San Antonio Spurs Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: All-Star Game, Fernando, Snyder, NBRPA, Woj

January 22nd, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Six NBA reporters at The Athletic, including Sam Amick, Fred Katz, and Joe Vardon, made their picks for the Eastern and Western Conference All-Star starters, with all six writers selecting the same three frontcourt players in the East: Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic were the only unanimous choices in the West. Meanwhile, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama each showed up on all but one of the six ballots from The Athletic’s reporters.

The NBA will officially announce this year’s All-Star starters on Thursday evening during a TNT broadcast. The starters are determined by votes from fans (50%), players (25%), and the media (25%).

We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Veteran NBA big man Bruno Fernando, who was waived earlier this month by Toronto before his full-season salary could become guaranteed, is in talks with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid, as Michalis Gioylenoglou reports for Eurohoops.net. Gioylenoglou describes Fernando as becoming more open to making the move to Europe after having initially been reluctant to head across the Atlantic. However, no deal is done yet.
Hawks head coach Quin Snyder is among the candidates receiving serious consideration to become the next coach of Australia’s national team, sources tell Olgun Uluc of ESPN. The Boomers are seeking a successor to Brian Goorjian, who coached the national team at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.
Former NBA big man Antonio Davis, who appeared in over 900 games from 1993-2006 and made an All-Star team with Toronto in 2001, has been named the CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, reports Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). According to Spears, Davis will “drive the strategic visions, business operations, member services, and growth” of the NBRPA, a non-profit association representing former NBA players.
In a feature story for The New York Times, Bruce Schoenfeld checks in on Adrian Wojnarowski, exploring why the former star news-breaker, who was making $7.3MM annually at ESPN, accepted a job at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, that pays him about one percent of that amount ($75K per year).

Buford: No Timeline For Gregg Popovich’s Return To Spurs

January 22nd, 2025 at 2:18pm CST by Luke Adams

After suffering a stroke in the fall, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is “attacking his rehab with the same resilience” that he has exhibited for decades on the team’s bench, team CEO R.C. Buford told reporters in Paris on Wednesday, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

While Buford isn’t ruling out the possibility that Popovich will resume his coaching duties for the Spurs later this season, he said it’s impossible to say for sure — or to project a recovery timeline for the longtime head coach, who will turn 76 next Tuesday.

“His improvement continues to get better, (but) I don’t know that we have any way to judge the clock,” Buford said. “Predicting what’s to come is just a function of where Pop’s rehab goes.”

Popovich initially stepped away from the Spurs in early November due to what was described at the time as a health issue. The club later put out a statement announcing that Popovich had suffered a mild stroke, and he subsequently issued a statement of his own in December that hinted he planned to return to the sidelines for the Spurs if and when his health allowed.

In the meantime, acting head coach Mitch Johnson continues to lead the club and has San Antonio within striking distance of a play-in spot at 19-22. According to Vardon, Johnson described his communication with Popovich as “consistent.”

“He is watching games, still as opinionated as he’s ever been, and competitive, and what you would think — giving praise and cussing me out, all at the same time,” Johnson said, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

“Pop’s health has been the priority since the start of this and until dot-dot-dot. That’s kind of how we, and I, take the approach. We want the best for Pop and I want the best for this team and however I can help is where I’ll put my energy.”

Chris Paul also said he remains in contact with Popovich, telling the media in Paris that the Spurs coach is in touch with players via phone.

“I’m not even sure if this is public, but he calls,” Paul said. “He calls after games and I talk to him, and he tells me what he sees, and I appreciate that more than anything because he doesn’t have to do that. And he does.”

As Vardon writes in a separate story for The Athletic, if Popovich were in France on the current road trip, he likely would have taken the Spurs out to a posh Paris restaurant for the sort of “wine-soaked” team dinner he’s known for. Instead, it was second-year star Victor Wembanyama who took the lead on that team dinner on Monday after the club arrived in his native country, per Vardon.

“We talked about it — Pop had a schedule here, and he would have done something like that too,” Wembanyama said. “Doing that on the first day was important for me to welcome (teammates) and to show them, because I know if I went to any of these guys’ country or city, I would have loved to find out about about where they come from to learn to know them better because they’re they’re all good human beings. So really, it’s a real chance to share these moments together.”

Southwest Notes: Wembanyama, France Trip, Pelicans, Green, Mavs

January 21st, 2025 at 9:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama will play two games in his native France this week against the Pacers. It’s an opportunity he doesn’t take lightly, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon writes.

“There are a lot of emotions, seeing familiar people, whether from the club or even from the city,” Wembanyama said. “It’s a bit like two worlds meeting. It’s special, you don’t expect that in a career. It’s a bit my way of making people happy who will never have the opportunity to go to the United States. It’s very important to me.”

