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Central Notes: Atkinson, Pistons, Vucevic, Ball

January 24th, 2025 at 7:04pm CST by Luke Adams

When Boston lost to the Lakers on Thursday, it guaranteed that the Cavaliers will hold the best record in the Eastern Conference through February 2. That, in turn, ensured that Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson will coach one of the four All-Star teams on February 16 in San Francisco, while an assistant on his staff will coach another of those four squads, the NBA announced (Twitter links).

In past seasons, the head coaches for the teams with the best records in the East and West prior to the All-Star break would coach their respective conference in the All-Star Game. It’s a little more complicated this season due to the new four-team format, which is why both Atkinson and Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault will be bringing an assistant to All-Star weekend next month.

Here are a few more items of interest from around the Central:

The Pistons traded their 2021 first-round pick during the 2020 offseason as part of a sign-and-trade deal that sent Christian Wood to Houston. However, that pick included heavy protections and has yet to convey while being traded three more times since then, from Houston to Oklahoma City to New York to Minnesota. As Jared Ramsey of The Detroit Free Press observes, 2025 may be the year that pick finally changes hands — the Timberwolves will receive it if it lands outside of the top 13 and the Pistons are very much in the hunt for a playoff spot in the East at 23-21.
Prior to Thursday’s matchup with Golden State, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic said he didn’t view the game – against a team rumored to have interest in him – as an audition, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “There’s been many rumors in the past where I then played that certain team I’ve been linked to or not, and it doesn’t really affect me because I don’t think that way,” Vucevic said. If it was a tryout, the veteran big man didn’t exactly ace it, matching his season-low with nine points in a blowout loss to the Warriors, notes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune.
In a separate story for the Tribune, Poe wonders if guard Lonzo Ball might end up being the Bulls‘ best trade chip at the February 6 deadline. His injury history is obviously a significant red flag, but Ball is the only one of the team’s highly-paid trade candidates who is on an expiring deal and Chicago has a +7.4 net rating during his minutes this season. In fact, it doesn’t seem as if the Bulls are especially eager to move on from the former No. 2 overall pick, who “quietly commands the locker room,” Poe writes.

Cunningham Renews Rivalry With Green; Pistons Exceeding Expectations At Mid-Season

January 22nd, 2025 at 9:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Cunningham renewed his long rivalry with Jalen Green by posting 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Pistons defeated the Rockets on Monday. Their battles date back to AAU games when they were in eighth and ninth grade, Green’s father told Kelly Iko and Hunter Patterson of The Athletic, and they intensified after Cunningham was selected No. 1 and Green went No. 2 in the 2021 draft.
In a separate story, Patterson takes a mid-season look at the Pistons, who may be headed to the playoffs after winning just 14 games last season. He points to a few things that have helped Detroit exceed expectations, including Cunningham’s rise to stardom, the emergence of Jaden Ivey before suffering a broken fibula, the addition of Malik Beasley in free agency and the progress of second-year player Ausar Thompson and rookie Ron Holland.

Atlantic Notes: Drummond, Thomas, Hart, Raptors

January 22nd, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixers center Andre Drummond cashed in with Detroit when he became a free agent in 2016, signing a five-year, maximum-salary contract worth in excess of $127MM. However, the veteran big man has had to settle for deals worth the minimum or a little above it in recent years — his current two-year, $10MM pact with Philadelphia is his most lucrative contract since that max deal ended.

Appearing this week on Podcast P with Paul George (YouTube link), Drummond told his Sixers teammate that he regrets how he responded after earning that max deal with the Pistons.

“Once I got that max contract, I was like, ‘Oh s–t, my work is done. I did it. I made it here. Now I get to play however I want to play. I’m the best guy on my team, making the highest amount of money, so I get to have this leadership role,'” Drummond said (hat tip to HoopsHype). “I don’t think I did it the right way, because not only did I not understand that that could’ve been $100 million two or three or four or five times — I only got it once because I didn’t maximize that time of being the max guy.

