Pacific Notes: Raynaud, Doncic, James, Knecht, Allen
Kings rookie big man Maxime Raynaud is hopeful he didn’t suffer a significant injury on Friday, Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee reports. He had to be helped off the court during the fourth quarter after injuring his left leg while attempting to set a screen for Russell Westbrook.
“I’ll be fine,” Raynaud said. “It was just scary. … I think it was just an unpleasing sensation you’re not used to.”
Raynaud will undergo an MRI on his left knee in Sacramento on Saturday. The second-round pick has appeared in 25 games (11 starts), averaging 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per night.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Luka Doncic and LeBron James didn’t have any trouble blending their talents on Friday, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times notes. The Lakers‘ superstar duo led the club to a 128-121 win over Memphis. Doncic made 17-of-20 free throws while scoring 34 points with eight assists and six rebounds, and James had 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists. It marked the first time since March that Doncic and James have scored at least 30 points in the same game. “It was just playing and playing in rhythm,” James said. “We’re trying to find ways that we can be productive.”
- Dalton Knecht got a chance to play some minutes off the bench on Friday but the Lakers wing didn’t do much with his playing time. He went scoreless in 11 minutes, missing both of his shots. However, Knecht won’t be judged on offensive output alone. “Play hard – that’s been the biggest playing emphasis for him all season,” coach JJ Redick said, per Khobi Price of the Orange County Register. “He’s not going to be judged on whether he makes or misses shots. That helps. When you go through a stretch and you feel like your team isn’t playing hard, you got to play the guys that are consistently playing hard.” Knecht’s role has been reduced drastically this season after he appeared in 78 games as a rookie.
- Suns guard Grayson Allen missed his eighth consecutive game on Friday but he’s close to returning from a right knee injury, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. “He did (five-on-five on Thursday). That’s a big step,” coach Jordan Ott said. “And then it’s just the response back, which was great. Now he just wants another one. We’re right there.” Allen will participate in another five-on-five again before he comes back to action.
Injury Notes: Warriors, Young, LaVine, Pistons
After previously announcing that Draymond Green would miss Friday’s matchup with the defending champion Thunder, the Warriors have also ruled out Stephen Curry (left ankle sprain) and Jimmy Butler (illness), per Anthony Slater and Shams Charania of ESPN.
It’s the first half of a back-to-back set, and the Warriors are hopeful that all three players will be back on Saturday vs. Utah, according to Slater and Charania. It’s also worth noting that Friday’s game will be nationally televised, which means Curry and Butler couldn’t be rested without legitimate ailments, since they qualify as “stars” under the NBA’s player participation policy. Green, who doesn’t meet the star criteria, is listed on the injury report as out due to “rest.”
With three starters sidelined, forward Jonathan Kuminga is expected to play on Friday for the first time in over two weeks, head coach Steve Kerr said today during a radio appearance on 95.7 The Game (Twitter link).
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Hawks guard Trae Young (right quad contusion) has been ruled out for a third consecutive game and won’t be available on Friday in New York, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks. Young was initially listed as questionable, which suggests he’s considered day-to-day and should probably return soon, barring a setback.
- Kings guard Zach LaVine will miss a ninth straight game on Friday vs. Phoenix due to a left ankle sprain. Asked on Thursday if he had any updates on LaVine’s status, head coach Doug Christie had little to offer, telling reporters there’s “nothing new” (Twitter video link via James Ham of The Kings Beat).
- The Pistons were without Tobias Harris (left hip sprain) and Caris LeVert (left knee inflammation) for Thursday’s loss to Miami (Twitter links via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press and Hunter Patterson of The Athletic). Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that LeVert’s injury, which has kept him on the shelf for the past two games, is one they’ve been managing all season and that it “flared up on him” this week. As for Harris, Bickerstaff suggested he would have more info on the forward’s prognosis within the next few days.
Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel Named December’s Rookies Of The Month
For a second consecutive month, former Duke teammates Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel have been named the NBA’s Rookies of the Month for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (Twitter link).
