Warriors’ Draymond Green Wins 2024/25 Hustle Award
Warriors forward/center Draymond Green has won the NBA’s Hustle Award for the 2024/25 season, the league announced today (story via Brian Martin of NBA.com).
The Hustle Award has been around since the ’16/17 campaign. Unlike other postseason awards, it is not voted on by the media.
Instead, the award goes to the player who has the top composite ranking in nine “hustle stats” — charges drawn, deflections, screen assists, contested two-point shots, contested three-point shots, offensive loose balls recovered, defensive loose balls recovered, offensive box outs, and defensive box outs.
As Martin writes, Green didn’t lead the NBA in any of those nine categories, but he was in the top 15 in five and became the first winner in the award’s history to rank in the top 40 in all nine.
The Hustle Award is meant to honor players “who make the effort plays that don’t often appear in the traditional box score but impact winning on a nightly basis,” per Martin.
Green, who finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season, was runner-up for the Hustle Award on two other occasions, Martin notes. Thunder guard Cason Wallace finished second behind Green, with Sixers forward Guerschon Yabusele, Thunder wing Luguentz Dort, and Hawks guard Dyson Daniels rounding out the top five.
Thunder swingman Alex Caruso won the Hustle Award in ’23/24 while playing for the Bulls. Wizards guard Marcus Smart has won the award three times.
Knicks, Sixers To Play Preseason Games In Abu Dhabi
The Knicks and Sixers will participate in the NBA’s Abu Dhabi Games 2025 this fall, the league announced today in a press release.
New York and Philadelphia will play a pair of preseason contests at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, October 2 and Saturday, Oct. 4.
The NBA had never played in the United Arab Emirates prior to 2022, but this will be the fourth straight year that the league has held preseason games in Abu Dhabi.
It will be the first time that the Knicks have played a game outside of North America since they faced the Wizards in London, England for a regular season game in January 2019. The 76ers haven’t played overseas since they squared off against Dallas for a pair of preseason matchups in China (Shanghai and Shenzhen) in October 2018.
The Abu Dhabi Games are the third international preseason contests announced by the NBA ahead of the 2025/26 season. The Nets and Suns will be playing in Macao on Oct. 10 and 12, while the Pelicans will face teams from Australia’s National Basketball League in Melbourne on Oct. 3 and 5.
Hawks Fire General Manager Landry Fields
The Hawks have fired general manager Landry Fields and will begin a search for a new president of basketball operations, the team announced today in a press release.
While Atlanta seeks a new top front office executive, assistant general manager Onsi Saleh will replace Fields as GM on an interim basis, overseeing day-to-day basketball operations for the organization.
“Every offseason we evaluate how we operate and ways we can improve our organization,” team owner Tony Ressler said in a statement. “As we enter this pivotal offseason, we have several complex decisions ahead of us, and we are committed to providing the human and financial resources needed to ensure that we navigate these decisions with a high level of precision and foresight. Adding an accomplished, senior-level leader to provide strategic direction and structure as well as partnering with Onsi and our talented front office is a top priority.
“I would genuinely like to thank Landry for his leadership during his time with us. Landry made our franchise better and left contributions that have positioned us for growth. I am grateful for his dedication and wish him success in his next endeavor.”
Fields replaced former president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk during the 2022/23 season and has been running the Hawks’ front office since then. The team has won 41, 36, and 40 games in his three seasons at the helm, making a single playoff appearance during that time and not advancing past the first round.
Atlanta was eliminated in the play-in tournament this year, doesn’t control any of its own first-round picks through 2027, and faces an uncertain future with star guard Trae Young, who will be extension-eligible this offseason.
However, the Hawks’ roster features a promising core of young talent, including forward Jalen Johnson, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player finalist Dyson Daniels, and last year’s No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher. The club also controls a handful of draft picks from other teams, including the Kings’ (top-12 protected) and Lakers’ first-rounders in 2025.
According to today’s announcement, the Hawks have hired Sportsology Group, an advisory firm, to direct their search for a new head of basketball operations. That suggests the process likely won’t move as quickly in Atlanta as it did in New Orleans or Sacramento, where the Pelicans and Kings chose new top executives almost immediately after firing their former GMs.
