Doncic, Irving To Start For Team LeBron
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are not only Mavericks teammates, they’re also starting together for Team LeBron at the All-Star Game Sunday in Salt Lake City.
LeBron James selected his former Cleveland teammate Irving and Doncic, the league’s leading scorer, during the first captain’s draft conducted on the same night as the All-Star Game. Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid will start up front for Team LeBron. The reserves for LeBron’s team include Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Tyrese Haliburton, Julius Randle, De’Aaron Fox and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Donovan Mitchell and one of the players he was traded for, Lauri Markkanen, will start for Team Giannis. Ja Morant and Jayson Tatum round out the starting lineup. Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, DeMar DeRozan, Pascal Siakam, Bam Adebayo and Domantas Sabonis will be the reserves for Team Giannis.
Southwest Notes: Irving, Doncic, Williamson, Pelicans Injuries, Morant
The Mavericks are 0-2 thus far with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving playing together but the former Net believes their partnership will be very fruitful, according to Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.
“I can say this about Luka — he scored the ball extremely well. He gets everybody involved very easily, and he plays at his own pace, as we’ve said it over the last few years,” Irving said. “But his IQ is something that I’m really looking forward to learning more about, and just picking his brain. He’s 23 years old. He’s seen a lot, but he still has more room to grow and more room to improve. He’s as great as he is now, but just imagine what he’s going to look like in three years, playing with some high-level guys.”
Irving said Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison wanted him for, among other things, his leadership, Caplan tweets.
“I know they wanted me for my work ethic, for my leadership abilities and also my consistency in what I bring to the team,” he said.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- All-Star Weekend hasn’t featured a lot of big names for its dunk contest in recent years but that could change next season. Pelicans forward Zion Williamson said if he ever decides to enter, it will happen next season, he told Riley Jones of Complex.com. ’I’ll think about it. I’ll put heavy consideration into doing the dunk contest,” he said. “I feel like if I am going to do it, I’d probably do it next year.”
- The Pelicans overhauled their training staff in 2019, yet it hasn’t translated into better health for their players, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune notes. Pelicans players – including stars Williamson and Brandon Ingram – have missed 195 games because of injury this season, the third-highest mark in the NBA. VP of basketball operations David Griffin doesn’t blame the medical staff for the rash of injuries. “I think our medical staff has done a really, really good job,” Griffin said. “Unfortunately, they got caught up in people counting games missed due to injury. When somebody does something to a ligament or to a bone, that’s sort of out of their control.”
- Ja Morant says “I’m ready” for the challenge the Suns will present with Kevin Durant in their lineup, he told NBA TV’s Dennis Scott (hat tip to Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.) Morant also says he’s unconcerned about the Grizzlies quickly becoming the league’s most hated team, though he personally looks to avoid more controversy. “I don’t care no more. I’m protecting my energy. I’m not replying to no more nonsense,” he said. “I’m not trying to get no more techs this year. Not trying to get in no more altercations, none of that.”
Community Shootaround: Should All-Star Rosters Be Expanded?
In 1963, there were only nine teams in the NBA but 24 spots available in the All-Star Game, observes Lev Akabas of Sportico (subscription required). Sixty years later, the league’s number of teams has more than tripled, to 30, but the league still only names 24 All-Stars per season (barring injuries).
An expansion of All-Star rosters is long overdue, in Akabas’ view, since players are putting up record-setting scoring numbers in the current era, meaning many with All-Star caliber résumés find themselves on the outside looking in.
Akabas points out that 21 players who are averaging at least 20 points per game this season weren’t named All-Stars. Not all of them had strong cases, but many did — James Harden, for instance, is averaging 21.4 PPG while also leading the NBA in assists per contest (10.8) for a 38-19 team, but didn’t qualify as an All-Star.
Besides leaving out worthy candidates, naming just 24 All-Stars across 30 teams hurts fan engagement, contends Akabas, since there will always be a number of clubs who don’t have any players in the game. He singles out Atlanta and Washington to illustrate this point — those are two of the NBA’s top 10 media markets, and the Hawks and Wizards rank among the East’s top 10 teams in 2022/23, but neither club will be represented in this year’s All-Star Game.
