Gary Payton II Expected To Make Blazers Debut Monday
Gary Payton II is expected to make his Trail Blazers debut on Monday. He is not listed on the team’s injury report for their home game against Detroit (Twitter link).
Payton signed a three-year, $26MM contract with the Trail Blazers as an unrestricted free agent in July, then had core muscle surgery during the offseason. Payton was a key rotation player on the Warriors’ championship team and the Blazers anticipate that he’ll serve a similar role behind Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons.
Payton, 30, struggled to find a team that would give him a steady role until he emerged as a defensive force for Golden State. He averaged 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 71 regular season games, including 16 starts. He also appeared in 12 postseason games, including a pair of starts. Payton also played for Milwaukee, the Lakers and Washington but never appeared in more than 29 games the previous five seasons.
Portland could use the boost, as it used an eight-man rotation in its last game due to illness and injuries. Justise Winslow won’t play on Monday due to a left ankle sprain while starting center Jusuf Nurkic and reserves Keon Johnson and Greg Brown are listed as questionable due to illness.
Nate McMillan Responds To Resignation Rumors
Shortly after Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Friday that Hawks head coach Nate McMillan had “strongly considered” the possibility of resigning from his position, McMillan met with reporters for a pregame press conference ahead of the team’s matchup with the Lakers. Predictably, the first question he received focused on Charania’s report.
“I read that article briefly,” McMillan responded (Twitter video link via Brad Rowland). “I’ve never spoken to that reporter before. I think the last two weeks, he’s written a couple articles with some sources in our organization that are making some comments about me and some things that I’m saying and doing.”
Earlier in December, Charania also received a byline (along with Sam Amick) on a story about a verbal confrontation between McMillan and star Trae Young, which is presumably the other report McMillan was referring to.
“Look, at the end of the year, I’ll do as I’ll always done,” McMillan continued. “At the end of the season, I talk with my family and see if I still have that flame, that fire to continue next season. But that’s the end of the season. All of us think about retiring. But that’s at the end of the season.
“We’re going to move on past that, that story. We have a (playoff) race to prepare for. We’re trying to get our guys healthy and make another run at the playoffs. But the things that were reported — look, I’m here to coach this team and I’ve talked to (team owner) Tony (Ressler) many times. Our goal is to make the playoffs and that’s what we’re working towards.
After concluding his statement, McMillan waited a beat and jokingly added, “So we’ve squashed that, right?”
While it sounds like McMillan doesn’t intend to step down from his position anytime soon, his comments probably won’t quell speculation about his long-term future in Atlanta. Charania wrote that McMillan “appears to be near the end of his tenure with the Hawks after the season,” suggesting that either the head coach or the team (or both) may want to move on in the spring. That still sounds like a very real possibility.
Of course, winning solves a lot of problems, so if McMillan can replicate his second-half success from the last two seasons, perhaps his future will look a whole lot different a few months from now. McMillan, who took over for Lloyd Pierce midway through the 2020/21 campaign, led the team to a 27-11 record and two playoff series wins that year. In ’21/22, following a 17-25 start, Atlanta went 26-14 the rest of the way and won a pair of play-in games to secure a postseason berth.
This season, following a splashy summer trade for Dejounte Murray, the Hawks are once again off to a slow start. The club has lost three games in a row and nine of its last 13 to drop its overall record to 17-19. Atlanta holds the No. 9 seed in the East and is only ahead of the No. 11 Raptors by a single game.
Ham On Anthony Davis: “His Pain Has Just About Dissipated”
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham provided an encouraging update on the status of injured star Anthony Davis on Friday, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link).
“The biggest thing is, his pain has just about dissipated,” Ham said, adding that Davis was trending in a positive direction as far as a possible ramp-up to return to action.
According to Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link), Davis told reporters that he has multiple injuries in his foot, including a bone spur and a stress reaction, but the latter is what has been causing him pain and it has been healing well with rest. Davis added that he has been encouraged by the recovery process, tweets McMenamin.
Davis also said he would “probably” have the bone spur surgically repaired in the offseason, Goon notes (via Twitter).
The 29-year-old big man sustained the stress reaction in a win over Denver on November 16.
There were mixed reports as far as possible timetable for Davis’ return in the aftermath of the injury. Shams Charania of The Athletic wrote that he would be out for at least a month, but Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said the Lakers planned to reevaluate Davis in a week-to-10 days because his pain was subsiding. That was seven days ago.
