Northwest Notes: Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Gobert, Bradds
The Nuggets–Thunder second-round series features a clash between the top two contenders for the Most Valuable Player award, Denver big man Nikola Jokic and Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But it would be a stretch to call it a showdown, according to Jokic, since they play different positions.
“He’s a very different player,” Jokic said, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “He’s playing on so many levels, speed, as a scorer. Everything looks so easy for him. Even when you are like, ‘Oh, that’s a good defense.’ It feels so easy for him and he’s amazing with a change of speed, change of rhythm, ball-handling. He can post up guys, he can go by guys, his shooting at the mid-range is unguardable basically. He’s a very special player.”
OKC coach Mark Daigneault feels neither player will care to make an individual point in the series.
“I know Shai a lot better than I know Jokic,” Daigneault said. “But I think I know enough to know that neither one of them are going to get distracted by that. Both of them are going to be fully invested in the series. It’s a supplement to the series. But it’s really, it’s not part of the series at all.”
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- It’s important for SGA to be well-liked by his teammates and peers beyond just being a superstar player, Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman writes. “He wants to be one of the greats,” Daigneault said. “He also wants to be one of the guys.”
- Minnesota center Rudy Gobert posted 27 points and 24 rebounds against the Lakers in the deciding Game 5 of the series. The Timberwolves big man became the first player with at least 25 points and 20 boards in a series-clinching win on the road since Shaquille O’Neal achieved that for the Heat against the Bulls in 2006, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic relays. “That’s the Rudy that can win you championships,” guard Mike Conley said. “When you have that type of mentality to go get every rebound, go get every block, defend every guy at the rim, we needed that. He came at the biggest moment of our season.”
- Will Hardy received a contract extension on Monday but the Jazz will need to replace at least one of his assistants. Assistant coach Evan Bradds has left the organization to join Duke’s staff, according to the school’s basketball social media account (Twitter link).
Pelinka Confirms Upgrading Frontcourt Will Be High Priority For Lakers
Following their trade of Anthony Davis and their decision to void a deadline deal for Mark Williams, the Lakers knew for months that a lack of frontcourt depth was a problem. That issue came to the forefront in Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Minnesota, as Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves dominated Los Angeles on the boards and in the paint en route to the victory that ended the Lakers’ season.
On Thursday, in his end-of-season press conference, Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka acknowledged that the team has work to do up front this offseason, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Khobi Price of The Orange County Register.
“I think when you make a huge trade at the deadline where you trade your starting center for a point guard, of course that’s going to create significant issues with the roster, and we saw some of those play out,” Pelinka said. “We know this offseason, one of our primary goals is going to be to add size in our frontcourt at the center position. That’s going to be part of the equation. We know we have a lot of work to do on the roster, and it will look different next year, for sure.”
The Lakers thought they had acquired their center of the future on February 6 when they struck a deal to send Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a future first-round pick, and a pick swap to Charlotte in exchange for Williams. Two days later, however, word broke that the Lakers were voiding the deal to concerns about Williams’ physical. Sources tell Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times that Los Angeles’ front office made that decision due to “knee and lower leg concerns.”
While NBA rules prevent Pelinka from discussing Williams specifically, he admitted that the 11th-hour nature of that deal left the Lakers in a tough spot — once the trade deadline had passed, the team only had the ability to void or move forward with the trade, as opposed to potentially renegotiating it or making a move for another center.
“It’s very clear and it was clear then … this roster needs more size and needs a center,” Pelinka said. “That’s a very clear and obvious byproduct of trading potentially the best big in the league to Dallas to get a point guard. Of course, that’s going to open up a huge hole. The trade deadline and the moments up to it don’t allow you the requisite time to explore every single unturned stone to add a big to our roster. We just didn’t have the time after the Luka trade. But now we do.”
New Lakers franchise player Luka Doncic thrived in Dallas playing alongside a pair of rim-running lob threats in Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford. Pelinka confirmed that’s the sort of center L.A. will likely be seeking this summer, though he added that the club is willing to be flexible in the options it considers.
“I think in terms of center traits, it would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat, and someone that could protect the interior defensively. I think those would be keys,” he said, according to Woike. “But there’s multiple different types of centers that can be very effective in the league. There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim. We’ll look at those as well. So I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”
Given their salary cap situation, the Lakers may have a hard time finding a starting center in free agency, as Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic observe. Barring significant roster changes, the team will likely be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception, which would almost certainly make it impossible to land a player like Myles Turner. That means L.A. is more likely to return to the trade market in search of an answer in the middle.
