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Southeast Notes: Butler, G. Williams, Heat, Magic, Wizards

May 20th, 2023 at 4:33pm CST by Rory Maher

Grant Williams started trash-talking Heat star Jimmy Butler after making a three-pointer to put the Celtics up 96-87 with 6:37 remaining in Game 2. Butler smirked, came to the other end, and notched an and-one with Williams defending him. The two players went head-to-head and both received technical fouls.

The Heat finished the contest on a 24-9 run (including nine by Butler) to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, winning both of their road games in Boston. As Nick Friedell of ESPN writes, Butler admitted the exchange fueled him.

“Yes, it did,” Butler said. “But that’s just competition at its finest. He hit a big shot, started talking to me. I like that. I’m all for that. It makes me key in a lot more. It pushes that will that I have to win a lot more. It makes me smile. It does. … But it’s just competition. I do respect him, though. He’s a big part of what they try to do. He switches. He can shoot the ball. I just don’t know if I’m the best person to talk to.”

For his part, Williams defended his actions, per Friedell.

“I think he said something and I just responded,” Williams said. “I’m a competitor, and I’m going to battle. He got the best of me tonight, and at the end of the day, it’s out of respect, because I’m not going to run away from it. … I’m ready to come back and come into Game 3 with a better mentality, and I know this team is as well.”

Here’s more from the Southeast:

  • Having the same owner, key front office members, and head coach for many years running is paying dividends for the Heat, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “It takes so much time and energy to restart something,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, speaking beyond his situation. “And I think that’s been a part of why we’ve been able to reboot so many times over and over and over. We’re not reinventing a new culture and then trying to teach everybody and then all of a sudden two years later it’s going to be somebody else doing the same thing.”
  • Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (subscriber link) lists eight prospects the Magic should target with their two lottery picks (sixth and 11th). Some players mentioned include Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson of Overtime Elite, UCF’s Taylor Hendricks, and Kansas’ Gradey Dick.
  • Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington attended the NBA draft combine this week and observed five takeaways that could be relevant for the Wizards. Hughes believes Seth Lundy might be a solid choice with one of Washington’s two second-round picks (Nos. 42 and 57), noting that the Penn State guard’s shooting, rebounding, length and experience could make him an immediate bench contributor.
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Heat Notes: Butler, Adebayo, Spo, East Finals, Sixers

May 14th, 2023 at 2:38pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are grateful for their extended break between last Friday’s series-sealing victory over the Knicks and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Miami got to take Saturday and Sunday off before beginning its prep Monday, according to Chiang, who notes that Butler has an ankle sprain that kept him out of the Heat’s Game 2 loss to New York while Adebayo has been dealing with a left hamstring strain and left shoulder discomfort.

“When you want to win that bad, I feel like you’ll do anything,” Adebayo said. “You’ll put your body through a lot for wins and a series win.”

The Heat, who as the East’s eighth seed have been underdogs in both of their playoff rounds thus far, will face off against the winner of today’s Game 7 semifinals matchup between the Celtics and 76ers.

There’s more out of South Beach:

  • Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra believes that the team’s improbable 2023 postseason run can be seen as a teachable moment for the future, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “These are the kinds of lessons that hopefully that we impart on our children, that you can develop perseverance and grit when things are tough and when people are criticizing you,” Spoelstra said. A year removed from being the East’s top seed, the Heat started off with a 12-15 record before eventually finishing at 44-38. Even still, Miami barely snuck into the playoffs thanks to a fourth quarter play-in game rally. Now, the Heat find themselves just four wins away from a return to the NBA Finals. “I’ve said many times about our regular season, there was nothing easy about it,” Spoelstra said. “But the guys came in with a spirit every single day to try to get better and not make excuses for everything. “We were well aware of all the injuries and moving parts and changing lineups. I think we got better in a lot of areas, and finding different solutions. But we had to do a lot of things the hard way.” 
  • Although the Heat are returning to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in four seasons, the club’s circuitous route back has resonated in a new way, given Miami’s perennial underdog status this year, Chiang notes in a separate piece. “It’s a crazy story being written,” Adebayo said. “Through all the ups and downs of this season, a lot of people counting us out and saying we weren’t even going to make it past the first round and now we’re in the Eastern Conference finals. It just shows the determination and the will that this team has.”
  • As the Heat wait to discover the identity of their opponent in the next round, one rival scout is convinced that Miami should hope to face the Sixers instead of the deeper, more consistent Celtics, Winderman writer in another Sun Sentinel article. “[MVP Philadelphia center Joel Embiid] is a given,” the scout said. “How is Bam going to do against him? As well as anybody. He’s going to get his 29. But [James] Harden is defensible. Miami’s got a bunch of guys who can guard him. And they’re too dependent on him. And then the rest, [Tyrese] Maxey is great. But you’re seeing what’s happening with Tobias Harris. When it counts, he’s a no-show.”
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NBA Announces 2022/23 All-NBA Teams

May 10th, 2023 at 6:10pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially announced its All-NBA teams for the 2022/23 season.