While the updates from Ham and Davis are certainly positive, it has already been two weeks since he last played, and it’s hard to say how much additional time he’ll miss. The Lakers were vague in their initial press release regarding the injury and there wasn’t even a rough timetable given today.
The Lakers’ season basically hinges on how quickly Davis can recover. They have gone 2-5 since he went down and now hold a 14-21 record, trailing the Warriors by three-and-a-half games for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
Davis was having an outstanding season prior to his latest injury, averaging 27.4 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.3 SPG and 2.1 BPG while shooting a career-high 59.4% from the field and 82.6% from the charity stripe. His impact is felt on both ends of the court, but the team’s defense in particular has absolutely cratered without the eight-time All-Star.
Hawks’ Nate McMillan Has Considered Resigning
Hawks head coach Nate McMillan has “strongly considered” the possibility of resigning from his position, league sources with knowledge of the situation tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Charania’s report comes just weeks after he and Sam Amick of The Athletic described a verbal confrontation between McMillan and Hawks star Trae Young. McMillan’s job security came into question following that incident, per Charania, but sources tell The Athletic that his job has been considered safe and the team wants him to finish the season in his role.
However, McMillan “appears to be near the end of his tenure with the Hawks after the season,” Charania writes, which presumably means the club is mulling the idea of making a coaching change in the spring — if McMillan hasn’t stepped down before then.
Sources tell The Athletic that no McMillan resignation is imminent and that he and new head of basketball operations Landry Fields have had positive recent conversations about the direction of the team.
Still, Charania points to the alleged confrontation between McMillan and Young as a sign of the “disconnect” between the two. Given that Young is in the first season of a five-year, $215MM contract, he’s unlikely to be the odd man out if the franchise ultimately has to make a decision between its head coach and its star player.
As Charania observes, McMillan spoke last week about the challenges of coaching today’s players, telling reporters, “They see the game different than when I played it and when I started coaching.”
The Hawks hoped to take a major step forward this year after trading for Dejounte Murray over the summer, but it has been up and down season in Atlanta so far. The team has an underwhelming 17-18 record and ranks ninth in the Eastern Conference.
McMillan was initially hired in 2020 by Travis Schlenk, first as an assistant, then as Lloyd Pierce‘s replacement in 2021. Schlenk transitioned last week from Atlanta’s president of basketball operations to a senior advisory role.
According to Charania, the Hawks made some other changes to their front office while reassigning Schlenk and promoting Fields — senior adviser Rod Higgins, director of pro scouting Stephen Giles, and VP of player personnel Derek Pierce were all let go, sources tell The Athletic. It remains to be seen whether a coaching shake-up will follow the one that occurred in the front office.
Cavaliers, Nuggets In Market For Wing Help
The Cavaliers and Nuggets are among the teams expected to peruse the trade market for help on the wing in the coming weeks, according to a pair of reports.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe (insider link) says league sources expect Cleveland to seek another short-term option on the wing, while Sam Amick of The Athletic cites sources who say the Nuggets will be looking for at least one wing to help bolster their bench.
Lowe’s report on the Cavaliers comes as no surprise, given that the club has long been thought to be in the market for a wing. With Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the frontcourt and Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland in the backcourt, a three-and-D wing who can make shots on offense and lock down opposing perimeter threats would be an ideal fit for the Cavs.
Cleveland has some solid defensive wings on the roster, but players like Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens don’t offer much offensively. Caris LeVert, meanwhile, is a career 33.4% three-point shooter who isn’t an especially stout defender.
As for the Nuggets, Amick says the goal is to get “longer, more athletic, versatile, defensive-minded, and bigger” on the wing. The “dream scenario,” he adds, would be to find another player with a similar skill set to Aaron Gordon, who is enjoying the best year of his career in Denver.
While it doesn’t hurt to aim high, it seems unlikely that the Nuggets will be able to land that sort of impact player, given their relative lack of trade assets. They’ve already moved three future first-round picks and don’t have many logical salary-matching pieces — only six players on the roster are earning more than $5MM (Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Bruce Brown) and none of them are good bets to be moved this season.
Denver could potentially acquire a mid-level type player by building a package around Ish Smith and his $4.7MM expiring salary.
Lore, A-Rod On Track To Buy Next 20% Stake In Timberwolves
The plan for Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez to succeed Glen Taylor as the controlling owners of the Timberwolves continues to move forward, according to Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic, who report that Lore and Rodriguez have exercised their option to buy another 20% of the team.
When Lore and Rodriguez reached an agreement with Taylor in the spring of 2021, the succession plan called for the new owners to initially come aboard as minority stakeholders with a 20% share of the franchise. The duo had until the end of 2022 to exercise an option to purchase another 20%, bringing their total stake in the club to 40%.
