Mavs Notes: Kyrie, Davis, Milic, Front Office
It was a chaotic return home on Monday for the Mavericks — the team ejected several fans who expressed their displeasure about the Luka Doncic trade, lost a one-point thriller in overtime, and saw head coach Jason Kidd skip out on his post-game media session.
That context made Kyrie Irving‘s performance on Wednesday all the more impressive. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes, Irving racked up 42 points on 15-of-25 shooting and drew a crucial offensive foul on Jimmy Butler with 17 seconds left in the game, leading Dallas to a much-needed win over Golden State and giving the home fans a feel-good moment.
“That was special,” Klay Thompson said after the victory over his former team. “That was incredible — 42 and the defensive stop of the night. Yeah, that was incredible. Needed it bad, especially when I didn’t have my best shooting night. That’s our point guard, man. That was ridiculous.”
The shorthanded Mavericks – who had to start 6’7″ forward Kessler Edwards at center due to injuries to Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, Dwight Powell, and newly acquired star Anthony Davis – were going up against a Warriors club that had won back-to-back road games since Butler’s debut. Irving said the home crowd helped give the home team the spark it needed to pull out the win.
“Anytime you’re in a game like tonight and you’re looking for that energy, you look into the crowd, our fans, and you could drive yourself off that or get amplified, electrified off of that energy that’s in the crowd,” Irving said. “And it makes a big difference for us in in our home stadium. We got to protect it — our arena — and I feel like our fans know that. We’re obviously dealing with something unique, but at the same time we have to put our best foot forward.”
Here’s more on the Mavericks:
- Although the Mavericks have yet to make an official announcement on how Davis’ adductor strain will be treated and how much time he might miss, NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter links) hears there has been “tangible optimism” in Dallas that the injury won’t require surgery. One source close to the situation tells Stein that the Mavs are still evaluating Davis’ recovery timeline and “will be cautious” about targeting a return date.
- Marko Milic, who joined the Mavericks’ coaching staff in a player development role during the 2022 offseason, has stepped down from his role, sources tell Stein (Twitter link). According to Stein, Milic – who was the first Slovenian to play in the NBA – decided not to remain with the team following the Doncic trade.
- Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link) calls out the Mavericks’ leaders for a lack of transparency and accountability, noting that the team still hasn’t publicly commented on its Caleb Martin trade, which needed to be amended to send a second-round pick to Dallas due to concerns about Martin’s physical. The front office also hasn’t responded to Doncic’s assertion that he “absolutely” didn’t give the team any indication he wouldn’t have signed a super-max extension offer during the 2025 offseason, Afseth adds.
Trade Deadline Leftovers: Bulls, Ball, Jazz, Luka, More
The Bulls had a “firm offer” to acquire a first-round pick and take on future salary in a deal for Lonzo Ball at the trade deadline, a league source tells John Hollinger of The Athletic. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link) backs up that report, suggesting he heard the same thing prior to the deadline.
Instead of accepting that offer, the Bulls opted to hang onto Ball and agreed to sign him to an extension instead. That two-year deal will reportedly be worth $20MM, with a second-year team option for 2026/27.
While it’s fair to question Chicago’s decision to pass on that reported trade offer, there are several missing details that would provide more context on just how strong the offer was. For instance, we don’t know how many years of salary the Bulls would’ve been required to take on, whether the first-rounder was heavily protected or likely to land in the late-20s, and whether other players or assets would have been included.
Johnson does provide one additional detail, tweeting that at least one of the scenarios he heard about would’ve required the Bulls to sent out a second-round pick along with Ball as part of the deal.
Here are a few more leftovers from last Thursday’s trade deadline:
- Appearing on the local broadcast of Wednesday’s game vs. the Lakers (Twitter video link via Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal), Jazz general manager Justin Zanik suggested that Los Angeles was fortunate to land superstar guard Luka Doncic in a trade Utah helped facilitate. “(Lakers GM) Rob Pelinka even said it in his press conference introducing Luka, that it was a gift,” Zanik said. “I think that’s how a lot of my colleagues – I don’t want to speak for them – but how we all kind of felt.”
