Sixers Notes: Harden, Rivers, Simmons, Tucker
James Harden had encouraging news for Sixers fans as the team wrapped up its training camp, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Harden put up decent numbers after being acquired from the Nets in February, but he was obviously lacking the explosiveness that made him a perennial MVP candidate in Houston. Harden, who blamed a hamstring injury for slowing him down last season, responded, “It’s getting there” when asked about his current condition.
“We’re playing with a full training camp,” he said. “So there’s times and periods that you have dead legs or rough legs. But those are the times when you’ve just got to push through it, those character things like that.”
The Sixers will need a return of vintage Harden to be contenders in a rugged Eastern Conference. He welcomes the opportunity of a full preseason to learn the team’s system after having a crash course in 21 games after the trade. Harden is accomplished as both a scorer and passer, and he’s figuring out the best ways to bring both skills to the Sixers.
“But now, it’s a little bit more different,” he said. “Different because of the time (this summer) I had off to prepare and get my mind and my body right. And it’s just an opportunity with the new people that we have. And, honestly, just the communication with myself and (coach Doc Rivers) and Joel (Embiid) to know when it’s time for me to be aggressive and for Joel to be aggressive.”
There’s more from Philadelphia:
- Rivers had little to say about Ben Simmons, who is expected to make his Nets debut tonight in a preseason game against the Sixers, Pompey states in a separate story. Simmons hasn’t played since Philadelphia was eliminated in the 2021 playoffs, and he had a bitter public battle with the organization before being traded to Brooklyn. “We’re focused on the guys that want to be a Philadelphia 76er,” Rivers said when asked about facing Simmons. “We’re not going to focus on anyone that doesn’t want to be one.”
- Rivers plans to hold out at least three of his starters for tonight’s game, Pompey adds in another piece.
- One of the focuses in training camp was becoming more aggressive defensively, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Joel Embiid has said he wants the Sixers to be the league’s best defensive team, and the offseason additions of P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, Montrezl Harrell and Danuel House were all made with defense in mind. “I know what it takes to get it done on a nightly basis in the league [and] playoffs,” Tucker said. “It’s tough and it comes down, a lot of times, to communication when plays break down on defense. You’ve got to make stuff happen, and it’s by communication. … You set those expectations right now in the preseason.”
Lakers Came Close To Trading Russell Westbrook To Pacers
Russell Westbrook remains on the Lakers‘ roster, but only after the front office gave strong consideration to a blockbuster deal with the Pacers, according to Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
L.A.’s top decision-makers, including vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, owner Jeanie Buss and senior basketball adviser Kurt Rambis, had in-depth talks about dealing Westbrook and the team’s unprotected first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 to Indiana in exchange for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, sources tell the authors.
Although rumors about the potential deal were leaked throughout the summer, The Athletic report offers insights into how close it came to actually happening.
The views of new head coach Darvin Ham, along with executives Joey Buss and Jesse Buss were given plenty of weight as the Lakers considered how to proceed, according to Charania, Amick and Buha. A scheduled news conference involving Pelinka and Ham was delayed as the team considered whether to move forward with the Pacers deal.
As general manager, Pelinka has been given the final authority on trades, the authors add, but it appears the Buss brothers are more involved than ever in personnel decisions. It was agreed that everyone in the room should be committed to gambling on Turner and Hield before the Lakers pulled the trigger, and when that didn’t happen, Pelinka opted to take a cautious approach, holding onto Westbrook to see if his fit with the team improves under a new coach or if a better deal arises before the February trade deadline.
Westbrook has been doing what the Lakers have asked so far, sources tell Charania, Amick and Buha. He has met individually with Pelinka, Jeanie Buss and Ham and said he’s willing to accept an off-the-ball role this season. He has also shown a willingness to adapt to Ham’s system throughout training camp, focusing more on setting screens, pushing the ball in transition and trying to set up teammates rather than looking for his own shot.
The Indiana deal was one of several trades the Lakers considered this summer, according to the authors’ sources. They also sought to acquire Kyrie Irving from the Nets and both Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson from the Jazz. Irving will be a free agent in July, but he’s not currently in the Lakers’ plans, the authors add.
In addition, several versions of the Pacers trade were discussed. One involved Westbrook and one of the first-rounders for Turner, while others focused on Hield. Formal talks between the teams began after Summer League, the authors’ sources said, and the Lakers’ initial offer was Westbrook, one first-round pick, and a second-rounder for Turner and Hield. There were also discussions about including a third team, possibly the Grizzlies, but the Pacers were firm in their stance that they wouldn’t agree to a deal unless they got both Lakers’ first-round picks in return.
