- Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving is listed as questionable for Monday’s game against Philadelphia, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Irving has missed the last six games with a sprained right thumb. Luka Doncic is also questionable after aggravating his sore right ankle.
The Hornets are engaged with multiple teams, looking to move Kyle Lowry‘s $29.7MM expiring contract before Thursday’s trade deadline, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack article.
Lowry was acquired from Miami last month as part of the Terry Rozier deal. The Magic are among the teams that have expressed exploratory trade interest in Lowry, Stein states.
If they’re unable to deal him, the Hornets could look to buy out Lowry. The Sixers and Lakers, as well as the Magic, would have interest in him if he winds up on the buyout market, Stein notes, adding that ncertainty regarding Joel Embiid‘s knee issue would not automatically rule out Philadelphia’s pursuit of Lowry if he’s bought out.
Here’s more tidbits from Stein:
- The Hornets could also deal Gordon Hayward’s expiring $31.5MM contract this week but if he remains on the roster beyond the trade deadline, it’s unlikely a buyout will be pursued. Charlotte hasn’t ruled out re-signing the veteran forward this summer, and if he’s bought him out, Hayward would have to forfeit his Bird rights.
- The Hornets have their sights set on Josh Green if the Mavericks seriously pursue forward P.J. Washington in trade discussions, Stein reports. However, there’s some buzz that the Clippers are also eyeing Washington despite their limited trade assets. The Mavericks are prioritizing power forwards over small forwards as they look to shore up size and defensive issues. They’ve also been linked to the Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma.
- The Bucks have limited resources after all the moves they’ve made in recent years — including the Damian Lillard blockbuster — but they are still very active in the trade market. Milwaukee doesn’t have any first-rounders to deal, while Bobby Portis ($11.7MM this season) and Pat Connaughton ($9.4MM) are the only players making significant money besides the team’s stars who might attract interest in a potential move. However, Stein senses Milwaukee will do something before the deadline.
- The Nuggets are searching for backcourt depth and the Wizards’ Delon Wright is one possibility, according to Stein.
- The Bulls could look to trade Andre Drummond and his modest $3.36MM contract for draft capital, per Stein.
A broken nose will prevent Dereck Lively II from playing Monday in his home city of Philadelphia, according to Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. Instead of traveling with his teammates, the Mavericks’ rookie center will remain in Dallas to undergo a nasal procedure to ease the pain from the break. Lively tried out a face mask at Friday’s practice in hopes of playing tonight, but he didn’t enjoy the experience.
“Playing with the mask, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy,” he said, “but you got to be able to go through the highs and lows and work through it. Today, I gave it a shot on being able to wear the mask and adjust it and feel like how it’s going to be on the court. We’re still trying to figure out what I’m going to be doing moving forward. But … I will be having a procedure on Monday to reset my nose since it is broken.”
Injuries are the only thing that have slowed down Lively, who is averaging 9.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 36 games. He was one of 11 rookies selected this week to participate in the Rising Stars event at All-Star Weekend.
“To be given this chance is amazing,” Lively said. “At the beginning of the season, if you told me I’d be able to get this far – no way, I wouldn’t have imagined it. So just being able to know I’m going to this game, I’m excited to be part of the atmosphere and getting to know everybody.”
There’s more from Dallas:
- Maxi Kleber also suffered a broken nose this week, with his injury occurring on Wednesday at Minnesota, Sefko adds. Kleber was active for tonight’s game against Milwaukee.
- Kyrie Irving sat out his sixth straight game with a sprained right thumb, but there’s optimism he’ll return soon, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Coach Jason Kidd told reporters that Irving had “two good days of practice” and said “hopefully he’ll be available” for the road trip that starts Monday.
- Kidd also said he’s trying to manage the load on Luka Doncic, who’s averaging a career-high 37.5 minutes per game so far this season, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). However, Kidd added, “This could be a night where he does play 40-something minutes” due to a shortage of available players.
