Inside Hoops – Page 462 – NBA Blog

Timberwolves will reportedly trade Jimmy Butler to Sixers

Philadelphia Inquirer: The 76ers got their third star. The team will acquire All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2022 second-round pick.

More from the Inquirer: Butler can opt out of the final year — 2019-20 — of his contract next summer to become a free agent. He and the Sixers expect to reach a deal on a long-term contract then, according to ESPN. That makes sense, because the Sixers will have his Bird rights once the trade goes through. The Sixers can offer him a five-year, $190 million max contract next summer. Teams that don’t have his rights would be able to offer Butler only a four-year, $141 million max contract in free agency.

PhillyNews.com: If you were to design the ideal player to star alongside Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, there are a lot of ways in which he would differ from Jimmy Butler. From his volume-dependent point production to his mediocre three-point shot to his habit of clashing with younger players, the 29-year-old star is hardly the perfect fit for a Sixers team that has less than a year to put the finishing touches on the core it will rely upon for the next half decade. But the one overriding takeaway from the organization’s decision to acquire the disgruntled veteran from the Timberwolves, while parting ways with two beloved starters is this: Not only does Butler makes the Sixers better right now, in the midst of a sputtering 8-5 start, but he has the potential to make them a whole lot better come April, by which time the Sixers will need to have experienced a radical transformation to compete in an Eastern Conference playoff field that includes powerhouses in Boston and Toronto and an upstart Bucks squad in Milwaukee.

Jayson Tatum facing tougher defense this season

The Celtics are a modest 7-5 so far this season and look like they have a way to go in their quest to become an NBA Finals contender. It’s early in the season so there’s no reason to panic. One key young Celtics that certainly should improve as the season progresses is Jayson Tatum, who through 12 games played is shooting just 40.3% FG. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

Asked about the way opponents are guarding him differently this season, Jayson Tatum is understated but direct.

“They’re not giving me as much space this year,” the Celtics forward said this week.

Intensified attention was a given for Tatum after having quite possibly the best year by a Celtics rookie since Paul Pierce.

Pierce fought his way through by becoming one of the best in the NBA at scoring through contact. Tatum, who admits he’s getting bounced around a bit, is learning how to adjust to more physical play now.

— Full Article

Wizards keep struggling, fall to 2-9

The Wizards lost to the Magic 117-108 on Friday and are now 2-9 for the season, which is the second-worst record in the Eastern conference, ahead only of the 1-10 Cleveland Cavaliers. Dwight Howard made his Wizards debut on November 2, but the team has lost three of the four games he’s played in. It’s tough to say what the short-term answer is. Here’s NBC Sports Washington reporting:

The Washington Wizards are far from tapping out on the young season even though Friday’s 117-108 loss to the Magic dropped their record to a shocking 2-9. When it comes to talking about all that’s wrong during this rough start to the season, they’ve run out of explanations.

Sure, there are general responses about sticking together despite the trying times, and playing with the intensity displayed during a second-half rally that cut a 25-point deficit to one with 2:30 remaining. The mistakes on both ends of the court remain. If the players knew an obvious fix, they would execute or at least explain. The situation is beyond that for a team last league-wide in points allowed and tied with the Phoenix Suns for the NBA’s second-worst record.

“It’s the definition of insanity, I guess,” Bradley Beal said postgame when asked what can be said about consistent defensive lapses. “Just have to do it. Just have to get it done. There’s nothing else to say, nothing else to even talk about. Just go get the damn job done, and do whatever it takes to get it done, win games. That’s what we’re going to do.”

— Full Article

Knicks reveal City Edition uniform design

The New York Knicks today unveiled their City Edition alternate jersey, which features the New York City Skyline as the central design element and a symbol of the diverse cultures united across New York City.

The Knicks will debut these uniforms on Sunday, November 11 when the team takes on the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden and will continue to wear the jerseys at various theme nights throughout the 2018-19 season.

According to the team, “the City Edition design was inspired by what it means to be a New Yorker and utilizes one of the City’s most iconic and defining attributes – its skyline—as a representation of the many cultures that make up New York and their shared ambitions and dreams. To unveil the uniforms to the team, six Junior Knicks members were invited to the Knicks practice facility where they read letters describing how the Knicks inspire them as New Yorkers.”

Another 20-rebound game for Hassan Whiteside

The Miami Heat are just 5-6 this season, which is the 9th best record in the Eastern conference through Friday’s games. But on a positive note, lately they’ve enjoyed some monster rebounding outputs from Hassan Whiteside. Here’s the Miami Herald reporting:

Josh Richardson was incredulous, but not necessarily surprised to hear the actual numbers to go along with Hassan Whiteside’s performance in the Miami Heat’s 110-102 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday. For the second straight game, Whiteside pulled in 20 rebounds and hearing this number once again caused Richardson’s eyes to widen and seek confirmation from no one in particular.

