Jordan Clarkson, Ron Holland, Paul Reed Fined By NBA
The NBA has levied fines against three players for their roles in an incident during Thursday’s game between the Jazz and Pistons.
The league announced (via Twitter) that Utah guard Jordan Clarkson was fined $35K for “escalating an on-court altercation” and throwing his headband into the crowd after being ejected. Detroit forward Ron Holland was fined $25K, also for escalation, while center Paul Reed was fined $15K for his role in initiating the altercation.
The brief fracas took place late in the third quarter after Reed scored on an offensive rebound, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Clarkson impeded Reed’s path as they ran downcourt, Sankofa adds, and they collided twice. Holland confronted Clarkson, stepping between him and Reed, and they squared off to fight before teammates intervened (Twitter video link).
Reed and Clarkson were both assessed technical fouls, while Holland and Clarkson were ejected for getting into fighting stances. Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff objected to the officials’ decision after the game.
“The double-technical foul is ridiculous,” Bickerstaff said. “If a guy hits your player first, the technical foul should be on the player who hit your guy. The double-technical foul is a cop out. He literally hit him with his body, what’s a guy supposed to do? You get the guy who laid the first hit and you move on. You don’t exacerbate it by giving somebody else a technical foul who had nothing to do with the play, was just standing up and got hit. So that’s ridiculous.”
Lakers Notes: Bronny, G League Showcase, Defense, Davis, LeBron
The past year-and-a-half would have been remarkable for Bronny James even if he weren’t the son of an NBA legend. A high-profile recruit at USC, he suffered cardiac arrest during a Trojans practice during the summer of 2023 and underwent a medical procedure to fix a congenital heart defect. That was followed by the Lakers‘ controversial decision to take him with a second-round pick so he could make history by teaming up with his father. After making a few appearances at the NBA level, James has been honing his skills with South Bay and is playing this week at the G League Showcase in Orlando.
“I’ve become resilient over these past couple of years fighting through injuries, mental illness, stuff like that,” James told Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “Just, you know, coming in and working every day and staying the course.”
The level of scrutiny has been intense for a 20-year-old rookie, but James said the public perception “flies in one ear and out the other.” He has the security of a four-year, $7.9MM contract, and he’s working to improve his game to ensure that he has a long NBA future. He also doesn’t lose sight of the fact that he’s fortunate to still be playing after his medical emergency.
“My family, my parents, they are extremely thankful that I’m not only able to play basketball but also just walk around and speak to other people,” James said. “It’s a blessing to be able to play this sport that I love. There’s a chance I wasn’t going to be able to. So I wake up and I’m thankful for that every day.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- James is the most famous name in the G League Showcase, but anyone expecting him to dominate has come away disappointed, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. He had 16 points and five assists on Thursday, but followed up that performance with six points, seven assists and six turnovers on Saturday. Carelessness with the ball has been an issue since James was sent down to the G League, Hollinger adds, and he’s shooting just 24-of-76 from the field with South Bay.
- Better teamwork is being credited for the Lakers’ improvements on defense, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. The team’s three best statistical defensive outings have come in the past two weeks, and Anthony Davis said it’s because players are committed to working together as a unit. “We’re just covering for each other,” he said. “We [weren’t] having a lot of that. A guy gets beat, it wasn’t a guy there to protect him. We’ve got some practice time to kind of take care of that. And it’s shown and translated onto the court.”
- Davis, who is dealing with a contusion on his left elbow, and LeBron James, who is still managing an injured left foot, were both upgraded to available for today’s game against Sacramento, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
Alex Caruso Newly Eligible For Four-Year Extension
It has been exactly six months since Alex Caruso was traded from Chicago to Oklahoma City, meaning the extend-and-trade restrictions imposed on the veteran guard during that half-year window have lifted.
Caruso is now eligible to sign an extension with the Thunder worth up to $81,096,960 over four years. Prior to Saturday, his maximum extension would have been worth $48,875,400 over three years.
