L.A. Notes: Powell, Harden, Hayes, Lakers’ Offseason
The Clippers didn’t ask much from Norman Powell as he returned to the court Sunday night, but they didn’t need a big contribution from their leading scorer in a 35-point win over Charlotte, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Playing for just the second time since the All-Star break, Powell scored seven points in 22 minutes and Carr observed that the enthusiasm he displayed as he skipped onto the court showed his excitement to be playing again.
Carr notes that coach Tyronn Lue has found a way to keep the team successful without Powell’s 23.4 points per game. While he was sidelined, Lue focused the offense around Kawhi Leonard, Ivica Zubac and James Harden.
“(We were) understanding how we want to play through guys,” Lue said, “and I think we’re getting more comfortable playing through Kawhi, playing through Zu, and James is just James.”
L.A. has managed to stay in contention for an automatic playoff spot, trailing sixth-place Golden State by just a game and a half. Powell’s return comes at a good time as the schedule is about to get much tougher with home games this week against Cleveland, Memphis and Oklahoma City.
“We pretty much need to win these games,” Leonard said. “Obviously, James is playing at a great level, Zu too. They played great individual basketball, being efficient and (Bogdan Bogdanovic) being great as well, making threes. It’s just been a collective group of thinking, just making shots that have been helping us.”
There’s more from Los Angeles:
- Harden has a streak of 15 straight playoff appearances that dates back to his rookie season with the Thunder, Carr adds in a separate story. It’s the fourth-longest such streak in NBA history, but he’ll have to go through the play-in tournament to extend it if the Clippers can’t move into the top six.
- The Lakers also welcomed back an important player on Sunday as center Jaxson Hayes returned after missing the four-game road trip with a bruised right knee, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Hayes tied his season high with 19 points while shooting 8-of-10 from the field, and Price notes that all his baskets came off assists from Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. “Just the vertical spacer is massive,” coach J.J. Redick told reporters before the game. “It’s not just in pick-and-rolls, but it’s on drives. Just the threat of that that Jaxson has provided has been so good for Luka, for LeBron (James), for (Reaves), so excited to get that back.”
- Finding another center will be an offseason priority for the Lakers, whether it’s someone to take over the starting role or serve as a backup to Hayes, Jovan Buha of The Athletic said on his latest podcast (hat tip to BasketNews). L.A. acquired Mark Williams from Charlotte before the deadline, but eventually rescinded the trade due to concerns about Williams’ physical condition. Buha also expects the team to try to work out extensions with Doncic and Reaves and to reach new deals with James and Dorian Finney-Smith. Doncic will become eligible in August for a four-year extension worth an estimated $228.6MM.
Anthony Davis To Begin Practicing With G League Team
The Mavericks have assigned Anthony Davis and Jaden Hardy to their G League affiliate, the Texas Legends. The team wants Davis to get some five-on-five work as he prepares for a possible return to action, explains Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
Davis will practice today and is “very eager” about the prospect of playing again sometime this season, league sources tell NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link). However, the decision to bring back Davis hasn’t been made yet because of the risk of aggravating his injury, Stein adds.
Davis was the centerpiece of the controversial deal that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers shortly before the trade deadline. Davis got off to a promising start in Dallas, but he suffered a left adductor strain in the third quarter of his February 8 debut and hasn’t been able to play since then.
Head coach Jason Kidd said recently that Davis “continues to trend in the right direction,” and this is further evidence that his comeback may not be far away. The Mavericks badly need reinforcements as they had just eight active players for Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia, and their two-way players are nearing the end of their eligibility.
Davis was in the midst of another exceptional season in L.A. before the trade, averaging 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 52.8% from the field. He was selected to the All-Star Game for the 10th time, although he wasn’t able to play because of a previous injury.
Hardy, a third-year shooting guard, has been sidelined since March 3 because of a right ankle sprain. He’ll provide another long-distance threat for the Mavericks whenever he’s able to return, as he’s averaging 8.0 PPG and shooting 38.4% from three-point range.