The contract status of Turner and Hield might have pushed the Lakers to their final decision, the authors add. Turner is headed for free agency next summer and may be able to command $25MM per year in his next contract. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis already on the roster, L.A. was reluctant to have its three highest-paid players in the frontcourt when the league is becoming more perimeter-oriented, according to The Athletic sources. Hield is under contract for $21.7MM this season and $19.2MM in 2023/24 and is reportedly open to being traded.
Celtics Players Know Few Details About Ime Udoka’s Situation
The Celtics have been guarded about releasing information on the actions that led to the suspension of head coach Ime Udoka, and the players haven’t been told much either. After interim coach Joe Mazzulla handled his first preseason game Sunday, Marcus Smart told Steve Bullpet of Heavy that the team hasn’t been informed about what actually happened.
“That’s the thing, we don’t know anything,” Smart said. “So I don’t know what they can and can’t talk about or what the legal reasons are. That’s not my business, and I don’t want it to be. They made a decision. Whatever they feel, they have every right. That’s why you have your lawyers and things like that. So whatever they can say, they’ll say.
“But it’s just tough, because we don’t know what they can say because of that reason. So it’s tough on both sides. But we’re here to play basketball. We’ll let those guys figure it out, and we’ll go from there.”
Udoka will sit out the entire 2022/23 season as punishment for having an affair with a staff member. At a press conference last month, team owner Wyc Grousbeck said a law firm that investigated the matter discovered “a volume of violations” that Udoka allegedly committed. He also suggested that Udoka will face “a significant financial penalty,” but didn’t offer any specifics on the case.
A report last week from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated that the law firm found Udoka used “crude language” toward a female subordinate before their affair began. It cited “the power dynamic” as an important factor in the suspension, but provided little other information.
Former NBA player Matt Barnes seems to be among the most informed sources on the case, recently retracting his defense of Udoka and telling an interviewer that Udoka will be lucky to ever coach in the NBA again. Bulpett states that Smart shrugged and laughed when asked if it’s frustrating that a media member might know more about the details than he does.
“I mean, it’s just what it is,” Smart said. “It’s not weird to me, you know? Somebody that’s not close to the situation in terms of being on the team, I guess it’d probably be a little bit easier for him to get more information than us. So I’m not surprised. It’s how these things can go. So we just have to wait and let it run its course and let everyone do their job and wait until they can tell us what they can tell us.”
After Sunday’s debut, a 134-93 win over the Hornets, Mazzulla said he was “grateful” for the opportunity to coach the Celtics and thought the team responded well to its first preseason test, writes Steve Hewitt of The Boston Herald. Players were supportive of their new coach as they face the task of trying to win the East again without Udoka on the sidelines.
“I thought he was terrific. I thought he was great. I thought he was composed,” Malcolm Brogdon said of Mazzulla. “I thought he had some excellent out of timeout plays. I thought he did an excellent job. It’s going to continue to get tougher for him, continue to get tougher for us as we get to the regular season and teams start really scouting us we play high-level competition, but I think me and all my teammates have the utmost confidence in him to be ready for that and keep us motivated and continue to prepare us the right way.”
Heat Notes: Herro, Robinson, Oladipo, Jovic
After waiting all summer for an extension, Heat shooting guard Tyler Herro has agreed to a deal that could top many of his peers, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Herro’s new contract, which takes effect next season, could pay him up to $130MM over four years, with $120MM guaranteed and the rest available through incentives.
Herro has the opportunity to earn more than the Knicks’ RJ Barrett, who recently agreed to a four-year, $120MM rookie scale extension, Jackson notes. Herro’s deal also exceeds the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, who got a four-year, $107MM extension in 2019, and the Suns’ Mikal Bridges, who signed for four years at $90MM in 2021.
Herro’s base starting salary will be $26.8MM, which is a 20% discount from the projected max, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad.
There’s more from Miami:
- The Heat may find it more difficult to find a taker for Duncan Robinson now that Herro’s extension is in place, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. With Herro making just $5.7MM this year on the final season of his rookie contract, he was seen as a possible incentive in a deal for Robinson, but the poison pill provision will make Herro extremely difficult to move in 2022/23. Winderman states that the Heat will be limited financially unless they can find a taker for Robinson, especially with Max Strus headed toward free agency next summer.
- After four years of battling injuries, Victor Oladipo is just focused on staying healthy this season, Winderman adds in a separate story. “I really don’t have any goals or expectations for myself,” he said. “For this team, it’s to win a championship, obviously. But for me, it’s to contribute. Right now, I’m just focused on doing that. I think that sometimes, if we get too far ahead, or look too far back, that sometimes we can be disappointed, and sometimes you can lose sight of what is in front of you. For me, I’m just trying to stay in the moment.”
