- Jahlil Okafor‘s ankle injury won’t prevent him from making the Pelicans‘ roster, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. Okafor is expected to miss a week or two after spraining his right ankle late in Sunday’s game, but coach Alvin Gentry said that won’t affect his decision on Okafor’s status.
NBA.com has completed its annual survey of NBA general managers, with John Schuhmann of NBA.com asking each of the league’s 30 GMs to answer an array of questions about the league’s top teams, players, and coaches. Unsurprisingly, the Warriors are once again viewed by the NBA’s general managers as the overwhelming favorites to be the last team standing, with 26 of 30 GMs (87%) picking Golden State to win the NBA championship for the fourth time in five years.
While there are many responses in the GM survey worth checking out, we’ll focus on rounding up some of the more noteworthy ones related to rosters and player movement. Let’s dive in…
- LeBron James (30%) and Kevin Durant (27%) are viewed as the frontrunners for the 2018/19 MVP award, but two younger players led the voting for the player GMs would most want to build a franchise around starting today. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo (30%) and Pelicans big man Anthony Davis (23%) led the way in that category. Interestingly, Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t receive a single vote this year after leading the way with 29% of the vote in 2017.
- The Lakers‘ signing of James helped them earn 70% of the vote for the team that made the best overall moves this offseason. The Raptors, buoyed by their acquisition of Kawhi Leonard, finished second at 20%.
- A ton of different signings and trade acquisitions received votes for the most underrated addition of the summer, with the Pacers‘ signing of Tyreke Evans barely leading the way with four votes. The Spurs‘ trade for DeMar DeRozan, the Bulls‘ signing of Jabari Parker, the Pelicans‘ addition of Julius Randle, and the Thunder‘s acquisition of Dennis Schroder received three votes apiece.
- DeMarcus Cousins‘ decision to join the Warriors (35%) was considered the most surprising move of the offseason, followed by the Spurs/Raptors blockbuster trade (29%) and Paul George remaining with the Thunder (19%).
- While Mavericks guard Luka Doncic is the strong frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, GMs expect Suns center Deandre Ayton and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. to be the best players five years from now. Meanwhile, the Clippers‘ selection of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at No. 11 was viewed by the most GMs as the steal of the draft.
- The Sixers (47%) and Celtics (33%) dominated voting for the teams with the most promising young cores.
Jahlil Okafor sprained his right ankle toward the end of the Pelicans‘ first preseason game on Sunday and he’s expected to miss 1-2 weeks because of the ailment, according to the team’s website.
Okafor signed with New Orleans and was expected to compete for a spot in the rotation. After seeing limited playing him with the Sixers and Nets last season, he was hoping to carve out a role for himself on the Pelicans by working on his weaknesses.
“The knock on me has always been my defense and my rebounding,” Okafor said last month. “I let the coaches know that I’m aware of that, and obviously they’re aware of that. They know that I’m 150% bought into doing whatever it takes to win. I think I’ve taken the necessary steps this summer just to become a better defender, a better rebounder — just because I’m moving better and I’m doing all of the right stuff. I’m really excited about it.”
Okafor scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds in his 17 preseason minutes. The Pelicans conclude the preseason on October 11, so Okafor won’t likely make it back on the court to get additional reps before the team starts the regular season on October 17.
- Marks also notes that several players will have a chance to become eligible for super-max contracts with their current clubs if they make All-NBA teams this season. That list includes Anthony Davis (Pelicans), Draymond Green (Warriors), Klay Thompson (Warriors), Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers), and Kemba Walker (Hornets). Additionally, Devin Booker‘s new extension with the Suns would start at 27.5% of the cap if he’s named to the All-NBA Third Team, 28.5% if he’s named to the Second Team, and 30% for First Team.
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Carmelo Anthony is looking to make the game fun again in his first season with the Rockets, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. Anthony is set to enter his 16th professional season, with the 34-year-old having his vision set on winning an NBA championship.
“Just enjoy the game and play basketball … I’ve been doing it for a long time,” Anthony said. “I still know how to do it. I’ve just got to make it fun. The game just has to be fun.”
The Rockets are expected to be a championship contender this season, with the team featuring a deep bench, star center and All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and James Harden. The level of production Anthony gives will help determine how far the team gets in its journey.
“He’s a great basketball player, so we just try to make it optimal for him and us,” head coach Mike D’Antoni said. “It’s always a little bit of a challenge, but if you had asked me the same question (last year) about James and Chris I would have said the same thing: ‘Well, it looks good. I’m excited.’ So same thing with him.”
