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.
Nuggets Notes: Connelly, KCP, Murray, Defense, Malone
Former Nuggets president of basketball operations and current Timberwolves executive Tim Connelly feels strange facing his former team in the first round of the playoffs, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post (subscription required). Connelly still communicates with members of the Denver organization on a regular basis.
“I mean, we talk all the time. It’s more just stupid memes or non-basketball stories we talk about. These people are like family,” he said.
We have more on the Nuggets:
- They gave Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a two-year, $30MM extension last offseason after acquiring him from the Wizards, and his defense and championship pedigree played a big role in that decision, Harrison Wind of TheDNVR.com writes. Michael Porter Jr. considers KCP the ultimate glue guy. “It doesn’t matter if he gets 12 shots that night, four shots that night, he’s going to still play the right way,” Porter said. “He’s going to make the extra pass. He’s going to play defense.” Caldwell-Pope had 15 points and committed just one turnover in 31 minutes during the team’s Game 1 109-80 victory.
- Following a laborious recovery last season from a serious knee injury, Jamal Murray is relishing the return to the postseason, Singer writes in a subscriber-only story. Murray had a game-high 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists on Sunday night with just one turnover. He said the last time he was as excited for any game was the first game back from his ACL tear.
- Coach Michael Malone repeatedly said during the season that defensive improvement would be the key to a championship run. He saw a lot of good things in Game 1, as the current group displayed its defensive versatility, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic. “It was a stellar defensive performance through four quarters,” Malone said. “Guys were locked in through the entire game. That’s the kind of effort we are going to need through the series. It’s important that we don’t let this win linger. We have a lot of work to do.”
- However, Malone doesn’t want his team to rest on its laurels heading into Game 2 on Wednesday, Jones adds in a separate story. Their practice film session on Tuesday emphasized the negative. “I made sure to tell the guys that we haven’t done a damn thing,” Malone said. “We’re trying to win a championship, and if we are going to do that, we have 15 more games to win. There are a lot of things that we could have done better in Game 1. That’s what film was about and what practice was about (Tuesday) morning. We want to identify the areas where we can be better. My job is to keep the guys humble.”
Injury Updates: Morant, Payne, James, Davis, George, Gobert, Jokic
Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant is officially listed as questionable to play in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Lakers, the team’s PR department tweets. Morant is dealing with right hand soreness. He landed hard on the court while committing a charge during the fourth quarter of Game 1.
Adrian Wojnarowski said on the “NBA on ESPN” show that he “does not sense a great deal of optimism” that Morant will play on Wednesday (Twitter link). An MRI on Monday revealed an aggravation of soft tissue bruising in Morant’s hand. He originally injured the hand in the Grizzlies’ April 7 win over Milwaukee, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
We have more injury-related updates:
- Suns reserve guard Cameron Payne won’t play in Game 2 against the Clippers on Tuesday, Chris Haynes of TNT tweets. Payne hasn’t played since April 7 due to a back injury.
- Both members of the Lakers’ dynamic duo popped up on the injury report submitted the team’s PR department, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. However, they are listed as probable for Game 2 against Memphis, with LeBron James dealing with right foot soreness and Anthony Davis nursing a right foot stress injury.
- Clippers forward Paul George did a mix of conditioning and shooting drills during a workout prior to the team’s shootaround on Tuesday, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times reports. George is recovering from a sprained right knee and it remains uncertain whether he’ll play at all during the first-round series.
- Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is listed as questionable to play in Game 2 of their series against the Nuggets on Wednesday due to back spasms, the team’s PR department tweets.
- While it would be surprising if he didn’t play in Game 2, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is also listed as questionable due to a right wrist sprain, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets. Jokic participated in practice on Tuesday and didn’t seem to think the sprain was overly serious.
Central Notes: Quinn, Antetokounmpo, Cavs, DeRozan, LaVine
Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn confirmed he has an interview lined up with the Pistons for their head coaching position, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. Quinn has been on Miami’s coaching staff since 2014. Quinn is among at least eight candidates the Pistons have interviewed or reportedly plan to interview.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t practice on Tuesday but coach Mike Budenholzer remains optimistic the superstar can play in Game 2 of the Bucks’ series against Miami on Wednesday, Jim Owczarski of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The superstar suffered a lower back contusion in Game 1. “We have 24-plus hours before game time so he’ll get treatment,” Budenholzer said. “We’ll see how he feels. I think there’s been a lot of progress and hopefully there’s more in the next day or so.” Later in the day, the Bucks listed Giannis as doubtful to play in Game 2, The Athletic’s Eric Nehm tweets.
