Wizards Fire GM Tommy Sheppard
Tommy Sheppard has been dismissed as general manager and president of the Wizards, the team announced in a press release. The move comes after another disappointing season for Washington, which compiled a 35-47 record and failed to qualify for the play-in tournament.
Sheppard, 53, had been with the organization since 2003, starting as vice president of basketball operations. He had served as GM since 2019 when he was promoted to replace Ernie Grunfeld. He received an extension and a promotion to president of basketball operations after the club got off to a strong start in 2021/22.
The Wizards never won more than 35 games in a season under Sheppard’s tenure and they reached the playoffs just once, advancing through the play-in tournament in 2021 before losing to the Sixers in the first round.
“Failure to make the playoffs the last two seasons was very disappointing to our organization and our fans,” owner Ted Leonsis said in a statement explaining the move (Twitter link from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski).
Sheppard’s departure means someone else will handle key financial decisions in what should be an important summer for Washington. Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis are both expected to turn down their player options for next season and test free agency, although Porzingis is involved in extension talks with the team.
The new GM will also try to improve on Sheppard’s performance in the draft, as Washington holds the No. 8 spot heading into next month’s lottery.
Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon and Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly are names to watch as the Wizards launch their search for Sheppard’s replacement, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
The front office shakeup won’t affect Wes Unseld Jr., who just completed his second season as head coach, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who hears from sources that Leonsis remains a strong supporter of Unseld.
Warriors Reportedly “Shocked,” Angry Over Draymond Green’s Suspension
There was surprise and anger when the Warriors learned about Draymond Green‘s suspension for Game 3 of their playoff series with the Kings, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on his latest podcast (hat tip to RealGM).
Green will be forced to sit out Thursday’s game for stepping on Domantas Sabonis while he was lying on the court during the fourth quarter of Game 2. Green was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and was ejected after spending several minutes inciting the Sacramento crowd during a review of the play.
NBA vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars explained on Wednesday that Green’s status as a “repeat offender” factored into the decision to impose a suspension without pay, rather than just a fine. Dumars also cited “excessive and over-the-top actions” and “conduct detrimental (to the league).”
Lowe adds that part of the Warriors’ frustration with the ruling is their feeling that Sabonis has been allowed to be overly physical in the first two games of the series. Golden State players and coaches believe that referees are permitting him to get away with too much, which is why Green reacted in the way that he did.
“There’s a sense in the organization that Sabonis is shoving people on offensive rebounds and playing with his elbows out and using the ball as a weapon on offense,” Lowe said. “So, ‘Of course someone eventually retaliated.’ You can give that any validity you want.”
Speaking today with reporters, coach Steve Kerr admitted being “extremely surprised” by the suspension, tweets Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Green addressed the team during today’s practice, Andrews adds, but Kerr declined to reveal any details (Twitter link).
“There’s no time to spend worrying about it … it doesn’t matter,” Kerr said about the suspension. “We know what the league decided to do and we have to respond accordingly.”
Draymond Green Suspended For Game 3
Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended one game without pay for stepping on the chest of Kings center Domantas Sabonis, according to a league press release (via Twitter). The suspension was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts, per the NBA.
The incident occurred during the fourth quarter of the Kings’ Game 2 victory on Monday. Sabonis underwent X-rays on his sternum after the game, which came back negative.
Green’s actions were in response to Sabonis grabbing and holding Green’s right ankle after falling to the floor. Green received a Flagrant Foul 2 and was ejected, and Sabonis was assessed a technical foul.
Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reported earlier in the day that a fine was more likely than a suspension for Green, tweets that most people around the Warriors and the situation believed on Tuesday that a fine was coming. However, Green’s history helped convince the NBA to dole out a one-game suspension instead.
The suspension for Thursday’s game makes the Warriors’ task much more difficult as they try to avoid a 3-0 deficit in the series. Jonathan Kuminga and Anthony Lamb figure to play more prominent roles and coach Steve Kerr could also explore smaller lineups.
De’Aaron Fox Receives Inaugural Clutch Player Award
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox has been named the inaugural recipient of the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Fox topped the other finalists, the Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan and the Heat’s Jimmy Butler. The award is named after Hall of Famer and Lakers legend Jerry West.
Fox received 91 of 100 first-place votes. according to an NBA press release. He finished with a total of 460 points, far ahead of runner-up Butler, who garnered one first-place votes and 104 points. DeRozan didn’t have any first-place votes while placing third with 77 points. Seven other players received first-place votes but the Warriors’ Stephen Curry was the only one in that group to get two first-place votes.