Nic Claxton of the Nets will likely be one name linked to the Lakers in the coming weeks and months, Woike writes. As Buha and Amick write, Jazz center Walker Kessler and Trail Blazers center Robert Williams are among the other possible trade targets who have been connected to the Lakers in the past year, while Clint Capela, Steven Adams, and Brook Lopez are among the veteran options headed for free agency who are unlikely to be as expensive as Turner.
During his final media session of the season, Pelinka made it clear that there are at least three players on the roster whom he has no interest in parting with in any deal for a center.
“The level of confidence in Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Luka Doncic is at an all-time high still,” he said, per McMenamin. “I think those three guys have incredible promise playing together. And we will collectively do a better job to make sure they’re surrounded with the right pieces to have ultimate success.”
James expressed some uncertainty about his future in the wake of Wednesday’s Game 5 loss, but the expectation at this point is that he’ll likely return to the Lakers for at least one more season. Pelinka told reporters on Thursday that he’s well aware LeBron will be monitoring the team’s roster moves as he weighs his own options.
“I think LeBron’s going to have high expectations for the roster,” Pelinka said. “And we’re going to do everything we can to meet those. But I also know that whatever it is, he’s still going to give his 110 percent every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, leading. We know that’s always going to be 100 percent, and that never wavers.”
Northwest Notes: Porter, Westbrook, Nuggets, Wolves, Thunder
Nuggets starting forward Michael Porter Jr. and sixth man guard Russell Westbrook have both been removed from the club’s injury report ahead of a critical Game 6 encounter with the Clippers on Thursday night, the team announced (Twitter link).
Westbrook, 36, missed most of Game 3 and all of Game 4 due to a foot injury, while Porter sprained his left shoulder in Game 2, and has been playing through the ailment. L.A., meanwhile is fully healthy.
In the four games he has played, Westbrook has averaged 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 steals per night off the bench against his former team.
Porter has struggled with consistency in this series, even prior to the shoulder injury. The 26-year-old is averaging 11.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.0 APG through his first five outings.
Thanks in large part to terrific play from three-time MVP center Nikola Jokic, guard Jamal Murray — and solid contributions from forward Aaron Gordon and wing Christian Braun — Denver currently boasts a 3-2 advantage over L.A.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- The two best Serbian players currently in the NBA, All-Star Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and reserve Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, are playing each other for the first in the postseason during this Denver-L.A. series. Although they’re friendly now, that wasn’t always the case, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post details. “We played in preparation games twice, and we played in-season twice. I didn’t like him,” Bogdanovic said with a laugh. “Because he was goofy, and he wasn’t hitting shots. He was just passing. … He could have scored one-on-one and everything. He was toying with (the game). That’s a good word. He was like toying, joking with it.”
- Oft-maligned Timberwolves frontcourt stars Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle were singled out by head coach Chris Finch for their contributions in the team’s first-round series win over the Lakers. Finch asserted that Gobert, who finished with a 27-point, 24-rebound double-double in Game 5, deserves more credit for his talent, according to Kris Rhim of ESPN. “Rudy’s a winner at the highest level,” the Wolves’ coach said. “You can not like who he is, how he does it, what he looks like, et cetera. When you have this guy on your team, you understand what a professional and a winner is.” Finch also believes that Randle has been given a bad rap relative to his ability. “I’d also just like to say that Julius Randle was absolutely huge in this series,” he said of the forward (Twitter video link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype). “Another guy who’s had a lot of unfair criticism in his career. We don’t win this series without Julius.”
- Thanks to a brisk four-game sweep of Memphis in the first round, the West’s top-seeded Thunder will enjoy an eight- or nine-day break before their second-round series begins and they plan to make the most of the time off, observes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “We always say, ‘The times in between the games are the days that you have to win in the playoffs,’” All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of the extensive layoff. Oklahoma City will face the winner of the ongoing matchup between the Nuggets and Clippers in the semis. “It’s good, obviously, physically, to rejuvenate,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Guys, I’m sure, are dealing with things here and there to get healthy, and it allows ample prep time. I thought we handled it really well, coming out of the regular season, getting ourselves ready to play at the start of (the Memphis) series. We’re going to need to replicate that this week as we wait for that other series to finish.”
Wolves Notes: McDaniels, Reid, Edwards, DiVincenzo
An exceptional shooting night from Jaden McDaniels helped the Timberwolves surprise the Lakers in Game 1 of their playoff series, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. McDaniels, a defensive specialist who averaged a career-high 12.2 PPG this season, led Minnesota with 25 points while going 11-of-13 from the field and sinking all three of his three-point attempts. Seven of those points came early in the second quarter when the Wolves seized control of the game with a 12-2 run.
