Heat Rumors

Heat Notes: Rozier, NBA Cup, Ware, Larsson, Love

November 27th, 2024 at 7:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

Terry Rozier returned Tuesday after missing two games with discomfort in his right foot, but he wasn’t in his usual spot in the Heat‘s starting lineup, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Rozier came off the bench for the first time this season, and just the second time since being acquired in a trade with Charlotte midway through last season. After scoring 17 points in 21 minutes in a loss to Milwaukee, Rozier said he’s willing to accept the new role.

“It’s who finishes the game. It ain’t who starts,” he said. “I think a lot of people want to start in this league. I’ve started for a while, and it’s not final. Like coach said, it’s nothing against me. It’s just trying something new and I’m going to roll with it. It’s a little adjustment that I’m willing to make as long as coach needs me to.”

Miami won both games when Rozier was sidelined while using a new starting lineup with Duncan Robinson joining Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Bam Adebayo. Coach Erik Spoelstra has decided to keep that unit intact, even though Chiang points out that it has been outscored by 21.4 points per 100 possessions over the three-game stretch.

“I feel for Terry because, well one, he got hurt. And we’re at the beginning of a season right now where we’re searching,” Spoelstra said. “So the starting lineup is not an indictment at all on him. We had something that worked for two games. So, of course, we’re going to stick with that right now because we’re not where we want to be.”

There’s more from Miami:

Tuesday’s loss virtually eliminates any chance of the Heat advancing in the NBA Cup, Chiang adds in a separate story. Miami is now 1-2 in the tournament and would need a lot of help to move on, even with a victory Friday against Toronto. “It’s disappointing,” Spoelstra said. “… We wanted to be there in Vegas.”
Despite the loss, there were some encouraging signs from the team’s 2024 draft selections, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. First-round pick Kel’el Ware and second-rounder Pelle Larsson were both on the court during a fourth quarter rally that nearly erased a 22-point deficit. Larsson played 22 minutes off the bench, the most of any Heat reserve, while scoring eight points, and Ware posted a +11 plus-minus rating in roughly nine minutes of action. “I like both of their processes right now,” Spoelstra said. “They’ve committed to all the player development. They don’t look at us crazy, with what we have on their schedule every single day. Pelle’s been getting the minutes, so he’s been able to show that to everybody else. But Kel’el’s been doing that behind the scenes, so he’s been showing the staff and his teammates.”
Kevin Love is missing his ninth game of the season tonight after being held out of the second half of Tuesday’s contest with back spasms, Winderman adds in the same piece. Love’s first eight absences were due to a personal matter.

Jimmy Butler Is Expected To Play Tonight

November 24th, 2024 at 9:58am CST by Arthur Hill

After being listed as questionable due to an illness, Heat forward Jimmy Butler will be available for tonight’s game against Dallas, sources tell Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

Heat Notes: Butler, Rozier, Jaquez, Richardson, Ware, Burks, Herro

November 23rd, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After a four-game absence due to an ankle sprain, Heat star Jimmy Butler had his best game of the fall in his return to action on Monday, registering season highs in points (30) and rebounds (10) as Miami outscored Philadelphia by 29 points in his 34 minutes of action.

However, Butler may not get an opportunity to build on that momentum when the team resumes its schedule on Sunday vs. Dallas following a five-day layoff. The veteran forward is listed as questionable to play vs. the Mavericks due to an illness, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

While Butler’s status is up in the air, there’s good news elsewhere on the Heat’s injury report, according to Chiang, who says Terry Rozier (right foot discomfort) and Jaime Jaquez (sprained right ankle) are both expected to play on Sunday. Rozier is listed as probable, while Jaquez is considered available. Josh Richardson, who missed Thursday’s practice due to heel pain, isn’t on the injury report either and should be good to go.