“If I could go back, I would’ve done it completely differently. I would’ve been a lot more attentive to working on my game and becoming more than just the best rebounder in the league. I would’ve tried to add more different pieces to my game so that when the league changed, it wouldn’t have been so difficult for me to make the adjustment with the league too.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Nets guard Cam Thomas, who has been out since January 2 due to a left hamstring strain, has resumed on-court activities but isn’t taking contact yet, according to head coach Jordi Fernandez. Bridget Reilly of The New York Post has the story.
Josh Hart believes his comments earlier this month about the Knicks needing to put aside “egos” and “agendas” were blown out of proportion and made it clear he wasn’t referring to any specific teammates, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “Y’all look too much into everything,” Hart said on Tuesday. “… I said something about egos and y’all took that and ran with it. To win, you have to have a team that don’t have egos. That’s why Boston won. They have a team that doesn’t have egos. You got Jrue Holiday that’s been an All-Star, All-Defense, All-NBA, max player. He don’t give a damn about scoring. So that’s the ego-less attitude that we have to have. There was no pinpointing somebody. But that’s what you have to have to win.”
Tuesday’s 16-point victory over Orlando served as a glimpse at what the first half of the Raptors‘ season could’ve looked like if the team hadn’t had to deal with so many injuries, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. As Grange observes, reliable second-unit veterans like Kelly Olynyk and Bruce Brown – both of whom didn’t make their season debuts until December – played key roles in the win. Olynyk, who was an incredible +39 in 22 minutes, and Brown are both considered candidates to be moved at the trade deadline.

Pistons Notes: Trade Deadline, Ball-Handler, Cunningham

January 19th, 2025 at 12:04pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pistons have been one of the most surprising teams of the 2024/25 season. After finishing last season with the worst record in franchise history (14-68), the Pistons are currently 21-21, on pace to nearly triple that abysmal 14-win total, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.

Detroit also has plenty of financial flexibility ahead of the February 6 deadline, as the Pistons are the only team operating with cap room ($14MM). They also have the $8MM room exception at their disposal to potentially make multiple deals.

Their strong play over the past few weeks reportedly has the front office thinking about making in-season upgrades rather than serving as a salary dumping ground, though a recent report indicated that a major roster shakeup was unlikely.

While Detroit could pursue a number of different trade opportunities over the next two-plus weeks, Sankofa cautions that the Pistons ultimately might decide to be judicious with their flexibility, giving the team more time to evaluate the roster entering the offseason.

Here’s more from Detroit:

Saturday’s four-point loss to Phoenix highlighted the Pistons’ need for a secondary ball-handler and play-maker to complement former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham, according to Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Jaden Ivey had served in that role, but he might miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a broken fibula in his left leg. “It’s just got to be ball movement,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “We keep talking about the diversity in our offense and just doing the next right thing. That’s one of the things, again, we’re continuing to work on. We don’t want to be a one-dimensional, ball-dominant team or dribble-dominant team.” Cunningham finished the game with 11 assists, half of the team’s total, but no other Piston had more than two, Patterson notes.
Cunningham’s teammates believe he should be an All-Star for the first time in ’24/25, per Sankofa of The Detroit Free Press. “It’s an honor to play with him as a young, up-and-coming superstar in this league and I think he’s starting to get the recognition and the clout that he deserves,” Tobias Harris said. “Extremely hard worker, extremely humble human being and an amazing teammate and leader for this whole group. … He’s playing at an extremely high level leading this group, leading this team and coming to play night after night. And not for nothing. He’s a dynamic offensive player but he’s also a very good defensive player, and he brings it defensively for our group as well. He’s been spectacular for us all season long.”
In case you missed it, Tim Hardaway Jr. is embracing his role as a veteran leader for the younger Pistons.

Trade Rumors: Ingram, Pistons, K. Williams, Lakers

January 18th, 2025 at 2:15pm CST by Luke Adams

There hasn’t been much chatter on the rumor mill about Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram in recent weeks, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). However, Fischer suggests there’s still a chance that Ingram could return prior to the trade deadline from his ankle injury, giving potential suitors a chance to take a look at him for multiple games leading up to February 6.

Even if that happens, there’s certainly no guarantee Ingram will be moved this season. Fischer hears that the Pelicans – like the Heat with Jimmy Butler – don’t mind postponing their decision on Ingram until the offseason, since they’re confident they’ll still have a good deal of leverage at that time, even with the forward entering unrestricted free agency.