A total of 100 media members vote on the All-NBA awards. Players received five points for a First Team vote, three points for Second Team, and one point for Third Team, for a maximum total of 500 points. This year’s three All-NBA teams are as follows:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

A total of 37 players received at least one vote, per the NBA. The top vote-getters who wound up missing out on All-NBA spots were Lakers center Anthony Davis (65), Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (49) and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (44).

Morant had Rose Rule language in his rookie scale extension, meaning his five-year deal would have started at 30% of next season’s cap had he been voted in; instead, he’ll receive 25% of the cap, which is projected to be a difference of about $39MM across five seasons.

Other players receiving 20-plus points include Bucks guard Jrue Holiday (39), Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (23). The next three highest were Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (15), Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (15) and Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves (14), who is listed under forward but spent most of the season at shooting guard.

As we noted earlier today, both of the Celtics’ top two players will now be eligible for Designated Veteran Extensions, also known as the super-max: Brown will be eligible to sign a five-year extension this offseason that starts at up to 35% of the 2024/25 salary cap, while Tatum will be eligible to sign a super-max extension in 2024 after earning All-NBA nods each of the past two seasons.

Like Brown, Siakam would have been eligible for a super-max extension this summer had he made an All-NBA team. He finished a distant ninth, so his maximum extension will now be worth a projected $192.2MM over four years, tweets Eric Koreen of The Athletic. As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca observes (via Twitter), Siakam could still qualify for a super-max deal if he makes an All-NBA spot next season as an impending free agent.

This will be the last season under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. In the new CBA, All-NBA voting will be positionless and players will be required to play a minimum of 65 games to earn major regular season awards. Five of the players honored today — Antetokounmpo, Curry, Butler, Lillard and James — played fewer than 65 this season and would have been ineligible if the new requirements had been in effect, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

LeBron extended his own NBA record with his selection, earning a spot on an All-NBA team for the 19th straight season, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). No other player has more than 15 total All-NBA awards (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are tied for second at 15 apiece).

Giannis was a unanimous First Team selection for the fifth straight season, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link), and the only unanimous choice in 2022/23. Antetokounmpo now has more First Team berths than any European-born player, tweets HoopsHype, and only trails Hakeem Olajuwon among international players (six). The Bucks superstar finished third in MVP voting behind Embiid and Jokic, but Jokic received some First Team votes over the Sixers’ MVP winner, which is why Embiid wasn’t a unanimous pick.

According to HoopsHype (Twitter link), this is the first season in league history that only one American player (Tatum) was voted to the First Team. Doncic (Slovenia) and Antetokounmpo (Greece) are European, Embiid was born in Cameroon, and Gilgeous-Alexander is Canadian.

Despite earning an All-NBA nod for the first time, Mitchell wasn’t happy that he didn’t make the First Team, sending out a tweet on the matter.

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And-Ones: Boomers, Awards, Thibodeau, Butler, Gilbert

May 7th, 2023 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

All but one of the 11 Australian players in the NBA have been named to the extended Australian Boomers squad for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Olgun Uluc of ESPN reports. The exception is a notable one — the Nets’ Ben Simmons, though there’s a possibility he’ll be added ahead of the selection camp.

Simmons recently expressed interest in playing for Australia in this year’s World Cup.

Some of the NBA current or past players who made the 18-man list include Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Josh Green, Jock Landale, Matisse Thybulle, Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Xavier Cooks and Thon Maker. The team will eventually be pared to 12 players.

We have from around the basketball world:

  • It’s going to be a busy week in terms of NBA awards announcements, the league’s communications department tweets. The All-Rookie team will be revealed on Monday, the All-Defensive Team will be unveiled on Tuesday and the All-NBA team will be announced on Wednesday. The Teammate of the Year award will be announced on Thursday.
  • Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is looking for ways to slow down red-hot Jimmy Butler and the Heat. ESPN’s Nick Friedell takes an in-depth look at the relationship between Thibodeau and his former player.
  • Nick Gilbert, son of Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, has died at the age of 26, according to ESPN’s News Services. Nick Gilbert had a lifelong battle with neurofibromatosis (NF1), which causes noncancerous tumors to grow on the brain, spinal cord and skin. He became well-known to NBA fans for being Cleveland’s good luck charm at the draft lottery, as the Cavs twice got the top pick when he was the team’s lottery representative.
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Knicks Notes: Quickley, Randle, Struggles, Butler

May 7th, 2023 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks will likely be without one of their key reserves for Game 4 of their second-round playoff series against Miami. Immanuel Quickley is listed as doubtful to play on Monday due to a sprained left ankle, the team’s PR department tweets.