Flagg, this year’s No. 1 overall pick, averaged 23.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.0 steal in 35.5 minutes per game in 13 outings this past month for the Mavericks, making 51.6% of his shots from the floor and 80.8% from the free throw line.
While Dallas still hasn’t looked like a playoff team – the Mavs went 6-7 in December – Flagg is showing why he was the consensus top prospect in the 2025 draft class and is considered one of the best rookies to enter the NBA in the past decade. He’s the NBA’s youngest player, having turned 19 on December 21.
Although Flagg has taken over as the betting favorite in the Rookie of the Year race, that’s through no fault of Knueppel, who showed no signs of slowing down after his hot start to the season. In 12 games in December, the Hornets sharpshooter averaged 20.8 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 4.2 APG, with an outstanding .500/.462/.903 shooting line.
Only Donovan Mitchell and Stephen Curry have made more three-pointers so far this season than Knueppel, who knocked down 4.0 per game in December and now has 117 on the season.
Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward, Spurs guard Dylan Harper, Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard, Pelicans big man Derik Queen, and Kings center Maxime Raynaud were also nominated for the Western Conference Rookie of the Month award, while Nets guard Egor Demin, Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe, and Wizards guard Tre Johnson were nominated in the East (Twitter link).
Scott Perry Hopes To Turn Kings Into ‘Sustainable Winner’
The results haven’t been encouraging in Scott Perry‘s first season as general manager of the Kings, but he remains focused on building “sustainable” long-term success, he said in an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
Perry, who was hired to run the team in April, discusses numerous topics in the lengthy exchange, including his approach to the upcoming trade deadline. Sacramento owns the second-worst record in the Western Conference at 8-25 and has several veteran players who could interest other teams, such as DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schröder. Perry plans to listen to offers over the next five weeks, but he hasn’t determined that certain players will definitely be moved.
“I’m always going to work the phones,” he said. “I’m always going try to figure out how we can improve the team, both short and long term, if possible. But I want to be prudent and opportunistic in doing that. I’m not somebody who does things out of panic. So, it’s got to make sense for us. So, we’ll see.
“But obviously we know we’re far from a finished product, so we’ve got to be open to getting better. And this is one of the vehicles that you have at your disposal in trying to get better. It’s seeing that there’s a trade that makes sense and fits for not only you, but it’s got to fit for the other team or teams that you’re involved with.”
Perry recognized when he took the job that it wouldn’t be easy to transform a franchise that has only made one playoff appearance since 2007. That came in 2023, and the Kings have been trending downward ever since. They’re currently on pace for the worst record in franchise history, but Perry made it clear that he’s not looking for a “quick fix” to salvage this season at the expense of the future.
“I was hired to build a sustainable winner,” he said. “So, I’m sure there’s an anomaly somewhere, but I don’t know of many quote-unquote quick fixes that turn into being sustainable. And my vision, which is shared by top to bottom ownership and everybody in the building, is to build a sustainable winner. I think that takes a little more time than quick fixes. You got to make appropriate decisions in that at least give you the best chance to lay a foundation to grow into something that’s sustainable. And so that’s what we’re at.
“… What is a quick fix? It’s probably for that season or maybe one other season. But hopefully, my goal and vision is to get to the point that once you become a playoff team you can stay there for a while. And that’s when you get your chance to sustain it.”
Perry admits he’s still in the “evaluation stage” with the franchise as he tries to decide which players to keep. Amid the losing, one positive has been the performance of the team’s rookies. Second-round pick Maxime Raynaud has been a pleasant surprise, especially since moving into the starting lineup after center Domantas Sabonis was sidelined with a meniscus injury. First-round selection Nique Clifford is getting regular rotation minutes, and Dylan Cardwell has been a valuable big man off the bench on a two-way contract.
Perry calls all three rookies “very hard workers” with “very good basketball IQs” and indicated that they’re the type of players he wants to build around.
He also discussed the decision to give Keegan Murray a five-year, $140MM rookie-scale extension in October. Murray hasn’t posted outstanding numbers during his first three-plus NBA seasons, but Perry views him as another building block for the future.
