Mavericks, Doncic’s Lakers Ready For ‘Weird’ Matchup
Almost immediately after word broke earlier this month that the Mavericks were sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers in the most shocking trade in recent NBA history, a steady flow of reports questioning Doncic’s weight and conditioning began leaking out of Dallas.
Although Doncic never publicly responded to those leaks, a source close to the five-time All-NBA guard tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN that they’ve been a motivating factor for Doncic as he settles into his new home.
“A beast was awakened inside him,” the source said to ESPN.
On Tuesday, Doncic will have the first opportunity to exact some level of revenge on the organization that traded him, as the Lakers tip off a six-game home stand by hosting the banged-up Mavericks. The Lakers are expecting it to be an emotional reunion, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
“I think he’ll be fine,” head coach J.J. Redick said of his newly added star. “Every day that he’s been with us it’s becoming a little more normal. I’ve been there. The first time you play your old team, particularly this close in time duration, it’s going to be weird. But he’ll be OK.”
While the matchup will mean more to Doncic than to the rest of the Lakers, his new teammates are all excited for it and will have his back as he faces his old team, according to Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who used to play with Luka in Dallas.
“I’m excited, man,” Finney-Smith said. “I know (Doncic is) gonna be ready but I try not to put too much pressure on him because at the end of the day, we just want to get the win. We get the win, I know he’s gonna be happy.”
Doncic didn’t look like his usual self in his first three games as a Laker after returning from a lengthy layoff due to a calf strain. He averaged just 14.7 points on 35.6% shooting in those three outings. But he showed on Saturday in Denver why the Mavericks’ decision to trade him was so stunning, going off for 32 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals in a 23-point win over a Nuggets team that has repeatedly stymied the Lakers in recent years.
Doncic’s former Mavs teammates are fully prepared to see that version of Luka on Tuesday, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
“I expect him to bring his A-game,” Mavs forward P.J. Washington said. “Knowing just the player he is, the mentality he brings to the game, I know he’s going to be ready as soon as we get out there. We can’t wait to compete against him. We miss him, but at the end of the day, he’s our brother and we’re always going to love him but we just gotta go out there and compete against him.”
“I would love to get into the emotions after the game, but before the game it’s just about having fun and making sure that we lock in and have a deep focus,” Dallas guard Kyrie Irving said. “They’re going to come in and be ready to play against us. Luka’s obviously going to have a lot of confidence in that game. He played well the last game so he’s feeling good. We just have to be aware.”
Southeast Notes: Heat, Hawks, Smart, Poole
As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes, Nikola Jovic‘s hand fracture will necessitate changes to the Heat‘s rotation going forward, since Jovic had been playing significant minutes off the bench, including 31.9 MPG in his past 10 healthy games. Head coach Erik Spoelstra provided a first look on Monday vs. Atlanta at what the new rotation might look like, with Kyle Anderson and Jaime Jaquez taking on the minutes that would have gone to Jovic, Chiang notes in a second story.
Jaquez, who has been out of the rotation as of late, logged just seven minutes, while Anderson played 28, the most of any Miami reserve. The veteran forward contributed 14 points and five rebounds while getting to the foul line 10 times — he was a +2 in a game Miami lost by 12 points.
“He gave us some really good minutes,” Spoelstra said of Anderson, per Chiang. “I played him probably a handful more minutes than I anticipated. But he was doing some really good things out there.”
The other major change Spoelstra made to his rotation on Monday was to remove struggling guard Terry Rozier, who received his first DNP-CD of the season. Alec Burks played extended minutes in place of Rozier, but didn’t exactly give the Heat a boost, making just 1-of-12 shots from the field in 27 minutes.
“It’s just one of those things right now,” Spoelstra said in addressing the decision not to play Rozier. “We’re searching. It’s not an indictment on anybody necessarily. I feel for the guys that haven’t been able to play — Jaime the couple games before this and Terry. It’s not anyone’s fault. We’re all in this together. But we do need to find something. So, I’ll continue to use the depth of our roster, however we feel like we need to.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Dyson Daniels registered at least seven steals in a game for the third time this season and trade deadline acquisitions Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, and Terance Mann combined for 41 points off the bench in the Hawks‘ win over Miami on Monday. LeVert (13.7 PPG), Niang (15.2 PPG), and Mann (.571 FG%) have all played well since arriving in Atlanta, helping the team retain a firm hold on a play-in spot despite sending out De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic at the deadline. “It makes it way easier whenever you have guys like Caris and Georges who are aggressive, and whenever they get the ball,” guard Trae Young said after the win, per Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required). “They’re not hesitant at all. And even T-Mann hit a big three.”
