Dyson Daniels

Western Notes: LeBron, Vincent, Daniels, Gobert, Kyrie

The Lakers, looking to make up ground in the Western Conference playoff race, won’t have LeBron James available on Tuesday in Milwaukee for the first game of their six-game road trip, the team announced today (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski). James has been ruled out due to his ongoing left ankle issues.

Elsewhere on the Lakers injury front, while there was a belief that Gabe Vincent may have been able to return by now following left knee surgery, he remains on the shelf and isn’t with the team in Milwaukee, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

According to McMenamin, if Vincent continues to make good progress in his rehab work, there’s a chance he’ll join the Lakers at some point during the current road trip, which runs through next Wednesday (April 3).

  • Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, who underwent knee surgery in February after tearing his meniscus, appears to be nearing a return. The team announced today (via Twitter) that Daniels has been assigned to the G League and will be available to play for the Birmingham Squadron on Wednesday. The second-year wing hasn’t been active since February 9.
  • Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert played in his 65th game of the season on Sunday and is now eligible for end-of-season awards, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). That benchmark is significant for Gobert, who is the current frontrunner to earn the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year honor this season.
  • After requesting trades out of Cleveland and Brooklyn and leaving Boston in free agency, Kyrie Irving has had a relatively calm, drama-free stint in Dallas so far. Marc Stein explores why that’s the case, writing at Substack that Irving has been willing to sacrifice, the Mavericks have built him a strong support system, and he and Luka Doncic have a genuine affinity for one another.

Southwest Notes: Zion, Daniels, Pelicans, Rockets, Gabriel

The Pelicans have been on a roll lately, going 6-1 since the start of March and 15-5 since January 31. Former No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson has played his best basketball of the season of late, coinciding with the team’s surge up the standings — New Orleans is currently 41-26, the No. 5 seed in the West, one game back of the slumping Clippers.

On his Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said he’s heard from people around the team that Williamson has lost a considerable amount of weight since December, when the Pelicans were embarrassed by the Lakers in the semifinal of the in-season tournament.

I’ve got people in New Orleans telling me that since December when the in-season tournament happened, that Zion Williamson has lost 25 or more pounds, and his performance has been excellent,” Windhorst said (hat tip to Doric Sam of Bleacher Report). “He’s playing fewer minutes and I think that helps as well, but I’ve got people telling me he’s lost 25 pounds. And I don’t mean like in the past where they say, ‘Oh, he’s added muscle’ and it’s like, ‘Has he?’

Windhorst’s ESPN colleague Andrew Lopez has heard the same from his own sources, noting that Williamson “looks completely different,” both physically and as a player.

While Williamson has mostly been known for his offensive ability to this point in his career, he played impressive defense on Kawhi Leonard late in Friday’s victory over the Clippers, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Leonard finished with just two points on 1-of-3 shooting in seven minutes in the final period.

At the end of the game, I was like, ‘I got Kawhi,’Trey Murphy said. “He was like, ‘Nah, I got it.’ I was like, ‘You got it then. I’m not going to fight you then.’ That’s what you want out of your stars. You want them to take on the challenge.”

Here’s more from the Southwest:

  • Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, who is recovering from a torn meniscus in his left knee, was a full participant in Monday’s practice, head coach Willie Green told reporters, including Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). Daniels was doing 3-on-3 work post-practice as well, Guillory relays (via Twitter), which is another positive sign for the second-year guard, though Green said the 21-year-old still has to check a few more boxes before being cleared to return. Herbert Jones (back) and Larry Nance Jr. (non-COVID illness) were also full practice participants after missing Saturday’s game, Guillory adds.
  • The Rockets have gone 7-1 over their last eight games and now trail the Warriors and Lakers by 3.5 games for the final spot in the play-in tournament. It’s a stark contrast from the past few seasons, when the team was stuck at the bottom of the standings. As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link) writes, the Rockets know playing in high-pressure games is the next step in their development. “I’ve been on teams myself where you knew you were done by December, January,” head coach Ime Udoka said. “That’s not the best feeling. To have something to play for, but also change the mindset and mentality around here, was one of the main objectives this year. I think we did that from the start. To have a chance to play for something still at this point in the season but also finish on a strong note, guys are continuing to grow. It’s year one with me, and I think we’ve seen the progress. Things are starting to round out a little bit here and there. We’d like to have that momentum going into next year regardless of where we land.”
  • Wenyen Gabriel‘s 10-day contract with the Grizzlies expired overnight, notes Keith Smith of Spotrac (via Twitter). The Sudanese forward/center is now an NBA free agent, though Puerto Rico’s Vaqueros de Bayamon announced last week that Gabriel had signed a contract with the team for the coming season. The 26-year-old averaged 3.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in five games with Memphis.