Sixers general manager Elton Brand, who works under Daryl Morey in Philadelphia, is among the candidates expected to receive consideration from the Hawks, according to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer (Twitter link).
During his end-of-season media session, Fields shot down any speculation that Quin Snyder‘s job was in danger. While that may still be true, it’s worth keeping an eye on Snyder’s status with Fields out of the picture, since it’s not uncommon for new lead executives to want to make their own head coaching hires.
Sixers Notes: Oubre, Nurse, Yabusele
Following an underwhelming 2024/25 season for the Sixers, forward Kelly Oubre Jr. is looking to recapture the attitude that made him a beloved figure in Philadelphia, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
After a solid 2023/24 run, Oubre inked a two-year, $16.4MM deal in free agency last summer to stay with the Sixers. Despite re-signing Oubre and adding nine-time All-Star Paul George, Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond, among others, the Sixers struggled with health and chemistry issues, and ultimately went 24-58.
In his 60 healthy games this past season, Oubre averaged 15.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 1.8 APG. Although the 6’8″ pro had endeared himself to the Philadelphia faithful during his first year in town, Oubre felt like he wasn’t himself this season amidst all the team’s losing.
“I’m bringing the swag back, and all I know is that I’ll come back better than I was this year,”Oubre said of his approach to 2025/26. “I’m going to year 11 in my career. So it’s a blessing. I’m blessed to still be here… But at the end of the day, man, I’m not satisfied with the way I’m perceived by you guys, fans, for what I do bring to the NBA. So tsunami’s back.”
There’s more out of the City of Brotherly Love:
- Sixers head coach Nick Nurse may not have been the problem during last year’s lost season, but he’ll need more injury luck out of his roster next season to prove it, opines Pompey in another piece. Philadelphia GM Daryl Morey asserted that both he and Nurse would return for at least next year. While All-Stars Joel Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey missed a cumulative 134 games, Pompey notes that detractors have pointed to Nurse’s occasionally puzzling lineup decisions, team leadership, and relationship with referees as potential areas of long-term concern.
- One of the Sixers’ few free agent signings who surpassed offseason expectations, forward Guerschon Yabusele could now be in line for a big raise this summer, writes Pompey in an a separate Inquirer story. After spending several years out of the league, the 6’7″ vet posted averages of 11 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 1.2 APG. He also connected on a career-high 38% of his triple tries. An unrestricted free agent this summer, Yabusele is only eligible for a 20% raise on his $2.1MM minimum salary, since he only has Non-Bird rights. He could also be signed into the team’s mid-level exception — the 76ers could have either the taxpayer or non-taxpayer version available, depending on their financial commitments to other players. According to Pompey, Yabusele’s play this year guarantees he’ll be worth more than that 20% raise on his minimum deal. With $149.1MM in guaranteed money already committed to just four Sixers players and a $154.6MM projected salary cap, Philadelphia will have to tread carefully if it hopes to retain Yabusele.
- In case you missed it, George is hoping that he, Embiid and Maxey can spend more time together this summer in an effort to improve the trio’s chemistry.
Atlantic Notes: Ujiri, Rajakovic, Raptors, Sixers’ Trio, Knicks Bigs
The Raptors‘ front office, led by president Masai Ujiri, is determined to get the team back into championship contention, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes. In his end-of-season news conference, Ujiri expressed that he wasn’t able to enjoy Toronto’s championship in 2019 as much as he would’ve liked and that all he thinks about is getting his team back to that spot.
“[Our goal] is getting better and adding more players and building this team and growing to be a championship team,” Ujiri said. “A championship is the end goal of all of this, and when that comes, we don’t know, but we have to identify those players and build with those kinds of players.”
The Raptors took a big swing by acquiring Brandon Ingram at the deadline and giving him a multiyear extension before he played a game for the team.
“At the end of the day, you have to acquire talent,” Ujiri said. “We have to do it in a unique way in the market that we’re in and we’ve got to jump on opportunities that come our way, sometimes after we really study them.”
Ujiri’s comments this week represented a departure from the ones he made a year ago, when he expressed a willingness to embark on a multiyear rebuild, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Toronto did maximize its draft talent this year, with rookies Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Jamison Battle all stepping up and playing big roles.