[RELATED: Players Eligible For In-Season Veteran Extensions In 2024/25]
Speaking to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), Caruso admitted he didn’t realized that Saturday was an important day related to his contract status, adding that he’s focused on helping the Thunder win games and compete for a title. But he did concede it “would be awesome” to sign a long-term deal to remain with the Western Conference’s top-seeded team.
“Obviously this is a place that I think is ascending and that’s something I want to be a part of,” Caruso told Fischer. “That’s why I’m here. I think the writing is on the wall. People don’t trade for guys in the last year of their contracts unless they expect to keep ’em for a while.
“That’s just the business part of it. So I’m looking forward to having that conversation with (Thunder general manager) Sam (Presti). Everything that the Thunder stand for are things that I stand for. I think their focus, their drives and desires, are the same as mine. It’s been a good fit and I’m looking forward to hopefully a couple more years.”
Caruso is earning $9.89MM in the final season of the four-year, $37MM contract he signed with the Bulls in 2021. He’s eligible to sign for up to 140% of this season’s estimated average salary ($12.93MM), which would work out to a first-year salary of $18,102,000, with subsequent annual raises of 8%.
It’s unclear if the Thunder are prepared to go up to that maximum extension amount in terms of both years and dollars, but Fischer says Caruso and his camp “would naturally welcome” that annual average value of roughly $20MM per year.
While the peak version of Caruso would probably be worth that sort of investment, he has gotten off to a slow start offensively during his first season with the Thunder, averaging 5.7 points per game with a .385/.270/.778 shooting line in his first 19 outings off the bench (20.2 MPG). The 30-year-old averaged 10.1 PPG on .468/.408/.760 shooting last season. Despite his struggles on the offensive end, he has been what OKC hoped for as a defender and a locker-room presence.
“He’s just all-team. He always has been,” head coach Mark Daigneault said, per Fischer. “He’s unbelievably present as a competitor. There’s never a time in the game where his feet aren’t on the ground and he’s not focused on the moment of the game and he’s also inside the team. I think over the course of a long game, a lot of possessions, over an 82-game season, that value compounds.”
If the two sides don’t reach an in-season extension agreement, Oklahoma City would hold Caruso’s Bird rights next summer, putting the team in the driver’s seat to re-sign him to a multiyear deal at that point.
Cap Observations: Nets, Melton, MPJ, Pistons, Roster Minimums
We had our first flurry of major in-season roster activity within the past week or so, with two trades finalized and a series of roster moves completed by the Pistons, who yo-yoed over and under the minimum salary floor multiple times in the span of three days.
That series of moves, along with the upcoming 10-day contract window and some trade rumors involving Michael Porter Jr., have us considering a few specific elements of the NBA's salary cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement. We're rounding up our thoughts up below, discussing the Nets' trade, Porter's contract, the Pistons' cap machinations, and more.
Let's dive in...
How the Nets acquired De'Anthony Melton
When the Nets sent out Dennis Schröder ($13,025,250 cap hit) for De'Anthony Melton ($12,822,000) in their trade with the Warriors, there were three ways Brooklyn could have taken on Melton's salary:
- Using their existing $23,300,000 traded player exception created in July's Mikal Bridges deal.
- Using the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
- Using Schröder's outgoing salary for matching purposes.
Using the Bridges exception wouldn't have made a ton of sense. It would have left the Nets with trade exceptions worth $10,274,750 (the amount left on the Bridges TPE) and a $13,025,250 (Schröder's outgoing salary). Since exceptions can't be combined, those separate TPEs wouldn't have been as valuable as simply having the original $23.3MM exception, which will allow the team to take back a more significant salary.
Celtics’ Mazzulla, Nets’ Claxton Fined By NBA
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has been fined $35K, while Nets center Nic Claxton has been fined $25K, the NBA announced today in a pair of press releases (Twitter links).
Mazzulla was hit with his fine for “aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language” toward a referee in Boston’s loss to the Bulls on Thursday. The Celtics’ coach came onto the court at the end of the game and had to be held back by his assistants and a security guard as he yelled at official Justin Van Duyne (Twitter video link).