Akabas also argues that, since some players’ contracts include All-Star bonuses, there’s a significant amount of money on the line, and with just 12 All-Stars selected per conference, a snub can have a major financial impact on a player.
Additionally, Akabas says, a player’s career number of All-Star appearances goes a long way toward determining his legacy, and the fact that players from previous generations had an easier path to the game when there were fewer teams – and fewer players – in the NBA makes it more difficult to compare stars from different eras.
I don’t find Akabas’ point about All-Star bonuses particularly compelling – those contracts were negotiated with the current format in mind – but the rest of his case is reasonable. Certainly, with teams permitted to carry up to 13 active players in a normal regular season game, it makes sense to at least expand All-Star rosters by one in each conference, increasing the total number of players from 24 to 26.
Still, that bump to 26 or more players often happens naturally. In each of the last three seasons, three All-Star replacements have been named for injured players, and we have to go all the way back to 2005 to find the last All-Star Game that didn’t feature at least one injury replacement. Those substitutions often allow the NBA to rectify the year’s most egregious snubs.
We want to know what you think. Do you like the fact that the NBA still names only 24 All-Stars per season? Does the fact that it’s more difficult, statistically, to make an All-Star team now than it ever has been in the past add to the event’s appeal by making the All-Star roster a more exclusive club?
Or do you think it makes sense to increase the All-Star rosters – if only by one spot per conference – to account for the grown of the league’s player pool that has occurred over the decades?
Head to the comment section below to share your two cents!
Kyle Lowry Hopes To Return Before End Of Month
Left knee soreness kept Heat point guard Kyle Lowry out of action for the last six games before the All-Star break and there was some concern that he could miss a few more weeks beyond the break. However, a source tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) that Lowry now hopes to return to the lineup by the end of the month.
Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald confirms Reynolds’ report, tweeting that Lowry’s knee has improved and that he’s targeting a return on February 27 or shortly thereafter. According to Reynolds, the Heat should have a clearer picture of Lowry’s outlook in the coming days, but there have been “encouraging signs.”
Lowry, who has battled health issues over the course of his second season in Miami, is averaging 12.0 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 33.3 minutes per game across 44 appearances. His shooting numbers (.396/.333/.855) have been disappointing and are well below his career rates, but Jackson says the coaching staff still believes the 36-year-old can help the team.
According to Jackson, the Heat’s optimism about Lowry’s prognosis was a factor in their decision to sign two big men in free agency – Kevin Love and Cody Zeller – rather than using one of their open roster spots on a guard.
As Jackson tweets, Gabe Vincent has performed well in Lowry’s absence, and if the six-time All-Star’s knee issues continue to plague him down the stretch, the club is comfortable turning to Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Victor Oladipo for ball-handling responsibilities when Vincent is off the floor.
Jackson’s reporting suggests that Lowry may be ruled out for the Heat’s two first games coming out of the break, in Milwaukee on Feb. 24 and Charlotte on Feb. 24. The team’s Feb. 27 contest is in Lowry’s hometown of Philadelphia. If he’s unable to suit up for that one, his next chance to return would be at home vs. the Sixers on March 1.
And-Ones: NBPA, Dooling, A. Anderson, Officiating, Elam Ending
Celtics forward Grant Williams, formerly a vice president for the National Basketball Players Association, has been elected as the first vice president of the players’ union, per a press release. Williams will take over that role from Andre Iguodala, whose four-year term has expired following his election in 2019.
Since Williams was promoted to first vice president and Kyrie Irving‘s term as an NBPA vice president expired, two new VPs were elected to the union’s executive committee — those new vice presidents are Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who will serve three-year terms.
“We are thrilled to have Grant in this elevated position, and we welcome Jaren and Donovan to the executive committee,” NBPA president CJ McCollum said in a statement. “Their experience and ability to connect with the younger players in our league will be imperative as we move forward as a union. I also want to take a moment to thank Andre and Kyrie for their service. Kyrie’s insights have been invaluable since he joined us in 2020, and Andre has been been a key leader for us for more than a decade. Their leadership will be missed but we know they will stay close and continue to support us as we work for the best interests of the brotherhood.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA players Keyon Dooling and Alan Anderson have received prison sentences of 30 months and 24 months, respectively, for their roles in defrauding the NBA’s health and welfare plan, according to Steve Gardner of USA Today. Anderson was one of 18 players originally arrested in 2021 for making fraudulent claims, while Dooling – a former NBPA vice president who was most recently an assistant coach with the Jazz – later had his name added to the criminal case.