Having Davis and Hardy back would greatly improve Dallas’ chances of holding onto 10th place in the West and earning a spot in the postseason. The Mavs have lost three straight games and eight of their last nine and lead 11th-place Phoenix by just a game and a half.
Suns Still Hoping To Salvage Disappointing Season
Kevin Durant‘s heated sideline exchange with coach Mike Budenholzer (Twitter video link) may be the only positive to come out of the Suns‘ loss to the Lakers on Sunday, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. It suggests that Durant is still locked in enough to care about the team amid widespread reports that he plans to ask for a trade this summer.
Durant and his teammates are struggling to make up ground on the 10th-place Mavericks, whose season is imploding amid a constant string of injuries. Phoenix has gone just 4-6 in its last 10 games and remains a game and a half behind Dallas with less than four weeks to play.
“This group is — there’s still (14) games left. We need to get into the play-in, we need to get into the playoffs and try and do something there,” Budenholzer said. “Like, there is a lot of talent in our locker room. There is a lot of fight in our locker room. So we got to get in (the play-in), and then we got to play good basketball, win games. But we got to start winning to get there, (and) I think the guys know that. And I think the mindset and the fight, in the first quarter, wasn’t where it needs to be.”
Budenholzer dismissed the latest run-in with Durant, saying it involved defensive rotations and calling it “pretty normal stuff.” Durant didn’t talk to reporters after the game, according to Vardon, telling them he was going to shower first and then quickly slipping out of the locker room after he was done.
Vardon states that there’s no easy explanation for what has gone wrong with the Suns, who looked like one of the NBA’s best teams in October and early November with an 8-1 start. There’s plenty of firepower on the roster with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal playing alongside Durant, and the front office thought it had upgraded the coaching staff by hiring Budenholzer, who has an NBA title on his resume.
Some observers have labeled Beal a disappointment, but Vardon points out that he has been playing pretty well as a third option, averaging 17.3 PPG while shooting better than 50% from the floor and nearly 40% from three-point range. However, Beal suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday that prevented him from playing in the second half and he’s considered questionable for tonight’s game against Toronto.
Phoenix is 27th in the league in defensive rating, and Budenholzer cited the need to improve in that area several times after Sunday’s loss. Vardon also notes that the three-point shooting has been inconsistent as the Suns missed 18 of their first 20 attempts from beyond the arc against the Lakers.
“I think it’s more than one thing,” Booker said. “In spots, we’ve shown we can do it, and that’s what makes it even more frustrating. We have a game like last game (a 122-106 win over Sacramento), and then we come in and miss a few shots, which affects our defense, which, you know, affects our offense. So, it’s a domino effect. If you’re playing with energy and effort, you know, you can sleep well at night, regardless. And I don’t think we’re doing that right now.”
Sixers Notes: Hood-Schifino, Reed, Bona, George, Embiid
Considering their lottery situation, the Sixers really didn’t need a win Sunday afternoon in Dallas, but that didn’t matter to Jalen Hood-Schifino or the other players trying to prove themselves at the NBA level, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Hood-Schifino, who signed a two-way contract on March 1, came off the bench to sink five three-pointers and score 19 points in 23 minutes. He also hit a pair of foul shots with four seconds left that put the game out of reach.
“For me, just focusing on my breath and saying calm, and knowing if I get those two free throws, the game is over,” Hood-Schifino said. “So for me, it was about relaxing and knocking those shots down.”
Pompey notes that while the Sixers snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 21 games, it wasn’t the best outcome for a team that will surrender its first-round pick to Oklahoma City if it falls outside the top six. Brooklyn also won on Sunday while Toronto lost, leaving Philadelphia with the sixth-worst record in the league, a half-game behind the Nets in the lottery standings and a half-game ahead of the Raptors.
“Listen, we are going to prepare this group to go out there and have some success,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Again, they played very well tonight. … Again, we just want to prepare them well and give them a chance to show what they can do and have some success.”
