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New York Notes: Nets, Tsai, Brunson, Knicks, Randle

May 31st, 2024 at 6:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have formally announced Jordi Fernandez‘s coaching staff for the 2024/25 season, officially confirming (via Twitter) that previously reported names like Steve Hetzel, Juwan Howard, and Jay Hernandez will be among the assistants flanking the first-time head coach.

Hernandez is a carryover from last season’s staff, as are Adam Caporn, Ryan Forehan-Kelly, Corey Vinson, and Travis Bader. Besides Hetzel and Howard, the newcomers include Deividas Dulkys and Connor Griffin, whose hirings were also previously reported.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York-based teams, starting with Brooklyn:

The Nets don’t publicly share the names of the prospects they’re working out during the pre-draft process, but as NetsDaily relays, a few names are being reported. For instance, Rick Pitino tweeted earlier this month that St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins “killed” his workout with Brooklyn, while Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Thursday (via Twitter) that the Nets are among the teams that have worked out Adelaide 36ers wing Trentyn Flowers, who has also gotten a look from the Wizards, Bucks, Kings, Rockets, and Spurs, and has workouts on tap with the Lakers, Suns, Hornets, Jazz, Bulls, and Celtics.
While New York City has a history of bombastic sports team owners, Joe Tsai of the Nets has made it clear he doesn’t intend to be one of them, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “My first principle is don’t treat yourself too seriously. Don’t become the face of the franchise, because it’s not about you,” Tsai said recently. “Fans don’t care about you: They care about the players. They care about the star players. … You work for the fans. So you have to come in with that mindset, especially when you own a major sports team in a major city. It’s an institution. It’s not about you. It’s something that’s much much bigger than you and I feel like I’m a custodian of the team.”
Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required) takes a closer look at Jalen Brunson‘s contract situation, writing that while the Knicks’ point guard may ultimately be willing to sign an extension this offseason, he’d likely be in better position to maximize his long-term earnings if he waits until 2025.
Fred Katz and Seth Partnow of The Athletic recently discussed the Knicks‘ offseason. According to Partnow, various analytics models had Isaiah Hartenstein‘s 2023/24 season valued in the range of $28-35MM. The 26-year-old center made $9.25MM this season and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. New York only holds his Early Bird rights, which means it will be somewhat limited (four-years, $72.5MM) in what it can offer him. A recent report said people around the league think Hartenstein could receive $20-25MM annually on his next deal, and potentially losing him would certainly dampen Partnow’s view of the Knicks. Katz and Partnow also discuss the pros and cons of Julius Randle and ways in which the Knicks can improve next season, among other topics.
Speaking of Randle, the injured All-Star forward said he’s recovering well from shoulder surgery, though he still isn’t doing on-court work yet, per Bondy of The New York Post. One of New York’s main offseason questions is what to do with Randle, who is eligible for a lucrative extension this summer. For his part, the 29-year-old said he wants to stay long-term. “Yeah, I’ve always said from the very beginning I would love to be here in New York and I would love to continue to add on to what the guys did in the playoffs,” said Randle, who can also become a free agent in 2025. “I feel like that was my personal — biggest personal goal, or I’d say team goal in a sense, was when I got here is to be able to build and compete and to be at the point where we’re at now, where it’s an actual possibility (to win a championship). So really, that’s what my focus is, doing whatever I can to make sure I get healthy and get back and make sure I’m ready whenever we start playing again and contribute to winning. That’s really all my focus is and that stuff always in my career has taken care of itself.”

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Mavericks Notes: Playoff Success, Irving, Doncic, Finals Matchup

May 31st, 2024 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The Mavericks didn’t mind being under the radar when the playoffs started, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Dallas didn’t get much notice after going 50-32 and finishing as the No. 5 seed in the West, but the team was much more dangerous than its record indicated. The Mavs closed the regular season on a 15-1 run and were fully confident heading into the postseason, as Kyrie Irving explained after the team punched its ticket to the NBA Finals Thursday night.

“We’ve grown over the past few months,” Irving said. “This has been a journey for us. I like to think that being fifth took some pressure off of us coming into this postseason. Everybody was looking at the top three seeds, so I felt like we snuck in there a little bit and surprised a few teams. But the guys in the locker room have always had that utmost confidence in one another.”

The Mavericks’ journey from a lottery team last season to potential NBA champs was punctuated by a pair of deadline deals in February that brought in Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington. Combined with the addition of Dereck Lively II in last year’s draft, that created a versatile supporting cast around Irving and Luka Doncic.