- The Cavaliers have lingered in the shadows of LeBron James‘ two stints with the organization. They are finally emerging with a different core group in the post-LeBron era as the No. 4 seed in the East, as Nick Friedell of ESPN details. “Success bears your legacy,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “So the better or more games we win in playoffs, crunch-time situations, that’s how these guys will build their own legacy, at the same time paying respect to those who came before us.”
- It’s certainly no slam dunk that the Bulls will run back the Zach LaVine–DeMar DeRozan combination for another season. DeRozan hopes the organization gives them another chance to show what they can do together, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. ‘‘Man, what’s crazy is even talking to [LaVine] on the plane [late Friday], we haven’t even scratched the surface,’’ DeRozan said. ‘‘We haven’t been fully ourselves, and that’s the scary part about it.’’
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.
New CBA Notes: Combine, Buyout Market, All-Defense, Tournament
Confirming and fleshing out reporting from Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, Jonathan Givony of ESPN says that the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will require every draft-eligible prospect who is invited to the combine to attend and participate. If they don’t, they’ll be ineligible to be drafted that year and would be required to attend and participate in the next year’s combine in order to make themselves draft-eligible.
Exceptions will be made in certain instances, Givony writes. For instance, a player whose FIBA season is ongoing, who is injured, or who is dealing with a family matter (such as a tragedy or the birth of a child) won’t be required to attend the combine. However, they would have to complete certain combine requirements at a later date.
As Givony explains, “participating” in the combine will mean undergoing medical examinations, sharing medical history, participating in strength, agility, and performance testing, taking part in shooting drills, receiving anthropometric measurements, and conducting interviews with teams and the media.
While those aspects of the combine will be mandatory, invitees won’t be forced to compete in 5-on-5 scrimmages at the event, Givony notes. Typically, the top prospects in the draft class forgo those scrimmages — players who are graded as potential second-round picks or undrafted free agents are more inclined to take part to try to improve their stocks.
Here’s more on the new CBA:
- According to Givony, the NBA and NBPA intend to agree on a methodology to rank the top 10 prospects in a draft class — the medical records for those prospects will be distributed to clubs on a more limited basis. Only teams drafting in the top 10 would get access to medical info for the projected No. 1 pick; teams in the top 15 would receive medical info for players in the 2-6 range, while teams in the top 25 would get access to info for the players in the 7-10 range.
- Prospects who forgo college in favor of signing professional contracts with programs like the G League Ignite, Overtime Elite, or the NBL Next Stars will no longer automatically become draft-eligible during the calendar year when they turn 19, Givony reports. Those players now won’t become draft-eligible until they enter of their own accord or until the calendar year when they turn 22.
- As part of the new CBA, teams that are above either tax apron won’t be permitted to sign “buyout” players during the season, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. According to Smith, a “buyout” player will be defined as anyone waived that season whose pre-waiver salary exceeded the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. If that rule had been in effect in 2022/23, the Clippers (Russell Westbrook), Suns (Terrence Ross), and Nuggets (Reggie Jackson) wouldn’t have been able to sign those players.
- Like the All-NBA teams, the All-Defensive teams will become positionless in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, reports Dan Feldman of the Dunc’d On podcast (Twitter link). As Feldman observes, that’s probably better news for forwards and centers than it is for guards.
- Commissioner Adam Silver spoke a little bit on Tuesday at Sports Business Journal’s World Congress of Sports conference about the NBA’s new in-season tournament, explaining the thinking behind it and providing some new minor details. “The players will be wearing different uniforms,” Silver said, according to Mike Vorkunov and Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. “Maybe the court will look different. You’ll know that it’s not just a regular-season game.”
Griffin: Pelicans Envision Offseason Tweaks, Not “Huge” Moves
It was a tale of two seasons in New Orleans, where the Pelicans got off to a 23-12 start buoyed by an All-Star performance from Zion Williamson, then played sub-.500 ball the rest of the way following Williamson’s hamstring injury and lost in the first round of the play-in tournament.
Despite falling short of their preseason expectations, the Pelicans don’t believe any major roster changes will be necessary this offseason, according to executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin.
“I know we feel like the bones of this franchise are really sound,” Griffin said, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “What we do to get to the next level and make this exactly what we need to be, I can’t tell you right now.
“Have we seen enough to know unequivocally that it worked when we were No. 1 in the West? No. But we’ve seen enough to know we’re close. We’re in and around it. I think it’s tweaks more than it’s huge moves. But I also know we’re open-minded if something significant has to happen.”
The Pelicans will have some free agency decisions to make during the offseason, with Josh Richardson (unrestricted) and Jaxson Hayes (restricted) among the players on track to reach the open market. But New Orleans’ core players are all locked up for the foreseeable future — Brandon Ingram through 2025, CJ McCollum through 2026, and Williamson through 2028 – and the team won’t have cap room this summer.
