Giannis Antetokounmpo To Play In Game 1
7:33pm: Antetokounmpo will play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Giannis went through a full work-out prior to the game and will suit up as the Bucks take on the Suns.
1:37pm: Antetokounmpo has been undergoing around-the-clock treatment in the hopes of being cleared for Game 1, according to Andrews and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Giannis is expected to be a game-time decision tonight.
12:48pm: Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s condition has been upgraded to questionable for tonight’s opener of the NBA Finals, tweets Malika Andrews of ESPN. He had been listed as doubtful on the Bucks‘ injury report Monday night.
Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since hyperextending his left knee a week ago in Game 4 against the Hawks, but Bucks owner Marc Lasry is confident that he will return some time during the series, writes Adam Zagoria of Forbes. Lasry commented on the status of his star during an appearance this morning on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
“I mean hopefully we’ll find out what happens with Giannis,” he said. “But, you know, it’s up to the medical staff and him as to how he’s gonna feel but they’ll figure it out. I’m pretty sure he’ll play in the series. The question is when.”
Head coach Mike Budenholzer said Monday that the two-time MVP was able to do more on-court work and is “making progress.” Lasry added the decision on Antetokounmpo’s return will depend entirely on how the knee heals.
“It’s really gonna be up to the medical staff and they’ll figure it out and their focus is really on just making sure he stays healthy and that we don’t do anything,” he said.
Antetokounmpo was dominant in two games against the Suns this season, averaging 40 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Rockets Adding Chris Wallace, Matt Bullard To Front Office
The Rockets are hiring Chris Wallace and Matt Bullard to positions in their front office, according to reports from Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link) and Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
Wallace, a longtime NBA executive who has decades of experience in front office roles, previously served as the general manager for both the Celtics and the Grizzlies. He was re-assigned to a scouting job when Memphis shook up its basketball operations department in 2019.
According to MacMahon, Wallace will join the Rockets as the team’s director of scouting. As MacMahon explains, Houston has prioritized adding experience and expertise to its front office around general manager Rafael Stone, making an effort to invest in infrastructure during the organization’s rebuilding period.
As for Bullard, his résumé looks quite different than Wallace’s. A former NBA forward for the Rockets, Hawks, and Hornets, Bullard transitioned to broadcasting after he retired. He had been a television analyst on Rockets broadcasts for the last 16 years, up until an announcement last month that AT&T SportsNet Southwest wouldn’t be renewing his contract for the coming year.
Bullard’s exact role is unclear, but he’ll become the third former player in Houston’s front office, joining Ed Pinckney and Chuck Hayes, Feigen notes.
Ian Mahinmi Announces Retirement
Veteran center Ian Mahinmi has decided to call it a career, announcing his retirement during an appearance on ‘NBA Extra,’ a show produced by international outlet beIN Sports (video link).
Mahinmi, 34, made his NBA debut in 2007, but was playing professional basketball well before then, spending time with multiple French clubs beginning in 2003. After being selected 28th overall in the 2005 draft by the Spurs, he was a draft-and-stash prospect in France for two more years before coming stateside.
Mahinmi appeared in 618 total regular season NBA games for the Spurs, Mavericks, Pacers, and Wizards, averaging 5.2 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 16.8 MPG. The big man, who also played in 67 postseason contests, won a title with Dallas in 2011 and was a beneficiary of the 2016 salary cap spike, signing a four-year, $64MM contract with Washington during that offseason.
That ended up being Mahinmi’s last NBA contract, as he went unsigned when he reached unrestricted free agency in 2020. We heard in April that he was one of the options the Heat considered before they signed Dewayne Dedmon, but Mahinmi ultimately didn’t catch on with any team in 2020/21, prompting him to decide to hang up his sneakers this summer.
As he transitions to the next phase of his career, Mahinmi will be involved with NBA Africa as one of the investors in the venture, per beIN Sports.
Nicolò Melli, Troy Daniels To Join Olimpia Milano?
Former NBA guard Jerian Grant recently signed a contract with Olimpia Milano, and it doesn’t appear the Italian team is done acquiring players with NBA experience.
According to a pair of reports from Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Olimpia Milano is also on track to sign veteran power forward Nicolò Melli and is close to reaching a deal with free agent shooting guard Troy Daniels.
Melli, 30, played for Olimpia Milano from 2010-15 and has spent time with a handful of other European clubs since beginning his pro career in 2007. He made his NBA debut in 2019 with the Pelicans and has since appeared in a total of 105 games (15.3 MPG) for New Orleans and Dallas, averaging 5.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 1.2 APG on .392/.316/.745 shooting.
Melli was involved in the March trade that sent J.J. Redick from the Pelicans to the Mavericks and played a part-time role for Dallas down the stretch. However, it seems his NBA career won’t continue, as the 6’9″ Italian sounds poised to return home. Melli is also expected to play for Italy in the Olympics later this month after helping the team earn a spot in last week’s qualifying tournament.