Here’s more out of Miami:

Should the Heat regret drafting Kel’el Ware with the No. 15 pick in this year’s draft, given that Jared McCain (No. 16) and Dalton Knecht (No. 17) have been the most impressive rookies in the NBA so far this season? Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel considers that question, explaining the thinking behind Miami’s selection of Ware. It’s possible the decision to pick Ware will become a draft-day regret reminiscent of when the Heat took Precious Achiuwa a spot ahead of Tyrese Maxey in 2020, Winderman acknowledges. However, he stresses that it’s far too early to pass judgment on the 20-year-old center, who has logged just 48 minutes across eight outings.
Alec Burks, who is on his eighth NBA team, has seen his role fluctuate frequently in recent seasons, so he was unfazed by sitting out for five games in a row and then playing nearly 19 minutes in Monday’s win over the Sixers, as Winderman details for The Sun Sentinel. Burks was a plus-27 with seven points, six rebounds, and three assists in his return to the rotation. “He’s such a great example for young players coming in to always be ready, to be prepared, to understand what the system is and understand how you can bring value,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And then not get caught up in all the emotional wild swings of maybe your playing time isn’t going exactly how you want it, or when you’re not getting the offensive opportunities you want. … He’s a pro’s pro. And that gets thrown around often, but when you actually experience it and see it, you really appreciate it.”
Tyler Herro‘s 24.2 points and 5.2 assists per game are career highs. Perhaps more importantly, so are his 48.6% field goal percentage and 45.2% three-point percentage, which are both way above his career rates. Herro’s scoring efficiency has been “a really big thing” for him and the Heat, according to Spoelstra. “You always want to get to a place like this as a player where you’re playing such efficient basketball that there’s an economy of energy that’s happening at the same time,” the Heat head coach said, per Chiang. “He’s not forcing it, he’s not like over-expending energy to do it. He’s just reading the game, reading defenses. He has a confidence level that continues to grow each year, so he knows what he can do, he knows how he can help us.”

Heat Notes: Lineups, Rozier, Robinson, Herro, Tax, Defense

November 21st, 2024 at 7:44pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Injuries have forced the Heat to switch up their starting lineup in recent weeks, but it may have been time for a change anyways, as Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald observes that Miami’s season-opening lineup has the worst net rating of any group that has played at least 90 minutes together this season.

The Heat moved Nikola Jovic to the bench earlier this month and Terry Rozier missed Monday’s game against the Sixers due to a foot injury. That prompted coach Erik Spoelstra to start Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Bam Adebayo, a lineup that holds some serious intrigue for continued use, Chiang writes.

“If you look at the core four and then you add [Highsmith] — he’s been with us since the post-COVID year — those are our most experienced guys in our program,” Spoelstra said. “So they understand exactly what we’re trying to get to. Even though we’ve made some adjustments, they know what our core tenets are.”

While those five players have been playing together for several seasons, that specific lineup had only played two minutes this season until Monday. They didn’t play together at all last year, as several members of Miami’s core dealt with injuries. Despite not having much time on the court together, being around each other during the offseason and practices over the years adds up.

“I mean, there’s a lot of continuity there,” Robinson said. “I guess you say we’ve only played together for [a few] minutes. But I’ve logged a lot of hours with JB, I’ve logged a lot of hours with Bam, H, Tyler. We’ve just been on the court a bunch together — practice, games, walkthroughs, everything. So there’s a lot of familiarity there, regardless of the fact that we’ve only played [a few minutes together]. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have that continuity and that connection.”

The Heat may replace Robinson with Rozier when the latter returns from injury but – pending the results of more time spent on the court for this group – they could also opt to move Rozier to the bench. Miami traded a first round pick and Kyle Lowry for Rozier last season.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

