Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Pistons and head coach Dwane Casey agree to a contract extension

The Detroit Pistons and head coach Dwane Casey have reached agreement on a contract extension through the 2023-24 NBA season.

“Dwane’s ability to adapt and lead us through a challenging but very exciting year of growth and development has further established his place as one of the most highly respected coaches in the NBA,” said Pistons owner Tom Gores. “He is fully committed to the restoration of the Pistons where his competitiveness, teaching ability and developmental acumen can be seen in the growth of our young players. I eagerly anticipate watching the future of this team and the upward trajectory of the franchise under his continued leadership as we strive to compete for championships.”

Casey, 64, was named head coach of the Pistons on June 11, 2018. During his first season with Detroit (2018-19), he led the team to a 41-41 record and a return to the playoffs after a two-year absence from postseason play. The 41 wins overall and 26 home victories marked the second-most by the franchise in a decade. Under Casey’s tutelage that season, the Pistons set a franchise record for 3-pointers made (993) and attempted (2,854) and Detroit averaged 107.0 points per game, the most by a Pistons team since 1987-88. Additionally, the Pistons’ defense ranked seventh in points allowed and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (.345) in the NBA.

“Dwane’s leadership and experience is a perfect fit for where we are and where we’re headed as an organization,” said Troy Weaver, General Manager for the Detroit Pistons. “He has instilled a culture based on hard work and competitiveness, he’s an excellent teacher and communicator, and his offensive and defensive principles fit today’s NBA game. I’m excited to continue our process for restoring this franchise together.”

Casey joined the Pistons from Toronto where he spent seven seasons as head coach and led the Raptors to four Atlantic Division Championships, a franchise-record five consecutive postseason appearances from 2014-18 and the franchise’s first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2016. Under his leadership, Toronto recorded the franchise’s first 50-win season in 2015-16 and proceeded to amass three consecutive 50-win seasons, including a franchise-record 59 wins in 2017-18. Casey finished his tenure with the Raptors as the franchise’s all-time winningest coach with a 320-238 (.573) regular season record.

“I am truly excited for the continued opportunity to work for Tom, alongside Troy and Arn as we continue to build the Pistons franchise,” said Casey. “The young players that Troy has brought to the organization are solid pieces that we will build the foundation upon as the Pistons return to being legitimate contenders in the NBA for years to come. I feel both honored and blessed that Tom continues to entrust this team to my leadership.”

Casey was named the 2018 Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) and was also honored as the 2018 NBA Coach of the Year as voted upon by national media covering the NBA.

Heat guard Victor Oladipo to undergo season-ending surgery

Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo has decided to undergo season-ending surgery on his right quadriceps tendon. The surgery will take place tomorrow, Thursday May 13, in New York. There is no timetable for his return at this time.

Oladipo, who was acquired by the HEAT in a trade on March 25, appeared in 33 games (all starts) this season averaging 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.39 steals and 32.7 minutes. He appeared in four games with Miami averaging 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.75 steals and 27.8 minutes, helping the HEAT to a 3-1 record over that span.

Pelicans missing four starters tonight against the Mavericks

The Pelicans will barely be the Pelicans tonight. Via the Times-Picayune:

The New Orleans Pelicans will be without four of their usual starters in a must-win situation against the Dallas Mavericks.

Starting guard Lonzo Ball will miss Wednesday’s game with a right thumb strain, the team announced. Ball, Brandon Ingram (left ankle sprain), Zion Williamson (finger fracture) and Steven Adams (right MTP sprain) will all be sidelined while New Orleans fights to keep its play-in tournament hopes alive.

The Pelicans are 31-38, tying them with the Kings for the 11th best record in the Western conference.

Magic sign Ignas Brazdeikis for remainder of season

The Orlando Magic have signed forward Ignas Brazdeikis for the remainder of the season, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today.

Brazdeikis (6’6”, 221, 1/8/99) was originally signed to a 10-day contract by Orlando on May 2. He has played in five games with the Magic, averaging 10.0 ppg., 4.6 rpg. and 1.8 apg. in 28.3 minpg. Brazdeikis has appeared in 10 total games this season with New York, Philadelphia and Orlando, averaging 5.2 ppg., 2.7 rpg. and 1.0 apg. in 15.7 minpg. He played in four games with the Knicks, before being traded to Philadelphia as part of a three-team deal on Mar. 25. Brazdeikis appeared in one game with the Sixers, before being waived on Apr. 8.

Originally selected in the second round (47th overall) of the 2019 NBA Draft by Sacramento, Brazdeikis has played in 19 career NBA regular season games with New York, Philadelphia and Orlando, averaging 3.6 ppg. and 1.7 rpg. in 11.1 minpg.