Ingram would likely need New Orleans’ help to get to a preferred destination via sign-and-trade, so the Pelicans could decide at that point whether they want to work out a deal with a new team or simply let the former All-Star walk for the sake of cap flexibility.

It’s also worth noting that, unlike the Butler situation in Miami, the relationship between Ingram and the Pelicans hasn’t deteriorated to the point where a divorce seems inevitable — Fischer hears that New Orleans remains open to the idea of re-signing Ingram beyond this season if the two sides can agree on a price, which didn’t happen last season when they discussed an extension.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

Although their unexpected success this season has the Pistons reconsidering how they might use their remaining $14MM in cap room at the trade deadline, Fischer says Detroit has left potential trade partners with the impression that a “truly massive move” isn’t in the team’s plans. In other words, while the Pistons may decide to use that remaining cap space on a player who can help them this season rather than someone on an unwanted contract who would be immediately waived, they’re likely not looking to make significant changes to their roster.
Within an item about why the Thunder probably aren’t a serious suitor for Cameron Johnson, Fischer notes that there’s plenty of “mutual fondness” between the team and forward Kenrich Williams, who is considered a strong culture-setter and probably won’t be included in a trade as simple salary filler. Williams has played a regular rotation role again this season and has been effective, with 5.8 points and 3.0 rebounds on .496/.386/.933 shooting in 13.8 minutes per game.
After acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith from Brooklyn last month, the Lakers don’t appear likely to make a major move at the trade deadline, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic (YouTube link). “My sense lately, that I’ve been hearing, has been trending more toward them making a smaller move and probably using second-round draft capital,” Buha said (hat tip to Mike Chiari of Bleacher Report). “The issue there is that their second-round draft capital isn’t really worth that much, because it’s their (2025) pick and the Clippers’ (2025) pick. And both of those picks are projected right now to be between 45 and 52, depending on where those two teams finish in the standings. So those aren’t the sexiest second-round picks. You typically want a first half of the second round-type pick.”

Eastern Notes: Butler, Harper, Achiuwa, Raptors

January 18th, 2025 at 11:32am CST by Tristan Tucker

Jimmy Butler returned to the Heat from his team-issued suspension amid his trade request, but nothing has really changed for the star, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. The Heat haven’t gained any momentum in their trade discussions so far, but will continue to try to fulfill Butler’s request before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

Butler scored 18 points in a 20-point loss on Friday in his return to action.

“I guess it’s basketball at this point,” Butler said. “I know what I’m expected to do while I’m here. I tried to do that to the best of my ability, but we are where we are.”

According to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, Butler was asked what would happen if he’s still on Miami’s roster after the Feb. 6 deadline passes. “We’ll hoop,” the 35-year-old replied.

“There was a lot said by everybody except for me, to tell you the truth,” Butler said after the game, per Reynolds. “So we’ll let people keep talking like they know everything, like they have all the answers. And then sooner or later, the whole truth will come out. But until then, we’ll continue to let people talk. And if I’m here, I will get out there and play.”

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

The Pistons signed Ron Harper Jr. to a two-way contract on Jan. 6, giving him a roster spot on the team he grew up idolizing, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Harper’s father was an assistant coach in Detroit from 2005-07. “Those are like my first core basketball memories,” said the younger Harper, who has yet to appear in an NBA game with the Pistons but is averaging 12.7 points per game in 18 G League outings this season.
With Karl-Anthony Towns dealing with an injury, Precious Achiuwa is playing key minutes for the Knicks. According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, Achiuwa is confident he’s an elite defender in the league. “It’s been an up-and-down season for me just in terms of getting hurt, coming back, playing a little, playing a lot. A lot of things in between,” Achiuwa said. “[But] if you know how to play, you know how to play. Center, power forward — whatever the case is.“
The anniversary of the Pascal Siakam trade to the Pacers means the traded player exception the Raptors received — that had $5.1MM remaining — officially expired, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca writes. They used part of the exception to absorb Davion Mitchell‘s salary in the move that sent Jalen McDaniels to the Kings and brought Mitchell, Jamal Shead, and a 2025 second round pick to Toronto. Murphy also takes a closer look at the Raptors’ cap situation, noting that they continue to operate more than $10MM below the tax line, creating some flexibility at the trade deadline.