- The Wizards held an opponent under 100 points for the first time all season on Monday in a win over Brooklyn. As Noah Trister of The Associated Press writes, it’s likely not a coincidence that the team accomplished that feat in Marcus Smart‘s second game as a Wizard. “There is some people that kind of probably slept (on me). I haven’t played in a couple years consistently, and they probably forgot about me — which is cool. I’m used to it,” Smart said. “I still do what I do.”
- Wizards guard Jordan Poole is averaging career highs in points (21.0), assists (4.8), and steals (1.4) per game, as well as three-point percentage (37.1%). Head coach Brian Keefe is a major reason for Poole’s resurgence, as Josh Robbins details for The Athletic. Sources tell Robbins that Poole advocated for Keefe last spring when the front office decided to name him the team’s permanent head coach after he finished the 2023/24 season with the interim label. “I know how good and genuine a person he is off the court, so when he coaches us hard and he’s pushing us on the court, I know that’s because he just wants the best of us,” Poole said of his coach.
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 2/25/2025
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the Pistons' rise in the East, a potential P.J. Tucker buyout, Jaren Jackson Jr.'s next contract, what the Rockets need to add to their young core and more! Use the link below to read the transcript.
Sixers Notes: Bulls Loss, George, Embiid, Yabusele
The Sixers‘ season continues to reach new lows. On Monday, Philadelphia was obliterated at home by a Bulls team that came into the game on a six-game losing streak, falling behind Chicago by as many as 50 points in the fourth quarter before ultimately losing by 32. The 76ers are now 20-37, 12th in the Eastern Conference, and sit 2.5 games behind the Bulls for the final play-in spot.
After the game, forward Paul George told reporters that the Sixers need to have more “pride” on defense, adding that he’s “baffled” by how easily they give up layups and easy baskets (YouTube link). Asked about the club’s postseason hopes, he acknowledged that Philadelphia hasn’t looked like a team capable of making noise in the playoffs — or even making it there.
“We’ve shown no signs of a team that will compete,” George said (Twitter link via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer). “We just don’t have the habits that a champion or a playoff-contending team would have. So to be honest right now, it’s a little far-fetched. All we can do is work hard, try to keep going for one another. But we’ve shown no signs of – forget championship – a playoff-contending team here.”
Here’s more out of Philadelphia:
- Within a column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Marcus Hayes cites medical opinions from doctors who aren’t directly involved in Joel Embiid‘s treatment about what sort of options the big man might have to address his nagging left knee problems. According to Hayes, the original plan was for Embiid to get used to playing with some level of soreness, managing the knee by regularly draining it and injecting it with platelet-rich plasma (PRP). But Embiid has gotten worse instead of better in recent weeks and experienced swelling in the knee on Sunday, which necessitated an additional round of testing. One source tells Hayes that another surgery was never seriously considered as an option for Embiid until this weekend.
- Sixers big man Guerschon Yabusele, one of the few success stories in Philadelphia this season, left Monday’s game early after suffering an eye injury. According to Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter links), Yabusele has been diagnosed with a corneal abrasion in one eye and has swelling around his other eye. He’ll undergo further evaluation on Tuesday and the hope is that there’s no retinal damage, Neubeck adds.
- Despite being currently mired in an eight-game losing streak, the Sixers remain unlikely to finish the season with a worse record than the Pelicans, Jazz, Hornets, or Wizards, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. Still, the 76ers could be incentivized to shut down George and Embiid in the hopes that Toronto passes them in the standings. In that scenario, Philadelphia would have the league’s fifth-worst record and roughly a 64% chance of hanging onto its protected first-round draft pick, which will be sent to Oklahoma City if it lands outside the top six.
And-Ones: Jefferson, Tanner, UNC, Worst Contracts, Baker
Richard Jefferson will be part of the top ESPN/ABC broadcast team alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke for the rest of the season, including the NBA Finals, as reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic and confirmed by ESPN.
Since ESPN parted ways with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson in 2023, its top broadcast team has featured a rotating cast of analysts next to Breen and Burke. Doc Rivers and J.J. Redick both spent time in the role before leaving for NBA head coaching jobs. While ESPN has also experimented with Jay Bilas and Tim Legler as the third person in the booth, Jefferson has held the role for most of this season and will continue to do so through June.
Still, as Marchand notes, Jefferson’s long-term future in that role – and at ESPN/ABC in general – remains up in the air. He has reportedly received interest from Amazon Prime Video, which will begin broadcasting NBA games next season.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The University of North Carolina is hiring veteran NBA player agent Jim Tanner as its general manager, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Desmond Bane, Jarrett Allen, Jeremy Sochan, and Luke Kornet are among Tanner’s NBA clients, per RealGM. Jake Fischer reported last week that Tanner was among the candidates receiving serious consideration for that UNC GM position.
