Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. Cleared To Return
Grizzlies forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. will be available to play on Friday in a showdown vs. the East-leading Cavaliers, the team announced today (Twitter link).
As William Guillory of The Athletic tweets, head coach Taylor Jenkins initially told reporters that Jackson, who has missed the past five games due to an ankle sprain, would be a game-time decision. The big man went through his pregame warmups without any setbacks, clearing the way for him to return to action.
Jackson was initially said to be “week-to-week” as a result of his sprained ankle, so the fact that he’s back just 10 days after that announcement is good news for the Grizzlies, who are battling for playoff position. The club is currently No. 2 in the Western Conference at 42-24.
While the Grizzlies played well during Jackson’s absence, winning four of five games, they’ll certainly be happy to have their leading scorer and defensive anchor back in the lineup. Memphis has a +9.0 net rating this season when the 25-year-old is on the court compared to a +1.4 mark when he’s not.
Jackson’s return also bodes well for his award eligibility. He needs to play at least 20 minutes in seven more games to meet the 65-game minimum and qualify for All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year consideration. He’s considered a strong candidate for both awards, either of which would make him eligible for a super-max contract extension this offseason.
Wolves Didn’t Offer Jaden McDaniels In Kevin Durant Trade Talks
The Timberwolves were aggressive in trying to land Kevin Durant before last month’s trade deadline, but their offers to the Suns didn’t include Anthony Edwards or Jaden McDaniels, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Scotto’s sources say Minnesota wanted to build the deal around power forward Julius Randle and shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo, both of whom were acquired from New York last October in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.
The Wolves are expected to continue their pursuit of Durant this summer, but Randle would have to pick up his $30.9MM player option before he could be included in trade talks. Scotto notes that Minnesota has won the last 11 games in which Randle has played, while DiVincenzo, who is signed through the 2026/27 season, is shooting 39.4% from three-point range and averaging a career-best 3.7 assists per game.
It’s worth noting that the Wolves were operating more than $16MM above the second tax apron and Durant’s $51.2MM salary is about $7MM more than Randle and DiVincenzo combined, so they would have needed to trim over $20MM in additional salary to make the deal possible, since teams above the second apron can’t aggregate salaries.
Assuming Rudy Gobert was also off the table, Minnesota would have needed to part with either Naz Reid and Mike Conley or Reid and several lower-paid players. At least one additional team would have been necessary because Phoenix is also over the second apron and couldn’t take back more salary than it sent out in any deal.
Any version of the trade would have been difficult to complete without including McDaniels’ $23MM salary. The 24-year-old forward is averaging 12.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season and is an important part of Minnesota’s defense.
The Suns expressed interest in Reid during trade talks, sources tell Scotto. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year has a $15MM player option for next season that he’s expected to decline, but the Wolves intend to sign him to a long-term deal, Scotto’s sources add.
Mat Ishbia: Suns Won’t Trade Devin Booker
Major changes could be coming to the Suns this summer, but they won’t include a trade of Devin Booker, team owner Mat Ishbia told Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Ishbia admits the team has fallen far short of expectations as it faces a desperate race to overtake Dallas and sneak into the play-in tournament as the 10th seed. But even if Phoenix misses out on the postseason, Ishbia plans to rebuild around the 28-year-old guard rather than consider trade offers.
“Never happen,” Ishbia said about the possibility of parting with Booker. “It’s silly. So here’s what I’ll tell you: I have Devin Booker in the prime. In order to win an NBA championship, you got to have a superstar. You got to have a great player.”
Sources tell MacMahon that the Rockets have made several calls about Booker, but have failed to gain any traction. Houston is uniquely positioned to leverage a deal, holding swap rights for the Suns’ first-round pick this year, along with the team’s unprotected first-rounders in 2027 and 2029. All those assets were originally sent to Brooklyn in the Durant trade two years ago.
Booker is likewise committed to staying in Phoenix and has no plans to request a trade, according to MacMahon. He went through four extreme losing seasons early in his career before helping turn the Suns into a winner and eventually reaching the Finals in 2021. He’s ready to repeat that process and wants to spend his entire career with one franchise. He has shared his intentions with Ishbia, CEO Josh Bartlestein and general manager James Jones, MacMahon adds.
