Most Inside Hoops stories lately are on the insidehoops.com front page, not here

Hello,

Just a quick update. Lately we’ve mostly been posting stories on our front page, rather than in this blog. Just shifting things around. Everything is good. We were slightly quiet during the big holiday week last week, but during the week, including today, we’re basically updating almost every hour or two all morning, afternoon and a bit in the evening.

So, if you’re reading this, be sure to bookmark http://www.insidehoops.com and when you want NBA news, click that bookmark.

We’ll either be updating this blog in the very near future, or creating a new RSS feed.

In other news, we’ll be posting a lot more player interviews, starting in the next day.

Now go hit our front page.

Raptors, Spurs set to square off on Thursday

Here’s the Toronto Star reporting on former Raptors star DeMar DeRozan, now of the San Antonio Spurs, on Thursday’s Raptors vs Spurs game in San Antonio which will be televised nationally on TNT.

DeRozan isn’t sure how he’ll react Thursday when he plays against the team that he spent his first nine NBA seasons with, but he also knows it won’t be as emotional as it will be in February when he returns to Toronto for the first time.

“Emotional? I don’t know,” he said of Thursday’s game. “I never experienced an emotional game. I couldn’t answer your question right now. I don’t feel like it’s going to be an emotional game, but that’s right now.

“I never thought about it. You have to ask me after.”

DeRozan isn’t likely to face his best friend in Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, who is listed as doubtful with back pain. It didn’t stop DeRozan from cracking wise, though.

“He ain’t want to play in the beginning,” he joked. “Nah. I wish he was healthy, able to be out there and play, compete against him.

It’ll be a must-watch game. We’ll be tuned in.

Lonzo Ball likes Earl Watson as candidate for UCLA coaching job

Here’s the OC Register getting Lakers guard Lonzo Ball’s opinion on UCLA head coach candidates:

The only Bruin on the Lakers has an opinion on whom the next UCLA basketball coach should be.

Lonzo Ball said after Wednesday morning’s shootaround that he would like to see Earl Watson, a former Bruin himself, get the head job.

“I know Earl personally,” Ball said. “I think he has coaching experience in the league. Obviously he went there, he’s alumni, so I think he’s a good fit.”

Even if you don’t follow college hoops or UCLA, it’ll be interesting to see who actually gets the job.

Nets waive Alan Williams

The Brooklyn Nets waived forward/center Alan Williams today.

Signed to a two-way contract on September 24, Williams played in 17 games for Brooklyn’s NBA G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, where he averaged 21.0 points and a league leading 14.7 rebounds in 26.9 minutes per contest. He did not appear in a game for Brooklyn this season.

The Brooklyln roster now consists of 16 players.

Update on 2016 Iman Shumpert legal situation

The Sacramento Bee has an update on Iman Shumpert’s legal situation stemming back to 2016:

The Sacramento Kings’ Iman Shumpert will get probation but no jail time for his 2016 arrest in Georgia. The charges were DUI due to drugs, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, and failure to maintain a lane, the Fayette County Superior Court said.

The point guard entered a plea of no contest to all the misdemeanor charges, court records show.

Shumpert is having a decent season after being fairly quiet in 2017-18 with the Cavs.

Donovan Mitchell facing increased pressure this season

 

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The Jazz have gone in the wrong direction so far this season. At just 17-19 they have just the 12th best record in the Western conference. But now here’s the good news: it’s a crowded conference, with lots of teams boasting similar records. They’re only 2.5 games behind the 8-seed Kings, and only 6 games behind the 1-seed Nuggets. There’s plenty of time for them to rise. As for young star Donovan Mitchell, here’s the Salt Lake Tribune reporting:

Once people saw what Mitchell was capable of, they asked for growth — even despite a foot injury that severely hampered what he was able to do this summer. And once NBA opponents saw how Mitchell propelled the Jazz to great heights, they changed their game plans to stop him.

The result has been an inconsistent second season in which Mitchell’s numbers have taken a small step back from the heights of his rookie year. He’s still averaging just over 20 points per game, but taking an extra shot in order to get there. The rebounds, the assists, the 3-point shooting, and the turnovers are all about five percent worse than last season.

By any reasonable standard, Mitchell’s sophomore season has been impressive: second-year players who carry their teams offensively are a rarity in the NBA for good reason. And yet, that rookie season in which he put his stamp on the franchise, the city, even the league itself holds Mitchell to a higher plane.

As for the team as a whole, they remain one of the league’s best defensive teams. But the offense has a lot of work to do.

No Paul George for Thunder tonight vs Suns

At 9 p.m. tonight, the OKC Thunder face the Suns in Phoenix. But they’ll be doing so without not just one of their best players, but one of the league’s best players so far this season. Here’s the Oklahoman reporting:

For the first time this season, the Thunder will be without Paul George.

Thunder coach Billy Donovan announced Friday morning that George would miss tonight’s game against the Suns with a right quad contusion. Donovan was uncertain of when George sustained the injury, but said it was an ailment George has been playing with for some time.

George is having a fantastic season, and was especially excellent in December games.

The Suns have one of the league’s worst records, but Devin Booker recently returned from injury and during almost all games played in his return the team has looked far better. Phoenix has won five of their last seven games.

Bulls sign Brandon Sampson, waive Tyler Ulis

The Chicago Bulls today signed Brandon Sampson to a Two-Way contract. This just after the team waived Two-Way player Tyler Ulis.

Sampson, a 6-foot-5, 184-pound guard, played three seasons at Louisiana State University, then went undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft . This season, he has played in 18 games (18 starts) in the G League for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, averaging 17.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 35.1 minutes per game. In college at LSU, Sampson played in 85 games (40 starts) between 2015-18, averaging 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. He scored a career-high 24 points twice in the 2016-17 season.

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he was named Mr. Basketball for the state of Louisiana in 2015.

Sampson on the Bulls will wear jersey No. 44.

Thunder waive two-way player Tyler Davis

The Oklahoma City Thunder has waived two-way player Tyler Davis today.

Davis, a 6-foot-10, 266-pound center born in Plano, Texas and played college basketball at Texas A&M, played just one minute in one game for the Thunder this season. As a two-way player he naturally spent most of his time with the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League, where in 15 games (eight starts) he averaged 17.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.87 blocks in 26.7 minutes per game.

The Thunder are 21-12 this season, which through yesterday’s games is the third best record in a very tight Western conference. The team is off tonight, but tomorrow heads to Phoenix to play a Suns team that lately is playing much better basketball than they were earlier in the season.