The two-man duo of Herro and Robinson has been one of the more impressive units for Miami, Chiang writes in the same piece. Herro is shooting 45.2% from three on 9.7 attempts per game while Robinson is shooting 36.6% on 6.8 attempts. Lineups featuring the duo boast an offensive rating of 124.3, which would rank first in the NBA. “I think at this point, they both understand how they can confuse defenses and they’re finding a sense of joy in playing off each other,” Spoelstra said. “… I think they’ve really embraced that. They’ve both grown with their skill set, both grown with their ability to do it as a screener or as a ball-handler or just moving constantly.” Robinson holds an early termination option worth $19.89MM after this season while Herro is under contract for two more seasons after this one.
The Heat are on track to pay $26.9MM in tax penalties if they don’t trim their payroll before the end of the season, Chiang writes in a separate story. Eric Woolworth, the president of business operations for Miami, recently offered thoughts on the team’s situation on Chris O’Gorman’s “Questions for Cancer Research” podcast (YouTube link). “Nobody wants to pay a luxury tax,” Woolworth said. “Increasingly, it’s super punitive. … Certain teams never pay the tax; they just won’t. I respect that. It’s harder to win if you have that mentality, but I understand either because of market size or philosophy. There are certain teams who don’t seem to mind paying it and are consistently above the tax level and some of those teams have won a lot. And there are teams like us who are sort of opportunistic. … It’s a strategic strike kind of mentality and that’s the way we’ve approached it, and pretty successfully, with three championships and seven Finals appearances. If that’s what it takes to win at any given time, we will go for it. If we can get out [of the tax] and still compete for championships, that’s even better.” Chiang’s sources indicate the Heat are open to making trades at or before the deadline if they can improve the roster.
Alec Burks, Kevin Love and Dru Smith have been among the players leading the charge for Miami’s defensive improvement in the early part of the season, James Jackson of The Athletic writes. Smith, on a two-way deal, has played strong defense without fouling, while Love’s rebounding has helped the Heat improve in that category.

Injury Notes: Nets, Knicks, Spurs, Heat, Rollins

November 21st, 2024 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets center Nic Claxton has returned to practice and will be listed as questionable to play on Friday in Philadelphia, the team announced today (Twitter link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype).

Claxton has missed the past three games due to a back strain. The club announced last Friday that he would miss at least a week, but it sounds like he might not be out any longer than that.

Another injured Nets center is also inching closer to a return. According to the club, Day’Ron Sharpe has begun one-on-one workouts with coaches and the plan is for him to be integrated into team activities within the next seven-to-10 days. Sharpe has been on the shelf since training camp due to a left hamstring strain.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau provided some injury updates on Wednesday ahead of a victory over Phoenix, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Post relays. Precious Achiuwa (hamstring) is expected to be cleared to practice during the team’s current five-game road trip, while Mitchell Robinson (ankle) has started shooting but hasn’t yet been cleared to practice or run. Bondy says Robinson is more likely to return sometime in the new year than in December and adds that Miles McBride (knee) is considered “a true day-to-day” and could return as early as Saturday in Utah.
Victor Wembanyama (right knee contusion) and Devin Vassell (left knee soreness) will each miss a third consecutive game on Thursday when the Spurs take on Utah, but the team considers both players day-to-day and doesn’t view either issue as serious, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “I don’t feel like it will be too extended of a time,” acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. “Minor stuff. … Both of them want to be out there very badly.”
Jaime Jaquez (ankle), Terry Rozier (foot), and Josh Richardson (heel) didn’t participate in the Heat‘s practice on Thursday, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Rozier underwent an MRI on his sore right foot, which has been an issue throughout the season and caused him to miss Monday’s game vs. Philadelphia, but that MRI came back clean and he’s aiming to return to action on Sunday vs. Dallas, according to Winderman and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter links).
The Bucks are now listing Ryan Rollins‘ injury as a “left shoulder dislocation” rather than “left shoulder instability,” but head coach Doc Rivers expects the two-way guard to try to rehab the injury and play through it rather than undergoing surgery, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets. “I’m able to do things on it. So it’s kind of one of those decisions like, are you willing to endure some of the pain of it. Pain tolerance, honestly,” Rollins said, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Are you willing to play through it? Is it important enough for you to play at this moment? A bunch of variables went in to it. I feel like I’m good enough to play though for right now.”

Southeast Notes: Wizards Losing Streak, Johnson, Carter Jr., Butler

November 19th, 2024 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Wizards have lost eight straight and their last two outings were particularly ugly. They were blown out by Detroit and New York by a combined 48 points. Head coach Brian Keefe took ownership for the poor performances.