Central Notes: Jackson, Beal, Hardaway, Mitchell

January 16th, 2025 at 10:59am CST by Dana Gauruder

Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr. suffered a right hip contusion late in the first half against Orlando on Wednesday, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jackson did not return in the second half. Milwaukee is currently playing without Gary Trent Jr., who strained a left hip flexor against the Magic on Jan. 12.

We have more from the Central Division:

What are the chances that the Pistons — the only team currently with cap room — will acquire Bradley Beal from the Sunsl? Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois writes in his latest mailbag that he doubts Beal would waive his no-trade clause to come to Detroit. Langlois is also skeptical that the Pistons’ front office would want to hamstring their cap flexibility by taking on Beal’s contract, which has two more years remaining.
Tim Hardaway Jr. has not only become a valuable part of the Pistons’ rotation, he’s also embraced the role of veteran leadership. Hardaway, a free agent after the season, was acquired from Dallas in an offseason trade. “We’re here for a great cause,” he told Hunter Patterson of The Athletic regarding the team’s veteran acquisitions. “We’re here to help the young guys and do the best we can to make their jobs easier out there on the floor. They’re doing a great job of listening and being sponges.”
In a subscriber-only story, Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor describes how Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell delivered a vintage performance against Indiana on Tuesday to avenge a loss to the Pacers two days earlier. Mitchell, who has focused more on spreading out the offensive wealth this season, scored 35 points in the victory, his highest output since Dec. 1.

Central Notes: Siakam, Haliburton, Pistons, Lillard

January 14th, 2025 at 9:12pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Pascal Siakam continues to be a steadying force for the Pacers as they traverse the ups and downs of the season, according to Dustin Dopirak of IndyStar, who contends that the veteran forward has been Indiana’s most consistent player since his arrival via trade before last year’s deadline.

Even when they fell to 10-15 on the season, the Pacers continued to lean on Siakam and have gone 12-4 since, which included an impressive win over the contending Cavaliers on Sunday. More notable is the fact that Siakam hasn’t even been on Indiana’s injury report. In fact, the only game he’s been inactive for was his first as a Pacer the day after he was traded.

As Dopirak observes, Siakam leads the Pacers entering Tuesday with 19.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game to go along with 3.3 assists while shooting 52.1% from the field and 40.8% from deep. His three-point rate would be a career-high clip. He’s working on being a more vocal leader after being a core piece on the Raptors’ 2019 championship team. Siakam signed a four-year, maximum-salary contract with the Pacers this past offseason.

“I put a lot of work into my craft,” Siakam said. “I think every single night, I’m ready. I’m ready however the ball is gonna go. There’s going to be times when you might get more opportunity than others. It’s just all about preparation. For me, I prepare every single day for these moments. Every single night I’m out there, I want to be a threat on all three levels. I want to do it consistently every single night.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Tyrese Haliburton missed Tuesday’s rematch against the Cavaliers — a 127-117 loss that snapped a six-game Pacers win streak — due to a mild groin strain, Dopirak reports (Twitter link). Head coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton would be “day-to-day.” According to Dopirak (Twitter link), it is not a hamstring injury for Haliburton, as initially believed. That’s worth noting, since the two-time All-Star battled hamstring problems last season.
Entering Tuesday, the Pistons led the league in wins in the month of January, earning them a nod for most surprising team of the year, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press opines. Cade Cunningham is establishing himself as a bona fide star and has a chance to start the All-Star Game just a year after the Pistons lost an NBA-record 28 consecutive games. “Our job is to put him in position to be successful. And then he’s got to go out there and do it,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Over these 40 games now, he and I and his teammates have learned a lot about each other and how we can best help each other. And that’s what it’s about — each of us playing our role and doing what we’re supposed to do together and collectively to just help one another, make this team as good as we possibly can. Cade knows his role and what this team needs, and he’s executed perfectly.” Cunningham is averaging 26.5 points and 8.3 assists per game this month while shooting a blistering 45.8% from deep.
Bucks star guard Damian Lillard is open to the idea of finishing out his career in EuroLeague, according to a report from BasketNews. “It’s something I’ve talked about with some members of my family the past two years but not seriously thought about,” Lillard said. It’s unlikely that will happen anytime soon, if at all. Lillard is still playing at an All-Star level at age 34, averaging 24.8 points and 7.3 assists per game while shooting 44.0% from the floor and 37.5% from three.