- Kidd made headlines this week with his comparison of Doncic and Dirk Nowitzki, but the Mavericks shouldn’t expect Doncic to spend his entire career in Dallas like Nowitzki did unless they can build a team capable of competing for a title, Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News argues in a subscriber-only piece.
The Timberwolves are exploring the point guard market and considering making a trade for a player who could back up Mike Conley, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
While Fischer suggests that a reunion with Tyus Jones may be an option for Minnesota, he hears from league sources that the team is also eyeing a pair of guards who have connections to president of basketball operations Tim Connelly: Monte Morris of the Pistons and Bones Hyland of the Clippers.
Both Morris and Hyland played for Connelly’s teams in Denver before he left for the Wolves, and both players are considered potential trade candidates. Morris is on an expiring contract on a lottery-bound team, while Hyland has fallen out of the regular rotation in Los Angeles.
Here are a few more Western Conference rumors from Fischer:
- Fischer, like Marc Stein, hears that the Kings have interest in Kyle Kuzma. However, outside of the Wizards forward, Sacramento hasn’t really been actively pursuing other targets that would require the team to part with Harrison Barnes, so Barnes could remain with the Kings through the trade deadline, Fischer says. Conversely, the Mavericks – who have also been connected to Kuzma – are known to have interest in several other forwards, including Dorian Finney-Smith and Andrew Wiggins.
- Although D’Angelo Russell has been cited more frequently as a trade candidate, the Lakers are also including Gabe Vincent in various trade talks, sources tell Fischer. Vincent hasn’t been healthy this season and is under contract for one more year than Russell is, so his value will be limited, but his lower cap hit ($10.5MM) may make him a better fit in certain scenarios than D-Lo ($17.3MM).
- The Suns continue to be the team linked most frequently by league personnel to Hornets forward Miles Bridges, Fischer writes, noting that both Bridges and Suns owner Mat Ishbia are former Michigan State Spartans.
- Grizzlies big man Xavier Tillman has generated “a wealth of interest” from playoff contenders, according to Fischer. Tillman will reach unrestricted free agency this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
Following up on a report from The Athletic which cited Wizards sources who suggested that the team’s asking price for Kyle Kuzma may be “somewhat overblown,” Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story that the Washington forward is a trade candidate worth keeping a close eye on in the final week leading up to the February 8 trade deadline.
According to Stein, while the Kings and Mavericks are the suitors most frequently linked to Kuzma, there will likely be other suitors due to his “offensive versatility and favorable contract.” Kuzma is owed more than $64MM for the three seasons beyond this one, but his cap hits decline over the life of the deal, so he’ll count for just $19.4MM toward team salary by 2026/27.
Stein confirms that the Mavericks have consistently conveyed interest in Kuzma and notes that he’s not the only Wizards player Dallas has had its eye on. The team has also made previous runs at center Daniel Gafford and forward Deni Avdija, per Stein.
Here are a few more items of interest from Stein’s latest round-up of trade rumors:
- While Jordan Clarkson, Kelly Olynyk, and Talen Horton-Tucker continue to be described as potential trade candidates, Collin Sexton may not belong in that group, according to Stein, who hears from league sources that the Jazz guard is a longer shot to be dealt. Sexton is playing some of the best basketball of his career in the 27 games since he entered Utah’s starting lineup in mid-December, averaging 21.6 points and 5.5 assists in 27.4 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .506/.420/.879.
- The Raptors haven’t lowered their asking price for Bruce Brown and continue to seek a first-round pick for the veteran guard, Stein says. It’s typically difficult to extract a first-rounder for a role player on an expiring contract, but Brown does have a $23MM team option for 2024/25, so if a potential suitor views him as a two-season investment, it’s possible Toronto gets the draft pick it’s seeking.
- The Celtics continue to peruse the trade market for a frontcourt addition, but they’re only willing to move players on “the most nominal contracts,” Stein writes. Outside of Boston’s usual starting five, Al Horford and Payton Pritchard are the only players earning more than the veteran’s minimum, so it sounds like those seven players will likely be off-limits.
