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Eastern Notes: Bickerstaff, Allen, Travers, Bey, Sixers

July 12th, 2024 at 4:04pm CST by Rory Maher

It didn’t take long for J.B. Bickerstaff to find a new job after being fired by Cleveland, having been hired by the Pistons as their new head coach. At his introductory press conference on Wednesday, Bickerstaff discussed why he found Detroit’s vacancy appealing, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.

“It was my conversations with (president of basketball operations) Trajan (Langdon), to begin with,” Bickerstaff said. “I had a great feeling that this organization was heading in the right direction and was being led by the right people. For me, going through some of the things that I’ve gone through in the past, the people that you work with … being of a shared vision and willingness to commit to one another and partner with one another, I thought this group, as a whole, had a great vision. (team owner) Tom (Gores) has given every resource to go out and execute that vision.

“Then, obviously, you study the team. I took a deep dive as soon as I could. Obviously, I have experience of playing against them four times a year for so many years, but I knew the players well. I believed in their ability and talent. There is a steps process that we have to take, and we’re really aware of that and Trajan and I are united in that. It just doesn’t happen for everyone overnight.”

Bickerstaff pointed to his success with Cleveland as proof that he can turn the Pistons around, writes Larry Lage of The Associated Press. Detroit finished with the worst record in the NBA last season. Langdon said he was looking for a veteran coach to lead a young team, as Lage relays.

“You want somebody who can come in here and hit the ground running, and who’s done this before,” Langdon said. “Especially with a young team coming off a difficult season, positivity was important. We felt experience was important. The players needed to feel like the person coming in here knew what he was talking about.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Cavaliers have been receiving trade inquiries on former All-Star center Jarrett Allen, but they continue to rebuff those overtures, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link). Allen, who averaged 16.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.1 BPG in 77 games last season (31.7 MPG), will earn $40MM over the next two seasons.
  • Australian wing Luke Travers, a second-round pick (No. 56) by the Cavaliers in 2022, is dealing with a sore hamstring that sidelined him for the team’s Summer League opener in Las Vegas on Friday, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Travers has expressed a strong desire to come stateside in 2024/25, though it’s unclear if he’ll be able to earn a roster spot.
  • New Wizards forward Saddiq Bey will earn $6,440,678 in 2024/25, $6,118,644 in ’25/26, and $6,440,678 again in ’26/27, a source tells cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Bey will likely miss most — if not all — of his first season with Washington after tearing his ACL in March. The 25-year-old’s new three-year deal also includes $1MM in incentives.
  • Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer argues that free agent signee Caleb Martin will bring a much-need infusion of “Heat Culture” to the Sixers, pointing to the 28-year-old’s success with Miami as evidence. According to Sielski, the 76ers have had plenty of talent in recent years, but the team has often lacked an identity, which Martin should help fortify with his willingness to make winning energy plays.
  • Former NBA forward Demetris Nichols has joined the Sixers as a player development coach, per Mike Waters of Syracuse.com (subscriber link). The No. 53 pick of the 2007 draft, Nichols appeared in 18 NBA games with Cleveland, Chicago and New York before spending several years overseas. The 39-year-old was an assistant with Wake Forest last season, Waters notes.
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Cavs Notes: Wade, Hendry, Geriot, Travers, Okoro

July 10th, 2024 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Dean Wade missed the last 19 games of the Cavaliers‘ regular season and was only able to suit up for three of the team’s 12 playoff contests due to a right knee sprain. However, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), Wade is no longer experiencing any pain in that knee.

As Fedor details, the veteran forward took a few weeks off after the Cavs were eliminated from the postseason and then resumed working out in mid-June.  He has been conducting full-court workouts in recent weeks with no issues, Fedor adds.

Here’s more out of Cleveland:

  • Trevor Hendry, who worked under Kenny Atkinson for three years in Brooklyn, is joining Atkinson’s new staff in Cleveland as an assistant coach, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Hendry was Brooklyn’s head video coordinator during Atkinson’s tenure but was later promoted to an assistant coaching role under Jacque Vaughn.
  • The Cavaliers are still working through various coaching staff changes, according to Fedor, who tweets that veteran assistant Dan Geriot likely won’t remain with the team. The former head coach of Cleveland’s G League team, Geriot has been a Cavs assistant for several years, but appears likely to join the Pelicans in a front-of-the-bench role, says Fedor.
  • Luke Travers, the 56th overall pick in the 2022 draft, will be with the Cavaliers for a third straight Summer League in Las Vegas. A 22-year-old guard/forward, Travers remains under contract with Melbourne in Australia’s National Basketball League, but has an NBA out in that deal and would be interested in making the move to Cleveland if the opportunity arises, Fedor writes for Cleveland.com. “ASAP,” Travers said of his timeline for making the move to the NBA. “You’re trying to get there as soon as possible, and you don’t want to wait around and stuff. I’ve just been trying to put in the work. … It’s all been positive talks (with the Cavaliers). They’re always trying to help me in any way they can and give me a little feedback here and there.”
  • Sources tell Fedor that a spot on the Cavaliers’ roster for 2024/25 is unlikely for Travers, though there’s some curiosity within the organization about how he’d look in Atkinson’s system. The Cavs continue to negotiate with restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro and are operating under the assumption that they’ll have just one roster spot left to fill if Okoro returns, Fedor explains. Cleveland currently has just 12 players on standard contracts, so that suggests the team doesn’t plan to immediately fill its 15th spot.
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Jack White Signs With Melbourne United