Atlantic Notes: Payne, Knicks’ Trades, Raptors Rebuild, George

January 13th, 2025 at 5:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Backup guard Cameron Payne had his second-highest scoring output of the season for the Knicks on Sunday, pouring in 18 points in 14 minutes during the team’s romp past Milwaukee.

“He’s someone who’s very capable of scoring the ball at a high level,” forward Josh Hart told Andrew Crane of the New York Post. “Obviously, playing behind (Jalen Brunson), sometimes he doesn’t get those opportunities. But we know what he’s capable of, and that’s just gonna continue to fuel his confidence and our confidence in him.”

Payne is playing on a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks are operating near a second-apron hard cap, so there are limitations to what they could do on the trade market. The Athletic’s James Edwards suggests a number of lower-level acquisitions they could consider, including Simone Fontecchio, Nick Richards and Alec Burks.
The Raptors have lost three times to the much-improved Pistons and they can take valuable lessons away from Detroit’s rebuilding efforts, Michael Grange of Sportsnet writes. It has taken the Pistons several years to show real progress and Toronto could go through the same process unless it lands a superstar talent via the lottery. “They’ve built it up and, guys have a little more experience, and they bring in a couple more vets who play with those younger guys,” Kelly Olynyk said of the Pistons. “And, you know, you start to build that culture back up, and that those habits up. I mean, it takes what is that, three years, four years before you’re able to really kind of put plan together and put something together on the floor, so … it’s not going to happen overnight. We got to be a little bit patient, but it’ll come together and start to break.”
The Sixers have dropped five of their last seven games. Paul George says they can’t wait any longer to turn things around, Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. “It’s not panic mode, but there’s sort of a desperation that we need to start to play with,” George said. “And look at every game like it matters. From this point forward, every game matters. I think we do have to approach it in that manner, because it’s not going to get any easier.”

Stein’s Latest: Nets, Butler, Giannis, Suns, Nembhard, Coaches

January 12th, 2025 at 1:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets are the only NBA team projected to have maximum-salary cap room during the 2025 offseason, but they have no plans to pursue Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who could be the biggest free agent on the market next summer, reports Marc Stein in his latest Substack article.

According to Stein, despite their impressive cap flexibility and stash of future draft assets, the Nets aren’t necessarily locked in on the idea of pursuing a star via trade or in free agency over the summer — if no favorable opportunities to land a star arise, they may simply be patient and continue building through the draft.

On the other hand, if Giannis Antetokounmpo were to become available, that would substantially alter the Nets’ plans, according to Stein, who says rumblings around the NBA suggest the Bucks forward would be Brooklyn’s “dream target” and that the Nets would make a push for him if Milwaukee were willing to trade him. That’s probably a long shot this year though, since have been no indications the Bucks would ever consider moving Antetokounmpo unless he specifically asked for it.

Here’s more from Stein:

Stein is the latest reporter to confirm that there’s strong mutual interest between the Suns and Butler. “I’ve heard they want him bad,” one league source told Stein. Still, until Phoenix can find a taker for Bradley Beal and get Beal to sign off on that destination, the Suns don’t have a path to acquiring the Heat forward.
Andrew Nembhard would be an ideal target for a team facing apron restrictions due to his $2.02MM cap hit, his long-term team control, and his lack of poison pill restrictions following his extension. However, Stein says the Pacers guard is considered one of the most valuable assets on Indiana’s roster and is viewed as essentially “off-limits” in trade talks.
Taking an early look at the Coach of the Year race, Stein describes Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers as the clear favorite and says he’d fill out his hypothetical ballot with Jamahl Mosley of the Magic at No. 2 and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons at No. 3. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka earns an honorable mention.