Daniels, meanwhile, has appeared in 339 career regular season NBA games, but didn’t catch on with a team for the 2020/21 season. His last stint in the NBA came in ’19/20, when he averaged 4.3 PPG on .387/.348/.625 shooting in 47 games (11.3 MPG) for the Lakers and Nuggets.
If Daniels finalizes a deal with Olimpia Milano, it’ll be his first time playing overseas, Carchia notes.
Willie Green, Charles Lee Among Top Candidates To Coach Pelicans
Suns assistant Willie Green and Bucks assistant Charles Lee are “prominent” candidates in the Pelicans‘ head coaching search, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Earlier in the process, Nets assistant Jacque Vaughn was considered the frontrunner to replace Stan Van Gundy as New Orleans’ new head coach, but he withdrew from consideration last week for family reasons. Now, it appears the Pelicans have their eye on two other veteran assistant coaches. New Orleans’ own assistant, Fred Vinson, has also interviewed for the position, Stein notes.
A former NBA shooting guard, Green transitioned into the coaching ranks in 2016, working with the Warriors as an assistant for three seasons before making the move to Phoenix in 2019. He has been on Monty Williams‘ staff for the last two years and has generated some buzz as an up-and-coming head coaching candidate, having also talked to the Wizards and Magic about their vacancies.
Lee is also a former shooting guard, having played at Bucknell from 2002-06 and then in international leagues until 2010. After joining his alma mater as an assistant coach in 2012, he was hired as part of Mike Budenholzer‘s staff in Atlanta in 2014. Lee followed Budenholzer to Milwaukee in 2018 and – like Green – is now receiving head coaching interest from multiple teams — he’s said to be one of the Wizards’ finalists.
Green and Lee are set to face one another in the NBA Finals, beginning on Tuesday night.
While many candidates have been linked to the Wizards’ and Magic’s head coaching jobs, things have been relatively quiet on the Pelicans front. Besides the names mentioned above, Pelicans assistant Teresa Weatherspoon has been the only other contender confirmed to be in the mix, and David Griffin downplayed the chances of her being promoted. It’s possible New Orleans’ search has been fairly narrow, but it’s just as likely that a number of meetings have gone unreported.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Listed As Doubtful For Game 1
Bucks star and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) has been listed as doubtful for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, writes Malika Andrews of ESPN.
Earlier in the day, coach Mike Budenholzer said Giannis “had a good day and is making good progress,” but acknowledged he wasn’t sure about Antetokounmpo’s status for Game 1. According to Duane Rankin of Arizona Republic, Budenholzer said that Antetokounmpo was able to do some on-court work.
The Bucks managed to hold on for the last two-and-a-half games of the Eastern Conference Finals following Antetokounmpo’s knee hyperextension, and they may need some more heroics from Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez if Antetokounmpo is unable to suit up for Game 1 against Phoenix.
The Suns hope to be at full health themselves following a positive COVID-19 test for Chris Paul and Devin Booker‘s broken nose earlier in the postseason.
Jazz To Do Everything Possible To Bring Back Conley
The Jazz are in a tough position with their point guard situation, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. Mike Conley is coming off his first ever All-Star season, officially breaking his stretch as this generation’s best player without an All-Star appearance, and because of the team’s salary situation, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to replace him in the starting lineup should he walk in free agency.
2021/22 is the official start of Donovan Mitchell‘s five-year maximum extension, which will pay him approximately $28.1MM next season. Rudy Gobert is also starting a five-year, $205MM contract extension, and Bojan Bogdanovic, Royce O’Neale, and Derrick Favors are all under long-term deals worth $8MM annually or more. Joe Ingles is also on a one-year extension that leaves the team with a $13MM cap hit.
All of those factors combine to make it almost impossible for the team to replace the unrestricted Conley with an equivalent player on the open market if he should accept a deal with another team.
To make things more complicated, the 33-year-old has been hampered by injuries during his time in Utah, playing just 98 of the team’s 144 regular season games, and 11 of the team’s 18 playoff games. Concerns about Conley’s durability are well-founded, and may come into play on the open market, but the Jazz can’t afford to let such questions deter them.
According to Jones’ sources, the Jazz are without question determined to bring Conley back and will make “every attempt” to re-sign him.
One thing the Jazz may have to consider, writes Jones, is bringing in another point guard if and when Conley misses time with injury. Preserving Conley for the playoffs will be paramount as the team continues to seek answers in their quest to go from regular season powerhouse to true playoff contender.