“I’m the leader of this team. I’m the head coach of this team,” Keefe said, per Varun Shankar of the Washington Post. “So I’ll take the responsibility for the last two nights, not playing up to the competitive disposition that we should be playing with, especially defensively. That will be addressed as a group, and we will get better. But that wasn’t … what our standards were, and we have to own that and we have to look at ourselves and we have to get better.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Hawks forward Jalen Johnson is listed as questionable to play against Golden State on Wednesday due to left lateral lower leg inflammation, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. Johnson missed the Hawks’ win at Sacramento on Monday. He’s averaging 19.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game this season after signing a five-year, $150MM extension prior to the season.
Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. has been upgraded to questionable for the team’s road game against the Clippers on Wednesday, beat reporter Dan Savage tweets. Carter, who signed a three-year extension last month, hasn’t played since Nov. 3 due to left foot plantar fasciitis.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler missed four consecutive games due to a sprained right ankle. He was dominant in his return against Philadelphia on Monday, pouring in 30 points while adding 10 rebounds and five assists, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. “We know what the expectation is when he’s healthy,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “… He really set the tone by imposing his physical will on the game.” Staying on the court has been the issue for Butler. He has missed 20 or more regular-season games in three of the last four seasons, which is why the front office showed reluctance during the offseason to discuss a maximum-salary extension with him.

Heat Notes: Martin, Butler, Rozier, Jaquez, Ware

November 18th, 2024 at 1:52pm CST by Rory Maher

Sixers forward Caleb Martin said his return to Miami has been “bittersweet, for sure,” per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Martin has been in Miami since the weekend as the 76ers had a couple days off before facing Miami on Monday. The 29-year-old spent the past three seasons with the Heat before signing a four-year, $35MM+ deal with Philadelphia as a free agent over the offseason.

“Obviously, I had a lot of great memories here, unforgettable memories,” Martin said. “I still got lifelong relationships that I still have with guys. This is my second home.”

As Chiang writes, Martin confirmed previous reporting that he declined an extension offer from Miami that was contingent upon him picking up his 2024/25 player option worth $7.1MM. Martin would have received an additional $58MM over four years on top of that option, putting the total value at $65MM over five years.

The tricky part was the timing — Martin had to make a decision on picking up his option by June 29, the day before free agents could negotiate with rival teams. His representation thought he could get more money in free agency, which didn’t materialize. But he doesn’t fault his agent for how things played out.

“Nobody has a crystal ball,” Martin said. “At the end of the day, nothing gets approved without me giving the OK, ultimately. That’s stuff that you live and you learn. Obviously, it hurts because of all the memories and everything that comes with this and there’s obviously money left on the table. But I think there are also other aspects of the decision and how things shook out that was a good thing, and that I might have had to move on.”

Martin, who was undrafted in 2019 and was released by Charlotte before catching on with the Heat on a two-way deal three years ago, said he tries to keep things in perspective, since he still signed the most lucrative contract of his career.

“I’m very fortunate to be where I’m at and still have another guaranteed four years in this league, which is hard,” said Martin. “Coming from where I come from, if you would have told me I had a guaranteed nine years in the league, I would have never believed you. Regardless, I’m blessed. I’m very blessed to still be competing at a high level.

“I do feel like I’m in a very good spot. I feel like I would have been in a good place regardless. I would have loved to have come back and made that work, as well. It’s nothing personal against [the Heat]. I have nothing but love for them.”

Here are a few more notes from Miami:

Star forward Jimmy Butler will return to action on Monday after missing the past four games with a right ankle sprain, the team announced (via Twitter). Butler, 35, could be a free agent in 2025 if he declines his $52.4MM player option for next season. If you count the game he was injured (he played fewer than seven minutes), the Heat went 2-3 in Butler’s absence.
While it’s obviously welcome news that Butler will be back tonight, the Heat will be without two rotation regulars in Terry Rozier (right foot discomfort) and Jaime Jaquez, according to the the team. As Chiang of The Miami Herald writes, Jaquez suffered a right ankle sprain at the end of the third quarter in Sunday’s loss to Indiana. The second-year forward had an X-ray, which came back negative. “That’s one of the craziest ones,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Jaquez’s injury. “He just happened to be backpedaling back and stepped on (T.J.) McConnell’s foot. He says he’s fine. There’s no way to know with sprained ankles. We’ll find out when we get back to Miami.”
First-round pick Kel’el Ware hasn’t gotten many opportunities for playing time to this point in his rookie season, but he’s embracing the team’s development plan and is trying to soak up as much knowledge as he can, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I really like the way he’s developed,” Spoelstra said. “He’s embraced us and the structure. He’s responded well to it. He’s already responded very well in the weight room, gotten a lot stronger and then he’s just been diligent, working. Is it going to be perfect? You know, no. He still has a lot of things to learn and figure out where he can be most effective in his role. But if he continues to stack days with intention the way he has been, he’s going to improve very quickly.”