- Zanik went on to say that he respects the Mavericks‘ front office and noted that Dallas received a “top-15 player” in his own right in Anthony Davis. He also expressed a belief that if the Jazz hadn’t been willing to serve as a facilitator, another team would have stepped in and snatched up the two second-round picks that went to Utah for taking on Jalen Hood-Schifino‘s contract. “If we were in the playoffs right now, I’d be asking both (teams), ‘What is going on?’ and ‘I’m not doing it,'” the Jazz GM said. “But where we are, the ability to pick up stuff basically for free, to do something another team would have done anyway (made sense).”
- A panel of ESPN’s NBA reporters (Insider link), including Jeremy Woo, Bobby Marks, and Michael C. Wright, break down how seven lottery-bound teams’ moves at the trade deadline affect their outlook going forward. Addressing the Hornets‘ post-deadline plans, Marks notes that general manager Jeff Peterson will have to decide whether LaMelo Ball is still a foundational piece in Charlotte. As good as Ball has been when healthy, he has been limited to 91 total games since the start of the 2022/23 season and his impressive scoring numbers haven’t necessarily translated to wins.
- Only five teams – the Trail Blazers, Magic, Nets, Nuggets, and Timberwolves – sat out the trade deadline entirely, not making any moves in the week leading up to the afternoon of February 6. Michael Pina of The Ringer takes a closer look at why those teams opted to stand pat and delivers a one-word verdict on each club’s inactivity, including “bizarre” for Portland and “commendable” for Orlando.
Bulls Notes: Guards, Donovan, Vucevic, Roster
A surplus of guards following the Bulls‘ blockbuster trade of former All-Star wing Zach LaVine has yielded an interesting dilemma for head coach Billy Donovan. As Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune notes, Donovan is looking to thread the needle between putting giving his best players enough minutes and developing the club’s younger backcourt contributors.
“We have an overabundance of guards, quite honestly,” Donovan said. “We just do. I think we have nine guards. It’s a lot.”
Poe observes that the Bulls traded LaVine and cut guard Chris Duarte while bringing in Kevin Huerter and Tre Jones — ostensibly, then, the team offloaded two guards and brought in two more. But LaVine, at 6’5″, was the team’s starting small forward, and thanks to his athleticism could play a bit bigger than his size. He was also a considerably more multifaceted and prolific scorer than either of the two new additions.
“With the number of guards we have, I’m not opposed to the times when we’ve started with four guards,” Donovan said. “But that may not be the best thing for this group rotation-wise.”
The Bulls’ unbalanced roster appears ready-made to fall further into the depths of lottery contenders. So far, Chicago has gone 1-4 in its five games since the LaVine deal, including losing its last four straight.
There’s more out of the Windy City:
- The Bulls suffered their worst loss of the season, a 132-92 defeat to the Pistons on Tuesday, and followed that up with a 128-110 encore loss to Detroit on Wednesday. Poe writes in another piece that Chicago fans booed their own team early in the second quarter on Tuesday. “It’s embarrassing,” Donovan said. “There’s no question about it.” Without LaVine’s scoring acumen, the Bulls could be in for a lot more losing in the last 27 games of the year, Poe notes.
- After moving LaVine, the Bulls received offers about another two-time All-Star on their roster, center Nikola Vucevic. Chicago ultimately opted not to move on from the 34-year-old even while clearly pivoting to a rebuild. Poe wonders in an additional story if the front office whiffed on what could have been a prime opportunity to extract the most value possible for the 6’10” vet. As we previously relayed, the team reportedly believes it will be able to fetch more assets in a potential deal this offseason.
- The Bulls hope to take stock of their revised roster during the All-Star break, writes Kyle Williams of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscriber link). “We’ll come back and meet as a group within plenty of time before we see the team to talk about some of those things,” Donovan said. “There may be some things that we put in offensively and defensively that we feel that maybe could help some of the things maybe we struggled with.”
Kings Sign Markelle Fultz For Rest Of Season
10:48 pm: Sacramento has officially announced the deal in a press statement.
9:52 pm: Free agent guard Markelle Fultz is signing a new contract with the Kings, agent Raymond Brothers of I AM Sports & Entertainment has informed Shams Charania of ESPN.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (via Twitter) that the deal will keep Fultz in town through the rest of the season. Exact terms have yet to be divulged.