The Spurs already had a connection to France with Tony Parker playing most of his career in San Antonio, and Boris Diaw playing four-and-a-half seasons there, The Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds notes.

“We have a long history with France for obvious reasons in many ways. So, it’s just another milestone or opportunity, I think, to probably strengthen that bond or connection,” Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said. “Very cool for Vic. Obviously, he just got done in the Olympics as well.”

The games will be played on Thursday and Saturday.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

The Pelicans staged their biggest comeback in franchise history, rallying from a 25-point deficit to upend Utah in overtime on Monday night. CJ McCollum led the way with 45 points, including 24 during the fourth quarter and overtime. “Coach (Willie Green) just challenged us to be more disciplined, to be more engaged, to be more aggressive and assertive,” McCollum told Rod Walker of NOLA.com.
Pelicans wing Javonte Green is playing on a one-year, minimum-salary contract and he’s reportedly drawing some interest around the league. Green is averaging 6.0 points in 21.8 minutes per game in 39 appearances, including 15 starts. The veteran swingman doesn’t take a lot of shots, instead he focuses on the underrated aspects of the game. “I’m just trying to go out there and try to win, make winning plays, play as hard as I can, and just be a professional. I want to do the things that got me here,” Green told Grant Afseth of RG.org. “I have to continue doing that.”
The Mavericks offered a lengthy injury report heading into their game against Minnesota on Wednesday, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweets. Klay Thompson (left ankle sprain), Dereck Lively (right ankle sprain), Naji Marshall (illness) and Quentin Grimes (back spasms) are listed as questionable. Four other players are listed as out.

Community Shootaround: Western Conference Playoff Race

January 21st, 2025 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the 15 teams in the Western Conference, only two are clearly focused more on the 2025 draft lottery than the 2024/25 standings. The 10-31 Jazz and 14-28 Trail Blazers don’t have realistic postseason aspirations this season, with management prioritizing the development of young players and the possibility of landing another high draft pick.

Those two teams are sandwiching the 12-32 Pelicans, who definitely didn’t expect their season to play out like this. Plagued by injuries since top offseason acquisition Dejounte Murray broke his hand on opening night, New Orleans has won its past four games but likely dug too deep a hole in the first half to seriously vie for a play-in spot this season, even if the roster gets (and stays) fully healthy.

Still, that leaves 12 teams in the hunt for eight playoff spots in the Western Conference.

We can safely pencil in the Thunder for one of those spots — and it will almost certainly be the top one. At 35-7, Mark Daigneault‘s squad has a seven-game cushion on the next-best team in the conference.

The Rockets (28-14), Grizzlies (28-15) and Nuggets (26-16) round out the current top four in the West and appear well positioned to claim playoff berths. That’s not necessarily a lock, given how competitive the conference is — a single injury could be all it takes for one of those teams to fall back to the pack. But they’re in strong positions.

After the top four, things gets interesting. Here are the current Western Conference standings from five through 12:

Los Angeles Clippers (24-18)
Los Angeles Lakers (22-18)
Dallas Mavericks (23-20)
Sacramento Kings (22-20)
Minnesota Timberwolves (22-21)
Phoenix Suns (21-21)
Golden State Warriors (21-21)
San Antonio Spurs (19-22)

These eight teams are separated by a total of 4.5 games. The gap from No. 6 to 11 is just two games. A five-game winning streak or losing streak for any of these clubs could significantly change the perception of how their season is going.

To that point, as recently as January 4, the Kings were 12th in the conference at 16-19, while the Spurs were in eighth place at 18-16. A Sacramento hot streak and a San Antonio cold spell have resulted in those two clubs swapping places in the standings just seven games later.

The Spurs are probably a little ahead of schedule in their rebuild and didn’t necessarily expect to make the postseason this year, so if they continue to slump, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for them. But the rest of the clubs listed above had serious playoff aspirations this season. The Clippers, Lakers, Mavericks, Timberwolves, Suns, and Warriors are all spending into the tax on their rosters, and the Kings aren’t far off.

Barring a major collapse from one of the top four seeds, one of these clubs (or two, if San Antonio sticks around) will finish outside the top 10, missing out not just on the playoffs but on the play-in altogether. Two more will be eliminated in the play-in tournament and will fail to clinch one of the eight playoff spots in the West.

What happens at the trade deadline could go a long way toward determining how this race plays out down the stretch, but we want to know what you’re thinking at the halfway point of the season.