There’s more on the Sixers:
- Pistons center Paul Reed, who was waived by Philadelphia in July, took a shot at his former team on social media Saturday night, posting, “They thought I was the problem,” Pompey adds. Asked to comment on Sunday, Nurse replied, “I don’t have a response. We certainly didn’t think Paul Reed was a problem.”
- The Sixers’ list of inactive players for Sunday grew to 10 when center Adem Bona was declared out due to a sprained left ankle, Pompey tweets. There’s no word on how much time Bona is expected to miss.
- The Sixers were counting on Paul George to lift them into title contention when he signed as a free agent last summer, but their best move might be to try to unload his hefty contract during the offseason, Pompey states in a separate story. The nine-time All-Star has been limited to 41 games this season and hasn’t played since March 4 because of groin and knee injuries. He’ll turn 35 in May and still has three years and $162.3MM left on his contract.
- The Sixers won’t be able to make real progress until they move on from Joel Embiid, Pompey argues in another piece. He notes that Philadelphia’s front office keeps making personnel moves to build around Embiid, but the star center’s constant injuries prevent them from being effective. Pompey adds that with Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey using up virtually all the team’s cap space over the next several seasons, there’s little room to improve if they all remain on the roster.
P.J. Washington Calls For End To ‘Fire Nico’ Chants
P.J. Washington defended embattled general manager Nico Harrison during the Mavericks‘ Sunday afternoon game against Philadelphia, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. “Fire Nico” chants have been a regular occurrence at American Airlines Center since Harrison made the controversial decision to trade franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic to the Lakers last month.
When a fan yelled out that phrase as Washington stepped to the foul line in the third quarter, he sank the first free throw and shot back, “Shut yo ass up!” After the game, Washington explained why he believes why the fan base needs to move beyond its focus on the Doncic deal.
“At the end of the day, the trades happened,” he said. “We understand we have a new team now. All that ‘Fire Nico’ stuff, we’re sick and tired of hearing it. We just want to go out there and play and we need the fans to support us no matter who’s on the floor. That’s just how I feel about it.”
The Mavericks’ season has been a disaster ever since the trade was announced in early February, with a string of injuries leaving them barely able to field a roster. They were at the NBA’s eight-man minimum for Sunday’s loss to the Sixers, who also had a makeshift lineup consisting largely of players on two-way contracts and 10-day deals because of their own injury situation.
The loss was the third in a row for Dallas and the eighth in its last nine games. Despite the long downturn, the Mavs are still clinging to the final play-in spot in the West, holding a game-and-a-half lead over Phoenix and a three-and-a-half-game advantage over Portland and San Antonio.
Max Christie, who was acquired from L.A. in the Doncic trade, declined to directly address Washington’s comments, Curtis adds, but he talked to reporters about how the players are able to tune out their surroundings and concentrate on the game.
“We’re professionals and our job is to come out here and perform regardless of the circumstances that we’re in,” Christie said. “We get paid a lot of money just to play basketball. For us, we have little things like that that may be distracting and whatnot. It shouldn’t affect us. We’re professionals. We’re the best at what we do in this sport. Distractions are going to be there and we have to be able to move forward and move past them and not let it affect us.”
Things may get worse for the Mavericks, who are rapidly running out of personnel because of their recent reliance on two-way players with limited eligibility remaining. Kessler Edwards, who started at center on Sunday, can only be on the active roster for two more games, while starting point guard Brandon Williams is down to five.
The team suffered a major blow on Friday when Dante Exum broke a bone in his left hand that may keep him out for the rest of the season. There’s still hope that injured big men Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively will be able to return at some point, but there’s no set timetable for any of them.
Hard cap restrictions will prevent the team from filling an opening on its 15-man roster until April 10. That’s the day after Doncic will return to Dallas with the Lakers in what’s sure to be an emotional reunion.