- In case you missed it, we passed along some Nets-related tidbits from Stein on Thursday evening.
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd was a part of the 2010/11 Dallas team that won the NBA Finals, but he has already seen enough from Luka Doncic to place him ahead of that year’s Finals MVP – Dirk Nowitzki – on the franchise’s list of all-time best players.
“He’s better than Dirk,” Kidd said of Doncic during a Tuesday radio appearance on 97.1 The Freak (story via Tim MacMahon of ESPN). “He’s in the atmosphere of MJ (Michael Jordan), the best to ever do it, LeBron (James), Kobe (Bryant). And so, just to appreciate what this young man’s doing at the age of 24, (it) is something that Dallas has never seen. I’ve said this internally: He is better than Dirk. He does things that Dirk could never do, and now is the opportunity of getting the right people around him to ultimately win a championship.”
Kidd made his comments in the wake of a record-setting run from Doncic, who followed up a 73-point outburst on Friday with a 17-assist triple-double on Saturday and a 45-point, 15-assist, nine-rebound performance on Monday.
Doncic is now averaging 34.7 points per game this season, far exceeding Nowitzki’s career high of 26.6 PPG in 2005/06. Of course, as MacMahon points out, Luka’s playoff accomplishments fall far short of Nowitzki’s, let alone those of Jordan, James, and Bryant — the Mavs have only advanced beyond the first round once during Doncic’s time in Dallas. However, Kidd is confident that it’s just a matter of time until that changes.
“This young man is 24 and is breaking all the records that stand in front of him,” Kidd said. “He’s a winner, and his ultimate goal is to win a championship. And he will get there and not just win one, but he will win multiple when it’s all said and done.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Kyrie Irving (right thumb sprain) will miss a fifth straight game for the Mavericks on Wednesday in Minnesota, according to the official injury report. The banged-up Mavs will be down two more starters besides Irving, with Doncic (right ankle sprain) and Dereck Lively II (broken nose) also having been ruled out.
- Grizzlies point guard Derrick Rose is nearing a return from the left hamstring strain that has sidelined him for nearly a full month, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Rose, who hasn’t played since January 2, is participating in five-on-five work and is in the “latter stages” of his recovery, per head coach Taylor Jenkins. The hope is that he’ll be able to return within Memphis’ next three games.
- As Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required) details, Julian Champagnie was inserted into the Spurs‘ starting lineup last month and has hung onto that spot for the past 20 games by following some simple advice from head coach Gregg Popovich: “Don’t be Kobe.” Popovich wanted to see the second-year forward blend in with the rest of the starters and not try to do too much — so far, so good. “Fitting in is pretty easy, you know?,” Champagnie said. “Just stick to my role, hit open shots, play defense, play hard.”
The NBA has officially revealed the 11 rookies, 10 sophomores, and seven G League players who will take part in the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend in Indianapolis next month.
The following players, as voted on by NBA coaching staffs, made the cut:
Rookies
- Bilal Coulibaly (Wizards)
- Keyonte George (Jazz)
- Jordan Hawkins (Pelicans)
- Scoot Henderson (Trail Blazers)
- Chet Holmgren (Thunder)
- Jaime Jaquez (Heat)
- Dereck Lively II (Mavericks)
- Brandon Miller (Hornets)
- Brandin Podziemski (Warriors)
- Cason Wallace (Thunder)
- Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)
Sophomores
- Paolo Banchero (Magic)
- Dyson Daniels (Pelicans)
- Jalen Duren (Pistons)
- Jaden Ivey (Pistons)
- Walker Kessler (Jazz)
- Bennedict Mathurin (Pacers)
- Keegan Murray (Kings)
- Shaedon Sharpe (Trail Blazers)
- Jabari Smith Jr. (Rockets)
- Jalen Williams (Thunder)
G League Players
- Izan Almansa (G League Ignite)
- Matas Buzelis (G League Ignite)
- Ron Holland (G League Ignite)
- Mac McClung (Osceola Magic)
- Tyler Smith (G League Ignite)
- Oscar Tshiebwe (Indiana Mad Ants)
- Note: Tshiebwe has a two-way contract with the Pacers.
