Hornets Notes: Williams, Salaün, Bridges
It has been a whirlwind season for Hornets center Mark Williams, who was technically traded to the Lakers ahead of last month’s deadline only to see the deal rescinded by Los Angeles for what the team called medical concerns. Williams says he has moved on from that period of uncertainty, per Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
“That was definitely a crazy time for me, but I think I’m past it,” said Williams. “Just trying to play the season out as hard as I can and dominate. I don’t think it does me any good to continue to harp on that situation.”
Williams says he has received support from people who know him well.
“Yeah, it’s been great,” Williams said. “Obviously, my teammates have been super supportive. My teammates, it’s obviously going to be easy with them. It’s not like they are the ones in front offices or anything. I would say being around them always makes it easier. Coaches, and then my people around me, like my family.”
Here’s more on the Hornets:
- Viewed as a project entering the 2024 draft, No. 6 overall pick Tidjane Salaün has predictably struggled in some ways during his rookie campaign, Boone writes in another story. The 19-year-old French forward has converted just 31.9% of his field goals attempts. Head coach Charles Lee says Salaün needs to be more consistent but is pleased with his effort. “I think he’s done a great job of progressing throughout the whole year,” Lee said. “He’s had his ups and downs, but through it all, he continues to just show great flashes. … I look forward to just more consistency from him. The kid works extremely hard, the care factor is there. He’s going to continue to get better. I know it.”
- Although it has largely been a disappointing season in Charlotte, with injuries once again a major cause for concern, the play and leadership of Miles Bridges have been bright spots, according to Boone. Bridges, who signed a three-year, $75MM contract with the Hornets last summer, missed the entire ’22/23 season after being charged with three felonies following an alleged assault of his former girlfriend and mother of his two children in front of them. He initially pleaded not guilty, but reached a plea deal for three years of probation and no jail time, ultimately entering a plea of no contest to one felony count of injuring a child’s parent. The NBA later suspended him for 30 games, with 20 of those considered retroactive for missing all of ’22/23.
- In case you missed it, in addition to their own selection, which would currently be No. 33 overall, the Hornets also control the Pelicans’ 2025 second-round pick, which is projected to be No. 34.
Wizards’ Coulibaly Out 4-6 Weeks With Hamstring Strain
Second-year forward Bilal Coulibaly sustained a right hamstring injury in the first quarter of Monday’s game vs. Toronto and will miss about four-to-six weeks, the Wizards announced in a press release (Twitter link).
According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter links), Wizards officials say Coulibaly was diagnosed with a hamstring strain after undergoing an MRI.
While he hasn’t been formally ruled out for the rest of the season, Washington’s schedule concludes on April 13 — four-and-a-half weeks from now — and the team says the injury will be treated conservatively. Reading between the lines, Coulibaly has likely played his last game of ’24/25.
The injury, which was original labeled a hip contusion, will not require surgery, per Robbins. Coulibaly is expected to remain with the Wizards as he recuperates, Robbins adds.
Coulibaly was the seventh overall pick of the 2023 draft after playing with friend Victor Wembanyama on Metropolitans 92 in France during the ’22/23 campaign. He was one of the youngest players in the class, as he didn’t turn 19 until a month after he was selected.
Coulibaly averaged 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks in 59 games during his second season. He started each appearance, averaging 33.0 MPG, with a shooting slash line of .421/.281/.746.
It’s a disappointing likely end to Coulibaly’s season, particularly after his rookie campaign also ended prematurely due to injury — he sustained a right wrist fracture last March, ultimately appearing in 63 games in ’23/24.
Coulibaly, who won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics as a role player for France, was named to the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend this season. While his efficiency took a hit in ’24/25 due to a more difficult shot profile, the Wizards reportedly remain bullish on his upside.
Grizzlies Sign Lamar Stevens For Rest Of Season
The Grizzlies have signed forward Lamar Stevens for the remainder of the 2024/25 season, the team announced today in a press release (via Twitter).
Stevens just spent the past 20 days with Memphis on a pair of back-to-back 10-day contracts. The 27-year-old has appeared in six games this season with the Grizzlies, averaging 4.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per contest.
Prior to his promotion, Stevens had been playing in the G League with the Motor City Cruise. In 29 combined games for Detroit’s NBAGL affiliate in ’24/25, Stevens averaged 17.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.4 blocks in 34.0 minutes, with a shooting slash line of .438/.328/.744.
