Jeremy Sochan

Spurs Notes: Collins, Wemby, Sochan, Mamukelashvili, Jones

December 10th, 2023 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

After starting the first 20 games of the season for the Spurs, center Zach Collins came off the bench for the first time this fall in Friday’s loss to Chicago. While many players would view it as a demotion to be removed from the starting lineup, Collins says he understands why head coach Gregg Popovich made the move and suggested he’s on board with it, per Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).

“Having more firepower coming off the bench is always going to help us take some relief off the starters,” Collins said. “Hopefully this spacing-wise will work a little better.”

Popovich said after the game that he “absolutely” intends to stick with this lineup change at least in the short term, so Collins will have to get used to playing with the second unit. After a strong showing on Friday that saw him put up 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in 23 minutes of action, the big man told reporters that it’s just a matter of adjusting mentally to the new role.

“I always said when you come off the bench, you don’t have the luxury of starting the game and getting into it fast, getting your body going, getting your mind into the game,” he said. “So you have to stay locked in even though you’re not in the game.”

Here’s more on the Spurs:

Victor Wembanyama had a monster night in his first start at center, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game (he had 21 and 20, respectively), according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN. Unfortunately for the Spurs, it wasn’t enough to prevent their 16th consecutive loss.
Jeremy Sochan came off the bench for the first time this season on Wednesday before being reinserted into the starting lineup on Friday. Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News says Sochan’s confidence appeared to be shaken after Wednesday’s contest, with the 20-year-old deferring to the coaching staff when asked if he learned something from his time at point guard and whether he wants to keep playing there. Prior to Friday’s game, Popovich said there “is really no point guard” in San Antonio’s starting five, according to Lopez, who notes that Sochan shared ball-handling responsibilities during that game.
Reserve center Sandro Mamukelashvili – who hasn’t played much for San Antonio this season, logging 55 total minutes across seven appearances – took advantage of an assignment to the G League this week, McDonald writes. In his NBAGL season debut with Austin on Friday, Mamukelashvili racked up 34 points, 22 rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots. Mamukelashvili and Charles Bassey are expected to be sent to the G League more frequently to make sure they’re getting regular minutes, per McDonald.
Despite the Spurs’ frequent lineup changes (eight players have started at least one game), Tre Jones has been unable to crack the starting five this season after making 65 starts a year ago. That doesn’t mean the team is down on Jones though, according to McDonald (Twitter link), who says the Spurs “really, really like” the 23-year-old as a second-unit point guard for both the present and the future.

Spurs Notes: Wembanyama, Vassell, Sochan

December 1st, 2023 at 9:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Spurs No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama missed his first regular season game on Friday night against the Pelicans. The 7’4″ big man has been dealing with right hip tightness and considers himself “day-to-day,” writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN.

Friday was the second of back-to-back games for San Antonio, which lost to the Hawks on Thursday night. Wembanyama was questionable for that contest, but wound up playing, Lopez notes.

In 18 games (30.0 minutes) in 2023/24, the 19-year-old has put up very impressive counting stats of 19.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals and a league-leading 2.7 blocks per night, though like many rookies he has struggled at times with turnovers (3.5) and scoring efficiency (.437/.271/.829 shooting line).

Here are a few more notes on the Spurs, who have lost 13 straight games entering Friday’s contest:

Devin Vassell hasn’t gotten much recognition this season because San Antonio is just 3-15 and ranks last in the Western Conference. But the fourth-year wing is shooting career highs of 58.0% on twos and 41.9% on threes, and the spacing and attention he draws are essential to the team’s offense, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, who says Vassell “increasingly looks like the perfect complementary piece to Wembanyama.”
Vassell has missed five games this season due to an adductor injury, causing the Spurs to place him on a minutes restriction and bring him off the bench of late. He was a reserve again on Friday night, but head coach Gregg Popovich said Vassell will return to the starting lineup in the near future, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.
Transitioning to point guard after playing power forward as a rookie last season has been a bumpy adjustment for Jeremy Sochan, but he had his best game of the season on Thursday, McDonald writes for The Express-News (subscriber link). The 20-year-old had a career-high 33 points (on 12-of-14 shooting) while also contributing eight rebounds, six assists and a steal. “It’s a process,” Sochan said. “But as every day goes on, it’s getting easier. I’ve just going to keep going. And if I have the trust of my coaches and my teammates, that’s the most important thing.”

