And-Ones: Payton, Williams, Rising Stars, Taxpayers
Former NBA guard Elfrid Payton has signed with Puerto Rican club Osos de Manatí, per Dario Skerlectic of Sportando.
Evidently Payton decided against going the G League route and instead went with a (presumably) bigger payday. The 28-year-old spent last season with the Suns as the team’s third string point guard. He was a lottery pick back in 2014, selected 10th overall by the Magic.
Across 500 regular-season games (395 starts, 26.8 MPG) with Orlando, New Orleans, New York and Phoenix, he holds career averages of 10.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.2 steals.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA big man Alan Williams has signed a two-year extension to remain with the NBL’s South East Melbourne Phoenix, the Australian team announced in a press release. Williams started his career in China after going undrafted in 2015, spent time with the Suns from 2016-18, then played for the Nets in 2018/19. After that, he made a brief return to China and played three seasons in Russia. The 30-year-old played 67 games during his time in the NBA, averaging 6.2 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 13.0 minutes per contest.
- Deron Williams, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol drafted their respective teams for the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, per the NBA. You can find the full results right here (Twitter link).
- There are currently 10 teams — the Celtics, Nets, Mavericks, Nuggets, Warriors, Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Sixers and Suns — the above the luxury tax threshold, and John Hollinger of The Athletic believes several of them could make minor cost-cutting moves ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. The Sixers are an obvious candidate, as they’re just $1.17MM over the line. Hollinger also points out that the Bucks and Lakers could save a significant amount of money if they were to deal away some of their little-used veterans (he points to Serge Ibaka and Damian Jones as players who could be moved).
LeBron James Becomes All-Time Regular Season Scoring Leader
On Tuesday night, Lakers forward LeBron James achieved a feat many of us had once thought impossible. The 19-time All-Star surpassed Hall of Fame center and Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s all-time regular season scoring record of 38,387 career points.
With 10 seconds left in the third quarter of a nationally televised game against the visiting Thunder on Tuesday night, James scored his 35th and 36th points, which moved him into sole possession of the league’s scoring record (video link via Bleacher Report).
Play was stopped for a special mid-game presentation, as Abdul-Jabbar and NBA commissioner Adam Silver were on hand to congratulate the four-time champion and four-time MVP.
James actually passed Abdul-Jabbar in historic cumulative scoring last year, lapping the six-time MVP’s total combined regular season and postseason points.
Now, LeBron possesses both that record and this regular season mark. He looks poised to significantly widen his lead in both categories, given that he’s averaging an impressive 30.2 PPG this season and recently expressed a desire to play for a few more years.
Presumably, the four-time MVP’s next goal is simply making the 2022/23 postseason, which is no sure thing. L.A. is currently the No. 13 seed in a bunched-up West, behind Oklahoma City.
Bulls Notes: Deadline, Vucevic, Caruso, Green, Drummond
The Bulls remain unlikely to trade away one of their “Big Three” in the next few days, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The front office is committed to seeing how the current group will finish out the season, despite a relatively disappointing 26-28 record thus far.
Part of the reason for that is the Bulls owe their 2023 first-round pick (top-four protected) to the Magic, so even if they bottomed out for the rest of 2022/23, they’d likely just be sending a better pick to Orlando unless they had some major lottery luck. They also haven’t received any “substantive, serious offers” for DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine or Nikola Vucevic, a source tells Johnson.
Vucevic theoretically would be the most likely trade candidate, as he’s on an expiring contract. But Johnson says Chicago is confident it can re-sign the veteran center, who is averaging 17.8 PPG, 11.2 RPG and 3.4 APG on .524/.359/.833 shooting through 53 games (33.8 MPG).
Here’s more from Chicago:
- DeRozan was sidelined for Tuesday’s game in Memphis due to a hip injury, as Bulls radio play-by-play announcer Chuck Swirsky relays (via Twitter). Alex Caruso, who had missed the previous two games with a sprained foot, took DeRozan’s place in the starting lineup. DeRozan missed three games last month with hip soreness, so it’s not a new issue.
- Head coach Billy Donovan says VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas takes a big-picture approach to evaluating the Bulls, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “I don’t think that he would isolate eight or 10 games and not look at — like, I think Arturas, quite honestly, he’s looking at it from the All-Star break last year. Where I think we were, I don’t know, maybe tied for first or second going into the break. And then looking at the break from there. … So I think he’ll look and evaluate our team from after the All-Star break all the way through this,” he said.