Which teams do you expect to finish outside of the top 10 in the West? Which teams will be eliminated in the play-in? Which clubs besides the Thunder are the most serious contenders to represent the conference in this year’s NBA Finals?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Bulls Notes: Buzelis, White, LaVine, Ball

January 20th, 2025 at 10:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis has committed to the Slam Dunk Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend, joining Spurs guard Stephon Castle as the two players confirmed to participating in the event so far, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.

Buzelis is the first Bulls player since Tyrus Thomas in 2007 to commit to the dunk contest. He’ll be the fifth Bulls player to participate in the contest, joining Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Orlando Woolridge and Thomas, Chris Kwiecinski of Fox23Chicago.com relays.

We have more on the Bulls:

Coby White is scheduled to have imaging done on his injured right ankle on Tuesday during an off day in Los Angeles, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets. White came up limping in the late going of Sunday’s loss to Portland, Johnson adds in another tweet.
Zach LaVine carried an upbeat attitude into the season and it’s reflected in his play, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times writes. LaVine came into Monday’s contest against the Clippers averaging 28.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game in January. He has also been a positive influence off the court, according to coach Billy Donovan. “He’s been great in the locker room, he’s been great off the court, he’s been great with our guys,” Donovan said. “I can’t tell you there’s been numerous times this year where he’s come into my office and said to me, ‘Hey, I feel like this player is struggling a little bit. Is there anything I can talk to them about?'”
With White and Ayo Dosunmu out (injury management) on Monday, Lonzo Ball received his second start of the season, the team tweets. Ball, who is on an expiring contract, was making his 23rd appearance this season after missing two-and-a-half seasons due to knee issues.

Southwest Notes: Morant, Pelicans Bench, Spurs Slump, Lively

January 19th, 2025 at 9:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Grizzlies could play again without their floor leader on Monday. Ja Morant is listed as questionable against Minnesota due to right foot soreness, the team’s PR department tweets.

Morant, who is averaging 21.4 points and 7.5 assists, has already missed 18 games this season and is ineligible for postseason honors. He was also unavailable for Friday’s 28-point win over San Antonio.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

The Pelicans reserves have made a major impact during the team’s three-game winning streak, Rod Walker of the New Orleans Times Picayune writes. “This bench is a team that wants to win every minute that we get,” guard Jose Alvarado said. “We know that it can be 10 minutes, five minutes, two minutes or 20 minutes. We’re going to attack it like it’s the (NBA) Finals.” Alvarado led the bench brigade on Friday with 19 points, including six 3-pointers.
The Spurs, who are headed to Paris to face Indiana, will look at the trip as a chance to turn their fortunes around. They have lost three straight and six of their last seven after falling to Miami on Sunday. “This hasn’t been our best stretch of basketball and there are some things we need to shore up, and we’ve played some really good teams and they’ve exposed some things,” acting coach Mitch Johnson told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “We’re looking forward to Paris, but I don’t think we overlooked this team or in (losing twice to) Memphis.”
The Mavericks list Dereck Lively as questionable to play against Charlotte on Monday due to a right ankle sprain, Grant Afseth tweets. Lively has missed the last two games after suffering the injury on Tuesday against Denver.

Jeremy Sochan Nears Return From Back Bruise

January 18th, 2025 at 8:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jeremy Sochan has been ruled out of Sunday’s game at Miami, but the Spurs expect him back on the court soon, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Acting coach Mitch Johnson said Friday that Sochan is “doing great” and is “very close” to returning from a back bruise. Rookie guard Stephon Castle, who replaced Sochan in the starting lineup, is averaging 23 PPG over his last three games. “As a group, we feel confident in the poise that he has and we trust him to go make those plays,” Harrison Barnes said of Castle. “They’re going to put differing matchups on him or whatever, but we him to be aggressive and we need to play offense through him at times.”

Spurs’ Riley Minix Out For Season Following Shoulder Surgery

January 15th, 2025 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Rookie forward Riley Minix, who is on a two-way contract with the Spurs, underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, the team announced today in a press release.

Minix sustained the injury during a G League game vs. Iowa on January 1. He will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2024/25 season as he recovers from the procedure, according to the Spurs.

San Antonio signed Minix to an Exhibit 10 deal in July after he went undrafted in June. The 24-year-old averaged 20.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.0 block per game while shooting 34.9% on three-pointers as a senior at Morehead State last season.

Minix averaged 9.0 PPG in four Summer League games and 7.7 PPG in three preseason outings, impressing the Spurs enough to have his Exhibit 10 deal converted to a two-way contract ahead of the regular season.

The 6’7″ forward made just one NBA appearance for San Antonio as a rookie, spending most of his time in the G League, where he averaged 19.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 1.2 BPG with an impressive .524/.414/.853 shooting line in 19 total contests (31.6 MPG) for Austin.