Quickley suffered the injury in Game 3 on Saturday, when he scored 12 points in 20 minutes. He’s averaged 9.0 points during the postseason, though he’s struggled with his shooting (34.8%).

We have more on the Knicks:

  • Trailing 2-1 in the series, the team needs Julius Randle to break out of his postseason funk, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. He was limited to 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting and committed four turnovers in Game 3. Overall, he’s averaging just 15.3 points on 34.6% shooting this postseason. “Some of the looks are different. Defense is a little bit tighter,” Randle said. “So I’ve got to do a better job of finding ways to execute off of that.”
  • Randle’s struggles are far from the only issues the Knicks have encountered against the Heat, Fred Katz of The Athletic opines. Their perimeter shooting and offensive spacing have been subpar, they’re getting out-hustled and they’re not dominating the glass, as they did in the first round against Cleveland.
  • Unless they find a way to counteract Jimmy Butler, the Knicks are doomed, Tom D’Angeleo of the Palm Beach Post opines. Butler returned from a one-game absence to score 28 points in 36 minutes.
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Heat Notes: Butler, Adebayo, Zeller, Bench

May 7th, 2023 at 9:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Jimmy Butler‘s sprained right ankle still isn’t 100 percent, but he felt good enough on Saturday to help the Heat seize control of their playoff series with a resounding victory over the Knicks, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Playing for the first time in six days, Butler had 28 points, four rebounds and three assists, and although he shot just 9-of-21 from the field, he attributed that to being out of rhythm.

“A lot of recovery and making sure that I can move went into it for sure,” Butler said of his rehab process, which resulted in just one missed game. “But I got a great team behind me that people don’t see that’s always there for me and making sure I have everything I need when I’m off the floor to recover.”

Butler had another close call with an injury on Saturday, Chiang notes. He hurt his thigh on a drive to the basket in the third quarter, but he was able to return with 5:19 left in the game to help hold off a New York rally. Coach Erik Spoelstra called it similar to a “stinger” and said Butler could have gone back into the game earlier if necessary.

Spoelstra and Butler’s teammates marveled at another great performance, with Kevin Love comparing it to what LeBron James used to do in Cleveland. The eighth-seeded Heat are now 6-1 in the playoffs when Butler plays, and they’re just two wins away from reaching the conference finals.

“You can’t put an analytic to it,” Spoelstra said. “It’s just the overall confidence level your team has that you can always get the ball to him and know that we’ll get something efficient and coherent.”

There’s more from Miami:

  • After accepting the blame for the Game 2 loss, Bam Adebayo outplayed the Knicks’ Julius Randle on Saturday, Chiang states in another Miami Herald story. Adebayo had 17 points and 12 rebounds while limiting Randle to a 4-of-15 shooting day. “Bam was all over the place, both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said. “The stat line doesn’t do any justice of the impact to be able to take a challenge on a great player like Randle, with limited help.”
  • Backup center Cody Zeller downplayed a skirmish with Randle late in the fourth quarter, Chiang adds. Although it was nothing like the fights the teams had during their playoff meetings in the 1990s, it did result in three technical fouls. “It’s two physical teams and the playoffs,” Zeller said. “It’s all good. It was nothing.”
  • Miami’s reserves outplayed New York’s in Game 3, with Zeller, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson and Haywood Highsmith all contributing to the victory, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The bench performance allowed Spoelstra to give his starters some rest with Game 4 looming on Monday.
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Jimmy Butler To Return For Game 3

May 6th, 2023 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

MAY 6: Butler will be available for Game 3, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

MAY 5: The Heat have yet to offer an official update on Jimmy Butler‘s status for Game 3 vs. the Knicks, but the star forward is planning to play on Saturday, a source tells Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).

Head coach Erik Spoelstra has continually deflected questions about Butler, who missed Game 2 due to a sprained right ankle and seems likely to be listed as questionable for Game 3. Spoelstra told reporters today that there likely won’t be a definitive update on the injured swingman until close to game time on Saturday.

However, like Winderman, Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald have also heard that there’s optimism about Butler’s chances to play tomorrow.

Obviously, getting Butler back in the lineup would significantly improve the Heat’s odds of defeating the Knicks and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. The 33-year-old averaged an eye-popping 37.6 points per game on .597/.444/.708 shooting during Miami’s first-round upset of the Bucks and was the team’s leading scorer in its Game 1 win over New York, racking up 25 points and 11 rebounds in 43 minutes.

With Butler’s status still up in the air, the Knicks have been preparing for both scenarios – the six-time All-Star being available or out – leading up to Game 3.

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Atlantic Notes: Brunson, Butler, Celtics, Embiid

May 4th, 2023 at 11:17pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson continues to deal with the sore right ankle that caused him to be listed as questionable ahead of New York’s second game against the Heat.