“I take pride in the community in Phoenix, the people that have supported me since I was 18 when things were ugly,” Booker said. “And the people that are with us, we just fell short of accomplishing what we want. So I want to do it, and I want to do it here. That’s the responsibility of being a franchise player, and I wear that with honor. So it might not look the most pretty right now, but we got to get it done and I’m going to do it.”
There’s far less certainty surrounding Kevin Durant, who’s widely expected to be on the move this summer. Durant admitted being “blindsided” when his name came up in trade talks before last month’s deadline, and there’s heavy speculation that he’ll want to continue his career somewhere else next season. Durant, who will turn 37 in September, has one year left on his contract at $54.7MM.
A potential deal with the Warriors died when Durant said he didn’t want to return to the Bay Area. Sources tell MacMahon that Phoenix also discussed frameworks of Durant trades with the Timberwolves, Heat and Rockets, with some of those sources pointing to the Knicks as a possible fit. Houston officials told ESPN that the Suns called them to gauge their interest in Durant.
MacMahon’s sources said Suns management will consult with Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman on any trade discussions that take place this summer. Durant will be eligible to sign a two-year, $122MM extension with his new team.
Ishbia indicated that a Durant trade will be one of many strategies the front office plans to explore once the season ends.
“I’ll just say that we’re going to evaluate in the offseason,” Ishbia said. “We’re going to find a way to win, and it’s probably a lot easier winning with Kevin Durant than without him. But at the same time, yes, if we’re not good enough in this iteration of the Phoenix Suns, we’re going to find a way to be better next year. “
Bradley Beal, who was reluctant to waive his no-trade clause to help the Suns complete a deal for Jimmy Butler, suggested to MacMahon that he might be more open to changing teams during the offseason. Beal, who was demoted to a bench role in January and February, feels like he has been disrespected at times.
“It is a different deal in the summer,” he said. “Everything is kind of more laid out on the table. You got more options.”
De’Aaron Fox To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery
Spurs star point guard De’Aaron Fox is undergoing season-ending surgery on Tuesday for his pinkie finger, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The decision had been expected, as we relayed earlier in the month.
Fox is dealing with tendon damage in the finger. As Charania clarifies in a follow-up tweet, the injury occurred during training camp, but the veteran guard had played through the injury to this point.
The decision to have the surgery now was made to speed up the healing process, per Charania, and to get the injured Spurs stars on a similar recovery timeline to establish better chemistry in the offseason. Superstar center Victor Wembanyama is out for the season due to deep vein thrombosis.
The Spurs, at 27-37, are 4.5 games out of the play-in picture. Not having Fox and Wembanyama obviously reduces their chances of making the postseason. However, they just beat the 10th-place Mavericks and have multiple games against projected lottery teams in the coming weeks, so the door isn’t entirely closed yet.
With Fox on the shelf, point guard Chris Paul is likely to receive an uptick in minutes. The Spurs may also opt to spread Fox’s minutes across younger players on the roster, with Stephon Castle potentially having a shot at a starting role. Former first-round picks Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley could get minutes after being out of the rotation, or the Spurs might opt to play veteran point guard Jordan McLaughlin more.
The Spurs acquired Fox at the trade deadline after the Kings decided to make him available. He averaged 19.7 points and 6.8 assists per game in 17 appearances (all starts) with the team. His 19.7 PPG scoring average would have been his lowest since his 2018/19 season, but it’s important to note that he was still rounding into form and only briefly overlapped with Wembanyama. In his most recent outing against Dallas, Fox recorded 32 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.
Paul George Weighing Treatment Options For Injuries
Sixers forward Paul George is meeting with doctors this week to determine the best course of action to treat his groin and knee injuries, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that surgery is among the options being considered.
A decision on which path to take is expected to be made early next week, sources tell Charania.
While he hasn’t yet been formally ruled out for the remainder of 2024/25 like Joel Embiid was, Charania reports that “George is likely headed down the same route,” so he is unlikely to suit up again this season.
George, 34, has missed Philadelphia’s past four games with a left groin injury. During preseason, he hyperextended his left knee, causing him to miss the first five games of the season, then had a similar injury in November, which cost him three more games. He has also been battling tendon damage in his left pinky finger since January.
About a month ago, Charania reported that George had been receiving painkilling injections to deal with his various injuries, which the nine-time All-Star later confirmed.
George has been limited to 41 games this season due to the aforementioned injuries and hasn’t replicated his typical production when he has played, averaging just 16.2 points per contest, his lowest mark in a full season since ’11/12. His three-point percentage (.358) is also well below his career rate (.383).
