has been improved in camp.
Kings Notes: Lyles, Lamb, Nowell, Vezenkov, Ford
Trey Lyles has played for five teams across his eight seasons in the league, but he feels like he’s found a long-term home with the Kings, according to Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Lyles arrived in Sacramento in 2022 at the trade deadline and became a key contributor as the team ended its 16-season playoff drought last year.
The two sides agreed to a two-year, $16MM contract extension this offseason after Lyles made returning to Sacramento his No. 1 priority, according to Patterson.
“Last season, I felt at home with the team, city and the fans,” Lyles said. “But I think it really set in once I signed back. This is the first time in my going-on-nine-year career that I’ve been able to stay in a city for longer than two years. It felt good. … So, that was really the moment it was — not a weight off my shoulders, but kind of a breath of fresh air.”
The 27-year-old forward didn’t make a start for the first time in his career, but he had a consistent role, averaging 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 16.9 minutes off the bench in 74 games.
“Trey’s such a good guy,” Kings coach Mike Brown said of Lyles. “He understands what’s right and what’s wrong. He’s going to bring it every day, and he gives us a lot of versatility.”
We have more from the Kings:
- Both Jeremy Lamb and Jaylen Nowell signed Exhibit 10 training camp contracts with the Kings, Spotrac’s Keith Smith tweets. Sacramento has room to carry one more player on a standard contract for its regular season roster, and Lamb and Nowell are both candidates for that spot, though the Kings don’t necessarily have to carry a full 15-man roster. Those Exhibit 10 agreements provide a way for the Kings to keep one or both of the players in their organization if they don’t make the regular season roster. Both players will be eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if they are waived before opening night and then spend at least 60 days with Sacramento’s G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings.
- The Kings are high on forward Sasha Vezenkov‘s outside shooting, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Domantas Sabonis called the former EuroLeague MVP the best shooter on the team, while De’Aaron Fox said he was one of the best shooters on Earth. “Man, he shoots the [heck] out of the ball,” Fox said. “It’s crazy. One of our shooting drills, I think it’s like 150 shots, and I think he missed seven. … We want him to be comfortable and we want him to know he has a green light to shoot the ball.” The 6’9″ forward is embarking on his rookie season in the NBA at 28 years old and is expected to have a role right away.
- Guard Jordan Ford grew up rooting for the Kings, Anderson details in another story, and he’s now getting the chance to suit up for the team after he signed a two-way contract in September. “It definitely feels special today putting on the uniform for the first time, the actual threads,” Ford said. “It feels great and I think it’s something that is going to be great through the whole season, just getting to know all the fans and getting to know all the great people, so I’m excited.“
Central Notes: Middleton, Hayes, Mathurin, Cavaliers
Khris Middleton is recovering from an offseason knee surgery but is close to returning to full practices, according to Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Middleton got the surgery after the Bucks‘ first-round playoff loss and has been working out individually.
The 32-year-old wing has been through the recovery process before, missing the first 20 games of the 2022/23 season due to left wrist surgery. He dealt with further injury issues throughout the rest of the season, missing 18 straight games at one point. However, this injury is different, and he’s planning on being up to full speed right when he gets back, rather than last year when he had to ramp up his activity gradually, according to Owczarski.
“I feel like I’m in a great space mentally, body feels great, knee feels great, so I don’t think this is something we should have to manage going down the road,” Middleton said.
According to Owczarski, the plan is for Middleton to be ready when the Bucks open the regular season on Oct. 26 against the Sixers, but that isn’t set in stone.
“Sometimes things change but so far I’ve been on pace with everything that I’ve been doing,” Middleton said. “So, we’ll go over the schedule again, see where I’m at, see how I feel and just keep track of things that way. I don’t want to set a hard date of when I’ll be out there because it’s all about feel and comfort. And they’ve been doing a great job of just making sure every step of the way I’ve been feeling great and feeing like myself. And so far I have been.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- Pistons guard Killian Hayes hasn’t had the smoothest first three years in the NBA after being drafted with the seventh overall pick 2020. Hayes has averaged a respectable 8.4 points and 5.3 assists across his first three years, but he hasn’t been an efficient scorer, shooting just 37.6% from the floor across that time, leading to a somewhat inconsistent role. The 22-year-old guard made strides last season, and now, it seems as though he’s in line for another potential jump. Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Monty Williams gave Hayes some praise. “Killian has been terrific in camp,” Williams said. “His leadership is showing in various ways. I like big guards who defend, and he plays the right way … I tell him if you compete every day, you’re going to stand out.“
- Pacers wing Bennedict Mathurin had a strong rookie season, showcasing elite athleticism on the defensive end in stints, and the team is hoping those flashes can turn into nightly occurrences, Akeem Glaspie of IndyStar writes. In order for him to step up and take a role in Indiana’s starting lineup, Mathurin will have to continue to improve on defense, Glaspie adds. According to head coach Rick Carlisle, the starting five will be determined in training camp.