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a shot at predicting which current NBA contracts will have the least value to teams two years from now, with a pair of Sixers (Joel Embiid and Paul George) and a pair of Celtics (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown) on his list. While Tatum and Brown have shown no signs of slowing down, the fact that they’re the two players who most recently signed super-max deals makes them inherently risky long-term investments, Pincus explains.
- Big man Robert Baker Jr., the current president of the G League’s players’ union, is on the verge of signing a contract with German club ALBA Berlin, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. Baker, who has spent this season with the Osceola Magic, helped lead Team USA to a pair of victories in AmeriCup qualifiers within the past week, racking up 11 points, 10 rebounds, and seven blocks in just 17 minutes of action on Sunday vs. the Bahamas.
Former Laker Armel Traore Joins Spanish Team
Free agent forward Armel Traore has signed with BAXI Manresa, the Spanish team announced today in a press release.
A 6’9″ forward from France, Traore spent most of this season with the Lakers after going undrafted in 2024. He signed a two-way contract with Los Angeles last July and remained on that deal until earlier this month, when he was waived in order to create a two-way slot for guard Jordan Goodwin.
Traore only logged 67 total minutes across nine NBA appearances for L.A., playing primarily in garbage time. The 22-year-old saw more action at the G League level for the South Bay Lakers, averaging 14.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 27.1 minutes per game across 13 outings, with a shooting line of .507/.339/.679.
BAXI Manresa competes in the ACB Liga in Spain, as well as Europe’s Basketball Champions League. The club is currently in the thick of the Liga ACB playoff race with a 12-8 record and is in the midst of round-of-16 play in the Champions League.
Warriors Sign Taran Armstrong To Two-Way Contract
February 25: Armstrong’s one-year, two-way deal with the Warriors is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log. He’ll be eligible to play in up to 14 NBA games for the rest of the season.
February 23: The Warriors have reached an agreement to sign Australian guard Taran Armstrong to a two-way contract, agent Daniel Moldovan tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Armstrong, 23, has players for the Cairns Taipans in Australia’s National Basketball League for the past two seasons. He enjoyed a breakout year in 2024/25, averaging 17.1 points, 4.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 29.8 minutes per game across 19 outings, with a shooting line of .461/.351/.691.
The 6’6″ point guard also spent two years from 2021-23 playing college ball at California Baptist, earning WAC Freshman of the Year honors in 2022 and claiming a spot on the All-WAC second team in 2023.
After going undrafted last June, Armstrong saw his ’24/25 NBL season come to an end earlier this month when the 8-21 Taipans missed the playoffs, paving the way for him to return stateside prior to the two-way signing deadline of March 4 and to finish the season with Golden State.
The Warriors have an open two-way slot alongside Pat Spencer and Jackson Rowe after having promoted Quinten Post to their 15-man roster earlier this month, so no corresponding roster move will be necessary to make room for Armstrong.
Atlantic Notes: Boucher, Barnes, Holiday, Watford, Reese
Chris Boucher‘s name was bandied about before the trade deadline but the Raptors big man was confident he wouldn’t be dealt. He had steady communication with the front office during that time.
“I won’t lie to you, I think it was the most peaceful deadline I had compared to the other years,” Boucher told William Lou of RaptorsRepublic.com. “I was also talking with (general manager) Bobby (Webster) and all of them, and I never thought I was going to be going away. The media says one thing, but really, the GM, and the people around here would have told me if something would have happened, and then I would have been a little bit more concerned.”
Boucher will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, assuming he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Scottie Barnes was the primary defender on Kevin Durant during the Raptors’ win over Phoenix on Sunday. Durant was limited to 15 points and Barnes told Michael Grange of Sportsnet.com that it wasn’t a fluke. “I think I’m a high-level defender, one of the best defenders in this league,” Barnes said. “I’m able to be able to guard multiple positions, switch, give the ball pressure because I move really well for my size and I’m out there reading things.”
- Jrue Holiday will get Tuesday night off when the Celtics visit Toronto. Holiday will be rested in the first game of a back-to-back, Brian Robb of Masslive.com reports. Luke Kornet (personal reasons) will also miss the contest, while reserve center Al Horford (toe) is listed as questionable.
- Nets forward Trendon Watford showed off his versatility on Saturday when head coach Jordi Fernandez used him at point guard during crunch time against the Sixers. Watford scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. “He helps you win,” Fernandez told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “And he does that because he’s able to score, but also able to handle and play-make and play four positions, and post-up and make a three. So all those things are super valuable at his size and position.”
- The two-way contract that the Sixers gave Alex Reese is a two-year deal, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The free agent forward signed the contract on Friday.