A five-year veteran, Stevens got his NBA start with Cleveland after going undrafted out of Penn State in 2020. He spent his first three seasons with the Cavs, then played for the Celtics and Grizzlies last season.
While the Grizzlies elected not to re-sign Stevens in the 2024 offseason, clearly they still like his game, since he’s back to conclude ’24/25. He’ll provide energy, toughness and solid defense off the bench for a team hoping to make a deep playoff run.
Stevens will continue to occupy the 15th spot on the Grizzlies’ standard roster, which is now full.
Jaden Ivey Ruled Out For Remainder Of Regular Season
Any hope that Pistons starting guard Jaden Ivey would return prior to the end of the regular season was almost certainly dashed by the latest medical update provided by the club.
Ivey’s rehabilitation from a broken fibula has progressed to “weight-bearing strengthening exercises, running progression activity and stationary shooting,” the team’s PR department tweets. The next update regarding his rehab will be updated in four weeks. The regular season ends in four-and-a-half weeks, on April 13.
As of the previous update, issued on Feb. 6, Ivey had transitioned to a walking boot and had begun light weight-bearing activity.
While there may a window for Ivey’s return if the Pistons advance deep into the playoffs, it seems safe to assume his regular season, at least, is over. Ivey underwent surgery on Jan. 2 after Magic guard Cole Anthony fell on his left leg the previous night while the two guards were battling for a loose ball.
The No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Ivey had been enjoying his best season as a pro so far in ’24/25, establishing new career highs in points (17.6) and rebounds (4.1) per game, as well as field goal percentage (46.0%) and three-point percentage (40.9%). He started all 30 games he played, averaging 29.9 minutes per night.
Detroit has already picked up its $10.1MM option on Ivey’s contract for next season. He’s eligible for a rookie scale extension during the offseason — it remains to be seen how the injury might impact those future negotiations.
Pacers Sign Tony Bradley To Second 10-Day Deal
March 13: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
March 12: Tony Bradley‘s 10-day contract with the Pacers expired after Tuesday’s game, but the team doesn’t intend to let him go at this point, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, who reports that Indiana plans to sign the veteran center to a second 10-day deal.
The 28th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Bradley spent six years in the NBA from 2017-23, but wasn’t in the league last season and had gone more than two calendar years without playing in a regular season game before making four appearances for the Pacers during his first 10 days with the team.
Bradley saw mop-up action during those four appearances, logging just nine total minutes and registering six points, four rebounds, and a block in his limited action. Still, the Pacers apparently saw enough from the big man to feel confident about hanging onto him as their 15th man for at least 10 more days.
Bradley will continue to serve as the third center on Indiana’s depth chart behind Myles Turner and Thomas Bryant. The former UNC standout will earn $150,179 on his 10-day contract, bringing his total 20-day earnings to just over $300K, while the Pacers add another $119,972 to their cap.
The Pacers don’t play again until Friday in Philadelphia, so they may wait a day or two to officially complete Bradley’s new deal. If so, he’d be eligible to play in the team’s next six games. If his contract is finalized today, the 27-year-old could be active for up to five more games — in that scenario, his deal would expire the night before Indiana’s March 22 matchup with Brooklyn.
Once Bradley’s second 10-day contract is up, the Pacers would have to sign him for the rest of the season if they want to retain him.
Atlantic Notes: Shamet, Nurse, Tatum, Fernandez
Landry Shamet dislocated his shoulder during the preseason and could have opted for season-ending surgery. The Knicks guard instead chose to rehab the injury and so far, that decision is paying dividends, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes.
Shamet was waived in October, then re-signed with the club in December. The veteran guard is currently getting steady minutes due to injuries and scored a season-high 13 points against Sacramento on Monday.
“Yeah, knock on wood. I’m in a good spot,” Shamet said. “I attacked the rehab, took it very seriously. Frankly, that’s not much of a thought I have. I feel good, I’m in a good spot.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers head coach Nick Nurse came to dread reports from his medical staff as the team’s once-promising season disintegrated, he told Michael Grange of Sportsnet. “It was really, really difficult at times,” Nurse said. “What made it most difficult is when you’d actually go on a run and think you’re making some progress, and then you get hit again (with another injury). I remember having one really good win, I can’t remember who it was against, and after the game — I always get a report from the medical team — and he came in and I was like, ‘Please just let me get to the next game, we just played really good.’ And he’s like, ‘Uh, I don’t know what to tell you.’ You kept thinking you were going to get these guys back… and guys kept going down.”