Brazdeikis played and started in 37 games during his only season at the University of Michigan (2018-19), averaging 14.8 ppg. and 5.4 rpg. in 29.6 minpg., while shooting .392 (56-143) from three-point range. He led the Wolverines in scoring. Brazdeikis was named the 2018-19 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He was also named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and the All-Big Ten Tournament Team. He was also an honorable mention All-American by Associated Press.

Brazdeikis wears #17 with the Orlando Magic.

Russell Westbrook is now the NBA all-time leader in triple-doubles

Russell Westbrook has become the NBA’s all-time triple-double leader by tallying the 182nd of his career tonight at Atlanta – a record that has stood for 47 years, one month and 16 days since Oscar Robertson’s 181st and final triple-double of his career.

In games where Westbrook records a triple-double, his teams are a combined 136-45 (.751), including the Wizards’ current 21-14 record, where they have won 13 of their last 16 games with a Westbrook triple-double. His 182 career triple-doubles are also more than 26-of-30 NBA franchises, with only the Lakers, Kings, Celtics and Thunder (including Westbrook’s with the franchise) having more. Westbrook recorded 138 of his triple-doubles as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the most in their franchise history. Westbrook is also the franchise leader for Washington (36) and broke Darrell Walker’s franchise record of 15 in just 38 games with the Wizards.

A link to a video tribute created by the Wizards featuring NBA and Monumental Sports & Entertainment luminaries as well as Westbrook’s family can be found here.

Westbrook recorded his first career triple-double on March 2, 2009, during his rookie season, a 17-point, 10-rebound and 10-assist outing against the Dallas Mavericks. Through the first six years of his career, Westbrook tallied just eight triple-doubles but has since recorded 174 in the last seven years, including an NBA-record 42 during the 2016-17 season. Westbrook has four career seasons with at least 25 triple-doubles, the most in league history, and also averaged a triple-double in each of those four seasons (which are four of the five seasons in NBA history where a player averaged a triple-double).

Westbrook’s single-game triple-double accomplishments include two games with 24 assists (January 10, 2019 and May 3, 2021), tied with Rajon Rondo and Isiah Thomas for the most assists in a triple-double. On May 3 of this season, Westbrook added 14 points and 21 rebounds to his career-high-tying and franchise-record-tying 24 assists to record his second career game with at least 20 rebounds and 20 assists, the only player in league history with multiple such games. On April 2, 2019 vs. the Lakers, Westbrook scored 20 points with 20 rebounds and 21 assists, becoming the second player in NBA history to record a 20-20-20 game along with Wilt Chamberlain. Overall, Westbrook has five career triple-doubles with at least 20 assists, the most in league history. On March 29, 2017 at Orlando, Westbrook scored 57 points with 13 rebounds and 11 assists for the second-highest scoring triple-double in league history (Harden, 60). His career-long and league-record streak of 11 games with a triple-double came from January 22 to February 14, 2019, the only 10+ game streak in league history.

With 182 triple-doubles in 940 games played, Westbrook has tallied a triple-double in 19.4% of his games played, the highest rate among the top 15 triple-double leaders. Since 2016-17, Westbrook has tallied a triple-double in 145 of 353, or 41.1% of his games played. Westbrook leads the league this season with 36 triple-doubles, the second-most triple-doubles in a single season in his career and the third-most in league history.

Celtics’ Jaylen Brown out for season with wrist injury

This past weekend Celtics guard/forward Jaylen Brown was diagnosed with a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist.

Brown is expected to have the torn ligament surgically repaired later this week, and will be out for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.

This is a huge blow to a Celtics team that has struggled this season but enjoyed fine play from Brown, one of the team’s core young stars.

Wizards guard Bradley Beal out with hamstring strain

Wizards guard Bradley Beal has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain following MRI testing conducted yesterday. He will miss the team’s next two games (Monday and Wednesday at Atlanta) before being re-evaluated on Friday.

Beal sustained the injury during Saturday night’s win at Indiana.

Per the Washington Post, “I couldn’t tell you when I tweaked [the hamstring]. I knew it was just a little tight in the second half,” Beal said Saturday. “In the first play of the second half I twisted my damn ankle, and I just wanted to make sure — I went to the back, wanted to make sure it wasn’t too crazy. I’m always a guy who will bounce back pretty quick, especially with ankle injuries… But I went back out there, [and] my left hammy felt a little tight. I didn’t think anything of it. I just kept playing, pushed through it, and then I think the layup on [Doug] McDermott on the end that put us up one, that kind of intensified it a little bit. Then the final little floater I missed at the end, that definitely kind of put it over the top for me. Coach [Scott Brooks] played it smart, got me out of there, and thank God we closed it out.”