Dyson Daniels Out At Least Four Weeks After Knee Surgery

Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels underwent successful left knee surgery on his torn lateral meniscus, the team announced. The 2022 lottery pick is expected to make a full recovery and will be reevaluated in four weeks, per the release.

Daniels has been a rotation regular for New Orleans in his second NBA season, averaging 5.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 52 games, including 15 starts (21.9 minutes). He posted a .438/.291/.640 shooting line in those contests.

Asked about Daniels on Wednesday, head coach Willie Green didn’t rule out the possibility that he could return before the playoffs begin on April 20, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). New Orleans is currently 33-22, the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.

A 6’8″ combo guard out of Australia, Daniels was selected to the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, which will place tomorrow. However, due to his injury, he was replaced by Grizzlies wing Vince Williams.

The Pelicans exercised their third-year team option on Daniels before the season began, so he will earn a guaranteed $6,059,520 salary in 2024/25.

The Pels will have until the fall to decide they want to pick up their fourth-year option — worth $7,707,709 — for the final season of the 20-year-old’s rookie scale contract. That seems very likely given his solid contributions, particularly on the defensive end.

And-Ones: MVP Race, 2024 Draft, Korkmaz, Okafor, More

With Joel Embiid no longer eligible for this season’s MVP award due to the number of games he has missed, the race appears wide open, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, who conducted another version of his straw poll ahead of the All-Star break.

The 100 media members polled over the weekend by MacMahon selected Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as the current MVP favorite, with Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the runner-up. Jokic earned 69 first-place votes and was the only player selected by all 100 voters on their five-player ballots, while Gilgeous-Alexander was listed on 99 ballots and was the top choice on 24 of them.

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard rounded out the top five in Bontemps’ latest poll, with Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell also appearing on double-digit ballots. Notably, while just four of 100 media members had Anthony Edwards in their top five, one made the Timberwolves guard their MVP choice.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Although Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Insider link) still feel as if the 2024 draft class is short on high-end talent, they believe it could end up being a relatively deep draft. Givony and Woo suggest that some teams will be able to find rotation players later in the first round or in the second round, even if there are no sure-fire stars at the top of the class.
  • After being traded from Philadelphia to Indiana and then waived by the Pacers, veteran swingman Furkan Korkmaz has turned down interest from Turkish club Besiktas for now and is hoping to remain in the NBA, according to a report from Eurohoops. Korkmaz didn’t play much for the Sixers the past two seasons, but is still just 26 years old and is a 36.1% three-point shooter over the past five years.
  • Former lottery pick Jahlil Okafor is on the move again, having recently signed with Puerto Rican team Capitanes de Arecibo, as Dario Skerletic of Sportando relays. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 draft, Okafor played in Spain and China earlier this season. He last played in the NBA with Detroit in 2020/21.
  • Grizzlies guard Vince Williams has been chosen to replace injured Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels in this Friday’s Rising Stars game at All-Star weekend, while Indiana Mad Ants guard Kyle Mangas will replace Sixers two-way player Kenneth Lofton Jr. in the G League Next Up game, according to a pair of announcements from the NBA and NBAGL.

Pelicans’ Dyson Daniels Out Indefinitely With Torn Meniscus

2:22pm: According to a press release from the Pelicans, Daniels has a torn lateral meniscus and is receiving additional evaluations “to determine appropriate treatment options,” with another update to come in the future.


1:55pm: Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels has sustained a torn meniscus in his left knee and will be out indefinitely, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (via Twitter).

The No. 8 pick of the 2022 draft, Daniels has been a rotation regular for New Orleans in his second NBA season, averaging 5.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 52 games, including 15 starts (21.9 minutes). He posted a .438/.291/.640 shooting line in those contests.

While the 20-year-old Australian isn’t a great offensive player at this point in his development, he’s excellent on the other end, frequently defending opposing teams’ top perimeter scorers. Daniels is among the league leaders in steals per game, Charania notes.

