Tori Miller

Eastern Notes: Simmons, Porzingis, Hawks, Fernando, Sixers

Nets guard Ben Simmons will not partake in this year’s World Cup, Basketball Australia has announced in an official statement (Twitter link).

According to Basketball Australia, Brooklyn and Simmons have opted to withhold the former No. 1 overall pick so that he can continue to rehabilitate his ailing back ahead of the 2023/24 NBA season. Net Income of Nets Daily writes that the club is hopeful Simmons will be recovered by the start of September, just in time for training camp.

The former All-Star appeared in just 42 games for Brooklyn in 2022/23 after returning from back surgery, averaging 6.9 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 6.1 APG, 1.3 SPG and 0.6 BPG in 26.3 MPG.

There’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

  • New Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis is excited about his new opportunity to play for a perennial Eastern Conference contender, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Porzingis explained his decision to opt into his $36MM option for next season, which helped enable his trade from the Wizards. “[It was] an opportunity to play for a really good team already and be able to add to that,” Porzingis said. “And hopefully to help these guys, make their life easier, and being on a high-level organization like Boston, historic franchise, iconic franchise, it made it extremely easy for me to make that decision.”
  • The Hawks have made some changes to their front office personnel, Atlanta has announced in a press release. Longtime league agent Chris Emens is joining the team as an executive advisor. The Hawks are also adding Blake Johnson as the club’s director of player engagement. Atlanta also revealed that a variety of executives have been promoted to new positions: vice president of player personnel Dotun Akinwale Jr.; senior vice president of salary cap administration Michelle Leftwich; vice president of basketball operations Grant Liffmann; senior vice president of team operations Dan Martinez; vice president of player personnel and basketball intelligence Tori Miller; principal advisor to the governor Nick Ressler; and vice president of cap strategy/player personnel Ryan Silverstein.
  • The Hawks have pushed back reserve center Bruno Fernando‘s salary guarantee deadline from June 29 to July 10, reports Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). Upon being shipped to Atlanta in February from Houston, the 6’9″ big man appeared in just eight contests for the team, averaging 3.4 PPG and 1.9 RPG in 5.1 MPG. Fernando will receive his full $2.58MM salary for 2023/24 if he remains under contract through July 10.
  • Assistant coaches Fabulous Flournoy and Toure’ Murry are joining new Sixers head coach Nick Nurse‘s bench, a team source has informed Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The addition of another assistant, Doug West, had previously been reported.

Hawks Notes: Play-In Win, Bey, Young, T. Miller

The Hawks pulled off an upset victory in Miami on Tuesday night to secure a playoff berth and a first-round matchup against Boston. However, despite becoming the first team to defeat a No. 7 seed in a play-in tournament, head coach Quin Snyder and star guard Trae Young didn’t sound prepared to bask in the glow of the achievement after the game, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes.

Asked if the Hawks’ playoff-clinching win was something to celebrate, Snyder said that it was something to “appreciate,” while Young replied, “No, what’s there to celebrate?”

“I mean, it’s cool we made the playoffs,” Young continued. “I’m happy for guys like Saddiq (Bey) who’ve never been in the playoffs, and some of the other rookies and J.J. (Jalen Johnson) and some of the other guys who this is their first time to be able to experience the playoffs, but I mean, for me, I’ve been in the playoffs now three times and a couple of guys have been in way more than I have. It’s cool to be in the playoffs, but you want to win games in the playoffs.”

Here’s more on the Hawks:

  • Only Young and Dejounte Murray played more in Tuesday’s play-in victory for the Hawks than Saddiq Bey, who came off the bench to score 17 points in 33 minutes. Bey, having begun the season in Detroit, wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to play in his first postseason game if not for the February trade that sent him to Atlanta. “I never knew it was going to be like this,” Bey said on Tuesday, per Vardon. “I’m just glad to be here, it’s a blessing to be here. But yeah, I was up thinking about it all night. I tried to force myself to sleep, and I thought I hit my deep sleep, but then I’d toss and turn and wake up and it was like, ‘Oh, I’m thinking about the playoffs again.'”
  • Appearing on TNT’s broadcast on Tuesday night (Twitter video link), Jared Greenberg reported that a member of the Hawks’ front office called Trae Young to assure him there was “no merit” to any trade rumors involving him. “They were assuring him that he’s a part of this family,” Greenberg said.
  • The Hawks are promoting Tori Miller to a vice president position, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Miller, who will become one of the NBA’s highest-ranking female executives as a result of the promotion, had been the general manager of the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate.

Hawks Name Tori Miller GM Of G League Team

The Hawks have promoted Tori Miller to the role of general manager of the College Park Skyhawks, the team announced today in a press release. The move makes Miller the first woman to ever hold the title of GM in NBA G League history.

Miller, a native of Decatur, Georgia, began her career as a basketball operations intern with the Suns. She eventually joined Atlanta’s G League affiliate – then the Erie BayHawks – as the club’s manager of basketball operations before being named the Skyhawks’ assistant GM in July 2019.

Chris Kirschner of The Athletic published a profile of Miller shortly after last summer’s promotion, noting that her goal is to eventually become the general manager of an NBA team.

“I want to create that path,” Miller told The Athletic at the time. “I want to be the one person where others say, ‘Hey, Tori Miller did it. I want to do it as well.'”

In addition to Miller’s promotion, the Hawks and Skyhawks announced a handful of other promotions and hires. Notably, former Skyhawks GM Derek Pierce will remain in the organization and will continue to oversee Atlanta’s scouting department as the Hawks’ VP of player personnel.

Atlanta also promoted Dwight Lutz to senior director of basketball strategy and analytics and Zac Walsh to director of team operations, among other moves.

Southeast Notes: Gordon, Wizards, Miller

Aaron Gordon jumped on Sirius XM NBA Radio to talk about the Magic‘s NBA offseason and he portrayed optimism about Markelle Fultz‘s future with the club.

“[Fultz] is a sleeper. If he wakes up and if he’s awake and woken up, he’s a monster,” Gordon said.

Fultz, whose return to the court has yet to be determined, will have a chance to win the team’s starting point guard spot. Incumbent starter D.J. Augustin, who has one season left on his deal, and Michael Carter-Williams, who re-signed with Orlando on a one-year deal, will be the former No. 1 overall pick’s top competition for the role.

Orlando didn’t make major additions in the backcourt this offseason. The team re-signed a few members of its core (Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross) and brought in Al-Farouq Aminu with its mid-level exception. Gordon is excited about the addition of Aminu, as well as the continuity the team will experience next season.

“We got Al-Farouq, which is dope,” Gordon said. “[He’s] another 3-and-D guy. Tenacious, hard noise, long-defender and that’s the most beautiful thing. Nothing has changed from this year to last year.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington examines whether the Wizards can make a quick turnaround. Hughes argues that if Washington is going to contend sooner than later, the team needs its young talent to show improvement. That would increase each players’ trade value and give the Wizards an avenue to place an immediate difference maker next to Bradley Beal.
  • The Hawks have promoted Tori Miller to assistant GM of the College Park Skyhawks, according to the G League affiliate’s website. Miller spent the last two seasons as the Skyhawks’ Manager of Basketball Operations. She broke into the NBA as an intern with the Suns from 2014-16.
  • Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel envisions Pat Riley remaining with the Heat for the foreseeable future, as the scribe details in his latest mailbag. Winderman adds that Miami’s team president remains determined to get the team back to contention and the franchise’s young players are suited to help them achieve that goal.