“Another tremendously hard worker, high character guy,” Perry said. “In this league, you can’t have too many 6-8, 6-9 versatile players. The guy has shot the three-point ball at a high clip since coming to the league, even though his numbers are down this year. He missed the first month of the season and is taking a little while to get his rhythm back, too. We’re matching him up with everybody on the other end, but that’s a tribute to his defensive versatility. So, here’s a guy that we put on point guards and we put on centers and all positions in between and he doesn’t flinch. He takes on those assignments. That’s invaluable.
“When you talk about build a team, he’s young, he’s 25 years old. So now we’re coming into the window of hopefully what’s going to be the prime of his career. I see him as being a very important part of establishing that sustainable winning. You need high character, versatile two-way players – as many as you can get. He was here and he liked it here and it’s been good to work with him.”
Injury Notes: Kings, Jokic, Sengun, Bogdanovic, Sixers
After losing by 24 points to the Lakers on Sunday, the Kings should have some reinforcements on Tuesday for their matchup with Los Angeles’ other team.
According to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link), center Drew Eubanks will be available for Tuesday’s game vs. the Clippers after having missed the past seven games due to a thumb fracture. Reporting on December 13 indicated that Eubanks – who appeared in each of the team’s first 25 games of the season, making 11 starts in the middle – would be reevaluated in three weeks, but it appears he’ll beat his projected recovery timeline.
Meanwhile, forward Keegan Murray has been upgraded to questionable after being inactive for the Kings’ past two games, Anderson adds. Murray, diagnosed last week with a calf strain, could also have a shorter absence than anticipated, since a report on Friday indicated that he’d be reevaluated in one week.
Here are more injury-related updates from around the NBA:
- The early reports on Nikola Jokic‘s knee injury out of his home country of Serbia are encouraging. According to Đorđe Matić of Meridian Sport, there’s a belief that Jokic hyperextended his left knee but avoided a more serious injury. The Nuggets‘ star center is undergoing more testing today, so it shouldn’t be long before we get a more formal update on his diagnosis and recovery timeline.
- Rockets center Alperen Sengun has missed two consecutive games due to what the team is calling a left soleus (calf) strain. However, head coach Ime Udoka said on Monday that he doesn’t believe the injury is a significant one, explaining that the club is just trying to manage a little soreness that Sengun experienced after Thursday’s Christmas Day game (Twitter link via Will Guillory of The Athletic).
- Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic will be out indefinitely due to a left hamstring issue, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Bogdanovic missed Sunday’s game vs. Detroit and has been ruled out for Tuesday’s matchup with Sacramento with a designation of “left hamstring injury management.”
- Sixers forwards Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain), who have both been sidelined for over a month, are being “reintegrated into team activities,” the team announced on Monday (Twitter link via Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports). That update suggests they’re practicing again and should be close to returning. Asked if he’ll play during the 76ers’ three-game road trip that begins on Tuesday in Memphis, Watford was noncommittal, simply referring to himself as “day-to-day” (Twitter video link via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer).
Bucks Operating As Buyers Heading Into Trade Deadline
Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s windmill dunk that ended Saturday’s win at Chicago delivered the message he intended, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN. Antetokounmpo nearly sparked a massive fight as he broke an unwritten rule by scoring with the game already out of reach, but he saw a chance to make a statement — to his teammates and the rest of the league — that the Bucks aren’t going to go away quietly.
“I’ve been 13 years in the league,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after the game. “If we keep on losing, brother, probably half of the team is not going to be here. At the end of the day, I just want to be available, be healthy and help my team win. And if (a windmill dunk) is what has to happen for everybody to wake up and understand we’re fighting for our lives and we got to get our hands dirty, so be it.”
The dunk sparked a show of support, as Antetokounmpo’s teammates backed up his actions amid angry exchanges that continued while the teams made their way toward the locker room area. Whether it leads to a prolonged turnaround will depend on a number of factors, including Antetokounmpo’s health for the rest of the season and his continued desire to stay in Milwaukee.