“He always had it. It’s kind of new to you guys, but I’ve been in the gym with him for years,” Naz Reid said. “I would say it’s a good thing and a blessing for him to be able to bring that out and showcase that and have an effect on the game each and every way. He can score the ball, he can rebound, he can defend, pick up 94 feet.”
Reid also made a huge contribution to the victory with 23 points off the bench on 8-of-12 shooting, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. He had to leave the game after being struck in the eye by Jarred Vanderbilt in the third quarter, but returned to help Minnesota seal the victory.
“He hit me in my eye, I was hurt for a second, came back in, hit a three,” Reid said (Twitter link from Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic). “It’s not easy to take me out the game.”
There’s more on the Timberwolves:
- Anthony Edwards was also able to return to the game after limping to the locker room with cramping in his left leg late in the third quarter (Twitter video link from ESPN). Coach Chris Finch was impressed by Edwards’ leadership, Hine adds, as he spoke to his teammates at halftime about how to counter L.A.’s defense, then came out in attack mode at the start of the second half. “He just was surveying in the first half a lot, and I think he let that slow him down, and I think he was more aggressive,” Finch said. “He had that look in his eyes like he gets, and he was really good.”
- The Wolves bothered the Lakers with their size and physicality as Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and McDaniels controlled the boards and limited the number of easy shots in the paint, observes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Minnesota was able to exert its presence on defense without getting into foul trouble. “The main thing for us was, we didn’t want them to get into the bonus early,” Edwards said. “Because … you see a couple free throws go in, Luka (Doncic) gets into a rhythm, (LeBron James) gets into a rhythm.”
- Passport issues may prevent Donte DiVincenzo from representing Italy at this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. DiVincenzo made a verbal commitment earlier this month, but his passport still hasn’t been obtained and the deadline is rapidly approaching.
Wolves Notes: Ownership Battle, Gobert, Alexander-Walker, DiVincenzo
The nearly year-long battle that Glen Taylor waged to keep control of the Timberwolves gave Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez more time to improve their financial position, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Taylor gave up that fight this week and reportedly won’t appeal an arbitration case that was decided in favor of the new owners.
As Krawczynski writes, Lore and Rodriguez were able to secure former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as a minority investor and set aside $950MM in an escrow account. Although they still need formal approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors, having that much cash on hand takes away any financial concerns about their ability to operate the team.
Sources tell Krawczynski that the long-running dispute has ended any plans of having Taylor remain as a limited partner after the sale is finalized. Taylor will be fully bought out, and complete control will be transferred to the Lore-Rodriguez group, which also includes former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and several other high-profile investors.
Krawczynski speculates that Taylor, who underwent hip surgery in December, wanted to put the issue behind him now that he’s feeling better physically. He also recognized that it’s difficult to get an arbitrator’s decision reversed, and he doesn’t want to be responsible for the team’s tax bill of nearly $90MM when the league’s fiscal year ends this summer.
There’s more from Minnesota:
- Rudy Gobert‘s presence in the middle gives the Wolves hope of recapturing the dominant defense that led the NBA last season, Krawczynski adds in a separate story. The team has been more sporadic this year, Krawczynski observes, ranking sixth in defensive efficiency, but Gobert is asserting himself more as the playoffs approach. “I just try to set the tone,” he said. “I know that when I do that, it’s contagious for the team. For me, it’s really important to do it for the first minute of the game to the last and in practice every day and in the weight room. Wherever I’m at, I try to lead by example.”
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker described himself as “lost” when he was sent to Minnesota along with Mike Conley at the 2023 trade deadline, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Alexander-Walker has developed into a valuable rotation player, but he feared at the time that his NBA career might be close to an end. “Traded twice in 18 hours, not knowing what my reality of my career was gonna be,” he recalled. “Especially going into year four, I truly believed this could be my last year, going into my contract year, haven’t really had the opportunity to show what I could do.”
- In an interview with Simone Sandri of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Donte DiVincenzo said he hopes to play for Italy at EuroBasket this summer. DiVincenzo recently talked to officials from the Italian national team and just has to finalize his passport. “I would say yes, we are all on the same wavelength,” he said. “For me it would be great to represent Italy, now we just have to wait for the documents to arrive.”
Pistons-Timberwolves Altercation Leads To Seven Ejections
A fight that spilled into the stands marred the Pistons–Timberwolves game on Sunday with five players, Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and a Minnesota assistant coach getting ejected.