Brunson ultimately played and performed well in the Knicks’ 111-105 Game 2 win. He scored 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe. His status for Game 3 in Miami, however, remains murky.

Per Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), head coach Tom Thibodeau claimed Brunson “didn’t do much” in the team’s practice Thursday, and is considered “day-to-day.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Given the uncertain availability of Heat All-NBA swingman Jimmy Butler, the Knicks are gearing up to play against two iterations of Miami on Saturday, per Peter Botte of The New York Post: one with Butler and one without him. “The good thing about the situation that we just went through is we played one game where he played and one game where he didn’t play,” Thibodeau said. “So we know style of play, what he brings, how they’ll be different when he plays. We also know how they’ll play when he doesn’t play.”
  • The Celtics worked hard to earn a 121-87 blowout victory over the Sixers to even their series to a 1-1 record, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Boston point guard Marcus Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, made it a priority to lock down Philadelphia’s backcourt. “Our defense has been slipping,” Smart said, “and we just wanted to come out and get back to what we do best.”
  • Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said today that MVP center Joel Embiid‘s knee is responding well following his return to the floor for a Game 2 loss to Boston, per Rich Hoffman of The Athletic (Twitter video link). “Just his speed that he reached, his explosions, they were very close to normal,” Rivers said. “That was great for us to see and more importantly, great for him to be able to do it and see that he can do it, and have very little swelling or anything like that.” Embiid scored 15 points, blocked five shots and pulled down three boards in 27 minutes of action, playing in his first game back from an LCL sprain.
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Heat Notes: Butler, Strus, Adebayo, Brooks

May 3rd, 2023 at 9:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

A three-day break will give a few injured Heat players some time to heal, and the team is cautiously optimistic that Jimmy Butler will be available for Saturday afternoon’s Game 3, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Butler suffered a sprained right ankle in the fourth quarter of the series opener and was a late scratch for Tuesday’s contest.

“His body will let you know, me know, him know, the team know,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There’s no way to predict it. But I’m glad we have a couple extra days.”

Miami is already playing without Tyler Herro, who suffered a broken right hand in the first-round series, and Victor Oladipo, who is out for the rest of the playoffs with a torn patellar tendon. Chiang states that Bam Adebayo is dealing with a strained left hamstring that has bothered him for most of the playoffs and Kyle Lowry is still experiencing pain in his left knee.

“Most of the year, we played every other day,” Gabe Vincent said. “So any time we get an extra day off, you take advantage of it. We’re looking forward to it. I know a lot of guys have kids and families and I’m happy they get some time to spend with them during this stressful time. But we’ll recuperate, get some treatment, rehab, whatever guys need and we’re looking forward to Game 3.”

There’s more from Miami:

  • Max Strus had to leave Game 2 for a while with a lower back contusion, but he was able to return and doesn’t expect it to affect him for the rest of the series, Chiang adds. “I just fell on it, a little bruise,” he said. “It will be good to wait until Saturday.”
  • Adebayo took the blame for Tuesday’s loss, Chiang states in another Miami Herald story. Miami’s center had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but he only scored two points and pulled down one rebound in the fourth quarter. “I just got to play better,” Adebayo told reporters. “I feel like this game was on me and I lost it for us. I got to be better.”
  • The Heat might have some interest in signing Grizzlies free agent Dillon Brooks if they can get him at a “bargain basement price,” Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated speculated in an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype).
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And-Ones: Grizzlies, Cavs, 2023 Draft, World Cup, More

May 3rd, 2023 at 10:32am CST by Luke Adams

The adage that defense wins NBA championships certainly didn’t prove true for the Grizzlies and Cavaliers, who were quickly eliminated from the playoffs after finishing the regular season with the best defensive ratings in the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. As Hollinger points out, both teams actually played good defense in the first round but struggled on the other end of the floor, finishing ahead of only Brooklyn in offensive rating in round one.

The Grizzlies were hurt by playing multiple non-shooters – the Lakers gave plenty of space to Dillon Brooks and David Roddy – and missed the presence of Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke, who could have grabbed offensive rebounds and generated second-chance points.

As for the Cavaliers, while Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland bore the brunt of the blame for the team’s offensive struggles, the team got very little from its frontcourt starters (each of whom averaged single-digit points per game) and from its reserves, Hollinger notes.

Hollinger explores ways in which the two teams could make roster upgrades this summer, suggesting that the Grizzlies will face a decision on whether to sacrifice some youth in order to acquire a reliable veteran or two. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, should have the cap flexibility to re-sign Caris LeVert and use their mid-level exception without surpassing the tax apron, and could shop Cedi Osman and/or Ricky Rubio for wing upgrades, Hollinger writes.

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

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