Florida Notes: Highsmith, Rozier, Magic, Carter

November 17th, 2024 at 4:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Heat forward Haywood Highsmith is embracing his role as a utility player for Miami, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Highsmith has been elevated in the club’s hierarchy thanks in part to the free agent exit of now-Sixers wing Caleb Martin this summer. After Martin’s departure, the Heat pivoted to re-signing their other top free agent, Highsmith, on a two-year, $10.8MM deal.

“I can’t say enough about H,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But the tough thing about this league is you have somebody like H, who has really played at an exceptionally high level in that role as a defender, as an impact role player that fills in all the intangibles for your team. But if he’s not scoring big numbers, nobody is really going to pay attention, nobody is going to notice, nobody is going to write articles about him.”

Playing mostly off the Heat’s bench, the 6’7″ swingman is averaging a career-high 8.6 points on .625/.417/.636 shooting splits, along with 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per night.

There’s more out of the Sunshine State:

Heat starting point guard Terry Rozier has struggled mightily thus far this season. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel wonders if a transition to Miami’s bench would put him in a better position to be effective. The 30-year-old is averaging 13.3 points per game on .385/.358/.880 shooting splits, his lowest output since 2018/19.
Even without All-Star power forward Paolo Banchero, the Magic posted a 5-0 record during a recent homestand. Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel unpacks what went right during that undefeated run, singling out frontcourt standouts Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner, the club’s defense, and its ability to clean the glass.
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley stated on Sunday that starting center Wendell Carter, who’s been out for the past seven games with left foot plantar fasciitis, continues to improve. “He’s doing better,” Mosley said after today’s practice, Beede reports (Twitter link). In his six healthy games this season, the 25-year-old is averaging 8.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per bout.

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Butler, Herro, Spoelstra

November 16th, 2024 at 5:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat center Bam Adebayo hopes Friday’s performance at Indiana marks the end of his season-long shooting slump, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Adebayo has been a model of consistency, shooting better than 50% from the field in each of his first seven NBA seasons. However, he was at just 40.7% through the first 10 games of this season, along with 21.7% from three-point range, while carrying the worst true shooting percentage among the 68 NBA players with at least 140 field-goal attempts.

Adebayo rediscovered his shooting stroke Friday night, going 10-of-17 from the field, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and 8-of-9 on free throws. He finished with 30 points, along with 11 rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

“It’s a long season,” he said. ”But just staying with the preparation, staying with the work behind the scenes, not getting down on myself. Like I said before, it’s one of those things where it’s unnatural to see me shoot under 50% every night. So I just keep my same mentality. My teammates are behind me, my coaches are behind me, they know I’m going to make plays and tonight I did that.”

Despite Adebayo’s early offensive struggles, Chiang points out that he remains of the league’s top interior defenders, ranking eighth in defensive estimated plus/minus at +2.2. He’s also averaging three offensive rebounds, two steals and 1.3 blocks per game.

“This is a lesson to all young guys,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You want to change the energy of the ball going in, you focus on all the other things and he was tremendous just in terms of winning basketball, imposing his will the last two games. It resulted in one win. But wow, was he a force of nature in both the Detroit game and the Minnesota game, just really focusing on defending, rebounding, creating triggers for us, rolling hard, offensive rebounding.”

There’s more on the Heat:

After missing the past three games with a sprained right ankle, Jimmy Butler has been upgraded to questionable for Sunday’s rematch at Indiana, Chiang adds. Butler has been traveling with the team on its current road trip and has been getting treatment on the ankle.
Adebayo, Butler and Tyler Herro need more time together to allow the Heat to determine if they can be the core of a successful team, contends Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Adebayo’s slow start and Butler’s injury have prevented the front office from getting a clear picture of their effectiveness together.
Heat players were supportive of Spoelstra after he cost them a game this week in Detroit by calling a timeout that he didn’t have, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Butler, who has occasionally clashed with Spoelstra during their six years together, was among the veteran coach’s most vocal supporters.