Mazzulla was believed to be upset about technical fouls assessed to him, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum during the fourth quarter of the loss, but he offered a deadpan response when asked during his post-game media session about what he was saying to Van Duyne and the other referees.
“I just hadn’t seen them in a while, so just a Merry Christmas, happy holidays,” Mazzulla said (Twitter video link). “I wasn’t sure I was going to see them before the holiday. I just can’t let a moment go by where you wish someone just the best to them and theirs and their families.”
As for Claxton, he earned his $25K fine for throwing the basketball into the spectator stands during Brooklyn’s win over Toronto on Thursday.
That incident occurred in the second quarter — after being fouled by Kelly Olynyk, the Nets center tossed the ball into the crowd, seemingly frustrated about a non-call on the previous possession. He earned an ejection and also appeared to be on the verge of throwing a seat cushion before assistant coach Juwan Howard intervened (Twitter video link). Claxton admitted after the game that he needs to do a better job of keeping his emotions in check on the court.
“Yeah, he knows he has to be better, especially this one,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “You can control your frustrations. That’s no reason to do that. I understand that we all have emotions, but the team needs him. His teammates need him, and he knows it. And that’s why he’s going to come back and work and be better.”
Devin Booker To Miss At Least Next Two Games
Suns guard Devin Booker will be held out of at least the next two games due to a left groin injury he sustained on Thursday vs. Indiana, the team announced today (Twitter link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).
That means Booker will be unavailable on Saturday vs. Detroit and on Monday in Denver. The announcement leaves the door open for the Suns star to potentially return to face the Nuggets in Phoenix on Christmas Day (Wednesday).
It’s not clear whether that’s a realistic return date for Booker, but it’s perhaps an encouraging sign that the Suns are referring to his injury as groin “soreness,” rather than a strain. He’ll be reevaluated early next week, according to the club.
Booker’s shooting percentages from the floor (43.9%) and beyond the arc (34.5%) are down this season, but he’s still producing at an All-Star level, averaging 25.1 points and 6.4 assists in 36.6 minutes per game through 26 outings. Saturday’s game will be the first one he has missed this season.
With Booker out, wings Grayson Allen and Ryan Dunn are among the candidates for increased roles, while veteran swingman Josh Okogie – who has been out of the rotation as of late – should have a better chance to see the court.
Spurs Positioning Themselves To Target De’Aaron Fox
Star guard De’Aaron Fox‘s agent — Klutch Sports founder and CEO Rich Paul — met with Kings general manager Monte McNair and assistant general manager Wes Wilcox on Thursday. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Anthony Slater, the meeting focused on what the long-term plan around Fox would be.
Fox declined a three-year, $165MM extension from the Kings in the offseason and isn’t interested in fighting for a lower-seed playoff spot for the rest of his career. He recently discussed the decision to turn down that extension, explaining that he wants the club to show it’s capable of seriously contending for a championship.
While Fox hasn’t asked for a trade, Amick and Slater write that the Kings star and his agent are reading the room to see what the Kings’ vision is. Fox has another year left on his deal and would qualify for a five-year, $345MM super-max contract if he makes an All-NBA selection this year.
The Kings aren’t a bad team, but they’ve been inconsistent in the first half and there’s little room for inconsistency in a competitive Western Conference, where they rank 12th at 13-15. Fox has stated multiple times that he likes the idea of spending his entire career with one franchise and he has been a major force in the local community. But with Sacramento stuck on the outside looking in for now, opposing teams have started to circle.
League sources tell Amick and Slater that the Spurs are “positioning themselves” to pursue a trade for Fox should he become available, eyeing him to be a long-term partner with Victor Wembanyama. Other teams would likely join San Antonio as suitors if Sacramento considers a trade.
While the Kings have shortened the rotation and their record isn’t inspiring thus far, they are still just three games out of a top-five seed in the West. They’re armed with proven NBA players like Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray and Malik Monk, among others, and they’ve suffered several tight losses, with a 3-9 record in games decided by five points or less.