- Nikola Jovic struggled through Summer League, but veteran big man Udonis Haslem sees a lot of potential in the first-round pick, per Payton Titus of The Miami Herald. “[Jović] can score anywhere on the basketball court, can shoot with either hand, hard worker,” Haslem said. “Just experience, you know, experience is going to be the biggest thing that he’s going to need is this time over here working with us. The practice every day, competing, the physicality of it, getting in the weight room. And all those things are part of player development that we do very well here.”
Western Notes: Wolves, Olynyk, Gordon, Nuggets, Rockets
The Timberwolves are planning to be versatile with their play styles this season, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. To start, head coach Chris Finch mentioned it would be ideal to have at least one of Karl-Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert on the floor at all times, but that’s not a guarantee.
Minnesota will likely sport a starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Towns, and Gobert this season. Off the bench, the team would have Jordan McLaughlin, Bryn Forbes, Jaylen Nowell, Taurean Prince, Kyle Anderson, and Naz Reid, among others. The team’s style of play will largely depend on who’s in the game.
By acquiring Gobert, Minnesota also created additional lineup flexibility. The team can play Towns and Gobert together and go bigger, or it could replace one player with a wing depending on the in-game circumstances. Towns and Gobert figure to be the most formidable 4-5 combo in the league this season, having averaged a combined 40.0 points, 24.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game last year.
Here are some other notes from the Western Conference:
- New Jazz center Kelly Olynyk is no stranger to rebuilds, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. Olynyk was acquired by Utah in a deal with Detroit last month. He was part of a rebuild with the Celtics earlier in his career. The 31-year-old started in Utah’s preseason game against Toronto on Sunday.
- Nuggets veteran Aaron Gordon discussed how he and the team have plenty of strides to take, as relayed by Mike Singer of the Denver Post. The Nuggets have a title contender on paper, but the club’s chemistry will naturally need some time to improve. The projected five-man group of Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Gordon and Nikola Jokic have never played together, while Murray hasn’t played at all in over a year due to a torn ACL.
- The Rockets‘ rookie class is ready for its NBA debut, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. Headlined by No. 3 pick Jabari Smith, Houston has a strong group of young players. The team also has Jalen Green (20 years old) and Kevin Porter Jr. (22 years old) to lean on as it continues its rebuild.
Rockets Sign Bruno Fernando To Four-Year Deal
8:00pm: The deal is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
4:58pm: The Rockets have agreed to a four-year, $10.9MM deal with center Bruno Fernando, his agents informed ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Fernando was recently converted from an Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way contract, but he’ll be converted again to this multiyear deal. The team wouldn’t have been able to convert him directly from his Exhibit 10 deal to a multiyear contract, but the intermediate step of the two-way made it possible.
Houston acquired Fernando, 24, in a deal with the Celtics earlier this year. The team sent away center Daniel Theis, also receiving Dennis Schröder and Enes Freedom. Fernando averaged 6.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in 10 games with Houston to finish the season.
At 6’9″ and 240 pounds, Fernando is an athletic big man who lives around the rim. He has played in 119 NBA games with Atlanta, Boston and Houston during his career. He was also the No. 34 pick in 2019 after spending two collegiate seasons at Maryland.
With the move, Houston will reopen a two-way spot. The team finished with the worst record in the league last season at 20-62.
T.J. Leaf Re-Signs In China
Free agent big man T.J. Leaf has reached an agreement on a deal with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to Sportando. Leaf will return to China for the second straight season, as he played for the Guangzhou Loong Lions last year.
Leaf has played four NBA seasons. His first three came with the Pacers from 2017-20, while his last stint was with the Blazers in 2020/21. He has appeared in a total of 146 NBA games after being drafted with the No. 18 pick in 2017.
Last season, Leaf averaged 25.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in China. He also shot 57% from the floor and 30% from deep. At 6’10, the UCLA product has demonstrated potential offensively and on the glass, but he struggled to find a consistent role in the NBA. He turned 25 years old in April.
There’s still plenty of time for Leaf to pursue an NBA comeback if he so chooses, but for now, expect him to once again be one of the top bigs in China this season.
Nuggets, GM Calvin Booth Agree To Extension
7:12 pm: Denver has officially announced that Booth has signed an extension.
“Calvin has been a huge part of what we’ve done here over the last five seasons and I have the utmost confidence in him as our General Manager,” Josh Kroenke said in a statement. “Cal has seen the game from every angle and has an extremely bright basketball mind. I look forward to continuing alongside Calvin and the rest of the organization with the goal of bringing an NBA championship to the city of Denver.”