The front office could turn to the trade market if it decides to make more than minor tweaks to the roster. The Pelicans control all of their future first-round picks, including this year’s lottery selection, as well as the Lakers’ unprotected 2024 first-rounder and the Bucks’ unprotected 2027 pick.
While a blockbuster deal using those picks may not be in the cards this offseason, Griffin believes those assets put the team in a “strong position” to continue fortifying its roster going forward, writes Clark.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” Griffin said. “We might not be moving as quickly as you would like it to happen. But as long as we grow from what we learn, nothing is fatal. This only gets bad if you try to go too far too fast and put yourself in a position you can’t get out financially. We are really, really well positioned to be sustainable in the future with an incredibly talented core of young players that care about one another and care about winning in this city. They want to be here and want to win here.”
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 4/18/2023
The transcript of our weekly Tuesday chat can be accessed here.
Join us again on Tuesday, April 25 for our next live chat.
Southeast Notes: Brey, Hawks, Murray, Herro, Magic
Mike Brey, the longtime head coach at Notre Dame, will be joining Quin Snyder‘s Hawks coaching staff for the 2023/24 season, sources tell Tom Noie of The South Bend Tribune. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN has since confirmed the news.
Noie’s report suggests Brey will be an assistant coach for the Hawks, though Wojnarowski says his specific role hasn’t yet been finalized and won’t be until sometime after Atlanta’s season ends.
Brey coached the Fighting Irish from 2000-23, stepping down from his position earlier this year. He previously served as an assistant coach at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski from 1987-95. Snyder played his college ball for the Blue Devils from 1985-89, so his relationship with Brey dates back approximately three-and-a-half decades.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- The Hawks hope to re-sign Dejounte Murray when he reaches free agency in 2024 — a quick playoff exit this spring won’t do them any favors from a recruiting perspective, writes Jeff Schultz of The Athletic. Murray brushed off comments about his contract situation, but agreed with the suggestion that money wouldn’t be the most important factor in his decision. “Winning,” Murray said. “Winning. That’s it. Winning. That’s it. Winning.”
- Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter links), Heat sharpshooter Tyler Herro said that he’ll undergo surgery on his broken right hand this Friday. Herro added that, based on his recovery timeline, he has been told the earliest he could potentially return would be for the NBA Finals. While Miami won Game 1 of its series with Milwaukee, the Heat are an extreme long shot to make that sort of playoff run.
- The Magic finished six games out of a play-in spot this season and 11 games back of the No. 6 seed in the East, but they’ll be “very upset” if they’re not a playoff team next season, according to guard Markelle Fultz. Many of Fultz’s teammates agree with that sentiment, as Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “Guys don’t like to look at it as, ‘We got to make the playoffs,’ or ‘We got to win a (title)’ to be successful,” Wendell Carter Jr. said. “But we’re at a pretty good point where we can say that now. Guys want to win now. That comes with winning — making it to the playoffs.”
Andre Jackson, Zach Edey Among Draft’s Latest Early Entrants
UConn junior guard Andre Jackson has opted to enter his name in the 2023 NBA draft pool and will test the waters, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
[RELATED: 2023 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]
Jackson, who started 31 of 36 games for the national champions in 2022/23, averaged just 6.7 points per game with a modest .432/.281/.646 shooting line. However, he chipped in 6.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 1.1 SPG while playing strong defense.
According to Wojnarowski, team executives believe Jackson’s play in the NCAA tournament boosted his stock and view him as a borderline first-round pick if he remains in the draft. The junior is currently the No. 30 overall prospect on ESPN’s big board for 2023.
In addition to Jackson, Purdue center Zach Edey also announced today that he’ll test the draft waters without forgoing his remaining college eligibility (Twitter link).
Unlike Jackson, who is considered a promising NBA prospect despite underwhelming scoring numbers at the college level, Edey was an NCAA star, earning National Player of the Year honors after averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 31.7 minutes per game across 34 starts as a junior for the Boilermakers.
However, there are questions about Edey’s NBA ceiling due to his lack of lack of agility and versatility on defense, Jonathan Givony of ESPN writes in his scouting report. The 7’4″ Edey still ranks 49th overall on ESPN’s board, but is referred to by Givony as a “Boban Marjanovic-style player” unless he can add some range to his jump shot.
Finally, Adam Flagler, who won a national championship with Baylor in 2021, is also declaring for the 2023 draft, per Givony (Twitter link). The redshirt senior guard only ranks 74th overall on ESPN’s board, but is coming off a strong 2022/23 season in which he posted 15.6 PPG and 4.6 APG while making 40.0% of his three-pointers.
Flagler has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, but neither Givony’s report nor his own Instagram announcement indicates whether he plans to forgo that final year or keep the door open to return to school. When he withdrew from last year’s draft, his comments strongly hinted that he planned to go pro in 2023.