- Before holding his annual All-Star news conference on Saturday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver also appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter this week to discuss concerns about load management and officiating, among other topics (YouTube video link). Silver stated that the NBA is exploring ways to use technology to automate certain calls (ie. who last touched an out-of-bounds ball) so that referees can focus more on the more subjective calls they’re required to make (ie. fouls).
- Tim Bontemps of ESPN takes a deep dive into the “Elam Ending,” exploring how Nick Elam first came up with the concept and detailing the path it took to being adopted in the NBA’s All-Star Game (as well as the G League’s overtime period).
Poll: Which Team Will Win Eastern Conference?
The Western Conference, where the No. 3 and No. 10 seeds are separated by just four games, may feature a more wide-open playoff race than the Eastern Conference, but things aren’t nearly as tight at the top of the West, where the top-seeded Nuggets have a five-game lead on the No. 2 Grizzlies and an eight-game cushion on the No. 3 Kings.
In the East, there has been a perception for much of the season that the Celtics and Bucks are in their own tier as the conference’s top teams, but their lead in the standings isn’t nearly as big as the one held by Denver in the West.
Heading into the All-Star break, the 42-17 Celtics and the 41-17 Bucks are separated by a half-game, while the 38-19 Sixers are only three games out of the East’s top seed and the 38-23 Cavaliers are within five games of Boston.
The Celtics opened the season by winning 21 of their first 26 games and haven’t slowed down much since then. Even during their less dominant 21-12 stretch following their 21-5 start, Boston has a top-five net rating. For the season, they own not only the NBA’s best record but the best net rating (plus-6.2).
The Bucks have made the Celtics sweat for that No. 1 seed though, winning their last 12 games in a row. Milwaukee’s defense, headed by Brook Lopez and former Defensive Player of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo, has the NBA’s second-best rating, and the Bucks still haven’t really gotten a look at their lineup with a fully healthy Khris Middleton. If Middleton is back to 100% or close to it by the spring, Milwaukee will be an incredibly tough out in any playoff series.
The Sixers‘ star duo of James Harden and Joel Embiid has hit its stride in its first full year together. After an up-and-down start to the season that saw them at .500 (12-12) in early December, Philadelphia has gone 26-7, with Harden and Embiid leading the way — the 76ers have a plus-8.7 net rating when they’re on the court together.
Although they’re the last of the East’s top four teams and own the least playoff experience, the Cavaliers shouldn’t be overlooked. Their defensive rating (109.3) ranks first in the NBA, and only Boston has a better full-season net rating than Cleveland’s plus-5.8 mark. The Cavs were on a roll just prior to the All-Star break, winning seven straight games before dropping one in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Those four clubs look like the best bets to represent the East in the NBA Finals this season, especially since the revamped Nets at No. 5 probably lack the star power to make a deep postseason run. But there could be some dark horse contenders further down the Eastern Conference standings.
The Knicks at No. 6 won’t make things easy on any playoff opponent; the No. 7 Heat made the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago with a similar roster to the one they have now, and have the conference’s fourth-best record against teams that are .500 or better.
The Hawks, Wizards, Raptors, and Bulls – who currently rank between No. 8 and No. 11 – have been too inconsistent so far to consider them real threats to win the conference, but each roster features at least one or two stars.
We want to know what you think. Which Eastern team will represent the conference in the NBA Finals this season?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to explain your pick.
Which team will represent the East in the NBA Finals?
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Boston Celtics 41% (697)
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Milwaukee Bucks 33% (560)
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Philadelphia 76ers 9% (147)
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Cleveland Cavaliers 6% (97)
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Miami Heat 3% (58)
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Another team 3% (54)
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New York Knicks 3% (52)
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Brooklyn Nets 1% (18)
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Atlanta Hawks 0% (8)
Total votes: 1,691
Rockets Notes: Green, Rebuild, Martin, Fertitta
A left groin strain forced Rockets guard Jalen Green to miss the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, but the team was “relieved” by the results of the MRI he underwent this week, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
According to Feigen, the Rockets will have a better sense of Green’s return timeline early this week, after he has received a few days of treatment. However, there’s optimism that the injury shouldn’t result in a long-term absence.