“He had 20 rebounds again?” Richardson said in the Heat’s locker room after the game Friday. “He’s locked in right now. He’s bringing a lot of good things to the table.”

Even before this four-game homestand began Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs in Miami, Whiteside sat behind only Detroit Pistons post player Andre Drummond on the NBA leaderboards for rebounds per game and the center’s first two games back at AmericanAirlines Arena have caused his numbers to balloon. For the first time in his career, Whiteside recorded 20 rebounds in back-to-back games, lifting his average per game to 15.7 entering a Saturday home game against the Washington Wizards, up from 14.6 per game when the homestand began. Early on, he’s on pace to break his own single-season franchise record of 14.1 rebounds per game, set during the 2016-17 season.

— Full Article

Cavs PG George Hill hurt

The Cavs aren’t having the best of NBA seasons. Here’s the News Herald reporting the latest:

The Cavaliers are losing games and players at an alarming rate.

Starting point guard George Hill could miss two weeks with a sprained right shoulder, the latest setback for the Cavs, who have won just one game and are expected to be without All-Star forward Kevin Love for at least another five weeks following foot surgery.

Cleveland is also missing forward Sam Dekker, who sprained his ankle and is out for a month.

— Full Article

Cavs sign Andrew Harrison, waive John Holland

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed guard Andrew Harrison to a Two-Way contract today.

And in a related move, the Cavaliers waived Two-Way forward John Holland.

Harrison (6-6, 213) appeared in one game with the Memphis Grizzlies this season. He owns career averages of 7.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 21.7 minutes per game over 129 games (64 starts) in three seasons with Memphis. Harrison also played in six postseason contests for the Grizzlies during the 2017 Playoffs, averaging 6.5 points and 2.2 assists in 19.8 minutes per game. The 6-6 guard out of Kentucky was originally selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 44th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Per NBA rules, teams are permitted to have two Two-Way contract players on their roster at any given time, in addition to their 15-man regular season roster. A Two-Way player can spend up to 45 days with the Cavs.

Celtics rally to beat Suns in OT

The Celtics aren’t off to as good a start as was expected so far this season. And things looked more bleak than ever earlier today as they were outscored 32-13 in the first quarter by the lowly Suns. But the Celtics improved as the game progressed, and then exploded in the 4th quarter to reach overtime, and took away a win that featured big scoring from Kyrie Irving. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

Brad Stevens wants to see his team play a full 48 minutes with consistent effort, consistent execution, and, well, a few shots wouldn’t hurt.

And the Celtics coach is still waiting for that end-to-end masterpiece. But in the meantime, there’s last night’s 116-109 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns.

Kyrie Irving saved what started as an offensive slog with a season-high 39 points — the Celtics guard’s second straight 30-plus performance — and the C’s withstood an equally withering 38-point performance by the Suns’ Devin Booker.

The Celtics got off to a horrid start offensively in the first half. Stevens scrambled to make changes in the second half, starting Marcus Smart ahead of Jayson Tatum, who sat for the first nine minutes of the third quarter. The result was an energized second half that found the C’s cutting the Suns lead from 20 points at the half, to 15 by the end of the third quarter, to a point with 7.3 seconds left.

Marcus Morris’ 3-pointer with three-tenths of a second left in regulation tied the score at 100-100, and both sides steamed into overtime.

— Full Article

Norman Powell out with shoulder injury

Toronto Raptors guard/forward Norman Powell will be out indefinitely due to a subluxation of the left shoulder.

The injury occurred in the second quarter of Monday night’s win against the Jazz in Utah. Powell is averaging 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 14.9 minutes in 11 games (two starts) this season.

There is no timetable for Powell’s return to basketball activity. His status will be updated as appropriate.

Miami Heat expanding the Vice theme this season

I’m all in on any Vice-related themes the Miami Heat utilize this season and beyond. So, there’s some good news, from the Miami Herald:

The Heat is expanding its Vice campaign to include a Vice-themed court this season.

After unveiling its black “Vice Nights” City Edition uniform Monday, the Heat unveiled a new court Tuesday to go along with the very Miami look. The Heat will play on the Vice-themed court in the 14 home games it’s scheduled to wear the alternate uniforms…

This season’s black uniform is “with the classic Heat silhouette from 1988 colored in laser fuchsia and blue gale, and features the original Miami Arena script across the chest and a re-imagined Heat ball and flame logo sporting the Vice Nights color combination,” according to a press release issued by the team.

And here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel with more:

The twist this season is that there will be the matching court as part of the theme.

“That’s the coolest thing,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. “It’s not just the jersey, but to be able to go all in, all the way around. That makes it even more a special night, when we get the opportunity to get on the court.

“I think it’s going to bring some excitement to even the players. So it will be cool to the fans, definitely, to come in and feel a different environment, a different vibe. So look forward to it.”

Coolness.