No corresponding roster move will be necessary, since the Kings have a pair of open roster spots after sending out more players than they took back in a series of trade-deadline deals.
After trading away De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin to the Spurs as part of a blockbuster three-team deal last week, Sacramento was left with a deficit of point guards. Adding Fultz will allow the club to begin replenishing its depth at that spot. The Kings’ eventual haul was headlined by two-time All-Star wing Zach LaVine and multiple future picks.
Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that the Timberwolves were also considering adding Fultz this spring. After he reached unrestricted free agency during the 2024 offseason, the 6’4″ vet had been left wanting throughout the 2024/25 season — until now.
Fultz was selected with the No. 1 overall pick out of Washington in 2017. Boston traded down with Philadelphia, swapping the rights to Fultz for the rights to eventual six-time All-Star champion forward Jayson Tatum, the third pick in that draft out of Duke.
As Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL observes (Twitter link), the 26-year-old has struggled with a variety of maladies throughout his pro career, including a torn left ACL in 2021 and further problems in the same knee last season.
Fultz has only played more than 43 games twice across a seven-year career. Last season with Orlando, he appeared in just 43 contests, starting 18. Across 21.2 minutes for the playoff-bound Magic, he averaged 7.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals per night.
At 28-26, Sacramento is currently the eighth seed in a crowded Western Conference. The addition of Fultz should add a play-making presence and some defensive help at the point of attack.
Fultz himself reacted to Charania’s announcement, tweeting “God’s Plan.”
Grizzlies Notes: Jackson, Health, FedEx Forum
Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman recently heaped high praise on big man Jaren Jackson Jr., according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).
“I don’t think it’s even a debate,” Kleiman said. “I think he’s playing at a top-five-player-in-the-NBA level right now. Definitely top 10.”
The 6’10” big man was named to his second All-Star team this season. He’s also a two-time All-Defensive First Teamer and won the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year award. Should he keep up his performance for the West’s No. 2 seed, Jackson could earn another All-Defensive Team berth — and perhaps even his first-ever All-NBA team honor.
“Jaren is right at the heart of what we’re building here, and of course, it’s the utmost priority to keep him in that spot and continue to build around him,” Kleiman added, tweets Cole.
These comments could offer up a transactional hint at Kleiman’s thinking regarding the future of Jackson in Memphis. The Grizzlies will likely to look to extend Jackson in the 2025 offseason, and an All-NBA berth this season would make him eligible for a super-max contract starting at up to 35% of the cap.
There’s more out of Memphis:
- With the Grizzlies at last nearing full health, head coach Taylor Jenkins faces a happy problem — he needs to make some tough rotation decisions, notes Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. “We have depth, we pretty much have everybody back ready to go,” wing Vince Williams Jr. said. “Now, it’s just time to put all the pieces together and show how it all fits.” Williams, forward GG Jackson, and starting guard Desmond Bane recently re-entered the 36-17 team’s lineup. Jenkins has been trotting out an 11-player rotation for much of 2024/25 so far. His bench has gotten even deeper with the returns of Williams and GG Jackson. Wallace opines that only Ja Morant, Bane and Jaren Jackson are guaranteed significant run going forward. Other players’ minutes may be situational.
- The city of Memphis is angling to keep the Grizzlies in town for a good long while. According to Jonah Dylan of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, mayor Paul Young is hoping to reach a long-term lease agreement keeping the team in its current home court, the FedEx Forum, during the 2025 offseason. “We’re working toward getting to an agreement on the principals that go in a lease by the end of the summer,” Young said. Dylan writes that any extension seems likely to include a strategy for a $550MM FedEx Forum renovation.
- In case you missed it, Kleiman recently explained why the Grizzlies, the No. 2 seed in the West, opted to create future cap flexibility with their trade deadline maneuvering rather than bringing in more immediate help for a postseason push.
Raptors Notes: Ingram, Cap, Roster Decisions
New Raptors trade acquisition Brandon Ingram remains “at least a month” away from making his debut for Toronto, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. As the Raptors prepare to incorporate their new star forward, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca unpacks five critical areas that will help determine Ingram’s fit with his new club.