The altercation occurred with 8:36 remaining in the second quarter. Timberwolves big man Naz Reid was driving to the basket and Pistons rookie forward Ron Holland tried to swipe at the ball. Holland was called for a foul and Reid immediately confronted Holland, pointing his finger at Holland. Minnesota guard Donte DiVincenzo also confronted and pushed Holland, leading to a scrum that spilled into the stands along the baseline.
All the players on the court headed toward the stands and members of both coaching staffs came out to try to separate the competitors. The officiating crew, with assistance from the league’s replay center, chose to eject Holland, Isaiah Stewart and Marcus Sasser from the Pistons side and DiVincenzo, Reid and assistant coach Pablo Prigioni from the Timberwolves, along with an incredulous Bickerstaff. Luke Walton took over as Detroit’s coach for the remainder of the contest.
A replay of the fight, posted by House of Highlights on Youtube, can be found here.
Tensions were heightened moments earlier when Stewart and Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert had an angry exchange.
Fines and potential suspensions are likely for both teams, who are battling for playoff position. The Pistons are fifth in the Eastern Conference and looking to move up one spot, which would give them home court advantage in the first round.
Minnesota entered the game tied for seventh place in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves are looking to move up at least one notch and avoid the play-in tournament.
Northwest Notes: Gobert, Watson, Henderson, Hartenstein
Which team does Rudy Gobert believe is Minnesota’s toughest foe? The Timberwolves, he told Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
“We are our biggest opponent,” Gobert said. “We get a little complacent. When people start saying we’re good and when the odds are with us, that’s when we’re not as a good.”
As the postseason approaches, Gobert says his team’s success is predicated on preparation.
“We’ve been through it for the last few years, so by now we know that it’s just about us, our approach,” Gobert said. “It doesn’t just start at the tip-off of the game. It starts right now, how we recover, the work that we put in tomorrow. We all know the things we need to do to be at our best and try to be consistent.”
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- Peyton Watson calls himself a gamer. The Nuggets wing is embracing the challenge of being a defensive stopper, he told Luca Evans of The Denver Post. “I mean, I think just as – about as confident as any guy in the league right now,” Watson said. “I think that I have the ability, on a night-to-night basis, to slow a lot of guys down and cut their water off. And I’m just trying to get better at doing that as consistently as possible.”
- Portland guard Scoot Henderson is in the NBA’s concussion protocol, according to the team’s PR department (Twitter link). He was among several Trail Blazers regulars who didn’t play against the Knicks on Sunday.
- Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein missed the second half of their win over Indiana on Saturday with left hip soreness, according to Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. Hartenstein played 14 minutes, scoring four points. He recorded double-doubles in five of the previous six games. The veteran center is listed as questionable to play on Monday against Chicago, Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman tweets.
Wolves Didn’t Offer Jaden McDaniels In Kevin Durant Trade Talks
The Timberwolves were aggressive in trying to land Kevin Durant before last month’s trade deadline, but their offers to the Suns didn’t include Anthony Edwards or Jaden McDaniels, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Scotto’s sources say Minnesota wanted to build the deal around power forward Julius Randle and shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo, both of whom were acquired from New York last October in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.
The Wolves are expected to continue their pursuit of Durant this summer, but Randle would have to pick up his $30.9MM player option before he could be included in trade talks. Scotto notes that Minnesota has won the last 11 games in which Randle has played, while DiVincenzo, who is signed through the 2026/27 season, is shooting 39.4% from three-point range and averaging a career-best 3.7 assists per game.
It’s worth noting that the Wolves were operating more than $16MM above the second tax apron and Durant’s $51.2MM salary is about $7MM more than Randle and DiVincenzo combined, so they would have needed to trim over $20MM in additional salary to make the deal possible, since teams above the second apron can’t aggregate salaries.
Assuming Rudy Gobert was also off the table, Minnesota would have needed to part with either Naz Reid and Mike Conley or Reid and several lower-paid players. At least one additional team would have been necessary because Phoenix is also over the second apron and couldn’t take back more salary than it sent out in any deal.
Any version of the trade would have been difficult to complete without including McDaniels’ $23MM salary. The 24-year-old forward is averaging 12.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season and is an important part of Minnesota’s defense.
The Suns expressed interest in Reid during trade talks, sources tell Scotto. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year has a $15MM player option for next season that he’s expected to decline, but the Wolves intend to sign him to a long-term deal, Scotto’s sources add.