May 15th, 2024 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent forward Jack White, who finished the 2023/24 season with the Grizzlies, has signed a two-year contract with Melbourne United in Australia’s National Basketball League, the team announced. White’s new deal includes a second-year player option and an NBA-out clause.

An Australian native, White also played for Melbourne from 2020-22, winning an NBL title with the team in 2021. He subsequently made the leap to the NBA and was a member of the Nuggets during their championship season in 2022/23.

White signed with the Thunder last offseason, but was waived at the end of the preseason and spent most of the ’23/24 season in the G League. In 29 total appearances for the South Bay Lakers in the Showcase Cup and NBAGL regular season, the 26-year-old averaged 9.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 26.1 minutes per game on .442/.321/.595 shooting. He shot the ball much better with the Grand Rapids Gold – Denver’s affiliate – in ’22/23, posting a .438 3PT% and a .767 FT% in 26 contests.

White signed with the Grizzlies during the final days of the regular season, but because it was a hardship contract, it expired immediately after Memphis’ final regular season game and didn’t give the team any form of Bird rights on him. That allowed the forward to immediately return to the free agent market, clearing the path for him to sign with Melbourne.

According to Olgun Uluc of ESPN, White will have the ability to exercise the NBA out in his new deal if he’s offered a standard contract or a two-way deal.

Uluc goes on to posit that Melbourne United’s deal with White signals that the NBL team is preparing to be without forward Luke Travers for the 2024/25 season. Travers just finished the first season of his three-year contract with Melbourne, but his NBA rights are held by the Cavaliers, who drafted him in the second round in 2022, and there’s an expectation that he’ll make the move stateside this summer, Uluc notes, adding that White and Travers essentially play the same position.

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Cavaliers Notes: L. Nance Jr., P. Nance, Travers, Roster Opening

July 29th, 2023 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

In an appearance on the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, Larry Nance Jr. said he feels fortunate that his younger brother will get a chance to carry on the family tradition of playing for the Cavaliers. Pete Nance will reportedly be offered an Exhibit 10 contract after being part of the Cavs’ Summer League team. Nance Jr. played several seasons in Cleveland, and his father was a star with the Cavaliers in the 1980s and ’90s.

Nance Jr. was in Las Vegas to watch his Pelicans teammates in action as well as his younger brother, who is trying to earn a spot in the NBA as an undrafted prospect. He believes his brother can succeed at the professional level and offered him some advice on how to deal with his first Summer League.

“We talk all the time,” Nance Jr. said. “Going into Summer League, I think the biggest thing I told him was, he had such momentum, coming off obviously a rough college season, but then the momentum he built going into draft workouts and then being (at the draft combine) in Chicago training for it, just carrying that over into Summer League was great. Just go be aggressive, shoot your shots when you decide you want to shoot them and play your game.”

There’s more on the Cavaliers:

  • Nance also talked about the circumstances that led to him being traded to Portland prior to the 2021/22 season. The team had just drafted Evan Mobley, whom Nance said was obviously headed for stardom, and gave a five-year extension to Jarrett Allen. With Kevin Love also on the roster, Nance didn’t believe he would get regular rotation minutes if he stayed in Cleveland. “It had gone from me really enjoying playing the Larry Nance Jr. thing, in my dad’s footsteps … and at a certain point it became a little redundant. I still loved being in Cleveland, still loved having my family around and loved playing for the Cavs, but I needed to step away from all this and go play on a playoff team and really go show what I’ve got.”
  • The Cavaliers and Luke Travers reached a mutual decision that he will continue to play in Australia, he told Australian media outlet Code Sports (hat tip to Mike Battaglino of Cavaliers Nation). A second-round pick in 2022, Travers was one of the Cavs’ top players in Las Vegas as they won the Summer League title. “The talk is just one more year (in the NBL) and hopefully it’s a good one,” he said. “To be able to come back, it’s what I wanted to do to continue to develop my game in Melbourne and I’m coming here to win. Coming over here, there’s a lot of clarity. They (Cleveland and Melbourne United) have been awesome about it, so getting that (uncertainty) out of the way makes everything else easier.”
  • In a subscriber-only story, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com looks at 10 possible free agent options for the Cavaliers with their open roster spot, including Kelly Oubre, Terrence Ross, Derrick Jones and T.J. Warren.
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Central Notes: Giannis, Lasry, Pacers, Travers