Knicks beat Clippers, remain 4th in East

The Knicks have exceeded expectations all season long, and the trend continued today in Los Angeles. Via the New York Post:

The Knicks usually struggle when Julius Randle struggles. But not when Derrick Rose plays like an MVP — and not when they get 3-point marksmanship from Reggie Bullock.

In the final regular-season home game for the Clippers, the Knicks spoiled the Sunday-matinee party with a resounding and sensational 106-100 victory before 2,578 relatively passive fans at Staples Center.

And now it might be time for Tom Thibodeau to look into making a starting-point guard change, finally.

Coming off the bench for a struggling Elfrid Payton, Rose carried the Knicks (38-30) on his shoulders with an MVP-type first half. Rose finished with 25 points and eight assists in 31 minutes.

Reggie Bullock, once a Clippers’ draft pick, poured in 24 points, making 5 of 11 3-pointers. Julius Randle made three big baskets down the stretch, but finished with just 14 points on 7 of 19 shooting with four turnovers. He also had 13 rebounds.

Via the New York Daily News:

With an impressive 106-100 road victory against the stacked Clippers, New York, currently fourth in the East, moved three games ahead of the seventh-seeded Celtics with four to play.

The Knicks (38-30) only need to finish in the top six to avoid a play-in game, and their magic number is 2. In other words, the franchise’s first playoff berth in eight years could be clinched as soon as Tuesday with a victory over the Lakers and a Celtics defeat to the Heat.

“That would be big,” Derrick Rose said. “But at the same time, (Tom Thibodeau) always talks about going through the finish line. We have to do our jobs to make sure we’re sharp and have a keen type of focus.”

The Knicks are 38-30 this season, which is the best 4th record in the Eastern conference.

Their leading scorers so far in 2020-21 are Randle at 24.1 points per game, RJ Barrett at 17.7 ppg, and Rose at 14.4 ppg.

One game behind the Knicks in a tight East race are the Hawks and Heat.

Magic sign Donta Hall for remainder of season

The Orlando Magic have signed free agent forward Donta Hall for the remainder of the regular season, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today.

The Magic was granted a hardship exception by the NBA in order to add Hall.

Per the Orlando Sentinel, “a hardship exception can be granted when a team has at least four players who have missed three or more games with an injury or illness and are expected to remain out for two more weeks. The team is then allowed to go over its roster limit.”

Hall (6’10”, 232, 8/7/97) played in eight games this season with the Magic, averaging 3.1 ppg. and 4.4 rpg. in 11.5 minpg. He originally signed a 10-day contract with Orlando on Apr. 13, then a second 10-day contract on Apr. 23, before being released from that contract on May 2.

Hall also played in 12 games this season (11 starts) with both Ignite and Raptors 905 of the NBA G League, averaging 10.2 ppg., 8.3 rpg., 1.5 apg. and 2.08 blkpg. in 24.8 minpg., while shooting .625 (50-80) from the floor.

During the 2019-20 campaign, Hall appeared in nine combined games with both Detroit and Brooklyn, averaging 4.3 ppg. and 4.2 rpg. in 14.8 minpg. He played in four games with the Pistons, averaging 1.5 ppg. and 3.8 rpg. in 12.0 minpg. Later in the season, Hall played five games with the Nets, averaging 6.6 ppg., 4.6 rpg. and 1.00 blkpg. in 17.0 minpg. He also appeared in 38 games (37 starts) with Grand Rapids of the NBA G League, averaging 15.4 ppg., 10.6 rpg., 1.0 apg., 1.45 blkpg. and 1.03 stlpg. in 28.6 minpg., while shooting .669 (230-344) from the floor. Hall was named to the All-NBA G League Second Team, the NBA G League All-Rookie Team and the NBA G League All-Defensive Team in 2019-20.

Undrafted by an NBA franchise, Hall played in 135 career games (85 starts) during four seasons at the University of Alabama, averaging 7.5 ppg., 6.3 rpg. and 1.69 blkpg. in 20.8 minpg., while shooting .661 (400-605) from the floor. He was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team as both a junior (2017-18) and a senior (2018-19).

Hall will wear #45 with the Orlando Magic.

Magic will reportedly bring back Donta Hall

A familiar face will soon reportedly be back in a Magic uniform. Via the Orlando Sentinel:

The Orlando Magic are planning to bring back forward/center Donta Hall for the remainder of the season, league sources confirmed Saturday with the Orlando Sentinel.

The Magic will use an injury hardship exception granted by the NBA to sign Hall.

The Magic had sought to sign free-agent forward Admiral Schofield to a 10-day contract using the exception, but the deal fell through.

The Magic are 21-46 in a season that saw them trade top players away to focus on a serious roster rebuild.