“When I took the job I didn’t know how consistently he would be in the clutch,” Sacramento coach Mike Brown said of Fox, per NBA.com’s Shaun Powell.
Fox led the league in clutch scoring with a league-best 194 points in 39 games. Clutch time is defined as minutes when the scoring margin is within five points with five or fewer minutes remaining in a game.
Fox shot 52.9 percent from the field and 86.0 percent from the foul line in those situations. He added 20 assists and 10 steals as Sacramento went 22-17 in those close games. That helped the Kings secure the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
DeRozan scored 159 points in 33 games in those situations. He shot 47.1 percent from the field and 89 percent from the foul line while grabbing 30 rebounds and dishing out 16 assists.
Butler also found himself in 33 of those games and scored 151 points. He shot 50.5 percent from the field and 79.1 percent from the free throw line. He added 32 rebounds, 19 assists, six steals and five blocks.
Bulls’ Derrick Jones Plans To Pick Up 2023/24 Player Option
Bulls forward Derrick Jones doesn’t have to officially make a decision on his player option for the 2023/24 season until June, but he tells K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago that he’s “for sure” planning to exercise that option.
Jones signed a two-year, $6.56MM contract with Chicago last summer that includes an opt-out decision after year one. If he opts in, he’d earn a guaranteed $3.36MM salary in ’23/24.
“Like I told coach (Billy Donovan) and everybody else, I’m locked in for two years. I didn’t sign for two years for no reason. So I’m here for two years,” Jones said. “I just gotta sit down with my agent and talk to him, figure things out. But I don’t see why not. I got no other plans, yet.”
Jones, 26, appeared in 64 games for the Bulls this past season, averaging 5.0 points and 2.4 rebounds and shooting .500/.338/.738 in 14.0 minutes per night. With the exception of his three-point percentage, those numbers were all down from the ones he posted during his first year in Chicago in 2021/22. However, he continues to enjoy his time with the organization.
“I just love being with these guys,” Jones told Johnson. “I know my role isn’t always what I want it to be. I’ve been through a few injuries that might’ve set me back a little bit. I feel like a healthy DJ for all 82 is very special. But I feel like I’ve played well when given minutes. I’ve done everything I can do with the role that I was given. Sometimes, I need to be a little more aggressive offensively. But defensively, I just do what I do.”
Given his modest role and production in 2022/23, Jones might only be in line for a minimum-salary contract, which would be worth a projected $2,669,586, if he opts for free agency. Picking up the option would give him a little more financial security, whether or not he’s in the Bulls’ plans going forward (his expiring deal could make him a trade candidate). Still, he believes he’s capable of showing more than he has so far in Chicago, particularly on the defensive end.
“I just love guarding,” Jones said. “That’s one thing I learned in my career: Defense wins championships. I want to be All-Defensive team one day. I feel like I could do it. I just need the right opportunity and proper amount of minutes.”
Jones isn’t the only Bull with a $3.36MM player option for 2023/24. As our list of free agents by team shows, veteran center Andre Drummond will have to make a decision on an identical option.
Sabonis’ X-Rays Negative Following Draymond Stomp, Ejection
With just over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 2 in the Kings/Warriors series on Monday, Draymond Green was assessed with a flagrant foul 2 and was ejected from the game for stomping on Domantas Sabonis‘ chest after the two players got tangled up following a missed Sacramento shot (NBA.com video link).
Sabonis fell to the ground while battling for rebounding position and appeared to grab Green’s leg as he went down. The Kings center was given a technical foul for the play, but remained in the game, which Sacramento won to take a 2-0 series lead.
Sabonis underwent X-rays on his sternum after the game, which came back negative, so he appears to have avoided any major injuries, though he’ll undergo more tests on Tuesday as a precaution, according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews and Adrian Wojnarowski.
“When I fell, I was protecting myself, and then the incident happened,” Sabonis said. “There is no room for that in our game today.”
For his part, Green told reporters that having his leg held by Sabonis made it impossible not to come down on the Kings All-Star.
“My leg got grabbed — the second time in two nights — and the referee is just watching,” Green said, per ESPN. “I got to land my foot somewhere, and I’m not the most flexible person, so it’s not stretching that far. … I can only step so far with someone pulling my leg away … I guess ankle grabbing is OK.”
A source tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link) that Green also requested an X-ray after Game 2 after feeling soreness in his right ankle.