Minix is assured of receiving his full-season two-way salary ($578,577), having stuck around through last week’s league-wide guarantee deadline. However, it’s unclear if the Spurs will keep him under contract for the rest of the season or replace him with a healthy player. March 4 is the deadline for NBA teams to sign players to two-way deals.

NBA Announces New Dates For Nine Games

January 15th, 2025 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA, which recently had to postpone four games as a result of wildfires in Los Angeles and severe weather in Atlanta, has rescheduled three of those contests and announced date changes for six others, the league announced in a press release (Twitter link).

The Hornets/Lakers game that was supposed to be played last Thursday will take place at Crypto.com Arena on February 19, while the Hornets/Clippers game that had been scheduled for last Saturday has been moved to March 16.

Additionally, last Saturday’s Rockets/Hawks that was postponed due to the weather in Atlanta will now be played on January 28 at State Farm Arena.

There’s still no new date for last Saturday’s Spurs/Lakers game, with the NBA indicating that a make-up date for that contest will be announced at a later time.

In order to accommodate the rescheduled games, the NBA has also announced the following tweaks to the schedule:

The Bulls/Clippers game scheduled for January 21 in L.A. has been moved up to Jan. 20.
The Wizards/Jazz game scheduled for Jan. 23 in Utah has been moved back to March 19.
The Jazz/Lakers game scheduled for Feb. 11 in L.A. has been moved up to Feb. 10.
The Wizards/Clippers game scheduled for March 16 in L.A. has been moved up to Jan. 23.
The Wizards/Trail Blazers game scheduled for March 18 in Portland has been moved up to March 17.
The Clippers/Jazz game scheduled for March 19 in Utah has been moved up to Feb. 13.

Despite not being involved in any of last week’s postponed matchups, the Jazz and Wizards will each have three games moved around in order to help minimize back-to-backs and reduce travel.

It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Utah and Washington are among the NBA’s cellar dwellers — the league likely wanted to avoid making schedule changes that would significantly impact teams involved in playoff races.

Southwest Notes: Green, JJJ, Wemby, Williamson

January 14th, 2025 at 4:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The three-year, $105MM extension that the Rockets gave Jalen Green in the fall was widely viewed as a deal designed to be traded, especially given that it included a 10% trade kicker, a rare addition to a rookie scale extension. However, the fourth-year guard is taking major steps so far this season toward justifying Houston’s investment, as Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes.

Green has averaged 23.8 points per game on .470/.389/.884 shooting in his past 19 contests (34.4 MPG). Perhaps more importantly, he’s earning praise from head coach Ime Udoka for what he’s doing on the other end of the court.

“I love his defensive effort,” Udoka said after a victory over Memphis on Monday. “It goes under-noticed for him, probably underrated. He’s taken the challenge of (Desmond) Bane and (Ja) Morant, they’re trying to put him in actions and he’s holding up really well there, taking pride in that. Obviously, the scoring stands out. I saw he matched his career high (42 points), but taking care of the ball as well. Getting more used to teams going after him.”

As Iko writes, Green – a former No. 2 overall pick – hasn’t been discussed in the same breath as fellow top picks like Morant and Anthony Edwards, who have All-NBA seasons on their respective résumés. But if he can consistently produce like he has in the past month-and-a-half (and like he did last March), that could change.

“I’m right there,” Green said. “And if not, and no one thinks that, I’m just going to keep showing it.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

If Jaren Jackson Jr. earns an All-NBA nod or is named Defensive Player of the Year this season, he’ll become eligible for a super-max contract. If not, it could be tricky for the Grizzlies to extend him off of his current contract – which has a descending structure – before he reaches free agency in 2026. Keith Smith of Spotrac takes a closer look at the situation and explains why All-NBA recognition for Jackson may benefit both the seventh-year big man and his team.
Reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama has improved his numbers across the board so far this season, with averages of 25.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.9 blocks, and 3.8 assists in 33.2 minutes per game through 33 outings. The rising Spurs star has made an extremely compelling case for a spot in the All-Star Game, teammate Chris Paul said on Monday, per Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “Put him in the All-Star Game,” Paul said. “He deserves it, man. … He plays the game the right way. As humble of a star as you’d ever come across. Going to be Defensive Player of the Year. He’s got an opportunity to do it for 20 years straight, you know what I mean?”
Zion Williamson‘s performance in his return from a one-game suspension on Sunday was an encouraging one, as the Pelicans forward looked healthy and put forth an impressive defensive effort, registering five steals against the defending champion Celtics. Still, as Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes, Williamson and the Pelicans have had plenty of positive stretches in recent years, only for those stretches to be derailed by various setbacks, often injury-related. Weiss explores what the former No. 1 pick has to do to finish this season strong.