The only good news on Sunday was the return of Washington, who missed more than two weeks with a sprained ankle. He posted 29 points and 12 rebounds in 32 minutes and said he feels “back to normal,” Curtis states in a separate story.
“I’m just happy to be back,” Washington said. “I woke up early this morning just excited to play. Definitely happy that I’m back healthy.”
Jericho Sims Playing Through Thumb Injury, Surgery A Consideration
Bucks backup big man Jericho Sims suffered a right thumb injury on Saturday against the Pacers, but will play through it, at least for the time being. After suffering the injury, which is the team is calling a sprain, he finished the game against Indiana and suited up on Sunday against Oklahoma City.
However, according to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm (Twitter link), when asked on Sunday if Sims will be able to comfortably play through the injury, head coach Doc Rivers replied, “No. It’s a pretty good injury. Probably decisions will have to be made.”
Asked if that means surgery is an option, Rivers continued, “Yeah, it’s a consideration, for sure.”
Milwaukee acquired Sims in the four-team deal that re-routed Khris Middleton to Washington. The big man, who sees rotation minutes off the bench for the Bucks, scored four points and 11 rebounds on Thursday, though most of those numbers were compiled before his injury. In 13 games with Milwaukee entering Sunday, Sims is averaging 2.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per night.
Sims got in the first quarter against the Thunder, sporting a brace on his thumb. While the exact plan for Sims is still unclear, given Rivers’ pregame comments, it’s possible the Bucks are evaluating his ability to play through the injury before considering a potential surgery. It’s not uncommon for players to undergo necessary procedures in the offseason if they’re not urgent.
The former second-round pick out of Texas spent the first three and a half years of his career with the Knicks. He’s currently the fourth big in the Bucks’ rotation. If he is to miss any time due to the injury, the Bucks will need to get creative with options to replace his minutes. Tyler Smith and Pete Nance are the only other players on the roster listed 6’10” or above.
Nets Notes: Russell, Thomas, Hayes
D’Angelo Russell has said he’d like to extend his second stint in Brooklyn, a team with whom he has spent 152 games with during his career. He’s on an expiring $18.7MM contract and spoke again about his impending free agency with the New York Post’s Brian Lewis.
“I don’t think it’s in my control, to be honest,” Russell said. “I’ve been on the team before where everybody was free agents, too. So they’ve got the leverage, they’ve got the cards. If they decide to bring me back, cool. If not, we’ll figure it out.”
Since being traded to the Nets ahead of this year’s deadline, Russell is averaging 13.3 points and 5.7 assists. Brooklyn saw the point guard blossom into an All-Star in his age-22 season in 2018/19, then signed-and-traded him to Golden State during the 2019 offseason as part of the team’s Kevin Durant acquisition.
“Hope? Yeah. [But] I just want to be in the NBA,” Russell said when asked if he hopes to remain with the Nets. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a free agent. I look back on it, I’ve never been. For me, it’s a weird feeling, but see how it goes. I signed an extension with the Lakers, two years — one-plus-one, player option. I just never hit [free agency]. So I’m excited to see.”
We have more on the Nets:
- Like Russell, Cam Thomas is also set to be a free agent this summer, though he’ll be restricted rather than unrestricted. “It’s a business, but at the end of the day,” Thomas said, per HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter video link). “I would love to be back and get that straightened out to keep playing in front of the fans and keep building the relationships I’ve built here because I was drafted here.”
- Thomas is averaging 24.0 points and 3.8 assists this season while shooting 34.9% on 7.8 three-point attempts per game. However, he was limited to just 25 games this season before being shut down due to his latest hamstring injury. Head coach Jordi Fernandez discussed Thomas’s summer and what the plan is for him moving forward, per Scotto (Twitter link). “Cam’s been great for the group,” Fernandez said. “He’s worked every single day. He’s built relationships. We all know his superpower of being a very good scorer. The way we played through him, I thought the team was playing at a high level. We’ll go through the summer together. We have a plan in place. The plan is going to be a team that wins consistently, and we’re going to get there together.“
- Killian Hayes rejoined the Nets’ G League affiliate in Long Island after not getting a second 10-day from Brooklyn earlier this month (though that could still be an option down the line). As Scott Mitchell of NetsDaily observes, Hayes had a career game on Friday, scoring a professional career-high 38 points along with eight threes. Even though he’s playing for Brooklyn’s affiliate, the veteran guard is eligible to sign with any NBA team.