Texas Notes: Holmes, Mavs, Rockets, Sochan

November 26th, 2023 at 6:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Mavericks reserve center Richaun Holmes, playing over Dwight Powell with rookie starter Dereck Lively II hurt, made an impact in his first real rotation minutes this year, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Lively is dealing with a lower back contusion.

Across 23 minutes in a 104-101 win over the Lakers, Holmes notched 10 rebounds, four points and a block. The 6’10” big man had suited up for a total of 30 minutes across the last five games he had played for Dallas.

“I’m prepared to do whatever the team needs,” Holmes said. “Hopefully Dereck gets back quick. He’s young. It feels like he’s already bouncing around after a hard fall like that, like he’s feeling pretty good… So hopefully he doesn’t miss too much time, but whatever the team needs, I’ll be ready.”

Holmes, 30, currently has two years and $24.9MM remaining on his current contract. He holds a player option for next season.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

The Mavericks’ 107-88 blowout loss to the Clippers last night serves as further evidence that the club needs more out of its non-All-Star players, Townsend writes in another piece. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were the only Dallas players who connected on their field goal tries until 19 minutes into the game. John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets another damning stat about the Mavs’ supporting cast Saturday, noting that, prior to head coach Jason Kidd putting in subs with the game out of hand in the fourth quarter, only two Mavericks buckets were not scored or assisted by the club’s backcourt stars.
The 8-6 Rockets have enjoyed an ascendant start to their 2023/24 season, and it all started on the defensive side of the floor. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle details how Houston has developed the league’s top-ranked defense so far this year. A big hallmark of the Rockets’ approach is avoiding help defense except in the case of major mismatches, and being open to switching everywhere.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has seen strides in Jeremy Sochan‘s development as a play-maker after shifting him to a full-time point guard role this season, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “He’s got to embrace it, and I think he was a little nervous about it … because it was so new to him,” Popovich said. “And I don’t think he understood, or maybe I didn’t do a good enough job of relaying to him, all the responsibilities therein.” As a rookie out of Baylor in 2022/23, the 6’9″ Sochan had served as San Antonio’s starting power forward.

Southwest Notes: Sochan, Alvarado, Rockets, Mavs

November 20th, 2023 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs‘ efforts to turn forward Jeremy Sochan into a point guard have been a bit bumpy so far, but the team has shown a willingness to stick with it and Sochan has been open to learning, writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com. The 20-year-old admits it’s “going to be a process” to adapt to the new position, but he’s been getting advice from last season’s starter Tre Jones and said the transition has been “fun.”

“There have been moments where it’s like, ‘Yo, I don’t want to.’ It’s like, ‘f–k this s–t.’ I’m going to be honest,” Sochan said earlier this month. “There have been moments where there isn’t confidence. But there are moments of being confident and just working. Knowing the trust I have from the coaches and players, it helps.”

As Lopez details, the Spurs didn’t have Sochan watch film of any specific point guards when he moved into the role, since they still want him to play like himself rather than trying to emulate someone else.

“He can’t play like Chris Paul or he can’t play like John Stockton,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s got to be Jeremy.”

Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, who said his team “studied” Sochan ahead of the 2022 draft, referred to him as a “Swiss Army Knife-type player” with strong play-making skills, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). Jenkins isn’t surprised that Popovich is thinking outside of the box by experimenting with Sochan at the point.

“When you have been around Pop, competed against Pop, he is very open-minded to trying a lot of different things,” Jenkins said. “In the eras he has been here, playing big, playing small, emphasizing the three-ball, emphasizing the paint, emphasizing faster pace, slower pace, not a surprise.”