Now that Lore and A-Rod have exercised that option, they’ll have until March 15 to formally close on their second 20%, according to Krawczynski and Charania.
The final stage of the ownership change would see Lore and A-Rod exercise an option to buy another 40% of the team by December 31, 2023. Assuming that happens, the duo would then control 80% of the Timberwolves. Sources tell The Athletic that the plan is for Taylor to retain a 20% stake after giving up majority control of the team.
A report in August raised questions about whether Rodriguez had the liquidity necessary to contribute his half of the purchasing price and suggested that the deal could be in jeopardy, but it appears it’s still moving forward as planned.
As Krawczynski and Charania point out, Taylor would have the right to nix the succession plan and retain Lore and Rodriguez as limited shareholders if they miss either of the next two payments. However, the buyers have expressed confidence that those payments remain on track to be completed, per The Athletic’s report.
According to Krawczynski and Charania, Lore and Rodriguez have recruited other investors to join their Purple Buyers Holdings LLC, and should be in good position to bring in more if they need to do so. The recent $4 billion valuation the Suns received as part of their sale to Mat Ishbia was good news for Lore and A-Rod, since the Wolves – who are selling at a $1.5 billion valuation – look like a bargain by comparison.
Once they control 40% of the franchise, Lore and A-Rod will have invested $600MM in the Wolves, with another $600MM to come. The duo has already been involved in front office and personnel decisions in preparation of assuming majority control in another year.
Raptors Waive Justin Champagnie
Raptors small forward Justin Champagnie has been waived by the team, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). The club officially confirmed the move in a press release.
An injury after training camp seemed to kill Champagnie’s chances of making the club’s rotation, Murphy observes. He appeared in just three games for Toronto this year.
Champagnie’s contract was only partially guaranteed for $825K. Toronto would have owed the 6’6″ swingman the entirety of his $1,637,966 contract for 2022/23 if he had remained on the roster beyond January 1, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.
Murphy believes Champagnie has a good chance to join another club on a two-way deal at some point this season. Since making his NBA debut in October 2021, the former Pitt standout has appeared in 39 games for Toronto, averaging 2.2 PPG and 1.9 RPG across just 7.5 MPG.
With Champagnie coming off their books, the Raptors now have an available spot on their 15-man standard roster. Murphy adds that, thanks to that opening, Toronto will have more flexibility when discussing trades and will be in better position to consider 10-day signings. As we outlined earlier this week, teams can begin signing players to 10-day contracts as of January 5.
NBA Suspends Two Pistons Players, Nine Magic Players For Roles In Fracas
The NBA has suspended two Pistons players and nine Magic players for their roles in an altercation during the second quarter of Wednesday’s game, the league has announced (Twitter link).
Pistons guard Killian Hayes was given the harshest punishment, a three-game suspension without pay. Magic center Moritz Wagner has been suspended for two games, while Detroit guard Hamidou Diallo was also dinged for a one-game suspension. Both Hayes and Diallo will be held out of the team’s road game against the Bulls Friday.
Hayes, Wagner and Diallo were all ejected from the game Wednesday night, which Detroit won 121-101, for their roles in the on-court confrontation that began when Wagner hip-checked Hayes out of bounds into the Pistons’ bench while the two were scrambling for a loose ball. Diallo subsequently shoved Wagner in the back, but Hayes then escalated the conflict when he punched Wagner in the back of the head. Wagner appeared to lose consciousness after the hit. Several Magic players left the bench to support Wagner and all have been penalized for doing so.
The NBA is additionally suspending eight additional Orlando players after they left the bench to support Wagner during the scuffle: guards Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton, Gary Harris and Kevon Harris, swingmen Franz Wagner and Admiral Schofield, and big men Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba. All eight players will receive one-game bans.
The NBA’s press release indicates that the absences of the Magic players will be staggered to ensure the team has enough available bodies for its ensuing two contests. Anthony, Gary Harris, Hampton, Bamba, and Carter will miss Orlando’s next game on Friday against the Wizards. Wagner will also begin his two-game suspension on Friday. The others will miss the club’s January 4 matchup with the Thunder.
Kings’ Sabonis Determined To Play Through Thumb Injury, Avoid Surgery
Kings center Domantas Sabonis returned to action on Wednesday after missing just a single game due to the avulsion fracture in his right thumb.