April 17th, 2023 at 10:05am CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks are optimistic that Giannis Antetokounmpo will be able to return from his back injury for Game 2, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. It’s a “pain-tolerance issue,” Charania states, noting that the team “played it safe” by removing him from Sunday’s contest. Charania adds that the injury might be an ongoing concern even if Antetokounmpo is able to play Wednesday, and he’s dealing with a wrist ligament issue as well.

Antetokounmpo landed on his tailbone after a drive to the basket early in the game, writes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He returned to the court in the second quarter, but was moving awkwardly, prompting coach Mike Budenholzer to replace him to prevent any further damage. X-rays were negative, but the team isn’t sure what Antetokounmpo’s condition will be when the series resumes.

“We have to wait and see what the doctor says, most importantly, what Giannis says,” Budenholzer said Sunday. “Certainly we’ve been blessed with him being incredibly resilient and quick to heal, but you just got to take it day by day and see how he’s doing and see how he feels.” 

There’s more from the Central Division:

  • In another Journal Sentinel story, former Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry talks to Owczarski about his decision to sell his stake in the franchise to the Haslam Sports Group. Lasry helped Milwaukee become one of the league’s most successful teams during nine years as an owner. “It’s been a phenomenal experience,” he said. “I think the city of Milwaukee has been great. I’ve been surprised at sort of how welcoming and how nice the people of Milwaukee are. They welcomed us when we came here. I think we’ve been able to establish roots here. It’s been a pretty unique experience.”
  • The Pacers prioritized the development of their young players this year, but they will approach the 2023/24 season with the goal of reaching the postseason, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “Next year, we want to be in the playoffs,” Tyrese Haliburton said. “We’re not going to short-change that at all. We know that’s what we want to do. That’s 100% the goal going into next year.”
  • Australian swingman Luke Travers, who was selected by the Cavaliers with the 56th pick in last year’s draft, has signed a three-year deal with Melbourne United in the NBL, writes Olgun Uluc of ESPN. It’s not clear if the deal includes an opt-out clause, but Travers said he moved from Perth to Melbourne to improve his NBA prospects. “It’s the track record they have of developing guys to the NBA,” Travers explained.
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Central Notes: Ingles, Nwora, Terry, Travers

July 16th, 2022 at 10:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent addition Joe Ingles hopes to be back on the court by mid-December and is optimistic that he’ll be able to start playing for the Bucks soon afterward. Ingles, who underwent surgery for a torn ACL in February, made the comments in an interview in his native Australia (Twitter link).

Speaking with Eric Nehm of The Athletic, Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst said that’s roughly the timeline the organization expects for Ingles, but cautioned that the rehab process for an ACL tear can be unpredictable.

“The other factor is just going to be, ‘What do we need? And when?’ Joe can really help us in the regular season and deep into the playoffs and can fit with us and maybe have a future with us going forward beyond this year,” Horst added. “So we’re not going to just rush him on the floor just to get a couple extra regular season games out of him. It’s a bigger-picture play with Joe, so that’ll factor in also. I think we’ll take a pretty patient approach.

There’s more from the Central Division:

  • Horst also discussed second-year small forward Jordan Nwora, who is a restricted free agent after the Bucks extended a qualifying offer of roughly $2MM. Horst believes restricted free agency “is really just starting to open now” and said the team is working with Nwora’s agent to find the best solution. “I think restricted free agency is tricky, so there’s no other way to do it. Except to be honest with him and just work through it with each other,” Horst said. “We have a roster spot. We’ll have an option to have him if we want and we’ll figure it out together.
  • First-round pick Dalen Terry had to leave the Bulls‘ Summer League game today after suffering a right hamstring injury when he slipped on a wet spot on the court, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. There’s no word on the severity of the injury.
  • Cavaliers swingman Luke Travers left a strong impression in his final Summer League game before returning to Australia, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The 56th overall pick, who’s expected to play overseas next season, had 14 points and hit a pair of three-pointers. “I think the future is very bright for Luke,” Summer League coach Mike Gerrity said. “He can impact the game in so many ways. I’m happy we got him.”
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Central Notes: Duarte, Travers, Smith, Simonovic

July 7th, 2022 at 10:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The toe injury that marred Chris Duarte‘s rookie season is still lingering, according to James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star. The Pacers guard initially suffered the left toe injury on February 13. He only played in five of the Pacers’ last 24 games.