It’s a tough setback for Daniels and the Pelicans, who have dealt with numerous injuries to key players over the past few seasons. The former G League Ignite guard had appeared in every game during the 2023/24 season prior to the injury.

As Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets, Pelicans reserves like Naji Marshall, Jordan Hawkins and Jose Alvarado are candidates to receive more playing time with Daniels sidelined.

NBA Announces Player Pool For 2024 Rising Stars Event

The NBA has officially revealed the 11 rookies, 10 sophomores, and seven G League players who will take part in the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend in Indianapolis next month.

The following players, as voted on by NBA coaching staffs, made the cut:

Rookies

Sophomores

G League Players

As was the case last season, the Rising Stars event will consist of four teams and three games. The seven G League players will comprise one team, coached by former NBA forward Detlef Schrempf. The other 21 players will be drafted to three squads coached by former NBA and WNBA stars Pau Gasol, Jalen Rose, and Tamika Catchings.

The four teams will be split into two first-round matchups and the winners of those two games will face one another for the Rising Stars championship. The two semifinals will be played to a target score of 40 points, while the final will be played to a target score of 25 points.

All three contests will take place on Friday, February 16 as part of All-Star weekend’s opening night.

Pelicans Exercise 2024/25 Options On Dyson Daniels, Trey Murphy

The Pelicans have picked up their 2024/25 team options on Dyson Daniels and Trey Murphy, the team announced in a press release.

Neither player will be impacted in ’23/24, but their salaries for the following year are now locked in. Daniels will earn $6,059,520 in his third season, while Murphy will make $5,159,854 in his fourth.

A 6’8″ guard who was the No. 8 overall pick last year, Daniels averaged 3.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.3 APG on .418/.314/.650 shooting in 59 games as a rookie in ’22/23 (11 starts, 17.7 MPG). The 20-year-old Australian is known more for his strong defense than his offense at this stage of his career.

Murphy, meanwhile, will now be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer after having his fourth-year option exercised.

The No. 17 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Murphy emerged as a full-time starter for New Orleans in ’22/23. He averaged 14.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 31.0 MPG across 79 appearances (65 starts), posting an impressive shooting line of .484/.406/.905.

Unfortunately, Murphy is currently sidelined a torn meniscus in his left knee, which required surgery. He’s expected to miss 10-to-12 weeks, with a rough return timeline of mid-November.

The full list of ’24/25 rookie scale team option decisions can be found right here.

Pelicans Notes: Ingram, Daniels, Zion, Robbins

Without a true point guard in the starting lineup, the Pelicans are planning to lean on Brandon Ingram more as a primary play-maker in the 2023/24 season, Christian Clark of NOLA.com writes. Ingram had a career average of 3.8 assists per game prior to last season, when he averaged 5.8 APG across 45 appearances.

Clark writes that the Pelicans were impressed by Ingram’s growth as a play-maker last year. He didn’t have a triple-double in the first six seasons of his career, but wound up having two in an eight-day span in March. In the final 25 games of the season, he averaged 6.5 assists per night.

You can put the ball in his hands, and he makes great decisions,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “Finding his teammates. Then his ability to score. We want to explore that more this season.

Pelicans guard CJ McCollum isn’t a true point guard, but has been playing in that role for New Orleans since his arrival. Like Ingram, McCollum has had career-high assist numbers in New Orleans, averaging 5.8 APG as a Pelican. However, New Orleans missed the playoffs last season and could be looking to switch things up.

With [Ingram] having the ball in his hands and [Zion Williamson] running into a screen, what is the defense going to do?” Green said. “Vice versa. If [Williamson] has the ball, here comes [Ingram]. Here comes [McCollum]. We are playing around with different ways we can attack.

We have more on the Pelicans:

  • Heading into his second season in the league, Dyson Daniels wants to become one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, Clark writes in a separate story. Daniels was respectable in his rookie year in that regard, with Clark noting that he guarded some of the league’s premier ball-handlers at a high level at times. Clark adds that the 6’8″ guard is poised to become a major rotation piece, but the key for him to do so is to grow on the offensive end. “We know Dyson is solid defensively,” Green said. “Now, it’s just about creating an offensive identity. And being a solid basketball player for us. We know he can do it.
  • In an interview with Green posted to the Pelicans’ Twitter account, the coach said that the Pelicans will look to use Williamson at the center position more this season, as ESPN’s Andrew Lopez observes (Twitter link). The Pelicans averaged 1.16 points per chance when Williamson acted as the team’s screener last season, according to Lopez, which ranked top five among players with 150 screens or more.
  • Center Liam Robbins was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right fibula, according to a release from the team. There is no current timetable for his return. The Pelicans signed Robbins to an Exhibit 10 deal this offseason and, with one open two-way contract slot, it looked like the Vanderbilt product was primed to compete for one of those spots. Now, the injury makes it an uphill battle. However, if Robbins is waived, he’ll be eligible for a $75K bonus if he spends at least 60 days with New Orleans’ G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron.