- Alondes Williams (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
As was the case last season, the Rising Stars event will consist of four teams and three games. The seven G League players will comprise one team, coached by former NBA forward Detlef Schrempf. The other 21 players will be drafted to three squads coached by former NBA and WNBA stars Pau Gasol, Jalen Rose, and Tamika Catchings.
The four teams will be split into two first-round matchups and the winners of those two games will face one another for the Rising Stars championship. The two semifinals will be played to a target score of 40 points, while the final will be played to a target score of 25 points.
All three contests will take place on Friday, February 16 as part of All-Star weekend’s opening night.
Brian Keefe picked up his first victory as interim head coach of the Wizards this afternoon in Detroit, writes Kareem Copeland of The Washington Post. Keefe, the team’s former top assistant, took over after Wes Unseld Jr. was moved to a front office role on Thursday. It’s just the eighth win of the season for Washington, but Keefe said players are responding well to the coaching change.
“Obviously very cool,” he said of his first win. “But most important is [I’m] just really excited for our guys and how they played and how they trusted each other. … Our communication was great on defense. We were putting multiple guys in there to rebound. And then when the guy was open, we made the correct pass. So I took great joy in our team doing that.”
Keefe didn’t want to talk much about himself, choosing to focus on the need to create better habits and get the most out of the team for the rest of the season, Copeland adds. Kyle Kuzma indicated that the players view the move as a chance for a “fresh start.”
“Having a [new coach at the halfway point of the season] is tough,” Kuzma said. “It’s something I never went through, a lot of us probably never went through. … I can say one thing about Keefe — it’s no nonsense. If you’re messing with the game, you probably won’t be on the court. For us, I think it just holds a little bit more accountability for all of us to not look bad. You don’t want to be on the film the next day looking crazy.”
There’s more on the Wizards:
- Kuzma starred in Keefe’s first win with 30 points, six rebounds and four assists. The Flint, Michigan, native told Copeland that he’s always motivated when he comes to Detroit. “I love playing here,” Kuzma said. “My mom and stuff is here, and I don’t want to play bad in front of my family because I know I’m [going to] hear about it. And I don’t really like hearing about how bad I played.”
- Marvin Bagley III said it felt “a little weird” to be back in Detroit less than two weeks after being traded, per Copeland. Bagley had 13 points and eight rebounds today and has scored in double figures in all six of his games with the Wizards. “His energy has been really contagious for us,” Kuzma said. “You just see it with his offensive rebounding, his rebounding skills. I really like him on offense. I think him playing [center], anytime he has situations where he can get downhill and close space on defenders, he’s tough because he’s long, he’s mobile, athletic and skilled, too.” Isaiah Livers, who was acquired from the Pistons in the same deal, missed today’s game with a hip issue.
- Mark Deeks of HoopsHype lists the Cavaliers, Mavericks, Warriors and Kings as potential destinations for Kuzma if the Wizards decide to trade him before the February 8 deadline.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic had a frustrating night on Wednesday against Phoenix, earning a technical foul for repeatedly complaining to the referees and then requesting that a heckling fan be ejected, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Both incidents came in the third quarter, with the Suns fan leaving voluntarily.
Wednesday marked Dallas’ third straight loss and fifth in its past seven games. Doncic’s frustration boiling over was noteworthy, according to Tim Cato of The Athletic, who says the front office is well aware that it needs to continue to surround its best player with more talent after adding multiple young role players over the summer.
Friday’s matchup with Atlanta went much differently for Doncic and the Mavs, however. The Slovenian scored a franchise-record 73 points, tied for the fourth-highest mark in NBA history, and became the first player to score 70-plus while shooting at least 75% from the field (he was 25-of-33 overall, including 8-of-13 from three and 15-of-16 from the line). He also contributed 10 rebounds and seven assists in 45 minutes during the five-point win (Twitter links via the Mavs and the NBA).