Here are a few more notes from around the Southwest:

Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado said today during a media session that he’ll make his season debut on Monday night vs. Sacramento, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “I’m back,” Alvarado said. “I feel good. I will go through pregame. But I’m back. That’s the plan.” Alvarado has yet to play this fall due to a right ankle sprain.
Mark Medina of Sportsnaut spoke to Rockets head coach Ime Udoka about the strides his team has made so far this season, the impact that newcomers like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks have had, and the improvement he’s seen from youngsters like Alperen Sengun. “We knew what he was offensively in a lot of ways and how he impacts the game for us,” Udoka said of Sengun, who is averaging a career-best 20.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 5.7 APG. “He can control things there. But defensively, he has taken a huge step. He’s bought in and has improved on that side of the ball.”
While the Mavericks are off to a strong start this season, losses like Sunday’s to Sacramento show that they’re still very much a work in progress on the defensive side of the ball, writes Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). Rookie center Dereck Lively II has exceeded expectations but has struggled to slow down star bigs such as Domantas Sabonis, who had 32 points on Sunday. “If we’re not scoring 130, it’s hard to win,” head coach Jason Kidd acknowledged.

Spurs Notes: Sochan, Wembanyama, Vassell, Ginobili

November 11th, 2023 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jeremy Sochan admits switching to point guard in his second NBA season hasn’t been a smooth transition, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. Sochan’s passing ability made him stand out as a power forward, so Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had him change positions to get a bigger starting lineup on the court.

This is the first time Sochan has ever tried to be a point guard and he acknowledged, “There have been moments where there isn’t confidence.” However, Popovich remains committed to what he calls the “official experiment of 2023/24” even as the results have been mixed. Sochan committed six turnovers in Friday’s loss to Minnesota, but he also posted 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists while serving as the primary defender on Anthony Edwards.

“I am making a transition like this in the NBA, which is rare,” Sochan said. “You don’t see a lot of people going from power forward to point guard.”

There’s more from San Antonio:

Victor Wembanyama impressed fellow French center Rudy Gobert in their first NBA meeting, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN. The Spurs lost the matchup even though Wembanyama had 29 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks, with three of the rejections coming on shots by Gobert. “I think his positioning is way ahead of the positioning of a rookie,” Gobert said. “You can tell that he is well coached and also that he is studying the game. That will only get better throughout the year. He’s already affecting (shots). He’s already getting in people’s minds a bit defensively. He’s going to be a real, real problem. He’s already a problem, but I think he’s going to be a real, real problem really soon.”
Devin Vassell also scored 29 points on Friday, and Wembanyama is happy to have him as a franchise cornerstone after he signed a five-year, $135MM+ extension last month, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “I’m very hopeful and I have zero worries for him and for his future in this franchise,” the rookie big man said. “It’s good to have guys like this.”
Spurs legend Manu Ginobili, who now serves as a special advisor to basketball operations for the team, believes it will take three years to build a championship contender around Wembanyama, relays Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News. Ginobili explained his outlook in an appearance on a podcast hosted by his former backcourt partner Tony Parker, saying, “(Wembanyama) is going to be extraordinary, almost for sure. But there’s work to be done. There’s a process. You’ve got to improve step by step. If we start putting responsibilities on him, or expecting him to take us to the playoffs or the Finals right away, that doesn’t make any sense.”

Southwest Notes: Thompson, Holiday, Lively, Grizzlies, Sochan

November 4th, 2023 at 9:27am CST by Tristan Tucker

Rockets rookie guard Amen Thompson sprained his right ankle on Wednesday, with the team ruling him out of the contest shortly after he suffered the injury in the third quarter. According to Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire, head coach Ime Udoka said Thompson suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain.

Thompson also sustained a Grade 2 left ankle sprain over the summer and that injury had a two-to-four week recovery timetable, according to DuBose, so it’s likely he’s looking at a similar return timeline for this injury.