“I was really happy with the way these guys played and hopefully their development comes up more and more,” Ujiri said. “Yeah, we tried to attack the odds in the lottery and see what we can do. It’s a good draft. And honestly, wherever we fall, we feel very confident. Our guys have done a lot of work all year. We’re extremely excited.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The pressure to win has been relatively low in Toronto with the team acquiring and developing so many young players, Grange writes in another piece. But with the Raptors‘ focus shifting toward winning, head coach Darko Rajakovic is ready for the team’s next phase and has the full buy-in of his players. “He’s a really good coach. He cares about us. He really does,” RJ Barrett said. “He comes in and he challenges us every single day. And it’s nice when you know that you have somebody that cares about you — makes you want to play even harder for them. Darko’s a guy you can have conversations with about anything, and he’s very helpful. Always teaching, but he listens to us and our ideas. Yeah. So, like, that stuff is great.”
- Sixers wing Paul George wants the team’s big three – himself, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid – to spend more time together this offseason, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I think that’s very important,” George said. “We’ve already talked about seeing each other, where we’re going to be this summer. So we’ve already had those conversations about connecting once the season’s over. I think it’s very important. I don’t think it’s healthy to go two, three months before seeing each other, regardless of if we’re checking in over the phone. It’s just different seeing each other.“
- The Knicks might turn to two-big lineups in the playoffs against the Pistons, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns only played 47 minutes together this season, but that two-man grouping outscored opponents by 9.2 points per 100 possessions. Head coach Tom Thibodeau said that despite the small sample size, he liked what he saw from that pairing.
Scotto’s Latest: Green, Pelicans, Borrego, Suns, Adelman, Sixers
Former Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin wanted to fire head coach Willie Green earlier in the season, but was denied by ownership, which has maintained its support for Green, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
A former assistant in Phoenix, Green has been mentioned as a possible target for the Suns as they seek a new head coach of their own. But now that Griffin has been let go by the Pelicans and replaced by Joe Dumars, Green’s hold on his job in New Orleans looks significantly less tenuous.
Dumars, who nearly drafted Green back in 2003 when he was running Detroit’s front office, is considered likely to retain the former NBA guard as New Orleans’ coach, according to Scotto.
While Green may not emerge as a serious candidate for the job in Phoenix, his top assistant James Borrego is expected to receive consideration from the Suns and other clubs with head coaching openings this spring, league sources tell HoopsHype. If Griffin had remained in the Pelicans’ front office, Borrego may have ended up replacing Green as New Orleans’ coach, Scotto notes, but with Green likely to stick around, changes are expected to be made to his staff, making Borrego a candidate to depart.
Here are a few more items of interest from Scotto:
- Veteran NBA executive Scott Perry and Bucks VP of global scouting Ryan Hoover, both of whom worked with Dumars in Detroit, are viewed as candidates to join the Pelicans‘ front office this offseason, according to Scotto, who points out that Perry also has a connection to Green, having worked in Orlando’s front office when the current Pelicans coach was a Magic player.
- Scotto confirms several of the potential Phoenix coaching candidates identified earlier this week by Chris Haynes and adds another name to the list, suggesting that Rockets assistant Ben Sullivan could get a look from the Suns. Scotto also writes that front office changes remain in play in Phoenix, where general manager James Jones is on an expiring contract and his future with the club is considered “murky.”
- Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman, who has the support of stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, has a “real chance” to earn the permanent job in Denver, Scotto reports. An extended postseason run would presumably go a long way toward making Adelman the frontrunner.
- Although the Sixers don’t plan to make a head coaching change this offseason, there’s an expectation that there will be some changes made to Nick Nurse‘s coaching staff, league sources tell HoopsHype.
And-Ones: Clutch Player Award, NBA Europe, Award Picks, Oweh
The official candidates for Clutch Player of the Year have been revealed, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor tweets. Here’s the list of candidates that voters can select for the award, as chosen by the league’s 30 head coaches:
- Anfernee Simons, Trail Blazers
- Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves
- Darius Garland, Cavaliers
- De’Aaron Fox, Spurs
- DeMar DeRozan, Kings
- Derrick White, Celtics
- Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
- Jaylen Brown, Celtics
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks
- Jayson Tatum, Celtics
- Kevin Durant, Suns
- Kyrie Irving, Mavericks
- LeBron James, Lakers
- Luka Doncic, Lakers
- Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
- Stephen Curry, Warriors
- Trae Young, Hawks
- Tyler Herro, Heat
- Tyrese Maxey, Sixers
Curry won the award last year.