“If you look at our regular season, I don’t think it tells the whole truth of who we are — or who we were,” Irving added. “I felt like the second half of the season, everybody got to kind of see what we were made of.”

There’s more on the Mavericks:

Minority team owner Mark Cuban believes Dallas was able to rejuvenate Irving “by listening to him and not telling him,” Marc Stein notes in a Substack column. There were plenty of doubters when the Mavs traded for Doncic in February 2023 and again when they re-signed him last summer, but he and Doncic have figured out how to be successful together. The organization has created an ideal environment for Irving, Stein adds. Jason Kidd is a head coach he respects, general manger Nico Harrison was Irving’s longtime business partner at Nike, assistant coach God Shammgod is a close friend who works with Irving every day, and Markieff Morris is a trusted teammate who provides emotional support.
Doncic took control early in Game 5 and sent a message that the Mavericks were ready to close out the series, observes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. He finished with 36 points, his highest-scoring game of the playoffs, and 10 of those came in the first 2:33 of action. “It was Luka magic mode,” Kidd said. “He set the tone, and then he made it easier for everyone else. Everybody else stepped up.”
The Celtics will present a fresh matchup problem for the Mavericks in the Finals, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. Hollinger points out that Dallas likes to keep its centers close to the basket, even if that means giving up three-point shots to opposing big men, but that’s a risky strategy against Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford.

Scotto’s Latest: Wizards, DeRozan, Hunter, Jazz, Magic, Thunder, More

May 28th, 2024 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

After using a lottery pick last year to add Bilal Coulibaly, the Wizards may draft another Frenchman early in the 2024 event, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who hears from league sources that the team expects to choose between big man Alexandre Sarr and forward Zaccharie Risacher.

Those prospects sit atop most 2024 big boards and mock drafts, so Washington may not actually get to “choose between” the two, given that one of them will likely be selected at No. 1. Still, Scotto’s report suggests the front office would be happy to add either Sarr or Risacher to its young core.

The Wizards’ long-term goal is to build its roster through the draft, Scotto writes, which is one reason why Brian Keefe – who has a reputation for being a strong player development coach – is considered the “heavy favorite” to be promoted from interim to permanent head coach in D.C.

According to Scotto, Washington would also like to retain free agent point guard Tyus Jones, who started 66 games in 2023/24 and could provide a stabilizing veteran presence for the Wizards youngsters. However, the expectation is that the Wizards will face competition for Jones if and when he reaches the open market.

Here are several more items of interest from Scotto’s latest aggregate mock draft at HoopsHype:

If the Clippers end up losing Paul George, they’re a team to watch as a potential sign-and-trade destination for Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan, Scotto reports. A team must remain below the first tax apron if it acquires a player via sign-and-trade — that would be a more viable option for Los Angeles with George’s maximum-salary contract off the books.
Rival executives anticipate that Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, who has been mentioned in trade rumors in the past, will become available again this offseason, Scotto writes. Hunter, who set new career highs in 2023/24 with 15.6 points per game and a .385 3PT%, is owed approximately $70MM over the next three seasons.
The Jazz are expected to be open to trading their picks in this year’s draft, including No. 10 overall, and some people around the league believe team owner Ryan Smith is ready to add more high-level talent to the roster, Scotto writes, adding that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge has “aggressively monitored” the trade market.
The Magic will focus on adding shooting in the draft and free agency, according to Scotto, who notes that rival executives are keeping an eye on the Thunder as a team that could be active in the free agent market for centers. Orlando ranked dead-last in the NBA this season in three-pointers made (11.0 per game), while Oklahoma City placed 28th in rebounding rate (48.4%).
The Raptors will likely exercise their $23MM team option on swingman Bruce Brown, league sources tell HoopsHype. A previous report from The Toronto Star suggested the team was a good bet to pick up that option with an eye toward trading Brown.
Former Weber State wing Dillon Jones has pre-draft workouts lined up with the Pacers, Hornets, Bucks, Celtics, Raptors, and Spurs, per Scotto.

Celtics Notes: Finals, Porzingis, Brown, Holiday, Stevens

May 28th, 2024 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have lost four Eastern Conference finals and one NBA Finals since drafting Jaylen Brown in 2016, but the veteran wing believes this year’s club is capable of breaking through and being the one that wins a championship, as he told reporters after the C’s secured their spot in the Finals with a win over Indiana on Monday.