World Cup Notes: Latvia, Japan, Philippines, China, Australia

The Latvian Basketball Association has officially announced the national team’s 12-man roster for the upcoming FIBA World Cup (Twitter link).

Thunder forward Davis Bertans is the only active NBA player on Latvia’s roster, but the team features a handful of former NBAers, including Bertans’ brother Dairis Bertans. Former Nets forward Rodions Kurucs and ex-Wizards big man Anzejs Pasecniks are the other Latvians with NBA experience.

Here are a few more notes on the 2023 World Cup:

  • Japan and the Philippines, two of the host nations of the World Cup, have announced their 12-man rosters for the event. Suns forward Yuta Watanabe is the only NBA player representing Japan in this year’s tournament, while Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson is the lone NBA player for the Philippines (Twitter link). Young center Kai Sotto, who committed to the G League Ignite in 2020 and has spent the past two seasons in Australia, is also suiting up for the Philippines.
  • China and Australia are among the other national teams to finalize their 12-man World Cup squads. There are no surprises in either case — while Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson is China’s only NBA player (Twitter link), the Boomers have nine active NBAers on a loaded roster that includes up-and-comers like Thunder guard Josh Giddey and Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels (link via BasketNews.com).
  • A panel of ESPN’s basketball writers, including Brian Windhorst, has previewed the 2023 World Cup and made predictions for the event. South Sudan is a popular sleeper pick to make it to the knockout round and potentially earn an Olympic berth, but Team USA is widely expected to win the tournament — France was the only other team to receive a single vote.

Southwest Notes: Zion, Daniels, Sullivan, Wright

In a surprise appearance on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast (YouTube link), Pelicans forward Zion Williamson admitted he’s struggled to this point with the discipline required for healthy eating habits, as Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com relays.

It’s hard, man,” Williamson said. “I’m 20, 22, have all the money in the world — well, it feels like all the money in the world. It’s hard.

I’m at that point now, because of certain things, I’m putting back the wisdom around me. I don’t want to say older because they get defensive, but I’m putting people around me with wisdom. Put me on game to certain things. And just go from there.”

The former first overall pick has been limited to 114 games over his four NBA seasons due to a variety of injuries. Williamson, whose five-year rookie scale max extension starts in 2023/24, acknowledges he has to make changes going forward.

Like (former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski) taught me, I have to own up to my responsibilities,” Williamson said. “There are a lot of things I could have done better. I didn’t. I’m in the process of fixing those wrongs.”

Here’s more from the Southwest:

  • The Pelicans are focused on expanding Dyson Daniels‘ offensive repertoire as he enters his second season, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “It’s important to feature Dyson and expand (him) in his role,” Pelicans coach Casey Hill said before Summer League play started. “That’s what you’re going to see in Vegas. We are going to give him the basketball. Put him in decision-making situations. And build him from there.” The 20-year-old guard has struggled with efficiency through three games in Las Vegas, but holds impressive all-around averages of 15.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks.
  • Ben Sullivan has had a unique journey to becoming an NBA assistant coach, and it’s an opportunity he doesn’t take for granted, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link). “You hear people talk about this. ‘Find your passion. Find your passion, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ I actually am lucky enough to believe that,” Sullivan said. “It doesn’t feel like a job. I feel like I’m doing what I love doing, doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Whatever form or capacity it ends up being, I love being in the gym and working with the guys. I love what I do.” As Feigen writes, Sullivan’s wife pushed him to consider coaching while he was working at a construction company, and he got his start teaching sixth graders the game. The new Rockets assistant has been part of two championships during his 10 seasons in the NBA, including eight as an assistant.
  • Point guard McKinley Wright will miss the remainder of Summer League after spraining his left ankle, the Mavericks announced (via Twitter). Wright is currently an unrestricted free agent after spending the past two seasons on two-way deals with Minnesota and Dallas, respectively.