We have more from around the international basketball world:
- While the NBA is trying to establish a new league in Europe, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum insists that the goal is not to replace the EuroLeague, Eurohoops relays via a Reuters interview. “Our goal is to create a commercially viable league that features high quality on -court competition and respects the rich tradition of European basketball. And we think that that will better serve fans and players on the continent,” Tatum said. He notes that there are major cities in Europe that don’t have a team where the NBA can establish roots. “There are big markets in Europe that aren’t being serviced today, where there are millions of basketball fans that aren’t being serviced,” he said. London, Paris, Berlin and Rome are among the candidates that NBA Europe considers as prime targets.
- The Athletic’s John Hollinger reveals his award picks. He has Gilgeous-Alexander atop his MVP list and the Rockets’ Amen Thompson as his Defensive Player of the Year. O’Connor, writing for Yahoo Sports, has the same duo winning those awards. They also both have Stephon Castle taking Rookie of the Year honors, Payton Pritchard atop their Sixth Man of the Year lists, and Kenny Atkinson as Coach of the Year.
- Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh will test the draft waters, Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 tweets. Oweh averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals this past season. He played his first two seasons at Oklahoma.
Sixers Notes: George, Bona, Grimes
Paul George acknowledged that his first season with the Sixers was a complete mess. George signed a four-year, $211.6MM contract last offseason.
“To be honest, it was one of the toughest seasons for me, just with a lot of adversity on the court, off the court,” George told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “The injury stuff … was some stuff I didn’t necessarily know I had going on until deep diving and finding out. There was other stuff I didn’t know that was causing my limitations, which was frustrating — not being able to do things I normally could do, and finding out the reason why. Those things are being addressed, so that’s the positive.”
George missed half of Philadelphia’s games due to a variety of injuries. He’s preparing to get back to full health by training camp.
“All in all, I’m expecting to ramp up to a great summer and hitting the ground running,” he said. “So there shouldn’t be any limitation for me in the future to train and get prepared for this next season.”
George believes he can return to an All-Star level if he can get his body right. “I know what level I can play at when I am healthy,” he said, “and obviously, it’s a struggle when I’m not healthy.”
We have more on the Sixers:
- Second-round pick Adem Bona, who appeared in 58 games during his rookie campaign, has a decision to make this offseason. Should he represent Nigeria or Turkey in international competitions? “I’ve played for the national team for almost every age group since U16 to U20. So, the Turkish national team is very important to me. Also, I’m from Nigeria. The Nigerian national team is important to me.” he told Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. “I don’t think there’s any preference. I represent both countries equally, but there’s going to be a decision that has to be made during the summer.” Turkey will participate in EuroBasket this August and September.
- How will the Sixers handle Quentin Grimes‘ restricted free agency? Yossi Gozlan of ThirdApron.com (Substack link) tackles that subject and many others in his offseason preview, speculating that something in the range of the full mid-level (a little over $60MM across four years) might make sense for Grimes.
- In case you missed it, Daryl Morey and Nick Nurse will return next season. Get the details here.
Sixers President Daryl Morey, Head Coach Nick Nurse To Return Next Season
The Sixers’ disastrous year won’t lead to changes at the top. Following the team’s season-ending loss to the Bulls on Sunday, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said he and coach Nick Nurse will return next season, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reports.
Morey divulged that news during a postgame press conference.
“We expect more. We really feel for the fans who put their heart and soul into this team, and we know we’ve let you down,” Morey said. “Ownership gave us the resources to make aggressive moves this offseason to put a championship roster around Joel [Embiid] and Tyrese [Maxey] and sometimes those aggressive moves don’t initially work out, but we feel good about [them].”
Morey hoarded salary-cap space to make a big splash last offseason and landed the biggest free agent on the market, Paul George. The front office also added Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon, Guerschon Yabusele, and Andre Drummond while re-signing Maxey, KJ Martin, Kyle Lowry, and Kelly Oubre Jr. with sights on a championship.
Instead, the season disintegrated due to injuries. Promising rookie Jared McCain went down early and the team’s “big three” barely had any time to develop chemistry. Embiid was limited to 19 games and eventually underwent another knee procedure. George only appeared in half of Philadelphia’s 82 games and Maxey was limited to 52 appearances. They suited up together in just 15 games.