At 13-19, the Bucks are 11th in the East, one-and-a-half games out of a play-in spot. Team sources tell Collier they continue to believe they can upgrade the roster before the February 5 trade deadline and be more competitive in the second half of the season. Collier hears that when the league’s unofficial trade season began two weeks ago, the Bucks’ front office approached it as buyers rather than exploring potential deals to part with Antetokounmpo.
The two-time MVP has been the subject of frequent trade speculation, even as he remains one of the NBA’s elite talents. He has often stated his desire to compete for another title, which may not happen with a Milwaukee team that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2022. Antetokounmpo has tried to quell trade talks, recently stating that he’s “locked in” with the team, and he reiterated that sentiment on Saturday.
“I’m here. I’m here. I’m here,” he said. “Don’t ask me that question. I’m here. It’s disrespectful towards myself and my teammates. I wear that jersey every single day. It’s disrespectful towards the organization, my coaching staff, myself and all the people that work hard for me to come out here and say, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ I’m here. I’m putting on the jersey. And as long as I’m here, I’m going to give everything I have, even in the last second of the game.”
Sources tell Collier that the Bucks have engaged in internal conversations about pursuing Kings guards Zach LaVine and Malik Monk as well as Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant. However, Collier notes that general manager Jon Horst has limited assets to offer on the trade market.
[RELATED: Bucks Keeping Eye On Zach LaVine]
[RELATED: Jerami Grant Among Potential Targets On Bucks’ Radar]
Milwaukee currently has only one tradable first-round pick, either in 2031 or 2032, but Collier states that Horst hasn’t been willing to part with that pick in any trade talks during the past year. League sources don’t expect him to consider moving it at this point unless it means getting a star-level player in return, Collier adds.
Collier notes that the rest of the roster outside of Antetokounmpo doesn’t offer much trade value. Other than Myles Turner, who signed as a free agent during the summer, the largest salaries belong to Kyle Kuzma ($22.4MM) and Bobby Portis ($13.5MM), making it challenging to match money in a significant trade. According to Collier, rival executives may be putting other moves on hold until they have some clarity about how long Antetokounmpo will be staying in Milwaukee.
Collier adds that the Bucks’ assets will improve during the offseason, when they project to have tradable picks available in 2026, 2031 and 2033. But waiting until summer to improve the roster could mean wasting another prime season for Antetokounmpo and testing his desire to remain with a franchise that could miss the postseason.
“Right now, our character (as a team) is being tested,” Antetokounmpo said. “Me personally, I don’t want to be the guy worrying about (reports). My legacy is on the line. This is how I feel every single day when I walk in here.”
Keon Ellis Gets Rare Start; Russell Westbrook Moves Up Career Assists List
- Kings guard Keon Ellis credited a strong defensive effort for Saturday’s victory over Dallas as he made his third start of the season, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscription required). Coach Doug Christie used a revamped starting lineup to help his team win for the second time in three games. “Just the effort on the defensive end, helping for one another,” Ellis said. “I always go back to that energy again because there’s been times when teams are going on runs, and we’ve let go of the rope a little bit, so tonight I think we did a good job of not doing that.”
- Russell Westbrook reached another milestone in the victory, passing Magic Johnson to move into seventh place on the career assists list. At age 37, the Kings guard gave no indication that he’s thinking about retirement, telling reporters, “I’ll keep going until I’ve had enough” (Twitter video link from James Ham of The Kings Beat).
Keegan Murray To Miss At Least One Week With Calf Strain
Kings forward Keegan Murray has been diagnosed with a mild right calf strain after undergoing an MRI, a source tells Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento (Twitter link).
Murray, who sustained the injury in Tuesday’s loss to Detroit, will be reevaluated in one week, according to Cunningham. He will likely miss at least the next four contests before being checked out again.
The Kings officially confirmed the news in a press release (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee).
Murray, 25, missed the first 15 games of the season after undergoing thumb surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb in mid-October.
Murray, who would rank second in the league in minutes per game (37.1) if he had made enough appearances to qualify, was averaging 14.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.7 blocks in 15 outings. His shooting slash line was .438/.263/.765.