George, who has made six All-NBA and four All-Defensive appearances in 15 seasons, signed a four-year, maximum-salary contract with the 76ers as a free agent last summer. Philadelphia entered the season with championship aspirations, but has consistently been at the bottom of the standings in ’24/25, starting out 2-12. After dropping 15 of their past 18 games, the Sixers are currently just 22-43.
The Sixers’ 2025 first-round pick will head to Oklahoma City if it drops outside the top six, but they’ll keep the selection if it lands within the protected range (Nos. 1-6). Philadelphia is currently tied with Brooklyn for the fifth-worst record in the NBA.
Wizards’ Coulibaly Out 4-6 Weeks With Hamstring Strain
Second-year forward Bilal Coulibaly sustained a right hamstring injury in the first quarter of Monday’s game vs. Toronto and will miss about four-to-six weeks, the Wizards announced in a press release (Twitter link).
According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter links), Wizards officials say Coulibaly was diagnosed with a hamstring strain after undergoing an MRI.
While he hasn’t been formally ruled out for the rest of the season, Washington’s schedule concludes on April 13 — four-and-a-half weeks from now — and the team says the injury will be treated conservatively. Reading between the lines, Coulibaly has likely played his last game of ’24/25.
The injury, which was original labeled a hip contusion, will not require surgery, per Robbins. Coulibaly is expected to remain with the Wizards as he recuperates, Robbins adds.
Coulibaly was the seventh overall pick of the 2023 draft after playing with friend Victor Wembanyama on Metropolitans 92 in France during the ’22/23 campaign. He was one of the youngest players in the class, as he didn’t turn 19 until a month after he was selected.
Coulibaly averaged 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks in 59 games during his second season. He started each appearance, averaging 33.0 MPG, with a shooting slash line of .421/.281/.746.
It’s a disappointing likely end to Coulibaly’s season, particularly after his rookie campaign also ended prematurely due to injury — he sustained a right wrist fracture last March, ultimately appearing in 63 games in ’23/24.
Coulibaly, who won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics as a role player for France, was named to the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend this season. While his efficiency took a hit in ’24/25 due to a more difficult shot profile, the Wizards reportedly remain bullish on his upside.
Grizzlies Sign Lamar Stevens For Rest Of Season
The Grizzlies have signed forward Lamar Stevens for the remainder of the 2024/25 season, the team announced today in a press release (via Twitter).
Stevens just spent the past 20 days with Memphis on a pair of back-to-back 10-day contracts. The 27-year-old has appeared in six games this season with the Grizzlies, averaging 4.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per contest.
Prior to his promotion, Stevens had been playing in the G League with the Motor City Cruise. In 29 combined games for Detroit’s NBAGL affiliate in ’24/25, Stevens averaged 17.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.4 blocks in 34.0 minutes, with a shooting slash line of .438/.328/.744.
A five-year veteran, Stevens got his NBA start with Cleveland after going undrafted out of Penn State in 2020. He spent his first three seasons with the Cavs, then played for the Celtics and Grizzlies last season.
While the Grizzlies elected not to re-sign Stevens in the 2024 offseason, clearly they still like his game, since he’s back to conclude ’24/25. He’ll provide energy, toughness and solid defense off the bench for a team hoping to make a deep playoff run.
Stevens will continue to occupy the 15th spot on the Grizzlies’ standard roster, which is now full.
Jaden Ivey Ruled Out For Remainder Of Regular Season
Any hope that Pistons starting guard Jaden Ivey would return prior to the end of the regular season was almost certainly dashed by the latest medical update provided by the club.
Ivey’s rehabilitation from a broken fibula has progressed to “weight-bearing strengthening exercises, running progression activity and stationary shooting,” the team’s PR department tweets. The next update regarding his rehab will be updated in four weeks. The regular season ends in four-and-a-half weeks, on April 13.
As of the previous update, issued on Feb. 6, Ivey had transitioned to a walking boot and had begun light weight-bearing activity.
While there may a window for Ivey’s return if the Pistons advance deep into the playoffs, it seems safe to assume his regular season, at least, is over. Ivey underwent surgery on Jan. 2 after Magic guard Cole Anthony fell on his left leg the previous night while the two guards were battling for a loose ball.
The No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Ivey had been enjoying his best season as a pro so far in ’24/25, establishing new career highs in points (17.6) and rebounds (4.1) per game, as well as field goal percentage (46.0%) and three-point percentage (40.9%). He started all 30 games he played, averaging 29.9 minutes per night.