Playing without any sort of minutes restriction (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee), Sabonis had one of his best games as a King, scoring a season-high 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting en route to a one-point victory over the red-hot Nuggets, who entered the night riding a five-game winning streak.
According to Anthony Slater and Sam Amick of The Athletic, surgery would be the cleanest way to address Sabonis’ injury and that possibility was discussed and considered in recent days. However, a surgical procedure would likely sideline the big man for at least four-to-six weeks.
Sabonis – who was told that it’s possible to play through the injury while “remaining functional,” per Slater and Amick – was adamantly opposed to missing that amount of time.
“It’s been a long summer,” Sabonis said. “A lot of (team) expectations. Everyone has put a lot of work in. Missing a large number of games just didn’t seem right. If I could play through it, that’s something I could try at least. … I don’t like sitting on the bench. Especially in street clothes. It kind of wasn’t in my mind. I told everyone I’m still playing.”
Sabonis has been the Kings’ most valuable player so far this season, in part because the team hasn’t found a reliable option to back him up. Sacramento has a plus-5.0 net rating when he plays compared to a minus-5.7 mark when he sits.
The 18-15 Kings are in the thick of a playoff race, just three-and-a-half games back of the No. 1 Pelicans but only three-and-a-half games ahead of the No. 12 Thunder. With little room for error, the Kings would be in trouble without Sabonis for an extended period. His teammates are impressed by his willingness to sacrifice for the club.
“He literally has a broken thumb,” De’Aaron Fox said (via The Athletic). “Going out there and playing through that type of pain against (Nikola Jokic) … he goes out there. He fights. He still rebounds knowing that hand is going to get caught in there, get hit, get banged. He went out there and it shows his toughness. He wants to win. When he came here, it wasn’t just for the future. He wanted to come here and win games now.”
“It just makes us fight even harder for him because we know what kind of pain he’s in,” Malik Monk said, per Anderson. “I know he’s hurting and that just makes us come together even more and fight as a team more. I think that’s why we got the win tonight.”
Sabonis’ thumb won’t heal as well without surgery, according to Slater and Amick, and it remains possible he’ll have to go under the knife if there are any complications with the injury in the coming days or weeks. Still, his performance on Wednesday against Denver should help alleviate concerns about his ability to play through it.
LeBron: Goal Still To Compete For Championships
LeBron James will turn 38 years old on Friday, but he continues to play at an All-NBA level, averaging 27.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 6.6 assists in 27 games (35.7 MPG) so far this season. He’s on track to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer sometime later this winter.
From a team perspective, however, 2022 has been perhaps James’ worst year as a pro. After missing the playoffs in the spring, the Lakers are off to a 14-21 start this season and currently rank 13th in the West.
Following Los Angeles’ loss to Miami on Wednesday night, James reflected on where his career stands and his goals going forward, telling reporters – including Dave McMenamin of ESPN and Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press – that he feels like he has plenty left in the tank from a physical perspective.
“I don’t have a number,” James said, when asked how many more seasons he might play. “I know as long as my mind stays in it, I can play at this level for a minute. Now, that’s up to my mind. My body is going to be OK because if my mind is into it, I will make sure my body is taken care of and I’ll continue to put in the work.”
What will it take for LeBron’s mind to remain focused on basketball for the next few years? He suggested that he’d want his team(s) to be more competitive than the Lakers have been this season.
“I don’t want to finish my career playing at this level, from a team aspect,” James said. “I want to still be able to compete for championships because I know what I can still bring to any ballclub with the right pieces.
“… I’m a winner. And I want to win. I want to win and give myself a chance to win and still compete for championships. … Playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball, it’s not in my DNA. It’s not in my DNA anymore. So, we’ll see what happens. We’ll see how fresh my mind stays over the next couple of years.”
James is under contract with L.A. through at least the 2023/24 season, with a player option for ’24/25, so he won’t have the ability to leave the team as a free agent this summer — he also hasn’t shown the desire to do so, even if he could. His comments seem intended more to keep the pressure on the Lakers’ front office to make the sort of moves that could get the team back to title contention.
Reports in recent months have repeatedly suggested that the Lakers don’t intend to make a trade involving their tradable 2027 and 2029 first-round picks unless there’s a deal they believe makes them a legitimate championship threat. Thus far, that deal hasn’t materialized, and with Anthony Davis sidelined for the foreseeable future due to a foot injury, Rob Pelinka and his group appear less inclined to go all-in this season.
With Russell Westbrook‘s massive contract coming off the books at the end of the 2022/23 season, James may have to wait until the ’23 offseason for the Lakers to make major roster changes.