The No. 4 overall pick is Houston’s primary backup point guard behind Fred VanVleet, so Aaron Holiday absorbed the brunt of Thompson’s minutes following his departure from the game. However, Udoka didn’t turn to Holiday right away, moving Jae’Sean Tate to the backcourt before bringing Holiday in, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle observes (subscriber link). Udoka wasn’t ready to fully commit to the idea of Holiday always being the backup in a three-guard rotation.

“I think we’ll go by committee a little bit,” Udoka said. “I think, the lineup that we had out there, even Amen was out there, we had Jae’Sean as another guy that can initiate, so we do have some guys I can kind of play up or down and fill different roles. We’ll look at it as game-to-game.”

Udoka praised Holiday’s playing ability and said he believed Holiday and VanVleet could play together. Feigen writes that improving the bench play of the Rockets is crucial and playing Holiday may be important to finding a consistent rotation.

“Depending on the team, for sure,” Udoka said. “Teams that have bigger wings, obviously that’ll pose some threats. But Aaron is a guy, similar to his brother, doesn’t have the height of Jrue, but he is a very physical, tough guy that can play on or off the ball. Fred does as well.”

According to Feigen, Udoka said there may be situations where he calls on Reggie Bullock, rookie Cam Whitmore or Tate to fill in some of the backcourt minutes.

Holiday signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Rockets this offseason that has just $1MM guaranteed. If Holiday is on the roster on Jan. 10, that contract will become fully guaranteed.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Mavericks rookie center Dereck Lively II is a huge part of Dallas’s early season success, averaging 7.6 points and 7.0 rebounds while starting in four of the team’s five games so far. Lively said he’s learned from former Mavs champion Tyson Chandler, who joined the organization via the Mavs Legend Program, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Chandler works with Mavericks centers in his role with the team, including the 19-year-old Lively. “He has a willingness to actually learn, listen and take in information,” Chandler said. “He has a great spirit. He reminds me a lot of myself. I feel the duty to actually be there for him and guide him as much as necessary.”
The Grizzlies are a league-worst 0-6 to begin the season, facing a lengthy suspension to Ja Morant and injuries to key players like Steven Adams. Still, the Grizzlies were expected to be more competitive even with their early season issues, considering they brought in former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and have current reigning DPOY Jaren Jackson Jr., as well as Desmond Bane. Kelly Iko and John Hollinger of The Athletic dive into why Memphis’ struggles go deeper than suspensions and injuries, including Smart being a step slower on defense thus far and the younger players on the roster not taking a step forward. I recommend checking out the article in full if you have a subscription to The Athletic, as the pair explore the intriguing trade options Memphis has, along with a deeper look into the club’s problems.
Experimenting with starting Jeremy Sochan at point guard has produced a mix bag of results for the Spurs. Even still, head coach Gregg Popovich expressed his appreciation with what the second-year guard/forward brings to the table, as relayed by Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). Popovich said Sochan is “trending in the right direction” and has stood out defensively, adding that he likes how the former lottery pick is “taking care of the ball,” according to Orsborn. “It doesn’t matter who he guards, he does a wonderful job, creates a lot of chaos for us,” Popovich said.

Spurs Notes: Jones, Sochan, Wembanyama, Arena

October 28th, 2023 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

A starter in 65 of his 68 games last season, Spurs guard Tre Jones has come off the bench for the first two contests of 2023/24. He was one of the team’s most productive players on Wednesday vs. Dallas, piling up 16 points, six assists, and five rebounds in 25 minutes, but he sat in crunch time as Gregg Popovich turned to Jeremy Sochan with the scored tied at 118 and just over two minutes remaining. The Spurs ultimately lost the game.

“I just want to do everything I can to help my team win,” Jones said, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). “Obviously, being on the floor I feel like I can help my team win, but we had to do different lineups and whatnot to match up with them on the defensive end.

“They just hit some tough shots at the end, very tough shots. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Got to stay ready. There will always be different lineups down the stretch. We don’t know who is going to be in there. We are all ready and we all believe in one another.”

Jones’ readiness paid off on Friday as he got the nod late in the fourth quarter and in overtime over Sochan and helped deliver the first victory of San Antonio’s season. Although he only scored six points, the point guard dished out eight assists and was a team-high plus-14 in his 33 minutes.