Murphy speculates as to how Ingram and fellow All-Star Raptors forward Scottie Barnes will mesh in pick-and-roll actions, what Ingram’s shot profile will look like, how Ingram’s play-making will impact Toronto, and more.
In the view of Eric Koreen of The Athletic, figuring out how best to integrate Ingram into his offense will be a defining factor of head coach Darko Rajakovic‘s tenure in Toronto.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of work that we need to put in,” Rajakovic told Koreen on Saturday. “(Ingram) is very open. He’s very willing to accept what this team is doing. And he already started using his voice with the team and talking in the film sessions. He’s opening up, which is great. I really respect that.”
Ingram has only been healthy for 18 games this season. When available, he’s putting up big numbers. The 27-year-old is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per night, with a shooting line of .465/.374/.850.
“All of us, we want the same thing,” Rajakovic said. “We want to win. And winning demands certain things. I think he will embrace that without any problem — ball movement and body moment. I think he’s a very, very unselfish player. I think that he’s a player that can see the court really well. And I think that’s going to be the driving force for us when we get him on the court.”
There’s more out of Toronto:
- In a separate Sportsnet.ca story, Murphy takes a look at the Raptors’ salary cap setup heading into the future in the wake of Ingram’s extension and recently promoted forward Jamison Battle’s three-year standard deal. Because Ingram opted to waive his trade bonus and Toronto offloaded some other salaries, the team was able to accommodate Battle without going into tax territory.
- Ingram inked a three-year, $120MM contract extension upon being dealt to the Raptors. As Koreen observes in another story, the significant cap hits on that deal going forward could compel Toronto’s front office to make some difficult choices about its other personnel. Koreen notes that the Raptors will now owe an estimated $175.4MM in guaranteed money to just 10 players next year — four shy of the required minimum. That figure doesn’t account for the team’s projected lottery pick.
- In case you missed it, Ingram’s contract extension will be paid out in an ascending structure, with 5% annual raises.
Pelicans’ Herb Jones Has Shoulder Surgery, Out For Season
Pelicans forward Herbert Jones has had successful surgery to repair a torn right rotator cuff, per a press release from the team.
As had been anticipated earlier this week by Pelicans vice president of basketball operations David Griffin, Jones will indeed be sidelined for the rest of the season while he recuperates. He hasn’t suited up in a game since January 8.
Jones, a versatile 6’8″ combo forward, made an All-Defensive Team last season for his efforts on that end of the floor. At the time, he was a rising talent on a 49-win New Orleans club that seemed primed to make a leap this season.
Instead, the Pelicans have been felled by horrible injury luck and find themselves dead last in the Western Conference entering play on Wednesday — the team traded away Brandon Ingram at least week’s trade deadline in exchange for draft equity.
Jones has played sparingly this year for the 12-41 Pelicans. Across just 20 healthy games in 2024/25, the 26-year-old averaged 10.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.5 blocks per contest.
Deandre Ayton To Miss At Least Four Weeks With Calf Strain
Trail Blazers starting center Deandre Ayton injured his left calf during a blowout loss to the Nuggets on Monday.
Further imaging has indicated that Ayton is dealing with a strained left calf, according to the Blazers, who announced in a press release that the seven-footer will miss at least the next four weeks. At that point, he is set to be reassessed.
The Arizona alum had been a critical component of the Trail Blazers’ midseason turnaround. Without him available, Portland will likely lean even more on impressive rookie lottery pick Donovan Clingan.
In 40 games overall this season, Ayton is averaging 14.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 blocks and 0.8 steals.
During a recent 12-2 Trail Blazers stretch, the former No. 1 overall pick saw those numbers improve to 17.9 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 blocks and 0.9 steals per game. He was also shooting 57.4% from the field during that run.
At 23-31, without Ayton for a month and now on a three-game losing streak, the 13th-seeded Blazers’ postseason hopes seem to be fading fast.
Ayton is currently Portland’s priciest player, earning $34MM this season. He has one year left on his four-season maximum-salary deal, worth $35.5MM in 2025/26.
Ayton’s recent play could go a long way towards rehabilitating his trade value across the league, though he has struggled with injuries throughout his career, having appeared in 58 or fewer games three times in the last five seasons prior to 2024/25.
