Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson Named Players Of Week
Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to the NBA (Twitter links).
Doncic led the Lakers to three wins during the week of November 24-30 while averaging 37.3 points, 10.3 assists and 8.7 rebounds per contest. Those performances, which included a 43-point outburst against the Clippers, increased his league-leading scoring average to 35.1 points per game.
Brunson lifted the Knicks to four wins by averaging 28.8 points and 4.5 assists per game while knocking down 40.7 percent of his three-point attempts. He matched his season high on Friday by racking up 37 points against Milwaukee.
Doncic and Brunson, of course, were backcourt partners in Dallas. Brunson has earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors seven times since joining the Knicks, while this is the first time Doncic has achieved the feat since becoming a Laker.
The other nominees in the West were Zach Edey (Grizzlies), Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Jamal Murray (Nuggets) and Austin Reaves (Lakers).
Desmond Bane (Magic), Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Tyler Herro (Heat), Jalen Johnson (Hawks) and Pascal Siakam (Pacers) were also nominated in the East.
Magic Notes: Banchero, Hot Streak, Suggs, Bane
Magic forward Paolo Banchero has been ruled out for an eighth straight game due to his left groin strain and won’t be available on Friday when Orlando visits Detroit to face the Pistons, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
Banchero said at the start of the week that he believed he was “pretty close” to returning to the court, but the groin injury will keep him on the shelf until at least December — his next opportunity to play will be on Monday (Dec. 1) against Chicago.
Orlando’s showdown with the Pistons on Friday will help determine which Eastern Conference teams join Toronto in the NBA Cup knockout round. The winner of that matchup in Detroit will claim a spot in the quarterfinals, though the Magic would still be very well positioned to be the East’s wild card team with a loss, as long as they’re not blown out.
Here’s more on the Magic:
- After getting off to a 1-4 start this season, the Magic are 10-4 in the past four weeks and appear to be figuring out their identity, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “Yeah, we started the year off rough,” center Wendell Carter Jr. said. “In those losses, we weren’t playing to our standard on the defensive end. We’ve reestablished our defensive identity, and the offense is clicking right now.” To Carter’s point, in their past 14 games, the Magic rank seventh in the NBA in defensive rating (110.7) and fifth in offensive rating (121.0).
- Is it a concern that the Magic have played their best basketball of the season since Banchero went down? Not in Orlando’s locker room, where they believe correlation doesn’t imply causation in this case, according to Robbins. “He’s a very smart basketball player,” guard Jalen Suggs said of Banchero. “… He’ll come back into the fold and jell well with us because that’s our brother. Regardless of how we’ve been playing while he’s been off, we want him on the court. And we’re better when he’s on the court.”
- The Magic registered a blowout win in Philadelphia on Tuesday, defeating the Sixers by 41 points despite losing Suggs to an ejection near the end of the first half, per ESPN. After big men Carter and Andre Drummond got into a shoving match, Suggs ran in and pushed Drummond, which escalated the confrontation and resulted in a pair of technical fouls for Suggs (Twitter video link). The Magic point guard said after the game that he’d respond the same way “10 times out of 10” and that he took exception to Drummond raising his fists as if he were going to take a swing at Carter. “In my opinion, squaring up is a little too crazy,” Suggs said. “… I don’t regret it. I’ll stick up for my brother every time. I’ll take the fine. Don’t think I should’ve gotten ejected, but I’ll take it.”
- One reason for the Magic’s hot streak is the recent play of Desmond Bane. The team’s most significant offseason addition averaged just 14.2 points per game on .431/.293/.857 shooting in his first 10 games, but has improved those numbers to 20.8 PPG on .435/.365/.976 shooting in his past nine. As Beede writes for The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required), that 11th game, in which Bane hit a game-winning three-pointer vs. Portland, may have marked a turning point for the veteran wing. “After making that shot, I just felt the love from everybody,” Bane said. “Orlando’s starting to becoming to feel like home. I feel like I’ve settled in since then.”
Magic Notes: Suggs, Banchero, Da Silva, Bane, Mosley
Magic guard Jalen Suggs is determined to become an even better player than he was before arthroscopic surgery on his left knee brought his 2024/25 season to a premature end, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Suggs turned in one of his best performances of the season on Thursday, posting 23 points, seven assists, two steals and two blocks in a win over the Clippers and helping Orlando improve to 5-1 in its last six games.