“In my opinion when you have an MVP-level talent, you need to make aggressive moves to upgrade around that talent in that window,” Morey said. “That’s what we did last offseason, and we feel good about it going forward. I think it’s such a unique thing to have a player of that caliber. Are we somewhat indexed to talented players who are a little bit more injured? Yes, but that’s why we need to have a younger, deeper roster on them and then have them healthy going into the playoffs next year.”
Despite Embiid’s knee issues and George’s multitude of injuries in recent seasons, Morey expressed optimism that they’ll be “100%” next season.
Given their contractual obligations, the Sixers can only hope that’s the case. Embiid signed a monstrous three-year extension in September worth nearly $193MM that runs through the 2028/29 season with a player option. George has three years and more than $162MM remaining on his contract, which also includes a player option.
Morey says he’ll retool one of the oldest rosters in the league. The Sixers will hold onto their first-round pick if it’s in the top six. Otherwise, it will be conveyed to Oklahoma City.
“If everything sets up well, we’ll have a younger, more dynamic roster around a healthy Joel, Tyrese and Paul,” Morey said. “I never felt like Coach had a healthy literally one game with all three of ’em. I know they played some games together, but they didn’t finish all of ’em and even the ones where it was like their first game back. It was tough … for me personally it was obviously the toughest season of my career, and I’ll just say personally I will spend every waking hour figuring out how turn this team around going into next season.”
Sixers Notes: George, Maxey, Lowry, Grimes, Oubre, Drummond
There were sky-high expectations for the Sixers heading into this season after Paul George signed with the team as a free agent last summer, joining Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to form a big three. However, Philadelphia lost 12 of its first 14 games en route to a massively disappointing 24-58 season, as injuries decimated the roster and prevented the team from ever gaining any real momentum.
“Yeah, it was just, to be honest, one of the toughest seasons for me,” George said on Sunday, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “Just with a lot of adversity on the court, off the court and, then again, the injury stuff was some stuff that I didn’t necessarily know I had going on … which was frustrating.”
As ugly as this season was, George and Maxey indicated on Sunday that they still believe the core is capable of competing for a championship in future seasons.
“The names on the paper … it looks nice. It does,” Maxey said. “And I think we’ve seen where our peaks can be this year. There wasn’t a lot of them. But there was some stretches where we all played and we looked really good. We found the right rotations, we knew who to get the ball to, who we need to get the ball to them, everybody got shots, everybody looked good.
“So the sky’s the limit. That’s the thing that I can say. But the work has to be put in from day one, not from in the middle of the season. … Today is our last game. Whenever everybody decides to start working out again, that’s when our season for next year starts, individually and collectively. And it has to be taken serious. And I think we will take it serious and I have the ultimate faith in the organization and the guys up top and my teammates to do that.”
Here’s more on the 76ers:
- Maxey told reporters on Sunday that he needs “about another month” before his finger injury recovery has progressed enough for him to resume basketball activities, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports.
- Veteran point guard Kyle Lowry said after Sunday’s regular season finale that he’d like to play at least one more year in the NBA and hopes to do it with his hometown Sixers, per Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). Lowry, who turned 39 last month, is finishing up his 19th NBA season, so one more would give him an even 20.
- Quentin Grimes, who entered Sunday’s game with 1,978 minutes played this season, logged 35 minutes in Philadelphia’s loss to Chicago to surpass the 2,000-minute threshold and meet the starter criteria. That means his qualifying offer as a restricted free agent this summer will be worth $8,741,210 instead of $6,311,825. That change is unlikely to affect how Grimes’ free agency plays out, since he’s a strong candidate to sign a lucrative multiyear contract.
- Here’s what Sixers wing Kelly Oubre, who holds an $8.4MM player option for 2025/26, had to say about his contract situation on Sunday, according to Bodner (Twitter link): “This is a business, but at the end of the day I’m happy. And I like to finish what I start, and I don’t feel complete. So, godspeed.”
- Big man Andre Drummond also has a player option for ’25/26 (worth $5MM) and expressed interest in remaining in Philadelphia. “My plan is to be back,” he told reporters after Sunday’s game (Twitter link via Bodner).