Hawks’ Larry Nance Jr., Vit Krejci Out Multiple Weeks
Hawks forward Larry Nance Jr. and guard Vit Krejci both had to leave a 112-106 win over Orlando on Monday with injuries and will face extended absences.
According to the Hawks (Twitter link), Krejci departed Monday’s game with a lower back contusion. After he underwent imaging, he was diagnosed with a non-displaced lumbar fracture and is set to be reassessed in three-to-four weeks.
Nance, meanwhile, exited the contest with a right knee injury. He has sustained a non-displaced fracture of his right medial femoral condyle, and is set to be on the shelf for at least six weeks, at which point he will be reevaluated.
Nance was acquired as part of a blockbuster offseason deal with New Orleans for guard Dejounte Murray. Across his 24 healthy games this season, the 6’8″ forward/center is averaging 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks in just 19.3 minutes per night.
Krejci, 24, is in his third season with Atlanta. This year, he’s averaging a career-high 6.9 points per game on an efficient .447/.384/.667 shooting line. The 6’8″ pro is also chipping in 2.7 APG, 2.7 RPG, 0.7 SPG and 0.5 BPG for the Hawks.
This is a big blow to the depth of the new-look Hawks, who have retooled their personnel through an active trade deadline stretch.
Without Nance or star forward Jalen Johnson, Atlanta head coach Quin Snyder will likely need to lean more on rookie forward Zaccharie Risacher and newly added stretch four Georges Niang.
Sans Krejci or Kobe Bufkin, Snyder will presumably give more touches to other backcourt contributors like Dyson Daniels, Garrison Mathews, and fresh trade acquisition Caris LeVert.
Raptors Sign Brandon Ingram To Three-Year Extension
February 12: The Raptors have officially announced Ingram’s extension in a press release.
“Improving every day is the ethos of our team, and we believe the long-term addition of Brandon improves us greatly,” general manager Bobby Webster said in a statement. “We’ve spoken about his elite scoring and play-making; we’re looking forward to seeing that mesh with the talents we already have on our roster – and we’re thrilled that Brandon wants to be a Raptor as much as we want him here in Toronto.”
February 11: The Raptors and newly acquired forward Brandon Ingram have reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension, according to Shams Charania and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), who hear from Ingram’s agents at Klutch Sports that the deal will be worth $120MM and will feature a player option for the 2027/28 season.
Ingram was traded from the Pelicans to the Raptors last week in a deal that sent Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, and two draft picks (one first-rounder and one second-rounder) to New Orleans.
Ingram had spent the previous five-and-a-half seasons with the Pelicans after having been a centerpiece of the team’s return in 2019’s Anthony Davis blockbuster with the Lakers. From 2019-25, Ingram averaged 23.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game in 305 total outings for New Orleans, with a .472/.372/.847 shooting line and a 2020 All-Star berth.
The Pelicans and Ingram were unable to come to terms last offseason – or during the first half of this season – on a new contract that would extend the 27-year-old’s $36MM expiring deal, which led to the decision to trade him.
The Raptors were clearly more comfortable with the idea of investing in Ingram — general manager Bobby Webster said after last week’s trade that the front office wouldn’t have made the trade if there wasn’t “a comfort level with (the contract) he was looking for.”
Recently traded players face certain limitations on the extensions they’re permitted to sign, but Ingram’s new contract will fall within those limits (which include a 20% first-year raise, subsequent annual raises of 5%, and four total years, including the current season).
The deal will also come in well below Ingram’s maximum. Based on current cap projections, he would’ve been eligible to receive up to about $150MM over the next three years (or $269.1MM over five) if he had waited until free agency to sign a new contract with the Raptors. His maximum three-year extension right now would’ve been worth $136.1MM.
The exact impact of Ingram’s extension on Toronto’s cap situation for 2025/26 and beyond won’t be known until we see the official numbers, but it figures to push the team up over $175MM in guaranteed money for 10 players for next season. That will be well over the projected cap ($154.6MM), but will put the team in position to stay below the projected tax line ($187.9MM).
Ingram, who is still recovering from an ankle injury and whose Raptors debut is likely still a little ways off, is now part of a core in Toronto that also includes Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick, and RJ Barrett.