According to Spears, Green believes he hurt his ankle when he got grabbed by Sabonis, though he showed no ill effects in the immediate aftermath of the play as he stood on a chair while the call was being reviewed and egged on Kings fans, who were chanting “Draymond sucks” (Twitter video link via Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento).
The NBA figures to take a closer look at the fourth-quarter sequence to determine whether any additional punishment – such as a fine or suspension – is warranted. Kings coach Mike Brown said on Monday night that he was “curious” about the outcome of that review, as Andrews notes in ESPN’s story.
More Details On New CBA
Several interesting details for the new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBA and the NBPA have emerged on Monday.
Sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that players on two-way contracts will have the ability to negotiate with teams to guarantee half of their salaries on the first day of the regular season. Currently, two-way players are on mostly non-guaranteed contracts worth half the minimum salary — a little over $500K for a rookie.
According to Charania, players who sign Exhibit 10 training camp deals will be getting a significant increase in bonus pay. Those players are currently eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if they’re waived before the regular season starts and spend at least 60 days with a team’s G League affiliate — in the new CBA, that bonus is worth $75K. As Charania notes, that change will impact roughly 60% of players in the NBA G League.
Charania provides additional context (Twitter links) to a few previously reported items as well. The room mid-level exception, which is increasing in value by 30% beyond its standard rise, will now cover three years instead of two.
The contract value of the new second-round pick exception can be worth up to the equivalent of the minimum for a third-year player — that would be $1,836,090 for 2022/23, whereas a rookie minimum is worth $1,017,781. The new exception can be used to sign contracts that cover up to four years.
[RELATED: Running List Of Changes In NBA’s New Collective Bargaining Agreement]
Finally, for players to be eligible for end-of-season awards, it was previously reported that they would have to log at least 20 minutes in at least 63 games for them to count toward the minimum of 65 games played. They would be permitted to play between 15-20 minutes in two games and still have them count toward the minimum of 65. According to Charania, there are also protections against season-ending injuries (62-game minimum instead of 65), and unspecified “bad faith circumstances.”
Here are some more CBA updates:
- Starting in 2024/25, teams below the salary cap floor — currently 90% of the cap — on the first day of the regular season will not receive a tax distribution from the league’s taxpaying teams, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). This is a pretty huge change, as it is penalizing teams with excess cap room, not just taxpayers. The Spurs and Pacers would have missed out on an estimated $15.2MM tax distribution payment this season if the new rule had been in effect, Marks notes.
- In the current CBA, if a player declines a player option in conjunction with a new contract extension, the first year of an extension has to at least match the declined option. For example, Bogdan Bogdanovic signed a four-year extension and the first year was required to match his declined $18MM option for 2023/24. However, sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link) that players will be able to decline their options and sign extensions starting with a first-year value below the declined option in the new CBA, giving both teams and players a little more negotiating flexibility.
- In a current simultaneous trade, a taxpaying team can take back 125% of the outgoing salary, plus $100K. Starting in 2023/24, that will be reduced to 110% for teams over either the first or the second tax apron, and in ’24/25, that will be cut back to 100%, Marks tweets. As an example, the Kevin Durant trade from February would not have been permitted under the new changes.
- It was previously reported that teams over the second tax apron would be unable to trade their first-round pick seven years in the future. According to Tim Bontemps and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links), if those teams continue to exceed the second apron twice in the following four years, their draft pick will fall to the end of the first round. However, if the teams are under the second apron in three of the next four years, the first-round pick becomes “unfrozen” and able to be traded, sources tell Bontemps and Marks. The rule will start in ’24/25, Bontemps adds.
- The new in-season tournament, which will award $500K to players on the winning team, will also include prize money for players on teams that make the quarterfinals ($50K per player on losing teams), semifinals ($100K per player on losing teams), and lose in the finals ($200K per player), report Wojnarowski and Marks (Twitter link).
- Eric Pincus of Sports Business Classroom hears there will be a limit on how many players on minimum contracts can be aggregated in trades, though he doesn’t specify details (Twitter links). Pincus adds that the change will only apply to the offseason and before most free agents become trade-eligible on December 15.
Jaren Jackson Jr. Named Defensive Player Of Year
Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. has been named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, the NBA on TNT tweets. Jackson received 56 of the 100 first-place votes, according to an NBA press release.
The Bucks’ Brook Lopez and Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley were the other finalists. Lopez was the runner-up, notching 31 first-place votes while Mobley received eight. Draymond Green (3) and Bam Adebayo (1) also received first-place votes and finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Joel Embiid claimed the final first-place vote, though the Sixers star finished ninth overall, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, OG Anunoby, and Jrue Holiday. Nic Claxton, Alex Caruso, and Jimmy Butler also appeared on at least one ballot.