The Kings know they need an upgrade and are specifically targeting backup centers and wings. Among the names on their short list are Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant, Jazz forward John Collins, Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas, Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma, and Nets forward Cameron Johnson, according to Amick and Slater. They’ve also expressed some lesser interest in Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith, while a bigger trade for Brandon Ingram or Zach LaVine seems unlikely at this juncture.
Fox is having one of his most productive seasons yet, averaging 26.2 points, 6.1 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. But while his production is up, head coach Mike Brown has challenged him to do even more. As Amick and Slater report, there’s some pressure on the Kings to further fortify their roster to convince him to re-up long term.
Southwest Notes: Marshall, Irving, Grizzlies, Morant, Pelicans
After missing five of his previous six games, Mavericks forward Naji Marshall returned to the lineup on Thursday and will continue to bring an edge to a strong Dallas team, The Athletic’s Christian Clark writes. In 22 games with Dallas, Marshall is averaging 11.8 points per game, but he also serves as the muscle of the team.
Marshall began his NBA career on a two-way deal, working his way up to the rotation in New Orleans before signing with the Mavericks this season for three years and $27MM. According to Clark, Marshall breathed a “sigh of relief” when he signed that contract with Dallas after earning the minimum for his first few years, but he knows his work isn’t over.
“I know it’s a narrow window as far as opportunity and just having an overall career in the NBA. I’m in the door, and now I want to stay here,” Marshall said. “Whatever it takes.”
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- After missing Thursday’s game against the Clippers, Mavericks star Kyrie Irving is off the injury report and will play, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link). Superstar Luka Doncic will remain out with a heel issue that kept him out of Thursday’s loss.
- The Grizzlies sent a mature message in their 51-point drubbing of the Warriors on Thursday, according to Damichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal. Every Grizzlies rotation player scored and six members of the team finished in double figures. The Grizzlies are 19-9 and second in the Western Conference.
- There doesn’t seem to be a need for the Grizzlies to make a consolidating blockbuster trade, even with all their depth, The Athletic’s Kelly Iko opines in a mailbag. They could go for someone like Dorian Finney-Smith of Brooklyn, but the team is firing on all cylinders and shouldn’t blow up the core. In the same mailbag, Iko makes the case for Santi Aldama being Memphis’s fourth-best player and discusses their physicality.
- Grizzlies star Ja Morant suffered a hard fall in the second half of the blowout over Golden State and didn’t return, logging just 17 minutes. That mostly seemed precautionary, as Memphis already had a big lead at that point, but he’s listed as out for Saturday’s game against the Hawks, the Grizzlies tweeted.
- The Pelicans are still struggling to establish chemistry amid their injury woes this season, and their defense hit a new low in surrendering 133 points to Houston on Thursday, Rod Walker of NOLA.com writes. New Orleans has lost 14 of its last 15 games.
- Despite dropping five in a row, the Pelicans are hoping to get back on track with a five-game homestand, Walker writes in another subscriber-only story for NOLA.com.
New York Notes: Clowney, Simmons, Bridges, Towns, Knicks
Nets center Nic Claxton was ejected from Thursday’s game against Toronto, allowing second-year forward Noah Clowney to close out the game and shine, The New York Post’s Brian Lewis writes. The 21st overall pick in 2023 recorded season highs of 37 minutes played and nine rebounds to go along with 11 points.
“His growth defensively, his physicality — obviously its multiple areas — he’s been one of our best players at going vertical, taking a charge,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “His physicality on the ball guarding a really good player like Scottie Barnes, that growth was important. That’s why I was comfortable with him playing all those minutes. … I’m very happy for him because he showed growth. That’s what it’s all about.”
Clowney is averaging 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game this year and looks to be among the team’s young pillars moving forward. If forwards like Dorian Finney-Smith or Cameron Johnson are traded by February 6, Clowney may continue to see his minutes rise as the year goes on.