“We feel like we’re a different team than we were last year and the year before that,” Brown said, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I know everybody wants to continue to kind of pigeonhole us to what was happening in the past but we’ve had a different team every single year, different coaches, we’ve had like three coaches in the last five years. And still people want to make it seem like it’s the same, it’s the same, it’s the same.

“Time has gone by, experience has been gained and I think we are ready to put our best foot forward.”

This year’s version of the Celtics was certainly the best regular season team in recent franchise history, winning 64 games and registering the third-best net rating in NBA history (+11.7). Boston’s critics remain skeptical of the team’s playoff résumé not only due to its past losses but also because the team had a relatively clean path to the NBA Finals. Each of the three opponents the Celtics have beaten so far in the postseason were missing their best player (Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, and Tyrese Haliburton) for part or all of the series.

Still, the C’s have handily beaten the opponents in front of them, performing well in clutch situations and recording a league-best +10.8 net rating in the playoffs (Dallas’ net rating, by comparison, is +3.5).

“We feel comfortable in any type of game,” Derrick White said on Monday, per Steve Buckley of The Athletic. “We feel like we have the answers for anything teams throw at us, no matter what the scenario is.”

Here’s more on the Celtics as they prepare for a lengthy layoff before the Finals tip off on June 6:

Will Kristaps Porzingis be ready to return from his right calf injury by the time the Finals begin next Thursday? That’s the hope, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, but it’s not a lock. “There’s definitely optimism. There are still some hurdles, I’m told, that he has to clear before he can play in Game 1 of the Finals,” Charania said on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link). “… Porzingis has to make sure he’s 100% healthy. This could, of course, lead to worse injuries if you do end up getting back on the floor sooner than you’re supposed to. But there’s obviously hope the next week-and-a-half he’s able to ramp up and get ready.”
Brown and teammate Jrue Holiday each earned a contract bonus for making the NBA Finals, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter links). Brown has now maxed out his incentives this season, earning a total of $3,321,428 (on top of his $28,508,929 base salary) for a series of individual and team achievements, while Holiday earned an extra $297,600 as a result of the Celtics winning the East. Holiday can further increase his total bonus money for this season if Boston wins the title.
Brown, who made it a goal this season to be an All-Defensive player, admitted he was more disappointed to miss out on that honor than he was not to make an All-NBA team, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. But Brown added that he’s not dwelling on either outcome and knows his own value as a “versatile two-way wing,” which his teammates also recognize. “We ask a lot of him. (On Monday), he started out guarding (Andrew) Nembhard, then he switched up to (Pascal) Siakam, he probably was on (Myles) Turner,” Al Horford said. “He was on different people all over. That versatility is what makes us so tough as a team.” As we detailed in an earlier story, Brown was named the MVP of the Eastern Conference finals.
Brad Stevens‘ aggressive 2023 offseason – which included trading away longtime franchise pillar Marcus Smart in a deal for Porzingis and then making a second blockbuster deal for Holiday – has paid major dividends to this point, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com. As Robb observes, the roster was constructed to withstand the absence of a starter like Porzingis, with Holiday and Horford among the players taking on larger offensive roles to make up for that loss.

Jaylen Brown Named Eastern Finals MVP

May 28th, 2024 at 6:58am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics wing Jaylen Brown was named the Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Conference Finals, winning the Larry Bird trophy for 2024, the NBA announced (via Twitter).

Brown narrowly edged out teammate Jayson Tatum, who earned four of nine votes from media members for the honor at the conclusion of Boston’s 4-0 sweep over the Pacers. Brown received the other five votes (Twitter link).

“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Brown said of the award, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “I don’t ever win s–t. I was just happy we won.”

Brown scored at least 24 points in all four games of the series, including 40 in last Thursday’s Game 2 win and 29 in Monday’s close-out victory. He averaged 29.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals in 40.9 minutes per game vs. Indiana, making 51.7% of his shot attempts from the field, including 37.0% of his three-pointers.

“He was unreal this whole series, a complete player on both sides of the ball that you don’t really see much these days,” teammate Derrick White said, according to Vardon.

The NBA instituted MVP awards for the conference finals just three years ago, naming the trophies after Bird in the East and Magic Johnson in the West. Tatum was the first ever Eastern Conference Finals MVP in 2022, while Heat star Jimmy Butler took home the honor last spring.

Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton Out For Game 4

May 27th, 2024 at 5:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton won’t play in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight against the Celtics, Joe Vardon of The Athletic tweets. Haliburton also missed Game 3 on Saturday due to a left hamstring strain.