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans center Jahlil Okafor will undergo an MRI on Monday after suffering an ankle injury during Sunday’s preseason game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Okafor left the arena on crutches with his ankle taped.
- Over 25 teams expressed a level of interest in Julius Randle during his brief time as a free agent, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Randle eventually chose to sign a two-year deal with the Pelicans.
- Grizzlies head coach J.B. Bickerstaff hopes Garrett Temple‘s impact on the team doesn’t go unnoticed, Drew Hill of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. “I’m used to (going unnoticed). It’s normal to me,” Temple said. “But, I’m glad that (Bickerstaff) sees my value. The people in the locker room and the people in this organization, at this point, those are the only ones that matter.”
The Pelicans have signed free agent center Brandon McCoy, the team announced on Twitter.
McCoy was waived by the Bucks last week after signing with the team at the end of July. After going undrafted out of Nevada-Las Vegas, McCoy earned a training camp contract with his performance for Milwaukee’s summer league team.
Today’s signing brings the Pelicans up to the 20-player limit for training camp.
In a piece by Brett Martel of the Associated Press, Pelicans star power forward Anthony Davis dismissed the idea that his decision to hire Klutch Sports’ Rich Paul as new representation meant he was setting the stage for a departure from the Big Easy.
That being said, Davis can reach the free agent market in two years and has increasing leverage to control where he plays, so it’s understandable that Pelicans’ fans seemed to become a little paranoid when Davis made a change, especially after Chris Paul left New Orleans in his prime shortly after he changed agents.
Yet, Davis is adamant that the change was more about his personal growth as a player than any indication of his future free agency plans which, given the increasing trend of agencies representing athletes being more involved in player development, makes sense.
“It was just for where I am right now in my career — what I’m trying to do — I thought the change was necessary,” Davis said Monday during media day. “That’s all it was… I’m (in New Orleans). I want to focus on winning this year with the squad that we have. We have a good squad.”
There’s more out of New Orleans:
- In some interesting but not so pressing news, Will Guillory of The Athletic relays that newly-acquired veteran point guard Jarrett Jack has interest in becoming a coach after he retires.
- In a full article for The Athletic, Guillory asks whether free agent acquisition, point guard Elfrid Payton, can overtake Rajon Rondo‘s role with the team and excel in head coach Alvin Gentry‘s guard-friendly, up-tempo system.
- Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com writes that Davis and fellow Kentucky alum Julius Randle are very excited to share the court together this season after mostly competing against each other in pick-up games all summer.
Julius Randle joined the Pelicans this offseason on a two-year deal, one that includes a player option on the second season. Although he can go elsewhere next summer, Randle reiterated that he doesn’t plan on leaving. He wants his move to New Orleans to be a “long-term thing,” Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link) relays.
The power forward will get a chance to play alongside Anthony Davis, a player whose skill set complements Randle nicely. Davis and Nikola Mirotic can both spread the floor, meaning that in most rotations, Randle should find space in the paint. Randle added that he’s in the “perfect situation for a basketball player.”
The Kentucky product played in 238 games for the Lakers after the team took him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 draft. Los Angeles renounced his rights, creating the cap space necessary to sign LeBron James and several other players this past summer.
Randle had arguably his finest season in California during the 2017/18 campaign. He scored a career-high 16.1 points per contest and had a true shooting percentage of 60.6. His player efficiency rating was 19.9.
- As Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com details, Jahlil Okafor said there were a “multitude of reasons” for him to sign with the Pelicans, calling the decision a “no-brainer.” Keith Smith of RealGM.com (Twitter link) hears that New Orleans was comfortable with waiving Emeka Okafor in part due to how good Jahlil has looked. “He’s in amazing shape, and he’s going hard on both ends too,” Smith’s source said. “Seems like he really gets it now.”
Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis has signed with agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, the company announced on Sunday. Klutch Sports represents 20 NBA players, most notably LeBron James, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
As we noted earlier this month, Davis parted ways with longtime agent Thad Foucher and that Paul was the leading candidate to become his new representation. Davis, 25, has two years and $52MM left on his deal with the New Orleans in addition to a $29MM player option for the 2020/21 campaign. It will be key to watch how Davis’ new representation handles the five-year, $235MM max extension he will be eligible for next summer.
In 75 games last season, Davis averaged 28.1 PPG and 11.1 RPG, finishing third in NBA Most Valuable Player voting.
There have been waves of trade speculation surrounding Davis, who could eventually look to join a bigger-market organization if the Pelicans don’t move any closer toward title contention within the next year or two.