- In the Celtics‘ six-point loss to the Thunder on Wednesday, Oklahoma City shot 35 free throws while the Celtics only had 12 attempts. “Yeah, it’s tough,” Jayson Tatum said Brian Robb of MassLive.com. “You’re not going to keep them off the line. They’re very intentional about that, and they have been all season. You’re not going to be the first team where they shoot five free throws or something crazy like that. But there is a balance between that and 35 free throws. Granted, some of them were fouls. Some of them we’ve got to be better at. But I’m not saying that’s why we lost or that’s the ref’s fault or anything like that. That’s how it’s going to be in the playoffs.”
- Nets first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez is drawing high praise from opposing coaches as well as his current and former players. Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily.com examines why Fernandez has made such a strong impression.
Thibodeau Denies Having Conversation With Bridges About Starters’ Minutes
Knicks forward Mikal Bridges, the NBA’s leader in total minutes played this season, said on Wednesday that he has spoken to head coach Tom Thibodeau about the idea of dialing back the starters’ minutes to some extent and leaning more on the bench. Asked later in the day about that discussion, Thibodeau denied that it happened.
“We never had a conversation about it,” Thibodeau told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of The New York Post and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
Bridges, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby are all among the top six in the NBA in terms of minutes per game, with Hart and Bridges occupying the top two spots on that leaderboard. Jalen Brunson ranks 19th, while Karl-Anthony Towns is 24th. Thibodeau, who has faced criticism over the years for the heavy workloads he assigns his top players, defended his approach ahead of Wednesday’s game in Portland.
“The facts are the facts. When you look at our team, and the way it works, Jalen plays 35 minutes, and I think he’s 20th or 21st in average minutes played,” Thibodeau said. “(Towns), who is a primary scorer, plays less than Jalen. He’s like 25th in the league in average minutes.
“Your wings play more, right? They’re matched up with primary scorers. The way it works, if Jayson Tatum is in the game or Jaylen Brown is in the game, OG will be in the game and Mikal will be in the game. When those guys go out, (our) guys go out. When they come back, (our guys) come back. We try to keep them matched up. If you look at the league, all those guys are playing 36, 37 minutes — whether it’s Durant, Tatum, Brown. The wings are going to play more. They are primary wings defenders. That’s the way it works.”
Thibodeau also pointed out that Bridges’ minutes have come down as of late. The veteran forward played 39.3 minutes per night through his first 35 games of the season; entering Wednesday, he had averaged 35.5 MPG in his previous 21 outings. While Wednesday’s contest vs. the Trail Blazers represented the seventh time Bridges has played 40-plus minutes since February 1, five of those games went to overtime.
According to Thibodeau, his starters’ playing time will likely remain a little below where it was during the first couple months of the season because the reserves are healthier at this point, with Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet among those now playing rotation roles.
“We’ve started the season with Landry hurt and (Miles McBride) not 100 percent. So our wings did play more,” Thibodeau said. “So are they playing a little bit more than I would like? Yeah. Probably 35 or 36 (minutes), and that’s where Mikal is if you look at the last 10 games — he’s playing 35 minutes per game and four of those games are overtime games. So that’s the reality. Now that Deuce is healthy, those minutes are going to come down. So that’s the way it is.”
Although Thibodeau didn’t sound thrilled to have to revisit the discourse about his player usage, the day ended on a positive note for both him and Bridges, who scored a team-high 33 points on 13-of-21 shooting and nailed a buzzer-beating three-pointer in overtime to give the Knicks a 114-113 win (Twitter video link).
“He was huge, huge,” Thibodeau said, per Edwards.
Suns’ Plumlee, Rockets’ Adams Ejected After Scuffle
Suns center Mason Plumlee and Rockets center Steven Adams were ejected from Wednesday’s game in the second quarter following a confrontation that ended with both players falling to the floor as players and coaches attempted to pull them apart, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN details.
Plumlee and Adams were battling for rebounding position on a Jalen Green shot attempt when they initially got tangled up. The two big men remained entangled with one another as they began walking back up the court, resulting in Plumlee attempting to shove Adams away and then briefly scuffling with the Rockets center before landing on him as both players hit the floor (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report).
Plumlee said he was making a point of aggressively boxing out his frontcourt counterpart in an attempt to match Houston’s physicality.
“He goes for every rebound and he does it whether it’s dirty or not,” Plumlee said, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter video link). “I just felt like they were being more physical than us. I just made a point to hit him on the glass.”