We have more out of New York:
- The Nets‘ identity changed after Dennis Schröder was moved to the Warriors, forcing Ben Simmons and Claxton to start together, which is inhibiting spacing, Lewis writes in another story. The duo struggled together in their first post-Schröder outing, but Simmons had a solid night in the win against Toronto. “Yeah, I mean, there’s more opportunity for me now, just being at that point guard position. So just finding my ways,” Simmons said. “I’m gonna go talk to coach about some different looks and things like that that I see out there.“
- Mikal Bridges started his Knicks career in a shooting slump, but he’s starting to flip the script, the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy writes. In his last eight games, Bridges is shooting 43.1% from beyond the arc on 7.3 attempts per game. “Once he started making shots, nobody said nothing [about his revamped shooting form]. Nobody is talking about how it looks now,” teammate Cameron Payne said. “So he just be locked in, man. He’s pretty good with stuff like that man. I actually applaud him for it. Because you could easily get distracted with that or get messed up in the head with it.”
- Karl-Anthony Towns is playing at an MVP-level pace, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post asserts. The Knicks center was No. 6 on NBA.com’s most recent MVP ladder. Towns’ 32 points and 20 rebounds against the Timberwolves put an exclamation point on a strong start to the season, Vaccaro writes.
- Five of the next seven Knicks‘ games come against teams in the bottom four of the league standings, Bondy observes. The Knicks have won seven of their last nine games and are third in the Eastern Conference at 17-10.
Southeast Notes: Hunter, Young, Williams, Butler, Jaquez
De’Andre Hunter is playing like a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, providing the Hawks with a scoring punch off the bench, Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Through 17 outings, Hunter’s 19.8 points per game and 45.3% shooting from beyond the arc are both career highs.
“He’s definitely in the running for Sixth Man of the Year, especially if you keep winning and doing the things we’ve been doing,” guard Trae Young said. “Because there’s not a guy come on the bench doing what he’s doing right now and being aggressive and scoring and efficiency and things like that. He’s really bought into it, and it’s made our team a lot better.”
The former No. 4 overall pick out of Virginia was an effective starter after being selected in 2019, averaging 14.3 PPG in 263 games (237 starts). After missing the first 11 games this year, the Hawks elected to bring him off the bench instead of starting him, and he’s thrived in the new role.
“We all know De’Andre can play,” center Onyeka Okongwu said. “He’s been able to play. He’s always been a scorer, defender. He’s finally healthy. Nothing he’s doing is really surprising to me. I’m glad he’s having the year he’s having right now. He deserves it the most.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Young is averaging career lows of 39.0% shooting from the field and 32.0% from three, but Williams writes in another story that the three-time All-Star is focused on making an all-around impact to win games rather than dwelling on his shooting percentages. “My percentages aren’t the way they’ve been, but I’m taking different types of shots, too,” Young said, noting that he has no qualms about taking low-percentage shots at the end of quarters or as the shot clock expires. “I’m obviously getting guys involved, and that’s my main priority, and obviously, the defense is the first priority.” As Williams notes, the Hawks star is leading the NBA in assists per game this season with 12.2 per contest.
- Since their starting center returned from injury on Dec. 3, the Hornets continue to take a conservative approach with Mark Williams, including having him not play in back-to-backs. Williams understands the vision, but is eager to resume his normal playing schdule, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer writes. “Just overall, as a leader of the team and one of the leaders of the organization, you have to understand what is your vision, what is your bigger picture? And as bad as you want to win games, we also want to make sure that we are putting our players in the best position possible to have great careers,” coach Charles Lee said of Williams.
- Heat star Jimmy Butler exited in the first quarter of Friday’s game against the Thunder after turning his ankle and didn’t return. However, as noted by ESPN, he was ruled out for the rest of the night due to an illness, not his ankle injury. There was no word of the ankle in the team’s announcement. It’s not yet clear how much time Butler, involved in trade rumors this season, will miss due to either ailment.
- With Butler ruled out, second-year Heat wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. started the second half and played 30 minutes, his third-most in a game this season. Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel speculates whether Jaquez could serve as Butler’s replacement in the starting small forward role if the latter is moved via trade.