Indiana, which is facing elimination, nearly won Game 3 without its All-Star point guard until Boston staged a fourth-quarter rally. Andrew Nembhard stepped up his production with 32 points but Ben Sheppard, who was inserted into the starting lineup, was held scoreless in 26 minutes.

Haliburton suffered the injury during the 126-110 Game 2 loss in Boston. He had just 10 points and eight assists in that contest after a 25-point, 10-assist outing in Game 1.

He underwent an MRI on Saturday, and the risk of doing further damage with his team facing long odds of a comeback outweighs trying to push through it. He also dealt with a hamstring strain during the regular season. Haliburton, a third-team All-NBA selection, has averaged 18.7 PPG and 8.2 APG in the playoffs.

The Celtics have announced that Jrue Holiday and Luke Kornet, who were on Sunday’s injury report, are available, Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets. Kristaps Porzingis remains out.

Hall Of Famer Bill Walton Passes Away

May 27th, 2024 at 12:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA star and Hall of Famer Bill Walton has died at the age of 71, the league announced today (Twitter link). According to the NBA’s release, Walton passed away surrounded by family following a “prolonged” battle with cancer.

“Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said as part of a longer statement. “As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position. … Bill then translated his infectious enthusiasm and love for the game to broadcasting, where he delivered insightful and colorful commentary which entertained generations of basketball fans. But what I will remember most about him was his zest for life. He was a regular presence at league events — always upbeat, smiling ear to ear and looking to share his wisdom and warmth.”

Walton played his college ball at UCLA, winning a pair of national championships in 1972 and 1973 and earning national college player of the year honors for three straight seasons from 1972-74. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1974 draft and won championships with the Trail Blazers in 1977 and the Celtics in 1986, as well as an MVP award with Portland in 1978.

Walton was the NBA Finals MVP in ’77 after having led the league in both rebounds and blocked shots per game during that season. He earned an All-Star nod and made the All-Defensive First Team in both ’77 and ’78, then won the Sixth Man of the Year award in ’86.

A long list of injuries affecting his back, knees, ankles, and feet cut Walton’s career short and limited his availability when he did play. He ultimately appeared in just 468 career regular season contests – the equivalent of fewer than six 82-game seasons – for the Blazers, Clippers, and Celtics, averaging 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.2 blocks in 28.3 minutes per night.

Walton was named to the NBA’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams honoring the best players in league history.

Following his playing career, Walton was an NBA and NCAA color commentator for several networks, including CBS, NBC, and ABC/ESPN. His son Luke Walton also played in the NBA and has since gone into coaching — Luke spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers.

Our condolences go out to Bill’s family and friends.

Pacers Notes: Game 4, Haliburton, Nembhard, McConnell

May 27th, 2024 at 11:57am CST by Arthur Hill

The Pacers can’t stand the thought of watching another team celebrate an Eastern Conference title on their home court, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. That will add to Indiana’s motivation for Monday’s game against the Celtics in the face of a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 deficit. Players and coaches understand they face long odds to win the series, but they’re focused on taking Game 4 to give themselves a chance.

“The important thing for us is to learn, to be resilient and stay in this fight and find a way to extend the series,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We want to keep playing. We want to get back on that plane and go back to Boston.”

Even though Boston has won the first three games, it hasn’t been a one-sided series so far. Two critical turnovers late in Game 1 cost the Pacers a chance to win the series opener, and they led by eight points with 2:38 remaining in Game 3 before letting it slip away.

“There are a lot of correctable things that we’ve got to get better,” Carlisle said. “There are some mistakes defensively that are fixable and some things offensively that we have to do better. We did a lot of things very very well. We led for a great majority of the game. There certainly are positives. So we always show our guys things that need to be corrected but also always show our guys the things we do well and that we need to continue to do well.”

There’s more from Indiana:

Despite a weekend report that Tyrese Haliburton may miss the rest of the series due to an injured left hamstring, no decision has been announced on his status for tonight. Carlisle refused to provide an update on Haliburton when meeting with reporters on Sunday, Dopirak adds, but he said he’s comfortable with T.J. McConnell or Andrew Nembhard running the offense. “(Nembhard’s) played plenty of point guard for us,” Carlisle said. “There have been stretches when Ty’s been unable to play both last year and this year. He has experience there. Guys who put the work in and are prepared tend to have more confidence because they’ve done the work. He’s one of those guys, and our team really as a group, we have really conscientious guys who are great workers who love to compete.”
The Suns inquired about McConnell during the season, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, but the Pacers weren’t – and aren’t – interested in moving their backup point guard. McConnell is a valuable member of Indiana’s bench, and he has one year left on a team-friendly contract that will pay him $9.3MM next season. “He’s one of the heartbeats of that team,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He just makes winning plays. He’s really good at the end of quarters, which is a way that teams can keep momentum, start momentum, chip away at momentum.”
Nembhard sparked the Pacers’ offense with 32 points and nine assists in Game 3, but he committed a costly turnover when Jrue Holiday took the ball from him with just under 10 seconds remaining (video link). Holiday slipped on the play, notes Khari Thompson of The Boston Globe, but he was able to recover in time to poke the ball out of Nembhard’s hands. “I tried to get a shot up and he got in front of me. I lost the ball, slipped, turnover,” Nembhard said.

Stein’s Latest: Redick, Cavaliers’ Coaching Search, M. Brown, Kleber

May 27th, 2024 at 10:04am CST by Arthur Hill

J.J. Redick has several assistants in mind if he becomes the Lakers‘ next head coach, sources tell Marc Stein (Substack link). The ESPN broadcaster is believed to be the frontrunner to land the job, and Stein cites this latest rumor as more evidence that L.A. is leaning toward hiring Redick.

According to Stein, Redick hopes to add Celtics assistant Sam Cassell and Pelicans assistant James Borrego, who both interviewed for the head coaching job and were described by The Athletic as “the initial leading targets” along with Redick two weeks ago.

Redick would also like to land Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley, who finished his career with the Lakers in 2021, Stein’s sources say. Dudley reportedly built strong relationships with LeBron James and Anthony Davis during that time.

Stein offers more inside information from around the league:

Terry Stotts is among the head coaching candidates being considered by the Cavaliers, according to Stein’s sources. If Cleveland plans to keep Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland together, it could be beneficial to hire Stotts, who was successful in Portland with a similar small backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson is considered to be the leading candidate to replace J.B. Bickerstaff, but Stein confirms that Borrego, former Cavs coaching consultant Dave Joerger and Knicks associate head coach Johnnie Bryant are among the other names under consideration. Bryant previously worked with Mitchell in Utah. Atkinson has reportedly received endorsements from Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert, whom he coached in Brooklyn.
Mike Brown’s salary demands and the Kings‘ lack of postseason success have led to a stalemate in extension talks, Stein adds. Both sides recently agreed to table negotiations on a new deal, which means Brown could enter next season as a lame-duck coach. He has a four-year contract, but the final season is a mutual option, which means he and the team would both have to opt in.
Stein hears that the Mavericks remain optimistic about a potential Maxi Kleber return if they reach the NBA Finals. The versatile big man has been sidelined since separating his right shoulder May 3 in the final game of the first-round series against the Clippers.

Celtics Notes: Game 3, Tillman, Tatum

May 26th, 2024 at 4:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Thanks to an impressive comeback from an 18-point deficit, the Celtics were able to improve their Eastern Conference Finals series edge over the Pacers to 3-0 on Saturday, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The decisive moment came when All-Defensive guard Jrue Holiday stole the ball from Indiana guard Andrew Nembhard and drew free throws on the other end, helping put Boston up for good. The Celtics would go on to win, 114-111.

After the game, Celtics All-Star shooting guard Jaylen Brown was still reveling in the moment, per Jay King of The Athletic.

“Hang it in the f—ing Louvre,” Brown said of Boston’s winning rally. “Like, it was crazy. We just had a great grit win tonight.”

Brown singled out Holiday for his excellent perimeter defense, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

“Jrue is different,” Brown said. “Nothing really else to say. Jrue is just different.”

There’s more out of Boston:

Celtics big man Xavier Tillman, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, helped give Boston a defensive spark off the bench in the Game 3 victory, posting a team-best plus-12 in his 13 minutes of action, notes Souichi Terada of MassLive. “He’s a great screener, he creates separation and he has the gift defensively to be able to play both drop and switch,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “So we were able to change our coverages when he was out there pretty frequently. He can guard different matchups because of his ability to play and drop and in switch, and so he just gave us some versatility.”
Celtics All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum submitted a terrific effort in leading the club to the brink of its second NBA Finals berth in the past three seasons, scoring 36 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out eight dimes without a turnover. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports writes that Boston’s cohesion as a unit, highlighted by the efforts of Tatum, Holiday and center Al Horford, seems to suggest the team could be ready to finally earn its first title since 2008.
For more on Boston, be sure to check out our Celtics team page.