After reviewing the play, referee crew chief Tony Brothers announced that Plumlee and Adams had been assessed double technical fouls and had been ejected. After the game, he explained the decision to pool reporter Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
“Their aggressive actions were considered a fight, and by rule, fighting technical fouls carry a penalty of automatic ejection,” Brothers said.
While it’s certainly possible that both Plumlee and Adams will be hit with fines as a result of their confrontation, the skirmish is unlikely to warrant any suspensions, especially since both players already missed over half of Wednesday’s game as a result of their ejections. Both head coaches suggested after the game that they were surprised by that ruling.
“There wasn’t much,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said, according to McMahon. “Steven could do a lot more if he was really trying to wrestle. It looked like they got in a little bear hug and fell down. I thought that would maybe be a technical at best. Surprised they were ejected.”
“It’s just two guys getting tangled up. Both physical, both competitors,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said (Twitter video link via Rankin). “… It’d be nice if they just probably give them both a technical and they both stayed in the game.”
The Suns, who were missing usual starting center Nick Richards due to an ankle issue, had to lean on rookie Oso Ighodaro following Plumlee’s ejection. Ighodaro played nearly 18 second-half minutes and logged 28 minutes for the game, his highest total in two months, as Phoenix fell to Houston and dropped to 30-36 on the season.
Injury Notes: Williams, Giddey, Porzingis, LeBron
After suffering a hip strain in the second half of a victory over Denver on Monday, Thunder All-Star forward Jalen Williams was ruled out for Wednesday’s road contest against Boston, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Aaron Wiggins drew the start in Williams’ absence
With their 118-112 win over Boston on Wednesday, the Thunder have ensured they’ll avoid the play-in tournament in the West, having clinched a top-six playoff spot, per the NBA (via Twitter).
According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link), Williams didn’t travel with the Thunder as they embarked on a three-game road trip. Reigning Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault indicated on Wednesday that the team has yet to determine a recovery timeline for the 6’5″ forward.
Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:
- Bulls guard Josh Giddey sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter of an eventual 121-103 win over Indiana on Monday. The 6’8″ pro, a restricted free agent this summer, was in a walking boot briefly to stabilize the ankle, but head coach Billy Donovan revealed that he is now out of the boot, per KC Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). Although Giddey is recovering well, Donovan said that he expected him to “be out for a little bit.” Johnson tweets that the fourth-year guard is engaging in toe raises and walking, but has no return timeline until Chicago brass can gauge how he holds up in on-court workouts. Giddey indicated that he will travel with the team for its upcoming road trip, according to Johnson (via Twitter).
- In the loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Celtics starting center Kristaps Porzingis sat out his seventh straight game due to a viral illness, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). Porzingis was originally listed as questionable before being ruled out a couple hours prior to tip-off. Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters pregame that he did not have a sense of when the 7’2″ big man would be available, with the postseason just a month away. 38-year-old veteran big man Al Horford started in Porzingis’ stead.
- A medical recommendation prompted 21-time All-Star Lakers forward LeBron James to depart L.A.’s road trip and return home for further treatment on his groin strain, sources inform Shams Charania of ESPN. Los Angeles will wrap up the road trip with games in Milwaukee and Denver on Thursday and Friday, respectively. James exited the Lakers’ Saturday loss to Boston in the fourth quarter, and reports have indicated that he’ll miss at least one or two weeks with the injury.
Former NBA Center Oliver Miller Dies At 54
Longtime NBA center Oliver Miller has sadly passed away at just 54, according to the National Basketball Retired Players Association (Twitter link).
No official cause of death has been revealed, but Miller tweeted late last month that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Miller was selected with the No. 22 overall pick out of Arkansas by the Suns in 1992. As a rookie, he became a critical bench player during MVP Charles Barkley‘s inaugural season in Phoenix, when the club advanced to the 1993 NBA Finals. The team lost in six games to Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen‘s Bulls, who were capping off their first three-peat.
Across a nine-season NBA career, Miller suited up for the Pistons, Raptors, Mavericks, and Kings before returning to Phoenix for the 1999/2000 season. In his 493 career NBA regular season appearances (193 starts), the 6’9″ pro recorded averages of 7.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
Between 2000-03, Miller enjoyed non-NBA pro stints in Greece, Poland, Puerto Rico, and China, along with the USBL and then-D League stateside.
Miller returned to the NBA, briefly, for the 2003/04 season, where he suited up for the Western Conference Finals-bound Timberwolves. He intermittently hopped around the D League and USBL from 2004-10 before calling it a career.
Hoops Rumors sends its deepest condolences to Miller’s family and friends.