Heat Notes: Adebayo, Herro, Wiggins, Slump, Mitchell
Bam Adebayo was drafted by the Heat in 2017, two years before Jimmy Butler joined the team in free agency, but this is the first time since 2019 he hasn’t had the veteran forward as a teammate. Tyler Herro, a 2019 draftee, is experiencing life without Butler for the first time in his NBA career. It has been a challenging transition for both players, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“It’s growing pains for us,” Adebayo said. “This is the first situation that’s it has really been just me and Tyler. I mean, obviously, the addition of (Andrew Wiggins), but we’re still trying to get Wiggs comfortable to where he can be fully himself. Right now, we’re keeping it simple for him and just kind of getting out of his way. But for me and Tyler, it’s more so understanding that we know how hard it is to win in this league. You can never take that for granted.”
Even though Butler was in and out of the lineup for weeks leading up to the trade deadline, the Heat have cratered since they officially sent him to Golden State. Miami was 25-24 when the February 6 deadline passed; since then, the club has dropped 14 of 18 contests, falling to nine games below .500 for the first time since the 2016/17 season.
While it’s hardly an ideal situation for the Heat, head coach Erik Spoelstra points out that it has been a good test for Adebayo and Herro as the team’s new leaders.
“With everything that has been going on, that part I’ve enjoyed watching — to see them grow into these roles,” Spoelstra said. “If you want to lead, these are the times. You have to be able to do it when the seas are a little bit rough, a little bit choppy. Anybody can lead when things are going great. Anybody can be a front-runner in those kinds of situations.
“But these guys, they’re about the right things. They want it so bad. They want everybody to play well and get this breakthrough. It starts with that and then everybody else filling in, as well. We say it all the time, it’s leadership at all levels. But those two guys have been around the longest. I think everybody is just kind of turning to them naturally.”
Here’s more on the slumping Heat:
- Saturday’s defeat at the hands of the Grizzlies extended the Heat’s losing streak to seven games, which Spoelstra referred to as “humbling,” per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The first four of those losses were by five points or less, but the past three have been by double-digits — Memphis won by 34 points on Saturday. “We are desperate to our souls to collectively figure out how to win one game,” Spoelstra said. “We focus on the process. In these moments, you have to stick to a process. We are trying to build necessary habits.”
- One post-deadline bright spot for the Heat has been the play of Davion Mitchell, who had 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in Friday’s loss to Boston. Acquired from Toronto last month, Mitchell has earned regular minutes in Miami’s backcourt and has acquitted himself well. “He made all of us watch him, right? He has that kind of gift, those kinds of abilities.” Spoelstra said after Friday’s game, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “He’s really dynamic, the way he can move laterally. And we just want to unlock all of that. Taking on all the big matchups, just making great efforts, we’re going to need that a bunch going down the stretch. But I was really pleased with his play.”
- In another story for The Miami Herald, Jackson examines what’s at stake in the final weeks of the season for six players whom the Heat will have to make decisions on soon, such as Duncan Robinson, whose 2025/26 salary is partially guaranteed, and Herro, who will become extension-eligible later this year.
- Within that same article, Jackson wonders if the Heat might consider the possibility of waiving Mitchell before the end of the season in the hopes that another team will claim him off waivers, which would allow Miami to duck below the luxury tax line. I can’t see that happening, even if the Heat don’t necessarily view the fourth-year guard as part of their future. There are very few teams that could realistically claim Mitchell’s $6.45MM expiring contract without creating their own tax-related problems, and he wouldn’t be playoff-eligible for a new club, limiting his appeal. If Mitchell were to go unclaimed in that hypothetical scenario, the Heat’s tax situation wouldn’t change and they would be giving up a key piece of their backcourt (and a possible offseason asset) for no reason.