- The Cavaliers had an impressive year last season, earning the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and winning 51 games. However, Cleveland bowed out of the playoffs in the first round, losing 4-1 to the Knicks. The Cavaliers took steps to address their issues in the offseason, starting with spacing, signing players like Max Strus and Georges Niang. According to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor (Twitter link), guard Darius Garland is already noticing the changes. “You definitely feel the spacing, the floor is more spaced out,” Garland said, “It’s not as crowded anymore. You can see the difference. Just get used to having those shooters on the backside and kick it out to them.“
Pelicans Notes: Ingram, Daniels, Zion, Robbins
Without a true point guard in the starting lineup, the Pelicans are planning to lean on Brandon Ingram more as a primary play-maker in the 2023/24 season, Christian Clark of NOLA.com writes. Ingram had a career average of 3.8 assists per game prior to last season, when he averaged 5.8 APG across 45 appearances.
Clark writes that the Pelicans were impressed by Ingram’s growth as a play-maker last year. He didn’t have a triple-double in the first six seasons of his career, but wound up having two in an eight-day span in March. In the final 25 games of the season, he averaged 6.5 assists per night.
“You can put the ball in his hands, and he makes great decisions,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “Finding his teammates. Then his ability to score. We want to explore that more this season.”
Pelicans guard CJ McCollum isn’t a true point guard, but has been playing in that role for New Orleans since his arrival. Like Ingram, McCollum has had career-high assist numbers in New Orleans, averaging 5.8 APG as a Pelican. However, New Orleans missed the playoffs last season and could be looking to switch things up.
“With [Ingram] having the ball in his hands and [Zion Williamson] running into a screen, what is the defense going to do?” Green said. “Vice versa. If [Williamson] has the ball, here comes [Ingram]. Here comes [McCollum]. We are playing around with different ways we can attack.”
We have more on the Pelicans:
- Heading into his second season in the league, Dyson Daniels wants to become one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, Clark writes in a separate story. Daniels was respectable in his rookie year in that regard, with Clark noting that he guarded some of the league’s premier ball-handlers at a high level at times. Clark adds that the 6’8″ guard is poised to become a major rotation piece, but the key for him to do so is to grow on the offensive end. “We know Dyson is solid defensively,” Green said. “Now, it’s just about creating an offensive identity. And being a solid basketball player for us. We know he can do it.“
- In an interview with Green posted to the Pelicans’ Twitter account, the coach said that the Pelicans will look to use Williamson at the center position more this season, as ESPN’s Andrew Lopez observes (Twitter link). The Pelicans averaged 1.16 points per chance when Williamson acted as the team’s screener last season, according to Lopez, which ranked top five among players with 150 screens or more.
- Center Liam Robbins was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right fibula, according to a release from the team. There is no current timetable for his return. The Pelicans signed Robbins to an Exhibit 10 deal this offseason and, with one open two-way contract slot, it looked like the Vanderbilt product was primed to compete for one of those spots. Now, the injury makes it an uphill battle. However, if Robbins is waived, he’ll be eligible for a $75K bonus if he spends at least 60 days with New Orleans’ G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron.
And-Ones: Star Trade Requests, Tavares, Intriguing Players, Win Projections
In the past decade or so, the NBA has seen its fair share of superstar trade requests, the majority of which have been granted. Kevin Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn last year, and we’ve watched the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Anthony Davis, to name a few, ask to be moved. For years, the norm was that those players gave a list of teams they’d prefer to be traded to, with that usually being honored.
Damian Lillard and James Harden are the latest players to demand trades from teams. However, unlike all those that came before them, Lillard wasn’t sent to his previously preferred destination (Miami), and Harden remains on the Sixers’ roster into training camp. Howard Beck of The Ringer opines that these two situations, in particular, prove that the NBA’s so-called “superstar empowerment era” has its limits. According to Beck, front offices and league executives see this as a good thing.
One Eastern Conference executive said “teams are taking back control,” according to Beck, with another longtime general manager saying “it is a significant event that [Lillard] didn’t land where he wanted.”
These executives aren’t against player empowerment, Beck says, but the widespread trade requests by superstars have been destabilizing to teams’ progress. There have been 14 trade requests by players Beck defines as superstars in the last five years, including three from Harden.