“I don’t even think I’m chasing my former self,” Suggs said. “I’m reaching for who I can be — player and person. It’s great to look back at the past couple seasons, you know some of the old ways I used to defend, even before the knee, and just my movement patterns and all that. It’s great to be based off of but for me, it’s about how do I keep evolving in this league so I can stay present, keep improving, keep helping us climb the ranks to become one of the better teams. Me improving myself and who I am directly correlates with that.”
Suggs only played 26 minutes on Thursday, but that’s because the Magic held a commanding lead after three quarters. Beede notes that he has been steadily increasing his playing time, going from 16 minutes on opening night to 32 in Tuesday’s matchup with Golden State. Coach Jamahl Mosley said Suggs’ level of playing time is being determined by how his knee responds after each game.
“His ability to do all of the little things, putting his body on the line for those moments, making those hustle plays,” Mosley said in describing Suggs’ value to the team. “… I mean, he’s going for blocks on 7-footers coming down the lane. But those are big plays for us. It’s who he is, it’s what he does, and we need that from him.”
There’s more from Orlando:
- The Magic have been able to win without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who’s missing his fifth straight game tonight with a left groin strain, Beede adds. Mosley said earlier this week that Banchero is making progress, but there’s still no set date for his return. “We’ve just handled it as a team,” Franz Wagner said when asked about Orlando’s success without Banchero. “Everybody’s stepping into their role, playing confidently out there and doing what’s asked of them at a high level. If we can continue to do that, we’re in a good spot right now and obviously playing some really good teams in the next couple games, so we’ve got to continue to get better and keep doing what we’re doing.”
- Second-year forward Tristan Da Silva has moved into the starting lineup with Banchero sidelined, Beede states in a separate story. Da Silva filled the same role when Banchero missed several games last season, and he feels “more comfortable” as a starter this time. “Being a starter, that’s already a big deal of responsibility because you set the tone for the rest of the game and most of the time finish the game too,” he said. “My coaches and teammates put a lot of trust into me, and I’m just happy and glad to be in a position like that.”
- Desmond Bane‘s fit with the Magic has looked better lately following an uneven start, notes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman admits there was some risk in acquiring Bane in an offseason trade with Memphis, but there’s a belief that he was the right player to target. “We paid a heavy price,” Weltman said. “There’s one pick that we don’t have control over, but the rest we have control over. And Des entering his prime, and a lot of our key young players under contract … we’re not looking at this as one season. Obviously, we gave up a lot because he’s a highly talented player who fits our roster very well. And we’re betting on ourselves.”
- Mosley didn’t coach the second half of today’s game against New York due to an illness, the team announced (via Twitter). Assistant Joe Prunty took his place.
Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Davis, Magic, Clippers, LeBron
With the Mavericks off to a 3-9 start, there’s a feeling around the league that trading Anthony Davis — and possibly Kyrie Irving as well — might be their best strategy, according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Dallas fired general manager Nico Harrison this week amid continued fan uproar over February’s Luka Doncic trade, and now personnel moves may be necessary to carve out a brighter future.
Trade speculation has already focused on Davis, who is currently sidelined with a left calf strain and has appeared in just five games this season. He’s under contract for $58.5MM in 2026/27 and has a $62.8MM player option for the following season. He’ll become eligible for an extension next summer and could earn up to $218.5MM by picking up the option and extending for three more years.
Considering Davis’ contract situation and his long injury history, Windhorst states that the Mavs may have trouble getting the return they would want in a potential trade.
“I just looked it up so I could say this to my owner if he asks me about it, AD is turning 33 in March and he’s going to be in position next summer where he’ll probably want a contract extension that would cost $70MM per year when he’d be 37,” a rival general manager said. “He’s a great player, full stop. But when you consider a player at his age with his injury history, you’d also be trading for the stress of that extension. That plays into it.”
Executives around the league tell Bontemps that while the Mavericks could still be formidable with a fully healthy roster, moving the two stars and replenishing their draft assets while building around Cooper Flagg is probably their best strategy. After the 2026 draft, Dallas doesn’t control any of its first-round picks for the rest of the decade.