- Donovan also gave an update on Javonte Green, Mayberry adds. Green has been slow to recover from last month’s arthroscopic knee surgery. “He’s not running right now. He’s biking,” Donovan said. “He can do stationary shooting, but they haven’t done anything dynamically with him, lateral or straight-ahead running or any of that stuff. But he continues to progress. The All-Star break coming up will be another important period for him, that week. But he’s getting closer and closer to doing more.” When asked if Green was behind schedule, Donovan said that wasn’t the case. “From everything that I’ve heard, at least at this point, he is on schedule,” Donovan said, per Mayberry. “I haven’t heard of any setbacks or anything like that. … It’s a little bit of time before he comes back.”
- Andre Drummond is one player who could be on the trading block. He’s earning $3.2MM in 2022/23 and has a $3.36MM player option for ’23/24. The veteran center has been in and out of Donovan’s rotation this season, but he had a big game in Monday’s victory over San Antonio, posting 21 points (on 9-of-9 shooting), 15 rebounds and three steals in just 21 minutes, notes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “It says a lot about him. It just shows how truly professional he is,” Vucevic said. “When you’re not playing in the rotation, sometimes it’s hard to stay focused and stay locked in. He’s been doing that this whole season, working before and after practice, extra work just to make sure to stay in shape. He played a huge role for us.”
Trade Rumors: Reddish, Nuggets, Pistons, Bucks, Rose, Suns, More
The Nuggets are among the teams that have registered some interest in Knicks forward Cam Reddish, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who says the Pistons and Knicks have also spoken recently about Reddish.
In passing along Begley’s latest reporting, SNY’s story notes that Begley has previously identified the Knicks as a team with interest in Pistons forward Saddiq Bey and suggests that perhaps there could be a match between the two teams on a deal involving Bey and Reddish. Bey’s trade value is significantly higher at this point than Reddish’s, however, so New York would need to attach a sweetener or two to make Detroit seriously consider that framework.
Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- The Bucks have expressed trade interest in Knicks point guard Derrick Rose, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Milwaukee doesn’t have an obvious salary-matching piece for Rose, who has a $14.5MM salary and has been out of New York’s rotation for much of the season — it’s hard to imagine he’s near the top of the Bucks’ wish list. For what it’s worth, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said he’d like to keep Rose around, explaining that the former MVP “contributes in a lot of different ways to our club” despite not seeing much playing time this season (link via Peter Botte of The New York Post).
- John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 shoots down a rumor suggesting that the Mavericks and Suns could make a deal centered around Deandre Ayton, Christian Wood, and Tim Hardaway Jr., tweeting that there’s “nothing” to that speculation. One recent report indicated that Dallas has interest in Ayton, but that report suggested he’d be more of a long-term trade target rather than a player the Suns would have interest in moving this week.
- Suns veteran Dario Saric is among the power forwards on the Heat‘s radar, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), though Jackson acknowledges that Miami doesn’t have a clear salary-matching piece to send out for Saric ($9.2MM). Jackson adds (via Twitter) that the Suns, under new ownership, are “very active” in the trade market, but still haven’t been intrigued by the assets Miami has put on the table for Jae Crowder.
Suns Spokesperson Denies Team Hiring Isiah Thomas
7:50pm: A spokesperson for Ishbia tells Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link) that while Ishbia and Thomas are friends, Thomas will not be part of the Suns’ front office.
7:02pm: New Suns owner Mat Ishbia is planning to hire NBA TV analyst Isiah Thomas for a “prominent role” in the team’s front office, sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link).
According to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic (Twitter link), Thomas is on the board of directors of United Wholesale Mortgage, Ishbia’s company, so the two are obviously familiar with one another.
Thomas, who is in the Hall of Fame, is widely considered one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. He spent his entire 13-year career with the Pistons, which included two championships and 12 All-Star appearances.
The 61-year-old became a front office executive with the Raptors from 1994-97 after his playing days ended. Thomas also coached the Pacers from 2000-03 and was the Knicks’ president of basketball operations from 2003-08 (and their coach from 2006-08), so he certainly has a lot of experience.
However, his time in New York was controversial. As Vorkunov notes (via Twitter), in 2007 a Manhattan jury found that Thomas sexually harassed a former Knicks executive, who was improperly fired for reporting the unwanted behavior. The victim was awarded $11.6MM as part of the lawsuit.
Thomas’ tenure with the Knicks was also lousy from an on-court perspective. The team went just 151-259 during his five seasons as the lead basketball executive, a .368 winning percentage.
Hiring someone accused of sexual harassment and creating a hostile working environment is a pretty terrible look for Ishbia’s first move as an owner, considering the reason he was able to buy the Suns is because former owner Robert Sarver was suspended for one year and fined $10MM for engaging in behavior that “clearly violated common workplace standards.”
Kings Acquire Kessler Edwards From Nets
6:05pm: The trade is now official, the Nets announced in a press release. Brooklyn received the draft rights to David Michineau, who currently plays for Napoli Basket in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A, to complete the deal.