Wizards Identifying Finalists In Head Coaching Search
Having moved through the first phase of their head coaching search, the Wizards are identifying finalists and are zeroing in on a handful of assistant coaches from around the NBA, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Jamahl Mosley (Mavericks), Darvin Ham (Bucks), Charles Lee (Bucks), and Wes Unseld Jr. (Nuggets) are among the candidates who remain in contention for Washington’s coaching job and who will meet with the team again, Wojnarowski reports. Sources tell Wojnarowski that Mosley and Unseld are also serious candidates to fill the Magic‘s coaching vacancy.
While some clubs that have sought a new head coach this offseason have made it a priority to land a candidate with previous head coaching experience, it appears the Wizards are very open to the idea of hiring a first-timer. Virtually all of the candidates linked to Washington throughout the process – including those listed above – lack head coaching experience.
As we’ve noted in previous stories, hiring Unseld would perhaps be the best story for the Wizards, since his father was a D.C. legend who played for the team and held various positions with the organization following his retirement. However, Mosley, Ham, and Lee are all also accomplished assistants who have worked for multiple NBA teams and who have received head coaching interest in the past.
In addition to the Wizards and Magic, the Pelicans also continue to search for a new head coach, as our tracker shows.
12-Team Field Set For Tokyo Olympics
Slovenia, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic have secured their spots in the men’s basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics, winning their respective qualifying tournaments over the weekend. NBA players Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Moritz Wagner (Germany), and Tomas Satoransky (Czech Republic) were the MVPs of their tournaments, tweets Marc Stein.
Those four teams will join the U.S., Spain, Australia, France, Argentina, Nigeria, Iran, and Japan to make up the 12-team field for the tournament.
The groups are as follows:
- Group A: Czech Republic, France, Iran, United States
- Group B: Australia, Germany, Italy, Nigeria
- Group C: Argentina, Japan, Slovenia, Spain
The preliminary round will begin on July 24, with each team facing the other three clubs in its group once. Following the round-robin portion of the tournament, the top two teams in each group – along with the two highest-ranked third-place teams – will advance to the single-elimination quarterfinals.
Rosters for the Olympics haven’t been officially locked in yet, but we have a pretty good idea of what most of the squads will look like. Team USA will, of course, feature the most star-studded group, with Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and Bradley Beal leading the way.
Three players participating in the NBA Finals – Devin Booker, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday – are expected to be part of the U.S. Olympic squad. It’s possible those Finals could run as late as July 22 if they go seven games, but even in that scenario, the plan is for those Suns and Bucks players to fly to Tokyo right away in the hopes of being available for the July 25 contest vs. France.
While the U.S. will be the heavy favorite and will have the most NBA stars on its roster, a number of other NBA players will be taking part in the tournament.
Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes, and Matisse Thybulle are among the players representing Australia; Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, and Nicolas Batum are among those playing for France; Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe will suit up for Japan; Doncic will play for Slovenia; Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, and Juan Hernangomez are among the veterans in Spain’s player pool; and it sounds like Danilo Gallinari will play for Italy.
Nigeria, meanwhile, still has a ton of cuts to make, but could have as many as 10 NBA players on its roster for Tokyo, including Monte Morris, Josh Okogie, and Jahlil Okafor. For more details on the NBA players involved in the Olympics, check out the tracker from Albert De Roa of HoopsHype.
Serbia, Lithuania, Brazil, Croatia, Turkey, Greece, and Canada are among the notable programs that will miss out on the Tokyo Olympics. It was a particularly disappointing outcome for Team Canada, which lost to the Czech Republic in the semifinal of the qualifiers despite having eight current NBA players on its roster.
We won’t be closely covering the results of the Olympic tournament — the event overlaps with both the draft and free agency, so we’ll be busy focusing on the NBA. But we’ll keep an eye on Tokyo in case there are any injuries or other notable stories affecting the current NBA players involved in the games.
Darvin Ham Interviews For Wizards’ Coaching Vacancy
The Wizards have interviewed Bucks assistant Darvin Ham as they look for their next head coach, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. Katz adds that there is “some support” within the organization for hiring Ham.
Ham was among the candidates who interviewed for the Celtics’ job last month before they chose Ime Udoka, Katz notes (via Twitter). He also interviewed last year for an opening at Texas Tech, where he went to school, and for head coaching vacancies with the Clippers, Bulls and Pacers.
The 47-year-old has been an assistant in Milwaukee since Mike Budenholzer was hired in 2018, and he spent five seasons with Budenholzer in Atlanta as well. He started his NBA coaching career with the Lakers in 2011.
Prior to that, Ham spent eight years in the league as a player and was with the Wizards during the 1997/98 season.
Other names that have been mentioned in Washington’s coaching search include Celtics assistant Scott Morrison, Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley, Sixers assistant Sam Cassell, Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Bulls assistant Chris Fleming, Suns assistant Willie Green and Nuggets associate head coach Wes Unseld Jr.
Keep track of all the developments on the NBA coaching front with our Head Coaching Search Tracker.