Ultimately, the “one team or nothing” approach looks to be the point where some clubs will draw the line, Beck reasons. While it worked out last season for the Suns, who had Mikal Bridges to send to Brooklyn in the Durant move, it diminished the market in the case of Lillard. “I think his chances of ending up in Miami would have been much greater [if he opened up the request to more teams],” one agent said to Beck.
We have more odds and ends from the basketball world:
- In an annual survey of EuroLeague general managers conducted by BasketNews, more than half (53.8%) predicted that Real Madrid center Edy Tavares would be the next EuroLeague player to go to the NBA. Last year, general managers picked Vasilije Micic to move to the NBA, and he eventually did, signing with the Thunder this offseason. Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report tweets that the Trail Blazers had interest in Tavares this offseason, but a significant buyout kept him in Madrid. The BasketNews report states that Portland actually submitted an offer, but with Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams on board, it’s unclear if they’ll continue to have interest. James Nnaji, Guerschon Yabusele, Marko Simonovic and Khalifa Diop also received votes. Tavares previously holds 13 games of NBA experience with Atlanta and Cleveland from 2015-17.
- In an annual piece (ESPN+ link), ESPN’s Zach Lowe names his five most intriguing players to watch out for in the 2023/24 season. Lowe avoids superstars, rookies and second-year players for the most part in his rankings. LaMelo Ball, Devin Vassell, Josh Giddey, Ayton and Immanuel Quickley are the five names Lowe selects to watch out for, with each having a chance to take their respective teams to the next level. I highly recommend reading the piece in full, as Lowe provides detailed breakdowns on each player.
- Following up on his piece about teams likely to overachieve, The Athletic’s John Hollinger broke down five teams that he believes will fall short relative to Vegas win total over/unders. Hollinger expects the Kings and Thunder to win fewer than 44.5 games, the Magic to win fewer than 36.5 games and the Bulls to finish with below 37.5 wins. Of note, Hollinger also doesn’t think the Suns will reach their projected total of 52.5 wins, despite adding Bradley Beal and depth in the offseason. Hollinger reasons that health is a concern and that while he thinks they are certainly contenders in the postseason, the regular season might be bumpy.
Heat Notes: Adebayo, Butler, Richardson, Ellington
Even with Joel Embiid manning the paint for Team USA, Heat center Bam Adebayo is still expecting to be on the national team’s roster, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Adebayo told reporters that he’d already received an invite from Team USA to be on the roster for next year’s Olympics.
If he remains healthy, Adebayo plans to play for Team USA in Paris after winning a gold medal with the Americans in Tokyo in 2021. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is an assistant under national team head coach Steve Kerr and is looking forward to coaching Adebayo in the event, according to Chiang.
“I think it’s awesome for Bam,” Spoelstra said. “I think it’s continuing to help establish him as one of the ultimate winners in this league. He was one of the most impactful players in USA Basketball, and we understand why. I don’t even know what his stats were in the Olympics. But in talking to everybody at Team USA, they felt like he was a must for that roster because of everything he does on both ends of the court and because he’s such a winner.”
Adebayo is entering his seventh season in the NBA and holds career averages of 14.7 points and 8.5 rebounds.
We have more from the Heat:
- The NBA implemented new rules impacting teams resting healthy players this offseason. Though Jimmy Butler is defined as a star player who is subject to these rules, he says it will have “zero” effect on how many games he plays in the regular season, Marc Berman of The Palm Beach Post writes. “I’m going to play the games that I am healthy and I’m going to go out there and help my team win,” Butler said. Butler also said he didn’t care about any postseason awards. Players must now play in a minimum of 65 games to be eligible for postseason awards, like MVP.
- After sending Josh Richardson out in the trade that brought Butler to Miami in 2019, head coach Erik Spoelstra always thought his return was inevitable, Chiang writes in a separate story. Spoelstra was right, as Richardson signed with the Heat this offseason. “It almost happened a couple times,” Richardson said. “But all the chips didn’t fall in place. But I mean, when I left, me and Spo talked about it, that it was going to happen eventually. It’s just one of those things.“
- Even though Wayne Ellington played with nine franchises during his 13-year career, Miami left a lasting impression on him, Chiang writes in another story. That’s why Ellington decided to come back to the Heat as a player development coach, replacing Anthony Carter, who left to join the Grizzlies’ staff. “When I got here, I really bought into what the culture was about, I really bought into what the coaching staff was preaching and I put the work in and I saw that change and it helped me become who I thought I could be as a player,” Ellington said.