3:39pm: The Kings and Nets have finalized an agreement, a league source tells James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter links). Ham confirms that Sacramento will end Burton’s 10-day contract a little early to open up a roster spot for Edwards.
2:54am: The Kings and Nets are close to reaching an agreement on a trade that would send forward Kessler Edwards to Sacramento, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), the deal will send Edwards and cash to Sacramento. It’s essentially a salary dump, since moving off Edwards’ minimum-salary contract will save the Nets approximately $8MM in salary and tax money in addition to opening up a roster spot, per Wojnarowski.
As Wojnarowski notes, Edwards must sign off on the trade, since the terms of his deal with Brooklyn give him the ability to veto a trade. He intends to approve it, according to Woj (Twitter link).
The 44th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Edwards signed a two-year contract with the Nets this past offseason after spending his rookie year on a two-way deal that includes a second-year team option. He showed promise in a limited role last season, averaging 5.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG on .412/.353/.842 shooting.
However, Edwards hasn’t seen regular playing time in 2022/23, logging 79 total minutes across 14 contests. He has scored just 15 points on 6-of-24 (25.0%) shooting for the season.
It’s unclear whether Edwards will finish the season with Sacramento. According to Wojnarowski, the club’s plan for now is to give him the opportunity to play for its G League team, the Stockton Kings, but Woj says his future remains “fluid” with two days to go until the trade deadline. It sounds like if Sacramento needs to open a roster spot at the deadline, Edwards would probably be the odd man out.
The Kings technically have a full 15-man roster for now, but one of those spots is occupied by Deonte Burton, who is on a 10-day contract that expires Wednesday night. His deal may be terminated a little early to accommodate the acquisition of Edwards.
As for the Nets, they’ll create a trade exception worth approximately $1.6MM (Edwards’ salary), but the financial savings and the newly opened roster spot will likely end up being more valuable than that exception.
Kevin Durant Expected To Be Out Through All-Star Break
Nets star Kevin Durant, who is currently sidelined with a sprained MCL in his right knee, is expected to remain out through the All-Star break, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).
Brooklyn has five more games before the break, so Durant will miss at least those contests. The team resumes post-break on February 24 against Chicago.
Durant, who was named an All-Star for the 13th time last month, will also miss the exhibition event, tweets Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. An injury replacement will likely be named soon to take his place.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters, including Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link), that Durant received a “really good report” from doctors. The veteran forward has been doing some on-court work, but hasn’t been taking contact yet.
Before Wojnarowski broke the news, Vaughn also suggested that Durant was looking unlikely to suit up before the break.
“I won’t step over that line…but the days are adding up,” Vaughn said (Twitter link via Alex Schiffer of The Athletic).
A couple of reports over the past couple weeks indicated that Durant was hopeful to return shortly before the mid-season event, but it makes sense for the Nets to be cautious with their best player. In addition to being 34 years old, Durant has had extended injury absences in each of the past three seasons after tearing his Achilles tendon in 2019.
In other injury news for the Nets, forward Yuta Watanabe will be out for Tuesday’s game against Phoenix due to back tightness and is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Wednesday, per ESPN’s Nick Friedell (Twitter link).
Grizzlies Notes: Adams, Bane, Morant, Arena
The Grizzlies have lost six of seven games since Steven Adams went down with a knee sprain, and it’s clear the team has missed its starting center, says Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
“I’ve said it multiple times: You’re not going to replace what Steven does,” head coach Taylor Jenkins said. “I wish we could get every rebound, but it’s willpower. We were first in the league in offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding when he’s on the floor, and that’s even when he’s healthy and in the lineup. And then we’re 28th, even when he’s healthy and sitting on the bench, we’re like 28th in rebounding on both sides. So, we’ve got to find a way.”
Adams’ 11.5 rebounds per game are a career high and represent the highest average for any Grizzlies player this season. Beyond that, his traditional stats are modest (he’s the team’s eighth-leading scorer with 8.6 PPG), but Memphis has a -1.3 net rating when he isn’t playing, the lowest mark for any single player on the team. As Cole relays, Adams’ teammates certainly recognize the value he provides.
“I mean, (Adams) was a big part of what we do,” Desmond Bane said. “Similar to guys like Draymond (Green) and other guys that may not fill up the stat sheet in every single area, but their magnitude is felt on the court. A veteran presence, a screen-setter, rebounder, and a connecter on offense … he does a lot for us.”
Here’s more on the Grizzlies:
- After being eliminated in the first round of last season’s three-point contest, Desmond Bane was determined to get another invite and win it. However, while his .437 3PT% makes him a solid candidate to be included in this year’s field, he has changed his tune and doesn’t plan to take part in this year’s contest in Utah, Cole writes for The Commercial Appeal. “I want to take some time with my son,” Bane said. “We been moving around a lot. I’d rather hang out with him.”