Here’s more on the Spurs:

While Jones played at the point in Friday’s crunch-time minutes, the Spurs want Sochan to continue getting comfortable at the position, as Popovich said after the opener on Wednesday. “We’re just trying to educate him and it is a new position for him,” Popovich said, according to Orsborn. “He’s learning something. Every practice, every game he’s going to learn. But I love his energy, his defensive energy. He’s learning how to control a group out there, so it’ll take a little bit of time for him and (his teammates) to jell together, but I was really pleased with him overall.” Sochan did check back into Friday’s game with 21 seconds left in overtime and hit two big free throws to help seal the victory.
After not getting the ball to Victor Wembanyama during the final few possessions of Wednesday’s loss, the big man’s teammates rectified that approach on Friday, showing in the rookie’s second NBA game that they trust him with the ball when the game is on the line — and he delivered, tying the game with a big basket in the final minutes, writes Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News. “Learning from the mistake,” Keldon Johnson said after the win.
Kelly Iko of The Athletic spoke to a scout about what he has seen from Wembanyama in his first two NBA games. “Offensively, his skill is ahead of his physicality. And I think as his physicality over time catches up, you’ll start to see him impacting the game defensively as well as rebounding-wise,” the scout said. “Those two things right now stand out. He still needs time to catch up, but offensively, I don’t really worry. He can get any shot he wants. He has a certain fluidity and a feel that’s just rare for his size.”
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, who initially opposed the idea of the Spurs leaving Front Bank Center for a new downtown arena, has become more open to that possibility, writes Molly Smith of The San Antonio Express-News. The Spurs’ lease at their current arena doesn’t expire in 2032, but the franchise has expressed interest in building an arena in the city’s urban core. Sakai says he has had “preliminary discussions” with team and city officials.

Spurs Exercise 2024/25 Options On Sochan, Branham, Wesley

October 23rd, 2023 at 1:05pm CST by Rory Maher

The Spurs have exercised their third-year team options on the rookie scale contracts of Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley, the team announced today.

While the moves won’t impact the players this season, the trio now have their 2024/25 salaries guaranteed. Sochan will make $5,570,040 next season, Branham will carry a $3,217,920 cap hit, and Wesley will earn $2,624,280.

The Spurs will have until the end of October 2024 to decide whether or not they want to pick up the fourth-year options of Sochan, Branham and Wesley.

The No. 9 overall pick of the 2022 draft, Sochan earned a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team last season after averaging 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 56 games, including 53 starts (26.0 minutes per contest). He posted a .453/.246/.698 shooting line.

Head coach Gregg Popovich previously stated that the 6’9″ Sochan would be the de facto point guard of the Spurs’ super-sized starting lineup to open ’23/24. However, on Friday, he cast some uncertainty on whether that five-man group would remain the long-term starters, as Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News relays (Twitter links).

Branham, a 6’5″ guard who was the No. 20 overall pick in 2022, averaged 10.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists on .440/.302/.829 shooting in 66 games last season (23.5 minutes).

Wesley, meanwhile, was the No. 25 pick last year. He averaged 5.0 points, 2.7 assists and 2.2 rebounds on .321/.381/.591 shooting in 37 NBA games in ’22/23 (18.1 minutes). The 6’5″ guard also spent some time in the G League last season.

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

Southwest Notes: Morant, Spurs, Sochan, Pelicans, J. Green

October 20th, 2023 at 7:39am CST by Luke Adams

Baxter Holmes and Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com published a lengthy investigative story this week detailing the transformation of Grizzlies guard Ja Morant from a Murray State prospect with “zero” red flags into a player whose worrisome off-court behavior led to multiple sit-downs with the team’s brass and – eventually – to suspensions of eight and 25 games.

While ESPN’s report includes several new details and quotes and is worth checking out in full, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins rejected the idea that it created an “elephant in the room” for his club, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. According to Cole, shortly after ESPN’s article was published, Jenkins met with the team — and separately with Morant.