Mavericks Notes: Kidd, Doncic, Nowitzki, Washington, Thompson
Mavericks guard Jason Kidd can relate to how his former star point guard Luka Doncic feels. Kidd was an All-Star entering his prime when Dallas dealt him to Phoenix in 1996.
“It shocks you because you don’t know about that side of the business,” Kidd told Christian Clark of The Athletic. “But you have to grow up fast. It is a business.”
Doncic never saw the trade to the Lakers coming, thinking he’d be signing a super-max extension after the season with Dallas.
“You believe you are going to be with the franchise forever,” Kidd said. “But the business of basketball sometimes gets in the way. Teams change. I’ve been involved in quite a few sales of the team. Any time there is a sale, there could be change. It just happens.”
We have more on the Mavericks:
- Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki was on vacation when news broke of the Doncic trade. Nowitzki didn’t see it coming either, he revealed on a Sportsradio 96.7 FM interview relayed by the Dallas Morning News. “I felt a little disappointed and sad for him. He obviously didn’t see this coming, so he invited me to come out to his first game in LA, and I felt like I had to support him,” Nowitzki said. “I felt like, I played with him in my last season, we’ve gotten close, I’ve tried to mentor him, I’ve tried to help him as much as I can the last few years and he’s a good kid. I felt like I had to go out there and support him in this new chapter, because I think and it was reported he was obviously pretty down and disappointed in how it went down. So I wanted to be there for him, I wanted to be there for his family and show support. But you guys saw my face, it was weird. It was surreal to see him play for the Lakers. I’ll never be a Laker fan, but I’ll always be a Luka fan.”
- An ankle sprain limited P.J. Washington to one February game prior to the All-Star break. He came back strong on Friday with 24 points and seven rebounds against New Orleans. “He’s a budding star for our team, and he’s showcasing that,” Kyrie Irving said of Washington, per Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal. “His numbers have showcased that. So I think it’s about time we started furthering that conversation about P.J. Washington consistently doing these things and being a great asset for our team as one of our leaders and making money plays.” Washington added 17 points against Golden State on Sunday.
- Klay Thompson’s technical foul on Sunday has been rescinded upon league office review, NBA Official tweets. Thompson was held to 11 points in the 24-point loss to Golden State.
Pistons Notes: Duren, Cunningham, Schröder, Chemistry
Pistons starting center Jalen Duren has not only been a double-double machine, he’s become a deft distributor. Throughout the team’s six-game winning streak entering Monday’s game against the Clippers, Duren had posted at least five assists in every game, the Detroit Free Press’ Omari Sankofa II notes.
“He’s just a dynamic offensive player and it’s interesting because of his size and strength, you don’t typically see the finesse and touch that he can play with with the ball in his hands,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Normally, guys that are built like that don’t have that type of hand-eye coordination and skill. He’s an elite passer and play-maker. We trust him with the ball in his hands.”
Duren, who is averaging 11.0 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, is eligible for a rookie scale extension after the season.
We have more on the Pistons:
- Coming off his first All-Star selection, Cade Cunningham continues to dazzle. He racked up 38 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks against Atlanta on Sunday. “He reminds me of Luka (Doncic) a lot,” backup Dennis Schröder said, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “I followed his game very closely. It’s impressive how he picks the defense apart. He’s really unselfish. A lot of people don’t do that if they’ve got it going, not shooting. I don’t know how many shots he took in the second half.” Cunningham could also gain a spot on the All-NBA team, which would increase the value of the maximum-salary extension he signed last summer. Rather than a starting salary worth 25% of the cap, he’d earn a salary worth 30% of the cap. That would push his five-year contract from $224MM to approximately $269MM.
- Schröder had his best outing since he was acquired at the trade deadline, with 16 points and seven assists in 22 minutes against the Hawks. “To be able to have another ball-handler out there, who can make plays, who has no fear, takes a lot of pressure off of Cade and everybody else out there,” Bickerstaff said. “But you need a guy who has courage and this is what we envisioned when we made the trade for him, to get him in the (closing) lineup where he can help us finish and he rose to the occasion.” Schröder has given the team another valuable rotation player with Jaden Ivey sidelined by a fractured fibula.
- Detroit’s success has been the biggest surprise of the NBA season. The Pistons are fighting for a top-six spot in the Eastern Conference and Bickerstaff praised the team’s chemistry. “I’ve said it before, you can have talent with lack of chemistry and you’re going to underachieve. You can have less talent with better chemistry and you’re going to overachieve,” he said. “When you become elite and win championships you have talent and chemistry and we’re developing into that. We’ve got young guys with high-level ceilings that we’re still working to get to because we’re not a finished product yet, but our chemistry and the vibes in our building every single day are unique that you don’t see, especially with young teams.”