- Asked about an alleged incident involving his associates that took place after a Grizzlies/Pacers game last Sunday, Ja Morant was dismissive of the report. “All that stuff pretty much false. It’s been proven,” Morant said, per Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “That’s all I got to say on it.” According to The Athletic’s reporting, members of the Pacers traveling party alleged that someone in an SUV (in which Morant was a passenger) pointed a red laser at them; a Pacers security guard said he believed the laser was attached to a gun.
- In a subscriber-only story for The Daily Memphian, Chris Herrington makes a case for why the Grizzlies should be focusing on a three-year contention window and should be active at the trade deadline.
- The latest budget proposal from Tennessee governor Bill Lee includes funds that would go toward renovating FedExForum, according to Adam Friedman and Duane W. Gang of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. The city of Memphis requested money from the state to put toward the Grizzlies’ home arena in the hopes of ensuring the team remains in the city long-term. The Grizzlies’ lease with the city at FedExForum runs through the 2028/29 season.
Mat Ishbia Officially Becomes Suns’ Owner
FEBRUARY 7: Ishbia has officially completed the purchase of a majority stake in the Suns, the team announced today in a press release.
“This is the culmination of a lifelong dream. I love the game of basketball deeply but it’s so much more than that for me,” he said in a statement. “Throughout my life, basketball has given me a second family, an education, and so much joy. I am honored to be the next steward of this community’s franchises in the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury and am totally committed to building an incredible organization on and off the floor.”
Ishbia and his group paid $2.28 billion for a 57% stake in the team, sources tell Baxter Holmes of ESPN. That’s the equivalent of a $4 billion valuation. Sarver received $1.48 billion for his 37% stake in the club, Holmes adds.
FEBRUARY 6: Mat Ishbia has been approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors as the Suns’ new owner, according to a league press release. The transaction is expected to close this week.
As Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets, the vote was 29-0 with the Cavaliers abstaining. Dan Gilbert, Cleveland’s owner, is also the majority owner of Rocket Mortgage. Ishbia is the chairman and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, which – like Rocket Mortgage – is based in Michigan.
Mat Ishbia and his brother Justin agreed to buy the Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury from Robert Sarver at a valuation of approximately $4 billion. Sarver, who was suspended by the league for a year and fined $10MM for behavior that “clearly violated common workplace standards,” subsequently decided to sell his controlling stake in the franchise.
Ishbia reached an agreement with Sarver in December.
Typically, it takes at least a couple months for the NBA to officially approve and complete the sale of a franchise because the process involves extensive criminal, financial, and background checks on prospective buyers, who also have to meet with the NBA’s advisory and finance committees.
Ishbia is reportedly eager for the Suns to seek upgrades prior to Thursday’s deadline and his impact may have already been felt, as Phoenix pursued a trade for Kyrie Irving.
Ishbia’s agreement to buy the Suns will give him control of more than 50% of the franchise, as he and his group are also buying out some of the minority shareholders.
Nets Telling Teams They Don’t Plan To Trade Durant At Deadline
Following the completion of the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Dallas, the Nets and star forward Kevin Durant are having conversations about the franchise’s direction, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
While Durant’s future has been a popular topic of speculation around the NBA since Irving asked to be traded last Friday, there are now just 48 hours to go until the 2023 trade deadline and there has been no indication that KD will follow suit and submit a trade request of his own.
In fact, the Nets have been telling teams that they don’t plan to trade Durant this week, sources tell Wojnarowski, who adds (via Twitter) that multiple clubs have reached out to inquire.
Durant, of course, asked the Nets to trade him last summer, but after the front office unsuccessfully sought out a suitable deal for the better part of two months, he rescinded that request and he and the team agreed to “move forward” with its partnership.
Because Durant and Irving are known to be close and originally came to Brooklyn together in 2019, rival teams have been keeping a close eye on how Durant handles Kyrie’s departure. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on SportsCenter on Monday that Durant was “upset” when Irving asked for a trade, though Windhorst admitted he wasn’t sure whether the 34-year-old’s alleged displeasure was directed more at Kyrie or the Nets (hat tip to RealGM).
There has been a sense that if Durant asks out again, it’s more likely to happen in the offseason than right away. Even then, the Nets would be under no pressure to immediately grant the former MVP’s request, given that he’s under contract through 2026. Durant’s long-term deal and lack of leverage was thought to be a primary reason why Brooklyn opted to keep him this past offseason.
Having acquired two veterans – Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith – in the Irving trade who are capable of contributing immediately, the Nets are believed to be focused on remaining in contention in the short term and are reportedly scouring the trade market for upgrades to their roster.