Detroit has already picked up its $10.1MM option on Ivey’s contract for next season. He’s eligible for a rookie scale extension during the offseason — it remains to be seen how the injury might impact those future negotiations.
Thibodeau Denies Having Conversation With Bridges About Starters’ Minutes
Knicks forward Mikal Bridges, the NBA’s leader in total minutes played this season, said on Wednesday that he has spoken to head coach Tom Thibodeau about the idea of dialing back the starters’ minutes to some extent and leaning more on the bench. Asked later in the day about that discussion, Thibodeau denied that it happened.
“We never had a conversation about it,” Thibodeau told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of The New York Post and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
Bridges, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby are all among the top six in the NBA in terms of minutes per game, with Hart and Bridges occupying the top two spots on that leaderboard. Jalen Brunson ranks 19th, while Karl-Anthony Towns is 24th. Thibodeau, who has faced criticism over the years for the heavy workloads he assigns his top players, defended his approach ahead of Wednesday’s game in Portland.
“The facts are the facts. When you look at our team, and the way it works, Jalen plays 35 minutes, and I think he’s 20th or 21st in average minutes played,” Thibodeau said. “(Towns), who is a primary scorer, plays less than Jalen. He’s like 25th in the league in average minutes.
“Your wings play more, right? They’re matched up with primary scorers. The way it works, if Jayson Tatum is in the game or Jaylen Brown is in the game, OG will be in the game and Mikal will be in the game. When those guys go out, (our) guys go out. When they come back, (our guys) come back. We try to keep them matched up. If you look at the league, all those guys are playing 36, 37 minutes — whether it’s Durant, Tatum, Brown. The wings are going to play more. They are primary wings defenders. That’s the way it works.”
Thibodeau also pointed out that Bridges’ minutes have come down as of late. The veteran forward played 39.3 minutes per night through his first 35 games of the season; entering Wednesday, he had averaged 35.5 MPG in his previous 21 outings. While Wednesday’s contest vs. the Trail Blazers represented the seventh time Bridges has played 40-plus minutes since February 1, five of those games went to overtime.
According to Thibodeau, his starters’ playing time will likely remain a little below where it was during the first couple months of the season because the reserves are healthier at this point, with Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet among those now playing rotation roles.
“We’ve started the season with Landry hurt and (Miles McBride) not 100 percent. So our wings did play more,” Thibodeau said. “So are they playing a little bit more than I would like? Yeah. Probably 35 or 36 (minutes), and that’s where Mikal is if you look at the last 10 games — he’s playing 35 minutes per game and four of those games are overtime games. So that’s the reality. Now that Deuce is healthy, those minutes are going to come down. So that’s the way it is.”
Although Thibodeau didn’t sound thrilled to have to revisit the discourse about his player usage, the day ended on a positive note for both him and Bridges, who scored a team-high 33 points on 13-of-21 shooting and nailed a buzzer-beating three-pointer in overtime to give the Knicks a 114-113 win (Twitter video link).
“He was huge, huge,” Thibodeau said, per Edwards.
Former NBA Center Oliver Miller Dies At 54
Longtime NBA center Oliver Miller has sadly passed away at just 54, according to the National Basketball Retired Players Association (Twitter link).
No official cause of death has been revealed, but Miller tweeted late last month that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Miller was selected with the No. 22 overall pick out of Arkansas by the Suns in 1992. As a rookie, he became a critical bench player during MVP Charles Barkley‘s inaugural season in Phoenix, when the club advanced to the 1993 NBA Finals. The team lost in six games to Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen‘s Bulls, who were capping off their first three-peat.
Across a nine-season NBA career, Miller suited up for the Pistons, Raptors, Mavericks, and Kings before returning to Phoenix for the 1999/2000 season. In his 493 career NBA regular season appearances (193 starts), the 6’9″ pro recorded averages of 7.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
Between 2000-03, Miller enjoyed non-NBA pro stints in Greece, Poland, Puerto Rico, and China, along with the USBL and then-D League stateside.
Miller returned to the NBA, briefly, for the 2003/04 season, where he suited up for the Western Conference Finals-bound Timberwolves. He intermittently hopped around the D League and USBL from 2004-10 before calling it a career.
Hoops Rumors sends its deepest condolences to Miller’s family and friends.