3:13pm: Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth has agreed to a long-term contract extension that is set to keep him in Denver through the 2024/25 season, sources inform Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Financial terms of the agreement have yet to be disclosed. Singer also added (via Twitter) that essentially all of Denver’s front office was extended through ’24/25.
After former team president Tim Connelly departed the Nuggets front office during the 2022 offseason to take over the lead front office gig with the Timberwolves, Booth assumed the prime role in personnel decision-making for what could be a title contender in Denver this year.
As Singer writes, Booth quickly addressed the team’s perimeter defense in trading for 3-and-D wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and reserve point guard Ish Smith earlier this summer, plus signing versatile free agent vet Bruce Brown. Booth also selected rookies Christian Braun and Peyton Watson in the 2022 draft, and added former two-time All-Defensive First Team center DeAndre Jordan in free agency.
With the high-level scoring duo of guard Jamal Murray and forward Michael Porter Jr. set to return from injuries to help two-time reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic shore up the team’s offense, Denver looks to be at its healthiest since the 2019/20 season, when the team reached the Western Conference Finals.
Heat Sign Tyler Herro To Four-Year Extension
6:28pm: Miami has officially announced Herro’s four-year extension.
“Tyler is an impact multi-faceted player and we are excited to have him signed for the next five years,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “His improvement every year since we drafted him has led to this day. We believe he will continue to get better.”
5:31pm: The Heat have agreed to a four-year, $130MM contract extension with star guard Tyler Herro, his agents tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald relays (via Twitter) that $120MM is guaranteed, while the other $10MM can be earned via incentives. Herro’s extension will begin in 2023/24.
With the deal, Miami now has both of its young stars, Herro and Bam Adebayo, under contract long-term. The team has a healthy blend of young players and veterans and is expected to once again compete for a title this season.
Herro averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game last year, winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. He’ll likely make a strong case in training camp for starting this season.
Herro is entering his fourth season with Miami. Last season was his best campaign since being drafted No. 13 overall by the team in 2019. At just 22 years old, he has ample time to continue improving and establish himself as a cornerstone piece for the Heat.
Miami had until opening night to reach an extension with Herro, otherwise, he would’ve reached restricted free agency next summer. He previously said he wouldn’t sign for anything he believes is less than his market value.
“I want to be here. I want to be in Miami,” Herro said. “But I’m not rushed to sign anything. It’s got to make sense for me and my family. I’m not just going to sign anything. I see the market, I see what guys got paid and I know my worth. So I’m looking for the right number.”
New York Notes: Randle, Quickley, Simmons, Curry
After a 2021/22 regression from his lone All-NBA Second Team appearance the year before, Knicks power forward Julius Randle is amenable to an increased offensive pace and fewer touches, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Bondy notes that the club’s pace ranked 30th during head coach Tom Thibodeau‘s first season in New York and 29th in 2021/22.
“It’s just the way the game is going,” Randle said of the speed adjustment. “There are so many more possessions, high-scoring games. So, it’s just the way the league is going and an adjustment that everybody has to make.”
Bondy adds that the 27-year-old shed some pounds during the offseason in service of an anticipated uptick in pace this year.
“Because of the strength of the club, we can use him in different ways,” Thibodeau said. “He doesn’t always have to have the ball. He can play off the ball [as a secondary playmaker in transition].”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Third-year Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley is hoping to raise his field goal shooting percentage in 2022/23, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. To do that, Quickley has been fleshing his mid-range game over the summer. “I think it will help my field-goal percentage a lot,” the 6’3″ guard out of Kentucky said. “Just being able to do everything when I’m on the floor is a versatility thing I like for myself.” For his career, the 23-year-old is a 39.3% shooter.
- Nets forward Ben Simmons underwent cryotherapy sessions as he rehabilitated his surgically-repaired back during the 2022 offseason, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber-only link). “I’ve put myself in position,” Simmons said of his development this summer. “I’ve been working on myself this past year to get back on the floor and play at a high level… I deserve to take this opportunity to get back on the court, so I’m excited to team up with these guys, these coaches.”
- Nets shooting guard Seth Curry has yet to engage in 5-on-5 play with Brooklyn as he continues to work his way back from a May left ankle surgery, reports Nick Friedell of ESPN (Twitter link). Curry indicates that he is continuing to feel comfortable during individual workouts. Friedell adds that head coach Steve Nash remains hopeful that Curry can round into form in time to play in the team’s final preseason game next week.