Guard Trae Young said Atlanta tried everything it could to stop Doncic, tweets Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com.
“He was hot. He was going. S–t, we were trying everything,” Young said. “We were trying to trap him. We started off with Jalen (Johnson) on him … Sometimes you just have to pick your poison.”
While Doncic said the performance was probably the best of his career, he was more focused on getting a win, per ESPN.com.
“We’ve been struggling lately,” he said. “Mindset was [to] get a win. We played great.”
Here’s more on the Mavs:
- Kyrie Irving missed his second straight game on Friday with a right thumb sprain. That marked his 18th missed game of 2023/24, which means he’ll miss out on a $1MM bonus for appearing in 65-plus games, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The bonus had been considered unlikely after Irving appeared in 60 games last year, Marks adds. The three-time All-NBA guard will also be ineligible for end-of-season awards.
- Big man Maxi Kleber‘s toe is still bothering him, which is why he sat out Friday’s game after missing 35 games with a right small toe dislocation. As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News observes (via Twitter), Kleber’s ongoing toe problem is a “significant consideration” for the front office with the trade deadline set for February 8. The Mavericks have reportedly been looking for frontcourt help.
- Forward Grant Williams had nothing but good things to say about the Mavs in a conversation with Souichi Terada of MassLive.com. Williams was acquired from Boston in a sign-and-trade last offseason. “I’m enjoying it,” Williams said of Dallas. “It’s a great organization, great team, bunch of guys that really want to win. It’s an opportunity to compete and step into a role that I didn’t have before. And performance-wise, I definitely want to be better, definitely want to get healthier, want to get in a good frame. But outside of that, I’m just focused on the day-to-day. We have a long season.”
After being considered a game-time decision leading into Friday’s contest vs. Oklahoma City, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson was later ruled out with a bone contusion in his left foot, the team announced (via Twitter).
Williamson has a history of foot injuries, having missed the entire 2021/22 season with a broken fifth metatarsal on his right foot. Obviously though, this new injury is on the opposite foot, and there’s no indication that it will be a long-term issue — head coach Willie Green said imaging on Williamson’s foot “came back clean,” tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com.
The former No. 1 overall pick is averaging 21.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 4.8 APG in 36 games this season. Friday was his ninth missed game in ’23/24.
Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Starting Magic guard Jalen Suggs sustained a bruised left knee on Friday and was ruled out for the remainder of the matchup with Memphis, per the team (Twitter link). As a third-year former first-round pick, Suggs will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.
- As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel tweets, Suggs isn’t the only Magic backcourt member injured at the moment. Veteran guard Gary Harris still isn’t doing contact work yet as he continues to recover from a right calf strain, per head coach Jamahl Mosley. Friday was Harris’ 11th consecutive missed game.
- Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr. was in “tremendous pain” after falling on his left wrist during Friday’s win over Atlanta, according to Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Jones went straight to the locker room and was later ruled out with a left wrist sprain, per the Mavs (Twitter link).
- Suns center Jusuf Nurkic exited Friday’s loss to Indiana due to left thumb injury and did not return, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. After the game, Nurkic said he jammed his thumb a few times, but X-rays were negative (Twitter link via Rankin). Guard Bradley Beal also exited Friday’s game after being inadvertently hit in the nose by Myles Turner, but he was able to return to the contest, Rankin adds. Head coach Frank Vogel said Beal may have suffered a broken nose, Rankin tweets. Beal said he didn’t feel any concussion symptoms but he couldn’t breathe out of his nose, with blood continuing to be an issue, per Rankin (Twitter link).
- Raptors two-way big man Jontay Porter had to leave Friday’s game vs. the Clippers due to an eye injury he sustained earlier in the week vs. Memphis, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, who says Porter was cleared by an eye specialist on Friday and he has a follow-up appointment on Saturday (Twitter links).