Pacific Rumors: Warriors, Kuminga, Kings, Monk, McCollum, Clippers
The Warriors have been one of the NBA’s most aggressive teams in scouring the trade market to get a better sense of which players are and aren’t available, multiple sources tell Brett Siegel of Clutch Points.
Golden State is known to be in the market for an “athletic” forward as well as frontcourt help, according to Siegel, who reports that the Warriors would ideally like to add a big man who can rebound and defend the rim, since those aren’t among the strengths of current bigs like Al Horford and Quinten Post.
Although Nets center Nic Claxton has been connected to the Warriors by multiple reporters this month, Siegel says the club would probably prefer to target a player whose contract doesn’t exceed approximately $15MM annually. Siegel adds that Golden State has engaged in trade talks with the Nets, Pelicans, and Bulls, though he doesn’t specify which players those teams have discussed.
Here are a few more rumors from around the Pacific:
- According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), some rival executives at the G League Winter Showcase in Orlando over the weekend wondered how much more playing time Jonathan Kuminga will see before he becomes trade-eligible on January 15. Kuminga has fallen out of the rotation as of late, and it’s probably in the Warriors‘ best interest to make sure he’s healthy ahead of the trade deadline. For what it’s worth, none of the executives polled by Fischer said their opinions of Kuminga would change based on how he plays (or doesn’t) in the next few weeks.
- Unless a third team gets involved, a deal sending Kuminga to the Kings looks like a long shot, per Siegel, who says the Warriors still aren’t enamored of the assets Sacramento would offer for the fifth-year forward. That includes guard Malik Monk, who has generated very little interest around the NBA due to his contract, says Siegel. Monk, who is said to be available, is still owed nearly $42MM over two years after this season.
- CJ McCollum has been mentioned as a possible trade target for the Clippers, Siegel reports, noting that people around the league believe the Wizards guard could be had for second-round picks. McCollum’s $30.7MM cap hit could complicate a potential trade, but it’s an expiring contract and the Clippers wouldn’t have a problem matching the incoming money if their package starts with John Collins‘ $26.6MM expiring deal. They could also get there by stacking three or more contracts, including Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s, worth $16.2MM this season.
- Sources tell Fischer that the Clippers continue to dismiss the idea that veteran stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden will land on the trade block this season. Rival teams have reportedly expressed confidence that Harden, at least, will be made available.
Kings’ Malik Monk On Trade Block
The Kings have made guard Malik Monk available via trade, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter video link).
Sacramento recently removed Monk from its regular rotation and is said to be open to inquiries on practically anyone on its roster outside of fourth-year forward Keegan Murray and rookie guard Nique Clifford, so Haynes’ report comes as no real surprise. However, it’s confirmation that Monk is among the Kings players who are strong candidates to be on the move ahead of this season’s trade deadline.
Monk, who will turn 28 in February, has been in Sacramento since 2022 and has been a reliable source of scoring and play-making for the team, averaging 15.0 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game across 238 total outings as a King. He has posted a .443/.350/.859 shooting line during that time and finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2024.
However, with the Kings off to a 7-22 start this season, head coach Doug Christie has made some changes in a crowded backcourt rotation, resulting in Monk receiving two DNP-CDs and playing just five total minutes in the team’s past three games.
Guards Russell Westbrook, Dennis Schröder, Keon Ellis, and Clifford have been playing regular minutes for the Kings as of late, with DeMar DeRozan also functioning as a two guard in a bigger starting lineup that features big men Maxime Raynaud and Precious Achiuwa up front.
[RELATED: Malik Monk ‘One Thousand Percent’ Confused About Benching]
Monk, who is earning roughly $18.8MM this season, has two more years left on his contract after this one. He’s owed a guaranteed $20.2MM salary in 2026/27 and holds a $21.6MM player option for ’27/28.
While Haynes doesn’t specify exactly what sort of return the Kings would be seeking in a trade for Monk, he says the club is looking to get younger and more athletic. DeRozan and Zach LaVine are also viewed as prime trade candidates in Sacramento, though LaVine’s maximum-salary contract is considered difficult to move.