If the strain was determined to be more severe, it could have sidelined the former No. 2 pick for most or all of Houston’s remaining 24 games, especially given that the lottery-bound club has no reason to rush one of its cornerstones back to action.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- While general manager Rafael Stone is willing to face criticism for how the Rockets are building their roster, he bristles at critics who suggest that Houston is moving forward without a clear plan in place, per Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle. “If you paid no attention at all, you could say, ‘Hey, these guys don’t even have a plan,'” Stone said. “No, we absolutely have a plan. We told everybody what the plan was. So I don’t think the ‘They don’t have a plan’ is a valid criticism. If someone wants to be skeptical about our ability to execute it, that’s TBD and we’re cognizant of that. And I think this summer we intend to use our cap space and bring in some veterans.”
- Rockets wing Kenyon Martin Jr., whose name came up frequently in trade rumors during the weeks leading up to February’s deadline, tells Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link) that he’s happy he ultimately stayed put in Houston, where he’s averaging a career-high 26.3 minutes per game this season. “It was kind of weird,” Martin said. “Obviously it was my first time being in a situation where teams wanted me or there’s a possibility that Houston could get rid of me. But at the same time, I understood that it was nothing that I could control. … I kind of just left that up to the front office.”
- Interviewed by KPRC 2 in Houston at a Mardi Gras event in Galveston, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta shouted what sounded like, “Pray for Victor!,” an apparent reference to top prospect Victor Wembanyama (Twitter video link via Sean Pendergast of SportsRadio 610). The 13-45 Rockets have the NBA’s worst record and would have the best lottery odds in this year’s draft if the season ended today, but the league still may not love seeing one of its team owners already talking about targeting a specific prospect, with so much time left in the season.
Sixers Notes: McClung, Embiid, Love, Reed, Dedmon
Mac McClung has only played in two NBA games, but for one night he was the league’s brightest star. McClung dominated Saturday’s Slam Dunk Contest with three perfect scores on his four dunks, all of which drew a massive reaction from the crowd at Vivint Arena, writes Ben Golliver of The Washington Post.
“It’s great,” McClung said after defeating the Pelicans’ Trey Murphy in the finals. “I’m truly blessed and grateful to the NBA for giving me this opportunity. If you guys will have me, I’ll be back (next year).”
The 6’2″ guard wowed the packed house with his incredible leaping ability and acrobatics, leaving some of the NBA’s top players and former stars visibly impressed. He started the final round with a “double double-clutch” dunk, as Golliver describes it, then ended the night with a spinning reverse slam.
It was a memorable performance for a player who had been in the G League all season before signing a two-way contract with the Sixers on Tuesday. After brief trials with the Lakers, Bulls and Warriors over the last two years, McClung will try to use his newfound fame to help him stick on an NBA roster.
There’s more on the Sixers:
- McClung would have missed the opportunity to become an All-Star Weekend sensation if he had accepted one of the offers received to play overseas last summer. According to Rich Hofman of The Athletic, McClung could have made more than $1MM with either Fenerbahce in Turkey or the Shanghai Sharks in China. He opted for an Exhibit 10 deal with Philadelphia that he believed gave him a better path to the NBA.
- A Sixers source tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that the organization believes Joel Embiid intends to play in Sunday’s All-Star Game, but Pompey suggests it would be better for Embiid and the team if he sits it out. Pompey notes that Embiid has been dealing with soreness in his left foot for much of the season and hasn’t been fully healthy for about a month.
- Kevin Love will reportedly talk to the Sixers before deciding on his next team, but Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice isn’t convinced that it would be a good fit. Philadelphia has a full roster, so someone would have to be waived to make room for Love, and Neubeck sees Paul Reed or the recently signed Dewayne Dedmon as the best choices. Although Love could provide an upgrade with his rebounding, Neubeck points out that the Sixers already have a similar forward in Georges Niang.