“I read the article, and I’m not going to comment on anonymous sources,” Jenkins said. “I’m not really going to comment on the past. I’m really just focused on the present right now — the strides he is making, positive strides, and the strides that the team is making. … I want him to know he’s got 100% support from us and his teammates.”

Morant’s teammates were equally dismissive of the ESPN report and expressed their support for the point guard, who will serve his 25-game suspension to begin the 2023/24 season. Big man Xavier Tillman called it “annoying” to have to relitigate Morant’s past behavior, while Desmond Bane said the rest of the team has “got his back.”

“People are bringing up anything they can just for people to have anything to read,” Bane said. “We ain’t worried about that. We with 12.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

The Spurs‘ starting five for the regular season will consist of Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Victor Wembanyama, and Zach Collins, head coach Gregg Popovich revealed this week (story via Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News). The 6’9″ Sochan will serve as the de facto point guard in the super-sized lineup, though he expects to share the ball-handling duties. “It doesn’t mean I have to control (the offense) or be the main ball-handler,” Sochan said. “Whoever gets the ball can push it and play with a flow instead of playing slow.”
Pelicans big men Larry Nance Jr. (ankle) and Cody Zeller (back) took part in contact drills in practice on Thursday, while guard Jose Alvarado (ankle) was a limited participant, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com. New Orleans will be without Naji Marshall and Trey Murphy when the season gets underway, so having Nance, Zeller, and Alvarado available would help bolster the club’s depth.
Rockets guard and former No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green sat down with Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link) to discuss what he worked on during the offseason, his thoughts on the addition of free agent point guard Fred VanVleet, and his impressions of several of his new teammates, among other topics.
Mavericks wing Josh Green, who injured his back earlier this week, was a full participant in practice on Thursday and doesn’t sound concerned about his availability when the regular season begins next week, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News relays (via Twitter).

Southwest Notes: Sochan, Kyrie, Lively, Chandler, Rockets

October 13th, 2023 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

No Spurs frontcourt player has appeared in all 82 games in a season since DeJuan Blair did it in 2009/10, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). Second-year forward Jeremy Sochan, who welcomed the NBA’s declaration that its data doesn’t support load management, is hoping to end that streak.

“I think it should be a culture of playing every game that you can, and if your body is not 100%, then I understand,” Sochan said, per Orsborn. “But if you are fit and healthy, I don’t see why not playing 82 games or as many games as you can play.”

Appearing in all 82 games in 2023/24 would represent a major step forward for Sochan, who was limited to 56 contests as rookie due in large part to quad and knee issues.

Here are a few more notes from around the Southwest:

While his Mavericks backcourt mate Luka Doncic placed fourth overall in ESPN’s annual rankings of the NBA’s top players, Kyrie Irving isn’t putting much stock in the decisions made by ESPN’s panel, which ranked him 34th. “Rankings don’t mean a damn thing in the league, especially not from ESPN or any of these other media platforms,” Irving wrote in an Instagram comment (hat tip to The Dallas Morning News). “Majority of the analysts are not credible sources in my eyes and I don’t respect them or their opinions.”
Former Mavericks big man Tyson Chandler is working with rookie Dereck Lively II, referring to the young center as a “little brother,” according to Brad Towsend of The Dallas Morning News. Lively is welcoming the mentorship of Chandler, who is back for a third year as a part-time assistant in Dallas. “At first I wasn’t really familiar with Tyson’s game, until I started to do my homework,” Lively said. “Then I realized, ‘Wow, we really do play the same.’ We have the same demeanor. He’s 40-something and he has the same energy as me. We kind of reflect off of one another, you know?”
While the Rockets are hoping that veteran additions like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks help the team take a step forward this season, they’re also counting on reaping the benefits of “trading” the rookie versions of Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason for more seasoned second-year versions of those players, says Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “They had an opportunity last year to play through mistakes and I think they’re obviously going to take a natural step,” head coach Ime Udoka said of the duo. “They’ve shown that.”

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