Parting with Davis and Irving would also help the Mavs escape the luxury tax, Bontemps adds. The team is projected to have a tax bill around $32MM this season, and the current roster is about $16MM over the tax threshold.
Bontemps and Windhorst share more inside information from around the NBA:
- The Magic have won five of their last seven games, but their offense is still just 18th in the league and the offseason trade for Desmond Bane hasn’t provided the spark that was hoped for. According to Windhorst, head coach Jamahl Mosley has turned over most of the play calling to assistant Joe Prunty, who was hired during the offseason. However, some observers are skeptical that the current roster is capable of producing an efficient offense. “It’s got to get a little better, but the pieces aren’t changing,” a West executive said. “Bane will settle in eventually. But you still have a ball-dominant, iso star in Paolo (Banchero) that doesn’t scream ball movement, player movement and getting open shots. It hasn’t been pretty at all.”
- With an old roster and growing injury concerns, the Clippers may be “cooked” after a 3-8 start. Bradley Beal has been lost for the season with a hip fracture, and Kawhi Leonard has been diagnosed with a sprained foot as well as a sprained ankle. It appears the decision to invest heavily in veteran talent is backfiring, as Windhorst notes that Brook Lopez, Nicolas Batum and Bogdan Bogdanovic haven’t been productive early in the season, while Chris Paul is completely out of the rotation. “They move so slowly, they can’t recover when they turn the ball over or give up a quick transition,” one advance scout said.
- The Spurs and Lakers are both off to impressive starts, but there are mixed opinions on whether they can finish in the top four in the West. A West scout doesn’t believe Victor Wembanyama can hold up for 82 games, while an East executive isn’t convinced that L.A. will get better when LeBron James returns from his injury. “Don’t ask me about the Lakers until I can see LeBron play and see him move and how he looks,” the executive said. “He isn’t just dealing with the sciatica, he hurt his knee at the end of last season, and it surely affected his training routine. He’s never started a season coming off injuries like this before.”
Magic Notes: Banchero, Suggs, Bane, Da Silva
How did Magic forward Paolo Banchero celebrate his rookie scale extension this summer? By going back to the gym that night, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I definitely signed it right away. There was no real thought. Just where do I sign?” Banchero said. “It was a surreal feeling. The day it got announced and everything, the day it got done, I didn’t know what to even do. My phone was blowing up. Everybody wanted to congratulate and call me and it was like the middle of the day and I was just sitting in the house and I was just like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Am I supposed to go celebrate or am I supposed to respond to everybody? I don’t know.’
“So, I had worked out that morning and I ended up just going back to the gym that night. And I was just like, ‘I’ll just go say thank you to the game and just go get some shots up.’ And that’d be my way of celebrating, kind of paying it back to the game for blessing me in that way. So that’s kind of what I did. I didn’t really know how else to handle it.”
Banchero signed his five-year, maximum-salary extension in early July. He’s averaging 23.3 points, a career-high 9.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game so far this season.
Here’s more on the Magic:
- Jalen Suggs didn’t play on Monday against Portland due to left knee injury management and still hasn’t been cleared for back-to-backs, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Suggs had 20 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes during Sunday’s 111-107 loss to Boston. Suggs, who underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee in March, is not on the injury report for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.
- Slumping Desmond Bane, the team’s big offseason acquisition, hit a three-pointer at just the right time. Bane knocked down his first career game-winning buzzer beater against the Trail Blazers in Monday’s 115-112 victory. Bane has missed his five previous three-point tries during the contest. “I just want to be a part of winning,” Bane said, per Youngmisuk. “But I think moments like tonight really help you settle into a new situation.” Bane, a career 40.7% three-point shooter, has made only 27.7% of his long-distance tries this season.
- Tristan Da Silva had just two points and three rebounds in 17 minutes on Monday but generally, he’s shown growth offensively during his second NBA season, Beede notes. The 24-year-old forward is averaging 10.9 points on 46.7% shooting from the field and 39.2% from distance. As a rookie, he averaged 7.2 points on 41.2% shooting (33.5% on threes).