And-Ones: Trade Possibilities, Contract Decisions, Bell, Johnson, Rookies

November 14th, 2024 at 10:14pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Several should-be playoff contenders have struggled through the earlier parts of the season, either due to injuries or pieces not fitting together. While in-season moves don’t usually pick up until after the New Year, closer to February’s trade deadline, several teams appear to be scouring the market for help.

The Bucks are chief among those teams, stumbling out to a 4-8 record in the early part of the season. In an Insider-only piece, a group of ESPN writers agree that the Bucks’ most likely course of action is to see if their three-point shooting evens out. Milwaukee doesn’t have much flexibility, but players like Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez and Gary Trent Jr. are shooting below their typical averages. Waiting it out might be the best and only course of action for now, although Jamal Collier notes that they’ve expressed interest in a defensive wing.

The Heat have several questions about their future after not agreeing to an extension with Jimmy Butler. Butler’s ankle injury has complicated matters further, but Tim Bontemps writes that the Heat aren’t in any rush to make moves. They entered the season wanting to see how their team looked in the first half of the season, and according to Bontemps, that thought process hasn’t changed.

While New Orleans has the flexibility to make a trade, its season is hampered by numerous injuries. Michael C. Wright indicates that the Pelicans seem more likely to stand pat this season and not make major moves since they’ve never paid the luxury tax and don’t seem to be in any rush to do so with a team that sits at 3-9. Brandon Ingram could make some sense as a trade piece, since he was unable to agree to an extension with the Pels before the season, but his trade market would be limited given his unrestricted free agent status at the end of the year.

The Knicks and the Sixers haven’t jumped out to the starts they’ve wanted, but they appear likely to approach that situation in different ways. New York needs frontcourt help, but should get Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson back from injuries at some point this season. After trading for both Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, a major move doesn’t seem to be in the cards. However, the Sixers – who also need frontcourt size – could dangle KJ Martin‘s $8MM pseudo-expiring deal in any move. They’ve always been aggressive under president Daryl Morey, and that’s not likely to change.

While several teams need help, it seems as though most should-be contenders don’t have many options available to them on the trade market — for now.

We have more from around the basketball world:

In the new CBA landscape, managing finances has been more crucial for NBA teams than ever before. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report breaks down every team’s most pressing upcoming contract decision, including calls the Hawks, Mavericks and Magic must make on stars Trae Young, Luka Doncic and Paolo Banchero, respectively. According to Pincus’s sources, the Suns and Kevin Durant will add two seasons at $123.8MM to his contract next summer. Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas, Miami’s Butler, Cleveland’s Caris LeVert and Minnesota’s Julius Randle will be at the center of some of the more interesting decisions explored by Pincus.
The Indiana Mad Ants – the Pacers‘ G League affiliate – added Jordan Bell to their roster and waived Tyler Polley, according to a team release (Twitter link). Bell has spent part of the last two seasons with the Mad Ants, averaging 12.1 points in 60 games played. Bell was the 38th overall pick in the 2017 draft, playing the first two seasons of his career with the Warriors and winning a championship with them in 2018. Polley signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pacers this offseason.
Former NBAer Stanley Johnson may be on his way out of Turkish club Anadolu Efes, according to BasketNews’ Donatas Urbonas. Anadolu Efes was Johnson’s first European team, but he’s been exploring other options amid a potential departure and interest from other European clubs. Johnson, the eighth overall pick in 2015, has 449 games of NBA experience, making 104 starts. He holds career averages of 6.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in the NBA and has made just six EuroLeague appearances so far, ranking just 11th on his team in minutes played.
A pair of Grizzlies first-year players sit atop The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie’s first edition of this season’s rookie player rankings. Zach Edey, who is averaging 11.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and Jaylen Wells, who’s averaging 11.2 PPG on 37.0% three-point shooting, rank first and second in Vecenie’s rankings. The Wizards also have reason for excitement, with three rookies ranking in the top 11. Jared McCain ranks third while No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher is No. 6 in the rankings. Undrafted rookie Ajay Mitchell is eighth.

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