Northwest Notes: SGA, Thunder, Gobert, Thybulle
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander prevailed over Nikola Jokic in Sunday’s battle of MVP favorites and the Thunder displayed why they’re headed for the No. 1 seed in the West, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. The MVP contest is considered to be a two-man race, and Lorenzi notes that SGA and Jokic were relatively even through three quarters. But Gilgeous-Alexander finished strong, posting nine points in the fourth quarter while making several clutch shots to end up with 40 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
“It’s been very fun,” he said of the season-long competition with Jokic. “Most of the appreciation comes from, honestly, my teammates. No matter how good of a basketball player I am, if we don’t check the win column as much as we do, the conversation wouldn’t be the conversation.”
It was important for the Thunder to be able to prove themselves in a nationally televised game against one of the NBA’s elite teams. The Nuggets are viewed as legitimate title contender after winning a championship two years ago, while there are still questions about Oklahoma City despite its 53-11 record.
“We have greatness among us,” Alex Caruso said. “When we play at our highest level, we’re a great team. It’s just about doing it consistently, and matching the pedigree play-after-play with some of these top teams. From the beginning of the game today, (Denver) came in like they were playing against the top team in the West. We came in like it was a noon game against the Nuggets on Sunday. …. When we play at an elite level we’re, in my opinion, the best team in the world.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Warriors forward Draymond Green is among those who have expressed doubt about the Thunder as true title contenders, per Zach Kram of ESPN. “There’s a certain seriousness that it takes to win in this league, and there’s a certain fear you have to instill in teams in order to win,” Green said on his podcast earlier this season. “I just don’t know if they’re instilling that fear in teams.” Kram lists 22 reasons why Oklahoma City should have earned the league’s respect by now.
- Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was able to return Sunday after missing 10 games with a lower back injury. He was a game-time decision and was cleared to play less than an hour before tip-off, according to Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune. “I always try to work on the root of the problem to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Gobert said. “Playing with pain is part of the game. But there is pain that keeps you from moving, or that can get worse. Right now, I feel like I’m strong. I feel balanced.”
- Trail Blazers swingman Matisse Thybulle is moving closer to making his season debut, tweets Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. Thybulle will practice with Portland’s G League affiliate this week as part of his reconditioning and could be cleared to play on the upcoming homestand.
Injury Notes: Martin, Gobert, Jackson, Monk, Thompson, Heat
Caleb Martin is close to making his Mavericks debut. He was upgraded to questionable for Dallas’ Friday game against the Grizzlies, according to The Dallas Morning News’ Mike Curtis (Twitter link). Martin hasn’t played since Jan. 10, when he was a member of the Sixers.
The Mavericks acquired Martin at the trade deadline in exchange for Quentin Grimes. It was an interesting move in the wake of the Luka Doncic trade, as the Mavs sent out the younger Grimes – set to hit restricted free agency this summer – and acquired the 29-year-old Martin in the first of a four-year, $35MM deal.
However, Martin hasn’t played for the shorthanded Mavericks as he works his way back from a hip strain. In 31 games with Philadelphia, he averaged 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 43.5% from the floor and 37.9% from three.
The return of Martin would be more than welcome news for the Mavericks. Heading into its matchup with Memphis, Dallas only has eight players fully available.
We have more injury notes from around the league:
- Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has missed the last nine games due to a lower back injury. He was upgraded to questionable for the team’s Friday game against the Heat, according to team PR (Twitter link). Gobert is averaging 11.0 points and 10.4 rebounds this season.
- Jaren Jackson Jr., who is currently week-to-week with an ankle sprain, wasn’t in a walking boot and was moving around well on the Grizzlies‘ bench, according to Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com (Twitter link). While nothing is confirmed, those are good signs for the star big man to be back on the shorter end of that timetable.
- Kings guard Malik Monk is day-to-day with a right toe sprain, according to the Kings (Twitter link via Andscape’s Marc J. Spears). He’s out for at least Sacramento’s game against the Spurs on Friday and will be evaluated on a daily basis afterward.
- J.B. Bickerstaff said Ausar Thompson is no longer on a minutes restriction, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). The young Pistons forward has improved his conditioning in recent weeks. “(Monday’s game vs.) Utah was the first time he reached 30 minutes in a game, and doing it in a high altitude shows how far he’s come,” Bickerstaff said.
- The Heat have been down multiple starters and rotation players during the past two games due to injuries and illnesses. However, according to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, they should be getting reinforcements soon. Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Andrew Wiggins were all upgraded to questionable for Friday’s matchup against the Wolves. Kel’el Ware remains out and Alec Burks was downgraded to questionable. The Heat have assigned Josh Christopher to the G League, which may be a sign that the team expects to have more players available on Friday.