NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
Per the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
Marcus Smart’s first mini-homecoming with the Boston Celtics won’t come on Sunday. The Memphis Grizzlies guard is expected to miss three to five weeks because of a left foot sprain, the team announced Friday.
Smart suffered the injury in the first quarter of the 134-107 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He has played in all 11 games this season, but he also dealt with abdominal soreness in the preseason.
Per ESPN.com:
The LA Clippers are expected to make a lineup change with Russell Westbrook coming off the bench to help the team snap a six-game losing streak against the Houston Rockets on Friday, sources confirmed to ESPN.
The Clippers (3-7) have lost six straight games, the last five with James Harden in the lineup. Versatile guard Terance Mann is expected to move into the starting lineup with Westbrook serving as sixth man for the first time in his Clippers tenure. Sources confirmed Westbrook talked to the Clippers coaching staff on Thursday about coming off the bench, a move that was first reported by Bleacher Report. Head coach Ty Lue will meet with reporters later during his pregame news conference on Friday night.
The team has been out of sync since Harden was acquired late at night on Oct. 30. Lue had started Westbrook, Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac and then staggered his four stars by pairing former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Westbrook and George together with a second unit and Harden and Leonard together.
The Indiana Pacers have waived center Daniel Theis.
Per the Indianapolis Star, “Theis has appeared in just one game this season and played eight minutes. He missed Tuesday’s game against the 76ers in Philadelphia for “personal reasons” though he was with the team in Philadelphia for Sunday’s game. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle did not further explain the reasoning for Theis’ absence beyond saying it was personal. The 31-year-old Theis was due $9.1 million on his contract this season with a club option for next season that would pay him $9.5 million if he was retained.”
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended five games without pay for escalating an on-court altercation and forcibly grabbing Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert around the neck in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. The length of the suspension is based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.
In addition, Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and center Rudy Gobert have each been fined $25,000 for their roles in the incident, which started when Thompson and McDaniels became entangled and were grabbing and pulling at one another’s jerseys, and continued when Gobert entered the situation and wrapped up Thompson.
Thompson and McDaniels were each assessed a technical foul and ejected, while Green was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected.
The incident occurred with 10:17 remaining in the first quarter of the Timberwolves’ 104-101 win over the Warriors on Nov. 14 at Chase Center.
Green will begin serving his five-game suspension on Thursday, November 16 when the Warriors host the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III yesterday underwent right knee surgery today to reconstruct a torn ligament in his right knee after he sustained a patellar dislocation on November 5th vs. Memphis.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Walt Lowe at Memorial Hermann Surgery Center in Houston, TX.
Williams is expected to make a full recovery for the 2024-25 season.
An MRI conducted on Trail Blazers rookie Scoot Henderson revealed bone bruising in addition to the right ankle sprain.
A return to play timeline of an additional 2-3 weeks will be taken for further resolution of the bruising.
Per the Oregonian, “the loss of Henderson led to Malcolm Brogdon entering the starting lineup, but he injured his hamstring Wednesday at Sacramento. The Blazers responded by signing Skylar Mays to a standard NBA contract and using his vacated two-way slot to sign guard Jamaree Bouyea.”
Portland Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III injured his right knee during Sunday’s game vs. Memphis. After consultation, it has been determined that Williams will undergo surgery to repair ligament damage.
Williams is expected to miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
Injuries have derailed much of his still-young NBA career.
Per the Oregonian, “in Williams, 26, the Blazers landed a high-end backup center to Deandre Ayton, brought in from Phoenix. Losing Williams dramatically thins the Blazers’ depth behind Ayton.”
The Philadelphia 76ers announced today the promotion of Jameer Nelson to General Manager of the Delaware Blue Coats, the team’s NBA G League affiliate.
Nelson previously served as Blue Coats Assistant General Manager/76ers Scout since November 2020, a tenure that included three-straight trips to the G League Finals, a 2021 Winter Showcase Cup Title, and culminated with the 2022-23 NBA G League Championship.
“Jameer has approached his front office and scouting roles with the same tenacity that he approached the game during his playing career. He is a great talent evaluator who is well-respected by players, agents, coaches and executives alike, suiting him for success as the next General Manager of the Blue Coats,” Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey said.
“Jameer succeeds Prosper Karangwa, who led the Blue Coats to their first-ever G League title last year and has done an incredible job in growing the program. We are thankful to Prosper for what he’s done in Delaware and are grateful he’s an integral member of our 76ers front office.”
A 14-year NBA veteran, Nelson was named an All-Star in 2009 as a member of the Orlando Magic. Nelson was a first-round pick (No. 20 overall) of the Denver Nuggets in 2004 and averaged over 11 points, five assists and three rebounds across a career with Orlando, Dallas, Boston, Denver, New Orleans and Detroit. Collegiately, the Chester, Pennsylvania native starred at St. Joseph’s University, guiding the Hawks to the Elite Eight in 2004 and was named National Player of the Year, a first-team All-American selection and Atlantic 10 Player of the Year.
The Blue Coats also announced the team’s coaching staff for the 2023-24 season. Under first-year head coach Mike Longabardi, newcomer Ryan Ayers completes the Blue Coats’ bench, joining returning assistant coaches JP Clark and God Shammgod Jr.
Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro suffered a Grade 2 right ankle sprain in Wednesday’s game in Memphis.
Herro will be in a walking boot for 10 days and re-evaluated in two weeks.
Herro has started in all eight games this season, averaging a team-leading 22.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.38 steals and 34.0 minutes while shooting 44.7 percent from the field, 41 percent from three-point range and 88 percent from the foul line. He entered last night’s game having connected on multiple three-point field goals in all previous seven games, tying for the third-longest streak to start a season in team history. Additionally, entering last night, Herro had totaled 177 points to start the season, marking the fifth-most points through the first seven games of a season in franchise history.
Per the NY Post:
As he struggled through the opening week-plus of the season, Julius Randle had been battling through ankle pain and, as a player committed to availability, resisted attempts from the Knicks to get him to rest, multiple sources told The Post.
Randle, who underwent arthroscopic ankle surgery in the offseason, was operating at about “70 percent,” a source said.
And through the opening six games — while limited by that pain — Randle was among the league’s least efficient players with a notable drop-off in his explosiveness.