Commissioner, Union Leaders Optimistic About New CBA
Now that the early opt-out deadline has been extended to March 31, commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio are focused on working out a new collective bargaining agreement by that date, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“I would just say it’s an absolute priority for us as well to get a deal done as soon as possible,” Silver said Saturday at his annual All-Star Game news conference. He later added, “It’s my hope that the deal will be done by then.”
Both sides indicated that progress has been made on a new CBA, although some issues still have to be worked through, such as how to handle load management and the potential addition of a midseason tournament. NBPA president CJ McCollum is a supporter of the tournament, citing experiences that his brother had with a similar arrangement in Europe.
“Obviously, we’re still working through logistics and what that kind of looks like, the financial implications behind the midseason tournament,” McCollum said. “I think, as a player who has played in play-in games probably more than I would have liked to at this point in my career, I think there was probably some pessimism and optimism mixed in from our fan base about what that was going to look like.”
Another topic being negotiated is a league proposal to permit players to enter the draft straight out of high school. The union appears open to the idea, but it wants some mechanism to make sure too many veteran players won’t be pushed out of the league as a result. Tremaglio would like to see a structure set up to help high schoolers make the jump to the NBA and give them their best shot at success.
“We recognize that we really do need to make sure that we have the structure in place, if we’re going to have people join the league at the age of 18,” she said. “We also appreciate that there is a lot of benefit to really having veterans who can bring those 18-year-olds along. And so you know, certainly anything that we would even consider, to be quite honest, would have to include a component that would allow veterans to be a part of it as well.”
Silver touched on a few other significant issues, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic:
- The commissioner cited “medical data” to support the way teams are currently handling load management and disagreed with claims that stars are sitting out too often.
- He said the league is on pace to set records for ticket sales and season-ticket renewals, adding that this year’s All-Star Game is reaching new highs with $280MM in economic impact and 33,000 combined hotel nights.
- Silver said a contingency plan is in place to make sure games are televised if any regional sports networks go bankrupt before the end of the season.
- He added that no new expansion discussions have taken place. Silver has said before that the league wants to focus on finalizing a new CBA before considering expansion.
Northwest Notes: Mitchell, Jokic, Kessler, Wolves
Donovan Mitchell already made one return to Utah when the Cavaliers played there in January, but it was still meaningful for him to be back on his former practice court in preparation for Sunday’s All-Star Game, writes Joe Coles of The Deseret News.
Mitchell spent five seasons with the Jazz, making three All-Star appearances, before being traded to Cleveland last summer. He said returning to Salt Lake City brings back a lot of memories and pointed out that current Cavs teammates Ricky Rubio and Raul Neto helped him adapt to the NBA during his early days in Utah.
“Ricky and Raul have been phenomenal. They were an instrumental part of my career, helping me get to be the player I am today,” Mitchell said. “To be back here, all these years later in a similar situation, trying to get to a championship, trying get to the playoffs, trying to continue to build, it’s phenomenal. Those guys are the best.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- During Saturday’s All-Star media session, Mitchell offered a strong endorsement of Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the MVP race (video link from Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype). “It’s f—ing outrageous, to be honest,” Mitchell said. “I don’t know how many people have won it three times in a row, but he’s otherworldly right now.”
- Tony Jones of The Athletic credits a subpar showing in the NCAA Tournament with helping Walker Kessler end up with the Jazz. Kessler got into foul trouble and struggled with drop coverage as highly-ranked Auburn was upset by Miami last spring. That resulted in Kessler slipping to the 22nd pick and Minnesota being willing to part with him in the Rudy Gobert trade. Kessler has become the starting center for Utah and a virtual lock for All-Rookie honors. “As far as a ceiling goes, I don’t really see one for Walker,” head coach Will Hardy said. “There’s nothing right now that hits me in the face as a big limitation.”
- Thursday’s loss to the Wizards showed that it’s going to take more than swapping D’Angelo Russell for Mike Conley to fix the Timberwolves, observes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Minnesota was hoping Conley would provide better decision-making and a steady presence late in games, but the Wolves gave up 38 points in the fourth quarter while letting a big lead slip away.