Southeast Notes: Bane, Penda, Ball, Young
Desmond Bane‘s three-point shot isn’t falling so far this season, but the Magic guard remains confident that it will come around soon, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Bane was acquired from Memphis over the summer to improve the team’s outside shooting, but he’s only connecting at 25% from beyond the arc while taking 4.7 per game, which is the lowest total since his rookie season. It’s a small sample size and Bane was a career 41% three-point shooter with the Grizzlies, so he isn’t worried.
“It’ll come,” he said. “I’ve had multiple stretches like that. It’s basketball. Some nights you get a ton and some nights you get a few.”
Beede notes that Bane hasn’t been getting the open looks that he’s used to since joining the Magic. Defenses are playing him tightly at the three-point line, and he has responded by driving more often and finding open teammates, which led to seven assists in Friday’s victory at Charlotte.
However, the Magic don’t have many accomplished three-point shooters and they’ll eventually need Bane to fill that role.
“He’s one of those guys that he’s such a threat on the three-point line that he’s able to get downhill, but, in my opinion, one of the reasons we got him was because of his three-point shooting,” Wendell Carter Jr. said. “We’ve got to find ways to get him cleaner, easier looks, instead of off the dribble, even though he can do both.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- After not being used in the first three games, rookie forward Noah Penda is increasing his role in the Magic‘s rotation and played 17 minutes on Friday, Beede adds in the same story. “We’ve thrown him in different situations and one thing about him is he can guard multiple positions,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “He’s not afraid of the moment and does a great job crashing the glass. He’s doing all of the things that we’re asking him to do when he steps on the floor.”
- Hornets guard LaMelo Ball will play tonight against Minnesota after being listed on the injury report with a right ankle impingement, according to Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). In his pregame press conference, coach Charles Lee talked about the importance of Ball staying healthy after missing 60 and 35 games the past two seasons (Twitter video link).
- The Hawks haven’t provided an update on Trae Young, who suffered a sprained right knee on Wednesday. Young didn’t play Friday night and has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game at Cleveland, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks.
Southeast Notes: Porzingis, Herro, Magic, Bridges
Speaking to Fred Katz of The Athletic, Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis revealed that the mysterious illness that affected him late in the 2024/25 season and in the playoffs was eventually diagnosed as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. The condition, known as POTS, causes a person’s heart to beat faster than normal when he sits or stands up and can result in extreme exhaustion or dizziness when it goes untreated or undiagnosed.
“You know how people say, ‘Oh, I’m so fatigued.’ I’ve never used those words. I don’t even like to speak in those terms, but I really was like that,” Porziņgis said. “At that time, I could just lay on the couch and be a house cat.”
According to Katz, after getting a diagnosis confirmed, Porzingis has been able to manage the condition without medication — a high-salt diet and a more regimented resting schedule (off the court) are among the key factors.
Within his larger story about Porzingis and the Hawks, Katz notes that the offseason traded to Atlanta came as a bit of a surprise to the big man, since his agent had been keeping him up to speed on Boston’s trade discussions with three other teams: the Clippers, Spurs, and Suns. While Porzingis may have been surprised to learn of his landing spot, he wasn’t upset about it.
“We are an aspiring team, a young team that aspires to win a championship one day, and that’s the cool part,” Porziņgis said. “Even by the betting odds, we’re not too far off.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Although Tyler Herro expressed last month that he hoped to reach an agreement with the Heat on a contract extension before the season began, he also made it clear he wouldn’t let it affect his play if they couldn’t come to terms, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. As Chiang details, Herro’s window to negotiate an extension will reopen on July 1, 2026 and will remain open either until he signs a new contract or through the entire 2026/27 league year, all the way up until June 30, 2027.
- Josh Robbins of The Athletic spoke to five rival talent evaluators around the NBA about the upside of the new-look Magic and how the additions of Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones will impact the club. “They finally addressed their shooting, and they addressed it coherently and skillfully and efficiently with the two guys,” one scout said. “… (Jones) is not perfect, but he never makes a mistake, and he makes threes, and he can run a team, and he is a true point guard, which they didn’t have. … KCP didn’t work out, and Bane is younger and better, maybe not quite the defender, not quite as big. But he’s a better play-maker. He’s a good play-maker. He’s got secondary ball-handling skills.”