Roster Moves Required Soon For Kings, Warriors
NBA teams are generally required to carry at least 14 players on standard contracts. However, league rules allow clubs to dip below that minimum for up to two weeks at a time and for up to 28 total days in a season.
Currently, two teams are operating with fewer than 14 players on their 15-man rosters and will soon have to sign a free agent or promote a two-way player to a standard contract to avoid violating that rule. Those teams are as follows:
Sacramento Kings
The Kings first dropped below 14 players on February 3, when they completed their De’Aaron Fox trade. That deal saw them send out three players and acquire only two in return.
Sacramento got back to the 14-player minimum 10 days later, when Markelle Fultz signed with the team on February 13, before dipping back to 13 on February 18, following the expiration of Daishen Nix‘s 10-day contract.
The Kings remained below the 14-player minimum until 13 days later, when Skal Labissiere signed a 10-day contract on March 3, then once again went below the minimum on March 13 after Labissiere’s deal expired.
As a result of that series of roster moves, Sacramento is fast approaching its 28-day maximum for the season and will be required to re-add a 14th man by the middle of this week (by our count, the deadline is March 18). If the club exhausts its full 28 days below 14 players, it won’t be able to go below that minimum again this season.
Golden State Warriors
Like the Kings, the Warriors fell below 14 players on standard contracts for the first time this season as a result of a blockbuster deadline deal. In Golden State’s case, it was the February 6 move for Jimmy Butler, which required the club to send out four players.
The Warriors signed Kevin Knox and Yuri Collins to 10-day contracts on February 19, 13 days later, to reach the 14-player minimum. When those deals expired on March 1, Golden State re-signed Knox immediately, but let Collins go. As a result, the team was below 14 players for three days, until Pat Spencer was promoted to the standard roster on March 4.
After seven more days at the 14-player minimum, Golden State has been operating below that threshold since March 11, when Knox’s second 10-day contract expired. So the clock is once again ticking on the Warriors, who have another week to add a 14th man if they intend to exhaust their full 28-day allowance (by our count, their deadline is March 23).
Knox looks like the top candidate to return at that point on a rest-of-season contract, but that’s just my speculation — it hasn’t been reported. It’s worth noting that the Warriors will soon have the ability to fill both their 14th and 15th spots with rest-of-season signings while staying below their hard cap, so if Knox fills one of those two openings, the team will still be able to add a second player before the end of the regular season.
Clippers’ Norman Powell Returning From Hamstring Injury
Clippers wing Norman Powell will be available for Sunday’s game against the Hornets in Los Angeles, head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters today (Twitter link via Justin Russo).
Powell missed five games due to a left knee injury coming out of the All-Star break, then returned to action on March 2. However, he played just nine minutes in that contest before exiting due to a right hamstring strain that has kept him on the shelf for the past seven games. If he’s able to stay healthy through the final buzzer on Sunday, it will be the 31-year-old’s first full game since February 13.
Powell has had a career year for the Clippers in 2024/25, with averages of 23.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game and a .494/.424/.821 shooting line across 46 outings (33.0 MPG). He’s the team’s leading scorer and helped keep the offense afloat when Kawhi Leonard was out during the first half of the season.
Powell had been viewed for most of the year as one of the league’s leading candidates for Most Improved Player honors, but his recent injury absences, along with a few missed games earlier in the season, have cost him a shot at earning that award. Even if he plays in every game remaining on L.A.’s schedule, Powell will fall shy of the 65-game requirement for award consideration.
According to Clippers sideline reporter Lauren Rosen (Twitter link), Powell will reclaim his spot in the starting lineup on Sunday. He’ll presumably replace Kris Dunn, who will be unavailable due to left knee soreness.