“I’m just listening to my body right now,” he said. “Whatever my body tells me, if that be to stop, I stop. If not, then I keep going.”

Duarte still plans to play on the Pacers’ Summer League team.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • Cavaliers second-round pick Luke Travers will likely remain overseas next season, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Travers is participating on the Cavs’ summer league team but with Cleveland’s current roster situation, the plan all along has been to stash the 6’7” wing. “At the end of the day, it’s whatever the team wants and that’s what I’m willing to do,” he said. “If that’s to go back and do another year then it is what it is. If that’s to stay, then I will do that as well.”
  • Jalen Smith could have gotten more money in free agency but he chose to re-sign with the Pacers because of his comfort level and the opportunity to be a starter, Boyd writes. “I chose my future over instant gratification,” said Smith, who signed a three-year deal with a player option. “I feel as though that was the biggest part. You don’t want to take on such a big task so early on in your life rather than trying to work towards it and miss out on it in the future, and that was pretty much the main thing that was going through my head the whole entire time.”
  • Improved conditioning could lead to more minutes for the Bulls’ Marko Simonovic, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “Every day I try to improve my body and put some muscles on. The last two months, I did it,” he said. “And when I came back here, everybody said I’m looking better than I was before. Just keep working.” He appeared in nine games last season.
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Draft Workout Notes: Kings, Wizards, Wolves, Jazz, More

June 16th, 2022 at 4:19pm CST by Rory Maher

The Kings hosted several prospects for pre-draft workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, the team announced (Twitter links).

The Tuesday group featured Trey McGowens, Ziga Samar, Ron Harper Jr., Brady Manek and Dallas Walton. Wednesday’s group was Jacob Gilyard, Fatts Russell, Yoan Makoundou, Karlo Matkovic, Yannick Nzosa and Kai Sotto.

The Kings control the fourth, 37th and 49th picks in the 2022 draft, and a handful of those players could be targets with one of those second-round picks. Nzosa, Samar, Harper and Matkovic are ranked between 53rd and 58th on ESPN’s big board.

Here are more workout-related notes from around the NBA:

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Draft Decisions: Travers, Badji, Nakic, Zugic, Cazalon, Maronka

June 13th, 2022 at 9:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The early entry deadline to withdraw from the draft was 5 p.m. on Monday. It’s mostly relevant for international prospects, since the deadline to retain NCAA eligibility was June 1.

Several more international prospects have made their draft decisions, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter links):

  • Wing Luke Travers, who played for the Perth Wildcats in Australia’s National Basketball League, is staying in the draft. He averaged 7.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 2.3 APG last season.
  • Ibou Badji, a 7’1” center from Senegal, is also staying in the draft. He played for ICG Força Lleida last season, averaging 8.5 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 36 games.
  • Spanish forward Mario Nakic is removing his name from the draft.
  • German guard Fedor Zugic has withdrawn from the draft.
  • Serbian guard Malcolm Cazalon has withdrawn from the draft.
  • Spanish forward Zsombor Maronka has also withdrawn from the draft.

As our early entrant tracker shows, there are still over a dozen international prospects whose intentions haven’t been reported. We expect the majority of those players pulled their names out of the draft, but we should get official confirmation from the league within the next day or two.

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44 Prospects Announced For 2022 NBA G League Elite Camp

May 9th, 2022 at 2:40pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA G League has formally announced its field of 44 draft prospects for the 2022 NBA G League Elite Camp.

The event, which will take place May 16 and 17 in Chicago, “gives draft prospects an opportunity to display their skills in front of NBA and NBA G League scouts, coaches and front-office executives over the course of the camp by playing in five-on-five games and participating in strength and agility drills.”

The top performers from the camp will be invited to the NBA Draft Combine, which will take place from May 18-22 in Chicago. Some NBA players who have participated in past G League Elite Camps include Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, Pacers forward Oshae Brissett, Clippers wing Terance Mann, and Heat wing Max Strus.

Here’s the list of 44 draft-eligible attendees:

The list of attendees features 13 players on ESPN’s big board, notes Jonathan Givony of ESPN (via Twitter), so some players have a chance to be drafted.

The top-ranked prospect at the camp is Scheierman (No. 69), who averaged 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals on .508/.469/.802 shooting this season for South Dakota State (35 games, 33.3 minutes per contest).

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