- The longest-tenured member of the Hornets‘ roster, Miles Bridges has never won more than 43 games in a season or made the playoffs during his time in the NBA, but that hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for playing in Charlotte, as Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer relays (subscription required). “Man, I love the city of Charlotte,” Bridges said. “I’m happy to be here. I’m just hoping to reward the city with some wins. That’s all I’ve been talking about since I’ve been here. I think this is the year to do it.” The veteran forward added that he’s fully locked in on finding ways to win games this season and isn’t thinking about his individual stats at all: “I want to actually contribute to winning this year. That’s doing what I need to do. Defense, rebound and scoring the ball. I feel like I could do it all. But (it’s about) just helping this team out the right way.”
Magic Notes: Bane, Banchero, F. Wagner, Black, Howard
The Magic took a major gamble by trading for Desmond Bane, but Paolo Banchero believes the high-scoring guard is exactly what Orlando needs to be a serious contender in the East, writes Marc J. Spears of Andscape. The team sent a lot of assets to Memphis in return, parting with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and a first-round swap. Banchero has no doubt that Bane will be worth the high price.
“It’s a great fit for who we are as a team,” he said. “He adds what we’re missing, and he also adds to what we already have. It’s like the perfect match. We don’t have anybody who can make shots like him, who can kind of leverage the way he is able to make shots, then make plays for others and get downhill and create. He’s a Swiss Army knife just as a player, as a guard. He is stronger than 99 percent of the guards in the league with how he’s built. He’s going to fit into what we do.”
Bane tells Spears that he received a Father’s Day text from Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman, along with a request to talk right away. Kleiman followed up by FaceTiming him to break the news of the trade. Even though Bane was caught by surprise after spending his first five NBA seasons in Memphis, he insists there’s “no bad blood at all” and he’s happy to be in a good situation in Orlando. He also regrets that the Grizzlies weren’t able to make a long playoff run while the foundation of the team was together.
“I feel like we never really got a chance to see what it would be like for a full season with our core and everybody healthy,” Bane said. “But you can only wait so long. In this business, you only got so many years to make something happen.”
There’s more from Orlando:
- Jamahl Mosely had Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner serve as coaches during Wednesday’s scrimmage, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Suggs is still recovering from a left knee trochlea cartilage tear that ended his season in January, while Wagner is rehabbing a torn ACL in his left knee. Since they couldn’t participate in the scrimmage, Mosely decided to give them a different perspective. “It’s huge because it talks about communicating,” he said. “It keeps communication as the high priority. You’ve got to be able to communicate with your teammates the things that you see, what you want, the standard that we’ve set. I’ve said this before but it’s easy for coaches to say things, to put things on boards, to watch it on film … It becomes real when these guys can repeat it back to you and they can repeat the message of what they’re calling themselves to do.”
- Franz Wagner sat out the first preseason contest after an active summer at EuroBasket, but he’s hoping to get back on the court in at least one of the next three games, Beede adds. “Yeah, I definitely want to play, get out there with the guys and get a couple minutes,” Wagner said. “Not that much time before the first real game.”
- In a separate story, Beede examines the importance of this season for Anthony Black and Jett Howard, who will both become eligible for rookie scale extensions next summer.
Magic Notes: Richardson, Banchero, Bane, Wagner
The Magic played their preseason opener on Saturday, picking up a 126-118 win over the Heat. While preseason action can only tell you so much, Orlando was able to get some valuable information on some of their new guys, as well as seeing their roster mainstays in action.
One of the standouts of the game was rookie guard Jase Richardson, writes Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel (subscriber link).
The 25th pick in the 2025 draft, Richardson came out of the gate cold and later admitted to feeling the nerves in his first real NBA action, but he quickly settled into the rhythm of the game. He finished with a team-high 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three, along with four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
“There’s just a level of confidence that he possesses reading the game, recognizing what guys are doing and how they’re playing him,” said head coach Jamahl Mosley. “His speed is such a big advantage for him, but then the other side of it is we talked all the time about how inquisitive he is and how he wants to know what to do in any situation.”