Jackson led the NBA in blocks per game (3.0) and also averaged one steal in 63 regular-season appearances for the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed. He had a career-best 2.0 Defensive Box Plus/Minus rating and a 3.8 Defensive Win Shares rating, ranking him among the top 10 in the league in both categories.
Lopez averaged a career-high 2.5 blocks while serving as the defensive anchor for the Eastern Conference’s top seed. His total of 193 blocks in 78 games led the league during the regular season.
Mobley averaged 1.5 blocks per game and, along with Jarrett Allen, anchored a defense that limited opponents to a NBA-low 106.9 points per game.
The Celtics’ Marcus Smart scored a rare victory for a guard when he won the award last season. Rudy Gobert won it as a member of the Jazz three of the previous four years. Antetokounmpo won it during the pandemic-shortened 2019/20 season.
Among active players, Green (2016/17 season) and Kawhi Leonard (2014/15 and 2015/16) have also earned the honor.
2023 NBA Draft Tiebreaker Results
Tiebreakers among teams with identical regular-season records were broken on Monday through random drawings to determine the order for this year’s draft prior to the lottery.
The results of the drawings were as follows:
- The Rockets (No. 2) won a tiebreaker with the Spurs (No. 3).
- Note: The lottery odds remain the same for both teams. The Rockets will draft ahead of the Spurs if neither lands in the top four.
- The Pacers (No. 7) won a tiebreaker with the Wizards (No. 8).
- Note: The Pacers will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Wizards.
- The Bulls (No. 11) won a tiebreaker with the Thunder (No. 12).
- Note: The Bulls will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Thunder. Chicago’s pick will be conveyed to the Magic if it doesn’t move into the top four.
- Note: The Bulls will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Thunder. Chicago’s pick will be conveyed to the Magic if it doesn’t move into the top four.
- The Heat (No. 18) won a tiebreaker with the Warriors (No. 19, who won a tiebreaker with the Clippers (No. 20).
- Note: The Clippers’ pick will be conveyed to the Rockets.
- The Suns (No. 21) won a tiebreaker with the Nets (No. 22).
- Note: The result is negligible for the first round, since the Suns’ pick was traded to the Nets.
- The Grizzlies (No. 25) won a tiebreaker with the Cavaliers (No. 26).
- Note: The Cavaliers’ pick will be conveyed to the Pacers.
In the case of tiebreakers, second round order is the reverse of first round order except for the lottery teams. In that case, the second-round order could still change, depending on which team finishes higher in the lottery.
In the case of the three-way tie at 18-20, the Clippers will pick first in the second round at No. 48, followed by the Warriors at No. 49 and the Heat at No. 50. Golden State’s pick has been traded to the Cavaliers, while Miami’s pick will be conveyed to the Thunder or Pacers, depending on the lottery results.
The tiebreaker between the Rockets and Spurs didn’t decide which team gets the Rockets’ second-round pick, which is top-32 protected. It will be conveyed to either the Pacers or Celtics once the lottery is conducted.
Tyler Herro Breaks Hand; Giannis Injures Back
8:10pm: Herro broke the middle and ring finger on his shooting hand and is expected to be out appropriately four-to-six weeks, Chris Haynes of TNT tweets.
7:39pm: X-rays on Antetokounmpo’s back came back “clear,” according to Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, Jamal Collier of ESPN tweets. “We’ll monitor him and see how he wakes up tomorrow,” Budenholzer said.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra confirmed Herro will miss the remainder of the playoffs, Darnell Mayberry of ESPN tweets.
6:38pm: Heat guard Tyler Herro suffered a broken right hand in Game 1 of the Heat‘s series against the Bucks, Marc Spears of ESPN tweets. Herro’s injury occurred late in the first half while diving for a loose ball.
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo left Sunday’s game earlier in the half due to a lower back contusion, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Antetokounmpo suffered his injury when he crashed into Miami forward Kevin Love while driving to the basket.
Herro’s injury most likely is a season-ender, no matter how far the Heat might advance. Herro averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists during the regular season. He’s a 38.3 percent career 3-point shooter.
In 40 career playoff games, he has averaged 14.0 points. Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson figure to play more prominent roles in his absence.
Herro’s four-year, $120MM contract extension kicks in next season. Herro scored 12 points prior to the injury.
Antetokounmpo’s injury could be an even bigger development, depending on his ability to return for the remainder of the series. He had six points in 11 minutes before he was declared out for the game.