While the backup point guard spot will likely be primarily manned by Tyus Jones once Jalen Suggs recovers from injury, Richardson’s ability to function as an on- or off-ball player could help him carve out a role sooner rather than later if he’s able to maintain his aggression and shooting efficiency.
We have more from the Magic:
- Paolo Banchero is known as an offensive star, but his biggest impact against the Heat came on the defensive end. Beede writes that it wasn’t simply the three blocks in 13 minutes that were encouraging, but also the manner in which they came: one in isolation, another as a weak side rotation, and finally a chase-down block in transition. “That’s what it’s going to take for us to win at the highest level,” Mosely said. “If he plays with that energy and effort each and every single night defensively, it’s going to be a long night for a lot of people.”
- The trade to acquire sharp-shooting guard Desmond Bane was clearly made to bring more shooting to the Magic’s offense, which has struggled with efficiency in recent years. In his first action with the team, Bane provided more than floor spacing, according to Beede, who says Orlando’s new wing also helped push the pace in transition and opened up looks for teammates with his ability to catch and attack with the ball. Beede adds that the chemistry between former teammates Bane and Jones was immediately noticeable. Given his gravity as a shooter, that ability should help generate offense for a team that, at times, got bogged down in mid-range-heavy isolation play last season.
- Franz Wagner, Banchero’s co-star, missed the preseason opener, but according to Beede, this wasn’t due to an injury, but rather was an assigned rest following his run to the gold medal with Germany at EuroBasket.
Eastern Notes: Porter, Celtics, Magic, Hornets, Wiseman
Responding to a question about Kevin Porter Jr.‘s increased responsibilities in 2025/26 now that Damian Lillard is no longer on the roster, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers suggested that the plan will be to start Porter at point guard, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).
“He started out as a high draft pick. He started. They put the ball in his hands. He could literally take any shot and he did,” Rivers said. “And now he comes from that, from not playing at times, coming off the bench, being out of the league, to now back to starting. And that’s a huge a responsibility for him to run the team and still be aggressive. That’s the hardest thing to do, I think, in basketball is from the point guard, understand when and when. It’s just hard, and so I’m sure at times he’ll be great at it and then at times he may struggle at it, but we’ll support him and get him right.”
As Rivers alluded to in his comments, Porter was the starting point guard in Houston from 2021-23, but was out of the NBA during the 2023/24 season due to a domestic violence incident.
Returning to action last season, Porter was up and down for the Clippers, but thrived following a deadline deal to Milwaukee. In 30 regular season outings for the Bucks, he averaged 11.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 19.9 minutes per game and posted a shooting line of .494/.408/.871.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Brian Robb of MassLive.com shares his takeaways from the Celtics‘ first day of practice on Tuesday, which featured an appearance from former Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins. Jenkins got a first-hand look at another former Grizzly, big man Xavier Tillman, who appears to be back to 100% after being plagued by knee issues in 2024/25. “From just a playing perspective, (last season) was very hard,” Tillman said, per Robb. “Just wanting to play, wanting to contribute. But I also knew I was going through stuff myself. My knee would have days where it would just swell up into a balloon after I had one scrimmage or stuff like that. So I knew consistency-wise, I could be there to kind of support. But as far as my actual play, I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do.”
- Speaking of former Grizzlies, Magic newcomers Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones also played together in Memphis under Jenkins, and their chemistry has been on display so far at Orlando’s training camp, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic details. “There’s a comfort level that they have with one another,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said of the duo. “Their veteran leadership, knowing that they’re calling each other out, going to the same baskets. There’s just something about them and their experience through this league that just says, one, they’ve been together before and, if I didn’t (already) know it, I would have thought it.”
- The Hornets officially announced a series of changes and additions to their basketball operations staff, including confirming that former Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune as been hired as an assistant coach, as was first reported in August.
- Although he admits he was “shocked” and disappointed when he tore his Achilles last fall, Pacers center James Wiseman said he got through the recovery process “one day at a time” and believes he’s now in the best shape of his career, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. According to head coach Rick Carlisle, Wiseman was one of the team’s best performers in a conditioning test last week. “You think about what he’s gone through with his rehab and everything else and this is a week before camp, he’s out there with some of our best conditioned wings and guards,” Carlisle said. “That’s a strong statement.”